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I deeply agree with the sentiment that you don't have to play GOD OF WAAARGH characters/AT to enjoy the game, however... ...Don't do this. Or if you do, accept that it comes with its own suite of crowd reactions.

When looking for a hill to die on, don't confuse molehills for mountains.

I'm a fan of Caltrops, particularly because you can 'proc to taste'. Slowing enemies while driving them to scatter (instead of attacking) is effective enough (against most mobs) without hoping for extra %proc action!

I understand the feels around the quantum leap when achieving perma-dom (or being short of perma-dom), but I don't know that adding another health/endurance bar tied to a toggle is viable. I have a strong (negative) opinion about requiring a Dominator to be (even more) 'active' to maintain perma-dom. As it is, many builds require using powers with the Force Feedback +Recharge %proc (occasionally in powers that don't require targets) and/or balancing Domination/Hasten clicks.

You can pick (almost?) all of the Praetorian Clockwork pieces in the costume builder, so unless there is some specific power combination that can't be represented in the existing AT I would deprioritize this one.

Heh, we've been over this ground many times in the VEAT sub-forum. My perspective is one of taking both Confuse powers available to Fortunata. My first response, from that thread: Obviously if you are only taking one Confuse and want the Superior set bonuses, Coercive Persuasion is fine (but not optimal for %drops, IMO).

If players can rationalize using Patron powers on their blueside characters, I don't think we need anything more than a paper-thin excuse for PEATs... if that. Without burning too many brain cells on a rationalization: It could be possible that as part of the Cole/Hamidon 'pact' one or both side was working on a method of 'infiltrating' the other, which resulted in hybrids with a semblance of free will. We already have seen that Primal Pyriss was given some amount of free will.

This is one of the reasons why I prefer the Hamidon/Hybrid approach: The Praetorian Lore is such a mess after level 20, I would be perfectly happy to lean into quasi-reformed ATs having escaped to Primal Earth, or just running around the Wards, even if that would be somewhat odd form a story perspective. The other reason I prefer the Hamidon/Hybrid approach to PEATs (besides the pun) is that I feel like there are enough different powers/animations already in the game that we can apply 'eco-friendly recycling' to make somewhat unique ATs. (Controls, Pet Summons, Attacks, Buffs... and BEES!) I like the other ideas in this thread. However I feel like those might just be niche power sets: cool to play, but not radically different than what can be made in the current game.

I reconfigured the Fire/Psi/Psi build above. While I still like the way it plays (for a Dominator) I can't quite get the performance of a fully tricked-out Fortunata in similar content. For comparison, I ran the Heather Townshend (first) Dark Astoria arc at 0x8, and it took this build 40 minutes to clear every map. My typical time for the same content with my Fortunata is 30 minutes. The basic changes are: Franken-slot Psychic Scream to hit many more targets with mostly procs. I still have the Rangnarok %Knockdown there, but I'm thinking with the heavy controls, perhaps it should be the Annihilation %-Res. Reconfigure sets for Cinders & Flashfire (because of a lost set of Ragnarok bonuses) Reconfigure sets for Psionic Lance and Mental Blast (an extra slot in Mental Blast came from Health) Dropped -Res from Hot Feet, moved the slot to Cinders for %Damage. Replaced World of Confusion with Tactics I don't put my Incarnates in my Mids builds, but there are a few differences (different everything) but I don't think that's contributing too much. I'll be running that arc some more with the character to build up a different Incarnates for comparison, but I don't expect a radical change. The Build: The Code: Future plans?

Praetorian EAT should by Hamidon (or Hybrid) EAT... HEAT. Or Preatorian EAT, PEAT. Give the characters the chance to hybridize one of several different ways, based on Devouring Earth paths.

Don't bother with it in World of Confusion, unless you are seeking multi-piece set bonuses. The WoC confuse is also pretty short, the short duration from the proc won't improve it. I know that other folks will emphasize the possibility of extra Magnitude, but the duration is sooo short that all you get is a very small window of time when you are not attacked. Mobs that get that confusion (from the proc, or from WoC) barely have any time to cast an attack of their own. As I wrote above, the best use I have found for it is in single-target confuse powers. At higher levels (when you are likely facing large groups of enemies) or targets that you might otherwise miss with an attack, the small amount of Contagious Confusion is a nice bonus for when you decide to cast that single-target attack.

