Maelwys

The main problem is that the App has changed prerequisites a LOT over the years, and the updater has gone through some very buggy iterations. If you have a clean Win10 or Win11 PC with the three prerequisites (DotNet 8.0 Desktop Runtime and DotNet Framework 4.8 and the latest Visual C++ redistributable) then it'll install just fine and update just fine - I've done that recently on two laptops. If however you've got a PC that isn't clean there could be other software/configuration bits blocking it (like Firewalls/Antivirus/etc). And if you've got an older version of Mids which predates the Bootloader changes, then it's quite possible that you'll likely only get the notification that a patch is available but pressing the update button does nothing (because the bootloader is the thing that actually performs the newer updates; so if it can't run properly then nothing happens). In that case the only way to fix it is to install the Visual C++ Redistributable and manually replace the existing "MRBBootstrap.exe" file within your Mids installation folder with an up-to-date copy (the patcher will try to do this; but it often fails to extract the zip file containing the new exe). In most cases, ensuring you have the three prerequisite DotNet and Visual C++ bits and then downloading a working copy of the software (NOT just the latest database, but the whole installation folder) e.g. "mids_3.7.14.3+db_25.6.1082.zip" from https://updates.midsreborn.com/full_updates/ works and will let you run the update successfully.

To add to that: CPH has already stated that there's going to be another patch shortly after Christmas; and that this patch is going to contain a HUGE number of changes. To clarify: that the devs were concerned that the current MM changes would have been "lost in the crowd" if they'd released everything all at once. So they pushed them to Open Beta separately to give them a decent chance to get properly tested and refined before the next patch lands and all hell breaks loose.

Weird. I could understand it being an issue on the server side if nobody could update. But clearly some of us can. And I could also understand if the issue was only happening with a very specific version of the Mids Reborn application. But if you've been completely overwriting your entire Mids Reborn installation folder with a fresh working copy (from the zip file) then that's also ruled out. Which really just leaves the Client device environment that Mids is installed on. Something isn't playing nice. Operating System/Drivers/Software/Firewall? But its a total guessing game unless there's a more detailed error log somewhere. I'd be very tempted to ask you to zip your current Mids Reborn installation folder and upload a copy of it to Dropbox etc. just so I can see if it's possible to replicate the same fault on another device (I have eight sitting here idle, and only four have had Mids on them before)

That looks more like a connectivity issue than anything else. I can't see anything in either its own config files or the registry to suggest that Mids Reborn is attempting to do any independent network stuff (e.g. there's nowhere to set a non-standard proxy etc) so there shouldn't be any difference between Mids trying to get to that URL and any old regular app running on your PC trying to get out to that same URL. Web browsers however can complicate things - they often have their own independent network settings and don't respect the system proxy or certificate store. So it might be worth trying from a different non-web-browser app. If you open a powershell window and type in "tnc updates.midsreborn.com -port 443" does it succeed OK? (that's the built-in "Test-NetConnection" applet - and checking that destinations are reachable on specific ports is what its designed for!) If it succeeds then something's definitely something wrong with Mids specifically. So my next step would be disabling your local Windows Firewall temporarily (in case it's blocking the Mids application itself from reaching the internet) and then whitelisting both Mids and the DotNet framework components within any "Antivirus" or "Endpoint protection" products you might be using on the PC in question. If there's no software firewall running, no antivirus AND you've already nuked Mid's original installation folder and copied one of the working archives over the top of it... then the next thing I'd check would be the DotNet framework bits. But honestly that's getting into longshot territory. It's far more likely that windows has got a dodgy system proxy entry or multiple Network Adapters; or that the local Firewall/AV is silently blocking either Mids or the DotNet framework components. Computers really love to break in weird/wonderful ways... 😛

As long as you've got *all* the prerequisites the Bootloader should kick in whenever you open Mids via the main program (not via opening a previously saved build file) and hit Update. If you're missing one of the prerequisites like the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable (or the bootloader MRBBootstrap.exe itself) then the update will silently fail and you'll get an error recorded in your windows event log (Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Application) like this one. Worst case you can download one of the zip archives that contains the full installation folder and database (rather than the installer) and overwrite your current Mids folder with it.

