Beginners Advise & Marcos/Binds Help

[Rooster Gold]

So both my daughter and son picked masterminds and want me to Mids build and AE them to 50.

 

The boy wants Demons/Dark and the girl wants Wolf pets/???

 

Here's my issue:

 

Ive never played a Mastermind 😰

 

I leveled my sons toon and tried doing its patron arc.

I could not figure out how to use the character (at all) so used my tank to get the patron powers unlocked for him instead.

During live I may have rolled a petless (since pets bewilder me) and deleted it shortly after.

 

I don't want my kids to hate this power-set and as a result, the game in general. I tried to convince them to roll a Sentinel or something simple but they weren't having it.

 

 

1. Is there any must have binds/marcos they need?

 

2. Any 1st time player tips they should be informed of?

 

3. What if anything goes well with wolf pet (looks up name) Beast Mastery.

 

4. Is this build viable. I was aiming for a Tankermind +HP/AutoHaste/Positional Defense..... I missed the Defence softcap by a long run, and have no clue if I slotted the pets correctly.

 

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!

Hell Bent: Level 50 Magic Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Demon Summoning
Secondary Power Set: Dark Miasma
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Summon Demonlings -- ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(11), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(13)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- Prv-Absorb%(A), Prv-Heal(7), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(7), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(9), Prv-Heal/Rchg(9), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(11)
Level 2: Corruption -- Apc-Dam%(A), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(3), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), Apc-Acc/Rchg(5), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(5)
Level 4: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(17), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(19), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(19), WntGif-ResSlow(33), WntGif-RunSpd/Jump/Fly/Rng/EndRdx(40)
Level 6: Enchant Demon -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(21), BlsoftheZ-Travel(21)
Level 10: Darkest Night -- CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-Acc/Rchg(23), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(23), CldSns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(25), CldSns-ToHitDeb(25), CldSns-%Dam(27)
Level 12: Summon Demons -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(27), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(29), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), SvrRgh-PetResDam(31)
Level 14: Afterburner -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 16: Shadow Fall -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(31), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(31), ShlWal-Def(33)
Level 18: Hell on Earth -- SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprCmmoft-Rchg/PetAoEDef(34)
Level 20: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 22: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A)
Level 24: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(36)
Level 26: Summon Demon Prince -- CaltoArm-+Def(Pets)(A), EdcoftheM-PetDef(36), SprMarofS-Dmg/EndRdx(37), SprMarofS-Acc/EndRdx(37), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37), SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen(39)
Level 28: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(39), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(39), ShlWal-Def(40)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(40)
Level 32: Abyssal Empowerment -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 35: Charged Armor -- Ags-Psi/Status(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(42), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(42), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Ags-ResDam(43)
Level 38: Tar Patch -- ImpSwf-Dam%(A)
Level 41: Howling Twilight -- SprFrzBls-Rchg/ImmobProc(A), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(43), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(45)
Level 44: Dark Servant -- CldSns-ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(45), CldSns-Acc/Rchg(46), CldSns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(46), CldSns-%Dam(46), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 47: Tactics -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), GssSynFr--ToHit(48), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(48), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(48), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(50), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Qck-EndRdx/RunSpd(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Qck-EndRdx/RunSpd(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Qck-EndRdx/RunSpd(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Qck-EndRdx/RunSpd(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Qck-EndRdx/RunSpd(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 1: Supremacy
Level 2: Rest -- IntRdx-I(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(15), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(15)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(17)
Level 2: Cold Demonling
Level 2: Fiery Demonling
Level 2: Hellfire Demonling
Level 12: Ember Demon
Level 12: Hellfire Gargoyle
Level 26: Demon Prince
------------

 

 

[plainguy]

Here is the issue with Dark the set does not allow you to build for defense cap like for example Traps does.  

But I contradicting myself ATM as well I think I might have posted a Typed defense cap build for Dark a bit further down.

 

I will repost when I am home and can look up my mid builds

Otherwise I think the best you will do with dark is range defense cap and then get aoe and melee to mid 20s and then have to rely on Darkest night and the anchor staying alive last to get you defense capped.

 

Beast Traps will get her defense capped.

It is also a melee centric secondary which works well with Beast as Beast is melee.

 

The minor issue with Traps is it is more stationary. So on a fast pace team Trip mine might be useless.  But it also allows you to pull groups and deal with them for yourself solo.  

 

Dumb concern but with IO's being defense capped, though Traps is more stationary it has more suvivability. You could literally just use traps with no pets if it got that bad in a pull. 

 

So my concern is this gonna create static between them. 

