Plant/Thermal build review

[Story Archer]

[EDIT: Updated build in the post below this one]

 

Morning, all! 

 

I was working on a Plant/Fire Dominator when I realized that I couldn't remember the last time I had played a controller. I tend to be of the more Blastery/Defendery sort and I hadn't found any Controller sets that I really liked, except Plants on the Red side (it had never been a Controller option when I played back in the day). I looked and sure enough it was available for Controllers so I immediately went to work. The reason I'm making this post is twofold: to get input and advice from the more experienced players on the board (whom are always so knowledgeable and helpful), and to create a guide of sorts for less experienced players who might be interested in one or both of these power sets, as well as how to build a well-rounded and effective Controller.

 

Play style/concept: This toon is obviously intended for group play - almost exclusively - so it'll need to be effective against tougher mobs with the understanding that it's primarily a support character and I'll be looking to the others for damage. I just want to make sure nobody has to worry about me and that the game feels like it's on easy mode for my teammates. I also want a 'clean' build that feels smooth to run, with clear options for each situation, one that allows me to focus on the group between fights and our enemies during fights.

 

Goals/parameters: I generally try to plan my character builds with as few purps as possible (assume I'm probably not going to get into Incarnates), usually just 1 or 2 of the class-specific purple sets. Within that framework, I want to get my Ranged and AoE defenses as high as possible because I generally try to stay back so that I can keep an eye on everything going on, capping S/L Resistance would be a bonus.

 

Result: Between shields/maneuvers and both area and targeted heals, the group feels like it's in good hands, but they probably won't need them very often them as Carrion Creepers and Seeds of Confusion should keep most mobs preoccupied and then some. Strangler and Vines are primarily for stacking on hard targets supported by Heat Exhaustion and Power Boost. My defenses are all precisely where I wanted them, so hopefully the group won't have to worry about keeping me alive (not that they would anyway).

 

So this is the build:

 

 

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As you can see, I've managed to get the character's defenses above the soft-cap for both Ranged and AoE and hit the Resistance cap for S/L (though the remaining resistances are certainly nothing to write home about). For most experienced players, what's above is all they need to break it down and tear it apart (and thank you for getting through the text wall to this point), but I wanted to comment a little bit on my power selections and thoughts on slotting. Hopefully if I've misunderstood something, everyone can point out my errors.

 

Plant Control:

Strangler + Vines: I absolutely love the Lockdown IO set for these powers, due largely for their defensive buffs but also for the potential to stack higher-mag holds on targets. In most fights, once I've dropped Seeds of Confusion and made sure Carrion Creepers is up and running, casting selective Stranglers, spamming Warmth and monitoring the group's health bar in case a timely Cauterize is needed will pretty much be my focus. I took Vines primarily to slot if with a second Lockdown set and so that I had two Mag 3 Holds I could drop back to back on a particularly hard target.

 

Roots: Didn't take - I didn't feel like I had room, though I've heard it can have some nice uses. I just don't rely on this guy for damage and I like the clumping effect caused by seeds of Confusion.

 

Spore Burst: Didn't take - Sleeps always seem so situational and this one doesn't even deal damage. 

 

Seeds of Confusion: One of the main reasons to play Plant Control imo, if not THE reason, especially so early in the build, letting you have a highly effective control mechanism for group play almost from the start. In addition to basically shutting down entire groups of mobs it tends to group them up for my allies AoE attacks (assuming Creepers lets them). Cones can be tricky but you get the hang of it pretty quick and slotting a Celerity +Stealth in Sprint can make it easy to position yourself if the group lacks a Tank. 

 

Much less simple is the Overwhelming Presence IO set. This is something I'm struggling to get my mind around. I've thought about going with four slots in Seeds along with a couple of Range IO's and then sticking the other two into Carrion Creepers to double up on the Mez bonus. That would wreck my carefully cultivated Ranged/AoE defenses, so I'm not sure if it'd be worth it. I also have absolutely no clue how useful the Energy Font actually is - at this point I'm basically treating it like lagniappe, but am I missing an opportunity there?

 

Spirit Tree: Didn't take - Could theoretically be useful for long fights, but with the healing offered by the Secondary it seemed pointless.

 

Carrion Creepers: I'm just getting the hang of how this power works. I've read a lot of advice about slotting this power for damage procs, but I love everything that a full set of Superior Will of the Controller brings to the table too much (including its own damage proc) and, again, this character isn't being built to be a damage dealer. Whatever meager damage I managed would undoubtedly be dwarfed by anything a half-way decent group would be putting out, so better that it compliments all the disruption and control that I bring to the table instead. I'd also rather have it up more often and with Hasten up its almost perma. With all of that in mind, am I totally wrong here? 

