Hang on, you skipped Heat Exhaustion? Is that intentional?
Drop Spirit Tree, move Assault back there, take Heat Exhaustion at 35, it's your boss / AV crippler.
Take Seeds way, way earlier and make sure it's 5-6 slotted, it's the cornerstone of a Plant Domi. Seeds turns a large amount of the imcoming damage you're struggling to heal against the mob itself, meaning you spend far less time healing and more time stacking Roots and firing off your AOE.
Roots doesn't need 6 slots really, unless you're planning to proc it out a bit. Even then there's no way Roots should have more slots than Seeds.
Water Spout doesn't really need -Def IOs, keep one in there as a placeholder for the Achilles Heel proc (personally I think Fly Trap is a far better place for one though, 3 of his 4 attacks have a chance of triggering it).
You don't really need +ToHit IOs in Forge or Vengie. Take both slots out of Vengie and place them elsewhere, replace the one in Forge with more recharge.
Frankenslotting rather than Common IOing can be your friend. For example I have my APP AOE Blast slotted with 2 Air Burst and 2 Detonation giving 50% Acc, 95% Dam and 50% Recharge with 4 slots.
Vines and Seeds also benefit strongly with this, a lot of the Acc/Hold/Recharge and Acc/Confuse/Recharge IOs are cheap and plentiful and better than SOs or Common IOs from level 25ish onwards.
Try and get the Slow PROC and/or the Posi's Blast PROC for Creepers asap, it does wonderful things, especially on large teams
Plant Controllers are AoE Control and Damage specialists. The single most important power in the Plant Control primary is Seeds of Confusion. It is the signature power, much like Phantom Army for Illusion. It should be taken at level 8 and 6-slotted quickly. Standard SO/common IO slotting would be 2 Acc, 2 Confuse, 2 Recharge. With IOs you can fit in some Range or EndRdx in there, too. But you want this power up as soon as possible.
The core strategy for a Plants Controller is to get in optimal position to throw Seeds and get as many as possible, then lock them down with Roots for the Damage Over Time. If you aren't using the Seeds+Roots combo as much as possible, then you are underutilizing your controller. Creepers is a nice Alpha at times and adds a lot . . . probably the third most important power in the set.
Strangler: Slotting for Damage is OK, but this is most importantly a Control power (since you should be using Roots and Entangle for damage) Slot it for Acc, Hold and Rech (default is 2/2/2). With IOs you can add some Damage or EndRdx.
Roots: I disagree with Carnifax here -- 6-slot Roots to cap for Damage with decent Accuracy and some Recharge, as it has twice the damage of other AoE Immobs. You don't need to slot Immob since the duration is already longer than its recharge. 2 Acc, 3 Dam, 1 Rech. More Recharge really helps you spam it for more damage, and EndRdx is also needed. This is your main source of Damage.
Entangle is a skippable power, but OK for some single target Damage Over Time. Slot it like a damage power, minimum of 1 Acc, 3 Damage. Recharge, more Accuracy or EndRdx are options for additional slots and/or IO slotting. Again, the Recharge is much shorter than the duration, so it does not need Immob.
Level 8 -- NOTHING is more important than taking Seeds of Confusion here.
Spirit Tree: For a Plant/Therm, this power is completely skippable. It is a fixed regen boost, mainly useful for AV fights. Only take it if you have nothing better late in the build.
Defense slotting in general and in Hover and Stealth in particular: Unless you have other Defense to stack, slotting for small amounts of Defense is mostly wasted slots.
Fly: Since I-18, Fly is automatically at Flightspeed cap with no enhancements. Therefore, slotting Flightspeed in Fly (or Swift) is a compete waste. A single EndRdx is all it needs, unless you want to put a Stealth IO or a Zephyr -Knockback in there. Flightspeed only gives any benefit to Hover.
Creepers is a power that has been heavily debated. Recharge, then Damage or certain Damage procs (The Impeaded Swiftness and Posi Blast appear to work all the time, the others don't work all the time.)
