link is not working, can you please post the build?
Yes, Dark Affinity is very good.
WTB Dark Affinity for Corrs, Defenders, and MMs.
Yes Plant/Dark is very strong and mine is 50+3 but dark always kinda bored me and as much as I do like plant I hate the fly trap pet. I still prefer my fire/rad overall especially with 46 def S/L and 46% def energy and clarion he is a monster!
"I have always been a fan of science fiction. It all started when my parents forced me to go to church when I was a child."
Quote:
I've modified the build a bit since the OP and there are a few changes that went into the Live build that's not represented in Mid's:|
Originally Posted by awag_91
link is not working, can you please post the build?
|
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.954
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
i22 XXXXXX 50: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Plant Control
Secondary Power Set: Darkness Affinity
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Flight
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Entangle -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx:50(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(11)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- Theft-+End%:30(A), Cloud-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:30(15), Cloud-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg:30(19), Cloud-Acc/Rchg:30(19), Cloud-%Dam:30(34)
Level 2: Strangler -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx:50(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(11)
Level 4: Roots -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:50(5), Posi-Dmg/Rng:50(5), Posi-Acc/Dmg:50(9), Posi-Dam%:50(42)
Level 6: Darkest Night -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx:50(A), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx:50(7), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx:50(7), DarkWD-ToHitDeb:50(9)
Level 8: Seeds of Confusion -- Pplx-Acc/EndRdx:50(A), Pplx-Acc/Conf/Rchg:50(15), CoPers-Conf%:50(43)
Level 10: Howling Twilight -- Rope-EndRdx/Stun:50(A), Rope-Acc/Stun/Rchg:50(40)
Level 12: Tar Patch -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(13)
Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(43)
Level 16: Shadow Fall -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(17), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(17), ResDam-I:50(37), ResDam-I:50(40), ImpSkn-Status:30(40)
Level 18: Vines -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold:30(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg:30(34), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold:30(34), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(37)
Level 20: Fade -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(21), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:50(21)
Level 22: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(23), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(23)
Level 24: Spirit Tree -- Numna-Heal:50(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(25), Numna-Heal/EndRdx:50(25), Numna-Heal/Rchg:50(45)
Level 26: Carrion Creepers -- Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(A), Enf'dOp-Acc/Rchg:50(27), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob:50(27), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx:50(29)
Level 28: Soul Absorption -- Numna-Heal:50(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx:50(29), Numna-Heal/Rchg:50(31), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg:50(43), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg:50(48)
Level 30: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(31), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(31)
Level 32: Fly Trap -- ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg:50(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(33), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg:50(33)
Level 35: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(36), Posi-Dmg/Rng:50(37)
Level 38: Dark Servant -- Cloud-ToHitDeb:30(A), Cloud-%Dam:30(39), Cloud-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:30(39), Cloud-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg:30(39)
Level 41: Rise of the Phoenix -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:30(A), Erad-Dmg:30(42), Erad-Dmg/Rchg:30(42)
Level 44: Fire Shield -- EndRdx-I:50(A), ResDam-I:50(45), ResDam-I:50(45), Aegis-Psi/Status:50(46), ImpSkn-Status:30(50)
Level 47: Tactics -- EndRdx-I:50(A), GSFC-Build%:50(48)