 

Fly Trap: The way I see it, literally anything he brings to the table is just bonus. More chaos and control, a little damage, maybe draws some fire away from an ally - mostly he lets me 6-slot Blood Mandate for some excellent defensive bonuses.

 

Thermal Radiation:

Warmth + Cauterize: I'm not 100% sure exactly how the Preventive Medicine +Absorb works - I could just as easily 4-slot Panacea in there and move the Preventive Medicine into Health instead, if that would be better. Likewise, I should get the full benefit of the Unique in Numina's Convalescence where it is currently slotted in Warmth, correct?

 

Thermal / Plasma Shield: Not much to say here. Reapply between fights or as needed and they serve as nice mules for the Aegis IO sets to boost AoE defense.

 

Honestly if all Thermal Radiation did was the shields and the heals, it'd be a solid support set, but there's more!

 

Power of the Phoenix: Somebody should be able to Rez in the group, especially if the Rez happens to also be their highest damaging power. Popping Vengeance after an ally bites it and then following up with this bad boy can turn a tough fight into a cakewalk. I think I can stick the Miracle Unique in this power, but I'd just as soon not have allies having to wait any longer than they have to in case more than one goes down.

 

Thaw: Didn't take - I chose Power of the Phoenix here and Vengeance later on, and those are really the only places in the build where it could go. It would make for a nice Unique mule, but I don't know what I would drop for it. Besides, by the middling levels, most players have already attended to their own Mez protections, one way or another.

 

Forge: If you pay attention, you can usually have this up and active on all of your team's damage dealers, which is amazing. It's basically like having a second Tactics AND another 2-3 Assaults up at once. Did I say this cat didn't deal damage? Your teammates will thank you for this more often than for their shields, I can promise you.

 

Heat Exhaustion: This is explicitly for going after hard targets like Elite Bosses, Arch Villains and Giant Monsters. Personally I think that single-target powers with long recharge times and don't take IO sets should have a higher base accuracy, but whatever. With Hasten up I've got this more or less perma and it makes most of those tough fights a hell of a lot easier.

 

Melt Armor: Didn't Take - honestly, most other players don't need me lowering defenses for them in order to hit (especially not already loaded up with Tactics and Forge) and minions tend to get mowed down too fast for this to do much good anyway. I thought this would be a nice compliment to Heat Exhaustion - which it's clearly intended to be - but I don't know what I would take out for it. Maybe I'll drop Vengeance and take a slot each out of Maneuvers and Weave to make room for it at 49. I just worry about my Accuracy as it is and those fourth slots in LotG help a lot.

 

My biggest concerns regarding the build are:

• Relatively low non S/L resistances, though ideally I shouldn't be attacked very often, much less actually hit.
• Relatively low Recovery, though life has got to be a lot easier when you're not spamming attacks like a frenzied spider monkey.
• Relatively low Accuracy (+33% global ACC, +21.75% ToHit), especially vs. high-level mobs. This worsens if I go the Melt Armor route, but then I suppose if I opened with Melt Armor every other fight...

 

Well, that's what I got. I'd appreciate any thoughts or comments on specific aspects of the build - particularly if I'm completely backwards on something - and I hope that what was posted is useful to someone out there. Thanks for reading!

 

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Story Archer

[Story Archer]

Update:

 

Alright, I wanted to give you guys an expanded update on the build as well as a little bit of a guide for exactly what to do with it on the way to 50. I've made some changes to the initial build shown above, and I've changed the slotting around to show the best way (in my opinion, of course) to slot as you advance. Also included are the base IO's that you should buy while working your way up, more or less in the order that they're slotted, before you start focusing on putting together all of your full sets.

 

First, the initial build:

 

 

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(is there a better way to do this than just a massive chunk of text?)

 

So, if you look at that, you'll see that this build incorporates Melt Armor and is much more specific in its slotting progression. Initially I lean pretty hard on Seeds and Strangler for my control, with Vines only being used to stack with Strangler on Boss groups when necessary. The Lockdown +2 Mag procs are a help with the latter.

 

You're going to be providing a fair amount of protection and healing to your allies, but for your own defenses you're pretty much going to be relying on the kindness of strangers. Keep in mind how relatively fragile you are at this point and be patient. Teammates may come to depend on your heals and they can't have you faceplanting because you drew unwanted aggro.

