Neiska

My Savage/Bio brute is one of my strongest and most fun builds to play. 😃

Hello OP @optimistic, bit late to the conversation but I'm here! I feel your pain, I love crabby playstyle but had the same issues you do - that the pets just aren't good for solo play on anything past +3/4. I have tried everything - from trying to juggle support hybrid and barrier, trying to quasi tank with provoke, keeping them ranged with group fly, so on. Nothing seemed to work to keep them alive. So while they do pretty good damage (for a pet), their survivability is pretty blah even if you try to focus on it. So, you have a few options - 1. Play on lower difficulty. 2. Treat them as a quasi DPS cooldown, more than "pets" per say. Meaning you use them just to help burn something down faster and then forget about them. Using them in this way means you don't have to build for recharge either. 3. Omit pets in your build entirely, which frees up a few power picks and many slots to put elsewhere. 4. Do keep in mind you can have more than a single build on a character. What I do is have a "tanky" Crabber for solo play, and a "Crabbermind" build for team play, and swap between them as needed. Honestly, my best results (for solo) was using a durable flying crabber, without pets. This build has performed the best when I was soloing +4/8. It's a flying ranged AOE focus, with many damage procs and debuffs built in. She runs full toggles, and has no END issues with Ageless. Here are some of the perks - 1. Extremely durable - 45%+ to all defenses, plus 56% to flying defense. Since she is a flyer, her defenses perform very well. And she has very good resists as well, 80% to smashing, lethal, fire, and cold, with a respectable 60% to energy, negative, and toxic, and her lowest is 44% psionic. 2. AoE Damage - Her AoE rotation is - Venom Grenade, Suppression, Frag Grenade, Electric Fences. You can also pop Aim and Mu lightning for single targets as well. And all of her attacks has some kind of debuff and/or damage procs. She chews through groups just fine, its Elite Bosses that can take a little bit to down. 3. A bit of CC from Electric Fences, its worth slotting them to prevent runners, and you can keep it up 100%. My duration is 47 seconds, with a 6 second recharge time. 4. Perma-Serum - You can use it both as a heal, and as a +hitpoint buff. 5. Runs double Maneuver and Assault toggles, with the Leadership Toggle, meaning her mere presence is a very good party buffer. 6. Manages to squeeze in Elusive Maneuvers for respectable -fly debuff resistance. You aren't immune from getting knocked down, but you are resistant to it. It happens but not often. Note - When looking at the Defenses/Resists, dont be fooled by Elusive Maneuvers. Yes it provides a passive def bonus, but as soon as you attack or do anything that nice def boost vanishes. Playstyle wise, it feels like you are playing a flying tank, of sorts. If you like ranged damage, but hate being squishy like some Blasters or Corruptors can be, you might very well enjoy it. It feels like you are playing a flying fortress bomber. Anyway, just wanted to share. I wish they would give SoA's and Widows an update, but I doubt that will happen at this point. So I have run lots and lots of tests, leveled 3 different SoA's, probably spent around 4 billion on several crabber builds, and this is what I have found works for me the best, when solo. When playing on a team, I usually drop some of my defenses (usually aren't needed) for additional pet DPS. But there have been times where I was the most durable one on the team which was funny. So here's the build with a screenshot of values. But feel free to have a look. I love crabbys too, but always felt the pets were more gimicky and lackluster than effective. Hope this helps! Sin's Hovercrab.mxd PS - Also far as the frenzy power goes, it actually makes a decent afk-farming power if you have enough regen/def/res to afk farm on lower difficulty, it's been awhile but I believe my "afk farmy" crabby can do +3? It's not as fast as an actual farmer by any means, but its nice to farm veteran levels and incarnate materials while doing housechores and stuff. Power is personal preference really, but overall the melee crabby powers are kind of "blah." But don't let that stop you from using them if you like them.

