tidge

I 100% agree with the looks & feel of Whirlwind. I don't think I've used it in a build since the early (IO only) days of Live, as I found it... disappointing.

Snipes (Fast) get a damage buff from +ToHit.

Two things: (in addition to +ToHit obviously increases the ToHit Chance): +ToHit increases the damage of (fast) snipes, up to 22% IIRC A slotted Gaussian's %Build Up typically has a 90% (ceiling) chance to ALSO fire in Blaster's Aim-like powers. This buff lasts 10 seconds I've tested extra ToHit on normal (long) snipes and have not seen a difference. An easy way to test this is to put a Kismet +ToHit piece in a defense toggle. Try both Fast and Slow Snipes with and without the Kismet piece toggled on/slotted (monitor ToHit bonus).

The talk about "wasting" a cast of Aim for a snipe doesn't make sense to me... AFAIK, The extra damage from +ToHit is only on Fast snipes and does nothing for normal (slow) snipes. I can get behind everything here, except that %proc is not supposed to be factored into set balance; "the game is balanced around IOs".

The tide pods don't go away on a miss, they go away via elapsed time. I simply find it weird that the T7 plays out like this: On a hit, and you had 3x tide power, and it isn't locked out: cast it again to defeat an even-level opponent. On a hit, and it is locked out: cast the T2 to defeat an even-level opponent. On a hit, and you don't have the 3 tide power: cast the T2 to defeat an even-level opponent. On a miss: cast the T2 (twice) to defeat an even-level opponent. Maybe there are almost as bad other Blaster primary T7 attackss, but I think there are better T5 and T6 attacks.

I think the argument equating Aim with Tidal power fails, because you can almost always get a couple of attacks in with the Aim/Build Up boost, and that boost is the same for all attacks (unlike tide pods). The effect of ToHit for Snipes is capped at 22%; on most build with Snipe it is rather trivial to be sitting at a perma +6% anyway (thanks Kismet!)

You have to hit with the first cast of Water Jet in order to get a second cast; it isn't automatic. EDIT: IIRC, you also have to hit with a cast in order to get a tidal counter.

I've played a Water Blast Blaster, so I understand that role that Water Jet (a T7 primary attack power) plays in Tidal Power... but in practice, I find that I was incredibly disappointed with: Damage was lackluster, roughly on par with the T2 attack Hydro Blast... not to mention Arcane Bolt from the Sorcery pool, It took me (YMMV) a LOT of effort to try to work it into an attack chain (because of the Tidal Power effect), partially because of what happens with tidal power after a miss (nothing, so no "fast Water Jet") or elapsed time (buh-bye Tidal Power) I will disclose: I like the fast animation of Water Jet, but ultimately that was not enough reason for me to keep it. My opinion: Water Blast is an otherwise solid set. I can almost see why things were mixed up for it... e.g. I find the lack of a Snipe to be disappointing, but it's not the end of the world... but I really can't get my head around why this power has a T7 with such meager damage compared to a Pool power ranged attack and T5 or T6 Snipes from other Blaster sets. I don't have a specific suggestion, but I feel like this subforum has often been a good place to have discussions of balance (within sets for a specific AT).

I don't consider Incarnates to be in the same category as respecs... I certainly have made the decision to grind towards a different T4, but usually if it is a character I've previously put any time into getting new T3s is not an issue, mileage varies on T4s. I tend to spend a lot of time leveling up characters, so I don't approach Incarnate powers as "covering a hole" in the build... except in the case of Cardiac for Endurance Reduction at high-end play, YMMV. As for "mistakes"... I can only think of a couple of instances where I felt that I had totally misunderstood some power, gave it a fair amount of testing and ended up think of the original choice as a "mistake". More often fro me: a respec specifically to change power choices on an already 'finished' build is usually because: I've used unslotters to determine that some enhancement (usually a global, sometimes a %proc) is having no observable effect, and I can think of another power that could use the slot(s). Generally this personal behavior has meant that I downplay Regeneration (outside of the large HP ATs) and certain resistances. I've experimented with NOT using a power during regular play, and I've determined that the power can come out of the build. This is a major reason why I almost never plan to put Hasten in anything other than a Dominator, or something with 5-minute recharge powers. Very rarely the HC team has modified a power set such that a character needs a respec. The only times this happened (so far!) was for an Energy Melee character and also for a Robotics MM.

