Maxzero

July 8, 2022

3 hours ago, Andreah said:

I think pylons are a fine baseline provided they're equally defensed-from and resistant to all damage types, so there's not a trick build that produces a high pylon DPS but has trouble in most other content.

An even better measure would be a series of foes to defeat in sequence with high resistance too all damage types but one, with each foe having a different vulnerable type, and the hit points in the foes being distributed proportionately to how often those resistances are found in-game in normal content.

Yep

Any build that is built to speed run a AV is going to be at least decent against the standard content people play.

While it certainly is not a perfect test is at least shows a build are reasonable damage and passable defences

July 8, 2022

It is a CC power that cannot perma CC a single minion that is standing right next to you. Anything lt or above is unaffected.

Has a hefty end cost to go along with it.

In the running for worst power in the game.

July 8, 2022

5 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

I will never enjoy masterminds but reading things like this makes me jealous of those that get it goin in cool ways.

That's the life of a MM. When you can get the fight on your terms your output tops everything. But when you don't (such as constant movement, damage patches, narrow spaces, etc) you can feel useless.

Probably the AT with the greatest variability in performance due to factors outside your control.

July 8, 2022

On 5/28/2022 at 9:16 AM, Hjarki said:

Er... kinda.

Pylon tests are useful for putting a sanity check on the theory. However, there's such a thing as "teaching to the test". If you've got a 600+ dps pylon test build that build probably sucks.

By which I mean you've made choices that don't translate very well into performance in the actual game.

All those Mastermind builds that shred pylons? In the actual game, their pets tend to get annihilated - when they're not lagging behind as you dash through a mission or getting hobbled when the difficulty dial moves off +0. Your support set? Virtually all of the debuffs become irrelevant when you're fighting harder enemies and a lot of your buffs aren't terribly relevant because your teammates already have that covered.

How about that Scrapper? You've probably got Achilles' Heel slotted into an attack. But that's not particularly useful in normal play because you don't need it on random minion/lt/boss (you would have been better off with a straight damage proc) and it won't stack with the rest of your team on the final AV/GM. You probably slotted Gaussian's into Build Up. An actual 'game play' character probably wouldn't even take Build Up on a Scrapper and would slot Gaussian's into Tactics.

It's entirely possible to make a pylon build that will faceplant even against Council - much less Rularuu or Carnival.

Even then, what the pylon tests tell isn't the whole story. Sacrificing everything so you can maximize sustained dps against a +0 target without AV/GM resistances doesn't make much sense when the only time that will ever be useful is if you're trying to solo a mothership raid (and, even then, killing the pylons isn't what you should be optimizing for).

So while going for the perfect pylon build can be an interesting intellectual exercise and it's certainly something to compete over in a game that has no objective 'end game', I wouldn't take it for more than it is.

Disagree.

Anybody who is dedicated enough to develop and build a character for the sole purpose for getting high pylon times clearly has a level of game and build knowledge above that of a regular player.

Even a suboptimal 'pylon build' is going to have superior performance as compared to standard.

July 2, 2022

8 hours ago, SomeGuy said:

I never could get brave enough to do the melee thing with a ranged character. I KNOW it is absolutely viable play style, and I've seen some WILD results. I'll just sit around and hover and pew pew pew back here....

Yeah the blapper style has always been a turn off to me.

Which is strange since I use range attacks in melee all the time on my Tanker/Brutes.

Midnight Grasp is almost the perfect proc power though. 15 base recharge +2 sec or so cast time. The magic number is 16. If the cast time + recharge time add up to 16 that's the maximum recharge you can have slotted in a power (if any) while still have 90% proc chance on 3.5PPM procs for ST.

When making my chains I simply find my highest DPA (which is usually Gloom whenever its present) attacks and work around that.

For example for Dark Assault I would look at Moonbeams CD which is 20 (you can fit around 25% recharge before affecting proc rate) so let's try 16 seconds and then try the max DPA I can fit in 16 seconds. Let's say MG. Which is 2.24 out of 16 leaving 14.76 and so on.

