/Leviathan /Mu or /Psionic Mastery for my Plant/Storm build?

[Qabal]

I just hit level 41 on my Plant/Storm controller, and I can't decide which epic/patron pool to take.  I've been weighing the pros and cons, but, seeing this is my first high level controller, I'd appreciate input.

 

/Leviathan gives me Water Spout for an extra Tornado like ability (this is the main reason for taking Leviathan).  Shark Skin caps Smashing and Lethal resist as well as Cold (whoopee...).  I get the Coralax pet which I know little about, but the slotting allows me to 45% both my Ranged and AOE defense.  And finally, Hibernate looks like a nice OH Crap! button.

 

/Mu gives me Charged Armor which will cap Smashing, Lethal, and Energy resists (seems much better than Cold).  I also get Guardian for a pet which SEEMS better than Coralax since it's ranged only and has a heal.  I still keep 45% Ranged and AOE defense by slotting it as well.  Power Sink looks like a nice Endurance skill, since Endurance is always an issue.  Then it's either Surge of Power to mule a +3% Defense enhancement or Ball Lightning for another attack.  How good is Ball Lightning for a controller?

 

/Psionic gives me perma Indomitable Will, which gives me some much needed defense against Sleep, Hold, Disorient, and Fear.  Honestly, after fighting Arachnos in the New Praetorians questline, that sounds amazing.  Mind over Body keeps Smashing and Lethal capped while giving me some psionic resistance.  That sounds better than Shark Skin, but not as good as Charged Armor.  Unfortunately, Psi doesn't have a pet to pair with my Fly Trap.  Not only will my Fly Trap get lonely, but I can no longer cap AOE defense.  I can hit about 40% while keeping Ranged above 45%.  That leaves Psionic Tornado.  Is this skill any good?  I assumed it'd be similar to Tornado, but the recharge and duration on Mids are so short...

 

I appreciate any and all advice.  Thank you.

[Psyonico]

Just my two cents

 

Water spout is amusing as another havoc causing power.  The entire reason my illusion/storm went leviathan was water spout.  Coralax is ok, but definitely squishy.

 

Psi tornado is NOTHING like tornado. It is purely a ranged aoe dot attack that has a knock up component at the beginning. Compare it to ball lightning or fireball or fissure, not tornado

[Qabal]

5 hours ago, Psyonico said:

Just my two cents

 

Water spout is amusing as another havoc causing power.  The entire reason my illusion/storm went leviathan was water spout.  Coralax is ok, but definitely squishy.

 

Psi tornado is NOTHING like tornado. It is purely a ranged aoe dot attack that has a knock up component at the beginning. Compare it to ball lightning or fireball or fissure, not tornado

Thanks. That at least rules out Psionic Mastery.  If Psi Tornado is nothing special, then the only reason to go Psi is Indomitable Will, and I can achieve that by carrying a few Break Free inspirations on me at all times.

 

On a side note, I almost made an Illusion/Storm controller instead of Plant/Storm.  I may still make one.  I enjoyed my Thugs/Storm Mastermind, but I had trouble keeping my thugs alive which is why I switched in the first place.

[insome1]

Why not go ice?

 

You get Hibernate, which is great for end management and panic button.

Ice storm stacks great with freezing rain.

Frost breath, a cone, but so is your seeds, they work well together to hit just about everything with containment

And frozen armor. Unless you are trying to cap res or def.. Ice armor allows sets from resistance and defense. This is great for both res and def proc sets..

 

Ive included a screenshot on how I have my current plant/storm/ice slotted with ice mastery.

 

Spoiler

 

 

But if you are set on one of the 3 you mentioned. Id say /psi for the status protection.

 

 

[krj12]

I went Mu for the charged armor, but an extra tornado could be entertaining as well.  Whatever you find the most fun.

 

[LynxNordique]

10 hours ago, Qabal said:

Thanks. That at least rules out Psionic Mastery.  If Psi Tornado is nothing special, then the only reason to go Psi is Indomitable Will, and I can achieve that by carrying a few Break Free inspirations on me at all times.

 

On a side note, I almost made an Illusion/Storm controller instead of Plant/Storm.  I may still make one.  I enjoyed my Thugs/Storm Mastermind, but I had trouble keeping my thugs alive which is why I switched in the first place.

 

 

Indomitable Will is REALLY good. It can be made perma at high level (assuming you are not slowed) on a perma hasten expensive build. It gives you better choices at Incarnate level  for Destiny, since there are lots of mezzing mobs. You can then rely less on Clarion and enjoy more Ageless or Barrier instead; wich are great for pets too. Plus, you have to carry only one or 2 break frees just in case, so you can fill your tray with everything else. 

