pblue

I had a very smooth ride with Robots/Radiation. The robots provide a lot of defence, so radiations it seemed to complement well with radations debuffs. The area heal and accellerated metabolism are greaty quality of life powers. I skipped a few powers and ended up getting some of the primary attacks. I added a couple of procs to Photon Grenade, and just enough Endurance Reduction in Pulse Rifle so that once I dropped the toggles I can pew-pew at will just for the hell of it. I doubt it is the toughest build out there, but it's easy without being boring.

Barrier boost Resistances as well as Defence, so which might make the difference between the bots not getting one-shotted when an attack get's passed their defence.

Necro/Cold sounds like a great combination and thematically it's echoes Game of Thrones. I have a Necro/FF that is great. With the auras they end up with both really solid Defences and Resistances. With Cold you give up some Defence but gain a lot of other tools. Zombies make great pets. Demon might be stronger, but they block out the entire screen, run all over the place and I find them hard to control. The zombies are very well behaved pets as they methodically munch through your enemies. They even add their own control to the battle field so you don't have to stress about things. I could also talk about how much fun my Necro/Storm was, but you already excluded Storm.

Mastermind personal attacks are not, generally speaking, spectacular. But there are a few options I can think of. 1. Have a look at this thread for how Force Field powers can be used more proactively 2. Fighting Pool. Crosspunch isn't bad if you also takes Boxing and Kick. On my Ninja/FF character a took all the Fighting attacks and Knockout Blow from the Leviathan Epic. It may not be amazing but it keeps me entertained. 3. You can try putting some of the Invention Set Enchancements with Procs (Chance of effects) in your FF attacks which might add extra damage or debuff or knockdown your targets.

It's a toss up between Necro/Storm and Necro/FF. The both play the same way - knock mobs down and let the zombies feed - which never grows old. My Thugs/Cold is probably stronger and Bots/Rad was surprisingly smooth. Traps was a great secondary solo but I've not played my Merc/Trap in a long time. Probably time to try a new */Traps MM.

Nice! Nerco/Storm is such a fun combination. I can't offers any suggestions to improve, mine is a lot more casual (and much cheaper) but basically I rely , solo, a lot of Gale or Hurricane. There is something cruelly satisfying about knocking opponents down and then letting the zombies move in to feed!

I know Mastermind pets don't like caltrops when against them. I've run plenty of masterminds before. But I've always regarded them more as a speed bump than an problem. Yesterday I was running a solo mission with my Necro-Sonic and suddenly my normally well behaved zombies went completely nuts, running in random directions, some rushing back to the previous room, other dashing forward and pulling even more Knives. I've never seen anything that weird. It was not going well and I only succeeded because I levelled mid-mission and then I popped out of the mission so that my zombie would level up too. So I am puzzled. What was different? Is it that I my Necro-Sonic is resistance based (my other masterminds, which include other Nercos) are defense based. Or is it I don't have Tactics yet on this build (no Perception bonus or Confuse protection)?

Also, Steamy Mist (from Storm) + zombies is, in effect, John Carpenter's "The Fog".

I like my zombie henchmen. I have a Necro/Storm and a Necro/Force Field at 50. Despite being very different secondaries, my strategy is the essentially same; knock down your foe and let the zombies pile in a feeding frenzy. There is something very cruel yet satisfying about that.

Thanks, that makes sense. Does S/L Defence Cap really help vs status effects ( I guess the Energy part of Scorpion shield does).

I have a bot/rad character for casual solo. I'm in Epic range and I am wonder which Epic to go for. Specifically, I am curious about: 1. When using bodyguard mode, is it better to focus on resistance or defence on the mastermind? 2. Does Power Boost work with the Rad debuffs (Radiation Infection,Lingering Radiatio, Enervating Field) or does it last just a few seconds?

Thanks, I'll try that.

I got the Barrier Incarnate ability which is great execpt that it makes everything in the bubble look grainy. Are there any custom color options that might mitigate its visual effect?

Not that it's relevant, but Jim Butcher was and still a City of Heroes player. Apparently, back in the day he had to struggle with NCSoft to be allowed to use the names of his fictional characters in game (as he is the copyright owner of those characters).

Anyone but the Arsonist.

For more details about how good/bad the Pool Power attacks truly are see: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/2223-the-problem-with-pool-powers/?tab=comments#comment-17116 The conclusions from that thread is that Pool Power attacks generally aren't very good, but as Mastermind primary attacks aren't very good either, it's all relative. I'm no expert but if I were really keen for a fighting Mastermind I might for for Force Fields with a melee based pets like Nercomancy. Force Fields give you decent defence which you will want if you are plan to get up close. If you only take the shields you should have power slots, Endurance and free time to engage in melee. Personal Force Field to save your skin when you get too much aggro. Meanwhile the zombies are well protected in their bubble and can self-heal, making them pretty self-sufficient. The Lich even provides a good amount of control. And if you get Life Drain you also have a means to heal yourself. In practice I suspect trying to get yourself into the right position to engage in melee while keeping an eye on six or seven pets isn't always going to feel particularly smooth or effective in play but, it's a game right? If on the other hand you just want to feel you are doing as much damage as your minions, I'd go with Storm.

That makes sense, thanks. I was just worried I might be missing something obvious.

Is there a way to see a pet's Defence score (including the bonus from the masterminds shields and aura's from matermind's IO's)? I can see a Pet View button, but it only seems to show powers, not its Defence value.

Right, consider me persuaded, I shall keep both. Thanks for the feedback. Bonous question: any tips or tricks for using Deceive?

I have a Ill/Rad character in progress almost entirely for solo play. It's a classic combo, it works really well, couldn't be happier. My only issue is that I can't decide between Spectral Terror and Deceive. I like them both but I don't have room for both of them and even then they don't play nice with each other. Which should I keep?

On a mastermind, does the +6% bonus for the Kismet unique apply to the pet attacks as well? If so what power would it be best to slot this in?