I would assume the perfect rotation (assuming min recharge and proc heavy) would something along the lines of:

Gloom/Smite/Moonbeam/Smite/Gloom/MG/Smite

You might need other fillers since I don't have all the cast times in front of me (Life Drain, Epics, etc). Maybe cut the odd Smite if you can. Those fillers is where you put your sets since you want recharge so you can weave them in between your heavy hitters while they recharge.

Anyway that's just how I approach it. Just about maximising DPA since no matter how powerful you are you can only use one ability at a time so you may as use your time as best you can.

Or just be a MM or Crabbermind and blow action economy out the window.

July 1, 2022

13 minutes ago, arcane said:

On Tankers etc I definitely would slot more procs, but Dom secondaries can be super hungry for recharge.

Yeah I edited a bit.

Any recharge you slot into ST (and full sets always have it) is usually a DPS from lower proc chances.

Gloom/Moonbeam/Grasp with triple (or more) damage procs and some dam/end with a touch of Acc will wipe the floor compared to any set you put in there. Its a BIG difference.

5x lotg 5 x purple is already 87.5 recharge. +70 from Hasten is 157.5. Need around 20% more for perma Hasten which is enough global recharge to keep it out of your ST rotation slotting.

If you do need the set bonus put it in you fastest base recharge attacks since they tend benefit less from procs since their low DPA makes them a lower priority in a ST rotation.

July 1, 2022

19 minutes ago, arcane said:

Smite/Midnight Grasp/Gloom/Moonbeam are all 4 very good DPA powers. Unlike /Fire, /Dark can slot the +damage proc in a long recharge heavy hitter (Midnight Grasp) which is a nice selling point. I also wonder if the -tohit helps with pet uptime but evidence is shaky on that one. Oh and with how aggressive I made this build I probably would’ve been killed a couple of the rounds were it not for Life Drain 🙂 I needed a lot of recharge bonuses to keep the Moonbeams coming so my slotting is

Smite 5 Crushing Impact / Glad Strike Proc

Midnight Grasp 5 Hecatomb / Ascendency Proc

Gloom 5 Decimation / Glad Jav Proc

Moonbeam 5 Apocalypse / Glad Jav Proc

All of the above except Moonbeam have the minimum possible recharge enhancement (whatever has recharge enhancement is attuned instead if boosted). Moonbeam needs the max recharge.

Sorry for not having mids on my macbook 😞 I’ll screenshot the build later. But yeah like I said I made some hefty sacrifices. It’s kind of making me want to make this a multi-build character. Because that is not how aggressive and squishy I’d normally build it were I not trying to push a boundary here.

From my experience making melee builds I found max dps slotting (procs + frankenslotting) on my highest DPA attacks (ideally the entire ST chain) and then get the set bonuses on AoE/everything else tended to work best for max DPS.

Especially for a set like Dark which gets access to to an extra damage proc (especially useful for ST ranged powers which have limited proc options).

High global recharge and basically no slotted recharge in ST powers.

June 29, 2022

Is the build only for ITF? Because I feel some of the IO choices are reaching for neg resist over everything else.

June 27, 2022

On 6/27/2022 at 8:02 AM, Voltak said:

ONce I finish all Incarnates, I will. Not sure I want what I had on Mids. I am deliberating between two Alphas

But I will. I share 🙂

Well if you want some to bounce some idea this is my setup:

Perma Hasten with FF +recharge procs, range def cap, decent S/L resists, ST rotation with 2 big hitters (Enflame and Water Spout) and AoE to the eyeballs. Also end efficient enough so that if exempted below incarnate it can actually function for more then 30 seconds.

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June 25, 2022

19 minutes ago, SomeGuy said:

This is absolutely laffo and I honestly might make a thugs/cold MM on Brainstorm to see.

Thugs/Cold/Fire MM

Double Gang War/Heat Loss/Sleet/Bonfire.

Though the video (still somewhere on youtube) I saw was Demons/Cold for pure -res stacking.

Demons/Cold actually synergises very well you can get def softcap plus near 90% resist on your pets.

They still die a fair bit though.

Its not just MMs either. Trollers double stacking long CD debuffs with a double stacked Water Spout is pretty neat.

