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I'm not intending to be nasty (especially not to the messenger) but I will state: The first henchmen boost power comes at level 6, and the T2 and T3 summons come at 12 and 22... so it isn't as if most (any?) Masterminds will delay taking the first upgrade until after the T2 (or T3, for T3-only MMs) is taken. With the reduction in HP for the T1 and T2... also (still) requiring the first upgrade feels a lot like punching down. I accept the code is a mess, but I feel like the actual buffs from the first upgrade could just be included in the summoning power.

I don't think the countdown idea is practical, because of server-client lag/ping/malarkey. The range increase might be something that makes sense: Even when a MM isn't "outrunning" henchmen, it isn't hard to see examples where the two are "just far enough" out of range (of each other) for things like full damage to MM (i.e. no Bodyguard mode in play) or hits against henchmen doing "too much damage". This is the kind of issue I basically just shrug off, but I understand why "one more thing" can de-interest folks in playing MMs.

Some more testing (on Beta), solo MM v. GMs: Kraken (Perez Park) - no noticeable changes, but I did lose henches (not uncommon, but rare) (3x) Paladin (Kings Row) - I split them up first to get a better feel - Significantly longer times (usually a Paladin only gets one pulse off against me... so increases of more than 90 seconds on top of times that are more like 3m30s to 4 min). Based on fighting three of them (one after the other), I say this was due to both losing T1/T2 more frequently and less damage sticking (when I didn't lose them). The MM also took significantly more damage than I expected in each of these three fights. I run with Degenerative (radial), but that's something of an afterthought. For Hybrid, I run support. Lining up the conditions to get the Assault to work was something I played with long ago, but it didn't make my round-the-world sweeps of GMs any faster. The one possible change I've been kicking around... I currently run Tactics but I might swap to Assault. My GM hunter does rely on pseudopets, and I hate ToHit/Accuracy debuffs, which was my original reason to run Tactics... but it has been easy to toggle off and not see much change, so perhaps this page might convince me to experiment again.

I'd describe my level of care about Incarnates to be pretty close to zero, so I'm sure I skipped over that.

Can you describe the issue? I don't include any %proc in my T3, just a each of the MM ATO Aura pieces. IIRC @Maelwys and I take a different approach to slotting T3s (in general, we may have closer agreement on specific primaries). FWIW: Slotting (only) T7s with MM ATO seems like one the most "who asked for THAT?" changes. May as well allow such powers to also include Recharge Intensive Pet/Pet damage sets too. [I don't intend to be too critical, but unless I'm going to do something weird like Detonating Maintenance Drones (with their terrible pathing AI), I really don't see why I'd put MM ATO in such a power.

Quick (on Beta) test (solo) against: Arachnos Flier (Grandville): Slightly longer time... almost but not quite to PITA level (because of flier's unhittable status + travel time). No noticeable changes in henchmen surviving, I did lose some T1... while rare on Live, it is not unknown. For the flier, there would be a significant change if the Flier had two travel cycles... my typical experience with the flier is that it gets only one travel period, unless I am really late to getting to it. I can generally get it down to 75%-95% of its health in one cycle, with the variability mostly coming from my henches in Bodyguard mode and what they are targeting. Adamastor (Echo: Dark Astoria) No noticeable change, either in defeat time or survivabilty.

I'll try copying a level 50 GM hunter to Beta and see what I can estimate about performance. The reliably available ones will probably be Adamastor and Scrapyard, but if I find other ones in the wild I certainly have enough experience that I can report back. There is always a little variability in GM defeat times, but I could definitely tell the differences in the (multiple) HP/Resist boosts as well as the GM ToHit Buff. (*1) For me (specifically) there is a sequence of "random numbers" I encounter with a handful of GMs (those that have multiple, consecutive AoE) that break up my typical, smooth GM defeat... because of a streakbreaker and/or "high rolls" on the part of the GM that smack the MM+henchmen and/or apply status effects... it's weird, but especially since the GM ToHit buff I can noticeably tell against specific GMs (for me, Jack in Irons, Paladin... very rarely Adamastor) that things are going pear-shaped (with my typical approach to them).

I can easily see Giant Monster(*1) fights taking a LOT longer for MMs (on test) because of reduced damage from the T3 and T2 henchmen. Thanks to @Bionic_Flea for going up against a pylon. Presumably, the lower HP of the henchmen will also make them less survivable against Giant Monsters (with the "new improved levels" of the henchmen) (*1) per here

I'm seeing Hold Resistance, not Hold Protection. Resistance never gets the status effect duration to "0 seconds".

We don't have the ability for Macro buttons to show timers (or any sort of indicator), so I'm having trouble imagining a circumstance where this approach would be valuable... I guess if there is some emote or say the player wants done to indicate that Hasten didn't fire....

This argument feels extremely thin to me. I don't doubt that personal preference doesn't exist... it's more that personal preference =/= non-viable power(*1). If nothing else, it is literally a 1-slot wonder power for slotting the %Absorb piece. If a player opts to slot a different %proc (one that requires a trigger) in it, I believe that Spirit Ward can be cast on the sorts of summonable pets available to all players.... but I rarely slot anything but the %Absorb in it. As much as a b**** about the first three power choices in the Presence pool being at odds with each other, making that pool somewhat "clunky"... i don't think any of those three powers isn't viable (for characters that don't have access to such powers via primary/secondary). (*1) My own personal ranking of the powers in the Sorcery pool would put Enflame at the bottom.... but not because I think it isn't viable, I find it to be one of those powers that looks good on paper but needs rather specific circumstances to really sing. My perception is also colored because it becomes available at level 14, but for most ATs it is rarely the best choice of a power between levels 14 and 30.

