VertigoIguana

Might as well throw my hat into the ring....Been a while since I posted one of these, but I've been messing around with MMs for the last little bit (specifically Marine). I have a lot of love for /Marine on mastermind....it adds a shocking amount of damage and survivability to the pets. Been running it on live with Beasts and Demons....and on test I've tried the others as well. Damage-wise, Mercs is a little better if signature summons are off the table - Serum (or double serum with burnout) is just too good. They get some build in -kb/mezz protection with perma-serum, which is the big thing my Demons lack (and that's hurt me trying to solo some MoTFs - had to fall back on team insps). Clear speed on x8 is slower with Mercs, despite the better pet damage, and they aren't nearly as tough though. Demon personal attacks, especially when procced out, pack a big punch. Beast isn't bad in that regard either (and the range boost from marine makes for some big big cones). Interesting to note: the 11 second time below is a build specifically juiced for pylons (added Enflame, Assault instead of Maneuvers, Team Teleport, it has no defense to speak of, and I took out a bunch of rech/-rech protection since I can rely on accolades for burst), but my live build (also attached) really isn't that far off in timing while also being actually usable in game. I clocked a 14 second run with that one, an that's what I run every day against pretty much everything without any issues (on +4x8, with Bosses + AVs). Something I do that I don't see a lot of Mariners doing is proccing out Shifting Tides, but it actually does help in my experience even if the rate looks kind of anemic. I ran a few tests of the clear speed test mission (with my live build, but making sure the only use of those procs were the ones in Shifting Tides) and parsed the combat log....each proc in shifting tides was equally as valuable as each pet proc I have slotted in the prince. The explosive strike in Demons is a waste though, it only went off twice in the whole mission. Speaking of the clear speed test (Nerva map with reflections, not mission simulator), my live build clocked in a 6:47, with no temps/lores/etc.. I also had Support Core on my Hybrid (inactive), like I normally run....which is a decent time for an MM I think. Enough rambling, time below: EDIT: One more ramble...one thing I did *not* do, is stack brine on the pylon ahead of time to lower it's HP. Not sure it'd make too much of a difference anyway, but Brine causes aggro so wouldn't work in a "real" AV fight (tide pool does not alert though, so I felt fine about pre-dropping that). If it's allowed, I might give it go though, up to you @Koopak Musculature Core Alpha Degenerative Radial Interface Assault Radial Hybrid (Toggled on). Run Type: Rikti Pylon Archetype: Mastermind Primary Powerset: Demon Summoning Secondary Powerset: Marine Time in seconds: 0:11 Hybrid: Yes (on) Number of Runs: 1 Version: i28pg1 Beta Notes: Sustainable? No....Burnout + Hell on Earth makes it a burst time. Temps: Signature Summon (Tank), Envenomed Dagger, Boosters Video Link: Fight starts at 0:46 Demon11.txt Ranger Parker - Mastermind (Demon Summoning - Marine Affinity)xPylon.mbd Ranger Parker - Mastermind (Demon Summoning - Marine Affinity)xSpeed2.mbd

Yeah, he definitely qualifies as the end boss. He chases you around, but is seriously buffed (by level shifts) until you/the league works its way through to build up level shifts of your own and even the playing field somewhat. The fight with him has some surprises of it's own too. 😉

Yep - Minotaur in the Fog

If you leave the zone, wait a min or two, and come back they will spawn in usually.

It's only "master of" that disables penny porting, iirc. That's been around for ages though, and not new. 1-4* you don't need to lead her out anyway, and normal runs you can port her like before. Hammi and the mitosis are also toxic everywhere iirc, hard mode included.

That baby probably knows how to drive now.

The real question is why are you trying to rob us of these posts? I love em. You do you Snarky. Someday I hope to lead a PuG bad enough to be featured. ❤️

*edit accidental double post*

Should be, he dosen't have any special hold protection from what I can recall. The only hitch is surviving long enough to stack it (his attacks are auto hit, and hit hard even through ambrosia on squishies - even moreso on master runs). You'll also have the ambush waves to contemd with unless you hover up high. For what it's worth , I do the confuse trick as well with my Dom (Illu/Psi). Can stack without aggroing him at all, and as a side bonus he clears the ambushes for you too.

Rotation could maybe be Improved....I was doing AS > Smashing Blow > Concentrated Strike, alternating the mace snipe and Burst (both procced) as filler if ever needed. I tried AS > Concentrated > Smashing as well....wasn't getting times as low though. That might be better in real play though, cause you can pop BU while repositioning, but it's hard to make up the animation time vs the crit damage on a single immobile target. Just a guess though.

