mezzosoprano

Division 5 was brutal (no incarnates, no temps) -- took almost twice as long to down the pylon. Clearly, no prize for me this month! For fun, I also tried the Office mission, which was a slog without Incarnates. Bosses took even longer to kill, and endurance consumption was a big problem. Run Type: Pylon Division: 5 Archetype: Controller Primary Powerset: Plant Secondary Powerset: Storm Time: 3:12 Runs: 1 Run Type: Office Division: 5 Archetype: Controller Primary Powerset: Plant Secondary Powerset: Storm Time: 7:19 Runs: 1

My vote, as always, goes to Plant/Storm. It was my favorite character on the legacy servers and the first I created on Homecoming. As mentioned above, it is a very end-heavy combo. Anything you can do to get +recovery or +end will help. My Incarnate build is very heavy on +recharge and on damage procs. When going full-out, I need to alternate Ageless with Victory Rush to keep from bottoming out my blue bar. I have Creepers slotted with 6 damage procs -- it routinely generates around 50% of my total damage. When soloing, even at lower levels, Seeds of Confusion at level 8 is your every spawn control. Combined with Steamy Mist at level 10 and a +stealth IO, you can saunter up to a spawn, find your best angle safely, hit Seeds, then spam Roots until they're all dead. For harder targets, I add Entangle and Arcane Bolt. Freezing Rain at 16 and Creepers at 22 add nicely to your damage, while Tornado and Lightning Storm will add the the chaos at higher levels. On teams, let your friends take the alpha, then spam all your favorites -- Freezing Rain, Creepers, Roots, Lightning Storm, and Tornado. Sequoia - Controller (Plant Control - Storm Summoning).mbd

I wanted to try this with my Plant/Storm Controller, but the mission has too many spawns in the deep water. For several of those spawns, I could not reliably fire Tornado or Carrion Creepers. (I use macros to drop those at my current target. When the target was in deeper water, the power wouldn't fire, requiring me to unselect a target, click the power, then manually click a spot of shallower water.) All of that really threw off my muscle memory and timing.

Run Type: Office Division: 1 4 Archetype: Controller Primary Powerset: Plant Secondary Powerset: Storm Time: 5:28 Hybrid: Assault Radial Embodiment Runs: 1 General purpose build with very high recharge. Had a couple of runners flee Freezing Rain that weren't locked down my Roots that took a little extra time to thwack. I fly (and haven't played in a couple of years), so navigating the office is sometimes a hassle. It was very hard not to mash my macro for making and consuming red inspirations. Bosses take too long to melt. I prefer +4/x8 no bosses to +0/x8 with bosses -- took only 3 seconds longer to run. 😛 Also tried the test pylons with the same build: Run Type: Pylon Division: 1 4 Archetype: Controller Primary Powerset: Plant Secondary Powerset: Storm Time: 1:48 Hybrid: Assault Radial Embodiment Runs: 1 [edit] Changed my division from 1 -> 4, as I didn't use any temp powers. Sequoia - Controller (Plant Control - Storm Summoning).mbd

You can combine some crazy options in your macro commands, but if you want the macro to select a target for you, then noogens2 is spot on -- you'll have to click the button twice. Macros evaluate right to left, so the first press tries to fire the power without a target, fails, then executes the other command, selecting a target. The command below creates a macro with the Freezing Rain icon. When clicked, it tries to drop FR at my target. If I don't have a target selected, it drops it at my feet. (The only unhandled case is if my selected target is out of range for FR -- then nothing happens when I click the button.) /macro_image stormsummoning_freezingrain.texture "Freezing Rain" "powexec_location me freezing rain$$powexec_location target freezing rain" With this macro, I only have to click the button once to fire FR. But the key is that FR can be cast without a target....

Reviewing the log, I only used one green inspiration -- thought I used more. I also fired off Ageless for endurance and recovery twice, since the build has very high end usage. I'll try again and see how I do without Ageless and (hopefully) w/o inspirations.

Very fun challenge! I ran my Plant/Storm through at 4/8, completed in 6:10. I did need to pop a few inspirations, as I've maximized recharge not defense. The two hardest parts were dropping down the trapdoors into middle of spawns, rather than at the end to use seeds. I probably could have hit the aoe hold first, then backed off and used seeds to clear those spawns with less risk/stress. Really wish werewolves could be more easily immobilized -- I really hate seeing them run once their debuffed....

