kelly Rocket

Even then though, they're almost exclusively single target, their AoE is all dependent on the Oni and it's... pretty meh. Once you get your survivability up for the pets, you may be running +4 difficulty, but you're *never* going to want to bump the effective player count up, because frankly if you have to cut through more than a handful of mobs at a time it's a huge pain in the ass and just takes years and years.

Time Crawl*, Time Stop and Temporal Selection are the only ones you can skip. The rest are all crucial, unskippable. None of Time's powers are bad, poor, or even mediocre. They're all good. Those are just the ones you can live without if you have to. *The game will only let you skip Time Crawl if you're a Defender, otherwise you're stuck with it.

I posted this on the MM Wishlist thread, but felt it was a big enough deal to deserve it's own thread as the wishlist thread is sort of a giant pile of pie in the sky ideas for new pet sets. You know what I'd really like? A couple new pet commands. Firstly this: /petcom_leash <n> /petcom_leash_all <n> This command would restrict the selected pet, or all your pets if using leash_all to an n foot radius of you. So if you want to prevent your pets from ever leaving Supremacy range, you could use "/petcom_leash_all 60", or if you wanted them to never go further than the radius of your heal, you could use "/petcom_leash_all 20" Second, and this one would likely be harder to implement as it would have to modify the actual AI rather than creating a physical tether, would be this: /petcom_engagement_range <n> /petcom_engagement_range_all <n> This one would prevent the pets from ever trying to attack anything that isn't within n feet of the Mastermind. It would mostly be useful for things like Ninja/Time or Beast/Time, where you intend to be in the thick of it yourself, and you don't want the pets to stray to fighting other spawns, or leave your Supremacy/Aura radius. It would let you operate in bodyguard mode and designate which targets are potentially valid just through your positioning.

Aaaaactually... You can set up your storage access so that non-members can add and retrieve stored items, and if you set a numeric passcode for entry, your alts can enter the base without being members.

You know what I'd really like? A couple new pet commands. Firstly this: /petcom_leash <n> /petcom_leash_all <n> This command would restrict the selected pet, or all your pets if using leash_all to an n foot radius of you. So if you want to prevent your pets from ever leaving Supremacy range, you could use "/petcom_leash_all 60", or if you wanted them to never go further than the radius of your heal, you could use "/petcom_leash_all 20" Second, and this one would likely be harder to implement as it would have to modify the actual AI rather than creating a physical tether, would be this: /petcom_engagement_range <n> /petcom_engagement_range_all <n> This one would prevent the pets from ever trying to attack anything that isn't within n feet of the Mastermind. It would mostly be useful for things like Ninja/Time or Beast/Time, where you intend to be in the thick of it yourself, and you don't want the pets to stray to fighting other spawns, or leave your Supremacy/Aura radius. It would let you operate in bodyguard mode and designate which targets are potentially valid just through your positioning.

What was put out about the pets in bodyguard is they have to be close to you (within Supremacy range) and in Defensive/Follow mode - Goto and Stay commands would take them out of bodyguard mode. One thing to be careful with when you start your MM in the Follow button you start with in your Tray is Aggressive/Follow mode. I ALWAYS edit this command and change Aggressive to Defensive. I also edit the Attack button to Defensive also - that way, when their target is defeated, they will return to Defensive/Follow so I will get my bodyguards back. I also believe that if your pets aren't in Defensive/Follow, there will be a delay of 5-10 seconds after you put them in this mode when the Bodyguard function will take effect. One nice thing is that whenever you "zone" (get the loading screen) - your pets are restored to full health and put into Defensive/Follow so the Bodyguard function is active. Defensive/Stay and Defensive/Goto are both also bodyguard mode.

Support Core is +12% Defense(All) for your pets. That's why people use it on MMs, not the endurance discount.

