tidge

The triple-rare recipe drops always surprise me... especially because they tend to be pieces that are not in great demand (or have less perceived utility from me). I want to say that some of the "newer" sets' recipes have some like this.

A-yup. The advice I'm going to offer isn't likely to go over well (and isn't radically different than what was described in the OP), but if someone is looking specifically for Gift of the Ancients and can't find them on the market: Explain why (converters, fungibility) they aren't available. Explain how to buy other level 15 things to play converter roulette with to try to land on Gift of the Ancients. Offer tips about certain things that they might land on while playing converter roulette that they can sell for beaucoup Inf. I can't guarantee that the player in question will enjoy, or even understand, why they have to go through this effort for "scrub" pieces, but they will be on the path to learning more about the AH which can only help them when they go looking for other pieces.

I see a lot of recommendation for Bonfire, but I want to offer a counter-proposal. I have one MM that uses Heat Mastery (Thugs/) and another (Robots/) that does not. My experience with Bonfire on my Mastermid is that it is not nearly as effective as it is on my Dominator (even leveraging a lot of the same tricks). I would encourage you to do some testing replacing Bonfire with Photon Grenade (from the MM Robotics primary), and slotting with 5xAnnihilation (include the %Res debuff) and the Overwhelming Force KB->KD piece. I am well aware of the theory of operation to try to keep enemies grouped for the Robots' AoE... I'm just offering an alternative to laying down a fixed patch/pseudopet and offering a straightforward attack. The primary attack should have better %proc chances (than the pseudopet) and it will let you shift attention around the battlefield faster. I take the attack late in my build (level 30) I use the Photon Grenade attack to draw more enemies to the fight and/or debuff/control them. It's not meant to be dealing that much damage on its own; I like the Endurance bonuses from 5xAnnihilation, but you could always go the %damage route in it if you feel like you want to deal more damage yourself. Keep the -Res and KB->KD, and %Fire, %Energy, %Lethal and then go for a 2-piece set bonus from one of the proc sets... presumably boosting Accuracy (if necessary) and Endurance cost (important for MMs).

My experience with MMs, non-tanks with Provoke, and Tankers is that Provoke isn't that useful or necessary for most 0x8 content, with some caveats. I tend to think of Tankerminds as an end-game/late-game concept; in my experience a MM really only needs to build/play for Tankermind-ing if the spawn sizes are going to be very large. Small spawn sizes should offer very little difference in final results between Defensive and Aggressive henchmen status (except that defensive will be slower to defeat enemies). I like Taunt and Provoke, and I like Provoke a LOT more than I like Confront. Having written that, the ToHit check and small target cap of Provoke feel (to me, YMMV) that it is working against the interests of a Tankermind in a majority of circumstances. Even with a (small) number of enemies focused on the MM, a lot of the problems for a Tankermind (and henchmen) are going to come from enemies with AoE attacks. Much of what I want to write will be subject to the specifics of the Primary/Secondary, but an MM who can cycle some sort of AoE attack, preferably with a debuff, DoT, and/or soft-control (a la Knockdown), should be able to draw/keep aggro. Patches and Pseudopets help as well. These sorts of powers offer (generally) more utility (via set bonuses) than the Enhancement sets for Taunt powers. Personally, I don't even try to take MM primary attacks until around level 30. Everyone should be aware of how relatively ineffective the MM attacks are in terms of DPA and Endurance cost, and trying to improve them "too soon" in a build is IMO wasting slots that should go elsewhere. Blah blah %damage from procs blah blah fishcakes. The attacks are best used to debuff enemies and draw threat.

I believe Cytoskeletons are expensive because the folks that want them think like I do: On certain builds, I find that I don't want to invest many slots in a toggle (usually) or click (sometimes) power that could benefit from Endurance reduction and the other boost (or both!), and so a Cyto HO (or two) is a better use of the limited number of slots. If I'm investing in HOs, I want MOAR boosts (up to level 53) and so I need more of them to combine them up to this point. We can argue the merits of certain slots for specific powers, but as an example of a commonly-suggested power that uses Cytoskeletons and also doesn't really need many slots is Tactics. I think there is a similar sort of thinking that keeps Microfilament HO costs high: folks want multiple enhancement boosts (presumably in a toggle like Sprint) but don't want to invest (m)any slots in the power. There are a handful of other useful (IMO) HO but the prices don't rise on them for (what I think to be) the following reasons: There is group-think that other non-HO pieces are better choices for certain powers. The powers that can best (IMO) leverage (some) HOs are considered scrub powers anyway, so "why invest HOs in them?" Writing only for myself: one of the most difficult mental hurdles for me to overcome (in making slotting choices) was to recognize that there are some powers that simply aren't a good use of slots, even for trying to hold set bonuses... and as a parallel thought that sometimes the sacrifice of a slot isn't to move the slot to a different power but to dedicate it to a different Global or %proc. This has led me to invest in HO in places that I don't usually see in posted builds.