One of my Controllers (who went through Redside) has a bio that explicitly identifies him as a former hench that got "cut" because he was always making people fall down, or otherwise getting in each others' way.

My experience with running only alongside a single T3 henchman is that the (lack of) damage output hurts more than anything else. Fewer "bodyguards" is also something that needs to be factored in. Eventually the Endurance tax catches up, because the MM will need to be much more active. It is possible to use Grant Invisibility to stealth some missions with a single henchman already summoned, but at the final objective you will still be a MM with but a single henchman.

I feel that if Tar Patch isn't giving set bonuses, I'd want to slot it first with Recharge, and possible Endurance Reduction (depending on style, and the Endurance budget). I wouldn't put %procs in it without also having accuracy Similarly, I feel that Howling Twilight is a power that is best used as often as possible (for the Stun). If you don't have accuracy slotted in it, the %procs are IMO not nearly as good a choice as recharge. My favorite slotting for it is (when slots are available... I'd drop the %procs first, don't exceed 5 of same Purple set bonuses): (A) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 50 (*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50 (*) Absolute Amazement - Stun/Recharge: Level 50+5 (*) Absolute Amazement - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge: Level 50+5 (*) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50+5 (*) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5 As I've written in a bajillion other threads, I feel that Hasten is a trap for a LOT of builds, and for Masterminds (with their Endurance tax) it can be especially problematic... in my experience, there are very few powers (and none of them are attacks) that really need the recharge coming from Hasten in a MM build. Obviously if Hasten is saving slots in powers that would otherwise need to go for Recharge, that's a thing, but my experience has been that Hasten is really only paying off for powers that have 5 minute recharges, or in marginal cases where I'm right on the edge of "perma" (e.g. Domination, Mind Link, Link Minds) without Hasten. There are a lot of ways to slot the bots; I did find that putting an IO Defense 50+5 piece in Protector Bots is a huge help as I think the base defense from their Force Field is something like 13%, so the returns are on the order of 4% more Defense. Here is what I did with my henchmen (albeit with a different secondary): Level 1: Battle Drones (A) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Damage: Level 50 (*) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (*) Soulbound Allegiance - Chance for Build Up: Level 50 (*) Expedient Reinforcement - Resist Bonus Aura for Pets: Level 50 (*) Sovereign Right – Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (*) Sovereign Right - Resistance Bonus: Level 50 Level 12: Protector Bots (A) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (*) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 50 (*) Defense Buff IO: Level 50+5 (*) Edict of the Master: Defense Bonus: Level 40 (*) Call to Arms: Defense Aura for Pets: Level 30 (*) Call to Arms: - Accuracy/Damage: Level 30 Level 22: Assault Bot (A) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (*) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (*) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (*) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Recharge/Pet +AoE Defense Aura: Level 50 (*) Superior Mark of Supremacy: Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (*) Superior Mark of Supremacy: Endurance, +Resist (All) +Regen(Pets): Level 50 I put the %Build Up piece in the Tier 1 henchmen, my thinking is that they are the ones that will generally need better +ToHit. Obviously there is a tradeoff against using it in the T3 Assault Bot. I get a kick out of seeing multiple instances of it on the three Battle Drones. Note that if you get the extra Defense from the Protector Bot, I think you can make alternate choices for slotting the Dark Servant; you can save 2 slots, pick up +MaxEnd, MOAR Global Recharge and slide a %damage proc into Dark Fluffy. Level 38: Dark Servant (A) Cloud Senses - Chance for Negative Energy Damage: Level 30 (*) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/ToHitDebuff: Level 30 (*) Cloud Senses - ToHit Debuff: Level 30 (*) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 30

This is an alternate build I have for my Robots/Traps MM: "A Boy and His Robot". I don't usually run this build, but it is more viable in this (i27p5) era than it was before for a multiple reasons (power changes, level choices for powers). The arc I use to gauge how (in)effective a "petless" (or reduced number of henchmen) MM is the "Lost and Found" from Montague Castanella at level 50... I landed on this one because it used to be absolutely miserable and I see no need to seek out a more miserable one.

Who has time to respec? Crack open that second build and buy all new enhancements!