Nah, that particular slotting is from a Bots/Time; but my (non /Kin) MMs all look pretty similar. A few different slotting variations are here. My Bot/Kin's main build currently has 26.5% EndRed in the Drones, 86.18% in the Protector Bots and 41.41% in the Assbot... and vs a Pylon (e.g. going flat out) all their blue bars drain at roughly the same rate (slowly!) without Speed Boost. With Speed Boost, they'll go indefinitely. Robotics is definitely endurance hungry; and on MMs that don't have any form of additional Recovery/Endurance buffs from their secondary (or Ageless!) the Protector Bots and Assbot will eventually run dry no matter how much +EndRed you throw at them. But there are tricks. /Traps (for example) can stick a Panacea in Triage Beacon.

I last got a DB update available through the Mids app in October I think? None are waiting currently for me on four devices (2x PCs, 2x Laptops). The updater seems to be working fine as long as you have all the Microsoft Runtime prerequisites in place, on both Win10 and Win11. I'm currently shuffling back and forth between at least three different versions of the Homecoming database in Mids (Live, tweaks for Open Beta, and tweaks for Closed Beta).

Yeah, there's been a lot of back-and-forth over the years about which is the best place for MMs to stick the Soulbound Proc... In the T3? (where its raw +Damage buff is bigger and the pet's damage output isn't hit as hard by the purple patch) Or in the T1s? (where it affects three pets; and they can make better use of any additional +ToHit). Personally I'm firmly on team #T1; and the introduction of Lv55 (+4) mobs simply reinforces that viewpoint. Maybe I'll reconsider if/when they finally address the Hit Rate issue. My henchmen are always frankenslotted. Trying to gain the most benefit from Procs whilst including all the Auras and ATOs and ED-capping damage and getting Accuracy "just right" is frickin' hard work (at least on Primaries that lack an appropriate T7!) so I almost never have the leeway to worry about more than two-piece set bonuses.

(i) It's not against the rules, no. (ii) There are (many) people who treat the market as a form of PVP. Getting accused of being an "Evil Marketeer" can often be treated as a badge of honour. (iii) I'd advise reading some of the threads in the Marketting subforum. Because none of what you're worried about is actually a problem. The short version is that the state of the market is very healthy, and the prices are good for both buyers and sellers as long as you have a tiny bit of patience. Because of how supply works here there is very little chance for anyone to actually corner a market. All the "good" IOs and salvage have a chance to drop practically everywhere, and you have a chance to get them via converters too. Hamidon-Origin enhancements are gated behind certain bits of content, but it's popular content and the drops are random, so there's a constant supply of new HOs entering the market. And due to the percentage-based commission taken by the AH; prices tend to trend downwards. Therefore really the most that folk with absolutely massive wallets can accomplish is to buy up all of the currently available copies of a specific item; and place "bid" orders waiting for more to arrive. This can temporarily drive up the price of individual items... but all a non-marketeer has to do is bid one inf higher then them ("I wanna buy it now!") and their bid will take priority... or they can choose to wait ("Patience is a virtue!") for supply to outstrip the number of bids and drive the price back down again... or they can choose to farm/redeem/craft/convert the item by themselves. So the prices of specific items can be "manipulated" but not outright "controlled". And the marketeers know this... which means you end up with "Marketeers" skimming a decent bit of profit; but prices and supply are kept fairly steady + the market remains healthy. Likewise, "Farmers" keep the supply up. And some of us take great delight in annoying certain marketeers by listing everything we get for 1 inf (because it's fun and it's not real money and we're all rolling in it) It's also worth pointing out that it's typically these same people who go out of their way to earn inf via farming/marketeering/whutever who are the most generous at giving new players handouts. Because again... it's a game and it's not real money. And (rather surprisingly!) it turns out there's more than enough for everyone to get a decent share.

It's true that in 4* content enemies gain an additional +30% base defense, and vs +3 mobs that'll reduce an unbuffed ED-accuracy-capped attack's Hit Rate to ~35%... ...but Phantom Army can take the Soulbound Proc (for 3PPM +40% ToHit and +80% Damage). With ED-capped accuracy aspect; whilst that Proc's buff is active it raises their pre-clamped Hit Rate from ~35% to ~113% (vs +3s) and from ~18% to ~96% (vs +4s). And it's active a LOT; since it lasts for 6.25 seconds, each PA spams attacks and at 3PPM their proc activation chance per attack is anything from 25%-72.5%. Over the course of PA's duration for me it averages about ~55% uptime (it can take a few attacks per PA to kick in; but once activated it hovers around ~66%) This is also why on MMs I tend to put the Soulbound Proc in my T1 henchmen rather than in my T3... the +Damage is a wash; but the +ToHit is far more valuable on the T1s!

