Neiska

Hello OP @crimson72, Quite a bit to break down here. But I have some time to kill at work here, so here we go! I am an avid farmer and a Mastermind main, so hopefully I can help. 1. Masterminds themselves as an AT won't win any DPS races. What they are good at, is a very customizable support class. More than any other AT, your primary/secondary pairing can affect how you play. You can build offensively, defensively, buffs, debuffs, melee, ranged, even specialize in flying combat if you like. To me the real strength of Masterminds is this flexibility that not many other ATs can offer. Thugs is one of the best primaries, and can go with any secondary. Poison however is, well... I won't say it's "bad", only that on a limited budget starting out the odds are not in your favor. I have seen some /Poison Masterminds do some pretty neat things though, but that's pretty top-heavy investment to get there. But if you like the journey and that is what you have your heart set at, then don't let anyone tell you differently, numbers be darned. But Masterminds are a fantastic class if you put the time in to learn all the nuisances, styles, and mechanics in play. Its a very complex class, which is why I personally love them. 2. Farming. Well, that is a can of worms here on the forums. You essentially have 5 groups of people - A. Pro-farmers - people who farm for various reasons, in any number of styles. B. Anti-farmers - people who consider farming to be.. ..not good. I have even been called a "cheater" or worse just for farming. Many feel it is not really a part of the game. But it exists, and has remained for a number of years now. I scoff at any insinuation that it's not a part of the game. C. The majority of people who largely mind their own business, and don't particularly have an opinion on the matter. D. The people who don't use the forums. E. @Snarky, who is by all rights a person who deserves to be in their own group, and I think it would be cruel, even possibly a violation of human rights, to stick any poor soul in the same box as him. The point is, if you even mention farming, in any context, you are more or less waving a big flag. People are going to have opinions about it. Personally, I go by live and let live. You do your thing, I'll do mine, and we will meet in the middle somewhere. Also, (just my opinion here), I think it speaks volumes of someone who believes they have a right to lecture others on what they can and cannot do when not a staff member. Additionally, I have to restrain myself when they attempt to "flex" by comparing farming to non-farming, when playing the market easily beats them both combined. But that's getting off topic here. Anyway, if you mention farming, just be aware that you are opening yourself to peoples opinions. But that's all they are. Opinions. Opinions aren't right, and they aren't wrong. They are just opinions. And some people here whom have a pretty high opinion of themselves, seem to think their mere opinions carry far more weight than they actually do, or think their opinions are official Homecoming policy. They do not. There are farming communities, however. I won't name them here for obvious reasons. But I will describe that we have a discord with a list of maps, farming builds for every AT, inf earnings calculators, compare strategies, mechanics breakdowns, voice chat, team farming, and more. And there is just as much co-operation in our little community as others. We even have "farm events" where we time ourselves in things like how long to get to 50, how long to make X, how long to fully slot out a specific build, and so on. It's just like any other Supergroup that does similar activities, just based on Discord and focused on Farming/AE as the activity. But, given the nature of the activity that is severely frowned on others, it is sort of underground. People just want to do their own thing and enjoy the game in a way they enjoy. Not be hounded with drama, opinions, and disapproval when they weren't asked for, as is often the case. 3. Running multiple accounts is allowed. They just ask us to be mindful of server population. Personally I 3 box 3 Masterminds. And when you multi-box, it completely changes many of the dynamics and figures in play. Such as how much inf/hour you earn, how many drops you find, and so on. I won't go into specific details and numbers, but what I will say is that what some people think is "a lot of inf", is chump change to others. And with an added bonus that if you have multiple farmers on different accounts, you can make alts quite easily. And that if you do manage to make a team that can, you won't be sorry. So, if farming is the activity you enjoy doing, than do it. And I hope you have all the fun you want and it rains money from the sky for you. And don't be like others who try to turn enjoying a game in different ways into a competition or comparison, like many do here. Having "fun" isn't a contest. Just my two cents on the matter. Personally I ignore people with specific haircuts and interjecting opinions. They are welcome to them, and their mere opinion doesn't affect me one way or another. And life is far too short to fret about some random voice on the internet who disagrees with me over pixels in a video game that is old enough to vote. Best wishes, and happy farming.

If I was going to make a /Kin MM today, I would go Mercs/Kin, and plan my build around Group Fly to help minimize pet damage taken. It wouldn't fix it all, but it would go a long way to make up for /Kins lack of defenses, and only Robots or Mercs have the option to fight completely at ranged.

Sometimes I will run a theme build. Just for funs. It doesn't have to be the best, or the strongest, or the fastest. I had one vampire attempt, the build was Beasts/Dark MM, went "classical." Almost went beasts/storm, but I had never had a fully slotted /dark MM before that. Sure, she was one of my worst MMs, but she was a lot of fun to play. One friend I know picks ATs/Powers for an entirely different reason. They host roleplay events, and pick powers with visuals he can use to help his storytelling. I think he has a few full lvl 50s, just for the powers. I dont think he actually gears/slots those characters, he just gets the levels for access to everything. I am not sure if that counts as a theme, or even a build, more of a "for the special effects" kind of option. Which I haven't really seen a lot of.