So let me get this straight. You're taking Kick, Tough (+1 slot) and Weave so that you can slot a pair of +3% Defense IOs that only affect your Mastermind, not your Pets(!), so as to avoid 6-slotting Gaussian's into your Tactics power and not take Vengeance as your LotG mule instead. I'm also going to go out on a limb here and claim that Assault will do more for you (and your Pets, and your Team) over time than having Kick ever will. I'm not seeing the upside for your Pets here, since they're going to be doing almost all of the fighting for you. I mean, I know what you're doing here is "bog standard" on way too many other archetypes ... I'm just questioning the Return On Investment for a Mastermind here, relative to other options. I've already provided as much Defense for the pets as it's possible to do without Incarnate powers like Barrier and the Support Hybrid, for a Ninja/Time. Well, short of taking Grant Invis and turning myself into a buffbot, which does not sound like my idea of a fun time. I'm not fully soft-capped even with Weave, and Weave gives me 5.22% Defense(All) which absolutely would not be made up by the mere 2.5% to positionals and 1.25% to typed that Gaussians provide. If I were going to drop anything for the sake of being able to take Gaussians it would be Provoke, not Kick/Tough/Weave. That would allow me to take Combat Jumping, for a fifth LotG 7.5%, which is better than the 5% recharge I get from 5 Adjusted Targeting, and would save me 3 slots, allowing me the additional slot for Tactics, to get me into the full 6 Gaussians without losing Weave. And I'd have 2 more slots to put wherever I liked. Probably *in* Weave, to be honest.Or maybe in Slowed Response.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Mastermind Primary Power Set: Ninjas Secondary Power Set: Time Manipulation Power Pool: Presence Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Call Genin -- SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx(3), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), SprCmmoft-Rchg/PetAoEDef(5), EdcoftheM-PetDef(5), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(7) Level 1: Time Crawl -- PcnoftheT--Rchg%(A) Level 2: Temporal Mending -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(7), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(9), Prv-Heal/Rchg(9), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(11), Prv-Absorb%(11) Level 4: Time's Juncture -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(A), DarWtcDsp-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(21), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(21), DarWtcDsp-Slow%(23) Level 6: Train Ninjas -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 8: Provoke -- PrfZng-Taunt/Rchg(A), PrfZng-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(23), PrfZng-Acc/Rchg(25), PrfZng-Dam%(31) Level 10: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(45), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(46), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(46) Level 12: Call Jounin -- SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(13), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(13), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(15), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(15), SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen(17) Level 14: Tactics -- AdjTrg-ToHit(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(33), AdjTrg-EndRdx/Rchg(33), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx(33), AdjTrg-ToHit/Rchg(34) Level 16: Distortion Field -- BslGaz-Slow%(A), PcnoftheT--Rchg%(43), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(43), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(43), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(45) Level 18: Smoke Flash -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42), EndRdx-I(42), EndRdx-I(42) Level 20: Time Stop -- UnbCns-Hold(A), UnbCns-Hold/Rchg(37), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg(37), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg(37), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold(40) Level 22: Kick -- Acc-I(A) Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25) Level 26: Oni -- SvrRgh-Acc/EndRdx(A), SvrRgh-Acc/Dmg(27), SvrRgh-Dmg/EndRdx(27), SvrRgh-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), SvrRgh-PetResDam(29), CaltoArm-+Def(Pets)(31) Level 28: Farsight -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(34), RedFrt-Def/Rchg(34), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36), RedFrt-EndRdx/Rchg(36), RedFrt-EndRdx(36) Level 30: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(31) Level 32: Kuji In Zen -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 35: Slowed Response -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), AnlWkn-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(45) Level 38: Chrono Shift -- Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(A), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(39), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(39), DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(39), EndMod-I(40), EndMod-I(40) Level 41: Weave -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 44: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(46), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(50) Level 47: Web Envelope -- GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg(A), GrvAnc-Acc/Immob/Rchg(48), GrvAnc-Acc/Rchg(48), GrvAnc-Immob/EndRdx(48), GrvAnc-Hold%(50) Level 49: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 1: Supremacy Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(17) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(19), PrfShf-End%(19) Level 50: Agility Core Paragon ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1470;675;1350;HEX;| |78DA6594CB4F135114C6EFB45390D2DAD65A286F8AF29047A5EADE447918A504051| |35D91090C30863EA490E8D2BFC29DAF3FC0448D407465A2896E5D08C407D195A8BC| |44376EEA61BE0F5A329334BFDCEF9E7BCE77CEED4CF2568FEF71FF9DB34A0B9E9F3| |672B9D1A4919B356752567ADC933426AD31B792A7547ED1C2CEE8F05C2A9549C707| |ADF40D23172BDA38373731111FB152A6E4495BD9B96963D6CAA455682893998E174| |B015B19308D717326376565FDF6BACF9A9C9AB5D2935E7B359C35CDF1DADEAC3516| |2F2A9134C64CBABC1D155F2DF27BE2517CF21EF55A2C2774E57A43BE05F577E49A8| |4B5EAAAE42BD64B91FDB34A3DD56C6D59348DF9B4EF882B59030FFD207F82DE5FE4| |3AB82267DDF6E1BCDBFDC2656B4717C979B0E225F84C7C7B58DB1353B6565D8A79E| |F9E2FCD303E0B466F82F53930248165AC551681F7CE4DF8E8EA2383D09F4BA172F6| |547E4DB735DF36F2F876C0C35BE41F619DAE82D71117963A7ED4D1FDF710D3F8807| |C483E0263F7C18F328700EAE98115E46BE77CDB3F70BD04762E83F3E231C4DE431D| |98C7893DC60EF293E40F337FB807358FF7927D643FD87A0174491F11CE3B528D3C4| |DA255A237AD92B5A2E482F8A9E2CCAA7EF37EB6C86DB07687FC0BD67F432F9FA550| |0DF27A6A7837312F590E1EF3933E3200BAC5531D3DD5ED9A937CF5A7709F8BE2A98| |13D3470165FA4561334ADE995D40FCB4CDFA3E755D96BA68F66FE575B1AC811D46B| |19045B1BD501EAE2A30D67551B7B5894A31DD05C1DD4BA76902F71095C10C47937F| |1CBF071F20A394C8E8089ABE0864FA96EF6D0CDF927C85ABDE81DCDCBA3DA1D4AB7| |43493894D30EE58C43197028C982921FD2F7BF0C4AB377CB82F2BE7377DD2BBB5AF| |1EE6641D1B418A613BCA8D95FA00D47F456417169BC83237BBC8B39FDAB102026FF| |1FB191F745| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