Level 49: Vengeance -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(50), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:50(50)
Level 50: Void Radial Final Judgement
Level 50: Cognitive Core Flawless Interface
Level 50: Barrier Core Epiphany
Level 50: Storm Elemental Total Radial Improved Ally
Level 0: Call to Justice
Level 0: Eye of the Magus
Level 0: Geas of the Kind Ones
Level 50: Vigor Total Radial Revamp
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Level 2: Swift -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Panac-Heal/+End:50(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(46), Numna-Heal:50(46), Heal-I:50(48)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(13)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
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Set Bonus Totals:
- 3% DamageBuff(Smashing)
- 3% DamageBuff(Lethal)
- 3% DamageBuff(Fire)
- 3% DamageBuff(Cold)
- 3% DamageBuff(Energy)
- 3% DamageBuff(Negative)
- 3% DamageBuff(Toxic)
- 3% DamageBuff(Psionic)
- 2.5% Defense(Smashing)
- 2.5% Defense(Lethal)
- 10.63% Defense(Energy)
- 10.63% Defense(Negative)
- 1.25% Defense(Melee)
- 5.31% Defense(Ranged)
- 6.3% Max End
- 3% Enhancement(Immobilize)
- 6% Enhancement(Heal)
- 18% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 81.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 110.6 HP (10.88%) HitPoints
- MezResist(Confused) 22.5%
- MezResist(Held) 22.5%
- MezResist(Immobilize) 22.5%
- MezResist(Sleep) 22.5%
- MezResist(Stun) 22.5%
- MezResist(Terrorized) 22.5%
- 13.5% (0.23 End/sec) Recovery
- 98% (4.15 HP/sec) Regeneration
- 3.15% Resistance(Fire)
- 3.15% Resistance(Cold)
- 1.88% Resistance(Negative)
- 3% Resistance(Psionic)
Code:
| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1654;729;1458;HEX;| |78DA95944D4F13511486E776A6420B484B5B0A42A185F2554A6951966A14C40D243| |5205B3281298C366DD38E8998B8F00768D4B8D5B0D085313151A480BFC38FAD8A20| |4645D41F500F73DE32358D26DEB479EE9C7B3EDE397366A6AE8ED73F3D7FE3B4245| |C6369B550981BCB668C7C369DD6F2F62975519F9768F9F4919160329FBDA4CD1BC1| |493DAD1B4BC1D1780D9D042DF772642C99563346F92A54E170F64A2A151B57F3973| |31A153A934AE919DD58969CC92C454DE7346DA1D1DC4E6AEA82962F2CE9B93AF37A| |22AD2F2E19F5E5B39C9E59749FCBE9F3B1093DAFCD4DA90543CB2FB7909A53F47F2| |624AC924DBA4F482892ED01D3B9C27CE7279A7E25456A922529A048473FD94C36ED| |80DBCCD02EF3B94008E5157FC9BB4A0E32FB28F23ADB9417609159BBCA1CD8607E2| |02D76D622DB5FDA4CDB914D7083595B64AE915F0D34D4EC09D376749F1951D9678B| |F239D84738AEF159DF75E67B3AABC359DD20D7AF07BB287103EB100DB045C08F14D| |7C867F6461FE772B9400F331C65DFBE3203C2ECDB3AC1CD3565F72BF4F435F88619| |7ECBDCA63A1EAE63F3A08E17F9BD6EA69B74FAE0E3834F33B434C3B748F0A3A7FE8| |B6C6B99012F30A3D3CC0D422BF4B5DE63DBB1DBE01D66FB5DE60EE96B134EF3F9B6| |216F3BF275205FE4263F87E15B4C07E90D406F007A3BA0B7037A37099DD0D0F98BE| |3823FC11FE03EF3210D581766AC0BB3D48D59EBC6AC75AF31C398B95DD2DD83FC3D| |5BDCEB5ECC752FE6BE1773FFA44192FA3163FD5FD936F019FCC27C441A06F1FE0C8| |6B84634FA278746F9DE1298030FF52186F98A2166F831DF9397CEE2A819478F12E8| |4D02CFFD1BB55D70BC248638FEBB65934548E6BAB3EC3F84E7331C66DFBDCAF87EB| |6ED5B362182781FC076E5F03B423F5A073751B6942255A7F12A4BA2CA72BCCA72A2| |CA325965492A875F1E49981687EBF03BC32BEA25CD7C23A5937E6BBFE2B1F6499FB| |5FFF72ABA0E1AC29E334E6B3F5BB1FFFFE5ADD0F51B3FE65ACB| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
Yeah, it's kinda crazy. I went a little further with stone mastery on my project. That brings cap'd HP and S/L Defense. That leaves the build with 16063 HP on Bare minimum of 527% regen and a serious heal that can be fired off every 3 seconds.
I kinda agree with Shinobi, it's the /Dark that's doing the real bulk load here. It's very flexible and can make almost any combo a great troller... even ice/dark would be a decent match.
Quote:
All three of those ATs already have it. It's called Dark Miasma, and it's equally good, but in different ways :P
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Originally Posted by DreadShinobi
WTB Dark Affinity for Corrs, Defenders, and MMs. |
Characters!:
Pinny - Scrapper
Shadewing - Defender
@Pinny
Quote:
I'm well aware. Dark Affinity is quite a bit different than Dark Miasma.
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Originally Posted by Pinny
All three of those ATs already have it. It's called Dark Miasma, and it's equally good, but in different ways :P
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Soul Absorption... [misread in Mid's].... and it doesn't slot Accurate Healing. 