June 25, 2022

13 hours ago, Enots said:

That's a great idea. This build is mostly a general game play build, it keeps softcapped ranged and proc'd psynado. If I were to build a pylon destroyer I would focus more on recharge and add burnout per your suggestion.

My only issue with Psi is that IW and the res Toggle are both fantastic but both the attacks are kinda bad stat wise.

Controller is kind of spoilt when it comes to PPP and AP, there are so many strong choices.

Most Controllers tend to be pretty decent defensively by their very nature, often having tanky pets with good buffing secondaries and CC. Most of the time I find I want more damage then yet another layer of protection on a character that already has multiple layers of defence yets tend to takes smaller amounts of attacks directly.

Sure you may get downed at times where a more tanky Controller would of lived but if you are moving 20-30% faster the rest of the time you end up way ahead.

June 25, 2022

On 1/18/2022 at 11:46 PM, Enots said:
I used infrigidate, spectral, blind, spectral, mental blast. I try to not use mental blast depending on what other powers can be cast. Sleet and benumb are first priority when recharged. I could push ST DPS further if I was willing to give up proc'd psy nado and ranged softcap. I could swap Superior will proc into blind, build for more recharge, and switch to pyronic. Infirgidate has the new slow proc in it as well, everything is +5 (even though my mids shows +3), except the recharge IOs in spectral wounds to help it proc slightly more.

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.6.0
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Phant: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Cold Domination
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Spectral Wounds -- Apc-Dam%(A), Apc-Dmg(3), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Apc-Acc/Rchg(5)
Level 1: Infrigidate -- PcnoftheT-Acc/EndRdx(A), AchHee-ResDeb%(7), TchofLadG-%Dam(7), ShlBrk-%Dam(11), ImpSwf-Dam%(13), Empty(17)
Level 2: Blind -- HO:Nucle(A), NrnSht-Dam%(15), GldJvl-Dam%(15), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(34), UnbCns-Dam%(37), GldNet-Dam%(39)
Level 4: Ice Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 6: Deceive -- CrcPrs-Conf%(A), CrcPrs-Conf/EndRdx(40), CrcPrs-Conf(40), CrcPrs-Conf/Rchg(43), CrcPrs-Acc/Conf/Rchg(45), CrcPrs-Acc/Rchg(45)
Level 8: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(9), BlsoftheZ-Travel(9), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(11)
Level 10: Glacial Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 14: Boxing -- AbsAmz-ToHitDeb%(A), AbsAmz-EndRdx/Stun(17), AbsAmz-Stun/Rchg(46), AbsAmz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(46), AbsAmz-Acc/Rchg(46)
Level 16: Tough -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(19), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(25), SlbAll-Build%(34), SlbAll-Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 20: Arctic Fog -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(21), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(21), GldArm-3defTpProc(23)
Level 22: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(23), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(40)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(25)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- SprWiloft-Rchg/Dmg%(A), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(27), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(27), SprWiloft-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(31), SprWiloft-EndRdx/Rchg(31), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(31)
Level 28: Benumb -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(29), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 30: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Phantasm -- ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(A), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(33), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(33)
Level 35: Sleet -- Artl-End/Rech/Rng(A), Artl-Acc/Rech/Rng(36), Artl-Acc/Dam(36), Artl-Dam/End(36), Artl-Dam/Rech(37), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(37)
Level 38: Heat Loss -- PrfShf-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(39), EffAdp-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(39)
Level 41: Mental Blast -- Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), Thn-Acc/Dmg(42), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(43), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Mind Over Body -- Ags-ResDam(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(45)
Level 47: Psionic Tornado -- HO:Nucle(A), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(48), ExpStr-Dam%(48), FrcFdb-Rechg%(48), PstBls-Dam%(50), JvlVll-Dam%(50)
Level 49: Indomitable Will -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 1: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A)
Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon
Level 50: Ion Core Final Judgement
Level 50: Reactive Radial Flawless Interface
Level 50: Banished Pantheon Radial Superior Ally
Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany
Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment
------------
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Bit of a late reply but an easy way to cheese /Cold on pylon tests is to take Burnout. Then you can just double stack Heatloss and Sleet at the start of the battle (-108 res).