Number of Brutes: 3 Number of Brutes above level 20: 0

I'm a big fan of Fear, but one thing that disfavors them in my builds is their lack of a PVP or Superior (Purple) IO set. I personally feel that simply porting the Coercive Persuasion set for Confuse to serve as a Fear set, including a "Contagious Fear" proc, would be a great addition to the game. Single-target Fear powers could use such a piece to maintain utility at higher levels, and slotting such a piece in AoEs would help controllers with Magnitude.

I'm currently playing a Mind-primary Controller (leveling up with no XP boosting), with these powers taken, along with a short comment for each: T2 Levitate: I'm still not used to the delayed application of damage. Thematically it is ok, but in game turns I am nonplussed that I often 'waste' a power cast on an mob that will be KOed anyway. T3 Dominate: I have no issues, but I have this loaded with %damage procs. If procs change, I worry that a character like this will proceed even slower through content. T4 Confuse: See note (*1) below T5 Mass Hypnosis: While leveling up, I have the %Energy Font ATO proc in this power; I find that the Energy Font takes some aggro, albeit for a short time. I'm not sure if this is staying in the final build or not. I'm leaning towards keeping it, but I honestly don't cast it that often. T7 Total Domination: This is IMO the money-piece of the set. I can understand why the recharge is what it is: while shorter recharge time (see note *2 below) would be appreciated, but my real issue is that it is a zero-damage hold. since Dominate is ranged damage, Total Domination should also do Targeted AoE damage, and accept IOs to increase damage. T9 Mass Confusion: I have no real issues with this power, except to see note (*2) I don't know that both of the following two suggestions should be implemented, but I feel like one of them ought to be seriously considered. (*1) Generally, I think that increasing the Magnitude of all of the controls (even to 3.5) would help Mind Control at all levels. Every one of the controls requires a to-hit check, and even in the Jack E model of a hero facing a small number of enemies-plus-a-boss, it would be nice if the controls would actually work on Bosses without having to 'risk' a second application to get the necessary magnitude to apply a status to a boss. Mind Control doesn't have much else going on in terms of defeating enemies (limited damage, no debuffs), so I don't feel that giving them MOAR POWER against bosses is radically different than giving DPS Archetypes MOAR DAMAGE! (*2) I honestly don't remember the days of Live which changed the recharge times on controls (I was struggling with tanks, and my Controllers never got to the level cap), but I feel that the Mass AoE controls are analogous to the Aim/Build Up and (T9) Nuke powers of Blasters. The AoE controls should have lowered recharge times so that the Controller actually feels like it is living up to its role as an AT. I personally don't need the AoE controls all lowered to 90 seconds, but even lowering the 4 minute recharges to 3 minutes would improve things such that a Mind Controller could move between consecutive enemy groups (at 0x1) and stand a chance at having your 'money powers' available.

I definitely feel that one of the big problems with Repair is that it is a T7 power that can be simulated by using inspirations. This specific complaint is leveled against T9s in defensive sets. I'll grant that in the case of those T9s, many are accompanied by a crash (as opposed to using inspirations), but pet healing is so situational (IMO) that I can't imagine it being useful except in a limited number of similar (PANIC!) situations.

As I wrote in another thread: healing pets doesn't seem like a particularly winning strategy (*1), especially as a lvl 18 power. With the AI changes and an attentive Mastermind, pets are less likely to wander off to engage unexpected enemies. If the pets (or Mastermind, in bodyguard mode) are taking so much damage such that resummoning pets is not an option: 1) The Mastermind should probably change tactics for the mission difficulty. B) Healing is almost certainly not going to be able to keep up with the damage coming in. If it is a one-off case of a pet being damaged, just drag a green inspiration on the pet! My experience (with Robots) has been that there are only a small number of circumstances where I feel like a pet heal of anykind was necessary: In my case it was only when I had 2 T1 and a single T2 and I chose to go boss-hunting in Perez Park that I felt I needed to keep the pets healed. Large groups of enemies that con at even (or higher levels) where the MM has very little beyond the (minimally-upgraded/slotted) pets. This is the only time in the game where I felt that I didn't have control over the 'difficulty setting' in level-appropriate content and had a serious possibility of being overwhelmed by the size and level of enemy groups. (I suppose the Hollows could do the same, but I didn't go there with my MM.) (*1) From my past experience, the only combination of pets and healing that really synergizes is via the /Dark secondary. But the Heal (Dark Miasma) in the Dark set is the mandatory T1 choice, and it is a team PBAoE get all pets and allies at the cost of a to-hit roll. No matter how 'thematic' we can try to imagine redesigning the Robotics T7 as a heal, it shouldn't be inferior to a T1 power.

