Neiska

Thank you very much @DocMidknight, i will have a look. I have played MMs a lot as well, but I have never tried beasts, and only played dark to like, level 12? Usually go robots/demons/thugs with ea/time/thermal etc. So figured i would try a pairing i never tried before, with a theme. Thanks bunches again, will have a look at your version PS - several people in discord said petrify (and black hole) was skippable from dark? is that not the case?

Hello forums, I have never really played Beasts nor Dark, so some feedback would be appreciated. I am used to higher defense/resistance values, so I am unsure if this build is bad or if thats just something to expect in a debuff set. Notes - 1. I wanted to use a few other tools/powers I never tried before, such as Enflame, Spirit Ward, etc. 2. I am overall pleased how this pet slotting looks, but I am uncertain about the Dark slotting. Thanks bunches in advance This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7 https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! N/A: Level 50 Magic Mastermind Primary Power Set: Beast Mastery Secondary Power Set: Dark Miasma Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Heat Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Summon Wolves -- SlbAll-Build%(A), CaltoArm-+Def(Pets)(3), CaltoArm-Acc/Dmg(3), TchofLadG-%Dam(5), SvrRgh-PetResDam(5), ShlBrk-%Dam(7) Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(7), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(9), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(9), Pnc-Heal(11), Pnc-Heal/+End(23) Level 2: Tar Patch -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 4: Darkest Night -- SphIns-Acc/ToHitDeb(A) Level 6: Train Beasts -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 8: Kick -- Empty(A) Level 10: Howling Twilight -- RechRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(11), RechRdx-I(25) Level 12: Summon Lions -- EdcoftheM-PetDef(A), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg(13), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx(13), SprCmmoft-Rchg/PetAoEDef(19), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(27) Level 14: Maneuvers -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(15), Rct-EndRdx/Rchg(15), Rct-Def/Rchg(17), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Rct-ResDam%(19) Level 16: Shadow Fall -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(27), ShlWal-Def(29), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(33) Level 18: Fortify Pack -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RechRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(46) Level 20: Fearsome Stare -- Ngh-Acc/Rchg(A), Ngh-EndRdx/Fear(21), Ngh-Acc/EndRdx(21), Ngh-Fear/Rng(23), Ngh-Acc/Fear/Rchg(29), Ngh-Acc/Fear(39) Level 22: Call Hawk -- Dvs-Acc/Dmg(A) Level 24: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(33), UnbGrd-Max HP%(34), UnbGrd-ResDam(34) Level 26: Summon Dire Wolf -- ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(A), ShlBrk-%Dam(34), SprMarofS-Dmg(36), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg(36), SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen(36), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37) Level 28: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(37), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(37) Level 30: Spirit Ward -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(31), Prv-Absorb%(31), Prv-Heal/Rchg(33), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(39), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(46) Level 32: Tame Beasts -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 35: Mystic Flight -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A) Level 38: Dark Servant -- CldSns-ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(39), CldSns-%Dam(40), CldSns-Acc/Rchg(40), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Lck-%Hold(46) Level 41: Bonfire -- Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(A), Ann-ResDeb%(42), PstBls-Dam%(42), JvlVll-Dam%(43), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(43) Level 44: Enflame -- OvrFrc-Dam/KB(A), JvlVll-Dam%(45), PstBls-Dam%(45), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(45) Level 47: Tactics -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(48), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(48), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(48), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(50), GssSynFr--Build%(50) Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50) Level 1: Supremacy Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(43) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(40) Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon Level 1: Alpha Howler Wolf Level 1: Howler Wolf Level 26: Dire Wolf Level 12: Lioness Level 1: Pack Mentality ------------ Beast-Maisma MM (in work).mxd

@Snarky - I feel your pain hon. (hugs) I find myself playing and pugging less and less. Mostly I log in and look for things to do or groups to join, and they just aren't there, or I see a full friend list that says "offline." I still have rp dates and SG events I log in for, but as far as mission stuff goes, 95% of the time I find myself multi boxing by myself. I used to offer spots to low levels to tag along, but even that I am doing less, as people don't seem to really appreciate it anymore.