Sometimes it's fun to let them lapse, and see how tough these complacent so-called teammates *really* are. 😉

Just for fun - couple more tries. Largely the same build as I used before, but with different primaries. First up, Street Justice - one of my old favorites from live. I had hope for this one to be closer to energy than it was....St. J can throw out some big numbers with a 3 combo hidden CU, but I think the 25 Sec recharge is just too long to compete with Energy Transfer. Still, not *bad* by any means. Run Type: Pylon (Open Beta) Archetype: Stalker Primary Powerset: Street Justice Secondary Powerset: Bio Armor Epic: Mace Time in seconds: Best: 34 Burst: Burst - Geas + Unrelenting Hybrid: Assault - Core (toggled on) Number of Runs: 1 Version: Open Beta Temps Used: Offensive Amp, Geas Next, wanted to see how one of the least popular sets faired - Kinetic Melee. Honestly, I expected a lot worse. Kinetic has one of the fastest (if not the fastest) AS's, but that's about all it has going for it. It was definitely less consistent than either Energy or St.J, but the best times weren't *that* far off. If anything, that might just go to show how much of the DPS is being carried by the common elements of Spiderlings/Enflame/unrelenting. Run Type: Pylon (Open Beta) Archetype: Stalker Primary Powerset: Kinetic Melee Secondary Powerset: Bio Armor Epic: Mace Time in seconds: Best: 36 Burst: Burst - Geas + Unrelenting Hybrid: Assault - Core (toggled on) Number of Runs: 1 Version: Open Beta Temps Used: Offensive Amp, Geas PylonStalker KIN BIO.mbd PylonStalker stj BIO.mbd

I've tried a few builds so far.....Here's what I've found. No surprise, but Bio has been the winner on damage. As Ston's run showed as well, the spiderlings are a great source of extra DPS. I went with Enflame instead of Adrenal Booster on my build, for a little extra DPS and a slot for the annihilation proc....and dipped into presence for Unrelenting as a replacement (similar short-uptime damage boost). I tried Adrenal with Unrelenting as well, but wasn't getting times nearly as good or as consistent. A neat little quirk that I never noticed before (but may be common knowledge) is that spiderlings are inheriting the extra damage proc from Bio/Offensive. I'm guessing mechanically this is similar to how the Envenomed Blades/Illusion stuff and Hybrid Assault is working (boost is active when pets are spawned = pets inherit the extra proc). That actually makes a pretty big difference when they proc it. For approach, I tried to time it so an AS would land at about the same time the pets engaged, to maximize damage off the jump. Teleporting in worked well for that and gave me an extra second or two when everything landed. Tried a few different attack chain and Incarnate combinations, but this is the best time I got vs the big pylons. Otherwise, a lot of 29's and low 30's. Lastly, and this is a big question mark for @Koopak: Spiderlings spawn at -1 to the player.....vs the player. This gives them a boost vs the Big (unleveled) pylon, since they will fight it as an even con. There are a series of leveled dummy's on the other side of the base, but with that - the level 50 one has far less max HP than the unleveled one (which is scaled to level 54 HP), and the leveled 54 one hurts player DPS by a big chunk due to purple patch. Are we OK using only the big unleveled one as the official baseline? Otherwise.....the level 50 dummy will give faster times (less HP = *much* faster kill...see second video @ 25 seconds. There's a 23 second in the chat log also same build/no one around buffing, but I wasn't recording at the time). Run Type: Pylon (Open Beta) Archetype: Stalker Primary Powerset: Energy Melee Secondary Powerset: Bio Armor Epic: Mace Time in seconds: Best: 28 Burst: Burst - Geas + Unrelenting Hybrid: Assault - Core (toggled on) Number of Runs: 1 Version: Open Beta Temps Used: Offensive Amp, Geas Same build -25 Seconds https://youtu.be/8KXBdFyEVsM PylonStalker EN BIO.mbd

Well...it is a stalker bounty, I'm sure we'll all be at least a little sneaky.

Ok, take two: Updated build - Double checked for no interference - Build is now live Turns out, the answer is always more procs. Still not finding caltrops worth it, that's another second I'd rather be kicking. Realistic for actual gameplay? Ha, no. Even fighting pylons half the time a pet or two will wander off and try to solo the one behind it, or the tarantula will not approach (wasting enflame). But every once in the while, when the stars and pylon regen ticks align, this happens: Run Type: Pylon (Open Beta) Archetype: Dominator Primary Powerset: Illusion Control Secondary Powerset: Martial Assault Epic: Mace Time in seconds: Best: 28 Seconds Burst: Burst Hybrid: Assault - Radial (toggled on) Number of Runs: 1 Version: I27, p7 27.7.5916 Video Link: N/A Temps Used: Offensive Amp, Dagger, and Geas (No insps or Lores) Pylon Dominator (Illusion Control - Martial Assault)2.mbd