I prefer the last version of TW personally. It was a bit over tuned, no argument there. But IMO I think they over corrected it. I mean, if I want ST damage, I can take something like Energy Melee, if I want AoE I can take something else. TW used to be a solid middle of the road (for damage type) while being consistently good at both, now? It's kind of lackluster, at least to me. I mean, why would I put up with TW clunkiness now if it's not even the top damage do-er anymore? I also suspect that how good TW is/was, really depended a lot on what sort of AT you were - Scrapper, Brute, Tanker, so on. But yes, I too have noticed a huge dip in TW since the change, to the point I rarely see one now. I see more psi melee and staff fighting now than TW. Well, if they wanted to entice players to play other things, I guess they succeeded. Still think they over corrected it, the refigured mechanic feels even more unwieldy and awkward without the satisfying CRUNCH payout. Just my two cents.

Here's the pairings I've tried that were 4/8 capable, some with bosses, others with elite bosses - Robots/Electric (My favorite) Robots/Time - DEF focused, but can also build for immobilize and slows, to out-range enemies. Robots will stay at range and shoot at enemies. Robots/FF (slow but possible) Demons/Time - DEF and recharge focused. Demons/Fire Demons/Electric - Absurdly durable, I would say moreso than Robots/FF due to resistance buff, absorb, healing, and status protetion. Beasts/Kin Beasts/Nature Thugs/Time I don't have overly much experience with Necromancy, so I can't really recommend a build for that. Don't forget you can do things like use inspirations on pets, or enflame from sorcery pool to help the pet sets with blah AoE, such as Demons and Beasts. Each set has various tricks or tools at their disposal or secondary pool pairings that pair well. /Time is fantastic for both Demons and Thugs for the recharge, which helps Gang War/Hell on Earth. For Robots group fly if you want to have a team of hover-bots that blast with lazers and missles, but fold space from teleportation pool is fantastic for robots as well, as it lets you yank things to your own fire pools, which is 80% of your damage. With Necromancy I imagine there might be some synergy if you focus on all out debuffs, such as Darkness, but I have a friend who runs both a Necro/Poison and Necro/Nature that seems to do well. I've thought about trying Robots/Storm and focus on flying with knockback, for added damage and to keep things at range as much as possible, but that would be pretty much a solo only build. Anyway, there are lots of options, don't be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to masterminds. Hope this helps!

A few thoughts, The first, with respect, I am not jerking your chain here. You are a respected voice on the forums. But I am curious as to why only your "conditions" count for what is good, or what is bad, and not anyone else's? I mean, you say in one breath "doesn't count if its multiboxed" to "but if being actively played," I mean, why does your stipulations count but not others on measurement here? I mean, we could also say "only builds with 200k or less inf spent" or "only X enemies" or "only x maps", and we are in a since, arguing semantics here? And personally I sort of cringe at those sorts of arguments, because it leads to the sort of thinking that "if something isn't good, then it is bad" or "if it isn't kiss-your-elbow the top 2% meta, then its utter trash" which I hope we both agree isn't what CoH is about at all. My original point wasn't in regards to farming at all, but as i said before, aggro tables. With 48 possible targets (in theory), then it's possible for a MM to pop barrier, run through a map, with pets on passive, aggoring everything, and bringing them all back to the team and having them blast them all down like the times of yore. Some people still want that playstyle. True, it might not be an entire map or 100+ mobs at a time, but its something more than 16. But again in theory, with 2-3 MMs (or even plant domis as you inferred) its still possible to enjoy "en-masse" style of play. Also, here is a video of my farming, if you were wondering - You may not like MMs, and that's perfectly fine! I have played Plant controllers and dominators, and they weren't my cup of tea. (not the powersets, the classes themselves.) And I find it kind of sus that a single actively played Plant Domi can match the time of a single actively played Fire Brute. (My best brute wasn't even a /fire brute, my personal best is actually my Savage/Bio brute) Again, not meant as any sort of personal insult or anything, just respectfully disagree on that, particularly since I have both played a plant Domi myself and have yet to even see a plant Domi farmer of any kind. I am not saying they don't exist, or aren't valid, or good, only that I have not see one or heard them touted before as good farmers. But to underline my point, to the OP here - There are ways to engage more than 16 targets at a time. Masterminds are capable of it, and apparently so are Plant Domi's.

😆 Plant dominator as fast as a /fire brute? But hey, you do you. But pretty much everyone I've ran with was very impressed, even the sub-farming community. And no, I said just under 3 mins is my best time. And I have to disagree that "a lot" of pairings is capable of that, especially if you take multiboxing into account. Brutes certainly, but not all ATs are as easy to multibox. Moreover, this thread isn't about farming, its about aggro/numbers of targets. My original point still is that MMs can aggro much much more at a time than other ATs, which is something not many people realize. Plus even if plant doms are special in some regard, thats specifically just "plant", not "every" dom such as the case with MMs.