@Snarky I think we can all agree what needs to be done.

He's ignored me for far less. It involved me insinuating they were the type with a specific hairstyle who gets their jollies off policing others, even though it isn't their place to enforce the rules. No skin lost there, take my word for it.

Yes, that should stir the pot nicely. Inb4threadlocked.

I have a solution. It's not a good solution, but a solution nonetheless. I say we put @Snarky in office, against his will if necessary. He doesn't care enough to be bribed, he can't be intimidated, and no one can claim he is particularly favors anyone over another. It would be the best "Pug group" story of all time out of any MMO anywhere, and he should be kept busy enough we won't have to keep putting up with his undead self lurking here on the forums. (A long shot, I know. But we can hope.) And as a bonus, his cabinet picks should be very interesting, if not highly entertaining. Not to mention the meetings with other world leaders, interviews, and news conferences. I even have a few campaign slogans to submit for his consideration - "The Nosferatu cares about you! Vote Snarky 2024!" "Don't settle for a lesser evil. Snarky 2024!" "Why vote differently? Most politicians are almost dead anyway. Vote Undead to see a change!" "Tired of the tax bite? Wait till you get a load of this nominee!" "Snarky. Guaranteed minimum effort. Still better than the rest!"

I use different costume slots for such a theme. You could use different slots to make entirely different looks and swap between them when needed. Powers are another matter though, as you can only have one AT, one primary and one secondary. The only option for that is to make different versions of the same character, using different powersets and so on, and swap to whichever version you were in the mood for. I have done similar with a tech/cyberware based character, where i wanted to try new powers and builds, but wanted to keep my roleplay and friends, so i just explained it icly as "trying a new loadout" or "cyberware upgrade" etc. But doing all of that on one character? Not really possible I'm afraid. You are talking Superstrength, Flight (that ones easy), Mace, Sword, Archery, and im not sure what powers you would use to represent observation. But with SS, Mace, Sword, Archery you are talking 4 different versions of the character at least, on 2 different ATs.

No, if they are aggressive they will/can run off, unless you tell them to remain in place on aggressive, then they are kind of like turrets. I found for most MM setups staying in bodyguard mode works the best, unless you are on a team. Depends on the setup though. I have always had the best results if i dont try to micromanage my pets too much, but some builds do benifit from that. But yes, if you set them to aggressive and leave them that way they will chase enemies down, and can/will aggro the next group so you will have to follow them to keep them in range, or tell them to come back. PS - This also all depends if you are on standard or advanced mode for pet controls, there are actually 2 different variations. One is more detailed than the other, which is what I prefer to use.

More people does not mean more pleasant people to play with, or more enjoyable people to play with. It just means more people. More or less I was only teaming with people from my friends list or super group, and occasionally letting people sit in on farms. Because more often than not, group with an entire group of random people was not an experience that I enjoyed. Others may feel differently. They are welcome to it and I hope they have a good time. Truly. But in every MMO there is a group of people who group with whom they wish, or play entirely by themselves. And trying to force any sort of dynamic, even with a carrot on a stick, rarely ends well.

Knowing what I know now about Masterminds, if I wanted to run a solo /kin mastermind I would likely run it with Robots or Mercs. Kinetics is great for offense and support, poor defensively and debuff-wise. So a pet set with some built in forms of defense, either via self buffs of heals would be best, but Robots and Mercs stand out by being able to take advantage of Group Fly as they are both ranged pets. Having your pets flying can make a very significant impact on how well they survive. Not all enemies have ranged attacks, and even fewer have full rotations of ranged attacks. Some don't have ranged attacks at all. So just hovering your pets just out of melee range can make a very large difference, even with secondaries like /kinetics. Though this can pose a problem on some maps, such as caverns or sewers. Or against some enemies who aren't put off by your personal flying squad of death. So Group fly isn't a fix-all, but it does affect the majority of maps and enemies. Most maps with a "roof" still allows enough headroom to fly just out of melee reach. And I imagine the new Mercs/Kinetics might actually do quite well.

Hello spurgo, I need a bit more context to be able to point to exactly what the problem might be. But here are a few general things to consider - 1. What level are you? Are you fully level 50? Or are you still in the process of leveling? 2. What difficulty to play on? 3. What secondary powersets are you using? 4. Are you fully slotted or still in the process of getting geared up? 5. Are all your toggles on? Is your END management sustaining those toggles? 6. Do you have your autocasts going? The correct autocasts? 7. Are your pets staying within range of autocasts and buffs or are they running out of range and getting clobbered? I am afraid there are a lot of possible causes, and without seeing what your current builds are or a bit more to go on, it is difficult to pinpoint. But you can equip pet IO sets that raise "some" resists, but most of it will come from your secondaries. Depending on what secondaries you have chosen, you may not have your big resist buffs yet. If that is the case, I would recommend lowering the difficulty until you reach that point. This doesn't exactly help a lot, I know. But I need a bit more to go on to give advice.