(lol)
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
i didnt notice on the build... steadfast 3% def and karma knockback pro in shadowfall
Quote:
Just a build that I can modify as appropriate... by no means a 'bible' for what anyone else may or may not want in theirs. |
Originally Posted by morbious
i didnt notice on the build... steadfast 3% def and karma knockback pro in shadowfall
|
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
Quote:
IMO, I think that Affinity edges out Miasma; it has everything that makes Miasma great (except FS) and adds a team Def/Res buff and a team Regen/Recov buff. (I wonder if it affects league-mates as well?)
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Originally Posted by Pinny
All three of those ATs already have it. It's called Dark Miasma, and it's equally good, but in different ways :P
|
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
Saying 'except FS', though, is a *really* big caveat.
It's difficult to compare the two sets, IMO, because of how the differences interact with the different ATs that the sets are available on. Is dark affinity better than dark miasma would be, on a controller? Possibly, because the biggest thing dark miasma loses - a very good alpha strike mez - is something that most control sets can do anyway. (And the other thing it loses is a ST hold!) Would dark affinity be better than dark miasma on a corruptor or defender? I'm not so sure, because those two ATs don't already duplicate the things that dark miasma would lose in translation. I know just how massively important fearsome stare is for my dark miasma characters, and I'm not sure that having fade and soul absorption would actually make up for losing it.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
I found my plant/dark matured really fast compared to plant/storm. Doing an Elvira, Mistress of the Dark type villain with "Lichen D'Macbre". With a giant Fly Trap, Dark Servant, and Toxic Tarantula, it should make for a fun movie monster theme. So far, lots of fun, and running at x4-x6 solo at low levels was wild with just enough abilities to save me if things went sideways.
Haven't gotten Fluffy yet, but I wonder if its tohit debuff will be counter productive to the damage that my Seed targets do to each other. I guess I'll find out in a few more levels if I'll leave him out all the time or just use him for hard/seed resistant pulls.
I really like this combo. I teamed with someone on a Moonfire that had it, and knew I had to make one of my own. I have not been disappointed one bit. Its just a great combo for teams and large mobs alike.
Don't I know you???
Quote:
I have 2 /Storm Controllers; one being a Plant. It took some time for Storm to be where I wanted it to be (Tornado and Lightning Storm) and was relying heavily on my Primaries to get me by until then. I'm already into the meat-and-potatoes of DA by 28; I'm just trying to afford the slotting that would really make the combo.|
Originally Posted by TheFaux
I found my plant/dark matured really fast compared to plant/storm. Doing an Elvira, Mistress of the Dark type villain with "Lichen D'Macbre". With a giant Fly Trap, Dark Servant, and Toxic Tarantula, it should make for a fun movie monster theme. So far, lots of fun, and running at x4-x6 solo at low levels was wild with just enough abilities to save me if things went sideways.
Haven't gotten Fluffy yet, but I wonder if its tohit debuff will be counter productive to the damage that my Seed targets do to each other. I guess I'll find out in a few more levels if I'll leave him out all the time or just use him for hard/seed resistant pulls. |
Seed damage will be curtailed by all of the -ToHit floating around (Darkest Night should be a preview) but the silver lining is that you will lose less XP from using it and it just adds to the sheer control of it all.
[]
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
IMO, I think that Affinity edges out Miasma; it has everything that makes Miasma great (except FS) and adds a team Def/Res buff and a team Regen/Recov buff. (I wonder if it affects league-mates as well?)
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Muon_Neutrino
Saying 'except FS', though, is a *really* big caveat.
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Then when you compare Soul Absorbtion to Petrifying Gaze, which is generally considered a skippable power, it's quite easy to see Dark Affinity completely outclasses Dark Miasma.
Quote:
Confuse decreases xp/kill but increases xp/time as long as you're not just sitting there watching them kill eachother. Confuse isn't an XP loss.
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Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
Seed damage will be curtailed by all of the -ToHit floating around (Darkest Night should be a preview) but the silver lining is that you will lose less XP from using it and it just adds to the sheer control of it all.
|
Quote:
Not going to try to argue that soul absorption isn't a good power; it definitely is. And fade is also very good. All I'd say is that, for the ATs that get FS instead, that FS is so important that I'd personally rather have it instead of what controllers get.|
Originally Posted by DreadShinobi
Quote:
Then when you compare Soul Absorbtion to Petrifying Gaze, which is generally considered a skippable power, it's quite easy to see Dark Affinity completely outclasses Dark Miasma. |
For one, while FS's -tohit can be resisted, it's also larger than fade's defense to start with, which offsets that somewhat. Also with even modest SO slotting, FS is up every ~25 seconds, and lays down 20 seconds of debuff at the start of every fight, right when you need it. Since fade is a long duration/recharge power, to ensure it's always up when you need it requires perma-ing it, which takes 250% recharge. Even just getting it to a 30 second downtime takes ~133%.