 

EG Demon Dark might be zipping around but dying much more then the Beast Traps.  Its like the tortoise and the hare thing.

 

Beast Kin will work but again not knowing the kids the pets zipping around  especially in a cave could cause some motion sickness. 

Yes retarded but I've had it occur to me. 

But again similar issue with defenses, but if they worked on a team it would work well for them between the debuffs of dark and the buffs of Kin..  

 

I also have a bunch of petless and semi petless builds in my thread if TOO MANY pets is too much for them..  Can use them as a secondary build. But they do require to be PL to 50 and do need incarnates sometimes due to endurance issues. But they are defense capped running 3/8 and some at 4/8. 

 

But again I'm just overthinking because of the kids. I will post builds when I'm home.

[plainguy]

 

 

[Redlynne]

7 hours ago, Rooster Gold said:

So both my daughter and son picked masterminds and want me to Mids build and AE them to 50.

/em chuckle

Of course they do ...

 

 

7 hours ago, Rooster Gold said:

The boy wants Demons/Dark and the girl wants Wolf pets/???

Demons/Dark is VERY ... boy ... 🤣

 

However, for Beast Mastery, I would honestly recommend picking Nature Affinity as the secondary, and not because "girls have to be healers" or some other nonsense, but simply because the combination is POWERFUL and has some pretty serious synergies attached to it.  I'll refer you to THIS THREAD started by @SmalltalkJava on the subject to give you not only a sense of possibilities but also synergies and things to think about (along with an evolution of builds that ought to help you tremendously).  I even took what @SmalltalkJava was doing with Beast/Nature and applied it to my Mind/Nature/Primal ... Mind Over Vegetable(s) build simply because the work that @SmalltalkJava had been doing in his thread was simply THAT GOOD, so you might want to look at that build too for ideas on how to leverage Nature Affinity most effectively/powerfully.

 

I personally recommend taking all three of the Mastermind personal attacks, for reasons to be found in my Ninja/Time/Mace ... "It's A BOW Time" build posted in these forums because of the serious synergies I found (and, let's be honest, enjoyment of playing the character amplification/magnification/multiplication by having attacks of my own instead of just letting my Ninjas "do all the work" while I could only just watch them).

 

 

7 hours ago, Rooster Gold said:

Here's my issue:

 

Ive never played a Mastermind 😰

 

I leveled my sons toon and tried doing its patron arc.

I could not figure out how to use the character (at all) so used my tank to get the patron powers unlocked for him instead.

During live I may have rolled a petless (since pets bewilder me) and deleted it shortly after.

 

I don't want my kids to hate this power-set and as a result, the game in general. I tried to convince them to roll a Sentinel or something simple but they weren't having it.

 

 

1. Is there any must have binds/marcos they need?

It's okay.  Not everyone has played (or likes to play) a Mastermind.  What makes Masterminds tick/sing/awesome is the sense of "directing traffic" and it can be an empowering feeling.  The closest analogy I can think of is playing the supporting role on a Team ... except that you "always bring your own team" even when you're playing solo.  There's a perception and "mode of thinking" you need to have in order to play a Mastermind to the fullest possible extent.

 

Now, the BIGGEST difference between hating (or even just not understanding) how to play a Mastermind ... and LOVING to play a Mastermind ... is going to be the CONTROL SCHEME you use to command and "direct traffic" with such that you're playing on multiple levels at the same time.  You're not just thinking tactically, from moment to moment, you're also needing to think strategically, BEYOND what's happening at any particular instant in time.  You need to have a heightened sense of situational awareness of your surroundings (because Mastermind play CAN get somewhat chaotic at times so it's easy to get overwhelmed if you're not accustomed to it) AND you need to have easy/quick/reliable ways to issue commands to your Pets so that they respond to your wishes and orders.  Without a control scheme for commanding your Pets, you're essentially a spectator to all of the action happening around you, which is rarely satisfying as a Player.  So you need to work out a way to be able to corral/command/direct your Pets in a way that becomes intuitive ... and that control scheme is something that doesn't come "pre-built" for you with the Archetype.

 

This is where keybinds come in ... or more to the point, a whole slew of bindloadfiles that contain the necessary command and control scheme that enables the necessary UI inputs to control/wrangle your Pets and make the experience of playing a Mastermind something that is enjoyable (and challenging!) rather than just drudgery or near impossible to manipulate in a timely fashion like you can with other Archetypes.  However, since the creation of the overwriting/overriding Control Scheme for Pets is something that is SO DESPERATELY NEEDED for the Archetype to be playable (and fun to play!) there have been a few methods developed over the years for "standardizing" how to formulate the necessary bindloadfiles.  Spoiler alert ... I myself use a collection of TEN bindloadfiles to organize the necessary "threads of possibilities" needed to issue commands to my Ninja Pets either in total, by selective groups, or even individually.  If you want to use those as a starting point for the bindloadfiles you'll need to develop for your boy and girl, they can be found HERE.