+1 for making it an absorb shield tbh.

And what is the difference, exactly, to a player who wants Serum but knows it's bad, if the devs simply give up on it and put another power in its place, mutually exclusive with it? If that's the approach they take to add the utility to Mercs that Serum is failing to provide? I'm gonna make some friends here and say, er... you're both mistaken? Cottaging is about preventing drift -- it's a rule of procedure that stopped the Paragon developers from 'changing their mind' about one power at a time, leading eventually to sets that look and play nothing like their original implementation. It's a lot less about a per-power, keep things as they are system (obviously players are going to choose to respec or even have to respec after merely 'numerical' changes, too) as it is about a 'don't rebuild the town after every strong breeze.' If that analogy makes sense. Not all games have a similar design rule and many games do fine without it, but it is something that 'flavored' CoH. 10/9 sets do evade the cottage rule in its literal sense, but they undercut the spirit of it because there's no bright line guideline to stop 11/9, 15/9, 27/9 sets -- which would be, if anything, worse than the situations cottage rule is supposed to prevent. I'm ultimately (I think) with kelly here. I think this is a situation where cottaging is warranted because the arguments here convince me the power is under-performing in a practical sense and at a design sense (since it affects the meta-balancing of IO sets. Even with the argument that "sets aren't balanced around IOs," which I find dubious, IOs are undoubtedly balanced around sets -- new pet or MM IO sets will have to account for different MMs having significant differences in even the ability to slot the sets). I also don't play MMs often at all, so that's my disinterested opinion. But I do have to say -- cottage or don't cottage, but don't 10/9 just to evade the literal "rule" and destroy its intent. Honestly, I would welcome 27/9 sets. Having choices is always good.

I'd desperately like to see some of the Controller/Dom APPs make it to Masterminds. In particular, I would kill for Psionic Mastery. Indomitable Will would be amazing for MMs.

Can I suggest that Utility Belt get Caltrops and/or Web Grenade? :D Thematically, those seem like things that would just be obvious to have on a utility belt.

It was just as bad before sunset. But yes, this would be nice. If nothing else, this should absolutely happen with the "Stay" command, if not Goto.

Original animation isn't possible anymore. They can give options for animations, but they all have to be the same duration. Original Storm Kick animation was *much* longer than the current one, so is not compatible anymore. Doesnt work "quite" like that, any animation can be lengthened or reduced according to needs by speeding up the animation file. I wasnt serious anway, was merely harking back to a much forgotten "oldie" Sure, but the difference in time between the new version and the old version would make the old animation look... well, very very silly. ;-)