I have a number of builds where I slot the %-Res pieces in DoT (or delayed damage) with the hopes that the %-Res happens first, increasing damage dealt. I have never studied if it actually helps (in solo).

As I wrote in another thread, I also calculated about 43% for Axe Cyclone (per 3.5 PPM, per mobile) which aligns with my Tanker experience. From memory, I think that for Axe Cyclone the PPM damage occurs on cast (when each hit mob is moved) and not when the regular damage happens... Similar to a power like Levitate where PPM damage occurs when the mob is tossed but the inherent damage occurs after the ragdoll effect resolves.

This has not been my experience, it is an inherent 18 second recharge with 15' radius. When I ran the numbers for a 3.5 PPM piece I was seeing a %proc rate of something like 43%. EDIT: IIRC, this is one of those powers where the %damage will fire at a different time than the standard damage. Perhaps you are just missing it?

Sadly: This is far too frequently just a physical manifestation of the state of the code (and its management plan) for any given software.

I like your approach. I didn't want to go %proc on this Blaster... the appeal to me would be front-loading damage on casts (such as for Whirlpool). Obviously I opted for set bonuses. If this combo was on something like a Defender/Corrupter/Controller I would absolutely be more proc-tastic. I originally had the Force Feedback %+Recharge piece in Geyser. It always (90%) fired, but it was having very little effect on my attack chain. Geyser itself is too long a recharge to get much benefit from it, and while it did help the faster recharging powers (that were being used), I found that the extra oomph from it was to infrequent, so I adjusted my attack chain/play style instead. Maybe it makes a difference with Hasten in the build. Global Recharge is one of those effects I like to test by using unslotters (see also Regeneration).

She's forty-one and her daddy still calls her baby...

My Mind/Poison, which is fun and effective. I've played it on any number of Penny Yin TFs (before and after i27p5) where he's been doing more damage than any other single player on the TF(*1). This is the page 5 version: (*1) EDIT: Those TF PUGs were (from memory) generally made up of lower-level characters (not exemplaring down), exemplars with characters who took higher-DPS or AoE powers late in the build, or single-target ATs. It isn't like this guy is a one-man mass-murder squad, it's just that between the confuses, debuffs and AoE he competes.

I haven't revisited any of my VEATs post-i27p5... part of me is hesitant to touch characters I've played for so long and been so satisfied with. I will note: I usually don't exemplar with my Crabbermind build anyway. The only thing that jumps out at me is the Force Feedback %+Recharge in Frag Grenade. I know why its there, but I think you will get slightly more utility out of the (Superior) Dominion of Arachnos Recharge/%Terrorize instead. If you absolutely need it to have the higher-tier pets ready to resummon when they expire I won't argue the point. Crabberminds' Recharge can be tricky in my experience because unless all the pets of a certain tier are getting wiped, resumonning a reload will still have them all expire on the original timer. From memory, I simply tried to get the higher tier re-summoning times "just right" rather than trying to maximize Global recharge.

I don't remember the "launch" days as being better than today (or even very good, frankly) at driving "team balance among ATs". It was much more like "oh yeah, that's the powerset that will help" and not "What we need is (any) _____". There were plenty of character concepts that were not as well-loved if they picked the "wrong" primary/secondary. IMO the Homecoming team has done an excellent job caretaking the "City of", as it is much easier to make a character of any concept into one that can contribute to teams and/or not struggle through solo content. The only thing these days working against team membership is not using the /invite command. Some less than pleasant memories: Fiery Aura Tankers didn't need teams to trivially earn XP. Scrappers could be built to be effective as Tankers, plus didn't struggle to clear maps. We have been throwing a lot of shade at early-game Tankers for team-chatting "wait for me to gather the map", but lets not forget the Radiation Emission Defender spam "Gather for AM" and "Kill my target LAST". Invulnerable and Stone Tanks to enemy mobs: "I'll just stay here (rooted, or behind this curb) while you scamper about." Tankers had a few elements of old-school glory but outside of those they were not really needed for 98% of content. Issue 1's addition of Peregrine Island allowed summoning of HUGE amounts of Rikti Monkeys (as well as Giant Monsters) to Portal Corp. Jerk move or pure awesome? Dev's didn't like it. Issue 6's PvP demonstrated how annoying certain Tanker builds could be to other players, yet if the Tanker couldn't be defeat there was no way it was going to defeat anyone else (except maybe via Stun).