And that's not even considering FS's mez, either. While fear certainly isn't as hard of a mez as sun or hold, it still provides a quite non-trivial amount of mitigation. It's difficult to quantify, but it seems to me that even enemies who are attacked continuously only attack back significantly less often than they otherwise would (and enemies who aren't hit, of course, don't attack at all).
At really high levels of IO investment, where you might be softcapping defense using perma-fade, I could see wanting dark affinity rather than dark miasma even on a non-controller. However, I don't think you can necessarily go from there to 'dark affinity is better than dark miasma'. I don't think you can say the reverse either, though, which is really my point. The ATs that get those two sets have different enough needs that I think it becomes difficult to directly compare them.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
Quote:
I'll just say that for controllers and MMs*; Affinity would be the better choice. For Defenders and Corrs... would depend on the preferred pairings and playstyles.|
Originally Posted by Muon_Neutrino
Not going to try to argue that soul absorption isn't a good power; it definitely is. And fade is also very good. All I'd say is that, for the ATs that get FS instead, that FS is so important that I'd personally rather have it instead of what controllers get.
For one, while FS's -tohit can be resisted, it's also larger than fade's defense to start with, which offsets that somewhat. Also with even modest SO slotting, FS is up every ~25 seconds, and lays down 20 seconds of debuff at the start of every fight, right when you need it. Since fade is a long duration/recharge power, to ensure it's always up when you need it requires perma-ing it, which takes 250% recharge. Even just getting it to a 30 second downtime takes ~133%. And that's not even considering FS's mez, either. While fear certainly isn't as hard of a mez as sun or hold, it still provides a quite non-trivial amount of mitigation. It's difficult to quantify, but it seems to me that even enemies who are attacked continuously only attack back significantly less often than they otherwise would (and enemies who aren't hit, of course, don't attack at all). At really high levels of IO investment, where you might be softcapping defense using perma-fade, I could see wanting dark affinity rather than dark miasma even on a non-controller. However, I don't think you can necessarily go from there to 'dark affinity is better than dark miasma'. I don't think you can say the reverse either, though, which is really my point. The ATs that get those two sets have different enough needs that I think it becomes difficult to directly compare them. |
For team play; I would rather have the SA/Fade combo than the FS/PG combo; especially in a buff/debuff role. (*MMs being a team in its own scale). - Part of that being, outside of the debuff, teams generally nullify the fear component.
I think the hingepoint isn't so much FS as it is Gaze; replace it with either power from Affinity and Miasma becomes better. But you try using Gaze to replace SA or Fade and it weakens Affinity.
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
I keep going back and forth between leveling my plant/dark and plant/storm. I know plant/storm will blossom at 38 but getting there after playing plant/dark feels so much more drawn out. For those of you who've gotten both types to incarnate levels, what's your opinion on how they perform compared to each other?
Quote:
Although I don't have a Plant/Dark at 50 yet... I do have a Plant/Storm (and a Fire/Storm):|
Originally Posted by TheFaux
I keep going back and forth between leveling my plant/dark and plant/storm. I know plant/storm will blossom at 38 but getting there after playing plant/dark feels so much more drawn out. For those of you who've gotten both types to incarnate levels, what's your opinion on how they perform compared to each other?
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Storm is the one you want if you like dishing out damage and its great in solo play (IMO... 35 is the 'big ding'; Tornado (DoT nuke) - lvl 36 for slotting). Combo is just a tad shy of being an AoE deity.
(Great for UG, BAF, DD, Lambda courtyard (all of Lambda once you're level shifted))
Dark, like almost all the other secondaries, is slower on the uptake (soloing), IMO. But its just better for team survival; Incarnate or otherwise. It's almost like having Barrier, Rebirth and half of Ageless at a smaller scale (you could almost consider Fluffy a T2 Lore Support Pet, lol).