 

Psi Tornado is ok, with its knockup and -recharge components. Its Dot is decent and some mobs are weak to Psi damages.

Edited December 2, 2021 by LynxNordique

[DreadShinobi]

Going to second everything @LynxNordique had to offer about psi mastery. Indomitable Will is super powerful by itself, and supporting taking ageless over clarion is a big deal, especially for the endurance heavy storm summoning. Psionic Tornado is also more than ok, it has a 20 ft radius compared to the typical 15 ft radius. The knockup is reliable, as is the forcefeedback procs that it generates allowing you to cast Tornado, Lightning Storm, Freezing Rain, and Seeds of Confusion more frequently. Any encounters with psi damage foes become very trivial where you would otherwise have a hole here, and is especially noticeable on the Minds of Mayhem trial where the pink circles become no more than a tickle. 

[Qabal]

18 hours ago, insome1 said:

Why not go ice?

 

You get Hibernate, which is great for end management and panic button.

Ice storm stacks great with freezing rain.

Frost breath, a cone, but so is your seeds, they work well together to hit just about everything with containment

And frozen armor. Unless you are trying to cap res or def.. Ice armor allows sets from resistance and defense. This is great for both res and def proc sets..

 

Ive included a screenshot on how I have my current plant/storm/ice slotted with ice mastery.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

But if you are set on one of the 3 you mentioned. Id say /psi for the status protection.

 

 

I thought about Ice, but Frozen Armor doesn't help my defense or resists in any meaningful way.  Ice Storm and Frost Breath would be great though, especially stacking Ice Storm with Freezing Rain like you mentioned.

[Qabal]

10 hours ago, LynxNordique said:

snip

7 hours ago, DreadShinobi said:

snip

 

You both make good points on Indomitable Will.  It's the main reason I considered Psi in the first place.  That's the only skill it adds that I particularly care about though.  If I hit a fair amount of content that I struggle with status effects, I can see myself respeccing to Psi.  It seems like the least fun option though since Psi nado isn't actually a tornado though, so I'll likely start with either of my other choices.

[Doomguide2005]

     Multiple builds.  Foes are heavy mezzers or particularly weak to Psi go Psi Mastery if not then Leviathan or ...

     I'd personally also lean towards Psi Mastery and Indomitable Will.  IW can also come into play earlier than Incarnate abilities and I, at least, run exemplar frequently.

 

 

[Carnifax]

7 hours ago, Qabal said:

I thought about Ice, but Frozen Armor doesn't help my defense or resists in any meaningful way.  Ice Storm and Frost Breath would be great though, especially stacking Ice Storm with Freezing Rain like you mentioned.

I went Ice on my Plant/Storm. But I'm half-thinking Mu would be better overall. That said for a Plant/Storm Hibernate is gold. Basically "immune combat rest" while all your patches, creepers and confused enemies batter themselves. Frozen Armour has me at S/L def, along with Ranged but it is totally an "eggshell" build, having S/L resists may be overall a better choice. 

 

One plus for Psi is that Psi Tornado can also take a Forced Feedback (along with Tornado and Lightning Storm) so you can get a bit of a "Mad King" build going. But personally I find the Endurance issues worse than the Mez issues so a set with some form of End recovery was a must. 

 

Mu is excellent on my Grav/TA, but they have extra incentive to go for Ball Lightnings Energy damage with Oil Slick. The Guardian is nice on a build with no self-heal too and if you have FFs in Lightning and Tornado that would gel well with the long recharge of the Guardian. Power Sink is the best End recovery tool available for you. 

 

My biggest issue would be finding slots for Mu, Ice is nice that way (I skipped the cone and took just Hibernate with a recharge io in the base slot, Frozen Armour 2 slotted with +5 Def IOs and Ice Storm 5 slotted with Annilation for the End Discount set bonus. So slot-wise it's pretty cheap. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Crysis]

On 12/2/2021 at 1:01 AM, Qabal said:

Thanks. That at least rules out Psionic Mastery.  If Psi Tornado is nothing special, then the only reason to go Psi is Indomitable Will, and I can achieve that by carrying a few Break Free inspirations on me at all times.

 

On a side note, I almost made an Illusion/Storm controller instead of Plant/Storm.  I may still make one.  I enjoyed my Thugs/Storm Mastermind, but I had trouble keeping my thugs alive which is why I switched in the first place.

Ill/Storm is chaos.  Gleeful, hand wringing, amazing chaos.  Fun build and quite powerful.