With 2 mms I can clear the asteroid map in 4 minutes, but my quickest time is with 3 MMs with all 3 of them using Longbow Lore pets, its just below 3 minutes. I would call that pretty efficient personally, but whatever works for you. One MM You can do it just fine, but you need a bit of space to move because you can get overwhelmed. I am curious as to why/if Plant Control can aggro more, can they also defeat them all in a reasonable time as well or is it slow?

Masterminds have higher target caps, due to pets having their own tables. I can't be precise and can't find any information on it, but Masterminds can fight more at a time than any other AT, including tankers. I even made the concept of Mastermind farming around that concept. I have no data sources (trust me, I've looked) about pet aggro tables, but the closest estimation I can make is that each pet can aggro up to 6 mobs at a time. So that's 12 mobs (for the mastermind themselves) plus 18 (the 3 t1 pets) and another 12 (the 2 t2 pets) and another 6 (the t3 pet) for a grand total of 48 mobs, per individual MM. On some smaller maps, such as the Asteroid AE map I more or less aggro the entire map at once, minus 2-3 straggler groups. (I hasten to add that it takes more than one MM to be able to survive this, I would say 2 minimum.) But yes, "En masse" Mastermind farming where you focus on engaging as many foes as possible at once is very efficient. I even wrote a guide about it, its in the Mastermind section.

No problem, but here are a few more things that I forgot to mention - Pet commands - Here's what I recommend for the easiest pet commands, with no macros involved. First on your pets window, swap to "advanced widow", if done correctly you should see your buttons change. Then have 3 rows of trays, which you can then drag your pet commands to, just like they were powers. Personally I go like this - Tray 1 (bottom tray) - My t1 pet commands, then tray 2 (middle) my t2 commands, then t3 commands for tray 3. Its fairly simple. Here's a picture so you can see how I have it setup. So on the far right of all my trays, you can see they all have defend and follow commands. Then along the bottom I have "all follow", "all defend", and "all attack target". So its really just a few mouse clicks to control your pets, individually if you wanted to. I know some Masterminds like the numberpad macros, but I use my numberpad for other things, and I just found the tray commands to be easier for me. Another thing I forgot to mention is Incarnates - First off, when unlocking your first Incarnate power, get your t3 power level shift ASAP, because it does affect pets, making them all effectively +1 level. This is very important for your pets combat roles. For example, your t1 pets are your level -3, so if you are fighting enemies at +4/8, then to your T1 pets they are effectively at a 7 level disadvantage. Suffice to say, this level shift is a massive powerup to MMs just because how the level interactions work out. Alpha slot - nearly every MM I know uses Muscled alpha, for the 45% damage boost that does affect pets. Some MMs might use other alphas, if you are focused on support or debuff roles perhaps, but for 9/10 builds I would say muscled is your best bet. Destiny - this is largely personal choice, but if you are having end issues I suggest ageless, as not all secondaries have END tools. If END isn't a concern, I would go barrier. Interface - yes, your pets can proc this. You can pretty much assume whichever interface you select will be stacked. Some go for -max hps, others go for -resists. I tend to opt for -max hps myself as its not an effect to get elsewhere. But a special mention goes out to the incarnate with -tohit, because it does stack if you are playing a /dark MM, making your -tohit debuffs even more potent, and 90% of builds take one of the other two. Judgement - your choice here! I usually go Ion, or go for theme. Though the mighty with knockup can buy your pets breathing room too if you need another way to help your pets out. Lore - Personal choice, but I perfer Longbow or Banished. Banished is the most DPS, technically, but I also like longbow for theme with my robotics MM, and they benefit from group fly as well, being an all ranged lore pet, which Banished isn't. Hybrid - Support with the bonus to pets option is my suggestion. Its almost as good as Assualt but much easier to use. But as mentioned before you can Use Assualt, then pop pets, and they will benifit from further uses of assualt, at least until they die or you move maps. Personally I found that method a bit clunky to make worthwhile, especially if you move fast and change maps often. Support is fire and forget, with no clonky mechanics to fuss about. I'll add more if I think of anything!

