Plant/Storm Build Review

[Warshades]

Been wanting to try this combination for a while and have heard some amazing things about it and some less amazing things (endurance is certainly looking problematic). Haven't played /storm since live and have been looking through various slotting suggestions for Creepers, Tornado, and LS. Came up with the following build, but would welcome any improvements that can be made.

 

Regarding some of the choices I made and questions I ran into:

• I heard that BU proc can help in Tornado from another older post (if this is not the case then I can switch the Soulbound to a 4 piece Expedient instead).
• I contemplated putting a full Artillery set into BoL to get more range defense, but as that still wouldn't put me at soft capped range and I should be running SoC every mob, I figured I would go with the proc option in it and settle for 35% range def.
• Mu mastery is there mostly for Power Sink as I don't know if even ageless core destiny would save the endurance on this build, at least past the first 60 seconds.
• Not sure if I'll even run tactics to save endurance, was mostly picked up to get another LotG mule in vengeance which could occasionally help as well.
• Hurricane: not a fan of the repel or endurance drain, skipping it for those reasons.
• O2 Boost vs Gale: don't really see the point of slotting either, took O2 Boost as a mule for Preventative unique.
• Vines: likely won't be using this often, but may come in handy if additional mobs get pulled or ambushes flow in. The ATO set is there for both the recharge and range defense set bonuses.
• Achilles proc in Freezing Rain: didn't really see a better power that I could slot it in. I know it won't proc often, but better some than never I guess. Only other place I could put it is Fly Trap which according to the wiki has 3 powers that deal -def, so maybe that's a better placement for it?

 

Controller (Plant Control - Storm Summoning).mbd

[Switch8]

this is my og from live remade in 2019 build   it could probly use an update but i have AA issues like most so havnt played her in a bit 

 

 

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[Warshades]

21 minutes ago, Switch8 said:

this is my og from live remade in 2019 build   it could probly use an update but i have AA issues like most so havnt played her in a bit

 

Thanks for posting. I'll have to look into possibly slotting a Pacing of the Turtle and/or Trap of the Hunter if I want to also get 45% def. The 3 Thunderstrike in LS is also helpful and could change the winter set that I have in mine. Will have to see if I can find some extra slots to put those into Roots. Skipping spirit tree is more of a personal dislike for the power, cast time is to long and it doesn't follow you around. Though if you want to get more recharge on your build, you could look into replacing the 5 piece Numina's for Panacea. This would be a bit costly since Panacea is a PvP IO set.

[Carnifax]

Mine is very like yours. I will say Trap of the Hunter proc instead of Ice Mistrals in Creepers. Goes off way more often. 

 

I'll lob in my build but I don't think there's much difference. 

Lacewing Plant - Storm_Mu.mbd

[Uun]

Freezing Rain is primarily a debuff. The damage is minimal and not really worth enhancing. If you're just slotting Ragnarok for the set bonuses, that's fine, but generally 2x recharge IOs or 3-4 pieces of a Defense Debuff set is all you need. The %knockdown proc isn't required as FR already does knockdown. I'm not sure about the Achilles' Heel proc, but Freezing Rain is a pseudo pet and isn't a good choice for procs in general.

[Switch8]

On 4/9/2025 at 12:55 PM, Warshades said:

 

Thanks for posting. I'll have to look into possibly slotting a Pacing of the Turtle and/or Trap of the Hunter if I want to also get 45% def. The 3 Thunderstrike in LS is also helpful and could change the winter set that I have in mine. Will have to see if I can find some extra slots to put those into Roots. Skipping spirit tree is more of a personal dislike for the power, cast time is to long and it doesn't follow you around. Though if you want to get more recharge on your build, you could look into replacing the 5 piece Numina's for Panacea. This would be a bit costly since Panacea is a PvP IO set.

the numi's are for the  s/l  resist to cap it 😄

[Warshades]

4 hours ago, Uun said:

Freezing Rain is primarily a debuff. The damage is minimal and not really worth enhancing. If you're just slotting Ragnarok for the set bonuses, that's fine, but generally 2x recharge IOs or 3-4 pieces of a Defense Debuff set is all you need. The %knockdown proc isn't required as FR already does knockdown. I'm not sure about the Achilles' Heel proc, but Freezing Rain is a pseudo pet and isn't a good choice for procs in general.

 

I'll take a look to see where else I can invest the slots after work, thx for the reply on Freezing Rain. I mostly did the ragnarok for the recharge bonus and added on the Achilles as an extra since I didn't see a better place to put it (except maybe Fly Trap, never tested Achilles in it).

 

4 hours ago, Carnifax said:

Mine is very like yours. I will say Trap of the Hunter proc instead of Ice Mistrals in Creepers. Goes off way more often. 

 

I'll lob in my build but I don't think there's much difference. 

 

Will take a look at it later and will also change the proc in Carrion, thx for the info on that. Out of curiosity, how do you find the endurance management with it?

 

23 minutes ago, Switch8 said:

the numi's are for the  s/l  resist to cap it 😄

 

Gotcha. I didn't actively chase s/l resist on my build so didn't consider they were there for that.

[Warshades]

After looking over your build @Carnifax, I agree that they're fairly similar with just minor pool powers and set/slotting differences. I went ahead and changed Freezing Rain to how you had it and @Uun suggested by just doing the 2 recharge IOs and achilles. The extra slots went towards another achilles and lady grey procs in Fly Trap and kismet unique for accuracy help since that was definitely a weaker point on my build without tactics.

 

I'll try the build out with it's current ~35% range def and if need be, I'll adjust slotting on Strangler to a lockdown set to get more. Thanks everyone for all the helpful insight and advice on this. Planning to hopefully get this fully built next week.

 

[Black_Assassin]

9 hours ago, Warshades said:

Planning to hopefully get this fully built next week.

 

 

Just for reference here is mine:
I don't ever rely much on defense on stormies and never have issues. I went for earth because its way more damage options and +Rech proc and you can easily cap HP then. 

The build up proc in Tornado is wasted, it doesn't do anything. Better for pets if you have the space. 

You have the ATO damage proc in vines, so you will barely ever see it proc since it will be used so infrequently, this is why I slot mine in Tornado (and the energy font) because then its happening often. 

Also roots has a a relatively high base damage compared to all other controller AOE immobs, I would suggest slotting it for damage as you will (and should) be firing it off cooldown as it will be one of your main sources of damage. (I say this from experience of a fire/storm troller where fire cages, which i can fire off every other power click if I wish is always the 2nd highest source of my damage behind hot feet)

 

Divine Elements - Controller Plant Control - Storm Summoning).mbd

[Warshades]

1 hour ago, Black_Assassin said:

Just for reference here is mine:
I don't ever rely much on defense on stormies and never have issues. I went for earth because its way more damage options and +Rech proc and you can easily cap HP then. 

The build up proc in Tornado is wasted, it doesn't do anything. Better for pets if you have the space.

 

I'll have to give earth mastery a try when I have a bit more time later. You've not had any major endurance issues without power sink? That was one of the concerns I had going with plant/storm and a major reason why I went with Mu patron pool with the build. Also good to know about the BU proc in Tornado. Will take it out if it's not triggering and buffing Tornado dmg.

 

1 hour ago, Black_Assassin said:

You have the ATO damage proc in vines, so you will barely ever see it proc since it will be used so infrequently, this is why I slot mine in Tornado (and the energy font) because then its happening often. 

 

I guess since I'm not really reaching range def soft cap and SoC will keep most mobs from targeting me, I can try it in Tornado and go for a different set in Vines.

 

1 hour ago, Black_Assassin said:

Also roots has a a relatively high base damage compared to all other controller AOE immobs, I would suggest slotting it for damage as you will (and should) be firing it off cooldown as it will be one of your main sources of damage. (I say this from experience of a fire/storm troller where fire cages, which i can fire off every other power click if I wish is always the 2nd highest source of my damage behind hot feet)

 

Will also take a look at this. I didn't really think to invest much into this as teams don't always like it when controllers use/spam it, but I suppose it's also partially about knowing when it's a good time to use it and when it's not. 

 

Appreciate all the suggestions, will try these changes out.

[Carnifax]

8 minutes ago, Warshades said:

I didn't really think to invest much into this as teams don't always like it when controllers use/spam i

I'm in the same boat generally. Hate AoE Immob spam. My Fire / Marine & Grav / Traps don't have them. For Plant/Storm though I do have and use it. It's very useful combined with Freezing Rain & Creepers and you get Containment on Ball Lightning. 

 

10 minutes ago, Warshades said:

I'll have to give earth mastery a try when I have a bit more time later

Earth is fantastic but it's expensive in terms of the Blue Bar. I'd really struggle to maintain it on a Stormie. 

[Uun]

1 hour ago, Warshades said:

I'll have to give earth mastery a try when I have a bit more time later. You've not had any major endurance issues without power sink? That was one of the concerns I had going with plant/storm and a major reason why I went with Mu patron pool with the build.

I went Ice Mastery on my Grav/Storm and haven't had any endurance issues. I also went with Support Radial for my Hybrid, which gives you a passive 10% endurance discount.

[Black_Assassin]

Vigor/Cardiac for storm trollers and ageless core. 

 

I've never once had anyone say anything about aoe immobilises, but then I mostly play on Torchbearer so maybe it's just a server issue? 

 

I do like mu mastery on my storm corruptors though, as they have blasts already and I'll tend to go musc/int