I enjoy all kinds of ways to play. Sometimes the go-go-go, and sometimes the chill mode. It all depends on the group and the flow. If I am with friends, I know what to expect. with random people, it could go any way. I tend to go by live and let live. If people want to hang out, thats on them. If people want to speedrun it, that's fine too. What I don't particularly care for is a person telling anyone else how to play or what activity to enjoy, or they are wrong for liking X, Y, and Z, or they are a noob or whatever for not power building their alt #4086 to the .00000025% umpteempth degree, when a power "just for funs/looks/whatever" is more important to the person playing the character, than min/maxing to the point one needs a mathematical degree to fully compute which is superior in every circumstance of play. Heaven forbid people do things just for fun or because they happen to like something anymore.

Personally I enjoy the pet classes the most. Particularly multiboxing masterminds. But I do all kinds of content - paper missions, arcs, ITF's, power farming in AE, or just goofing around with no goal at all. It's always fun to just slowly float by someone in open world with 18 flying robots in tow, some of the comments I get are fantastic.

@Riverdusk - we agree there. Of the support types MMs can put up good numbers. But sometimes I think people get too used to blaster/scrapper numbers and see MMs and aren't impressed. Just a hunch on my part though.

A lot of this depends on several things too. -Incarnate level shifts. (very important for masterminds) -solo vs team play. -difficulty selected. - how well slotted/invested the build is. - what activity is being done - AoE damage, ST damage, Support role, healing, AV/GMs, etc. There is no single Mastermind build that will be 10/10 on all these activities. There is always give and take somewhere. -and of course, personal preference for style, strengths, so on. There is no magic X pet/X secondary that can "do it all" in a way everyone will like. My favorite secondary is electric, because for my style it really is an all in 1 package. But time is a strong contender too. But no teveryone feels the same. And thats perfectly fine and normal. Some people praise /Storm to the high heavens, when I have tried it 2 or 3 times now, and to this day I still don't see how it ranks so high among some players. But again, that's just preference and style. Even though I don't personally care for /Storm much, that isn't to say its a terrible set or anything of the sort. Far as when Masterminds "bloom", to me it depends on the pet + power pairing. Some sets do well right out the gate, others are slow to start. But I have always felt a "lull" just after reaching 50 with a mastermind, until that first incarnate level is attained. So I usually mail myself a transcendent merit so that I can immediately get my level shift the moment I ding 50. But when it comes to any AT, but perhaps Masterminds especially, your mileage may vary, even with the exact same setup as someone else. And lets not forget, that 1 on 1 comparisons of masterminds vs other ATs isn't usually impressive. (at least on paper), in particular if the one comparing is tunnel visioning and regarding DPS as the end all-be all measuring stick. Masterminds will never shine when it comes to DPS (at least when alone.) But they can shine in nearly every other way if you build them correctly. They even have some extra features and mechanics that no other AT has that people sometimes forget about when comparing ATs, things like Bodyguard mode, or the Increased aggro capacity. These are things that no other AT can benifit from, no matter what powers they select or how much time and inf is spent on them. So yes, Masterminds an certainly stand out, but I think that really is fair to say about any AT. But Masterminds are far from garbage. Just my two cents.

When solo, there is more to do. When tripple boxing you can keep up a perma barrier wither through buffs or incarnates. So you take less damage and so on. I'd say I got about half of those from AE, the rest a mix of activities. Not sure what your fire brutes have to do with anything, either the topic, or comparing apples to oranges. You do you though, its okay to not like a set. Personally its one of my favorite secondary's, because it really is an all in one package and its thematic.

My main toon is Bots/Ea, vet level 250+. I would like to highlight that while EA "can" be a very clicky set, doesn't mean it "has" to be. As an example, if your +damage buff is still up, and its refreshed, that doesn't mean you "have" to click it. Same goes with the heals, absorbs, so on. Personally for me, clicking things when they are needed and not when they are off cooldown is more relaxed than other powersets. Once I adopted this stance it was relaxed enough for me to multibox masterminds as my EA at the lead. A lot of the time, I simply have the +absorb on autocast, and use everything else only when its needed, such as the heals or +END. I do wonder if people who say EA is clicky only click its powers whenever its available, not when its needed. But thats just me musing.