Hello @StriderIV and welcome to Masterminding! Above are all excellent posts but there are a few important things I don't think have been mentioned yet. 1. Personal attacks/end cost - Masterminds have infamously bad attacks, both in terms of damage and END cost. A few stand out for loading up with procs, but even the best of them are pretty blah for damage when compared to high damage ATs. Also we have higher END costs as well. 2. From the "build philosophy" perspective, MMs are in a unique spot. A tanker is always going to tank, a blaster is always going to blast, but MMs can be built in all sorts of ways. Perhaps more than any other AT, your Primary + Secondary powers will greatly affect your playstyle, even with the same pet types. Here's an example of what I mean - A Robots/Forcefield build would be pretty durable, but also very passive/hands free. But a Robots/Time build would also be pretty durable, but be more active. A Robots/Traps is still one of the kings of solo play, able to take down the biggest things possible to solo. You could even do something off the wall like a Robots/Trick Arrow, combined with Group fly, for an entirely flying/ranged build setup, as robots are all ranged, they will hover back and pewpewpew their lazers. This is just an example of how its more than what pet types you pick. You really can build a MM to do just about anything, from Tankerminding, to Full Support, to a Debuffer, so something like /storm thats really its own category. 3. You can make almost any pet and power pick work, but here are a few noteworthys that stand out as good pairings from the sets I have played so far - Robots - Robots are a ranged, defense pet set. They pair well with Electrical, Time, Traps, Cold, and Forcefield. The upside to them is they have the strongest AoE damage out of all the pets, and since they are one of the only all ranged attacks, you can abuse group fly with them. They also come with some self repair/healing, and come with -500 regen built into the T3 robot. The downside to robots is they sort of put all their eggs in one basket, meaning they are fairly weak until level 32. Almost 80% of a robot MMs damage comes from their T3 pet missile attack, which leaves large fire patches. I main Robot MMs, and my advice is you will get much more mileage out of them if you stand in your own robots patches of fire and make things come to you, or use fold space to pull them into it. Also keep in mind out of the "top 3" pet types, Robots have the best AoE, but the worst ST. My favorite Robot MM is Robotics/Electric. Demons - Demons are a mixed bag, in terms of attack and damage types. They have a bit of everything - slashing, fire, cold, a few cones, and an aura. They have strong single target damage, but a bit blah AoE damage. They are a resist pet set and have good resists buffs for themselves, you, and team members. They also have Hell on Earth which is a big +hit/damage buff that can also spawn temporary little pets that help. Demons pair well with Electrical, Dark, Time, Thermal, Nature, and Storm. The downsides of demons is they are very noisy that some people dislike. Another downside is they have almost entire melee attacks. A few ranged abilities are there, but they aren't much to write home about. They also have no self healing, so its a good idea to pick a secondary with some healing. Lastly out of the "top 3" pet types, they have the best ST, but the worst AoE. Of note is Demon Resist buffs do stack on everything. My best Demon was my Demon/Electric, as it just stacks so much healing/absorb/resists/status immunities, reaching near tanker levels of durability. Thugs - Thugs are an overall "balanced" pet type, that come with 2 sets of their own leadership toggles. These only affect themselves, not you, other team mates, or even other pet types. But it will affect other Thug MM pets. They are a mix of ranged and melee, with a good all around feel to them. They have Gang War which is very similar to Hell on Earth, but it summons Pose and doesn't have the +to hit/damage buff that the latter has. The downside to Thugs is I found them the most awkward to control, because they are so varied. Some