Repair Drones are cute, but they should not be a toggle but a Recharge Intensive pet. The Robots are already slot-starved if each of the three pets gets a KB->KD IO piece.

I appreciate the lean into the theme, but... when I was running Robots the only time I really wanted/needed a heal for the pets was at level 12 and below. By level 18, you have 3 T1 and 1 T2, and the T2 is applying a Force Shield to each of the T1. At level 18 and up, the need for a heal is severely diminished. I used the Medicine pool at the lower levels for street sweeping in Atlas Park with Robotics MM. If I can play perfectly happy without Repair (and by level 20 I respeced out of the Medicine pool) I'm pretty sure I'm not going to spend a pick on a Repair Drone. toggle. The Repair Drone idea would face less opposition from me if it were made a Recharge Instensive pet instead of a Toggle, so that it could hold IO pieces that otherwise have to get dropped into the Bots (which already want a KB->KD piece each).

IMO, there is not a MM secondary that is going to overcome the damage scaling inherent to the Mastermind by adding +Damage. There is an additional issue that you will encounter (as a MM) if you try to be very active with primary attacks: Endurance consumption. I don't think that Transference is really going to help here. I have found that I can get pretty good DPS from Robots by (1) Keeping enemies in AoE patches and (2) -Resistance debuffs. My only experience with Bots is with Robots/Traps/Mace. My preferred build does include Primary & Mace attacks that include AoE with Knockdown; while the robots are also slotted for knockdown. Traps is also full of pseudopets for AoE control/debuffs. I can play very actively (at higher levels, the point at which my build has taken the attacks) but the Mastermind himself is doing very little damage; it's all about control (via knockdown) and -resistance debuffs.

I'm leveling up a Mind/- Controller through regular play, and while I know that Confuse will be much improved when I can slot Coercive Confusion at level 50, I'm having some serious issues in solo play with Elite Bosses. I was hoping that Confuse could bridge the 'control' gap by keeping their aggro off me while I try to stack other controls/debuffs/damage, but this strategy has been seriously unreliable so far (even with Mass Confusion as a backup application). I'm reluctant to as for an emergency 'buff' to the single-target Confuse (a T4 power), but I am non-plussed that the (from the Mind Control primary) control effect of Sleep is available to be 'doubled up' at (T1/T8; level 8), Hold is at (T3, T7; level 18) but that to get a 'fast (high Magnitude) application' of Confuse it has to be (T4/T9; level 32). Legit question, no snark intended: Would it be game altering to increase the magnitude of the single-target Confuse? I suppose it would allow AVs to be confused quicker...

In general: my lvl 49 power choice is going to be one where I can slot an IO piece with a Global effect that I can't slot anywhere else (or otherwise free up a slot choice). For certain ATs, this is often a power to slot Resistance IO Global pieces. For a Dominator chasing Global recharge, a power that accepts a Defense global recharge (Luck of the Gambler) is as close to being a no-brainer as possible (assuming you don't already have five of them). On a Dominator build I was just reviewing, the lvl 47 power took the Gladiator's Armor global and the the lvl 49 power has Luck of the Gambler, each with only a single slot.

I want to echo the above. My Crabs have no issues with endgame, with the understanding that I have to adjust my playstyle (*1) if I'm particularly concerned with the pet survivability. On a team, the other players are your pets and you should take care of them before worrying too much about the spiderlings. I'm a pretty sloppy player, so the health bars of the spiderlings are giving me a rough idea of how spread out any given combat is. More discipline players can almost certainly get greater (and steadier) DPS from the Crabbermind pets over the course of any given run of mission. (*1) To be honest: If I lose Spiderlings, I know that I'll be be resummoning them pretty quickly anyway so I don't see it as that big a deal to lose them... especially in x8 content.

