tidge

There is only marginal difference between a Shield Breaker's max value from Acc/Recharge and the max value of a Analyze Weakness Acc/End/Recharge, so forgive me for assuming that the Shield Breaker piece was a %Lethal.

If I'm making any comment, it is this: in order to do damage, or to get debuffs to stick... some Accuracy should probably be slotted if facing higher-level enemies. The build appears to also just miss getting 4-slot global Accuracy bonuses from several of the Very Rare sets. A specific fer-instance: Level 45+ teams will certainly do more damage if Melt Armor has higher Recharge, even if you don't want to slot it for Accuracy. The way it is slotted right now makes it look like a wasted power pick (lvl 49 could just be a Defense mule for more global Recharge) and move the second slot to either X-Ray Beam or Rune of Protection to get either a positional Ranged or Melee set bonus. Radiation Blast is a slightly tricky beast for builds with %damage... the attacks have some -DEF, but those attacks have to hit, and while it isn't precisely necessary to spam Rad attacks to try to apply -DEF, AFAIK there may be some -DEF debuff resistance in play. Rad can be a (ToHit) multiplier against even-level minions, but I don't think it is good enough by itself to forgo Accuracy slotting. If teaming is the key, move the Gaussian's %Build Up to Tactics.

I won't argue that having henchman give Thermal "more to do", but I kinda hate Thermal on my MM.

Just a couple of quick comments on the level of personal preference for the build above: I think the above build has too many %proc in Irradiate. Irradiate does have a sweet inherent recharge time, and a better-than-usual base accuracy, and the build is running with Kismet... yet I feel that all %proc powers ought to have some accuracy slotting. I'd pick at least one slot with a preferred combo of Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Debuff that could be boosted (or attuned to give some useful set bonus). See also Char slotting. About Char... it feels weird to me to take Char (single-target hold) at level 41, 5-slot it for %damage, go hard into %damage on all the attacks, and skip the cone Electron Haze. Ranged Cone attacks are IMO the most reliable powers for %damage. Using a pair of HO/DSyncs (Accuracy/Range and Damage/Range) would still leave 3 slots for %damage (or %-Resist)... and the power would be available for much lower-level content. The Flame Mastery choices would need to be reconsidered, but the lack of Accuracy and/or Recharge in Melt Armor bothers me. I don't consider Melt Armor to be a valuable %proc power as it has a base 200 second recharge time that requires a ToHit check). Generally: I feel like the build leans a little too heavy into %proc for my taste... I'm more sympathetic here because of the Damage-over-Time aspects of the sets... but it feels to me like some of the good 5-piece set bonuses are being "left on the table" just for the sake of adding %damage. In particular: I think the %Build Up piece from Decimation in the Snipe (Proton Volley) is poorly motivated. If not going with 5-pieces of Apocalypse, then I'd suggest using a boosted 50+5 Experienced Marksman Range/Fast Snipe instead (if the Kismet +ToHit piece is always in play). Build Up/+ToHit effects work best for a Fast Snipe, and the %proc of the Decimation is pretty poor (1 PPM for 10secs IIRC) compared to how fast it will be possible to spam the Fast Snipe.

I can get behind this, to the extent that the FIRST upgrade power ought to be baked into all the henchmen. Consider the primary progression for Masterminds: Level 1: First henchmen summons is available Level 6: First Upgrade Power is available Level 12: Second Henchmen summons is available Level 22: Third Henchman summons is available Level 26: Second Upgrade Power is available The first upgrade is available before it is even possible to summon a second hench! (not to mention: it is so low it should be available on all exemplared content!) If we MUST have multiple upgrades, I can't understand why the T4 and T6 powers aren't swapped. Even in earlier times (longer recharge powers, more debt, etc.) it didn't make sense that a henchman summoned from a higher level power wouldn't already have the lower level upgrades baked in. I can understand an unwillingness to chew through the code base/power progressions to make changes to the application of boosts or the default powers of henchmen. I also appreciate the changes to allow slotting of more/different sets in (some of?) the upgrade powers. I also LOVE that the power picks are available at lower levels (across the board, for all ATs)... but none of those makes the primary power progression look any less weird for me.