 

Yes ... it's "a project" to work up a set of bindloadfiles (and then proof them in actual gameplay because typos will wreck things for you) so as to "perfect" them for use.  It took me a few DAYS (and multiple rewrites) to get my set of bindloadfiles into the shape you see them in, and one of the considerations I had to allow for was the simple ergonomics of my keyboard and mouse setup so that I didn't wind up with a control scheme that "conflicted" with any of the other characters and archetypes I'd play as alts.  In the end, I'm happier with the result (once I trained myself to it, and yes there is a period of adaptation and memorization involved) than if I'd been using the more "standard" method of setting up keybinds for the NUMPAD to the right of the keyboard (mainly because my game client doesn't recognize the NUMPAD keys as being legitimate keybinds, so I had to work around that handicap).

 

 

 

But this is the thing you NEED to know, especially as a newbie to playing (or just leveling) Masterminds.

 

You NEED a well defined CONTROL SCHEME for managing/commanding the Mastermind's Pets in a way that doesn't frustrate you and which is responsive to Player inputs.  That basically means you need keybinds and/or macros to achieve that.  If you want those keybinds to be "flexible enough" to shift depending on context (all Pets instead of selected Pets or an individual Pet) then you're going to essentially have to resort to a bindloadfile scheme of some sort in order to achieve that outcome.

 

Yes it's annoying to have to do all that setup/testing in order to get it to work ... but the results you get from doing that is Night vs Day.

It's the difference between having fun playing a Mastermind ... and being annoyed/bored/unsatisfied at playing a Mastermind.

 

 

 

So ... are there must have binds/macros they need?

YES!

You'll almost certainly need to do some amount of customization of whatever control scheme you settle upon, if only to "address" the different primary powersets correctly, but once you've got a control scheme built for one Mastermind you can adapt that scheme to another (and another and another).  Getting the STRUCTURE of the control scheme right is the hard part ... after that it's just details and "gravy" (so to speak).

 

In fact, I would even go so far as to say that having a Control Scheme for a Mastermind is just as important (if not more important!) than having a build plan that you can load up into a build planner to decide what powers you're going to take and what slots you're going to pick and what enhancements you want to fill those slots with.  The Control Scheme is the difference between a well played Mastermind and a Mastermind who can't "do" anything in a timely fashion while chaos erupts around them (at the slightest provocation).  If you can't "control" your Pets then you can't control MOST of what your Mastermind "does" ... and that's bad.

 

 

 

If you'd like to look at other Mastermind keybinds for alternative Control Schemes aside from the one that I use (which is not as common as some other schemes) you can find more information here ... LINK ... if you want to really dive head first into the deep end of this.  It might start out being "all greek to me" when you first look at it, but there are ... patterns ... involved in the bindloadfiles and once you recognize those patterns you'll be well on your way to figuring out how to write the necessary bindloadfiles for your boy's and girl's Masterminds (and they might even thank you for it!!!).

 

 

7 hours ago, Rooster Gold said:

2. Any 1st time player tips they should be informed of?

Mastermind play is QUITE different from playing any other Archetype.  A lot of what you're "doing" as a Player when playing a Mastermind is ... indirect.  It's not that YOU attack your $Target, it's that you command your Pets to attack your $Target ... and then they keep doing that until they're told to do otherwise (or the $Target is defeated).  It's very much a style of play that involves "directing traffic" as I mentioned above, but there's a kind of synergistic bond between Mastermind and Pets.  They fight for you, but you also need to be smart enough/aware enough to tell them what and where to fight in order to be most successful, and that requires a LOT of mental calculus and planning ahead and just simply "knowing" what's going on (and where things are headed) if you want to play in a skillful rather than just merely chaotic manner.

 

Best thing I can recommend is that as a Mastermind you don't want to get TOO overly ambitious in trying to take down dogpiles of mobs.  As a Mastermind, your best play is done when there are "many of you" fighting "few of them" in the battlefield.  Usually the Player is outnumbered by the $Targets you have to fight ... but with a Mastermind you can reverse that and outnumber them!

 

Just be mindful of the fact that your Pets are NOT indestructible and they will take damage (which will need to be healed if you aren't going to be resummoning them all the time) ... because dead Pets deal no damage to whatever you're fighting.