Endgame is not the game. I have something like 26 or 27 characters, not one of them is level 50 yet. Unless you do something lame like AE powerleveling to 50, you'll spend much more time playing the game before 50 than after 50. That said... Even if I were dealing with a situation where defensive protections were not needed by any team I was on, I'd still be reluctant to take my primary attacks. There are better attacks in the pools, and so many other things I'd rather have. Hasten, Burnout, Rune of Protection, Tough and Weave... And hell, while other people on the team may not need my Maneuvers, I sure as hell need it. It's almost always an important part of my build's defenses, just for me personally, not even for giving the team Defense. Usually if my build is soft-capped, it's soft capped because I'm running Maneuvers and Weave and CJ and possibly Stealth on top of that, and drop any one of those and I lose soft cap. And given I play /Time a fair deal, and want to be melee anyway, I'd honestly rather use the Fighting pool attacks, as Cross Punch also gives me +recharge on hit, and if I take all three they do quite decent damage. Furthermore, there's another problem with MM primary attacks, beyond their garbage damage. They don't always fit the character concept. If you want Thugs, you MUST use pistols. If you want Mercs, you MUST use an assault rifle. If you want Ninjas, you MUST use a bow. Screw that. I'd rather brawl with my Ninja MM, at least it fits the ninja theme better. Maybe my Mercs MM is a Wizard, he just hired soldiers, doesn't mean he is one. He wants Arcane Bolt, Enflame, TP Foe, Recall Friend, and Teleport, not Burst, Slug, and Grenade, you know? So yeah, I almost never take the primary attack powers. If I want attacks, there are better options in the pools and epic/patrons. And even when I want a bunch of attacks, my concept rarely aligns with the type of attacks in the primary.

According to the old RedTomax data, a nice zesty -22.5%. That isn't a Magnitude. Magnitude is usually rated from 1-3 (for most enemies), and is a stat I'm not seeing on these lists. Here's a wiki article that explains what Magnitude is. https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Protection I'm asking because I'm trying to find the reason I'm not feeling like there's any difference in hitting the enemy when I use the debuff and when I don't. I thought they may be resisting the effect somehow. I guess the other option is the debuff just isn't big enough to make a difference. Um... dude... Only CC effects have a magnitude. Debuffs do not.

The problem is that there IS no one answer to what's best to slot where. There's what I would do, and what that guy would do, and what you would prefer, and none of them are the same, and they all work in their own ways. And there's no way for me to guess what will work best for you. Best any of us could do is ask you what your goals are. What do you want to achieve with your build. If you can't answer that in detail then the answer is simply "Go play the game some more, figure out what you want."

If you want mitigation, you should go Dual Pistols.

Well it's like Fedifensor said, you should always be doing SOMETHING. Either debuffing enemies, buffing allies, healing, or attacking. With many of my builds I find that early on I don't have enough to do, so I spec into some attacks to fill in the empty time during fights. Later on that becomes less of an issue as I get powers in my second set. I've tried a couple times taking personal attacks early on, and respeccing out of them at 25 to 30ish and it felt like it did make some of the fights quicker. What I did with my latest couple characters is avoid the Leadership pools until 25ish because earlier on they're less important and vital. Lower level enemies go down quickly and you won't see as much of an effect from your auras earlier on. Then when I hit 25, I respec and drop my direct attacks and put leadership back in, and I have enough to keep myself busy and active during fights. Just seems like a waste of a respec (Not that they're limited, but they're not free). I mean, why not just DFB to level 12 or so and then TF to 25? You'll get there in a day and then there's no reason to take those attacks you're going to have to respec out of anyway. Hell, you could not summon your pets at all and you're still contributing support to a team. Usually I just grab the double xp booster and run the tutorial, street sweep to level 4, then do the Matthew Habashy->Officer Fields->Aaron Thierry arc, then Twinshot, all solo, and then find a Posi to tag along on. But even leveling that way (Which is nothing like as fast as I *could* be leveling), I've never felt a need for personal attacks unless I went /FF or /Sonic. I *could* take them, and it would maybe make the soloing part go faster, but it already goes so fast that who cares? Not worth a respec to me. And any damage contribution I'd make on a TF team with my personal attack powers would be basically meaningless. I'd rather take it easy and just focus on support. Half the time I don't even have my pets attack.

Never really seen the point. I can be level 12 in half an hour if I want to be, so...

Honestly if I'm using a secondary that's super passive, I might take attacks... But even then I'm more likely to take Boxing/Kick/Cross Punch since I need one of those to get into Tough and Weave anyway.

That will definitely never happen... Or at least, not if the HC admins stick to the original design at all. Because this was very much intended to work that way, so that you can't just keep toggling in and out of bodyguard mode freely.

+1 Very definitely and emphatically +1

Original animation isn't possible anymore. They can give options for animations, but they all have to be the same duration. Original Storm Kick animation was *much* longer than the current one, so is not compatible anymore.