Petless Ma--- darnit. Beat me to it.

That is an impressively well-lit and clean Crypt you have there Snarky. I am genuinely surprised. I expected more Bats and Cobwebs. Is that a pinball machine I see in the corner?

I can +1 attest to the sheer bulldog stubbornness of a good Demons/Electric MM. Mine was more durable (in total) than a few tankers I have made. It wasn't the fastest by any means, but honestly it survived and done things that it really shouldn't have. But another lowkey but very potent build that I don't see many of is Robot/Dark. Mine was Robot/Dark/Fire, built for flying. Stacking Tar Patch, Bonfire, T3 fire patches, Darkest Night, Howling Twilight, Fearsome Stare is all just so potent it's kind of crazy. Flying in itself can be a real game changer for pets, but only moreso when fighting enemies with limited ranged attacks and you are throwing so many debuffs at them. Plus when you are flying, all of /Dark's cones shoot downward and can hit more than expected when you use it from the ground. Another upside is that all of /Dark's -tohit debuffs works very nicely with Robots DEF buffs. Honestly playing my Robot/Dark felt like I was kind of cheating. If you want something deceptively potent that isn't overplayed, give Robot/Dark a look.

IMO it really depends on the difficulty, what kind of activity, how much INF is invested, and perhaps most importantly - player skill/experience. A skilled player can take a "bad" set and make it perform better than a new/unexperienced player with a good set, and an average skilled player with all the purples might well beat them both. And all that may change, from activity A, to B, to C. A lot of it comes down to personal preference as well. I have only dabbled with mercs and beasts and have never touched ninjas. But I have teamed with players who did very well with them, regardless of their "rankings." My advice? Go with your gut and what you like. You will likely enjoy it more and possibly do better anyway than forcing yourself to play something you don't like. And at the end, it's not like there is a race or gold medal to be won anyway. Personally, I enjoy thinking outside the box and trying new things, and sometimes it can lead to surprises that defies conventional wisdom. My two cents, for what its worth.

I still have lots of fun on my Savage/Bio brute, the fury interacts wonderfully with Savage mechanics, and /Bio is just the icing on the cake. Sure they aren't huge hits, but a flurry of little ones and bleeds/dots which fury does affect. So IMO it really depends on what powersets are being used, but that's just me. Some Brutes are still fantastic.

After level 50, you keep getting exp and gaining veteran levels. Every few levels you will get free incarnate materials. That is more or less how I fully incarnated my mains. You can also turn emp merits into transcendant merits and mail them to yourself. You do get incarnate stuff for doing incarnate content too, but the farm/exp method is there for us lone wolves too. And a lot of the upper end of enhancements can only be equipped at 50. There is still a lot to do, even fun stuff like badge/title hunting. For some of us, getting 50 is just the first step and thats when the real game begins. If you are looking for team play, there are groups who run the weeklys (at least on everlasting.) Its fine to go "well I'm done!" and shelf a character at 50. But for some of us thats when it really starts to get interesting.

One of my best Tankers is EM/Bio. Being able to hit ST for 600+ while still keeping a tanks durability feels extremely satisfying, and the AoE isn't that bad either if you slot whirling hands with damage procs. So it has respectable AoE, and strong ST, by tanker standards, and is capable of +4 afk farming if that is an activity you are interested in.

No, I was counting the perma-bats and the "when powers used" bats. 11. Squeaker

There is however, two different Bat Auras you can use, but the compromise is, you have to name them all. Here are some suggestions - 1. Zwoop 2. Nibbles n Sips 3. Ketchup 4. Bruce Wayne 5. Adam Sandler 6. Count Barbosa Edmud Delvonte Esquire Jr, XVII'th of his name, Lord of the Belfry. 7. The Lawyer 8. The cute one 9. Former Sugar Glider 10. The Flapper before the Bite

Is this the guy? My camera snapped this as he was reacting to a post of mine.

In short, no. You don't have to play with any team, regardless of level of difficulty, what they do, or how they play. You don't even need a reason or excuse. You done nothing wrong. And speaking personally, I don't care to merely just observe or bear witness on a +0 of all things. If it was me, I would have spoke up to something akin to "Well, this doesn't seem to be much fun or a challenge. Let's turn up the difficulty, shall we?" And see how much of a "gogogogogo" they are on max difficulty. Most teams can still handle that though. And if anyone asked me, I would say the game could use a higher difficulty for those that do want to min/max and push it.

Hello, sorry for the late reply. I wasn't notifed for some reason. Assualt IMO isn't all that great for the END cost, its only a little bit plus dimishing returns. I would go tactics, to first help prevent blindness, but also boosts your pets DPS against higher level targets by helping them hit more, which your T1 pets can stumble trying to land hits on. So it's multipurporse instead of just a tiny bit of damage.