Rando comments: I definitely consider Invulnerability to be a "hybrid" set. One of the things I like best about Invulnerability (on Tankers, Brutes, with bigger Health pools) is that it isn't necessary to run all of the toggles (all of the time, or ever) Scrappers... because of smaller caps (on Resistance and HP) I think perform better with a secondary that contributes to debuffing/damaging enemies in melee while also providing healing/absorb to the Scrapper. I'm not really thinking of "damage auras" for Scrappers as much as PBAoE powers that can have %procs added. Off teh top of my head, Radiation and Bio. Defense based Scrappers IMO perform very well... but they need something else when things go pear-shaped. Incarnates can fill the gap, but I don't like relying on Incarnates to make a character awesome... so for Defense based ones I'm usually looking at a T3/T4/T5 power in a power pool to provide that little extra something.

"I saved 2 BInf with one stupid trick!"

I think it is better to say that the Prismatics are farmed because of the market (so indirectly to "people wanting them"). I've been watching the market and I am surprised that we are seeing near daily getting influxes of 1K+ prismatics with the total amount above 5K. Somebody is really dedicated to farming Prismatics; I suppose someone could be playing the "I want to set the market price for them" game, but like everything else that drops freely that would be silly and I can't even imagine it is fun as an intellectual exercise.

KB protection is literally one of the easiest things to build for using enhancements.... especially for Tankers/Brutes because of the +3KB three-set bonuses from useful sets like Gladiator's Armor and Fury of the Gladiator (IIRC both Dark and Fire armor have commonly chosen powers that can take each. Those are on top of the multiple choices of +4KB pieces that can go into travel, resistance, and defense powers. SG bases offer 90 minutes of +10 KB protection. How much easier does the game have to be made for some people? This is a request that sounds like someone wasn't expecting actual variety in the game.

I may be missing something: This approach might be defeating the purpose of having multiple powers queued for auto-execute, Macros act like power icons you have to click, the concept of keybinding is that the player is queue a power along with some key they would be pressing anyway. I suppose you could set up a macro to trigger a rolling set of bindfiles, but for (alternating) powers this seems like the wrong approach for the more common circumstances (e.g. Domination and Hasten).

And it was! When the 4-figure blind boosters were under $10, they made for exciting impulse buys, but now blind boosters are up against $20 for five figures and the internal rarities are so skewed... plus the actual set contents include a LOT of duplicate versions of the same characters... there isn't as much excitement in the boosters. There has been some effort to (recently) make all the figures at all rarities somewhat on par with each other in terms of utility and dial cost... there was a far too long of a period when it was the rarest figures shattered the point formula (and often rules) which made the actual game miserable for a majority of potential players.

In addition to "just playing", there are opportunities to use the game to be creative: base building and costume making can break up any tedium.

As @ShardWarrior noted: it is not at all uncommon.... typically it is direct insults and/or replies quoting direct insults, or posts relating to (or admission of) violation of terms of service/code of conduct. Rarely... I've seen posts/threads hidden that implicate or accuse moderator(s) for specific behavior (including instances of inaction or perceived hypocrisy), but I take those hidings to be more of a sort of "mods can see it, there is no reason for the hoi polloi to see it". Players can of course hide their own posts. Far more common is a thread getting locked. I suppose the excuse is "it's all been said", but given how often certain topics get started from fresh I think a better description of why some threads get locked is "a mod was interested in the thread, but has gotten tired of reading posts by the same two people."

There is enough in the initial build that doesn't align with my own approach(*1), that I'm just going to toss out a few ideas. I agree with the other assessments about Res v. Positional defenses (which may or may not even be worth chasing depending on content being played). I'm not crazy about the (delayed) power picks for 41+, or the slotting. Build Up should not be a level 49 pick for a Scrapper. I really like Combat Teleport when used with Axe. (*1) Grabbing Hasten, a travel power, and 3 powers from the Fighting pool by level 22 is IMO something of an 'old school' thinking, as is multiple attacks from the Epic/Patron. You could take any four of those powers and use something like the Force of Will pool to get a travel power, one/two ranged attacks (or a ST debuff), and a self-buff like Unleash Potential and I think performance would be improved... and you could still take a patron snipe if desired.

I didn't see the thread right before it was 'curated', but it had ventured into a single player admitting violating elements of the ToS, and other players calling them out. I didn't see much rudeness, but I have seen other threads vanish with similar casual mentions of having violated the Terms of Service or Code of Conduct.

I think there is an extra level of irony because HeroClix itself despite sticking around since 2002, and because of the super-hero connection is basically a license to print money, has always shown signs of being a somewhat mismanaged product. It's a much more complicated product than cardboard cards, and even though the production->shelf logistics are "solved", the parent company(s) have always used the profits from HeroClix to prop up other (much less popular) games on top of changing the core HeroClix game just because someone new has an "unbeatable" set of new ideas and approaches. (imagine the ideas in our suggestion forum being implemented/rolled back on a 18-month cycle).

Yep, pretty much all the 'origin' pools have containment effects on the attacks. It isn't something unique to only one of them.

For extra damage on a Controller, I pretty much always go Force of Will. 1) Mighty Leap (for travel) 2) Weaken Resolve (reasonable debuff, plus can %damage at range) 3) Wall of Force (Exceleent AoE cone, with a control piece) 4) Unleash Potential (as a self-buff, holds many good sets) Project Will isn't bad (it also has a control element for Controllers) but typically I don't have the slots for it, and certainly not at low levels. I typically don't have a place in my control/attack chains for it, whereas the Weaken Resolver debuff can fill a gap should I have one.

Dual Blades is (now) one of those sets that I now only consider if there is a very specific costume/character concept I want to implement. The combo mechanic is fine, but I get bored always executing the same patterns of attacks. The all Lethal damage becomes a mood-killer for me after fighting large numbers of certain enemies.