Just ran this through Ouro with my purpled Plant/Storm, exemped to 45. Ran the mission at 0/1. Overall time: 9:29, including travel, one trip to the hospital, and waiting for CK to regen before I started my second attack run. As usual for this build, it is very clicky. However, not using seeds of confusion or roots threw off my muscle memory -- I'm used to fighting crowds, not AVs! Actual time to defeat the CK (second combat only) was 166s. I spammed Freezing Rain, Lightning Storm, and Tornado as fast as they recharged. Strangler, Entangle, and Arcane Bolt formed my basic attack chain. I popped a couple of purples, a couple of blues, and one green during the fight. Power Damage Percentage Power: Proc Damage % of Total Arcane Bolt 4,439 11.72% Carrion Creeper Patch : Bombardment: Chance for Fire Damage 217 0.57% Carrion Creepers 7,388 19.51% Carrion Creeper Patch : Javelin Volley: Chance for Lethal Damage 264 0.70% Fly Trap 4,039 10.67% Carrion Creeper Patch : Positron's Blast: Chance for Energy Damage 217 0.57% Entangle 2,877 7.60% Carrion Creeper Vine : Bombardment: Chance for Fire Damage 1,077 2.84% Freezing Rain 270 0.71% Carrion Creeper Vine : Javelin Volley: Chance for Lethal Damage 1,194 3.15% Lightning Storm 8,686 22.94% Carrion Creeper Vine : Positron's Blast: Chance for Energy Damage 1,853 4.89% Strangler 1,895 5.00% Lightning Storm : Apocalypse: Chance for Negative Energy Damage 2,118 5.59% Tornado 8,273 21.85% Lightning Storm : Gladiator's Javelin: Chance for Toxic Damage 1,196 3.16% Total 37,868 100.00% Total 8,135 21.48% Overall, damage procs delivered 21% of my total damage output. (Left table is powers inclusive of all sub-powers and procs. Right table is proc details.) Damage log: https://www.carnifax.org/?uuid=50faabb6-ee90-4037-a46a-be35d3ce4985

I'm a strong advocate for Plant/Storm. 🙂 Seeds of Confusion is an amazing power, especially when used as an opener from stealth. Against larger spawns of even-level bad guys, you can confuse them, drop freezing rain, then spam roots until they drop. Endurance can be a big problem -- I'd recommend slotting more end reduction than you might otherwise and to pick up any of the +recovery IOs that your budget allows ASAP.

Only have to press the button once. IIRC, macros work from right to left for aggregated calls, exiting after the first successful call. So if I have no target selected, the last call fails, then the client tries the other call, dropping it at my feet.

You can combine both options and the macro image command for even more fun. The command below creates a macro with the Freezing Rain icon. When clicked, it tries to drop FR at my target. If I don't have a target selected, it drops it at my feet. (The only unhandled case is if my selected target is out of range for FR -- then nothing happens when I click the button.) /macro_image stormsummoning_freezingrain.texture "Freezing Rain" "powexec_location me freezing rain$$powexec_location target freezing rain"

How we measure does drastically change the outcome and hierarchy of primaries. While I've played most primaries and secondaries, and tried many combinations, the only one I've really fine-tuned is Plant/Storm. My personal best pylon time is 1:55, driven by lucky streaks of procs and sufficient misses by the pylon. I suspect an Illusion controller with perma-PA could beat that time (and out damage me in any other single-target test). For AE farming, I normally run an underground map (Arc #318), because the support columns allow me to break LOS and force mobs to regroup. (On the asteroid map, there's no way to keep bad guys in front of me for continuous spamming of Seeds of Confusion.) In my testing, Creepers does ~50% of my total damage. Of that, 75% comes from procs. I'd love to try to help quantify DPS potential of the various sets, if anyone has ideas on a good testing framework.