 

Your Pets WILL have limitations ... there will be things they Can and CAN'T do on their own.  It's your responsibility, as the Mastermind Player, to either work around or otherwise mitigate those gaps in what your Pets can and can't do in order to set them up for success ... rather than failure.  In other words, don't get TOO overconfident and too far out over your skis (so to speak) because it's embarrassing when you faceplant (especially if it's your fault for making bad decisions).  Your build can help you ... but it's really up to YOU, as the Player, to make it shine and chime with your decisions and skills while playing.

 

 

 

Masterminds, and their Pets, take a lot of "care and feeding" to get right ... but once you bring it all together ... not only is it glorious but there is simply nothing else like playing a Mastermind.

 

Masterminds are difficult to learn AND difficult to master ... but once you do ...  😎

 

 

 

One other thing I'd recommend to every new Mastermind Player ... TAKE  the LEADERSHIP pool!

This ought to be obvious, but some people overlook it.  Maneuvers, Assault and Tactics are THE most useful powers you can add to ANY Mastermind, since they affect yourself and ALL of your Mastermind Pets.  Maneuvers makes your Pets take less damage (by sometimes not being hit), Assault makes your Pets do more damage (always useful) and Tactics helps ensure your Pets actually hit their $Targets more often (since misses waste time and give more opportunity for incoming damage to harm you and your Pets).  I recommend Assault and Tactics for EVERY Mastermind, and Maneuvers if you've got the available slots for it in your build.

 

You won't need to be taking the Leadership pool at Level 4 or something crazy like that, when you're still getting your initial powers, but the Leadership pool should be one of the first power pools you reach for when you've got a power pick at a Level where you don't have something to take in your primary or secondary at that time.

Maneuvers is better with slots and enhancements.

Assault is a One Slot Wonder power.  Put a single endurance reduction enhancement into and never spend another slot on it ever again.

Tactics is either a One Slot Wonder or something you'll want to 6-slot (with Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control if you're taking personal attacks on your Mastermind).

 

 

7 hours ago, Rooster Gold said:

3. What if anything goes well with wolf pet (looks up name) Beast Mastery.

As I mentioned above, I recommend Beast Mastery/Nature Affinity.  You can even add Mace Mastery as the epic/patron pool to get Power Boost for even more incredible yields out of Nature Affinity (if you've got the power picks left for it).  I'd even argue that Beast/Nature will wind up being "stronger" than Demons/Dark in terms of possible build strategies, but that also largely depends on "how" your boy and girl are going to play their Masterminds, because Player Skill is extremely important in determining how much fun a particular Mastermind combination will be to play.

Dark will make stuff MISS so it can't hurt you (as much).

Nature will make stuff NOT HURT when it hits due to Absorb and Regeneration and Resistances and Healing.

 

Good luck @Rooster Gold ... you've got your work cut out for you. 😉

Enjoy the learning curve though!

Edited December 22, 2019 by Redlynne

[ScarySai]

9 hours ago, plainguy said:

Here is the issue with Dark the set does not allow you to build for defense cap like for example Traps does.  

Yet, has enough -tohit to be effectively softcapped, and enough control and debuffs to keep things still for your demon army's slaughter.

 

@Rooster GoldA massive QoL set of binds that helps the AT a lot here. It takes some setup, but makes managing your pets so much easier. Demons/dark is very strong, make sure tar pit and fearsome stare are being spammed and you should have good results. No idea for Beast Mastery. 

 

https://cityofheroes.fandom.com/wiki/Mastermind_Numpad_Pet_Controls

Edited December 22, 2019 by ScarySai

[Wavicle]

Don't AE them to 50.  Make them play the game.  Otherwise they will get to 50 and not know wth they are doing.

[Rooster Gold]

You guys are awesome 😎

 

@plainguy I think I found that build you were talking about It might give me some ideas.

@Redlynne Those binds are a bit much for them but I found a couple like dismiss all pets that should work out from links you provided - thanks!

 

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by Rooster Gold

[Rooster Gold]

2 minutes ago, sacredlunatic said:

Don't AE them to 50.  Make them play the game.  Otherwise they will get to 50 and not know wth they are doing.

Its bit late for that 😏 besides I don't want them spending to much time leveling or it might effect their grades.

[Wavicle]

23 hours ago, Rooster Gold said:

Its bit late for that 😏 besides I don't want them spending to much time leveling or it might effect their grades.

Good thinking.

[TheSpiritFox]

Here's the macros answer lol