I don't use any software. Which I believe is against the terms of use, but don't quote me. I simply load 3 accounts and have the power bars set exactly the same, and alt tab between them. As explained in my original post, my two "box" mm's are on follow, with their own t3 pets as their target. This is so that they can use buffs/heals as their autocast powers instead of haste. The /Time has Heal, and the /Kinetics has Felcrum on autocast. Once all pets are up and buffed, I spend very little time on my "boxes". I simply tab to one, and pop a barrier, or click "all pets follow" and tab back to my EA. I actually spend about 80% of the time "piloting" my /Electric. Bodyguard and pet AI largely takes care of the rest. I would suggest try 2 boxing to begin before taking 3 on. And it honestly isn't that difficult as many tools are already provided in CoH and the MM class itself. As 95% of your damage is done by the pets, you can sit back and let them attack what they want to, and you heal and buff them, instead of using them to kill X target first. The pets will get to them in a minute if you are patient. About the only time I tell pets to kill X target is mostly to get runners/stragglers from the pack. 95% of the time I am in bodyguard mode with all 3 MMs.

Awe, made my morning! Thanks for that. ☺️

Its not just a matter of -regen, its also how much DPS you have with that. And while I have never tried Necro/Time, I don't think it has enough combined ST DPS with the regen debuff it has. I am not saying its impossible or anything, I am just saying I wouldn't expect it to be robots/traps level. And it's hard to say without seeing the actual build and numbers.

I only have limited experience with Necromancy, but I have leveled several /Time MMs. I think you may struggle a bit against AVs and GMs, but that is me musing, mostly to a lack of either focused damage or -regen debuffs. Where it would shine though would be in AoE situations, as you have both +def and heals, with your undead self taps and lich's CC, plus your debuff toggle and AoE slow effect. So if I was doing a Undead/Time, I would focus on the debuffs and additional effects. But /time is a strong secondary, strong enough to match with any pet set really.

Petless mastermind that uses Whips. Or your AT of choice that only uses Boxing, Kick, Crosspunch, Spring Attack. See how good you can make a character that only uses the nonstandard pool attacks.

Demons/EA was one of my most durable characters I have ever had, and I have several fully incarnate tankers and she still is as tough as them. I would ask if you are going for min/maxing or more for fun, or just to try new things out? I noticed you have no /Trick Arrow builds yet, and it was revamped recently so that might be something new? No /Time, Nature, Pain, Poison, Sonic, Radiation, Empathy. For pets, it looks like you have tried everything but Mercs. (not suggesting you do!) So there is nothing really new there. So here are some combinations off the top of my head that might do well. Robots/Time Beast/Nature Necromancy/Radiation Thugs/Pain Demons/Sonic Thugs/Trick Arrow I have never played Poison or Empathy, so I can't really comment on those. Hope this helps. Personally my favorites are Demons/EA, Robots/EA, and Robots/Time,