 

This build is a little Recovery-tight for most of its pre-50 career, so try and be judicious with your heals rather than simply auto-firing Warmth.  Sometimes its fun to take a break from manically mashing buttons like a spider monkey on meth, so enjoy a more measured pace in combat, keeping an eye on the battlefield and your allies to see where your heals or your control might be most judiciously applied.

 

I tend to use Hasten situationally since eventually everything that I need has pretty good recharge on its own. Later on I'll try to pop Hasten when I drop Creepers, just to get it back faster (EDIT: Hasten and Super Speed should be swapped, as the Stealth provided by Super Speed can make it a little easier to position yourself for Seeds, at least until you get the Celerity unique in Sprint). To conserve Endurance, I generally don't run Tough, I just use it as a mule for the IO uniques. The empty slots are placeholders for the sets you will eventually be inserting, which is why they're placed last. By the time you drop them, you might already have some of the pieces to fill them, but for convenience sake, I made sure to use all of the exact same slots on the post-50 build.

 

The final build:

 

 

 

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So you can see that we've got our Ranged & AoE defenses up right where we want them, so close to soft-cap that literally any buff from a teammate will put it over the top. Ditto with the S/L Resistance, though the rest of your resistances aren't really worth writing home about. A few comments about the build:

 

• Seeds of Confusion, slotted with Contagious Confusion just might be the most powerful ability in the game. 
• Your sets get you to Hasten-like recharge without Hasten. Again, I usually only pop it in big boss fights or as a follow-up to Carrion Creepers.
• You'll notice that I ditch the procs in Carrion Creepers for a full set of Superior Will of the Controller. Some people live and die by the procs, but I find it to be the perfect option as it already has a pretty potent damage proc of its own and the fact that it buffs ALL aspects of control means that it improves all of the things your Creepers do, instead of just one element of them.
• I take Vengeance in the 49 slot, but you could just as easily slot Thaw in there and take the Unbreakable Guard unique for a nice bump in Hit Points instead. Ditto Power Boost, but that's a pretty strong button to lose.

 

That's pretty much all I got right now. I'd love to hear any thoughts or comments from Plant/Thermal experts or questions from those interested in giving it a shot. Thanks for taking the time to read. 🙂

 

 

Edited October 6, 2023 by Story Archer

[Story Archer]

nm

Edited October 6, 2023 by Story Archer

[Ringo]

I'm interested!  I love Plant Control but have only run Thermal on an MM

[Judge Jetson]

Same! Sell it to me friend…

[Story Archer]

18 hours ago, Ringo said:

I'm interested!  I love Plant Control but have only run Thermal on an MM

I'll pop it up. I'll also include an example of how to build it while you're actually playing it 1-50. The focus in modern CoX seems to be power-leveling as much as possible to get to post-50 play, and there are never any guides on how to actually build your toons to get there. I'll put something up that includes base IO's and the most essential uniques without any L50 purps at all.

 

EDIT: Edited the second post in this thread with the updated build.

 

Edited October 6, 2023 by Story Archer

[Judge Jetson]

Great! Started this am and level 10 so good time for some expert advice

[Story Archer]

14 minutes ago, Judge Jetson said:

Great! Started this am and level 10 so good time for some expert advice

 

Awesome - I'll be very interested in hearing your thoughts.

 

I just updated the 2nd post in the thread, pretty much deleting everything and replacing it with all the new stuff.

[Story Archer]

16 hours ago, Ringo said:

I'm interested!  I love Plant Control but have only run Thermal on an MM

 

I just updated the 2nd post in the thread, pretty much deleting everything and replacing it with all the new stuff - let me know what you think!

[Ringo]

I'll pull up the build in Mids later, but I find your reasoning on the choices you make to be solid!  My Homecoming main is a Plant/Storm controller which is focused on throwing out damage, so seeing your build is a big perspective shift.  Things like Roots being essential to set Containment, keep mobs from scattering due to /Storm, and doing proc damage is simply unnecessary for your build and that's exciting

[Story Archer]

9 hours ago, Ringo said:

I'll pull up the build in Mids later, but I find your reasoning on the choices you make to be solid!  My Homecoming main is a Plant/Storm controller which is focused on throwing out damage, so seeing your build is a big perspective shift.  Things like Roots being essential to set Containment, keep mobs from scattering due to /Storm, and doing proc damage is simply unnecessary for your build and that's exciting

Well, it IS a support build, so you gotta be into that. I tend to solo a lot and since I have to team, this has been the fastest-leveling toon I've ever played.

 

And on my teams, no one dies. Ever.

Edited October 7, 2023 by Story Archer