Plant/storm ideas?


AngieB

 

Posted

First time playing a controller and i have to say so far I like it. Currently I'm running plant/storm but I see no guides on the combo of the sets. I know there has to be some one who can advise me on this combo as i cant be the only one who likes it. Things I would like to know:

Powers to avoid?
How soloable is the combo?
Is it good in groups?

Sample builds would be good too but not required, mostly just advice to avoid the pitfalls of both sets.


 

Posted

In Plant, the key powers are Strangler, Roots, Seeds of Confusion, Carrion Creepers. Vines and Venus Fly Trap (nicknamed "Twoey" after the plant named "Audrey II" from the play/movie, "Little Shop of Horrors") are strongly recommended. Entangle is good as a damage power if you mostly solo. Spores (ranged AoE sleep, can be useful solo) and Spirit Tree (immobile Regen buff) are entirely optional and opinions differ on using those.

In Storm, you have no choice but to take Gale . . . too bad, since it is probably the most skippable power in the set. Freezing Rain is key, and Steamy Mist, Hurricane, Tornado, Lightning Storm are highly recommended (although some opinions differ). Opinions differ on O2 Boost, Snow Storm and Thunderclap.

My personal recommendations are to skip Thunderclap (a PB AoE stun that is only Mag 2, so it only gets Minions) and probably Spores (situationally useful). Storm does not have a self heal, so Spirit Tree is marginally useful. O2 Boost can be used on teammates and to heal your pet. I suggest Hasten and Super Speed, too.

Steamy Mist is a stealth, so combined with Super Speed, it gives you full invisibility. That lets you get in just the right position for best use of the Seeds of Confusion cone. I like Super Speed for running around with Hurricane, too, but a Stealth IO will also combine with Steamy Mist for Invis if you don't like Super Speed.

Plant/Storm is a great combo. Good for solo, and storm fills some of the holes in Plant. Your general strategy in lower levels will be to open with Seeds+Roots, then hit the group with Freezing Rain and keep throwing Roots for damage (Roots should be slotted for damage -- it does twice the damage of other AoE Immob powers from other control sets.)

On teams, you may need to be careful about all the knockback and potential chaos. Roots has 12 seconds of -knockback, which will help. Still, you will be able to contribute a bunch with teams, too.

Storm is probably the most challenging controller secondary to play well. It takes some practice to get used to the various knockback powers and how to use them without causing too much chaos.


LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control

 

Posted

My husband and I made plant/storms and I think I had like 8 different procs in mine alone. He may have had more. But we had so much fun on them. So my idea is to PROC EM ALL!


@AngieB & @Angie B
Ms. Paragon City 2009
"The ingenuity of game players is a formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems." - Firas Khatib

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Local_Man View Post
Fly Trap (nicknamed "Twoey" after the plant named "Audrey II" from the play/movie, "Little Shop of Horrors")
Never heard "Twoey" before. Audrey, Chompy and Bitey, that I've heard.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Local_Man View Post
My personal recommendations are to skip Thunderclap (a PB AoE stun that is only Mag 2, so it only gets Minions) and probably Spores (situationally useful).
I find Thunder Clap useful on mine, since I solo a lot. The single target hold takes out Lts, Thunder Clap takes out minions. And besides, it's such a cool power to fire off...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Local_Man View Post
Your general strategy in lower levels will be to open with Seeds+Roots, then hit the group with Freezing Rain and keep throwing Roots for damage (Roots should be slotted for damage -- it does twice the damage of other AoE Immob powers from other control sets.)
Also, using Seeds + Roots + Freezing Rain means that your Confused targets will remain upright and pounding on each other even while debuffed by the Rain.


Arc #40529 : The Furies of the Earth

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by AngieB View Post
My husband and I made plant/storms and I think I had like 8 different procs in mine alone. He may have had more. But we had so much fun on them. So my idea is to PROC EM ALL!
I might try that, seems to me a few procs probably wouldent hurt and I have yet to use any on any of my characters.

As for other pool skills, what should i take? I assume hasten, originally i planned to take flight for hover/fly (That and i kinda hate managing super speed, besides I have ninja run, not AS fast as SS but it takes out a power pick I guess)

Slotting set bonusesm should I go mainly global recharge, or damage?