While I suspect troll, I would like to respond all the same. 1. "Most effective" (Dedicated role) firstly is largely subjective, both within the multiple powerset combinations as well as personal preference. Not all Radiation Tankers will be slotted the same. Nor would all Dark Armors, and so on. This goes for all armor sets, and its's largely give and take. Taking dark for an example, you could focus entirely on resistance values, and suffer with END use, and so on. Moreover, not everyone will enjoy the same slotting, or even have the same purpose/use/difficulty/budget in mind. And heaven forbid, someone does something "just for fun." 2. The OP speaks as if "Dedicated Role" and "Other Roles" are mutually exclusive here. Using their tanker as an example, it is entirely possible to build a tanker that has defense softcap, resistance cap, has good status resistance, good damage, and manages its END well. It need not be Either/Or. I do suspect that the level up process and the budget for a build affects this, as it might be best to focus on one area, but at level cap? Not so! Using the Tanker as an example once again, it is entirely possible to build a scrapper who can tank 90% of the content just as well as a "Dedicated Tank" can, and do more damage in the bargain. Again, this varies with levels, inf spent, and a number of other factors. 3. I have played many MMO's and I would argue that "Dedicated Roles" are virtually nonexistent here. I would suggest the AT control more if you are melee vs ranged, damage vs defensive, CC vs Support, and more. It is the "feel" of the character as you will, and you can even break this down further within each AT powerset combination itself - is it single target damage? Area damage? Damage types? Debuffs such as -regen? How well does it solo? How well does it team? Is it a smooth ride from level 1 all the way to level 50, or is it a late bloomer? How much inf will it take to make it flow? How well would it do if "money was no object"? There are entire scopes and aspects of the game more than "I am Tanker. I am Tough." 4. "Dedicated Roles" largely, aren't even needed here. One need not look further than Tanker Tuesdays where a group made entirely of tankers accomplish tasks. There are even mastermind groups and the like. The trinity of "Tank, Healer, DPS" doesn't exist here. It CAN if people focus on that when making their teams, but you really can put together a team of any possible combinations and make it work. Again, this is personal preference, but it is hardly REQUIRED for nearly any of the activities to enjoy in CoH. 5. And finally, I would argue all this... is a good thing, A grand thing, even. You truly can build your character from nothing - their powers, how they play/perform, their looks, their strengths, their weaknesses. All of this and more.. ..nearly without limit. If I wanted a game with "dedicated classes" where I HAD to play X class a certain way, well, no offense to City of Heroes, its community, or its staff, but there are other games out there aplenty if I wanted that sort of gameplay. 6. Part of the wonderful thing about CoH is the sheer freedom you have with your characters. So much so, that we should begin a community support group for those among our ranks suffering from the dreaded "alt-itis." Meaning people who feel so inspired for whatever reason, to roll character, after character, after character. We have 1000 slots for a reason. And personally, I find that people making such a dizzying array of characters, and are even encouraged to do so within the game world a good thing and a sign of City of Hero's success after its creation, more than a decade after it all began. 7. Anyway, back to the OP. A dedicated role is all fine and well, IF that's how YOU want to play. But make no mistake, CoH has so many layers of combat and mechanics in play, that I have found focusing on one "aspect" of it, only goes so far. Again, taking your tanker as an example, lets say you are focusing entirely on +DEF, to all else. Your defense is higher than anyone elses! You are the Supreme tank, right? Well, no, not really. This will work until the moment you run into enemies with -def debuffs, then suddenly your superior "dedicated role" of betting it all entirely on one thing, falls flat. In such a situation you would suddenly be rely on your resistances, healing, and other forms of sustainability. Le Gasp! Suddenly you, the Dedicated Tank go splat, while that stalker you sneered at happens to have more resistance than you, and finds themselves tanking like a pro. You might scoff, but I have seen it happen. Many times. This exact scenario in fact. In closing, I would highlight that there are many factors on what is good or bad, better or worse, and not everyone is going to agree. This is particularly true during level up and starting out. But we are able to "respec" for a reason, and can even have more than 1 build that you can swap between as you like between activities. With so many other factors against the "Dedicated role" train of thought, I would actually argue against it. But that is my personal preference. Just my opinions on the matter. City of Heroes is very much a "play your way" game, and that's partially why I love it so, and I suspect a great many feel the same. Best wishes to all, dedicated role or not.

Hello you crazy Necros, I had a question. I regularly run 3 box teams of MMs - I have Robots, Demons, and Thugs. I am debating if I want to try a 3 box of Necros, but I am wondering what synergy there might be between them. Robots = Lots, and Lots, of area damage. Stuff just melts if you stack it all. Demons = Stacking resistance buffs, making for some extremely sturdy pets. Its seriously like having a whole taskforce of tankers with you. Thugs = Stacking free leadership toggles, meaning everything is beyond defense caps. I have no great experience with Necromancy, think I leveled one the old fashioned way to 28ish? But from what I have read/heard, they are the debuffers/CC set. So here are my questions, about Necromancy specifically - 1. Do you have any guesses about their target caps? (as in, how many can be affected by Zombie Vomit/Lich Tendrils, so on) 2. What is their damage like? I know its mostly a melee set, but not sure how good/bad they are compared to the other sets. 3. How do they usually favor slotting? Go for the set bonus or do they benefit from damage proc slotting? 4. Do they have any built in buffs? All 3 I have tried so far all have built in features - Robots Bubble Shield, Demons Resistance buffs, Thugs toggles. But unless I missed something, they don't have any built-in features aside from a few -hit things and the liches fear. So do they have higher base stats to compensate, or are they heavily reliant on secondary pairings? I guess my main worry is that in such a high target environment (50-80+ things being fought at once), that possible low target caps on the debuffs/CCs would render them moot, particularly with what looks on paper to be "squishy pets". I power-farm with 3 Mms at a time, fighting 80+ things at once. Might try Necromancy out to give it a whirl, also thinking about beasts possibly as well later on. Thanks bunches!

