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If you are tight on powers, I'm curious how many of the other (non-Maintenance Drone) primary/secondary powers you are taking, and how deep you are getting into pool powers. My own experience with leveling Masterminds (prior to page 5 revamp) was that because the attacks were so bad, that combined with the levels that late-tier powers were available, it was always an easy choice to go deep into pools. As the number of henchmen grows the MM pool powers become less crucial, and at 50 when Superior Enhancement slotting is possible, things become a game changer. Because of the Endurance tax and crummy damage scales, I don't recommend taking personal attacks except as a debuff/aggro mechanism (especially true for Robotics). A no-pet or single-pet build is a different game of course. I like Seeker Drones, but I don't have them in my build because they just weren't doing enough across most content for my play style. I also skip Trip Mine and Detonator; I find that the first just slows me down and the second is counter-productive. Poison Trap doesn't need much slotting to do what it does best. As noted above Triage Beacon has even fewer corner cases of utility (I do find it to be a cool power). The revamp in T2 choices means that it is possible to skip Web Grenade (for Caltrops). Of those two powers, I sacrificed Web Grenade because its use was almost entirely limited to trying to keep AVs and certain GMs from fleeing. (My build includes Group Fly, because Robots with Rocket Boots, so I'm less concerned with escaping fliers) In contrast Caltrops is a non-targeted AoE damage/slow that also happens to distract enemies in the area, both good effects for aiding survival. This is a power that could be squeezed in as a later power choice, or replaced with something like a Patrol pool immobilize.

I can see what you are going for with Howling Twilight and Tar Patch, but I would recommend trying to have those powers up as quickly as possible and not go all-in on Absolute Amazement. I think Tar Patch would be better served with two 50+5 Recharge IOs, leaving Howling Twilight with 5 slots: Ragnarok Acc/Recharge Ragnarok Dam/End Absolute Amazement Stun/Recharge Absolute Amazement Acc/Stun/Recharge Annihilation %-Res I think you could go ahead and boost all the purples to 50+5, but if you are concerned about the %proc then only boost the Damage/End piece (I apologize in advance for not doing the math). I don't think you need the Kismet piece, and I'd try to work in a six-piece Reactive Defenses set bonus. I feel like the henchmen have be shortchanged on slots.

This is really not true for Robotics, especially in the recent Homecoming changes. What does the build look like? (text please, if possible) So I can better understand what you are going for.

I am well aware that Hasten can lead to having three Acid Mortars simultaneously, but honestly I consider it to be a bad power pick for Robotics/Traps (particularly) and for MMs in general. MMs have a high Endurance cost for using their powers, so using them more frequently isn't exactly a good thing, even considering the eventual Endurance cost of Hasten. The move of the -Regen into the MM attacks does mean that for some fights the MM will need to use its attacks, so those attacks should have Accuracy and Endurance slotting.

Here is my level 50 build (sorry no MIDS) with three sets of henchmen. I have a "One Big Robot" build as well. While leveling, I had different power choices and slottings (mostly to control Endurance costs).

Strictly limiting discussion to Maintenance Drone: I like this change. I have it on Robotics/Traps. While leveling up, prior to the Assault Bot, I was using the Medicine pool to keep the small number of Henchmen healed. Once I had enough Henchmen, I found it to be unnecessary to worry about healing individual henchmen, and worrying about the T1 and T2 is ultimately just a waste of Endurance. I chose to respec into Triage Beacon, which is a non-moving device. I feel that in solo play, I was able to use a 6-slotted (with Preventive Maintenance) Triage Beacon about as well as could be expected (with large spawn sizes), but I won't kid myself that this power brought much to the table except for some rather corner cases (I'm thinking mainly about turned-up Positron TFs, or certain GM/AV fights). Maintenance Drone has replaced Triage Beacon in my build, with same slotting: I fire it once in a new map instance, and then I pretty much can forget about it, It follows me around the map, It fires its heals more reliably than the Protector Bots use theirs (perhaps this is the perceived 'nerf' to the Protector Bots?) IMO: Any opportunity to slot Health Enhancement sets is a good one for MMs. 2 and 3 piece sets bonuses from some already good sets get Regenration and/or Recovery bonuses. Now, about the entirety of the Robotics changes... I haven't radically changed my Robotics/Traps play style with the latest changes to Robotics, I attribute this to the way I was playing before: I was always using MM attacks (two from Primary, one from Patron) to debuff, aggro, and soft-control enemies via Knockdown. The recent changes simply inspired me to change the order of power picks (to not delay the picks of MM attacks as previously). The changes to the primary meant that I got a lot more freedom in slotting enhancements such that I see improvement in performance of the Henchmen independent of the way the individual power were changed: With Knockback (mostly) removed from Henchmen attacks, one slot previously used for Knockback->Knockdown became available! Protector Bots get a dedicated Defense 50+5 IO, which improves survival rates Equip Robot gets enhancement sets which also boost resistance

This isn't an attempt to yuck in anyone's yum, but imagine how much variety could be experienced when players take their characters past level 22. There is no obligation to take primary/secondary powers when first offered. My typical experiences have been: Before level 20, I usually have up to four slots available for use outside of the primary and secondary. This allows choices of "third picks" from all power pools, which can offer a lot of insight into what the power pools can bring to different styles of play Before level 20, no build needs the Fighting pool for Tough/Weave, nor is Hasten needed. Feel free to experiment. By level 25, it will probably be possible to respec a build to alter the order of power choices, and drop pool powers that are no longer needed. One personal example that comes to mind is the Medicine pool. I grok why at low levels it feels like a game changer, but once players have multiple rows and columns for Inspirations, and remember that they can combine inspirations, this pool isn't nearly as much of a "game changer."