Its how the /Cold MM got an 8 second pylon time.

Burnout can be used to cheese any pylon test which has sets with super long CDs but super high impact.

April 11, 2021

When the Enflame toggle is up does your pets benefit?

April 9, 2021

And yet when we play incarnate content all the negative level shifts disappear.

So if we don't need them for incarnare content why do we need them for the rest of the content?

April 7, 2021

On 4/3/2021 at 2:48 AM, HachiMan2015 said:

Do you mean a boost to damage or accuracy if we fulfill a certain requirement? What types of things were you thinking? I'm curious now.

Or are you saying that MM pets performance is poor to begin with and you wouldn't mind a long recharge as long they had a buff in the future rather than a deceased recharge time?

Not trolling just genuinely curious

More like if we do everything right as a MM we get to be average.

If I have to herd half a dozen cats across a battlefield when I unleash those same cats I want hell. Instead I get the same impact as the guy who only has to lead one well trained dog.

April 2, 2021

1 hour ago, HachiMan2015 said:

I totally agree on no auto upgrades, I don't have an issue upgrading with each summons, but for your second point, no other AT is "punished" by losing access to their primary for a period of time. You still have to upgrade them, buff them with other abilities etc so it will still be a small inconvenience when they die.

I wouldn't mind the downside if when we do the right thing we are rewarded with above average performance.

March 23, 2021

14 hours ago, PsychoThruster said:

I'm probably in the minority, but I kind of like longer animations, and find it a shame that high level content essentially becomes about speed runs. I see it as a poor way to structure a game build on tab targeting combat. Seeing a giant robot roasting mobs for seven seconds should be great fun instead of an impediment.

Totally unrealistic and unrelated to the topic tangent here, but I hope we get an experimental server someday that slows things down quite a bit. Maybe gets rid of IOs as we know them and implements enhancements that allow more controlled tweaking of powers. Like adding aoe at the expense of damage, range at the expense of recharge, etc. Maybe instead of defined archetypes you pick power set themes and build a list of powers that can include range and melee, with base stat modifiers changing based upon the number of melee/ranged/support/defensive powers you pick up. Unlikely I know, but a boy can dream.

The longer animation times would be fine if they had the damage to justify it.

Unfortunately they get super long animating attacks that only do average damage. In some cases its so bad that it actually lowers a pets overall damage.

March 20, 2021

2 hours ago, Arbegla said:

Three times actually, as MMs secondaries cost 25% more endurance when compared to other buff/debuff sets, for less value.

For example:

Web Grenade is 9.75 endurance Base on a MM

but for Defenders, Controllers, and Corruptors, its 7.8 Endurance Bas

Acid Mortar is 16.25 Endurance on a MM, 13 on other ATs for example

Its strange how later primary MM sets (Demons, Nature) had better MMs attack to encourage a more active playstyle then proceeded to punish said playstyle with higher end costs.

March 20, 2021

13 hours ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

Do they really though?

Look, some AT's are great at soloing and others not so much. So is there anything wrong with the idea that not all AT's are suitable for +4/x8 content?

Ok, so MM's can't put out great damage during an Incarnate Trial. Doesn't their secondary powerset still function? Can't they buff/debuff/heal/whatever their league members?

Is there really anything wrong with AT's being different and some AT's being better or worse at some content than other ATs?

Actually pets are much better in Incarnate content. They are get level shifts to counter the level drops so all your pets are equal to your level.

Which as I said earlier makes you wonder for the need for negative shifts for pets at all. If they are not needed in Incarnate content why are they needed in other high level content?

March 18, 2021

39 minutes ago, Incursion said:

The arguments against opening up the pools with the same limitations there are now as far as precursors, and maintaining the limit of 1 new one have no meat. There Is no logic any more for keeping it to 4. All the added powers to the pools are deep where some big decisions need to be made if people want to go balls deep in them.

looking at my own characters I typically use about 7-8 pool powers total and 2-3 epics. The most I’ve ever used in the game was, 3 from force of will, 1 from speed, 2 from leadership and 3 from fighting. That’s 9 powers on my em/ice. This left me room for the necessary powers for my playstyle in primary and secondary and I took 2 epics. If I dove deeper than that I’d have a very hard time parting ways with the remaining powers, and would likely be sacrificing quite a bit. Opening the pools won’t make it roflcopter easy. It just makes some characters more interesting. I’d be all for removing fluff precursor picks or the ability to respec out of starting powers which often get pushed aside later in game, I’d love to just see something different. Considering how many new powers were added it just seems fitting to allow more flexibility.