stay in close range to you, and others will run off. Your thug whose your main source of damage attracks huge amounts of aggro, and can and will die, often. Still, they have the middle road of DPS, being good in both ST and AoE, while being bad at neither. My favorite Thugs MM is Thugs/Time. 4. Tips, tricks, and tools. Here's a quick list of tips and tricks that is good for every mastermind to Know. Bonfire - Bonfire from Blaze Mastery Epic Pool, is fantastic to use as a CC ability, especially with a set like Robots. You just drop your bonfire atop of your T3's fire patches and watch things flop around and be trapped in it. You can also slot it for damage procs too. Damage procs - Some pets can slot damage procs, and yes it does benefit them! This varies from pet to pet, but a pet with a +chance to proc damage will do noticably more damage. Soulbound Buildup - I consider this enhancement a must have, but "where" to slot it varies pet type to pet type. On my Robots I put it into my T3, since hes 80% of your damage anyway. But on Demons it might be better off to slot it into your T2 pets, namely the hellfire gargoyle. Enflame - In case you were unaware, Enflame is a semi-toggle now, and its FANTASTIC on a set like Demons. It acts sort as a quasi damage aura, that you have to click once every 30 seconds. So you can put this on your pet of choice and it will do AoE damage. This is fantastic if you select that same Demon for your Hell on Earth Buff, becuase Enflame's tics have chances to make the little hellspawns. If you go with demons, I strongly urge you to consider adding Enflame into your build. Fold Space - A great tool for Robot masterminds as you can pull entire spawns right where you need them to be. Its also fun to use with group fly as you more or less yank things to you and drop them from the sky right into stacked fire patches. Power Boost - It is highly recommended to go Mace Mastery if you make a /Time Mastermind, because Powerboost affects both Farsight (your defense buff) as well as Chrono (your big regen/recharge buff.) I don't have numbers in front of me this second but its something like a 80% boost in effectiveness. Burnout - If you take Thugs or Demons, I recommend fitting burnout into your build. This is because you can pop Hell on Earth/Gangwar, then use Burnout, and use them again immediately. Burnout has a very long cooldown, but its fantastic to use with those two pet sets. Inspirations - not everyone knows but you can use inspirations on your pets! You just drag and drop them onto your pets heath bar in the pet window, and so long as you are in range your pet will benefit. You can give them green healing, or red candy to boost their damage, even +defense/resist ones. You just have to be in close range to do so. Dance emotes - for the humanoid pets - Robots, Demons, Thugs, Undead, Mercs, etc you can use the /em petsayall_dance command and make them all dance, do backflips, hold torches, so on. Not all of the pets can do all emotes, but a good many of them will. You can even make macros for them and put on a little show if you wanted to. Aggro - one VERY important thing to know about MMs is your pets have their own aggro tables. This is both a blessing, and a curse. Each pet can fight up to 6 (I think?) mobs on their own. Unlike other ATs where the mobs will just walk by and ignore you if you are at the aggro cap, a MM will have to be fighting much much more in order for that to happen. Heres the math - 12 mobs (the mastermind themselves) + 18 (the 3 t1 pets) + 12 (the t2 pets) + 6 (the t3 pet) = 48 mobs at a time, in theory. It's actually hard to tell exactly how much a pet can aggro at once, and there is no hard data on it as far as I know. (and I've looked.) So what does this all mean? Well, it means you can get over whelmed easily and wiped out if you engage in too many spawns at a time. Though if you are farming this is a boon later on, for solo play the majority of builds cant handle that. So if you are new to masterminding, just be aware of this increased target capacity. Sorry for the long post! Just wanted to cover some things that hasn't been mentioned yet. And Welcome to Masterminding!