Looking back at my build, I'm going to try out some of my own advice on possible changes. Like many of us, I will constantly tweak builds. This is a pricey build, so this tweak will probably be via respec... if it were slightly less pricey I'd probably just use a second build. As I playtest the tweaks, I'll be sure to start marketing (and content farming) again to start accumulating the pieces for a second build. My main issue with World of Confusion on this build is that the relatively short duration of the confuse it provides (even with %Contagious Confusion) doesn't mix well with things like Hot Feet, let alone the rest of the AoE immobilizes & holds. I do believe that it is buying the character a small amount of 'non-offense' from some (very) nearby enemies, but this is really hard to appreciate... usually the confused enemies are running away and not attacking. I forget who it was, but another player suggested that the power be renamed 'Closet of Confusion'. I don't know how much advantage I'll get, but among the tweaks I'm going to try is replacing WoC with Tactics, using the Gaussian's %Build Up and 5xAdjusted Targeting. The Fire Imps aren't usually that close to me to reliably improve the %Build Up chances, but I figure it is worth a try, considering I use the Snipe (Psionic Lance) as part of the attack chain (also due for a reconfiguration as part of the respec). The one area of the build I posted that I'm uncertain about is: Where (if anywhere) should I have -Resistance? On the build I posted I have it in Hot Feet, but I am unconvinced that -Resistance in a toggle is doing much (except possible contributing to enemies running). The build has a lot of potential areas, but in order to keep set bonuses necessary to maintain perma-Dom, it is likely that I can only squeeze in one source of -Resistance.

On my build, the Recharge bonus would have been the sixth instance of 10% enhancement and therefore wasted. On that same build I have Ascendancy of the Dominator as non-Superior (slotted in another power) for the same reason. I'm not thrilled with any of the individual slotting/set choices I made, but I hit the Recharge target I wanted. This is a concept-driven character: I'm trying to get as much out of the concept as possible rather than re-imagine the character. I have a personal bias against slotting the Force Feedback +Recharge piece everywhere; I feel like including it even once was a big concession on my part, YMMV. (Edit: I may have slightly different slotting in Psychic Shockwave to add the %damage proc) The build: For the record: World of Confusion is a horrible power. It was originally part of the concept, but if I had a different IO set option I'd replace it with Psionic Tornado or Tactics. As of now, I use it simply as a sort of toggle Defense in some content, as the rest of the build has plenty going on with the clicky powers. I have no complaints about how this build plays, but I see areas where it should be possible to get even more offense at the cost of some set bonuses (recharge). For example, Psychic Scream is a good cone for franken-slotting; e.g. 2xHO Centriole (Dam/Range) + procs Drain Psyche is a good PBAoE for some franken-slotting (It can be especially useful in mid-range game content) The data:

Frankly, most Masterminds struggle with end-game content (with level-shifted enemies) as well. If you are still leveling up, you probably have a couple of things working against you: You may not have the slots in the pets to improve their performance (and survivability, and recharge time) You may not have the global recharge (from set bonuses) to keep the pets 'perma'. Note that these pets have an odd definitions of permanent because a recast only replaces fallen ones so if you just replace 1 fallen spiderling the replacements will expire with any surviving spiderlings from the original casting. You may not be providing enough 'team' boosts (especially Defense) for the pets themselves, depending on power choices and slots. @Omega-202 has many posts on Crabberminds in this sub-forum; I'd consult some of his posted advice for end-game play. Crabberminds are very different than Masterminds. The primary difference is (IMO) that the Soldier VEAT has got effective (damage scale) attacks, particularly AoE which can incorporate a lot of secondary effects which can improve the performance of the spider-pets, including: The Dominion of Arachnos %terrorize ATO Knockdown -Resistance None of the things I describe is every going to make the Spiderlings into an 'I win' power, but it is possible to get them to contribute a significant amount of DPS.