Onlyasandwich

Happy almost New Year, Masterminds! I just polished off my latest Dom (Mind/Martial is good times) and am ready to return to MM land. I think it's high time I try on Robotics for size, and Traps is a good candidate for secondary to try on some of the MM specific reworks it got earlier this year. I've run Traps on Defenders and Controllers, but haven't used it on this side of the fence. I noticed that quite a few powers in this combo incidentally throw some stun and KD into the mix. Nice! I doubled down on that just a little bit in this build. I figure with the frequency of this popping out from Photon Grenade, the various stuns my bots spew, and Seekers, Dark Pit might actually get some useful play! I know it's not the most amazing epic power compared to highly optimized choices, but it at least has a place in the plan. As always, I'd love your experienced review and perspective! My goals: Grab stunny things and make sure they are slotted well enough to hit +3's. Do lots of knockdown while I'm at it. Softcap my bots (pretty easy to do with pad room here). Stack defense where I can get easy bonuses for my own protection, but not specifically pursuing softcap. Secondary to this, stacking any old resists across the board. Pretty vague goals I know - most of this is just "choose good things and good bonuses." I'd love to hear your power choice and slotting input, but want to highlight a few elements I'd like to keep regardless: Dark Pit is here to stay. KD proc in Photon Grenade is fun! Stuns and KD are the name of the game here, and I get to participate in the fun directly. I want to keep Detonator to at least give it a go. Same for Seeker Drones. I know not everyone likes them, but I enjoy them, they are thematic, and they serve a good purpose in this build. If anything the mule for Pet uniques is helpful. Concerns: End consumption is not great! This is inevitable when going leadership alongside fighting pool with a secondary that doesn't offer end support. That being said, I'm not spamming expensive epic attacks, and have endredux in most of my expensive clickies. If you see an easy path to improve this, excellent to share! Slow resist. I usually like to pursue this more heavily. Perhaps less of an issue with all the defense going around. Still, would be great to free up a slot for the winter travel IO. Pet Slotting. Especially Assault bot - I know he's low on acc here. My logic is that perhaps Acid Mortar, tactics, and of course supremacy will be enough to bridge the gap where it counts. Do you think this is silly? I had him with more acc, but wanted to squeeze in the KB to KD proc. Is Missile Swarm that much of a bother without it? Perhaps I could drop the Overwhelming force if my fears are misplaced about how much the KB might disrupt. Other tricks to optimize Bot pet slotting. It looks like the Smashing proc is good value in Assault bot and Battle drones. Do you bother with additional Defense slotting in Protector Bots? A travel power would be nice. I don't really care that much these days unless theme demands it though. If I found Dark Pit truly and absolutely useless, I could definitely drop it, pick up a travel power, and use those slots to feed the issues above, though I'd lose the nice set purple bonuses. Triage beacon is another possible drop. It's decent, but in other Traps characters I almost always have something better to do. Upgrade Robot - do you bother to max out healing Enhancement? Looks like the heal is on a pretty long cooldown, so not worth big investment. If you see an easy path to softcap for an important vector (S/L, maybe ranged) without sacrificing the build's goals, that would be strong as well. Detonator. I understand it inherits the enhancement of the Pet you use it on. I don't see any updates that indicate this is no longer the case, but am I wrong? What is your experience with it post revamp? Soul Consumption. I'm already invested in the epic, and have a few potential swaps to grab it. It looks pretty useless given the gigantic recharge. Am I missing something? This seems like a real dud. Build: Mastermind (Robotics - Traps).mbd Pic: Text:

This was my strategy! Your thoughts regarding AVs are correct though. A dom needs a thicker layer of beef if they plan to solo AVs. On a team, the damage optimized strategy that relies more on controls will be more effective. My build hasn't been updated in a little while, but I don't see much I would change! I love my Plant/fire dom - one of my favorite fellows. Squeezing in Experimentation would be a little bit tricky, but here is my build for comparison: Dominator - Plant Control - Fiery Assault mk2.mbd I like that everything can contribute good damage here, including the controls. No matter what you do, consider the Carrion Creepers slotting in this build. This power is an absolute monster when procced out with targeted aoe.

It can be a decently workable combo on a brute. I like my psi/regen Brute quite a lot - here he is for comparison. Brute - Psionic Melee - Regeneration mk2.mbd The big strategy on melee regen is to pump recharge and rotate strong clicky steroids. In-set you have Instant healing and MoG. Out of set Rune of protection and Unleash Potential are good targets. My brute chose Unleash. Especially inspired folks may go for the accolade and rotate Demonic as well. Unfortunately Stalkers get the worst version of an already problematic set. It's not a terrible downgrade, but swapping Quick Recovery for Hide is not ideal. I wish they had rolled in at least some portion of the extra recovery into Fast Healing. Stalkers also have the lowest HP of all the options, so benefit the least from regeneration.

They're both super excellent, top tier sets. Fire edges out in damage both ST and aoe - especially in aoe due to the excellence of fireball. Ice has nothing equivalent. Ice can get pretty close in single target if you are comfortable leaning in to procs. The big differentiators on Ice are Blizzard as @Uncle Shags mentioned, and Freeze Ray. Blizzard is great in super overpull situations where chaos reigns. In this scenario, the damage from extra duration isn't wasted, and the control and heavy debuff elements are appreciated. The ability to place it out of line of site can also be useful for certain engagements. Freeze Ray is broken! It is one of the powers that least adheres to the power budget standards the team has set. It's not just about the amazing proccability - it is mega fast to animate and does solid base damage. Even if you don't proc much, I encourage you to at least put the purple hold proc in it. It's begging for frankenslotting with proc optimization though.

Although you can proc bomb it with hold procs, I don't find this very worthwhile. The recharge is so long that you won't be adding much to your total damage, even if the burst is decent. I prefer to mule a set that benefits my build goals, hits enough accuracy, and gives at least modest recharge. Typically that's either 5 slot unbreakable or 4 slot basilisk.

I definitely understand the basic effect in game of the power itself. I just don't understand the entities and specific behind the scenes mechanics that get it there. Knowing the way these effects are actually executed can help us anticipate how procs work (or not) in it beyond combat parses. It's also interesting to see the creative ways the devs bend these tools to their will. 🙂

I'm glad to hear some folks have had success with %damage procs here! I was just inferring what I could from the CoD info, which is a bit hard to parse on this one. I don't see any reference to a pseudopet in CoD, which is weird if it actually shows under pet damage when %damage procs trigger. It does show some direct damage (18 damage after .5s) so I guess this is what is triggering the procs? It's a bit odd though - I'm not sure that it's actually doing damage like a damage aura. The effect as I understand it is a chance of bonus damage triggered when an affected mob is attacked. In short, I have no idea how it is actually working behind the scenes. The "shifting tides" power that it points to for the enemy effect has them "set mode (shifting tides)" which triggers the proc event for the shifting tides damage upon the next click attack. However, I don't know where to get CoD info on this "mode" and what it actually does in detail. I wonder if @Bopper or others might have some insight into how it functions.

Please hide this in a spoiler if you would.

Just wanted to say - this suggestion was a real win! Spinning kick isn't fiddly at all. It's sneakily good, and if anything less fiddly than a regular cone. I can get a feel for it and visualize where it will hit, and line things up more naturally rather than basing it on a targeted mob. Between this and Trick shot, I'm really liking the aoe attacks that double as solid ST attacks. Neither of them are fireball, but it makes for really lean power management, and feels great in practice.

I'm pretty sure damage procs won't work at all here. This is because isn't doing direct targeted aoe damage itself, and it doesn't summon any entities that use a targeted aoe power. Therefore targeted aoe procs just won't go off. Instead, it uses the single target power "shifting tides" referenced here in CoD. Now, I'm not 100% certain how it is applied (autohit, accuracy check? I don't see any autohit flags so think it may actually appreciate acc) but it is a single target effect. I would assume that it properly inherits the ED you put into it, as otherwise slotting for damage would be pointless. However, proc mechanics require that a power of the matching type exist for them to trigger. In this case, Shifting Tides is a targeted aoe from a slotting perspective only - I guess it's just the closest thing they figured that makes sense for sets, even though it isn't one in technical terms.

If one is of a more defensive slant, you could even add the Ragnarok KD proc! I'll often do this on my tankers when I have slots to spare. Adding 72% chance for KD to a 16 target power is probably more mitigation than any absorb or mag 3 hold.

Yeah - I like storm blast best on sentinels for this reason. At least there you can really focus on the blasts and nothing else. Both of these combos have a lot of thematic possibility! Could be the ghostly survivor of a ship that burned in the ocean - I like it. Dark could even come off as a little bit "evil storm" with the right tint. The main functional advantage fire would have is the lack of reliance on cones. Marine really wants to splash in wist Whitecap asap to get the frenzy and debuffs going, and fire can just sort of do that without caring about positioning. Still, Dark can always do its normal setup and follow up with the splash-in. Even with the extra end consumption of Shifting tides to account for, I think Fire/ would work out okay though. Between Toroidial, a perf shifter popped into Toroidal, and extra support from Power of the depths, you have a very solid package to make up for your expensive toggles.

I assumed some of your goals based on the initial build and threw together an example of what it what my suggestions might look like in action. Assumptions: You value defense. You are minimizing cost (I did include a single purple proc, but easily subbed for another). The Gladiator sets are probably the biggest indulgence otherwise. You value these things over maximizing proc potential in powers. Notable changes: Softcap ranged defense. Vastly improved resistances. Better end sustainability, including the extra perf shifter in bubble. Better in combat maneuverability. (Hover+Evasive is an absolute dream). I did sneak a little procciness into Chain lightning. It's not an actual chain power, so works well for it. A little more KB protection. You could swap the Winter travel unique for a bit more. Drop in the bucket here on slow res since I didn't grab Winter IOs otherwise. If I were going all out on my own preference, I would probably sacrifice defense goals altogether and go to proc city. That's me though, and not everyone's thing. Building chunky defense does make for a smoother solo experience. Build: Corruptor (Storm Blast - Marine Affinity).mbd Chunk: Text: Pic:

Glad to see you back, @Carnifax! The 38% total does appear to be correct. My mids is behaving. Is this specifically a budget build? I see that outside of the ATO's, no purples or Winter sets are included. I think it's a very solid baseline build. I agree that Shoal Rush is an easy skip though - Whitecap gets the frenzy moving anyhow. You could easily swap for a defense IO mule like vengeance, or even a minimally slotted epic pet for fun. Ideally, I'd stack an epic with a resist armor rather than S/L defense. This helps you capitalize on the resistance provided by Toroidal Bubble. Still, hitting high ranged/S/L is not a bad goal for sure, and you may be married to Ice for other reasons like theme, which is fine. You are missing the resist uniques though. They are of particular value given the aforementioned bubble resists. I really like @Auroxis's mention of putting the ATO +end proc in Shifting tides - that's pretty neat! I think you'll be okay on end either way with this build though. The Perf shifter proc in Toroidal is useful as well if you find yourself running short. I see you are tight on slots there, but perhaps could shift things around if it becomes a priority. Shifting Tides does need some accuracy slotting though. From what I understand, the damage bonus procs it generates rely on local accuracy here. I'm not entirely clear on the effect though, so it may warrant review. CoD directs it to this power for the proc component, which has a 1.0 accuracy. The power itself doesn't take acc natively according to mids, but of course can include sets that have it. Super unclear on this one behind the scenes.

At very low levels defenders get their big buffs online sooner. Low level controllers still struggle with damage and a useful control rotation. Not nearly as much a deal these days with the level requirements decreased on powers. At higher levels a single controller can more consistently provide safety to themselves and a team than a single defender, and are now contributing meaningful damage. If you are optimizing for the perfect team there is higher potential choosing the right defenders. Both are so powerful if stacking a lot on a team that the difference hardly matters.

In all honestly I don't use my ST confuses that often, but pick them more often than not when available. Reasons: Low level play where I don't have good aoe controls to rotate. Farting around with buff mobs. (not always optimal, but fun) Just farting around, regardless of buff mobs. Sometimes it's fun to watch a boss murder his buddies and take a nap myself. Challenging content that I can't otherwise overcome. In the worst case, stepping back to set up some confuses before engagement (no aggro for mind!) can let you pull of some wonderful stuff. Theoretically helpful on some starred content. I don't play much of this though. A place for coercive persuasion if I'm not going for Psi epic. I don't always (or even often) go for softcap on most characters these days, but even hitting a middle ground 30ish ranged defense can be meaningful.

I typically take them because: Hold sets are really nice (4 slot Basilisk if anything). They provide a really nice backup plan if your primary controls aren't cutting it. Good for big adds, or situations where the team is just moving super fast.

First just pick something that sounds neat. Being excited about the fantasy of what you are playing is an important part of making the experience interesting. I'm not saying you have to have some sort of heavy RP lore, but a a fun theme that marries costume to powerset goes a long way. Every AT is pretty newbie friendly these days. Masterminds are a bit hard to enjoy without a little knowledge of keybinds though. If you go that path, consider looking at the beginner guides in the MM forum for some setup advice. I wouldn't overplan your first build. Just stick with the basics and be aware of Enhancement diversification caps. If you're a natural planner, it can't hurt to pick around the forums at some example builds with whatever sets you choose, but don't feel like you need to copy them directly. Once you have some cash to play with, you can decide whether you want to invest it into researching and crafting a more focused build.

I put together a quick version of how I'd approach this combo. It definitely isn't 100% optimized, but is more or less where I'd go. Some notable changes: All your aoes do much more damage now. I chose a defense type to focus on (ranged defense). I didn't hit softcap, but achieved a meaningful number that is one small purple away from softcap, and will easily softcap in many teams with outside buffs. I generally prefer a ranged defense focus on blasters even if going into melee. Your controls will go a long way towards keeping melee at bey, and Drain Psyche is very powerful as well of course. More optimal ST attacks, all with higher damage now to boot. Force Feedback is in both your aoe and ST chains, allowing it to benefit you in all situations. Note that I have procs disabled in the FFBack powers to more accurately review global totals. Some extra fun powers like Rise of the Phoenix and Melt armor added to the mix. Lower end consumption. Lots of Knockback protection (easy to get on the way to low hanging ranged defense bonuses) Higher global recharge. S/L resist is a fair bit lower. However, you should find that the controls in your attacks bridge the gap nicely for most mobs. Getting a Juicy Drain Psyche also solves most survival issues. Blaster (Psychic Blast - Mental Manipulation).mbd

There is much I would do different in a ground up build, but I'll provide some general thoughts: Skipping TK blast and Scramble minds isn't great. These are some of the premier powers in the set. TK blast is outstanding DPA with good control, and Scramble is solid aoe damage with a really excellent control effect. Likewise with TK Thrust. Psionic Tornado, if chosen, should be slotted as an attack. Weave is way overslotted. Procs aren't very useful in Bonfire. The build overall lacks focus. You have invested heavily into 6 slots of some sets, but those final bonuses aren't really stacking towards anything meaningful. For example, the full avalanche set can be useful if you are building towards melee softcap, but you aren't focused there.

Well dang that does look pretty nice. I'll mess around on test and figure things out 🙂. If I take it back, the question becomes - Contagious Confusion proc in Confuse or in WoC? Confuse is typically a tool I find myself using more often at lower levels, and the passive nature of WoC is nice. I don't know - no perfect answers here! I may just keep my current version that chooses Phase Shift instead. Edit: For anyone that may be interested - here's what I settled on. Dominator (Mind Control - Martial Assault) levitate version w unleash.mbd I dropped a little slow res to better optimize DT procs, and picked up some extra end support along the way with my new slotting there. Nice to save money on cheaper pieces too. Spinning Kick is in, Psi Nado is out. Phase Shift is my final one slot wonder. Phase Shift is awesome, and I don't often find myself in a place where I can grab it easily. In the worst case, I can go into phase and wait for a big control to come off recharge. Sure I could do more or less the same with the START power Ethereal shift, but it feels better to truly have it in my kit.

Thanks for your further input, Wimbochismo! I'm liking the Spinning Kick swap (dropping Psi nado) more and more. It helps fill in the ST rotation with less reliance on Levitate, and keeps FFback running in ST as well. Levitate is still decent filler with a nice alternate use all the while. In normal play, I'm okay with a less than seamless ST rotation. A decent amount of time is taken re-applying controls and repositioning after all! The only thing I would potentially improve from here I think would be finding a way to work end support back into Health/stamina. We'll see how it drives once put together - may not be a problem. Finding a slot of the PM proc would be nice too, but I think I'm eating at the bones on spare slots from here. I cooooould drop indom will and lose a lotg, swapping in Misdirection. I've never played with it before. 7.5% global recharge versus 12.75 aoe -res every ~70ish seconds. Sort of interesting to play with! The Placate is whatever with Mass Hyp already in my pocket, but it may be neat. Phase Shift is another possibility. The ultimate back-up plan!

Agreed! I just had it in there for funsies. Even on such a confuse heavy build, it's not likely to provide much benefit with its short duration and low chance to proc. Axing it also frees up a little end consumption. I did find something useful to mule in by dropping it! Grant Invis is whatever, but muling my +res unique frees up a slot, giving me juice for extra damage and slow resist in Levitate. I typically choose Mesmerize somewhere along the way for my controllers (and sometimes tanks in the APP) for the reason you share here. However, with Perma-dom, Mass Hypnosis ends up serving the same purpose on a pretty short cooldown. I'm liking the Levitate sub for Explosive more and more. With my current slotting, Levitate does the same DPA as Explosive, with the added benefit of the aoe combo when using TK. At worst I think it's an even trade, and lets me play with one of Mind's newer fun tricks. I do wish Explosive were more convincing - the animation is really nice. If it were a 1 sec animation, did like 20% more damage, or had a more substantial aoe portion, it would be a tougher choice. Thank you for the perspective on Spinning Kick as well! I think I'll give it a try on the way up and see how I like it. Proccing it out how I want will likely involve sacrificing some more slow resist, and potentially a FFback though. The balance may end up in favor of nado, but we'll see. It's up in less than 15 seconds with my recharge, and closer to 10 with FFback firing. Latest version: Dominator (Mind Control - Martial Assault) levitate version w unleash.mbd Swapping Psi nado for Spinning kick: Dominator (Mind Control - Martial Assault) levitate version w unleash w spin.mbd Spinning Kick wouldn't be entirely out of place in my ST chain given its higher DPA, and introduces FFback there as well, so that's worth considering. On my other build, it would be silly to spam DT or Nado on an AV. Psi nado has a massively larger area and target count though. There is something to be said for the feel of snappy kicks! Historically Psi nado, though effective, doesn't always feel great to me. I do lose some damage in Dragon's tail, as I have to use a less optimal Winter ATO to save it for Spinning Kick.

I continue to tool around with this, and have an alternate build I'm considering. Not sure what I like best! Dominator (Mind Control - Martial Assault) levitate version w unleash.mbd Here I dropped Combat TP (sadness), Fly, and Evasive in favor of grabbing Unleash Potential. Hover swapped for Stealth. I also dropped Explosive Shuriken in favor of Levitate. Advantages: Levitate fits into my opener, giving me a reliable aoe soft control to keep myself safe at the intro as I follow up on Terrify. As a ST filler, it's slightly less DPA than Explosive Shuriken, but has a strong control element and is available at lower levels. Should be minimal usage in rotation at high levels. I could juice its damage ~40 more with more ED, which actually makes it stronger DPA that Explosive, but value the resist spread. Unleash lets me hit softcap on ranged defense some of the time, and benefits from the high global recharge and FFback present in the build. With this, I can handle spawns by rotating Mass Confusion, Total Dom, and Unleash, giving me a more sustainable strategy for mob groups where my soft controls aren't enough. Stealth is thematic and sometimes useful when stacked with the celerity +stealth in sprint. Disadvantages: No Combat TP! I love combat TP. However, jousting in with Combat Jumping should be just fine. I ate my extra end support slots in Health/stamina to slot out Unleash. This puts me at 2.18/sec positive if you account for average performance shifter and Panacea procs. Domination refills should bridge the gap for the most part, but timing won't always work to rely on this, and the procs are great on average, but may hit some dry streaks. I'm hoping that dom refills alongside the higher recovery from Unleash windows will be enough. A bit less slow resistance in favor of optimal levitate slotting. If I could somehow steal 3 slots without sacrificing anything important, I could plug up all these concerns. What approach would you take with these goals?

The defense bonus from evasive maneuvers goes away once you attack. If it kept the defense bonus it would be the best pool power in the game by a longshot! It's a great power to increase flight maneuverability, and act as an extra long mule.