And I present: Goldside!

How is Tidal Forces working for you? I am using the Build Up from the Secondary (in my case Ionize from Atomic Manipulation) instead. I felt like I wanted MOAR damage, did not need MOAR ToHit, and the secondary effects Tidal Power itself wasn't something I found myself relying on. I'm looking for other experiences, as I can imagine trying to time attack chains with (Fast) Water Jet, but for me it would have to be part of an idiot-tolerant attack chain to leverage.

We are discussing Cones, not ST. For strictly Damage sets, 2 pieces of Bombardment offer a range boost. Positron's Blast includes a Range piece, as does Artillery. There are D-Syncs for Accuracy/Range, and Hami-O's for Damage/Range. Cones with other effects offer even more options.

Imma just chime in to say I don't for a split second comprehend how slotting a ranged (cone) attack for Range could "cheaty" when the preferred alternative is to slot the power for Enhancement set bonuses, which BTW one of the ranged AoE sets offers a global 5% range boost for using 2 pieces from the set, and other slottable enhancement sets also include pieces that boost Range.

In Kings Row, related to the Paladin Construction event, there are invisible, untargetable "Targets" (Name found courtesy of monitoring missed Pet ToHit rolls) at [-1614.5 24.1 1760.0], [535.7 131.1 2757.1], [-2812.9 139.7 -457.1]. Is it possible to set a flag on these such that they don't generate henchmen aggro? Do they need to be set this way to control the behavior of the Clockwork construction spawns? These objects are out of the way, yet I find it funny to have all the henchmen going crazy to get this thing. It's not like the indestructable Rikti drones collapsed in Crey's Folly, because I can't see the Hits, only the misses.

I dunno, when my Dark/Time blaster is knocking down entire spawns when solo. On PUGs he's knocking down the next spawns as well.

The last time I tried to install MIDS, my mechanical HDD locked and fried. Coincidence is more likely than causation, but it definitely seemed like MIDS needed a whole lotta extra stuff installed as well, just to make it "work". I'm not taking anything away from the developers of the app, or those that evangelize for it, but it isn't something I find necessary for builds or experimenting with builds. City of Data v2.0 is much more useful to me.

Fast cycling ST attacks (e.g. the T1, T2) are usually not a a good place to invest a slot in any (from outside a set that was going to be slotted anyway) %proc; the rates are generally poor enough that it won't speed up defeats (of those single targets). There are a few different corners to explore however: Sometimes the ST 'attack' is something like a control or debuff that by itself does no/little damage, adding %damage can help non-DPS characters. Slows. Holds and raw Defense Debuffs are the ones I usually consider for %damage. Less so for immobilizes, fears. %-Resistance isn't as good as a reliable Resistance debuff, but in the case of an actual damaging attack for a low-damage scale AT: It is possible that the debuff will help reduce the defeat times against some bosses. (Resistance resists resistible resistance debuffs) The duration of %effects is rather short. Resistance debuffs generally help teammates more than the caster. %status effects are in my experience only shine in cases like the +2 mag Hold sometimes catching a boss on the first application, or %contagious confusion trigger a spawn to alpha strike itself. As others have written: The length of an application of the %effect will extend from multiple applications, but the effect will not stack with itself.

My 'solution' was to slot the shorter range cones for Range, evening up the range of attacks. This worked fine, up until the Fast Snipe changes. Now my cone attacks have longer range than my Fast Snipes. Full disclosure: I originally delayed the choice of Tentacles until late in the build, this helped keep me from being bothered by the different ranges as much.

I'm effectively doing a "try as much content without out-leveling" blue-side run right now. It is a lot more fun then I expected. Some of what I've done: I'm using P2W, especially for travel/reveal powers, but also for temporary attacks and amplifier buffs (arguably not needed, but they are cheap at low levels). If you are a controller, you should grab the (AoE) attacks. I purposely skipped The Hollows, mostly because I've done it enough that I am bored, but also to have an Ouroboros flashback to use once I burned all the other contacts and still need to level. At level 10, I slotted a few important enhancements, but I didn't really slot sets until level 22. I have done one respec to shift some mule powers I initially took early until later, once I had a few more slots.