/agree that Robots/FF Mastermind is not how I would roll. I can see the appeal, but the contributions from /Force Field strike me as being completely unnecessary for the survival of the henchmen and will do very little to improve map clear times. On a Defender, I went FF/Beam. I found Force Fields to be a primary I didn't need to take many powers from early (if ever), allowing me to pick up more of the secondary attacks... and of course FF has some decent mules for whenever you want them. The -Res from Repulsion Bolt is a nice enough attack and feels like it pairs with the DoT effects,; Dispersion Bubble is the toggle I used to hold the Kismet piece.

There are a large number of bids sitting at 20,002 Inf. I suppose it doesn't matter if it is a single player or a group of players... I've observed exactly what @Necrophidian described. When the sales price is above 20,002 I am assuming that is 'impatient' buyers working explicitly against the bolus of those bids at 20,002. I am also assuming that some fraction of the 100k+ outstanding bids are other players who put it lower bids... and I half-suspect that the goofball with the 20,002 Inf bids also has a bunch of similarly inflated, but slightly lower bids as well. The real mystery is why anyone would go through the bother... I understand that the common::uncommon drop rates are greater than 4::1, and that uncommons are necessary for crafting all of the desirable (uncommon, rare, PVP, Superior) recipes... and I can believe that changes in farming habits can be responsible for a smaller supply... it simply seems impractical to try to make inf while strangling the supply of uncommon salvage (intentionally or otherwise). Just keeping all those buy bids in play implies that the person(s) responsible are grinding in an unrewarding way.

A late followup: I agree that Electrified Net Arrow (with or without a targeting macro) isn't necessary for igniting an Oil Slick... this is more of a casual addition because I was investing in the Electrified Net Arrow anyway. In general, I tend to skip single-target immobilizes and holds on non-control ATs, but since this character was going to take the early immobilize, I wanted it to have the matching range and some improved immobilization duration and figured I may as well include a quicky macro for hitting any Oil Slick that exists. As I wrote above... I'm generally skipping the single-target immobs and holds because Enemies that I want to immobilize generally resist slows and immobilizes anyway (those critters that like to run, think Warwolves) Single-target holds can be a reasonable source of %damage, but often feel like they are a waste of slots compared to what else I could do with the slots. (because "single target") The times when I take those single-target powers tend to be when: The powers offer a synergy with other powers in the build There is a control I want to increase the magnitude of It is a low-DPS AT and I feel like leveraging the ST attack into some %damage (investing in Accuracy as well as %damage of course) It is an power that will hold ATO pieces for enhancement set bonuses (because I'm making other slotting choices elsewhere in the build) I wrote out all of the above because in my build above I kind-of miss not having the ST-hold Ice Arrow as one of the "tactical" options (for thematic purposes)! I simply can't justify (to myself) taking Ice Arrow in place of any other power in my build, or dedicating enough slots to it to improve it enough to be a worthwhile addition. As an early-choice power a ST-hold is less important than just doing damage (for a DPS character), and %damage slotting strikes me as a waste of slots. As a late-choice power, I think it a hold be far less useful than immobs (for single hard targets) and I wouldn't need another ST damage attack in later levels.

Are you certain the Winter Lord had not already spawned? My own experiences from past years have been: After defeating the Winter Lord (and adjacent minions), after opening about 130 presents (and defeating the naughty spawns) is when the WL will respawn. I did this with multiple characters in a zone that had no observed other player presence (via /whoall).

File this under "Things I wish I knew how to do, that are probably no interest to anyone else"... I have a very limited number of cases when I would desperately want a power in a popup tray... And yet no matter how limited those cases when I want it... I WANT IT. I could kinda do what I want with a bind, but here is specifically the circumstances: I have a Traps character with many powers from the Flight pool... I feel like if I had a single button in the Afterburner popup tray that had the effect of detoggling ALL the Flight powers (I think Walk might do this) allowing me to hit the floor for all summonses, things would be copacetic.