It really depends on the power if each proc works well in it or not. In general I tend to slot the equivalent of 1x EndMod in each of the sustains; and I'll usually ED-cap them for Health if they're giving me +Absorb. The pure +Regeneration ones can sometimes (but not always) benefit more from a Power Transfer +Heal proc.

Might need to wait a little bit; but you might crack a smile at some point 😉 (also I'm not all sunshine and rainbows - there are both nerfs and buffs in the pipeline; but at least the former seem to be aimed at specific powers rather than at entire ATs...)

Let me start off by saying that I've already stated; loudly; that I'd have preferred the devs put the "break even" point for MM damage output at +0 instead of at +2. I completely get that it feels frustrating to be nerfed. However the reality of the purple patch is that there is a drastic damage decrease fighting anything over +2 - the damage dealt drops from 100% (+0s) -> 90% (+1s) -> 80% (+2s) -> 65% (+3s) -> 48% (+4s) -> 30% (+5s) -> 15% (+6s) -> 08% (+7s). And ON LIVE Mastermind T1 Henchmen spawn at -2 to you; which means if you're fighting +4s (let alone +5s!) those T1s will only inflict 15% of their raw damage; but your T3s would be inflicting 48% of their raw damage - making the T3s more than 3 times better off. This is part of why masterminds suck vs higher-conning foes (the other parts being that the T1 pets also have a severely handicapped Hit Rate and tend to get one-shot). Therefore if the Devs want to increase mob difficulty options across the playerbase (and they do!) then mastermind pets need to stop spawning lower-level. That's the scenario we find ourselves in here, in a nutshell. - - - - - - - - - - However the devs want to tread exceptionally carefully. The last time the devs made major adjustments to an AT was Tankers; and that did not go down very well. In i26p4 Tankers were buffed a lot; then in i28p2 those buffs were toned down a little bit. Currently Tankers are still far stronger than they were before i26p4 (see here); but because people had time to get used to the "too high" performance they screamed absolute bloody murder whenever the inevitable nerfs landed. So the devs are VERY, VERY hesitant here - they really do not want to set the initial performance of Even-Level Henchmen (particularly damage output!) too high and then have to nerf it again later. Apparently the current plan is to first simply make pets even-level (this patch!) and give that a chance to get tested and "bed in"... then afterwards they can make further adjustments to tweak MM performance gradually (upwards!) until it hits a level that they're happy with. We're not allowed to reveal the specifics of what's happening on Closed Beta. But CPH has already stated openly that there is a VERY BIG set of changes due next patch (after the holidays!). The MM changes currently in Open Beta were intentionally separated from that big patch in order to give everyone a decent opportunity to test them. - - - - - - - - - - OK. So the goal is to "make mastermind pets even-level" whilst altering current performance as little as possible. ...How? Well... it turns out that hit rate is rather easy; as it's the same difference regardless of what you're fighting. So all you need is flat tohit debuffs to the T1 and T2 pets. Done. But keeping Survivability and Damage Output the same as before is much harder. The differences in damage taken are at least linear - T1s going from a +6 foe hitting them to a +4 hitting them (13.25% less damage) is only a little different than going from a +2 foe hitting them to a +0 hitting them (18.03% less damage). So the Devs tried a few things here - and the one that made it to Open Beta was -MaxHP (which didn't overly negatively impact specific powersets; and was actually pretty balanced, until you remember that henchmen also take damage via bodyguard mode!). Ultimately, they reverted it; presumably because the Devs became comfortable that giving T1/T2 henchmen ~18%/10% higher survivability than before wasn't going to make the sky fall in. The differences in damage output however are definitely not linear: because of the purple patch. If they just left things as-is... the T1s would be dealing +33.93% damage vs +0s, +35.42% vs +1s, +43.59% vs +2s, +60% vs +3s, +160% vs +4s and +275% vs +5s. So they need to "rebalance" the damage dealt; so that the pets break-even somewhere. And they decided to set the break-even point at vs +2s. (Shamelessly stealing CPH's table here...) Test Delta [Base Damage] T1 T2 T3 +0 -25% -10% 0% +1 -17% -9% 0% +2 0% 0% 0% +3 +30% +10% 0% +4 +92% +30% 0% +5 +125% +62% 0% And yes, that looks a bit rough for Masterminds who fight even-level foes. However it's a slight increase in damage vs +3 mobs, and a HUGE comparative increase vs +4 mobs, let alone +5s. And where, traditionally, do MMs tend to actually struggle? Yup... whenever you're fighting +4 mobs or higher. There are also two