One thing I don't see mentioned, is how you can slot DNA siphon for END instead of Healing or Damage. I usually 4 slot mine with Preemptive, so once every 30 seconds I can completely refill my END bar, even a single enemy will return 22%, 2 enemies will return 44%. With enough recharge you can juggle Parasite Aura for a massive regen buff, with Carapace for a nice absorb shield. Pair those two together and you can pretty much take any destiny incarnate power you want, but I usually swap between Barrier or Ageless Radial to plug the Debuff hole in the set, depending on what activity I'm doing. And since I don't have to worry much about survival or END, I can stay in offensive mode almost the entire time, rarely do I have to change stances. But here is one of my tankers, she hits quite hard for a tanker, and takes out bosses/elite bosses like its her job, and I even managed to sneak in Fold space to yank everything to me in a nice big ball, which is fantastic for tankers. This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.1.2.5 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Technology Tanker Primary Power Set: Bio Armor Secondary Power Set: Energy Melee Power Pool: Teleportation Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Speed Villain Profile: Level 1: Hardened Carapace -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(3), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(3), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(34), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37), UnbGrd-Max HP%(40) Level 1: Barrage -- SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg(A), SprGntFis-Dmg/Rchg(5), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), SprGntFis-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7) Level 2: Inexhaustible -- PrfShf-EndMod(A) Level 4: Teleport -- Range-I(A) Level 6: Environmental Modification -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(9), Rct-EndRdx/Rchg(15), Rct-Def/Rchg(15), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Rct-ResDam%(31) Level 8: Adaptation Level 10: Ablative Carapace -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(11), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(11), Pnc-Heal(13), Pnc-Heal/+End(13) Level 12: Evolving Armor -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(25), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(46), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(46), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(47) Level 14: Kick -- Empty(A) Level 16: Whirling Hands -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(17), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), Arm-Dam%(42) Level 18: DNA Siphon -- PreOptmz-Acc/Rech(A), PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/End(25), PreOptmz-EndMod/End(48), PreOptmz-EndMod/Rech(48) Level 20: Total Focus -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(21), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(23) Level 22: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(42), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(42), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(43), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(43) Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(43), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(45), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(45), ShlWal-Def(45) Level 26: Genetic Contamination -- FuroftheG-ResDeb%(A), SprGntFis-Rchg/+Absorb(27), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg(27), SprMghoft-Dmg/Rchg(29), SprMghoft-Rchg/Res%(29), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31) Level 28: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(50) Level 30: Combat Teleport -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 32: Parasitic Aura -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(33), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(33), Prv-Heal/Rchg(33), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(34), Prv-Absorb%(34) Level 35: Power Crash -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(36), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(36), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Obl-%Dam(37) Level 38: Energy Transfer -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Dam%(39), Mk'Bit-Dam%(39), GldStr-%Dam(39), HO:Nucle(40), HO:Nucle(40) Level 41: Fold Space -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(47) Level 44: Tactics -- GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(A) Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48) Level 49: Build Up -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 1: Gauntlet Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 1: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 1: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(46) Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(9) Level 1: Energy Focus Level 8: Defensive Adaptation Level 8: Efficient Adaptation Level 8: Offensive Adaptation Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon ------------ Sins Bio -EM Tanker mk 2.mxd

