Theoretical Mastermind Build (I'm new.)

[hyacathinose]

Hello everyone, I am still a bit new and not really familiar with late game but I was thinking about making a necromancy, empathy, stealth (for invisibility, yes I will be sacrificing flight) mastermind. Would this combo get me anywhere late game? I'm thinking if I have the ability to heal my minions after they attack for me, and use stealth to avoid dying, it should make for a good solo build. What do you think??

[BGSacho]

Empathy isn't a great support set for MMs because its buffs are single-target(very annoying for MM) and the heals are overkill for the rather fragile pets. If you're looking for a set with healing that meshes well with Necro, you could pick Time, Dark, maybe even Thermal or Nature.

[Force Redux]

Necro/Dark - offers one of the best AoE healing in the game, also offers stealth (invisibility got the MM with stealth IO stacked), plus oodles of debuffs and control with Lich and Grave Knight knockups. Classic, for a reason. 

[Kommon]

Stealth does not work with Masterminds in the way you may think.  Mobs will KNOW that you are the henchmen's guardian and come looking for you once all your henchmen die.  Stealth is great for positioning, but any attacks used by you will drop the stealth component of Stealth and leave you vulnerable.  Not just that, but standing close to your henchmen will leave you wide open to AoE attacks, even in Stealth, and if you are not in bodyguard mode, will deal a great deal of damage to you if hit by a mob that is rank Boss or above.

[Force Redux]

1 hour ago, Kommon said:

Stealth does not work with Masterminds in the way you may think.  Mobs will KNOW that you are the henchmen's guardian and come looking for you once all your henchmen die.  Stealth is great for positioning, but any attacks used by you will drop the stealth component of Stealth and leave you vulnerable.  Not just that, but standing close to your henchmen will leave you wide open to AoE attacks, even in Stealth, and if you are not in bodyguard mode, will deal a great deal of damage to you if hit by a mob that is rank Boss or above.

In the sense I was opining, stealth is good for the MM to skip to mission bosses or objectives. It also keeps the whole band of pets (and allies) from being easily spotted, allows for easier positioning and set up, and avoids most "hot" door aggro situations. Definite not useless, but agree with all points above!

[hyacathinose]

After some research I came up with this build:

 

 

I am still new and thought I should not make another thread to post it in.

 

Comments?

 

Idk if I can max everything I picked or how the points work, but you get the gist of it.

[Force Redux]

You skipped two vital powers:

Deflection Shield

Insulation Shield

 

Get rid of Detention Field and Repulsion Bomb. One is useless, the other is not needed with Thugs.

[Force Redux]

Unless you want to Tankermind (which I do not recommend), get rid of fighting pool, take Aid Self and Aid Other (and possibly Field Medic) from the Medicine Pool.

[hyacathinose]

2 minutes ago, Force Redux said:

You skipped two vital powers:

Deflection Shield

Insulation Shield

 

Get rid of Detention Field and Repulsion Bomb. One is useless, the other is not needed with Thugs.

I thought detention is pretty useful because you can hold a stronger enemy while you pick off its weaker henchmen?

[hyacathinose]

Btw if I choose to re spec later to correct small mistakes do I get my enhancement s back??

[StrikerFox]

20 minutes ago, hyacathinose said:

Btw if I choose to re spec later to correct small mistakes do I get my enhancement s back??

Yes. During a respec, after picking powers and designating slots, all your IOs will be available to either slot, store or sell. If you decide to sell any, store them and then sell them on AH. You will get a lot more for them. 

[Force Redux]

1 hour ago, hyacathinose said:

I thought detention is pretty useful because you can hold a stronger enemy while you pick off its weaker henchmen?

It would be better if you could attack them, but they are untouchable and it just slows you down. There are so few reasons to take this power it is not worth the choice of another power in it's place. 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Force Redux

[Zeraphia]

1 hour ago, hyacathinose said:

After some research I came up with this build:

 

 

I am still new and thought I should not make another thread to post it in.

 

Comments?

 

Idk if I can max everything I picked or how the points work, but you get the gist of it.

Little bit of an MM vet here, I've definitely had my share of FF MM's, hehe throwback to the good ol' days when you have to equip and train all of your pets, and then cast both shields on each pet, what a doozie that was! 

 

I personally do not recommend FF for an MM. In my honest opinion, Time just outclasses FF for MM as a secondary right now. With Power Boost, it gives enough defense to easily softcap your pets with IO's and has *much* better tools to keep them alive than even FF does. FF is a defense pony realistically. Time has heals, -to hit, defense, -dmg, -regen, excellent proc options all baked into its toolkit. FF can work, but it is very hard to argue FF over Time in the current state of the game (although that's not to say it is impossible to be good as an FF, or that FF is even bad, it is just not going to give you the bells and whistles that Time will and it makes a huge difference.) 

 

I'd say you should choose for a first time MM Demon Summoning. They are tanky from the start without a primary, they give a variety of damage types so you're not going to feel pigeonholed with one particular damage, they have good resistance inherents, and they give -res which is helpful for the entire time, and they're an easy slotting option because of the 4 pet powers allowing you to take advantage of the recharge time bonuses given by the MM ATO's. 

Thugs is a top tier MM primary undoubtedly, but it is quirky and it is resisted because it is a lot of lethal/smashing damage, that said, it is perfect at late game and does very very very well. This set more than others really does need IOing, but once it gets there, it's a streamroller. I don't think it's the best one to start out with, but it is definitely one of the best ones (if not THE best one) in the end. 

Robots is an honorable mention but their base damages are so low 😞 especially early on... once you get the Assault Bot though, it becomes a pretty great set. 

 

In terms of secondaries, Time, Nature, Dark, Cold, and Thermal are *very* good. It is hard to go wrong with any of those. If you choose Demon Summoning, Nature or Thermal go very well with it. If you choose Thugs, Time goes exceptionally well with them, as does Cold. Robots pair extremely well with Time as well and Cold. 

Why do those combinations go well together?

-Demons have very good resistances off the bat, enhancing their resistances with healing goes a LONG way with Thermal/Nature.

-Thugs have okay resistances, but very good defenses with the enforcer's double Maneuvers, therefore a defense secondary that softcaps them makes them very good. Cold and Time are the best ones.

-Robots have okay resistances, but very good defenses with the T2 bot granting Deflection and Insulation Shields to the other bots and themselves. Softcapping them makes them much more survivable. Cold and Time are the best ones.