My old thoughts on a Synapse TF rewrite is inspired by the Penny Yin TF. Minimally...Have an instanced outdoor mission with objectives in place of some of the defeat alls and patrols. I've also long thought that the Clockwork King would have a slightly better (and geeky) set of (elite) bosses that were necessary to defeat... Something inspired by chess pieces. The CK has an interesting backstory, I wouldn't mind if Blue Steel ended up in a rewrite.

Now I am curious: what are the rest of the people in the zone supposed to do with the $loc info? Are they supposed to have a keybind of some sort to use the location info and set the minimap?

The two issues I encounter with getting a Shivan from Bloody Bay are: As mentioned, doing enough damage quickly enough to defeat all the turrets. Wearing them all down (but not defeating) and then defeating them rapidly works well even for low DPS characters. Sometimes I don't have a travel power in Bloody Bay. The temp powers for purchase in the PVP zones don't last all that long.

Ignoring the Babbage, Synapse TF is relatively quick and easy to solo... If the spawn size has not been turned up. If the character doesn't have DPS for the CK, any single temp summons (e.g. a Shivan) ought to be sufficient. I've done exactly that with Controllers. I grok the monotony complaints, but this TF is not the worst offender... And the rewards are pretty good for the investment in time.

Jessme Ritin': I find it easier to click on the leaguemate's name and "follow" then it is to mess around with $loc.

The build is fun, even if I have 'hang back'. I don't often use Bonfire, but when I remember to use it I find I want it! It is practically just a stepping stone to get RotP.

I think you may find that the lower target caps from Sentinels ends up bothering you more than whatever might by bothersome about Blaster primary/secondary combos. If face-planting is a really bothersome issue, the Epic Flame pool offers Rise of the Phoenix after several other good power picks. FWIW: Even though I have melee (and PBAoE) attacks on my Dark/ Blaster, that character almost exclusively makes ranged attacks. I find Dark to be one of the slower Blaster primaries... partly due to the DoT... and partly because of knockback/knockdown... and partly due to the way RNG tends to let some fraction of mobs get close while others are scattered or immobilized. I suspect if I was playing a Dark Sentinel I would find myself wanting some Melee attacks (because of lower AoE caps) I like Blapping, but on fast PUG teams, the teammates may not even realize if a Blaster is using melee attacks.

I had never played any of the Archery/Arrow sets; this post includes my final (level 50) build. I realize that this isn't a shockingly original combination. I'm putting it out in the wild on the chance that there may be elements that could be leveraged by other players. Some up-front talking points: 1) I typically like to have Blasters who can Melee... this is NOT that type of Blaster. This may be the most "ranged only" character in my lineup. 2) I realize this is an "expensive" build based on slotting. In reality, aside from investing in the ATO and Winter Pieces early in the build (for me, via merits) burning up a lot of Catalysts (after the level 50 respec) I happened to have a LOT of stuff lying around the SG base that went into it. This won't help anyone else, I simply felt like making a comment about how storing drops from other characters can make some builds much more affordable. 3) In attacks: this build leverages both straight-up enhancement for set bonuses and %damage from procs. I know that both types of attack slotting have proponents. This build felt a little weird to me because I usually don't have so many of each type of attack. I think this was a side effect of not having melee/PBAoE 'attacks'. 4) I did try to get all of the ranged attacks to have roughly the same range. I felt this was most important to increase the ranges for Glue Arrow and Electrified Net Arrow, I had a single slot left over that went into Fistful of Arrows just because. 5) I think the build could have better Defenses; this simply wasn't that important to me. This is built for fun more than survival. Even without the level 50 choices, this build was handling even-level x8 content solo relatively early in the play-up. 6) The travel power is Infiltration. Between Infiltration, a Stealth global in Sprint, and Flash Arrow this build doesn't care about too much in the way of being spotted while trying to sneak through areas. With the additional toggles and enhancement slotting, this isn't a painfully slow way to get around the city, but temp powers are needed for some navigation. I included some macros I use for this character.