I see it as the horde vs alliance argument, both sides have their positives and negatives. Blue side - Positives - Law and Order, Justice, the "Moral Right" Negatives - Corruption, Hypocrisy, Murky applications of the Rules. Red side - Positives - Self Empowerment, Independence, Definition of Self Negatives - Might makes right, Lawlessness, and Criminal Capacity. Neither side is absolutely "right" or "wrong", as I see them.

Hello Forums, I thought I would share a different take on Crabber Soldiers. Most of the builds I see are based around recharge and pets, which is a lot of fun but can be difficult to solo harder difficulties due to lack of pet tools and pet fragility. Well, since you can have multiple builds on the same character, I thought I would try my hand at making a Crabber build for solo play, focusing on harder +4/8 with bosses enabled difficulty. After many tests and attempts, this is what I came up with, and works quite well. *Note* - This build has some personal preferences, as I generally dislike having to rely on inspirations to make a build playable because in long fights if you run out you can stumble, and I prefer to save my inspiration slots for things like team buffs and nukes. More on power picks later. Also of note is the MIDs for this setup is a bit off, particularly with defense values due to Evasive Maneuvers. True, you will have a very high defense, until you get into a fight and those values will drop. With Evasive on, your ranged defense will be 71%. With the defense buff gone however, it will be 41%. The resist values are also about 4% off as well, so I posted an actual ingame screenshot of resist values. Pros- 1. Extremely durable - This build plays like a hover blaster, but is very tough, having Ranged Defenses and boasts very high resists across the board, with more than 80% on Smashing, Lethal, Fire, and Cold, while having more than 60% in energy, negative, and toxic. Her lowest resist is psionic, but even that is a healthy 47%. 2. Very self-sufficient - This setup is very friendly on the END use, even when running full toggles. And uses both ageless and aid self for END recovery when needed, it doesn't even need to pop blue inspirations. 3. Ease of Play - Most of the features of this build are fire and forget, and they are constant - there is no juggling defensive powers, no windows to watch out for, very smooth performance. Your defenses and resists are constantly good. It really does feel like you are playing a flying bomber. 4. AoE/Debuffs - Like all crabbers, this build has great AoE with Debuffs. You won't see giant numbers pop up on your screen, but has a full AoE attack rotation, each of which has some kind of debuff built in or added. You will "chew" through groups with a constant stream of damage to all of them. This build does more damage than Mids suggests, due to stacking -resistance debuffs from Venom Grenade, Annihiliation, and Reactive Interface for a rough total of -25% resistance. 5. Immobilize - One of the attacks in the chain is Electric Fences, an Immobilize with a 47 second duration, and a 6 second cooldown. So needless to say, you are immobilizing a lot of things pretty constantly, especially with Frozen Blast procs as well. I haven't had much issues with runners on this build. Con - 1. The biggest con of this build is lack of Single Target damage, especially without any pets. There are a few changes you can do in order to improve that though. Here are some screenshots with some in-game defense and resist values - Powers and Options - 1. Frenzy - Why did I choose frenzy? Two reasons. The first is because the way it is slotted, it alone provides 12% fire and cold resistance. The second is so that I can AFK farm if I wish. I can just park this crabber on a moon map, turn on Frenzy, and go do some house chores. I don't use it when hoverblasting though. Frenzy option - But if someone feels differently, they are certainly free to swap it out for something like Mu Lightning, as it would be fully slotted and be a respectful single target attack to add to the rotation. Doing that will drop your fire and cold resistance significantly however. 2. Medicine Pool - Why medicine pool? Well, first off Serum is a nice HP buff but a bad healing tool, so having another heal pretty much on demand is quite nice. Also with the Field Medic upgrade, each time you use Aid Self you will slowly gain back Endurance. (Roughly 25%) I more often pop it for END than I do for healing. Medicine Pool option - Someone could drop medicine pool and pick up Leadership and run a full set of both toggles. Doing that would be very draining on Endurance however, and you would be entirely reliant on Ageless and blue inspires, which I personally dislike. But Maneuvers would add another 4% to your defense and put you right at the defense softcap. 3. Evasive Maneuvers - Why Evasive? For the -fly protection. It isn't 100% full proof but is a noticeable difference. I don't get knocked out of the sky very often. Personally I consider this power mandatory for the hover-blast playstyle, but others might feel differently. Incarnates - Alpha - Muscled Core Paragon - This adds 45% damage which this build sorely needs, but also adds 33% time to your immobilize which is a part of your regular attack rotation. If someone wanted to they could drop Muscled Core for Cardio, but their damage would take a noticeable dip. When I tried Agility, Resist, and Cardio Alpha's I simply didn't have the damage to solo on +4/8. But if someone wanted stronger, smoother play for lower difficulties they could swap muscled for something else. Interface - Reactive Core Flawless Interface - a -res debuff that stacks with the rest of your -res sources, increasing overall damage. You could swap it for Degenerative, but that's largely personal choice. Judgement - I went Ion, as its ranged and has a large target cap, as well as fits the Epic pool theme which is a bonus. Lore - You can largely pick what you like, as none of them add anything significant to the build. Both Banished and Longbow are good, I chose the Knives of Vengeance for their buffs. Destiny - Ageless Core - Even with the Medicine pool option, I do find myself getting interrupted at times. Rare, but it does happen. So this is more or less an emergency tool for when my aid self is getting interrupted or with END draining enemies. Because without your toggles, you will splat, fast. Hybrid - Assault Radial - This gives all of your attacks a chance for more damage, which is fantastic since this build is so AoE focused it is a noticeable bump. And that's it! A different take on Crabber Soldiers, one built more like a very tanky hover-blaster. This build performs well for me when soloing +4/8 difficulty, and it's very chill to play, and is even good on teams with the Improved Team Toggles, debuffs, and immobilize. So if you like playing hover-ranged but dislike having to constantly juggle defenses to survive, this build might be good for you. Feedback is welcome! Sin's Tanky Hovercrab mk 6.mxd

Here's my Demons/Electric build, it has several perks such as Enflame for pets AOE damage, Bonfire for CC/Procs, Burnout for Hell on Earth x2, and so on. Hope this helps! Demons-Electric MM mk 3.mxd