Thanks for all the help, so far this character is a blast to play.


 

Posted

i would go recharge, and some ranged deff if you don't plane going in melee (hurricaine will take care of melee), and with the recent inherent stamania, aid self could be handy too.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Obscure Blade View Post
Never heard "Twoey" before. Audrey, Chompy and Bitey, that I've heard.
In the movie and play, Seymore Krelborne names the plant after his co-worker/future love, Audrey, by calling it the "Audrey II." However, when he talks to it, he calls it "Twoey." "Audrey" was the girl, "Twoey" was the plant. (Oddly enough, the ending of the play is very different than the ending of the movie -- the movie has a "happy ending" while the play does not.)

Mental Maden uses a different name that I found amusing (if you know anything about women's tennis). She calls hers "Serina" because she is stronger and better than "Venus."

Quote:
I find Thunder Clap useful on mine, since I solo a lot. The single target hold takes out Lts, Thunder Clap takes out minions. And besides, it's such a cool power to fire off...
Thunderclap looks cool, but is sadly not nearly as effective as it looks. I think its usefulness depends on your playstyle. I have it on my Earth/Storm, Grav/Storm and Fire/Storm because they can all stack stuns with powers from the primary. My Plant/Storm stays more at range, in position for the Seeds of Confusion cone. If anything gets too close, I blow them away with Hurricane or (rarely) Gale. So, for me, it is skippable. But I can certainly understand liking it.


LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zanthar View Post
I might try that, seems to me a few procs probably wouldent hurt and I have yet to use any on any of my characters.

As for other pool skills, what should i take? I assume hasten, originally i planned to take flight for hover/fly (That and i kinda hate managing super speed, besides I have ninja run, not AS fast as SS but it takes out a power pick I guess)

Slotting set bonusesm should I go mainly global recharge, or damage?

Thanks for all the help, so far this character is a blast to play.
One of the advantages of Super Speed is the built-in Stealth that combines with Steamy Mist -- no need for a stealth IO. Invisibility is very, very helpful on this character because you have to get in "just" the right position to maximize the use of the Seeds of Confusion cone. It also allows you to lead your pets, Carrion Creepers and Venus Fly Trap, into battle without drawing aggro yourself.

I also like Super Speed to run in near the group in just the right position for Lightning Storm . . . if you cast lightning storm on the far side of the group from your team, the storm will knock foes INTO your team instead of away -- which is usually better. Super Speed lets me get into the best position faster. (Another technique if you fly/Hover -- cast Lightning Storm while hovering over the foe and the Storm has a better chance to knock DOWN instead of BACK. But you have to be right overhead or the angle will make it knockback.)

I also like Super Speed for "herdicaning." This is where you use Hurricane to push foes around the outside of a group into a tighter group, making the group better for AoE powers. Hurricane also debuffs their ToHit at the same time, so they can't attack you very well.

As for slotting: Recharge is most important because you want Seeds up as much as possible. Casting Roots more often is good, too, since that is most of your AoE damage. Plant is probably the second best Controller at AoE damage (after Fire), but weak at single target damage -- it can defeat a group almost as fast as a single. Storm adds some good single target damage in Tornado and Lightning Storm.

Defense is less important if you use Hurricane -- the ToHit Debuff is significant. With experience, you can learn to use the "Hurricane Kiss" -- where you can touch foes with the outer edge of Hurricane to apply the debuff, but without knocking them back. I keep Hurricane linked to a bind to an extra button on my mouse, so with a touch of a button, I can turn it on and off.


LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zanthar View Post
I might try that, seems to me a few procs probably wouldent hurt and I have yet to use any on any of my characters.

...

Slotting set bonusesm should I go mainly global recharge, or damage?

Thanks for all the help, so far this character is a blast to play.
I've slotted my Plant/Storm with ridiculous amounts of global recharge, and also added many procs -- one in roots, four in FR, three in creepers, and the FF +recharge IO in fissure. In my tests soloing large spawns, Hero Stats showed 40% of my total damage comes from the procs.


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