Stealth: Why not take Super Speed instead? The Defense in Stealth is nearly worthless and suppresses. Super Speed gives the same stealth, plus a travel power. AND you can put a Celerity Stealth in Super Speed for full invisibility. AND it can help you get in the optimal position for Seeds quickly and without being seen. AND you can slot a Zephyr -Knockback if you want (but the Karma ones are cheaper). I generally slot my Super Speed with an EndRdx and the Celerity Stealth proc.
I'm not exactly an expert at Therm, but skipping Heat Exhaustion is a mistake.
I'm not a big fan of Vengence or the Leadership pool as a whole, but many people like them. Vengence is a very situational power and those slots can probably be better used somewhere else.
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
I've actually found that Tree of Life is useful when leveling. There have been times when I'll hit an endurance crash and be unable to heal myself or my team. The tree helps just enough for me to get some endurance back enough to pop another heal.
Good information though. I can see how Seeds can be useful. I hadn't taken them while leveling because confuse lowers the xp return but I can see it's usefulness at 50 especially in trials.
The fly io in swift isn't for increased speed in fly but to boost movement while in hover. It gives enough of a boost to movement that I don't have to run unless the tank is just plowing through stuff.
For Heat Exhaustion, I guess I always thought it was lackluster. Since I haven't been up against AVs while leveling i never realized how good it could be. I'll have to fix that.
As for Super Speed vs Stealth, I thought Speed would have a much higher end cost than it does.
Quote:
I can see where you may have use Spirit Tree some leveling up, but once you have your healing powers and other powers properly slotted, it shouldn't be needed. It is not worthless, but a low priority. On fast-moving teams, you will rarely have a chance to plant the Tree.|
Originally Posted by Calyen
I've actually found that Tree of Life is useful when leveling. There have been times when I'll hit an endurance crash and be unable to heal myself or my team. The tree helps just enough for me to get some endurance back enough to pop another heal.
Good information though. I can see how Seeds can be useful. I hadn't taken them while leveling because confuse lowers the xp return but I can see it's usefulness at 50 especially in trials. The fly io in swift isn't for increased speed in fly but to boost movement while in hover. It gives enough of a boost to movement that I don't have to run unless the tank is just plowing through stuff. For Heat Exhaustion, I guess I always thought it was lackluster. Since I haven't been up against AVs while leveling i never realized how good it could be. I'll have to fix that. As for Super Speed vs Stealth, I thought Speed would have a much higher end cost than it does. |
People have been Confused about Confuse for a long time. I even wrote a long section about Deceive and the Confusion over Confuse powers in my Ill/Rad guide. (This misconception is a bit of a pet peave of mine.) As long as you, your team and your pets are doing the majority of the damage, you actually get BONUS XP from using Confuse powers . . . you get XP you didn't earn. For example, if you, your team and your pets only do 50% of the damage to the target of a confused foe, you get 80% of the XP, or 30% more than you actually earned. The net effect of confuse powers is that you kill stuff faster, thereby earning more XP over time (even if your XP per foe might have been slightly reduced . . . there are an unlimited number of foes).
In reality, the Seeds+Roots combo insures that you do damage to all of the foes. You will have very little damage done by the confused foes -- it will be rare that you will lose 10% to damage done by your confused foes, and some of that you get back as a bonus. More importantly, Seeds+Roots is awesome AoE control -- the foes don't attack you, and they are Immobilized in place while they take damage over time CONTAINED, so they take double damage. It is actually better than an AoE hold, because they are being damaged while controlled.
Many people consider Plant Control to be the best AoE control set in the game because of the early, powerful effect of the Seeds+Roots combo. Many people argue that Plant Controllers are overpowered, especially compared to Mind Controllers with Mass Confusion.
You won't have to worry about Flightspeed in Hover if you make an easy Fly/Hover toggle bind . . . one touch of a key (or, what I use is an extra button on my mouse) and you will flip between the powers. Try:
/Bind H powexecname Fly$$powexecname Hover
Use any key you want for "H."