I have done a few Savage/X brute builds now, here are the highlights - Savage/Bio - it's so much damage, between offensive stance, bonus toxic procs, bleeds, it's a walking blender and a ton of fun to play. Savage/Dark - The blood stacks are nice to help manage the END demand of /Dark, but it's not a cure all. Dark is solid as can be expected, and it does open up a few other choices for slotting and incarnates. Savage/Rad - Another good pairing, but it feels more offensive minded than defensive. But it is very potent and the built in debuffs are nice. Savage/Electric - A fantastically efficient pairing, with essentially endless END and supreme levels of resists. Between Blood Stacks and Power Sink, you have enough energy to power the west coast for about a year. Which really frees up choices for slotting as well as incarnate power picks. Since the OP said no /Bio, I would recommend Electric. Electric is a solid choice and offers a ton of freedom in your build since END is of little concern. The downside about /Elec is it offers little in the way of offense - No +damage, no debuffs, no CC.

I've done tests in mids, the only way I see them as comparable to the other pet sets is by using group fly with them, as they are the only other fully ranged set. But even then I see them struggling on difficult content. But if people don't mind playing them on lower difficulties, or for fun or theme then I'm all for it. Have mused about what I might be able to do if i multibox them, but even then I imagine it would be cumbersome. At least the robots have the fire assault patch.

I can +1 to Demons/Electric being exceptionally durable - infinate END, status immunity, capped resists, good defense, +absorbs, healing, a good Demon/EA can be as durable if not moreso than some tankers. And the damage is very good as well by MM standard. My main Mm is Robots/Electric, who I enjoy more than the demons. Being all ranged, it opens up more playstyle options and roles which I enjoy. /Time is a very strong secondary as well, and pairs with just about anything. Playing with beasts myself currently, torn between /Time, /Dark, or /Kin.

Mercenaries.

Congratulations to the staff and to the community!

Here's how I put together a group - Say XYZ is forming in the LFG channel, has X spots. I get tells. I go by order received and send invites. When the group is full, I tell those who sent tells but didn't make it "sorry we are full" Then I tell the LFG channel XYZ has filled. And I still get tells afterward "is XYZ still forming?" Which I assume were people who were tabbed out and didn't see the "we are full" message. It happens. The only bumps I usually see is when I get the "you can't invite an enemy to group," but that is usually easy to fix, and I will wait for them to do so. The only thing that irks me is when people go "I am omw" and still aren't there 5-10 minutes later. Or ask for invites and are mid-mission and won't leave it. In such a case I usually give a grace period, a few minutes, before I invite someone else. But if I have a ton of people asking for a spot I might say "Sorry you are mid mission and others are ready to go now" and invite someone else. It's all worked pretty well for me so far.

I do something a bit differently. I have a rolling "bank" of emp merits that I mail to myself. When farming in AE I save up 50, turn them into a transcendent merit, and mail it to myself. I do this on 3 different accounts. If you don't plan on going full t4's you can accumulate quite a bit of merits this way. Then when I make an alt, as soon as their Alpha slot is unlocked I use merits to go t3 for their first level shift, and go from there. After playing them for a time I may or may not decide to go fully t4s, but sometimes I go with just t3s. It varies. Anyway, If I had to guess, I would say I have roughly 800 or so emp merits at any given time in my banks to pull from. And it isn't difficult at all to fill them back up again with just what you get from veteran levels. Not saying its the most expedient, or the best, it's just what has worked very well for me.

Thank you for the imput @Erratic1 and @Sovera, I will take a look when I get home. I just couldn't make this combo work for a tanker. Its tough trying to get enough recharge that bio loves while getting resists where you can, and I didn't even have defense softcapped.

Hello forums, I am trying to put together a Bio/Claws, but I am having trouble reaching def/res values I am happy with. I know bio is a different animal in mids, but even so I'm not happy with how its turned out, and I have tried several variations now. So if anyone has feedback/suggestions, or a build I can match this one against I would appreciate it. Thanks bunches Unfinished build - Tanker bio - claws.mxd PS - RoP is there for both status as well as resists, as status is one of the issues bio has, along with -def debuffs.

Here's mine, but it has quite a few personal picks in it. But theres lots of wiggle room. Took the standard Robot/Time/Mace for Power boost + Farsight + Chrono Shift, Incarnates are Muscled, Ageless (for end), the rest are your choice, but I like Longbow. Sins Robot-Time MM (mace).mxd

Thank you!