(Comes in handy for Lamda temp grabbing, reactor phases of Keyes and the TPN)
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
I find that /Time is a bit better than /Dark. You can become an (almost) unkillable murder-machine with over 225% recharge without even using purples. Granted the IOs you are using are expensive but it's totally worth it.
http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/downl...58FF038DAF04C2
Having long ago written a couple guides on how to do what I thought at the time was the "silly" option of AoE damage on a controller with Fire/Storm, and subsequently discovering across several toons how effective it can be, I have to say that Plant/Dark 'trollers are amazing; I've played some time and realize the +rech is great, and hope to drill into a Plant/Time eventually. But Plant/DarkAff pushes the the bounds of what I think of as splattrolling to new levels, and moreover makes it easy. With Plant/Storm and Fire/Storm under my belt, and I teamed and soloed about equally with them, and despite loving /Storm, I'm a total convert, and would always prefer /DAff, though well I know the time to grind down a couple lieuts at the end of a fight is real drag on XP/time.
I'm wowed by it. This endorsement is conspicuously free of nerfherding.
Choosing a Controller V2 | Splattrollers | Plant/Rad | Fire/Storm | Mind/Emp & Mind/Rad
Weird Controller Powers | Conf & XP/Time | Controller Damage
Being a Healer | The word Necessary | Natural Concept Characters
Quote:
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Originally Posted by TheFaux
I keep going back and forth between leveling my plant/dark and plant/storm. I know plant/storm will blossom at 38 but getting there after playing plant/dark feels so much more drawn out. For those of you who've gotten both types to incarnate levels, what's your opinion on how they perform compared to each other?
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I can't directly compare the two since my Incarnate level controllers with the relevant sets are Plant/Storm and Fire/Dark. Still, I have extensive experience with both Plant and Storm, and about as much experience with Dark as one could expect considering how new it is.
Plant is just brutally powerful all by itself, so what secondary you attach to it is really going to be a matter of taste. However, Plant's real strength comes with the fact that its power level scales up with the number of opponents you face. The more there are, the stronger it gets. More Creepers spawning, more foes confused and hurting each other, more targets for Roots damage to affect. Plant all by itself can demolish large spawns of minions and lieutenants with no assistance. Against a single hard target, however, Plant brings very little special to the table.
Storm as a secondary to Plant is all about ramping up the damage output of Plant's multitarget capacities with Freezing Rain and then taking over when you only have a single tough target. Assuming permahaste and some form of endurance management Storm can put out a LOT of damage if you get its effects all aimed at one target. 2 to 3 Lightning Storms, and a couple Tornadoes chewing away at something debuffed by Freezing Rain, and locked in place (if needed) by Entangle is nothing to sneeze at.
Hurricane is both a useful positional tool (great for concentrating spawns for your Lightning Storms to zap) and an incredible defense, but defensively Storm doesn't hold a candle to Dark Affinity.
Dark Affinity is an incredible defensive/support set. With the right setup you can create a quasi-tank. (My Fire/Dark for instance is softcapped to all positionals and has nearly capped smash/lethal resists on top of that) Let alone the ability to heal like a champ, debuff the snot out of the enemy, and to have a pet that ALSO heals like a champ and debuffs the snot out of an enemy. Oh, and lots of -regen to boot. And did I mention that it also buffs the whole teams defenses, resistances, regeneration, and recovery? So yeah, what's not to like here? Pair it with Plant and you'll be a team buffing, big spawn slaughtering, aoe healing monster.
But . . . Dark does not address Plant's performance issues against single hard targets. Yes it has -regen, but other than that it's not going to help much. It also has zero positional control, which Storm (properly handled) excels at, but this is a lesser concern.
So it's going to be a matter of taste and playstyle. If you plan on playing exclusively in teams I'd say Plant/Dark is the clear winner. If you plan on playing mostly solo I'd give the nod to Plant/Storm. If a mix, well then it's a matter of taste.
I love love love my Plant/Storm though. Yes, I have stronger characters, but WOOO! is he fun. But then I just love Storm.
Now that Mid's is updated for i22, I've been throwing some concept combos into the meat grinder and am discovering that the new Dark sets make for some pretty interesting effects.
Plant/Dark Controller:
Slotted, it can give an entire team:
+ 32% Def (stacked w/a -22% ToHit debuff; sans Fluffy)
+ 888% Regen
+22% Resis (NRG, Neg, Psi (stacked w/a -30to40% Dmg debuff; sans Fluffy)
on top of Seeds, Creepers, Fluffy, Twilight Grasp and Howling Twilight
For the player, it can get much more exciting:
http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/downl...9AFF00C8EA0149
lol, who needs Incarnate powers when you have this combo?
Oh, wait... Agility Core, Clarion Radial, Void Radial and Cognitive Core.
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars