Force Redux

I'll post mine later!

Parabruce pretty much summed it up for me as well. My main goal is to keep my pets from being annoying to groups and prevent random aggro when not attacking. Sometimes I fiddle with the Lich if I'm on necro. If I'm on bots its just 'go get 'em boys'.

I usually do not take the attacks from the primary unless I'm Demons. Then I'll take 1 or two for the debuff. I do dip into Ancillary powers however for hold or immobilize powers, but not for our damage. That's for my pets to do. Exception: I use repulsion bomb from FF because it's very good.

Dark/Ninjutsu. Dark has a great ranged attack chain that meshes quite nicely with Ninjutsu's Defense. Dark also has some good AoE options. Ninjutsu offers solid protection, stealth, speed, heal, end management, some resists, and a god mode without a crash. Thematically they also work well together too.

Love so many of these names. I while I don't have that level of wit, I am happy with a couple I came up with recently: Helen Carnate (Demons/Thermal Mastermind). A demon inhabiting the body of a jealous Hellion girlfriend who just wanted to keep tabs on her man and busted into the wrong ritual at the right time. Kung Fu Hustler (Ninja/Time Mastermind), a honky tonk con artist who got a hold of some Portal Corp technology and cut a sweet deal with a bandit clan from Song Dynasty China.

If you are just running large spawns, I'd lean toward Robots/Dark. Bots has better AoE (once you get Big Bot). But neither are bad. Bots/Time is better due to stacking Defense, IMO, but Bots or Demons/Dark will still do the job. Demons have such good resists, though, if you stack them with /Thermal they become pretty tough - add in some +DEF IOs and you can do well with them I hear. I think Dixa may use Demons/Thermal for +3 content, IIRC. Solo, either of the choices you asked about are good. Both Bots and Demons are the toughest minions. Defense for Bots, Resists for Demons. The rest is IOs, Incarnates and good playstyle. For Dark make sure to keep things debuffed and your heals Accurate. If you are caught without your /Dark powers active, such as in an ambush you don't see, you're a bit behind the 8 ball. Dark is a proactive set. I love it for my Necro. Me? I'm laid back. Bots/FF makes sure I just send them in to wipe out spawns. Probably not as quickly as /Dark or /Thermal but very safely.

I am not OP, but if you still wanna make the build it will help me a lot with mine Absolutely! Fully IOd or just a budget 50 build as you farm for Inf?

A bit of a necro post, but reply if you still need a build. I'm very familiar with /Dark, not so much with Demon, but I'll give it a shot.

Thankfully with Field Medic, Aid Other is much more enjoyable to use. With good Defense, I don't even use it that much. One day I'll get a /Cold MM going. :)