Add to that many builds take the same pools.

Speed for Hasten

Fighting for Tough/Weave

Jumping for CJ

Flying for Hover

Sometimes Leadership pops up. Trying to fit in multiple origin pools is a pipe dream.

March 18, 2021

On 3/18/2021 at 5:26 AM, Bill Z Bubba said:

I would definitely have to argue that burning 9 power picks to get there would be a sufficient cost.

I plan on getting all the travel powers and then turning them all on AT THE SAME TIME!

The mobs won't know what hit them!*

*The answer would be nothing hit them because I didn't have open power picks to take any attack powers.

March 18, 2021

5 hours ago, Coyote said:

Hm. There are two discussions here:

1) MM changes on Beta, and what we think about them

2) Solutions to the REAL MM problems of -2 pets against +3 mobs, and a constant DoT-style damage output in a high-level game of burst AoE DPS.

I wager that #1 is almost an irrelevant discussion as those changes are too straightforward, simple, and beneficial, to not end up going in about like they are on Beta.

And that #2 is a discussion that is forthcoming. Clearly the MM changes are kind of "low-hanging fruit" to make some quick duct tape fixes, but I will be shocked if there isn't some real discussion initiated by the Dev team, regarding how to solve the MM issues long-term.

My main issue with #2 is when the devs make blanket statements to the effect: "we won't make pet upgrade powers auto."

To me pet upgrades are a key influencer in regards to many MMs issues in the current meta: The lack of mobility, pet fragility, pet setup times, pet CC prot, pet primary diversification, etc. By making them at least partially untouchable it limits options.

So yeah I was a little disappointed in the devs statement.

March 18, 2021

8 hours ago, PsychoThruster said:

That's exactly why I'd like to see equip and upgrade altered to ST powers that contain three kits for each pet. It makes an integral part of the AT(upgrading pets) a dynamic and active process for the player instead of just a "tax" as some people put it. I think that's the real issue that needs addressing. Then maybe looking over the level 18 power choices *coughserumcough*.

I think an additional pet, especially one designed around softening the level disparity(something I think could probably be done away with outright) is just another passive power that offers little engagement from the perspective of the player.

I don't know why pets have level shifts anymore anyway.

Can't be for balance since in Incarnate content they are negated entirely and MMs don't become outrageous so I don't see how having level 50 t1s and t2 in and ITF or STF is somehow different.

March 17, 2021

1 minute ago, PsychoThruster said:

I'm going to reiterate making the upgrade powers similar to swap ammo in that it gives the player three powers that represent a unique kit when applied to each pet tier is a way to make upgrading way more interesting.

Is upgrading still mandatory? Yes, but if I can swap my soldiers kit from aoe dot assault rifles to knock back shotguns during a fight, I have some tactical considerations to make during the entire battle.

Make the upgrades single target, with reasonable recharge and I have the option to respond to the battle and be more engaged in managing pets. Am I taking too much damage? I turn another soldier into a medic.

Each upgrade power essentially does 9 different things this way. Three powers with a unique effect depending on which pet tier is targeted. Simply make it so the powers pets get start on cool down to prevent abuse.

You retain the need for the masterminds to manage and upgrade the pets, but they become more than just buff and forget powers by actually offering enough flexibility to consider active use.

It doesn't require inventing new game mechanics or invalidating old ones, arguably it's closer thematically to how the AT was intended to be played, and is something the community could come together to help design.

There are heaps of good ideas and honestly I find Equip/Upgrade so lacklustre and dull that pretty much anything would be an improvement.

The issue is its a lot of work for the Devs that are already stretched thin.

March 17, 2021

Demons/Cold did well for me.

The def and res synced up well enough for both res and def to be near softcaps for both.

The -res stacking made it extremely strong offensively.

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