As others have written, the boosters aren't really that expensive unless you are doing something like maintaining an alternate build with 50+ boosts (because most content prefers attuned enhancements)... and even then if you play packs or grind merits you should be able to slowly build up your supply. The diminishing returns of enhancement diversification will make many of the boosts marginal anyway, and it is far more likely that only a small number of enhancement pieces in specific will not be subject to ED, no matter the build, if you are min-maxxing by most measures. I always boost common level 50 IOs, because I so rarely use them. Typical uses are: a level 50+5 Endurance Modification (dark blue) in Stamina, if I invest a second slot after Performance Shifter (or have that piece elsewhere, depending on the AT/power choices) two level 50+4 Recharge in Hasten (If I'm feeling rich and bored, I might boost these to +5 but the difference is negligible) A single level 50+5 Recharge behind an Aim/Build Up power when I am only investing 2 slots (with the first going to the Gaussian's %Build Up proc) Level 50+5 Defense pieces (typically 1, never more than 2 on very specific builds) in certain powers... usually Defense powers are mule-ing a LotG +Global Recharge, and I like to eek out a little more Defense than just going for a 2-piece LotG set bonus. This is the sort of thing that is very dependent on the build, and works best for auto powers or spawned pets (FFG) as toggles typically benefit most from a Defense/Endurance combination. Another subtle use: a level 50+5 Damage piece in low-level attacks that have a Hold component <-This is subtle and depends on the power's base damage, but since attacks with holds can take a lot of %damage procs, I have a small number of builds. This is another subtle choice, as the %damage procs that work at low levels often come from sets that also have a straight damage piece that can be boosted and still work at almost all levels, keep reading... PVP sets and Purple (very rare) sets can also be boosted with no affect on exemplared content. My general practices (accepting the diminishing returns) are to: Boost the heck out of Resistance and Defense pieces; e.g. Shield Wall, Gladiator's Armor. Boosting these gets you closer to the point of diminishing returns faster, and can end up saving your build precious slots. I rather like the 2-and-3-piece set bonuses for these as well, so boosting pieces to back up the excellent Globals is a no-brainer. I should note that ONLY the global pieces are unique, so there is nothing from slotting multiple groups of (for example) boosted Resistance and Resistance/Endurance if you feel like it. I want to note that the Shield Wall set includes a Defense/Recharge piece that will contribute to improved recharge times for Mind Link/Link Minds (as opposed to a HO). Boost the non-recharge pieces in attacks which rely on %damage from procs. The recharge can hurt %proc chances, so you have to do the math to check just how bad this is affecting your DPA. some powers have such long recharge times that it barely matters. Some powers have such low %proc chances that you may give up a little bit of %proc chance to improve something like Endurance per activation (for example) because PVP sets typically have something like Damage (or Accuracy)/Endurance/Recharge pieces. Rando comment not specific to Boosters: I don't do deep scrubs of posted builds, but every once-in-a-while I see a build that uses (attuned) pieces in powers taken at low levels that will "cut out" (that is, the set chosen doesn't provide enhancement below a certain level). This can have a serious affect on a character's effectiveness in exemplared content, especially if difficulty is turned up in lower-level missions. The auto-attuned pieces (ATO, Overwhelming Force, Winter), common IOs, PVP and Very Rare sets are essentially "immune" to this effect, so you should keep this in mind when choosing to boost. I always give a pass on low-level choices of Aim/BuildUp that multi-slot (attuned) Gaussian's, because that set is a particularly tasty one to multi-slot and if the choice is to multi-slot it there is very rarely a "better" power to invest for all those pieces. Advanced Problem set: Once you get comfortable with the use of boosted pieces, and the relative trade-offs (including set bonuses) you will likely find yourself considering Hamidon-origin (HO) enhancements to enhance multiple elements of a power using a small number of slots. Unfortunately HO cannot be boosted except by combining them with similar types (including synthetics and titan pieces) and can only be boosted up to level 53. There are a small number of corner cases (IMO) where an HO (or two) is a better choice than one (or two) IO or a piece from a set. YMMV.