Very welcome Andayle. I tend to team with my Bots MM until I get at least two pets, and yes, it will be easier. Robotics (unlike, say, Demons or Necromancy) doesn't take off until you get the Tier 3 Assault Bot pet, as he has is the principal damage dealer (whereas, for example Necromancy does its damage with its Tier 2 Grave Knights, not the Tier 3 Lich). But you'll be just servicable with two battle drones and a protector bot. Unlike many builds, you'll find that Robotics/FF does not need a lot of recharge. You do not need to pursue lots of Luck of the Gambler IO global recharge enchancements, or set bonuses. You don't need hasten. What you have recharges easily enough (although I'd love a Defender-level 10 second recharge Pers. Force Field...but in the hands of a Mastermind that would be abusive). I held off on travel powers for a bit to get Medicine int here. For the early levels use Ninja RUn and Jump Pack (plus PFF for protection in rough neighborhoods). Mostly what you are building for are: - Personal Defense bonuses (particularly for Ranged DEF and Smashing/Lethal/Energy DEF). - Pet Defense (via some pet uniques and good slotting on your Defense powers, as well as Power Boosted shields). Your pets are much more durable than you are. You should be pretty tough yourself, and if you really want to you could push your DEF higher with some changes, but I find in many years of Bots/FF play I never needed to be THAT tough (soft-cap to S/L/E and ~ 30% Ranged seems sufficient). You can always put up PFF if you are taking too much abuse for a few seconds, heal, and then return to the fight, though your pets will be less effective while you do so). You are correct about NOT taking the attacks from Robotics. They are terrible. But as a Robotics/FF MM you will have plenty of time to assess the battlefield, use Repulsion Bomb (which is a good AoE attack, so take it), and use your Mace Powers to lock down targets. I put an Overwhelming Force proc in Assault Bot, as he 1) tends to knock down his own burn patch targets), and 2) he has a lot of attacks and is most likely to remain standing and use his atttacks to KD even when the Battle Drones can't. I used the Battle Drones to hold two more pet IOs to boost DEF. There is an empty slot in Assault Bot. You can do what you want with it. Another Pet Def/Resist IO, a +smash damage IO, whatever you like. You can make pets even more efficient by using Hami-Os or frankenslotting (which I recommend especially for the Prot Bots to squeeze extra bonuses out of them). Don't bother with attempting to complete a pet set on them unless you really want to. For the most part I avoided Set IOs except for where I thought there was immediate gain, such as Red Fortune for your DEF shields and so forth. These should be your immediate priorities. You can fill in other sets or frankenslot as you wish for the others when time and funds become available,. This build does not include Incarnates. You'll find once you get Incarnates you can fill in any gaps you want to fill to round yourself out. I took provoke for when I solo, but you could honestly put anything in there, such as a Mace attack (with rearranging level gained of course), or an attack...to bump up Ranged DEF, or whatever. That's a flex spot. Hope this helps, holler if you have any questions. I love my Bots/FF MM, its my oldest character and my most played, and I team a lot. Don't let others dictate that you are not beneficial to a team. I've never been turned down on groups, TFs, iTrials, or whatever. Yes,its an older set. Its had a few tweaks. It could use a couple more perhaps. But its solid, classic and useful. Bubbles prevent cascading defense failures, even on Incarnate-capped characters, we offer END drain resist, Toxic Resist, status protection. You have a great AoE (especially for a mastermind), and Big Bot offers a LOT of -Regen (1000%), although I'll admit that's a Robotics thing, not FF, but you have it in your arsenal. Most of all, have fun, and enjoy taking over the world (or protecting it, if you fell for Statesman's monologue!) I'm dropping the basic level 50 build (below) for you. Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Basic Bot Build: Level 50 Technology Mastermind Primary Power Set: Robotics Secondary Power Set: Force Field Power Pool: Medicine Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Presence Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Battle Drones (A) Accuracy IO (3) Accuracy IO (3) Damage Increase IO (5) Damage Increase IO (5) Edict of the Master - Defense Bonus (7) Call to Arms - Defense Bonus Aura for Pets Level 1: Force Bolt (A) Accuracy IO Level 2: Deflection Shield (A) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance (7) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge (9) Red Fortune - Endurance/Recharge (11) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (13) Red Fortune - Defense (13) Red Fortune - Endurance Level 4: Insulation Shield (A) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance (9) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge (11) Red Fortune - Endurance/Recharge (15) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (15) Red Fortune - Defense (17) Red Fortune - Endurance Level 6: Equip Robot (A) Endurance Reduction IO Level 8: Aid Other (A) Healing IO (17) Endurance Reduction IO (19) Recharge Reduction IO Level 10: Hover (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 12: Protector Bots (A) Accuracy IO (19) Damage Increase IO (21) Damage Increase IO (21) Endurance Reduction IO (23) Defense Buff IO (23) Defense Buff IO Level 14: Aid Self (A) Healing IO (25) Endurance Reduction IO (25) Recharge Reduction IO Level 16: Personal Force Field (A) Recharge Reduction IO Level 18: Field Medic (A) Endurance Reduction IO Level 20: Dispersion Bubble (A) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance (27) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge (27) Red Fortune - Endurance/Recharge (29) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (29) Red Fortune - Defense (31) Red Fortune - Endurance Level 22: Fly (A) Endurance Reduction IO Level 24: Maneuvers (A) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance (31) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge (31) Red Fortune - Endurance/Recharge (33) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (33) Red Fortune - Defense (33) Red Fortune - Endurance Level 26: Assault Bot (A) Accuracy IO (34) Damage Increase IO (34) Damage Increase IO (34) Endurance Reduction IO (36) Empty (36) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown Level 28: Tactics (A) To Hit Buff IO (36) To Hit Buff IO (37) To Hit Buff IO (37) Endurance Reduction IO (37) Endurance Reduction IO (39) Endurance Reduction IO Level 30: Provoke (A) Mocking Beratement - Taunt (39) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge (39) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge/Range (40) Mocking Beratement - Accuracy/Recharge (40) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Range (40) Mocking Beratement - Recharge Level 32: Upgrade Robot (A) Endurance Reduction IO Level 35: Repulsion Bomb (A) Accuracy IO (42) Damage Increase IO (42) Damage Increase IO (42) Endurance Reduction IO (43) Recharge Reduction IO (43) Explosive Strike - Chance for Smashing Damage Level 38: Scorpion Shield (A) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance (43) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge (46) Red Fortune - Endurance/Recharge (48) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (48) Red Fortune - Defense (48) Red Fortune - Endurance Level 41: Power Boost (A) Recharge Reduction IO (50) Recharge Reduction IO Level 44: Web Envelope (A) Trap of the Hunter - Accuracy/Recharge (45) Trap of the Hunter - Endurance/Immobilize (45) Trap of the Hunter - Accuracy/Endurance (45) Trap of the Hunter - Immobilize/Accuracy (46) Trap of the Hunter - Accuracy/Immobilize/Recharge (46) Trap of the Hunter - Chance of Damage(Lethal) Level 47: Afterburner (A) Endurance Reduction IO Level 49: Force Bubble (A) Endurance Reduction IO Level 1: Brawl (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Dash (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Slide (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Quick (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Rush (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Surge (A) Empty Level 1: Sprint (A) Empty Level 1: Supremacy Level 2: Rest (A) Empty Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift (A) Flight Speed IO Level 2: Health (A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery Level 2: Hurdle (A) Jumping IO Level 2: Stamina (A) Endurance Modification IO (50) Performance Shifter - EndMod (50) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End ------------

I will unabashedly feed your altitis... :D "Do it...roll a Necro/Dark"! (I'm guilty of recreating my Necro/Dark) (And I love it)

the -regen in bots/dark is actually small. you don't start to see a noticeable regen decrease unless you stack twilights grasp a few times. remember that -regen works exactly the same as mez resists. example - 100% mez resists will reduce the time you are mezzed by 10%. it's the same formula for -regen. so -150% regen is only a 15% nuke to regen rate. only poison trap actually shuts regen off at 1000% the -tohit buffs are doing less than you think as you ramp difficulty up. google the purple patch for more details. Very respectfully, Bots/Dark has some excellent -Regen: Howling Twilight is up every 90 seconds with basic IOs and has -500% Regen. Assault Bot has two Plasma Beam attack, each with -500% Regen that last for 30 seconds and stack. That's -1000% Regen from him. -1500% total. Not saying Traps isn't an AV killer, it is, and it's a fantastic recommendation. But Bots/Dark has had a great reputation for tackling AVs as well.

For AVs? Robots / Dark = huge amounts of -regen and debuffs from both Big Bot's plasma guns and the Dark Rez. THe -to hit also works well with Bots' defense.

The Overwhelming Force IO is free from running Summer Blockbuster. If you get another enhancemnt you can convert it to the Knockdown proc with a few enhancement converters. Read the market guides in the Guide forum for how to earn some quick Inf. Buy some pet set enhancements and use converters to get the pet Defense IOs cheap. Simply just getting a +10 Defense is quite noticable.

When you say cheap... Do you mean standards IOs,or set IOs? You can go cheap with regular level 25 IOs and a couple of the pet +Defense uniques. Also grab the Overwhelming Force KD unique for BigBot. Based on what you tell me I can post a build. Bots/FF is my favorite build for solo or teams.

Leveled to 22 tonight, *loving* this combo. Works so well together and Dark is a fantastic sentinel primary. Plus I enjoy the debuffing. Can't wait for darkest night later from Soul to combine with Dark Blast.

There is a topic or two in here on Dark/Ninjutsu. Let me be the first in this thread to recommend Ninjutsu. It's awesome. I'm 22 after a couple days and with basic slotting it's a great combo that looks and feels great. The debuffs from Dark compliment Ninjutsu very well. You have very good ST attack chain and two solid ranged AoEs, plus Blackstar as a huge debuffing pbaoe. It's the only Dark power that requires you to get close, unlike many sentinel primaries that require range dancing with AoEs. Dark also gives you a nice siphon heal that can also fit into your attack chain depending on how you slot it. Ninjutsu gives you other good tools. Solid positional defense. Plenty of room for LotGs. Some basic resistance. Good for IO unique. Stealth. Extra run speed/leaping Full mezz protection. End recovery clicky Heal clicky A no-crash God Mode I've even got room for leadership and a couple of fully slotted Patron Pool powers. Didn't need to bother with Fighting in the build. Can easily get Ranged defense to Incarnate cap, and the others to 40+ defense. I highly recommend it. :-) ((It's the ranged Dark/SR scrapper I always wanted but couldn't quite realize))

Cool, ty!

Definitely add a Touch of Lady Gray proc in the Grave Knights. No need to put full sets in pets. Framkenslot them for best effect. Just a quick 2 cents on my way to work.

Yep, put a build up on Beta server, Dark/Ninjutsu/Soul... Has everything I could want. Capped defense, stealth, complete mezz protection, end recovery, two heals, some minor resistances, extra speed for delayed travel powers, ranged attacks with -to hit, AOE KD cone, ranged AoE, solid attack chain, debuff toggle, AoE immobilize, ST hold. So adds some nice controls and debuffs on the side for grouping. Even better, was about to come up with a great costume and bio to support all that! If I get around to it I'll post a build to compare. :)

Ninja or SR? Has some synergy.

Rolled one up tonight based on your conveyed excitement, and I caught the fever! Remaking an old main into this.

Necro is a generally quiet set, with smaller pets. Pair it with Dark, Time or Cold. It's my next favorite set after bots. I want to like demons, but they are noisier than Bots. You could always play with the sound files to silence them, however.

I like your stuff! I'm keeping this in mind for when I settle on a character...

This. Exactly this.