I tried to make Venomous Gas work (on a /Poison Controller), but my experience was that in practice: I couldn't affect enough opponents, and I couldn't do enough damage from the point of PBAoE to enough of the opponents I was affecting, and I couldn't survive the extra melee, on top of whatever ranged attacks were already coming my way. There are circumstances where I felt it was doing something, but for me it just wasn't worth the power pick or slot investment.

This past week I got my "Play (99%) Blueside Content at Appropriate Level" (so, lots of solo, long stretches of no XP) character to level 50, and did the obligatory respec, my (non Incarnate) level 50 build is below. Some comments: Water Blast offers a FUN character, but not a particularly top-tier one. I think the lack of a Snipe really hurts this set. I used Water Jet while leveling, but I was extremely disappointed with its damage (for a T7). I ended up wanting to add Tidal Forces (juggling it with Ionize, especially to get the disorient on Geyser), so Water Jet was what ended up being cut. My general feeling is that Water Blast is a pretty mediocre single-target set with standard AoE options(*1). It has many fun animations. I came to see the only positive aspect of Water Jet to be that it was the fastest animation I used in the set. Atomic Manipulation really grew on me, especially once I was able to trigger Gamma Rays. I didn't opt for the Immobilize or Holds (all hail page 5!). As the mediocre performance of the Water Blast primary was revealing itself, I found myself relying on the secondary attacks more-and-more. I LOVE that Beta Decay interrupts enemies that spawn pets, and that Positronic Fist/Negatron Slam contain soft (but often low magnitude) controls. Atom Smasher was on the respec chopping block, but I found that it was a crucial attack to use when getting swarmed (or Blinded!) Flame Mastery was chosen pretty much for Rise of the Phoenix (and Fire Shield), because this character is living the Blapper life. Infiltration as a travel power: This was chosen for a variety of reasons. Mainly: as I was doing "all the content" I didn't really need to fight enemies for XP, so I stealthed many missions. I got used to the relative door-to-door speed. This build has some choices to improve travel speeds that I don't expect others to employ. Infiltration is an awesome place to slot certain pieces of course. (*1) I skipped Hasten, even though it could pretty trivially be made perma on this build. It would help a little with some of the longer recharge powers, but I can't convince myself that slightly faster recharge times on those powers would really make a difference in my experience. If I wanted Hasten, I'd replace Tidal Forces with it at level 18. The power order is pretty much as it was leveling up, with the exception being Water Jet was in place of Tidal Forces. I had slots moved around for typical leveling, such as the Kismet +ToHit piece in Infiltration. I had some %procs (like Overwhelming Force: Knockdown in Steam Spray) to help while leveling. Some final comments for anyone trying to adapt this build for MOAR BETTER play... or put another way, here is what I'm thinking for a second build: Drop Infiltration and Combat Teleport and lean into the Sorcery pool to get Rune of Protection. I am thinking Mystic Flight (for travel and quasi-BAMF) and Spirit Ward... I don't have the slots to do Arcane Bolt justice even if I think it would be better than Water Jet. I might convince myself to shuffle slots out of Metabolic Acceleration and Stamina to 5-slot Arcane Bolt. The ranged attack chain has a bit of a gap that a well-slotted Arcane Bolt could fill. The biggest issue facing this character are the enemy mezzes, which is why having RoP would be something of a game-changer. Adding RoP and a different travel power would allow me to make some other choices in slotting as well. Also, in the build above I was trying for set bonuses for Defense values. Whirlpool does not need that many slots, except of course for set bonuses. Ionize is in the same category. The only power I'd consider changing to %procs is the cone Steam Spray, specifically for Knockdown (via Overwhelming Force) I don't like putting non-set %procs into Blaster attacks. Giving up set bonuses in Steam Spray allows for some Range slotting, for players who want to lean into (long) range more. Even with a MOAR PEW-PEW build, I'm still not sold on trying to add Hasten (or perma-Hasten) to this build, and breaking up the Preventive Medicine set bonuses would hurt... plus I need to find new mules for LotG pieces. I'd probably just keep skipping it altogether or simply not care about perma-Hasten.