Neiska

Jasperstone is quite correct. Aggro the things. ALL the things. And bring them to the Snarky.

If I ever found myself on a team with Snarky, I would endeavor, indeed, labor, to go out of my way to give him the PUG story to end all PUG stories. I would strap him into his coffin like a jet pilot, attach rocket boosters to it, outfit it with twin-linked belt fed tactical nuke launchers, close-proximity void plasma flamethrowers to keep the grabbers off, put a giant spinning harvester blade on the front (with side scoops to collect his preferred beverage), install an automated Blood Pudding dispenser, put on some spinning rims just because, with a pair of fuzzy dice and Ride of The Valkyries playing on Loudspeakers just to attract our enemies, and ride through every mission at break-neck speed like some sort of Santa's Sleigh of pure Snarky death. It would be cataclysmically epic, and near orgasmic in the sheer levels of shenanigans and hijinked tom-foolery that would ensure.

For me, in-game channel drama is the easiest to deal with. Either drop channels, or put people on ignore. One and done. Easy. I just use the tools already in place. I only report things that are egregious. However, for me the Discord and Beta dramas were far worse. As an example, just last night I spoke up for the first time in months in the mastermind channel, and immediately the person I commonly but heads with just had to be passive aggressive. The odd thing is I agree with them on a number of things. They do know their game knowledge. Where we tend to disagree is I go by live and let live, and try to help people who play what they want to play, to the maximum they are able to. The person I disagree with, tends to think if you don't play the meta, then you are trash. As an example they speak against Masterminds who use secondary with healing, and considers it a crutch. And if you have a different opinion, they are quite vocal about it. Insultingly so. And I am dubious if it's worth my time to try and help people, due to the spam of "user blocked" lines in the discord channel. My one and only experience in the beta was quite unpleasant. I won't go over details or bring up arguments long buried, suffice to say it was enough that I will never participate in another one again. I only will say that it wasn't the specifics of the disagreement itself, but the manner in which that disagreement took place. It was disrespectful, heated, got personal a few times, and not everyone's input was equally valued. But I do want to add that I doubt very much that has been everyone's experience. But for me I am currently leery about participating in discord discussions and I most certainly will not be participating in any beta ever again.

For me it depends on what AT I am playing and what I am doing. On a Tanker? Gobble everything like candy. On my Crabber? I tend to like to save things like breakout and blues for emergency END. On my Mastermind? I tend to use reds on pets. (For those unaware, you can drag and drop inspirations on pets. If you are close enough to them the pet will "use" it.)

For me that would be Dullahana, a Duel Blade/Dark Armor/Fire Tanker. All over the place, I know. But it was a theme build I did just for fun. And she turned out.... ...rather good. And bonus points for Style I guess?

This thread is just Tsoo much.

I would like to highlight that some of us who use the AE almost exclusively, it isn't always about the money or drops, its about the kind and scale of combat. Some AEs you can have a small map with 100 enemies, or a massive map with 100s of enemies. Some people just like to have a big huge battle without gimicky mechanics or things like purple patches that 1 shot you. And taking my 3 MMs and fighting several groups and fighting them all at the same time is pretty awesome fun. So I finish the 4-5 minute long nonstop battle, reload the map, and do it again. And I will try different builds and strategies in that situation. To me, that is much more fun and rewarding than ITFs, contacts, story missions, and the like. I just wish there were scenarios you could setup, well, as an example nonstop waves of nemesis or something. You kill some, more swarm in, kill a few more, and more pop in again, and it never ends. Even if there was zero EXP, drops, and INF, there are some that would enjoy it. I might spend an entire afternoon in there, seeing how long I could hold out.

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.