I am constantly tweaking builds as I play them, at least until they hibernate. I play them up to 50+, with a couple of respecs along the way. This is the path that helps me decide if a power gels with my playstyle or not. While leveling, I am usually relying on globals and slotting specifically to keep Endurance under control. At 50, I can have set bonuses such that I can remove "training wheels". At 50, I do a LOT of tweaking without resorting to respecs: Unslotters can remove pieces, this lets me see how the power behaves without certain pieces, or with different enhancement sets. I'm often on the lookout for powers I don't use (they often get dropped) or toggles I don't activate (they get delayed in a build) (1) has helped me decide between certain %procs, and example that comes to mind was a Robotics/Traps MM that was considering a variety of different Hold %pieces in Poison Trap as a 3rd %something, I settled on the %Absorb from the Entomb set after a lot of experimentation. I often try this sort of experimentation with %-res pieces. (2) is complicated. It often turns out that a power like Hasten ends up not making any difference in defeat times of "clear all", it's become a power I never add by default and only consider it if I can't otherwise get global recharge where I want it to be. Paying attention to such powers has helped me make choices about how many slots to dedicate to them, and if a power is something like an early primary power, it might just make better use as a mule and not ever be toggled on (even if forced to be taken early). At level 19, aside from a Panacea, and the later-slotted Performance shifter, I'm just slotting whatever drops (including from recipes).

OH may bad... that was an Axe build, not a War Mace build. I do have an WM/Inv Scrapper, but I didn't like how it it played and I didn't feel like rolling it into a Tanker. I guess the Battle Axe played more like I expected the Mace to play!

Does it have to be a Dominator? The reason I ask: Dominators don't necessarily become "invincible" at the end of the journey (don't @ me), but there is a huge shift when they reach perma-Domination that more-or-less will always be something to build towards. You don't have to pursue permadom, but if you have it the Dominator will feel like a different character. I have a very active Mind/Poison Controller that I have a lot of fun playing at all levels, and was fun while leveling too. shown is the final build, but the power choices were roughly the same while leveling (pre-page 5). Two particular build/play choices contributed to making this character fun to solo (and PUG) pre-50: I used P2W temporary AoE attacks to speed up missions (Plasmatic Taser, hand Grenade) ... they still do Controller damage scales, but they help. The build includes a lot of %damage, leveraging the use of debuffs; much of the %damage is easy to include as you level up.

I hear you. I'm slightly tweaked that the lore (as written) implies that choosing to become an Incarnate implies a certain amount of loss of agency and/or negative effects, even "walking the slow path". None of this applies to PCs, except possibly with respect to complaining that we players never got the "complete" Incarnate system.

My Shield/War Mace PIMP build (built for bash and flash, through the life of smash). This build uses neither Epic nor Patron power pools, and also passes on Hasten. The damage comes from %procs in AoE, global recharge, and a (IIRC) single use of a Force Feeback %proc to help out with Shield Charge recharge. The core philosophy of this build is to have as many AoE as early as possible, if you intend to primarily play level 45+ content it should be possible to make alternate power pool choices. This is a wonderful "lets do damage" build, if you want MOAR resists, sacrifice some of the recharge mules to get into Fighting. I respect the choice of Experimentation, its just that Force of Will offers me a good play experience with Tankers. Not everyone devotes as many slots to Taunt as I do, if you want better resists you probably want to slot toggles with 4xUnbreakable Guard pieces, and will have to steal slots from somewhere.

For my Blasters that have both a Build Up and an Aim, I typically delay the choice of Aim until close to level 50 (assuming I need no other powers and have no need for Enhancement mules earlier). I will have the Gaussian's in the Build Up, and I often try for 6-slotting the entire set. The Build Up powers, even without Hasten (or Incarnates) can achieve an almost 20-second recharge with a 90% chance of the Gaussian's proc going off (which lasts for 10 seconds). Usually I don't have the slots to do justice to both powers, and as @kelika2 wrote above, a tight build could have as few slots as possible simply to fit the %Build Up proc plus recharge. It's a weird effect of my build approaches, but for my Blasters I almost always never have a better (late) choice of a power than just adding the long-skipped Aim to the build, partially due to lack of extra slots. In a build that actually has the extra slots to do both... I would suggest looking at which enhancement set bonuses are being sacrificed from other powers, and consider moving slots to those powers to get 6th-piece bonuses. Often the 6th piece bonus is offering more survivability to the Blaster class, this is especially true of the damage sets.

I think it is ok to dislike just about any (and all) aspects of the Incarnate system. It's so obviously bolted on, and mostly segregated from, the original concept of the game that I spend so little mental effort thinking about a viable rationale for why certain characters now get powers that are fundamentally outside of their ATs. I see the incarnate system as little more than "Always wanted an AoE attack?" or "Always wanted pets?" or "Need MOAR Enhancement?", "Here ya go!". When I do think about it, the part of the Incarnate Lore that sits wrong with me is the retroactive explanation of some NPCs as being Incarnates, especially Positron. My Blue incarnates solo that guy's Task Force (all versions, all parts) and he just stands around on a little stone pedestal. My Red siders repeatedly punk him before Incarnates, and as Incarnates too.