My experience has been that I can't play Dual Pistols with the sound on, because the dog that is scared of fireworks goes into a panic.

It is possible to wear Statesman's costume (and his helmet) in a level 20-29 tip mission, as a Rogue in Paragon City (it's a "Hero" mission).

This explanation is precisely why I feel it is important to not confuse the difference between a global effect and a %proc effect when describing enhancement pieces. PVP pieces will always have their regular enhancement effects scale down (as other enhancements) and any set effects will be in play scaled down to lowest level the set could be slotted... that is: the set bonuses don't "drop out". However, their enhancement effects (e.g. Accuracy) won't scale above a specific level unless they are attuned, or are already at the highest level (50, which can be boosted by up to +5). Non-boosted PVP pieces below 50 may as well be attuned, I wouldn't consider boosting any PVP piece in the level range 45-49. Purple (very rare) sets behave just like PVP (enhancement effects, set bonuses), except they can only be slotted by a character at 50... and since they can be boosted, it makes no sense to attuned those. ATOs and Event pieces can't be boosted as they always come attuned, but they can be made "Superior". When I won't be getting a set bonus, or the set bonus is one I don't particularly rely on, I will almost always slot an enhancement piece at its highest possible level and boost it (assuming the piece can be boosted). This is less important where "diminishing returns" from Enhancement Diversification comes into play, but this thinking usually comes into play where that is not an issue for the given power.

I never went back to MMO. I did a lot of 4X (Civ, Galactic Civ) and did quite a bit of immersion into/replays of Deus Ex. Also lots and lots of pub trivia.

I thought I'd post this in a not-too-old thread... lots of testing has shown that slotting Endurance Reduction in the primary Robotics' Upgrade Robot doesn't do anything for the henchmen (unlike some other primaries) but a while back I realized I could make a slight compromise in my T2 henchmen slotting to replace the straight Defense Buff IO with a Defense/Endurance piece. I use a Hami-O at level 53, but a 50+5 boosted Defense/Endurance piece will do. I've been running this slotting for a while, and the slight loss of Defense hasn't been noticeable. The Protector Bots were the henchmen that were usually running low on Endurance, this has pretty much made it so they are not even close to approaching empty for most of the content I play. There was another slight change I made, to pull out the LoTG piece and instead give the T2 a little more Accuracy/Damage slotting via Call to Arms. I wanted a little more Recovery, but if Endurance wasn't an issue I'd probably have replaced it with a boosted 50+5 piece from one of the other sets (and shuffled some of the unique pet globals, like Expedient Reinforcement from the T1). Level 12: Protector Bots (A) Mark of Supremacy - Damage/Endurance (13) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Endurance (13) Defense Buff IO -> HO Cytoskeleton 53 or Def/End 50+5 piece <- THIS WAS THE CHANGE (15) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed <- I also changed this to Call to Arms - Accuracy/Damage (15) Call to Arms - Defense Bonus Aura for Pets (17) Expedient Reinforcement - Resist Bonus Aura for Pets

I also think the OP doesn't really want to play a Blaster. If the hangup is a long the lines of "must use mental powers at range and help a team", maybe a Fortunata is a better fit.

I can't comment (no experience with FF on a MM) except that the only reason I would choose the FF secondary would be to skip slotting the henchman/pet uniques in the Robotic henchmen. As a point of comparison, my Robotics/Traps with FFG MM has all the henchmen pretty well capped (defensively) to the point where I can see the MM himself way above all softcaps. When henchmen fall, it is rare I am replacing more than 1 at a time. I am sure that there is content where the FF secondary would be offering positive returns (compared to /traps) but I find the debuffing and extra aggro from Traps improves map clear times, and contribute positively to GM defeat times.