Wolf-only Beasts/Thermal/Mu (K9 cop): is this viable?

[Bastille Boy]

I have a concept for a mastermind that is a K9 cop for the Rogue Isles Police. His "wolves" are actually Siberian huskies. His warm temperament makes his dogs, his allies, and people in his custody feel safe. To anyone violently resisting his authority, his temper can turn hot. He carries a technologically advanced stun gun.

 

There are a lot of powers I've skipped for thematic reasons. It would be odd for a police officer to have tame lions, and it would be very odd for him to summon birds to attack people in the style of a Hitchcock movie. Emotional energy is powerful, but it can't resurrect people. Taking Mu Mastery rather than Chill Mastery so the cop could have a stun gun dictated a lot of choices.

 

Within those constraints, I've designed the build primarily for smashing/lethal defense. I didn't get to the soft cap, but I did get up to 42%. Melee defense is softcapped, and S/L resistance is hardcapped. To get there, I had to do some pretty weird things, like skipping Hasten and six-slotting Boxing as a set mule.

 

Is this build going to be playable in the late game, or have I made this toon ridiculously weak by skipping the lions and taking Mu instead of Chill, which (as far as I can tell) necessitates skipping Hasten if I want to get anywhere near the S/L softcap? I could add lions to the build, cook up some story to justify them, and leave out Tactics. I'd probably take the enhancements slots from Forge and give the lions Superior Command of the Mastermind. If I gave up on the stun gun and replaced Mu with Chill, I'd have to rethink the build completely.

 

Edit / update: I think I have to take lions at least while I'm leveling up. I've put Tranquilizer Dart in my tray so that I have a second (minor) direct attack. Removed earlier comment about dogs attacking doors; I'm still learning how MM controls work.

 

Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Pavlovich: Level 50 Science Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Beast Mastery
Secondary Power Set: Thermal Radiation
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Summon Wolves -- SvrRgh-Acc/Dmg(A), SvrRgh-Dmg/EndRdx(3), SvrRgh-Acc/EndRdx(3), SvrRgh-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), SvrRgh-Acc(5), SvrRgh-PetResDam(7)
Level 1: Warmth -- NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(A), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg(11), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(37)
Level 2: Fire Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(7), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(9), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(9)
Level 4: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 6: Train Beasts -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Combat Jumping -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(43), LucoftheG-Def(46)
Level 10: Cauterize -- NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(A), NmnCnv-Heal(11), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(21)
Level 12: Plasma Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(13), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(13), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(15)
Level 14: Boxing -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(23), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(25), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(34), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(48)
Level 16: Tough -- TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(A), TtnCtn-EndRdx/Rchg(17), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg(17), TtnCtn-ResDam(19), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(39), TtnCtn-EndRdx(50)
Level 18: Fortify Pack -- DefBuff-I(A), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 20: Weave -- RedFrt-Def/Rchg(A), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(21), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(36), RedFrt-Def(36), RedFrt-EndRdx(36), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(37)
Level 22: Thaw -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(23)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-EndRdx/Rchg(25), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(39), RedFrt-Def(40), RedFrt-Def/Rchg(40), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(40)
Level 26: Summon Dire Wolf -- SprMarofS-Dmg(A), SprMarofS-Dmg/EndRdx(27), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg(27), SprMarofS-Acc/EndRdx(29), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen(31)
Level 28: Forge -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(31), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(31), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(33), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(33), GssSynFr--Build%(33)
Level 30: Stealth -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(43), LucoftheG-EndRdx/Rchg(43), LucoftheG-Def(46), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(50)
Level 32: Tame Beasts -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 35: Heat Exhaustion -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 38: Melt Armor -- DefDeb-I(A), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 41: Charged Armor -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(42), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(42), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(42)
Level 44: Electrifying Fences -- EnfOpr-Acc/Rchg(A), EnfOpr-EndRdx/Immob(45), EnfOpr-Acc/EndRdx(45), EnfOpr-Immob/Rng(45), EnfOpr-Acc/Immob/Rchg(46), EnfOpr-Acc/Immob(50)
Level 47: Electric Shackles -- Lck-%Hold(A), Lck-Acc/Hold(48), Lck-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(48)
Level 49: Tactics -- ToHit-I(A)
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 -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Heal(15)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(19)
Level 1: Alpha Howler Wolf
Level 1: Howler Wolf
Level 1: Pack Mentality
Level 26: Dire Wolf
------------

 

 

Edited December 21, 2019 by ejworthing

[plainguy]

Here  is a link my builds to help you out. 

As I have everything I post there I can tell you first hand what works or does not.

 

Big issues leveling up semi petless

• Can get you kicked from teams. 
• Endurance drain is massive. 
  • Your attack powers are double endurance of everyone else and it matters. 
    • In your instance it doesn't matter as you are not taking them which will be even more painful for you and even more obvious leveling up.

Here is the though process on this in a nutshell

Real Life Reality

• Defense capped full pet mastermind can clear a 3/8 mission in 10 minutes. 
• A Petless or Semi Petless  takes  15 minutes or even less. 

Other player perception

• Defense capped full pet mastermind can clear a 3/8 mission in 10 minutes. 
• A Petless or Semi Petless  takes  15 HOURS or its just impossible.

Mind you the players making these judgement calls probably themselves have never run a mission on 3/8 to 4/8 setting or even have any IO toon themselves ( or at least not correctly IOed ).

 

In my thread I have  Beast Trick Arrow build which is literally doing 4/8. 

My concept is God of the Wild Hunt with his giant wolf running around.

But my issue was I had  nothing to light up Oil Slick reliably.  I put up a suggestion in the suggestion forum and a bug in the bug forum for what was discovered.

End result I had to rework the build. 

 

These types of build are either builds you are going to Power level to 50 because you will need incarnates for the endurance issues.

IF your using the primary attacks you will notice the endurance is double from any other archtype using the same attack.  This adds up..

Unless Masterminds in general have an endurance increase on all attacks from any power pool ( EG fighting pool, Mystic pool ) and I just wasn't paying attention.

 

Back in the day before  I could PL myself I would have a secondary SO build I would run the incarnates with and then use the resources with my primary Petless/Semi Petless build. No one had zero clue as no one is looking at IO set builds and no one has a clue by looking at IO set verbiage where you stand with bonuses either.  That of course holds even more true today. 

 

Today I PL myself to 50, use the money obtained leveling to IO the toon in question and then pull some more from other regular toons. EG Merits for doing converters ETC.. 

 

So my point is you might have level to 50 one way and use your secondary build at 50 to get what you want. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bastille Boy]

Thanks, plainguy. I clearly need the lions at this stage of the game (the toon is at level 23 now). Your post makes me think that I might want to keep the lions at level 50, and possibly create a secondary dog-only build. (Of course I could always just run missions without summoning the lions!)

 

I will clearly benefit from endurance-related Incarnate powers...but that is a long time away.

 

I guess my big remaining question about this build is whether it's viable to take Mu as an ancillary power pool, to get defense from four regular power pools, and to skip Hasten. I'm sacrificing some buffing / debuffing power in exchange for thematic consistency and high S/L/E resistance.

 

 

[Riverdusk]

I'd be amazed if anyone in a teaming situation would care if you used lions or not.  More likely they'd be grateful for 2 less pets in the way, as long as you are also using your secondary.  I don't think they'd really notice what epic pool you use either.  When I team I sometimes don't use my tier 1 pets and no one has ever said a word.

 

For solo it is all a matter of perspective.   It'd be slower, but up to you if it is too slow.  Once you get the big wolf I'd try it with just the dogs and see how it feels.