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
I built a plant/thermal controller to level with a friend thinking the heals and shields would be useful. I really wish I'd done /kinetic because that's fun too but I at least want to finish this character to 50 and try some trials. I think he can bring some useful buffs and control to the table.
I'm going for a sort of malevolent pixie theme, keeping with plants/fire/water. What I'm looking for is some advice on how to slot it with the common lvl 50 IOs so that I can begin working towards sets afterwards. My main play style in groups at the moment is to lay down vine and creepers and then toss roots as it cycles, filling with heals and ST entangle/strangle as needed. I do sometimes find myself hovering over groups, being a healing and aura bot as well.
I would certainly appreciate the advice.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.942
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Natural Controller
Primary Power Set: Plant Control
Secondary Power Set: Thermal Radiation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Leviathan Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Strangler
- (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (3) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (3) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (5) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (5) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
- (7) Hold Duration IO: Level 50
Level 1: Warmth- (A) Healing IO: Level 50
- (7) Healing IO: Level 50
- (9) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
- (9) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
Level 2: Roots- (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (11) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (11) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (13) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (13) Immobilisation Duration IO: Level 50
- (15) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
Level 4: Entangle- (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (19) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (19) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (21) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (21) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
- (23) Immobilisation Duration IO: Level 50
Level 6: Thermal Shield- (A) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
- (23) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
Level 8: Cauterize- (A) Healing IO: Level 50
- (25) Healing IO: Level 50
- (25) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
- (27) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
Level 10: Hover- (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
- (27) Defense Buff IO: Level 50
- (29) Defense Buff IO: Level 50
Level 12: Spirit Tree- (A) Healing IO: Level 50
- (29) Healing IO: Level 50
- (31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
- (31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
Level 14: Hasten- (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
- (31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
Level 16: Fly- (A) Flight Speed IO: Level 50
- (33) Flight Speed IO: Level 50
Level 18: Vines- (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (33) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (33) Hold Duration IO: Level 50
- (34) Hold Duration IO: Level 50
- (34) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
- (34) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
Level 20: Power of the Phoenix- (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
- (36) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
Level 22: Plasma Shield- (A) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
- (36) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
Level 24: Seeds of Confusion- (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (36) Accuracy IO: Level 50
Level 26: Carrion Creepers- (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (37) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (37) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (37) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (39) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
- (39) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
Level 28: Forge- (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
- (39) To Hit Buff IO: Level 50
Level 30: Maneuvers- (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
- (40) Defense Buff IO: Level 50
- (40) Defense Buff IO: Level 50
Level 32: Fly Trap- (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (40) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (42) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (42) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
Level 35: Assault- (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
Level 38: Melt Armor- (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (42) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (43) Defense Debuff IO: Level 50
- (43) Defense Debuff IO: Level 50
Level 41: Water Spout- (A) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (43) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (45) Defense Debuff IO: Level 50
- (45) Defense Debuff IO: Level 50
- (45) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
- (46) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
Level 44: Bile Spray- (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (46) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (46) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (48) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
Level 47: Stealth- (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
- (48) Defense Buff IO: Level 50
- (48) Defense Buff IO: Level 50
Level 49: Vengeance- (A) Defense Buff IO: Level 50
- (50) Defense Buff IO: Level 50
- (50) To Hit Buff IO: Level 50
- (50) To Hit Buff IO: Level 50
------------Level 1: Brawl
- (A) Empty
Level 1: ContainmentLevel 1: Sprint
- (A) Empty
Level 2: Rest- (A) Empty
Level 4: Ninja RunLevel 2: Swift
- (A) Flight Speed IO: Level 50
Level 2: Health- (A) Healing IO: Level 50
- (15) Healing IO: Level 50
Level 2: Hurdle- (A) Jumping IO: Level 50
Level 2: Stamina- (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
- (17) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
- (17) Empty
------------Set Bonus Totals: