Ninja/Time/Mace ... the Tankermindroller

Somehow, this build came out even more awesome than I'd been anticipating or expecting it might.  And although it is definitely built around my playstyle preferences as a Mastermind (meaning it's probably not something everyone will like), there are almost certainly going to be a few "gems" in the slotting choices I've made which will appeal to other people for their builds.

The build you see posted here in the forums is the "budget" build version that isn't loaded out with Level 50 Purple IOs.  If you load the data chunk into Pine (or Mids') and use the Flip To Alternate for Slots, you'll see what happens when you do replace (some) of the Set IOs with Level 50 Purple versions.

The primary consideration for this build is ... Ninja Pet SURVIVAL.

Dead Ninjas do no damage output (until resummoned).

With that in mind, the Pet Set IOs that add +Defense to Pets are slotted into the Genin, Jounin and Oni powers so as to "spread" their demand for slots around.

Note that the Oni is somewhat uniquely slotted to deliver not only the standard Acc/Dam/End mix, but also Mez in this build ... although it will require HOs in order to achieve that final peak of performance.

If memory serves, Genin natively have 7.5% Defense (All) and both the Jounin and Oni have like 11.2% Defense (All) ... and that's it.  The only way to (wastefully!) increase that with slotting is to either put Defense enhancements into their respect powers (not recommended!) or to augment their Defense with Secondary and Pool powers.  In this case, I'm using +Defense to Pet IOs which add a whopping +20% Defense to all of the Ninjas ... along with (Power Boosted) Farsight and Maneuvers to increase their respective Defense values.  Layered on top of all that Defense is Time's Juncture, slotted up for ToHit Debuffing to give my Ninjas even more of a safety margin when it comes to avoiding attacks (and the damage that they deliver).  All of this combined ought to push my Ninjas well into (and beyond?) the Defense Softcap while $Targets are within the PBAoE of Time's Juncture.  Likewise, the combination of Time's Juncture ToHit Debuffing along with Farsight and Maneuvers Defense Buffing ought to push my Mastermind into Defense Softcap territory as well, which means it's "safer" for my Mastermind to get in close with my Ninjas in melee, rather than standing back and observing from afar.

Anyone seriously looking at this build will notice very quickly that ... there's a LOT of -Recharge procs built into this ... and there's a reason for that.

The -Recharge procs will last for 20 seconds, and the -Recharge when procced is something that the $Target casts onto themselves ... meaning that the debuff "cuts through" the Purple Triangles of Doom, since the debuff is being imposed by the $Target onto themselves, rather than being something cast on them by your character (which can be resisted).

The point and purpose of all of the Slow built into Distortion Field and all of the -Recharge procs that would get brought to bear from Distortion Field and (presumably) Time's Juncture is to effectively "neutralize" $Targets inside of a No Escape Zone inside of which my Ninja are (in effect) "free" to add insult to injuries with near impunity.  All of that -Recharge debuffing and Defense softcapping combined results in a very SAFE SPACE inside of which my Ninjas can "go to work" on dispatching anything and everything I direct them towards.  So while this isn't exactly a City of Statues™ build (per se), it certainly endeavors to come really close to it.  My adversaries unload their attacks ... MISS everyone ... and then get forcibly faceplanted before their attacks can be recharged.

So the net result is that my Mastermind has no damaging personal attacks ... at all ... in this build.  But that's okay, because my "job" as a Mastermind is to "direct traffic" and support my Ninjas as a "controller" who needs to manage way too many Pets.

And funnily enough ... I took Provoke out of the Presence Pool, so as to have a Target AoE Taunt as yet another way to keep damage from going into my (flimsy) Ninjas.  Keeping hostile attention on my Mastermind while in Bodyguard Mode allows ALL of my Ninjas to "share my pain" if any incoming damage leaks through the combined +Defense and -ToHit Debuffing, and if we're fighting in formation together I can heal ALL of us with a single Click by using Temporal Mending ... which has been slotted with the Preventative Medicine set to grant a +Absorb proc chance for even MORE opportunity to mitigate incoming damage.  This way, even if my Ninjas pull aggro, I can always draw that aggro back onto myself and spread the damage across all my Ninjas, making the collection of us all much MUCH harder to Defeat, while at the same time making it easier for my Ninjas to do what they do best ... BEATDOWNS.

So in that respect, my Mastermind is something of a "mendicant" who wouldn't (can't?) hurt anyone ... but who leads an army on Ninjas who CAN.

Anyway, enough pontificating in satisfaction ... here's the build plan for this monstrosity that neutralizes enemies and empowers Ninjas to do everything they can to eliminate my enemies.

Behold ... the Tankermindroller!

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.962

http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Mastermind

Primary Power Set: Ninjas

Secondary Power Set: Time Manipulation

Power Pool: Presence

Power Pool: Leadership

Power Pool: Speed

Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:

Level 1: Call Genin

• (A) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (3) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown: Level 27
  
• (5) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27
  
• (5) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (7) Call to Arms - Defense Bonus Aura for Pets: Level 10
  
• (7) Soulbound Allegiance - Chance for Build Up: Level 50
  

Level 1: Time Crawl

• (A) Pacing of the Turtle - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (50) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 20
  

Level 2: Temporal Mending

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal: Level 27
  
• (37) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (40) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 27
  
• (42) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime: Level 27
  
• (42) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (42) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb: Level 20
  

Level 4: Time's Juncture

• (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff: Level 27
  
• (9) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (9) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (11) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (11) Dark Watcher's Despair - Chance for Recharge Slow: Level 21
  
• (17) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 20
  

Level 6: Train Ninjas

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
  

Level 8: Provoke

• (A) Taunt Duration IO: Level 50
  

Level 10: Temporal Selection

• (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance: Level 31
  
• (48) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge: Level 31
  
• (48) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge: Level 31
  
• (50) Doctored Wounds - Heal: Level 31
  
• (50) Doctored Wounds - Recharge: Level 31
  

Level 12: Call Jounin

• (A) HamiO: Nucleolus Exposure (+2 Acc/Dam)
  
• (13) Mark of Supremacy - Damage: Level 27
  
• (13) Mark of Supremacy - Damage/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (15) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (15) Mark of Supremacy - Endurance/Pet +Resist +Regen: Level 27
  
• (17) Edict of the Master - Defense Bonus: Level 15
  

Level 14: Maneuvers

• (A) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (43) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (43) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (43) Red Fortune - Defense: Level 27
  
• (45) Red Fortune - Endurance: Level 27
  
• (45) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 25
  

Level 16: Distortion Field

• (A) HamiO: Microfilament Exposure (+2 End/Fly/Jump/Run)
  
• (19) HamiO: Microfilament Exposure (+2 End/Fly/Jump/Run)
  
• (21) Pacing of the Turtle - Endurance/Recharge/Slow: Level 27
  
• (21) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 20
  
• (23) Basilisk's Gaze - Chance for Recharge Slow: Level 10
  
• (23) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold: Level 30
  

Level 18: Smoke Flash

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
  

Level 20: Time Stop

• (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold: Level 27
  
• (25) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold: Level 27
  
• (25) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 27
  
• (34) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 27
  
• (34) Entomb - Recharge/Chance for +Absorb: Level 27
  
• (34) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold: Level 30
  

Level 22: Assault

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
  

Level 24: Tactics

• (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff: Level 27
  
• (46) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (46) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (46) Adjusted Targeting - Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (48) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance: Level 27
  

Level 26: Oni

• (A) HamiO: Endoplasm Exposure (+2 Acc/Mez)
  
• (27) HamiO: Peroxisome Exposure (+2 Dam/Mez)
  
• (27) Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (29) Command of the Mastermind - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (29) Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (31) Command of the Mastermind - Recharge/Pet +AoE Defense Aura: Level 27
  

Level 28: Farsight

• (A) HamiO: Membrane Exposure (+2 Def/End/ToHit)
  
• (31) HamiO: Membrane Exposure (+2 Def/End/ToHit)
  
• (33) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 25
  

Level 30: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
  
• (31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
  

Level 32: Kuji In Zen

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
  

Level 35: Slowed Response

• (A) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff: Level 27
  
• (36) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Defense Debuff: Level 27
  
• (36) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (36) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (37) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (37) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 10
  

Level 38: Chrono Shift

• (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod: Level 27
  
• (39) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (39) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (39) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge: Level 31
  
• (40) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge: Level 31
  
• (40) Numina's Convalesence - Heal: Level 31
  

Level 41: Scorpion Shield

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 25
  

Level 44: Power Boost

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
  
• (45) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
  

Level 47: Victory Rush

• (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
  

Level 49: Vengeance

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 25
  

Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
  

Level 1: Prestige Power Dash

• (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50
  

Level 1: Prestige Power Slide

• (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50
  

Level 1: Prestige Power Quick

• (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50
  

Level 1: Prestige Power Rush

• (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50
  

Level 1: Prestige Power Surge

• (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50
  

Level 1: Sprint

• (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50
  

Level 1: Supremacy

Level 2: Rest

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
  

Level 4: Ninja Run

Level 2: Swift

• (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50
  

Level 2: Health

• (A) Miracle - +Recovery: Level 20
  
• (33) Numina's Convalesence - Heal: Level 31
  
• (33) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery: Level 30
  

Level 2: Hurdle

• (A) Jumping IO: Level 50
  

Level 2: Stamina

• (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
  
• (3) Performance Shifter - EndMod: Level 27
  
• (19) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End: Level 21
  

Level 0: Born In Battle

Level 0: High Pain Threshold

Level 0: Marshal

Level 0: Invader

Level 50: Agility Radial Paragon

------------

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Set Bonus Totals:

• 8% DamageBuff(Smashing)
  
• 8% DamageBuff(Lethal)
  
• 8% DamageBuff(Fire)
  
• 8% DamageBuff(Cold)
  
• 8% DamageBuff(Energy)
  
• 8% DamageBuff(Negative)
  
• 8% DamageBuff(Toxic)
  
• 8% DamageBuff(Psionic)
  
• 10% Defense
  
• 1.56% Defense(Smashing)
  
• 1.56% Defense(Lethal)
  
• 1.25% Defense(Fire)
  
• 1.25% Defense(Cold)
  
• 2.5% Defense(Energy)
  
• 2.5% Defense(Negative)
  
• 3.13% Defense(Melee)
  
• 1.25% Defense(Ranged)
  
• 12.5% Defense(AoE)
  
• 29% Enhancement(Accuracy)
  
• 3.75% Enhancement(Max EnduranceDiscount)
  
• 86.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  
• 4% Enhancement(Heal)
  
• 7.5% SpeedFlying
  
• GrantPower Preventive Medicine (10% chance, if Scourge)
  
• 66.26 HP (8.25%) HitPoints
  
• 7.5% JumpHeight
  
• 7.5% SpeedJumping
  
• MezResist(Confused) 35%
  
• MezResist(Held) 35%
  
• MezResist(Immobilized) 35%
  
• MezResist(Sleep) 35%
  
• MezResist(Stunned) 35%
  
• MezResist(Terrorized) 35%
  
• 8.5% (0.14 End/sec) Recovery
  
• 136% (4.55 HP/sec) Regeneration
  
• 17.5% Resistance(Smashing)
  
• 17.5% Resistance(Lethal)
  
• 16% Resistance(Fire)
  
• 16% Resistance(Cold)
  
• 13% Resistance(Energy)
  
• 13% Resistance(Negative)
  
• 14.5% Resistance(Toxic)
  
• 14.5% Resistance(Psionic)
  
• 7.5% SpeedRunning
  

------------

Set Bonuses:

Overwhelming Force

(Call Genin)

•   12% (0.4 HP/sec) Regeneration
  

Mark of Supremacy

(Call Genin)

•   6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  

Call to Arms

(Call Genin)

•   5% Defense
  

Pacing of the Turtle

(Time Crawl)

•   2.25% Resistance(Toxic,Psionic), MezResist(Immobilized) 3.75%, MezResist(Held) 3.75%, MezResist(Stunned) 3.75%, MezResist(Sleep) 3.75%, MezResist(Terrorized) 3.75%, MezResist(Confused) 3.75%
  

Preventive Medicine

(Temporal Mending)

•   2.25% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), MezResist(Immobilized) 3.75%, MezResist(Held) 3.75%, MezResist(Stunned) 3.75%, MezResist(Sleep) 3.75%, MezResist(Terrorized) 3.75%, MezResist(Confused) 3.75%
  
•   15.06 HP (1.88%) HitPoints
  
•   3% Resistance(Fire,Cold), MezResist(Immobilized) 5%, MezResist(Held) 5%, MezResist(Stunned) 5%, MezResist(Sleep) 5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 5%, MezResist(Confused) 5%
  
•   3.75% Enhancement(EnduranceDiscount)
  
•   8.75% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  
•   GrantPower Preventive Medicine (10% chance, if Scourge), GrantPower Preventive Medicine (if Scourge)
  

Dark Watcher's Despair

(Time's Juncture)

•   12.05 HP (1.5%) HitPoints
  
•   2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery
  
•   5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  
•   2% DamageBuff(All)
  

Doctored Wounds

(Temporal Selection)

•   1.5% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), MezResist(Immobilized) 2.5%, MezResist(Held) 2.5%, MezResist(Stunned) 2.5%, MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%, MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
  
•   1.5% Resistance(Fire,Cold), MezResist(Immobilized) 2.5%, MezResist(Held) 2.5%, MezResist(Stunned) 2.5%, MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%, MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
  
•   4% Enhancement(Heal)
  
•   5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  

Mark of Supremacy

(Call Jounin)

•   6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  
•   9% Enhancement(Accuracy)
  
•   3.13% Defense(Melee), 1.56% Defense(Lethal), 1.56% Defense(Smashing)
  
•   10% Resistance(All), 100% (3.35 HP/sec) Regeneration
  

Edict of the Master

(Call Jounin)

•   5% Defense
  

Red Fortune

(Maneuvers)

•   1.5% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), MezResist(Immobilized) 2.5%, MezResist(Held) 2.5%, MezResist(Stunned) 2.5%, MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%, MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
  
•   1.5% Resistance(Fire,Cold), MezResist(Immobilized) 2.5%, MezResist(Held) 2.5%, MezResist(Stunned) 2.5%, MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%, MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
  
•   2% DamageBuff(All)
  
•   5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  

Luck of the Gambler

(Maneuvers)

•   7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  

Pacing of the Turtle

(Distortion Field)

•   2.25% Resistance(Toxic,Psionic), MezResist(Immobilized) 3.75%, MezResist(Held) 3.75%, MezResist(Stunned) 3.75%, MezResist(Sleep) 3.75%, MezResist(Terrorized) 3.75%, MezResist(Confused) 3.75%
  

Basilisk's Gaze

(Time Stop)

•   2.5% Defense(Energy,Negative), 1.25% Defense(Ranged)
  
•   2% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
  
•   7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  

Adjusted Targeting

(Tactics)

•   2% DamageBuff(All)
  
•   3% Resistance(Energy,Negative), MezResist(Immobilized) 5%, MezResist(Held) 5%, MezResist(Stunned) 5%, MezResist(Sleep) 5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 5%, MezResist(Confused) 5%
  
•   9% Enhancement(Accuracy)
  
•   5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  

Command of the Mastermind

(Oni)

•   2% DamageBuff(All)
  
•   15.06 HP (1.88%) HitPoints
  
•   7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  
•   10% Defense(AoE)
  

Luck of the Gambler

(Farsight)

•   7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  

Shield Breaker

(Slowed Response)

•   2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery
  
•   2.25% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), MezResist(Immobilized) 3.75%, MezResist(Held) 3.75%, MezResist(Stunned) 3.75%, MezResist(Sleep) 3.75%, MezResist(Terrorized) 3.75%, MezResist(Confused) 3.75%
  
•   2.5% Defense(AoE), 1.25% Defense(Fire), 1.25% Defense(Cold)
  
•   11% Enhancement(Accuracy)
  

Efficacy Adaptor

(Chrono Shift)

•   9.04 HP (1.13%) HitPoints
  
•   1.5% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
  

Numina's Convalesence

(Chrono Shift)

•   12% (0.4 HP/sec) Regeneration
  
•   15.06 HP (1.88%) HitPoints
  

Luck of the Gambler

(Scorpion Shield)

•   7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  

Luck of the Gambler

(Vengeance)

•   7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  

Numina's Convalesence

(Health)

•   12% (0.4 HP/sec) Regeneration
  

Performance Shifter

(Stamina)

•   7.5% SpeedJumping, 7.5% JumpHeight, 7.5% SpeedFlying, 7.5% SpeedRunning
  

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To use these bindloadfiles, since I put them all into a folder named "binds" inside of my coh folder (to keep them organized and sorted neatly), I simply start with doing this in-game (copy paste into your chat window for best results):

/bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/Ninja.txt"

Once you have the master(mind) file loaded, simply tap the B key to engage command of All of your Ninjas.  You will see a message pop up in your chat window showing that the correct bindloadfile has been

From then on, you can use T, Y, U (Genin) or G, H (Jounin) or B (All) keys to address your Pets by summoning Tier … or use Shift+ T, Y or U to command individual Genin … or use Shift+ G or H to command individual Jounin … or use Shift+ B to command the Oni individually.  Each of these command combinations cause different bindloadfiles to be loaded, altering how you "address" your Ninja Pets accordingly.

And yes … these bindloadfiles can (with some find/replace editing) be customized for use with other Pet Names as well as other Mastermind Primary powersets.  This is merely what I'm using for my Mastermind, so some customization is inevitable.

Ninja.txt

t bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaGenin.txt"
shift+t bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaRoku.txt"
y bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaGenin.txt"
shift+y bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaNana.txt"
u bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaGenin.txt"
shift+u bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaHachi.txt"
g bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaJounin.txt"
shift+g bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaShi.txt"
h bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaJounin.txt"
shift+h bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaItsutsu.txt"
b bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaAll.txt"
shift+b bindloadfile "C:/Program Files/coh/binds/NinjaOni.txt"

NinjaAll.txt

z "petcomall attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcomall aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcomall goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcomall passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcomall dismiss$$em buzoff"
c "petcomall follow$$em waiting"
shift+c "petcomall defensive$$em stancevillain2"
v "petselectname Hachi$$petselectname Nana$$petselectname Roku$$petselectname Itsusu$$petselectname Shi$$petselectname San$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
ctrl+t "nop"
ctrl+y "nop"
ctrl+u "nop"
ctrl+g "nop"
ctrl+h "nop"
ctrl+v "nop"
ctrl+b "nop"

NinjaGenin.txt

z "petcompow Genin attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Genin aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Genin goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Genin passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Genin dismiss$$em buzoff"
c "petcompow Genin follow$$em waiting"
shift+c "petcompow Genin defensive$$em stancevillain2"
v "petselectname Hachi$$petselectname Nana$$petselectname Roku$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
ctrl+t "nop"
ctrl+y "nop"
ctrl+u "nop"
ctrl+g "nop"
ctrl+h "nop"
ctrl+v "nop"
ctrl+b "nop"

NinjaJounin.txt

z "petcompow Jounin attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Jounin aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Jounin goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Jounin passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Jounin dismiss$$em buzoff"
c "petcompow Jounin follow$$em waiting"
shift+c "petcompow Jounin defensive$$em stancevillain2"
v "petselectname Itsusu$$petselectname Shi$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
ctrl+t "nop"
ctrl+y "nop"
ctrl+u "nop"
ctrl+g "nop"
ctrl+h "nop"
ctrl+v "nop"
ctrl+b "nop"

NinjaOni.txt

z "petcompow Oni attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Oni aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Oni goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Oni passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Oni dismiss$$em buzoff"
c "petcompow Oni follow$$em waiting"
shift+c "petcompow Oni defensive$$em stancevillain2"
v "petselectname San$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
ctrl+t "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate"
ctrl+y "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight"
ctrl+u "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage"
ctrl+h "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Fight"
ctrl+g "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence"
ctrl+v "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck"
ctrl+b "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant"

NinjaShi.txt

z "petcompow Shi attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Shi aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Shi goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Shi passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Shi dismiss$$em buzoff"
c "petcompow Shi follow$$em waiting"
shift+c "petcompow Shi defensive$$em stancevillain2"
v "petselectname Shi$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
ctrl+t "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate"
ctrl+y "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight"
ctrl+u "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage"
ctrl+h "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Fight"
ctrl+g "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence"
ctrl+v "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck"
ctrl+b "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant"

NinjaItsutsu.txt

z "petcompow Itsutsu attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Itsutsu aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Itsutsu goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Itsutsu passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Itsutsu dismiss$$em buzoff"
c "petcompow Itsutsu follow$$em waiting"
shift+c "petcompow Itsutsu defensive$$em stancevillain2"
v "petselectname Itsusu$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
ctrl+t "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate"
ctrl+y "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight"
ctrl+u "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage"
ctrl+h "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Fight"
ctrl+g "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence"
ctrl+v "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck"
ctrl+b "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant"

NinjaRoku.txt

z "petcompow Roku attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Roku aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Roku goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Roku passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Roku dismiss$$em buzoff"
c "petcompow Roku follow$$em waiting"
shift+c "petcompow Roku defensive$$em stancevillain2"
v "petselectname Roku$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
ctrl+t "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate"
ctrl+y "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight"
ctrl+u "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage"
ctrl+h "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Fight"
ctrl+g "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence"
ctrl+v "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck"
ctrl+b "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant"

NinjaNana.txt

z "petcompow Nana attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Nana aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Nana goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Nana passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Nana dismiss$$em buzoff"
c "petcompow Nana follow$$em waiting"
shift+c "petcompow Nana defensive$$em stancevillain2"
v "petselectname Nana$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
ctrl+t "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate"
ctrl+y "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight"
ctrl+u "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage"
ctrl+h "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Fight"
ctrl+g "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence"
ctrl+v "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck"
ctrl+b "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant"

NinjaHachi.txt

z "petcompow Hachi attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Hachi aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Hachi goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Hachi passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Hachi dismiss$$em buzoff"
c "petcompow Hachi follow$$em waiting"
shift+c "petcompow Hachi defensive$$em stancevillain2"
v "petselectname Hachi$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
ctrl+t "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate"
ctrl+y "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight"
ctrl+u "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage"
ctrl+h "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Fight"
ctrl+g "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence"
ctrl+v "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck"
ctrl+b "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant"

Nifty, im trying something similar with nin/kin.  Though kin isnt very defensive.

I think i might be able to incorporate your ideas about recharge procs though.  That said, why are all your enhs such low level?

That said, why are all your enhs such low level?

Exemplar Effects on Set Bonuses link.

Set Bonuses are always on, even if the power in which the Set is slotted isn't activated, and even if that power is greyed out due to exemplaring! However, you do start to lose the bonuses if you exemplar more than three levels under the level of the IOs in the Set.

 

 

 

Special IOs from Sets

 

Some of the IOs from IO Sets single-handedly, all by themselves, provide one or more benefits to the whole character, without requiring any of the other members of the Set to be slotted. Some of these also buff an aspect of a power (usually Defense or Resistance), but the majority provide a rather unique extra benefit or bonus which may or may not be related to the Set they come from or the power into which they are slotted.

 

 

 

Special IOs are of two types: Special IOs that act like Set Bonuses, called Globals, and Procs.

 

 

Set-Like Special IOs

 

The IOs that act like Set Bonuses give a benefit that most often applies a continuous effect globally to the character. And just like Set Bonuses, the power in which they are slotted can be greyed out due to exemplaring and the Global will still work. However, just like Set Bonuses, the Global stops working when the character is exemplared more than three levels under the level of the Global IO.

 

So, for example, a level 20 Karma Knockback Protection Global slotted in a level 50 power will still work if the character is exemplared to level 17 and the level 50 power is greyed out. But Karma's Knockback Protection will stop working when exemplared to level 16 – more than three levels under the Special IO itself. If that level 20 Karma was put into Hover which was picked up at level 6, then the Karma would still stop working if exemplared to level 16, even though Hover is still working.

 

There are two (currently, maybe more to come) Global PvP Special IOs that are excepted from the under-exemplaring rule. If it's a PvP Special IO, it will never turn off from exemplaring.

 

 

Procs

 

All the other Special IOs are called 'Procs.' Unlike the Globals, Procs depend on the power they are slotted in to be activated in order to work. If the power isn't activated, then no benefit from the Proc. Consequently, exemplaring lower than the level of the power means the power is greyed out and can't be used (even passive powers follow that rule), which means the Proc won't work. However, the upside of Procs is that if the power is active, the Proc always work, even if you exemplar way below the level of the Proc. Procs don't follow the -3 level rule that Globals and Set Bonuses do.

 

So, e.g., if you slot a level 50 Run Stealth in Sprint (a level 1 power) and then exemplar down to level 15, you will still get the Stealth bonus when you turn on Sprint even though you're 35 levels lower than the level of that Special IO.

 

Procs that have a chance to do damage, do so based on the level of the character and not the level of the Proc. The damage is not modified by ArcheType. See Table of Proc Damage for specifics.

I like to NOT lose everything when I Exemplar to lower levels.

Hello this sloting is good for bots? i'm a noob in this... I hava a bots/time build. Any guide and help is good for me ty :D

Hello this sloting is good for bots? i'm a noob in this... I hava a bots/time build. Any guide and help is good for me ty :D

Not necessarily something you want to do a direct port of, simply because the details of the Pets will be slightly different.

Level 1: Call Genin

• (A) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (3) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown: Level 27
  
• (5) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27
  
• (5) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (7) Call to Arms - Defense Bonus Aura for Pets: Level 10
  
• (7) Soulbound Allegiance - Chance for Build Up: Level 50
  

Level 12: Call Jounin

• (A) HamiO: Nucleolus Exposure (+2 Acc/Dam)
  
• (13) Mark of Supremacy - Damage: Level 27
  
• (13) Mark of Supremacy - Damage/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (15) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 27
  
• (15) Mark of Supremacy - Endurance/Pet +Resist +Regen: Level 27
  
• (17) Edict of the Master - Defense Bonus: Level 15
  

Level 26: Oni

• (A) HamiO: Endoplasm Exposure (+2 Acc/Mez)
  
• (27) HamiO: Peroxisome Exposure (+2 Dam/Mez)
  
• (27) Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (29) Command of the Mastermind - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (29) Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
  
• (31) Command of the Mastermind - Recharge/Pet +AoE Defense Aura: Level 27
  

------------

Set Bonuses:

Overwhelming Force

(Call Genin)

•   12% (0.4 HP/sec) Regeneration
  

Mark of Supremacy

(Call Genin)

•   6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  

Call to Arms

(Call Genin)

•   5% Defense
  

Mark of Supremacy

(Call Jounin)

•   6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  
•   9% Enhancement(Accuracy)
  
•   3.13% Defense(Melee), 1.56% Defense(Lethal), 1.56% Defense(Smashing)
  
•   10% Resistance(All), 100% (3.35 HP/sec) Regeneration
  

Edict of the Master

(Call Jounin)

•   5% Defense
  

Command of the Mastermind

(Oni)

•   2% DamageBuff(All)
  
•   15.06 HP (1.88%) HitPoints
  
•   7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  
•   10% Defense(AoE)
  

This was the best slotting I was able to come up with for Ninjas specifically.  Here is my reasoning.

The Oni has a Hold an an Immobilize power which I wanted to boost the durations of.  The best way to boost multiple Mez types for duration is to use HamiO: Endoplasm Exposure and the highest return on investment for the least amount of slots is to make them +2 for Damage and Mez.  That means spending 2 slots on HOs, leaving up to 4 slots remaining.  I wanted to put a Pet Defense Aura IO in, and Command of the Mastermind let me do all that using 4 slots and giving good set bonuses for the effort, including the 7.5% Recharge Time.  So the slotting you see for Oni is the best possible for a Defense based protection scheme in a Pet that can use crowd control of more than one type.

The Jounin are mostly Katana skills, but they also throw down Caltrops and do a Sleep/Confuse in their Blinding Powder.  Neither Caltrops nor Blinding Powder offer effects that I'd want to (meaningfully) enhance, so the full 6 slots are available on the Jounin for Pet Damage enhancements.  I wanted 4 of the 6 set IOs from Mark of Supremacy here (so as not to waste any) and another Pet Defense Aura IO in.  Looking at the overall enhancement values for that set of 5 slots, it was easy to see that what was lacking was Accuracy and Damage, meaning a Nucleolus Exposure pumpted up to +2 offered the greatest return on investment for the last available slot.

The Genin use Martial Arts attacks and only Crane Kick has any Knock effect on it, so there's no need to slot anything that doesn't enhance attack power here.  However, because Genin have so many short recharge/short animation attacks, and there's 3 of them, a significant increase in survivability can be obtained by slotting the Knockback to Knockdown IO from Overwhelming Force here.  This turns EVERY attack that they do into a proc for Knockdown opportunity, including with the Target AoE Shurikens that they eventually start throwing with the Level 32 Training power.  Because of how fast Genin cycle their attacks, and the fact that there's 3 of them, this results in a chuck lots of dice scenario where they can be doing significant soft control simply through repeated Knockdowns of $Targets.  I took 2 slots of Overwhelming Force for both the straight enhancement value and also the set bonus.  I then added 2 slots of Mark of Supremacy for the 6.25% Recharge set bonus, and added the last remaining Pet Defense Aura IO.  I then had the option to either slot another Accuracy/Damage selection to top up the Genin, or so what I've done here which is to slot in the Soulbound Allegiance Chance to Buildup IO which can ultimately yield superior results than simply more (flat) damage enhancement, although the Build Up procs will result in a somewhat "spike-y" damage throughput from the Genin.

Ninjas are, without assistance from slots and powers, abject PATHETIC LOSERS when it comes to being able to survive against anything more threatening than a Civilian.  Without support from slots and powers, Ninjas will "fold" in next to no time like pre-creased origami rice paper.  However, with support from slots and powers to augment their Defense (and ToHit Debuff their opposition) they can become "sturdy" enough to survive being looked at funny by $Targets.  With this powerset, it's the combination of +Defense and -ToHit Debuffing that will protect them sufficiently to reach NO GET HITSU!! levels of performance so as to deliver damage and mez throughput without being faceplanted simply for showing up.  However, in order to maintain that performance, they need to be kept on a tight leash and not wander off ... because the name of the game is TEAMWORK rather than Scrapperlock.

You can do something broadly similar to what I've done here for other Mastermind Primary sets, although you'd want to swap the Defense for Resistance in the Pet slotting scheme if your Pets rely on Resistance rather than Defense ... but the overall principle remains the same.

Thanks for sharing. I have a Nin/Time/Mace but I can't decide on power pools. I started with stealth to give some bonus defense while I stand in the middle of the mob with the PBAoE -tohit, but I am considering presence pool for intimidate and taunt to use with bodyguard mode, as you mentioned in your later posts.

Also, why did you choose veng/victory rush? Veng does not work with pets and Victory Rush is not affected by chrono/etc. Was it just for the LoTG?

Thanks for sharing.

Your appreciation is my (only?) reward.

I have a Nin/Time/Mace but I can't decide on power pools. I started with stealth to give some bonus defense while I stand in the middle of the mob with the PBAoE -tohit, but I am considering presence pool for intimidate and taunt to use with bodyguard mode, as you mentioned in your later posts.

It's really ironic that stealth/invisibility does almost nothing advantageous for Ninjas whatsoever.  The difference it makes is really marginal/minor, and realistically only offers an advantage of positioning BEFORE battles, rather than during.

I've just really come to the conclusion that the best way to support Ninjas, simply because they're so "flimsy" on their own, is to draw aggro away from them onto my Mastermind and do what I can to make sure that most of the damage they take is via Bodyguard Mode (which spreads it out among them) rather than letting them take hits directly (which concentrates the damage onto them).  Provoke as an AoE allows me to do that and then "soak" what damage leaks through my Mastermind onto my Ninjas through use of Temporal Mending.  The net result is that the best tactic is to keep them all together and keep the aggro OFF the Ninjas and ON my Mastermind so that we can all survive better together than we can individually/separately.

Also, why did you choose veng/victory rush? Veng does not work with pets and Victory Rush is not affected by chrono/etc. Was it just for the LoTG?

Mainly because I didn't have any more slots to spare, meaning I needed 1 slot wonders for the last 2 powers.  Since I already had the 3 Leadership toggles, I figured why not just get all 5 powers and be that much more desirable in group play.

Minor note ... I've modified the build post with an updated version of this build.  Nothing major changed, but I did want to do a little cleanup on some details.

Heya Red! First of all, big fan. Have been following your Huntsman Guides over on the old archived forums since the game's return and have thoroughly enjoyed reading them.

This build concept looked so solid that I just had to make one, he's in the early 20's but it seems really fun.

But then I think, Thugs/Time with this play style would be insane. Move some things around since Thugs inherently get a lot of Accuracy and Defense from their own Leadership buffs.

How would you fit this style of build with Thugs as the Primary instead of those lovable Ninjas?

I await your response with bated breath.

Heya Red! First of all, big fan. Have been following your Huntsman Guides over on the old archived forums since the game's return and have thoroughly enjoyed reading them.

/em bow

This build concept looked so solid that I just had to make one, he's in the early 20's but it seems really fun.

I'm downloading the game client through Island Rum right now (at 82/143 files as I post this).  Hopefully I'll get to start playing tomorrow as the hour of somnolence descends upon me ...

But then I think, Thugs/Time with this play style would be insane. Move some things around since Thugs inherently get a lot of Accuracy and Defense from their own Leadership buffs.

How would you fit this style of build with Thugs as the Primary instead of those lovable Ninjas?

No idea how the build would play with Thugs ... mainly because I never played a Thugs Mastermind before.

However, I would fully expect the "design" of the support being offered by Time Manipulation in this build would translate over wonderfully to a Thugs build, especially given what the combination of Hasten + Chrono Shift would do for getting the recharge on Gang War down to "unfair" (to the $Targets) levels.  The "NO ESCAPE" factor of Time's Juncture and Distortion Field that forces $Targets to "skip a turn" while your Pets demolish them would (I'm thinking) benefit Thugs just as much as Ninjas.

So, overall ... I'm thinking a "port" of this build to a Thugs/Time/Mace plan would probably work out quite well, provided you don't mind taking no direct damaging attacks from your Primary.

I await your response with bated breath.

Breathe, kid.  Breathe.

Exemplar Effects on Set Bonuses link.

I like to NOT lose everything when I Exemplar to lower levels.

For Homecoming, it's not necessary to go that route. On the market, the stock for any enhancement you can sell is the same across any level it can be bought at. IE; Performance Shifter +End at level 25 has the same stock and price as it does at level 30, 40, 42, etc., so there aren't any dead listings.

This is the same for Attuned listings of the regular sets, too, which are perfect for exemplaring or while you're leveling up. You can also use Enhancement Cataclysts to attune them yourself, but that's really expensive and it's better to save those for ATOs.

(the trade-off is you can't use Enhancement Boosters on Attuned enhancements to squeak out a lil extra performance. It's also worthless on PvP/purple sets since those don't shut the bonuses off)

Also: very interested in trying out the build, so thank you for that! I've been wanting to try and find a way to make Ninjas work.

thugs and time is a beast, but people overvalue gang war's damage. it's pathetic, but it's the best place to hold the pet aura uniques so you don't sacrifice anything on the actual pets.

gang war is at most a distraction. fully slotted as a damage pet their damage is pretty bad and their survivability is even worse if you don't have a powerboosted farsight ready when they all finally finish showing up.

however I still tip my hat towards thugs/traps endgame if you ever want to up your difficulty when solo. there is too god damned much cc. only one needs to get through your personal softcap defenses and suddenly your pets are getting wiped out and you will be cc'd until killed. a lot of the cc can last a very long time and some enemy types will have sleep, stuns and holds in every single pack across several different mob types.

when time works it's wonderful. when it doesn't it makes me long for the ffg.

what is fun for all mm's is overwhelming force in your t1's. there are two reasons:

1) the versions we are playing across all servers have implemented PPM to procs that were only in live if you bought those unique io's from the stores cash shop. the ppm io procs rarely fire - in times juncture, in distortion field they will only try to proc once every 10 seconds and the will not check per target just once per 10 seconds, or once per ability used with more than 15s cooldown. this has made frankenslotting dmg procs in things like caltrops or controller/dom aoe immobs hardly worth it now - however overwhelming force is still a straight 20% chance per hit for a knockdown

2) your t1's hit often. with this io they will often keep a boss flopping like a fish which is an amazing source of cc. if your t1's aoe a lot it's even crazier.

the new sudden acceleration kb to kd does not have the added kd proc however.

Okay ... the good news is that I finally got logged in and have tested my Mastermind Keybinds.

The bad news is that my game client doesn't want to recognize the NUMPAD keys, so I had to ... improvise ...

But first, a little bit of explanation is in order.

I use a highly customized keybind setup that rewrites almost everything so as to get stuff where I want it.

For one thing, I don't use WASD for my movement keys, but instead use WERD ... meaning that I invert the T shape of the keys and use the E key for forward and the D key for backwards movement.  The W and R keys are for sideways strafing movement and I just simply use mouselook through the right click on the mouse to control orientation/direction.  I've got the S and F keys bound for making turns, but almost never use them (except when the mouse fails, for whatever reason).

Doing this moves my hand over one key to the right on the keyboard and I use my left middle finger to do forwards, backwards movement with the E and D keys.  Due to the shape of my hands, my left ring finger tends to sit on the W key, while my left index finger just naturally curls onto the F key … which is important because on most modern keyboards, the F key has a little bump at the bottom of it for tactile feedback to let you know that your index finger is in the right position for typing.  Being able to feel that little bump under my left index finger helps ensure that my hand/fingers are placed correctly relative to the keyboard so as to help avoid "off by one" errors when not watching my fingers hit keys for keybinds.

What this means is that I now have the Q and A keys "free" for other purposes (I'd use those for Throttle settings in Star Trek Online, but can now use them for things like Autorun and Walk here in City of Heroes).  The WERD movement setup also puts my left hand within easy reach of additional number and function keys (basically +1 more key to the right) without sacrificing accessibility to the keys on the left side of my keyboard.  When playing games like World of Warcraft, where being able to reach A LOT of keys quickly/easily is at a premium, this invert+shift over control scheme has worked out VERY WELL when used in multiple MMOs.  It's just a bear to reprogram the defaults to make it happen for every single character I want to play.

On my Kheldians, I use the keys to the right of the WERD setup to bind my Form shifting powers.  But here, if I can't use the NUMPAD to control my Mastermind's Pets, I might as well not even be playing, due to how cumbersome it is to be "directing traffic" without libraries of bind files.

So on my Kheldians, I use T for Human Form, Y for Nova Form and G for Dwarf Form … making a convenient little triangle of keys right beside the F key where my left index finger is resting most of the time.  I just needed the motivation of not being able to use the NUMPAD to control a Mastermind's Pets to essentially "extend" that system to be able to handle everything a Mastermind would be wanting to command their Pets to do.

In the end, I wound up cannibalizing the following keys to command my Pets from the position of my left hand on the WERD key combination:

• T, Y, U = Genin … and use of Shift with these keys will enable direct addressing of a specific Minion Pet by name.
  
• G, H = Jounin … and use of Shift with these keys will enable direct addressing of a specific Lieutenant Pet by name.
  
• B = All Ninjas … but use of the Shift key will enable direct addressing of the Boss Pet by name.

So that right there gives me control of Minions only, Lieutenants only or All Pets without the Shift key … but when adding in the Shift key, I can load files with the commands that are unique to that specific Pet.

This then leaves the Z, X, C and V keys open underneath my basic WERD (plus S and F) used for movement controls.

• Z = Attack
  
• shift+Z = Aggressive
  
• X = Goto
  
• shift+X = Passive
  
• C = Follow
  
• shift+C = Defensive
  
• V winds up getting used for Smoke Bomb, but I've already written a "cascading targeting" of Smoke Bomb such that the highest ranking Pet you have at the time is the one who ought to be getting to use Smoke Bomb.  Conversely, if the specific Pet is cued up on the keybindings, it's possible to "choose" which Pet you want to have use Smoke Bomb.
  
• ctrl+X = Dismiss … done so as to make it more difficult to accidentally dismiss them via unintentional clicking.

Again, this puts all of the Pet Controls within each reach of my left hand while it is resting/hovering in the WERD part of the keyboard.

I then went ahead and wrote up a pile of binds for control key combos with the Control key being combined with the T-U, G-H and B keys which are mainly used for selecting which set of Pets to address with Commands so as to be able to do a quick key click to dispense the largest Inspiration of a specific type to the selected Pet (singular) that is being addressed.

• Control + T, Y, U = Breakfree (T), Accuracy (Y) or Damage (U)
  
• Control + G, H = Heal (G), Endurance (H)
  
• Control + V, B = Defense (V), Resistance (B)

So arguably I'm cramming an even higher density of Mastermind Control keybinds into a smaller number of keys to get the job done (12 keys total, including Shift and Control ... versus using 17 keys on the NUMPAD alone, not including use of Shift and/or Control), but I've enabled additional combinations of those keys that are being used so as to achieve the same "results" as the NUMPAD styled version … except with better/more favorable position of the left hand being possible.

I started play testing these bind loadfiles today, and I think it has been successful thus far.  I know I'll need to "retrain" not only myself but my muscle memory to make use of this new control setup, but that was going to be inevitable anyway.

Lastly, as a bit of logistics, I placed a folder inside the coh folder where I can dump in all of my bind files, just to keep things tidy (and easier to modify).  You'll see the pathname for that bit of chicanery inside the bind files.

Pets here named according to Japanese numbers (since they're all essentially "faceless minions" that merely have a serial number (so to speak):

• The Oni is named "San" … which is the number for 3, but which also means that he's "Oni-san" (or "onii-san" which means "brother") so there's a multi-level Japanese pun involved.
  
• The Jounin are named "Shi" and "Itsutsu" … in which "Shi" is the number 4, but has a homonym with "Death" which is also pronounced "Shi" (and which is why there is no 4th floor in hospitals in Japan, kind of like there is rarely a 13th floor in buildings in the US).  I wanted to use "Go" (which is 5) as the name of my other Jounin, but the pet naming system has problems if pet names are less than 3 letters long, so I had to use the alternate reading of "Itsutsu" for 5.
  
• The Genin are named "Roku" and "Nana" and "Hachi" … for 6, 7 and 8 respectively.  In the case of 7, I had to use "Nana" instead of using "Shichi" so as to avoid confusing the pet naming system by having two pets with "Shi" in their names.

So my Ninja Pets are literally named … 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 … in Japanese, and they are ALL replaceable (because there's plenty more where they came from, which is to say, my endurance bar).  That's why I have my pet bindloadfiles set up and named and organized the way that I do.

So, with all of this ergonomic/logistical decision making concerning "what goes where to decide what" laid out on the keyboard … here are the Ninja Mastermind relevant bindloadfiles that I've written and tested, which have been put into reply #2 of this thread.

LINK to bindloadfiles post.

In case anyone else wants to use the rest of my default keybind setup … well … here's what that looks like.  And yes, I have my 1-0 keys addressing Tray 2 … not Tray 1 … by default on all of my builds.  That's because I use Tray 1 for Kheldian Form powers (so I can see them and their recharge state at all times) and other miscellaneous "sub-powers" that get unlocked by things like Swap Ammo in Dual Pistols (and so on).

1 "powexectray 1 2"
2 "powexectray 2 2"
3 "powexectray 3 2"
4 "powexectray 4 2"
5 "powexectray 5 2"
6 "powexectray 6 2"
7 "powexectray 7 2"
8 "powexectray 8 2"
9 "powexectray 9 2"
0 "powexectray 10 2"
F1 "powexectray 1 3"
F2 "powexectray 2 3"
F3 "powexectray 3 3"
F4 "powexectray 4 3"
F5 "powexectray 5 3"
F6 "powexectray 6 3"
F7 "powexectray 7 3"
F8 "powexectray 8 3"
F9 "powexectray 9 3"
F10 "powexectray 10 3"
shift+1 "powexectray 1 4"
shift+2 "powexectray 2 4"
shift+3 "powexectray 3 4"
shift+4 "powexectray 4 4"
shift+5 "powexectray 5 4"
shift+6 "powexectray 6 4"
shift+7 "powexectray 7 4"
shift+8 "powexectray 8 4"
shift+9 "powexectray 9 4"
shift+0 "powexectray 10 4"
shift+F1 "powexectray 1 5"
shift+F2 "powexectray 2 5"
shift+F3 "powexectray 3 5"
shift+F4 "powexectray 4 5"
shift+F5 "powexectray 5 5"
shift+F6 "powexectray 6 5"
shift+F7 "powexectray 7 5"
shift+F8 "powexectray 8 5"
shift+F9 "powexectray 9 5"
shift+F10 "powexectray 10 5"
ctrl+1 "powexectray 1 6"
ctrl+2 "powexectray 2 6"
ctrl+3 "powexectray 3 6"
ctrl+4 "powexectray 4 6"
ctrl+5 "powexectray 5 6"
ctrl+6 "powexectray 6 6"
ctrl+7 "powexectray 7 6"
ctrl+8 "powexectray 8 6"
ctrl+9 "powexectray 9 6"
ctrl+0 "powexectray 10 6"
ctrl+F1 "powexectray 1 7"
ctrl+F2 "powexectray 2 7"
ctrl+F3 "powexectray 3 7"
ctrl+F4 "powexectray 4 7"
ctrl+F5 "powexectray 5 7"
ctrl+F6 "powexectray 6 7"
ctrl+F7 "powexectray 7 7"
ctrl+F8 "powexectray 8 7"
ctrl+F9 "powexectray 9 7"
ctrl+F10 "powexectray 10 7"
alt+1 "nop"
alt+2 "nop"
alt+3 "nop"
alt+4 "nop"
alt+5 "nop"
alt+6 "nop"
alt+7 "nop"
alt+8 "nop"
alt+9 "nop"
alt+0 "nop"
shift+ctrl+1 "inspexec_slot 1"
shift+ctrl+2 "inspexec_slot 2"
shift+ctrl+3 "inspexec_slot 3"
shift+ctrl+4 "inspexec_slot 4"
shift+ctrl+5 "inspexec_slot 5"
shift+ctrl "nop"
F11 say "Ready!$$emote thumbsup"
F12 say "$battlecry$$emote attack"
shift+F11 say "HELP!$$emote whistle"
shift+F12 say "RUN!"
w "+left"
e "+forward"
r "+right"
s "+turnleft"
d "+backward"
f "+turnright"
space "+up"
shift+space "+down"
shift+q "++autorun"
shift+a "powexecname Walk"
up "powexecname Ninja Run"
shift+up "powexecname Sprint"
tilde "targetenemynear$$targetcustomnext alive Quantum$$targetcustomnext alive Void$$targetcustomnext alive Cyst$$targetcustomnext alive Sapper"
shift+tilde "targetenemynext defeated"
' "nop"
- "nop"
alt+- "nop"
/ "nop"
; "em cellphone$$windowtoggle contacts"
\ "menu"
z "nop"
a "powexec_abort"
b "nop"
backspace "afk Sending tell…$$autoreply"
c "nop"
comma "show chat$$beginchat /tell $target, "
delete "++first"
down "powexecname Hover"
end "+zoomout"
enter "nop"
shift+enter "afk Typing…$$startchat"
ctrl+enter "em point$$say $target sighted."
equals "nop"
alt+equals "nop"
esc "unselect"
home "+zoomin"
nop "+lookup"
lalt "+camrotate"
lcontrol "nop"
lctrl "nop"
left "nop"
leftarrow "nop"
m "nop"
mbutton "nop"
mousechord "nop"
mousewheel "nop"
n "nop"
p "powers"
pagedown "sync$$reloadgfx$$camreset$$camdist 24"
pageup "nop"
ralt "nop"
rbutton "+mouse_look"
right "nop"
rightarrow "nop"
sysrq "screenshot"
t "nop"
tab "target_enemy_next"
ctrl+tab "nop"
shift+tab "target_enemy_prev"
v "nop"
ctrl+v "nop"
x "nop"

This is a very interesting build.  I’ve been trying to think of a way to make ninjas survive better.  I don’t like it when my henchmen die.  I was leaning towards storm for herding or force field and just pushing mobs around.  I even tried sonic up to about level 15. Never thought of this though.  I never take any primary attacks on my MM anyways. 

This is a very interesting build.

Thank you.

We make every pretense of competency around here ... ^_~

I’ve been trying to think of a way to make ninjas survive better.  I don’t like it when my henchmen die.

Back on Virtue, I played a Ninja/Trick Arrow Mastermind all the way up to 50.

I am NEVER going to play that combination of Primary/Secondary again ... I don't care how much INF you throw at me.  Nope, not going to do it.  Nyuh uh.

The only reason I chose Ninja/TA was so that I wouldn't have redraw when using personal Primary set attacks.  Needless to say, this what may be considered A Bad Move on my part, since that was very nearly the least of my problems.

The biggest challenge you have as a Ninja Mastermind is preventing your Ninjas from committing suicide.

On their own, unsupported, Ninjas are for all intents and purposes UNPROTECTED from incoming damage ... and they "fold" faster than cheap origami paper ... making them nearly useless.  The age old truism that faceplanters deal no damage is triply true with Ninjas.  If they don't live, they don't deal damage ... and Trick Arrow does next to nothing to prevent Ninjas from taking damage.  Suffice it to say, the only way to keep my Ninjas alive was to ensure they NEVER drew aggro.  If the attacks went elsewhere (like, say, my Mastermind) the Ninjas would live long enough to "do something" before faceplanting in shame.  So the only way to reliably keep them alive was Tankerminding in Bodyguard mode ... and the only way to do THAT reliably was to take the Presence Pool and use it to Taunt.

Complete and utter hackery ensued.  It wasn't pretty ... but it "worked" ... kinda ... sorta ... maybe?

On teams though, my Ninjas were a chaos of pathetic incompetence, simply due to the sheer disorganized unpredictability of everything.

Yeah, I'm not doing that again.

Of course, a few months after I'd gotten most of the way to 50, Time Manipulation came out and I regretted my decision to go Ninja/TA.

Time Manipulation makes it SO MUCH EASIER to keep Ninjas alive!  It's not even funny just how much easier it is.  Simply being able to PBAoE Heal ALL of the damage taken in Bodyguard mode spread through your Pets is simply a force multiplier of almost epic proportions.  Being able to softcap Ninjas without needing to resort to (stop for) casting bubbles on all of them every 4 minutes is practically liberating.  Being able to Tankermind with them up in melee for maximum shutdown efficiency of $Targets while the Ninjas "go to town" on whatever you've Taunted ... priceless.

The key thing here though is that Time Manipulation gives you an entire toolkit of options for how to deal with a variety of situations/challenges, rather than offering a One Size Fits All response to every situation.  Having alternatives for how to engage a variety of opponents, giving you a "depth" of options, really makes the Ninja/Time combination stand out as being truly synergistic (just add Leadership powers!).

Your mileage may vary, of course.  ^_~

My first MM to reach 50 was my Necromancy/Trick Arrow. Even got her a few incarnate abilities.

I love Trick Arrow, I love Necromancy. Never again will I mix those two sets.

Just hit 50 with a Ninja/Time/Mace build a few days ago, and I've been having a blast, especially soloing and in lower level task forces. But, my ninjas seem to just evaporate nearly every pull during the high level (45+) task forces and Incarnate trials. It feels like I spend more time resumonning my ninjas than anything else. I'd almost not bother but I feel exceptionally useless if my ninjas aren't out with this build. I'm hoping once I finish getting fully slotted up their survivability will be a bit better. I am curious which Incarnate abilities you would choose to take to help supplement the character, either to increase defensive capability or to increase the ninja's offensive power.

I am curious which Incarnate abilities you would choose to take to help supplement the character, either to increase defensive capability or to increase the ninja's offensive power.

While not directed at me, I'd answer part of your question with Hybrid Support. Defense and Damage bonuses to you, and double to your pets. About 12% for each. Plus END discount.

Pets really don't have much health, so if something gets through defense and they don't have top notch resists (ie, demons/thermal) they can drop quickly.

For what it's worth, my old Bots/FF would still lose pets on iTrials, it's just a part of being a MM.

Endurance and Recharge can help to replace pets in mid combat.

Just hit 50 with a Ninja/Time/Mace build a few days ago, and I've been having a blast, especially soloing and in lower level task forces. But, my ninjas seem to just evaporate nearly every pull during the high level (45+) task forces and Incarnate trials. It feels like I spend more time resumonning my ninjas than anything else. I'd almost not bother but I feel exceptionally useless if my ninjas aren't out with this build. I'm hoping once I finish getting fully slotted up their survivability will be a bit better. I am curious which Incarnate abilities you would choose to take to help supplement the character, either to increase defensive capability or to increase the ninja's offensive power.

Trick question(s) ...

• Are you still in Bodyguard Mode or are you commanding your Ninjas to Attack?
  
• Are you keeping your Ninjas clustered around you or are you letting them run off to commit suicide on their own beyond the Pet Defense Aura IOs radius of effect?
  
• Time's Junction?
  
• Distortion Field?
  
• Farsight?
  
• Do you use Provoke to draw aggro which causes your Ninjas to counterattack on your behalf, followed by an immediate use of Temporal Mending to "soak" the incoming damage not only to yourself but to ALL of your Ninjas (via Bodyguard)?
  
• Do you use Smoke Flash (at all)?  Who do you use it on (by default)?
  
• How far are you from finishing out your slotting of Set IOs?

I'm thinking that most of the answers to your problems will be found in these answers to these questions.

Just hit 50 with a Ninja/Time/Mace build a few days ago, and I've been having a blast, especially soloing and in lower level task forces. But, my ninjas seem to just evaporate nearly every pull during the high level (45+) task forces and Incarnate trials. It feels like I spend more time resumonning my ninjas than anything else. I'd almost not bother but I feel exceptionally useless if my ninjas aren't out with this build. I'm hoping once I finish getting fully slotted up their survivability will be a bit better. I am curious which Incarnate abilities you would choose to take to help supplement the character, either to increase defensive capability or to increase the ninja's offensive power.

this is why i no longer group with my defense based mm's. it's too frustrating the rate you have to replace pets. it's overall less of a problem when your pets are capped to lethal/smash/fire/cold/toxic resists, so i only group on my demon/thermal mm. still have to replace pets often, but nowhere near as often.

This looks awesome, I'm going to do a version of this with my Ninja/ Pain build and try some procs. 

The big thing is trying to understand binding as I can see how your setup could make a world of difference in game play.  That is easily the biggest frustration as a MM being the basic game controls.  So a few quick questions before I start smashing keys and "duhhh why is this not working".

1. I need to double check on the location of my directory of the game.

2. When putting in the copy pasted scripts does it generate a txt file or do I need to create those first and then add them into the folder?

do I need to create those first and then add them into the folder?

The player has to create/copy the files and put them into the folder.

The computer isn't going to write those for you.

With Ninja/ Thermal, Redlynne, I have been looking at how Dixa does /thermal, would you change the way you slot Ninja if you had paired it with /thermal? I am trying to find a viable build to work for now at 50. Thank you