I will echo @Ukase, with a little bit of personal flavor: At level 50+, the Heather Townshend (Dark Astoria 1) arc is a straightforward means to accumulate random Incarnate reward drops (~10 minutes at speed) and can have the spawn size turned up to x8 (but not difficulty) to also improve chances of purple recipe drops (~30 minutes to clear each map, depending on the AT and build). As I have written elsewhere, Hamidon raids really aren't my cuppa... but I won't deny that a triple run for 120 merits and an HO drop offer a lot of value for time (once the raid actually starts). I appreciate the raid leaders who run these. I do wish that we'd mix up the approaches for variety, because these have become (IMO) dull repetitive events. Masochist perhaps, but cleaning up a triple-bloom seems a challenge worth under-taking. But I digress... I am quite fond of running the first Signature Story Arc (Who Will Die) as a speed. Characters with DPS can do this in under 7 minutes (plus a cut scene), non-DPS characters can do it in 10 minutes (either red or blue). Run weekly for 20 merits, otherwise 5 merits each run. The first time you run it is independent of the weekly counter, so you can run it back-to-back the first time for 40 merits. The maps and villain placement in this arc are friendly for speed runs.

I agree with all the folks not expecting a large influx of WoW players. There is a lot to love in CoX, and the HC crew are being good stewards, but folks that weren't attracted to CoX (or never came to it) aren't going to suddenly want to join en masse, especially given more modern alternate choices.

Simple, but not exactly easy: Look at the default bonuses for a given (level 50) Hamidon enhancement. the ED penalty for that "schedule" type kicks in at 2x the value of an HO. My own "rules of thumb" for when I want MOAR of a single type of boost (e.g. recharge) are: Single slots: use an IO and Boost to 50+5 If using two slots (and a set bonus is not "worth it"), use 2xIO boosted to 50+5, as this will almost be "close enough" to 3x unboosted IO. Once I have invested more than 2 slots in a power, I am almost certainly trying to leverage either a specific Global effect from an enhancement, a %proc, or I am chasing a set bonus, so I'm not that worried about Enhancement Diversification... except of course to not to "waste" slots that could be better used in another power.

The VEAT inherent really feels like it it isn't doing much for the Blue Bar, but I had to run REALLY hot after level 25 to notice(*1). That is: there was only a relatively narrow range where I was really feeling the Blue Bar. It feels to me like the inherent Health/Stamina that everybody gets takes a little something away from the VEAT inherent. My random thoughts: P2W attacks cost Endurance, so filling an attack chain with them at low levels will drain the batteries. I don't use Hasten in my Fortunata. If you don't have it perma, a character with it will burn more Endurance from more attacks and suffer the Endurance drop when it expires. Once perma, you can avoid the drop, but you will still be making attacks at a boosted rate (unless you pace your attacks). I tend to reach for set bonuses (and accolades) that include +MaxEnd, Endurance Discounts as well as +Recovery. With the VEAT inherent and inherent Stamina, I feel that increasing Endurance and getting Global Discounts to Endurance costs offer a better return for the investment. (*1) I have seen that running certain content at x8 definitely can burn down the Endurance bar, even for a full-kit build. The circumstances where I see this most frequently is on solo (exemplared) Mayhem missions.

You absolutely ought to be able to handle almost all content with a pair of well-built VEAT. I do suggest that you consider multiple builds for both VEAT, not just because they are fun, but for some content (I am thinking GMs, AVs) you may want slightly tweaked power choices and slotting as opposed to "murder as many as quickly as possible". For 90%+ of the content, you don't even need the characters to be 'well-invested', especially if you stick with the default difficulty settings. The 50-only incarnate TFs will probably not be able to be finished with a duo. Let us know how you like it!

Let me know how that works on Warwolves.

Just repeating what I wrote above: If you are committed to being a MM with Henchmen, the targeted AoE attacks are probably best suited for %debuff (e.g. Annihilation) or some sort of control (e.g. Knockdown, Ragnarok is probably the default option if the Overwhelming Force piece is already given to a henchmen). This should speed up defeat times and help keep the henchmen alive longer.

Every once in a while the issue of "multiple choice in the secondary" comes up... search fu should include "skipping T1". There are a few standard replies: TPTB won't let this happen, because some Stalkers will skip Hide. This is the 'classic' argument from Live, YMMV on if you think this is a serious issue or not. The Code makes this a nightmare. IIRC, the Homecoming Dev Team (and others with the code) have looked at this and it is somewhere on the spectrum of 'not being worth the effort' and 'this could break a LOT of things'. My personal opinion is this: If they were so inclined, the homecoming Dev team should consider a hard look at all of the primary powers in the secondary. I think there is the possibility of data-mining, to look at (for level 50 builds) For "identical" primary and secondary sets, how often is the T1 skipped in the primary? For "non-identical" primary and secondary sets, how often is the T1 only single-slotted? The first point should approximate relative (perceived) utility between the first two power choices (in the same set); the second is a crude estimate of utility of a power. The second is pretty crude, because some secondary T1 don't need additional slots to do their thing (e.g. Stalker's Hide, or some other Defense & Resist powers) but for attacks this should be a relatively good measure. This sort of first pass should be able to identify the specific secondaries where the player base has made some sort of assessment of the relative utility of powers, and perhaps plan updates. Frankly: there are certain classes of powers that should make it somewhat obvious (to veteran players) that certain T1 powers are of extremely limited use in the game. For my Inf, I find single target immobilizes to be the powers that are among the least useful (see my above comment about the Traps secondary). I really wish that the Traps secondary swapped the T1 and the T2.