reasons that I'm not particularly butthurt over this nerf to damage output vs +0 foes. (i) Firstly; the T1 henchmen tend to contribute proportionally less of the MM's overall damage, so a -25% damage decrease for them in practice isn't nearly as bad as you might think (we've actually people in the Focussed Feedback thread who are posting practically identical cleartimes!). (ii) Secondly; the differences in damage taken mean that T1/T2 henchmen are getting more of a survivability boost against +0 foes (18.03% less damage taken) than against +5 foes. (12.43% less damage taken). Which means that anyone who is choosing to fight +0 foes because they struggle at higher difficulty levels (e.g. non-optimized characters!) will at least be getting a hefty survivability boost to offset the lower damage dealt. I do however appreciate that it's a particular PITA vs "levelless" foes like GMs; since you're effectively taking an extra DPS loss of -20% (T1s) and -10% (T2s). I view the Set Bonus inheritance as an extra; rather than as something the Devs are implementing in order to offset the even-level changes. Set Bonuses having some kind of effect on henchmen has been a Quality-Of-Life request for MMs for some time. KB Protection is definitely the main draw for me now; although +MaxHP is noticeably further beefing up the survivability of my T1s (as it's based on the Master's HP pool). Also... the fact that Recharge Set Bonuses (and Recharge enhancement aspect and allied Recharge buffs!) aren't currently doing anything for pets is annoying; although at least the Devs are aware of that... and they've also acknowledged a disparity between "Global" bonuses and "Set" bonuses which might be addressed SOONTM (the former does not currently inherit - and whilst it's possible to make them do so it's a fair bit of work and might have knock-on impacts to how those IOs work in other places). I can assure you that the issues you're referring to here - pets being tricky to buff (or even to target!) after resummoning; and pet mobility being insufficient to keep pace with teammates are also well known to the devs. The T3 missile burn patches were reduced in targets substantially, from 12 to 3 IIRC. The damage wasn't the initial hit, it was the fire puddle after that. The Drone is nice for secondaries that didn't have a heal, and the KB removal was nice. But the loss of the AOE was a bit impact, especially since Robots was the one primary that had good AoE This is one area where @Neiska and I are definitely on the same page. I've posted about the nerf (and it WAS a nerf!) to Robotic's AoE damage potential before here... but I'll restate the most relevant bit: "Previously Incendiary Swarm Missiles were a 20ft radius AoE with a target cap of 16; then a separate 'Burn' patch Pseudopet spawned underneath each target affected which continually applied tick damage in an 8ft radius with a target cap of 5. After the change the Missiles were reduced to a 10ft radius AoE with a target cap of 10, and the Burn Patches were reduced to a target cap of 3. Whilst the Battle Drones and Protector Bot damage did increase to compensate for this change... unfortunately these pets spawn at -2 and -1 to you in most content. So in practice the earlier setup of having the Assault Bot do more damage as an even-level pet was better. And it also meant you only needed to maximise damage slotting (ED-capped plus Soulbound and Explosive Strike procs) on a single pet - the T1 and T2 pets could be loaded up with Global IOs and +Def." There were certainly some benefits from the changes - greatly reduced setup time; more reliable -Regen debuffing; and the ability to buff the inherent pet resistances via slotting the T1 upgrade for +DmgRes aspect... but it really did a number on Robotics' AoE damage potential. (They were the only MM primary that was actually fun to farm with!) That said; Robotics is still comparatively very good at AoE damage compared to the other MM primary powersets. As well as being good vs foes with non-negligible HP regeneration (like AVs/GMs). So it's in a pretty decent place; even if there is definitely room for improvement (e.g. vs Bosses!). In any case; I'm hopeful that there are more upwards-trending changes coming both for MMs in general and for specific powersets. ((but seriously... anyone who thinks the devs are shying away from retuning anything are going to be really floored by the next patch...)) 👀

AFAIK the only place it's been ventured MMs dominate is levelless Pylon fights (particularly Demons/Marine MMs) - although Illusion/ Controllers aren't far behind. Nukes are a whole 'nother issue. IIRC they were originally supposed to be balanced out by endurance cost and squishiness... hence why Blasters getting both Crashless Nukes and Sustains was a tad contentious. But changing them now would be asking for trouble - could you imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth if they got "adaptive recharge"?