It was awesome teaming with you the other day. Welcome to the Chaos Club! Over time, I've slightly tweaked my build from what I previously posted. My current build is below. (1) Yes, Stealth was an LOTG mule in the previous build. I liked having 5, but Stealth really was a wasted power, with Steamy Mist and a +Stealth IO in Mystic Flight. I generally run with Steamy Mist, Mystic Flight, Maneuvers, Tactics, and Mind Over Body toggled on. Seeds of Confusion is most of my defense. In AE farms, it can be tough to keep everyone in front of me. I like the tunnel map because I can break LOS with the columns, forcing the bad guys to clump up again. Fly Trap can handle non-boss stragglers that fall behind. (2) Tornado without the KB->KD IO throws bad guys everywhere. Prior to slotting that IO, I generally only used Tornado solo or when facing AVs. With that slotted, Tornado can still push/repel bad guys, but normally doesn't scatter them. The alternative to the KB/KD IO is trying to spam Roots before your Tornado catches up from the last group. That tends to work solo, allowing you to slot something else in Tornado's 6th slot. (3) With Ageless Core Epiphany (T4 Destiny), I don't use Victory Rush very often anymore. I've considered moving it earlier in the build to use on lower-level Task Forces, or swapping it out for a different power. (4/5) For my playstyle, Indomitable Will and Rune of Protection are primarily used for their slotted IOs. I do find myself clicking both of these when things start to go haywire, since additional resistance helps. (6) I use Vines to handle extra spawns if Seeds of Confusion isn't up. Spore Burst doesn't get used much. When sowing mass chaos, I spam Seeds, Freezing Rain, Roots, Creepers, Lightning Storm, Tornado -- I fire these almost any time they are up. In AE farming, Creepers and procs do roughly 50% of my damage. The new TAOE set on the test server has another damage proc that will go in Creepers. I'm thinking of swapping the Javelin Volley acc/dam for the new damage proc, then boosting the two remaining dam/rech IOs to +5. Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Sequoia: Level 50 Magic Controller Primary Power Set: Plant Control Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Teleportation Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Entangle -- Dcm-Acc/Dmg(A), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(3), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5) Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I(A) Level 2: Roots -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(7), PstBls-Dmg/Rchg(7), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(9), PstBls-Dam%(9) Level 4: Strangler -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(15), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(15), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(17) Level 6: Mystic Flight -- Frb-Stlth(A), Frb-Fly(17) Level 8: Seeds of Confusion -- CrcPrs-Conf(A), CrcPrs-Conf/Rchg(19), CrcPrs-Acc/Conf/Rchg(19), CrcPrs-Acc/Rchg(21), CrcPrs-Conf/EndRdx(21), CrcPrs-Conf%(23) Level 10: Steamy Mist -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(23), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(25), UnbGrd-ResDam(25), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(27) Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(27) Level 14: Spore Burst -- SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(A), SprWiloft-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(29), SprWiloft-EndRdx/Rchg(29), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(31), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(31) Level 16: Freezing Rain -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31), AchHee-ResDeb%(33) Level 18: Arcane Bolt -- Dcm-Acc/Dmg(A), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(33), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Dcm-Build%(34), FrcFdb-Rechg%(34) Level 20: Recall Friend -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 22: Vines -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(36), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(36), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(36) Level 24: Rune of Protection -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), StdPrt-ResKB(37), UnbGrd-ResDam(37), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(37) Level 26: Carrion Creepers -- JvlVll-Acc/Dmg(A), JvlVll-Dam%(39), JvlVll-Dam/Rech(39), PstBls-Dmg/Rchg(39), PstBls-Dam%(40), SprWiloft-Rchg/Dmg%(40) Level 28: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(40), Rct-ResDam%(42) Level 30: Tactics -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), GssSynFr--ToHit(42) Level 32: Fly Trap -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(42), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(43), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43) Level 35: Tornado -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(43), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(45), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(45), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(46) Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Apc-Dam%(A), GldJvl-Dam%(46), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(46), Dvs-Dmg/Rchg(48), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(48), FrcFdb-Rechg%(48) Level 41: Indomitable Will -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(50) Level 44: Mind Over Body -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(50) Level 47: Victory Rush -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(50) Level 49: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Containment Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(11), Pnc-Heal/+End(11) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(13), EndMod-I(13) Level 50: Ion Core Final Judgement Level 50: Polar Lights Core Superior Ally Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany Level 50: Assault Core Embodiment Level 50: Reactive Core Flawless Interface Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon ------------

Your build looks great as well, Papaschtroumpf. It is amazing how many options Plant/Storm has for causing chaos. Capped ranged/aoe defense is a very nice thing. I've got a few alternative builds I've tried on the test server with capped S/L using Ice or Earth epics. In both of those builds, I gave up Entangle and slotted Strangler with procs. I had enough recharge to alternate strangler and arcane bolt seamlessly. But in the end, neither build felt as smooth against groups and both were much slower defeating Rikti Pylons. With the build posted above I've soloed a pylon in just under 2 minutes, can solo radios at +4/x8, and can farm at a fairly decent pace. Definitely a fun character to play!

Papaschtroumpf really nailed all the suggestions I would make for leveling up and soloing. The biggest XP boost for me, however, was periodically teaming up to run Task Forces.