Thugs / Thermal /Heat -> Mag-Ma Barker

I agree, Redside DFB are quite rare, and I understand the desire to get the boosters for lower-level play, but... Redside has (IMO) significantly better low-level arcs (ehem, skip Dr. Graves' tutorial) than Blueside and they can be very rewarding for solo players and small teams... plus you earn merits quicker. The one suggestion I would make is to pickup P2W travel powers to make maneuvering around Mercy easier. BTW, my avatar is also Willem Dafoe. Judge me.

Can we look at the Mastermind /Traps Web Grenade next? (Or has this already been given the Entangling Arrow treatment?)

I'm going to keep beating this drum: I want Purple (Very Rare) and/or PVP sets for Fear and Taunt powers. I realize that there could be some balance issues in PVP but here is my thinking: There are enough different versions of Fear and Taunt powers (and at low enough levels) that could stand to have sets which scale across all content. There are enough single-target versions of Fear and Taunt powers that could use some improvement. Both Fear and Taunt have pretty slim pickings when it comes to slotting choices. (I like Mocking Beratement, but puh-lease) (perception bias?) I see quite a few builds that treat Taunt (and single-target Fear) as 1-slot-only powers. I don't know that more set choices would change this, but it can't hurt. I think Fear is the easier of the two to address. As I wrote above, I simply want a Fear set based on the Coercive Persuasion (Confuse) set, with a %Contagious Fear PPM piece. That piece (and set) makes slotting single-target Confuse powers much more viable (at least for level 50 characters); I want to see the same thing available for Fear powers. The Taunts can be trickier, since those pieces can be slotted in more powers. I don't think another %damage proc is really necessary but that would be the most straightforward. It certainly wouldn't be the end of the world if there was a unique %damage piece that could be slotted in Taunts. Ideally, I'd like to see: A set that include more Accuracy pieces. I am aware that several powers are "auto hit", but not all Taunts are. It wouldn't bother me in the slightest if Tankers could slot (more) accuracy in their attacks... especially if the accuracy scales to lower levels. First choice for non-%damage option... something maybe that generates more Threat? I'm sure (some) Brutes would appreciate this. Second choice for a non-%damage option... maybe a %Contagious Taunt piece to similarly improve those single-target (or few-target Provoke) Taunt powers?

The only one of the "damage taken" badges that occupies any mental real estate for me is the 1M "Iron Man", and that is because of the disparity in effort between Born in Battle (redside) versus Portal Jockey (blueside). Between softcap Defenses and relatively low HP for many ATs, it is much more practical to run the AV missions in Peregrine Island than it is to collect one million points of damage.

Can you provide more specificity about which primary and (more importantly to me) when in the build you are trying to take the attacks? Based on the text above, this doesn't sound like a no-henchmen Mastermind. I have a couple of different MMs, and I don't bother taking primary attacks until late in the builds. I concentrate on the AoE attacks to generate/maintain "threat". My Robots/Traps MM can run his blue bar down... but it actually requires significant effort. I think that particular toon has each of his attacks 6-slotted; the attacks include Endurance reduction and/or give set bonuses relating to Endurance management (+MaxEnd, Endurance Discounts, +Recovery). Adding +MaxEnd from accolades will help. The MM attacks are also pretty low on the damage scale, so it isn't as if spamming the attacks is helping that much... unless you are using the attacks to debuff or apply (soft) control. I suppose putting the %damage procs helps MMs "more" than other ATs, but I'm not sure this is really what you are looking for.

Time for the PSA, there is a difference between "pets" and "henchmen": Masterminds summon "henchmen" using their primary which can be given orders (including absorb damage given to the MM) and stick around until defeated, everything else is a "pet" (or a "pseudopet").

I propose that fun be measured by the consumption of Awaken/Bounce Back/Restoration.

I hope it wasn't my snark that contributed to the pressure. I admit that I sometimes feel the temptation to begin a reply with some sort of epistemological argument, but my experience has been that this never goes well if epistemology is invoked but the content of the reply is an argument that could have been made without such an opening appeal. My snark was entirely directed at the opening "words need to be defined per their specific meaning" followed by what was certainly a gross misuse of a word that represents a specific number.

Fear has got it far worse than single-target ranged attacks. A %Contagious Fear piece would be nice, as it would bring some extra utility to the single-target Fear powers.