For my Robot MM I like the Longbow pets. 1. They are thematic, so that's a big plus. 2. They have really good ST damage, which is something the Robots lack, so it compliments the playstyle nicely. Great for AVs/GMs etc. 3. They have an additional -regen debuff, that stacks with my robots debuff. Making a good thing, even better. 4. I sometimes use group fly with robots, they are all ranged so it works great. Well, it turns out group fly also works for longbow robots, as they are completely ranged as well. So longbow are just an all around win for my Robot MMs. For my Demon MMs, I plan on going Banished Pantheon. I use experimented with them before, but not to any great extent. I have heard/read they are the highest DPS pets, but on other ATs they always seemed to die quickly before I could do much with them. I am hoping with my Demon setup they will be more effective. I have also experimented with the Knives of Vengeance, the defensive/buffing sorts. They seemed to have pretty good effect overall and tend to stick around. I am uncertain which pets have the best buffs if people wanted to go that route though.

Another surprisingly tough character I had was my Demons/Electrical MM. The resistance buffs stack, plus +absorb, heals, infinite endurance, strong status resistance built in, plus its not hard to get a hard defense either. It really was everything in one package. Then you have bodyguard on TOP of all of that. Plus since you have infinite endurance and resistance in the set, that lets you take barrier for your incarnate, making your tough pets, even tougher. The damage was fair. I wouldn't call it great, but I wouldn't call it bad either. Tanks can boast def/resistance and status resists, but they cant perform other roles in a group such as a healer or support, offering absorb, endless endurance, and status protection for the whole team. Just saying, if they want a different playstyle with a build that's pretty much immortal that can do decent damage, Demons/Electrical is pretty strong. /Time would be another contender too. I mean you can pretty much go afk with a Demons/EA MM setup. Heal on auto, pets in bodyguard mode, go do dishes.

The point of my post was just to point out that 2 similar posts got closed this week, which I would call it a bit of a charged topic. And, no, I wasn't playing forum police. Going "hey they just closed other topics" isn't forum policing. Reporting, calling attention from the staff and such is. Was just trying to be helpful in light of some rather emotional few day son the forums. Agreed.

@Ironblade - with respect hon, a recent farmer vs anti-farmer discussion was just closed, in case you were unaware. Not trying to play forum police or anything, just saying they just shelved a recent discussion about that.

I had fantastic results with a Shield/Radiation Melee Tanker. Shield is all around good, only weakpoints being a lack of a damage aura and self healing, which Radiation offers. It is also energy damage which is lovely, and has contamination on top of that. Plus its very satisfying to Pop Fusion, Shield Charge, and follow up with Atom Smasher. It has good ST and AoE damage, it just can feel a bit slow when you first start off. But once you get some LotG globals slotted, its a thing of beauty. It hits hard, its survivable/durable enough to go afk with, has built in protection from defense debuffs, it can self heal, has a great damage type, and has both ST and AoE. No real downsides.

I'm capable, you ignore other peoples comments or opinions, as if your own were superior in the matter. You make vague statements, then when someone calls you on them, you claim strawman, when its your own point that gets questioned. You say you want all activities equal, and yet claim you aren't out to penalize people who play more efficiently than others, which in a sense, 100% is affecting their gameplay, despite your protests of "I'm not after your plaything".

Whelp, I foresee this thread getting locked. Just no compromise to be had, its not even a discussion but an argument now.

By "nerfing farms", you are, penalizing farmers. I am not suggesting anything. "You" are the one saying all activities should be equal, regardless activity type, and by extension, other factors such as how many enemies there are, how fast you complete, etc. I mean, if you want to split hairs here, you have to click a Glowie in farms to complete. So in essence, they "are" doing missions too.