Mastermind IO sets and Pets

[Nymaen]

I have been reading the forums trying to understand some basic things about my MM.

 

1) Do the bonuses from my IO sets apply to my pets as well?

2) Do the pet resist/def bonuses from IOs assigned to a T3 pet also apply to the T2 and T3 pets?

3) Can I check the def/resist of my pets in game?

4) Are there any good guides that explain how to MM anywhere? 

 

Thanks for the help!

[Seigmoraig]

1) no

2) def/resist set bonuses that are in your pets only affect you. Pets will only be affected by the individual enhancements themselves (damage, accuracy etc)

The only IOs that you can put in your pets that will give them extra +Def and +Res are the "Aura" enhancements from:
(Pet Damage category)
Edict of the Master +Def
Sovereign Right +Res

(Recharge Intensive Pets category)
Expedient Reinforcement +Res
Call to Arms +Def
(Mastermind Archtype category)
Command of the Mastermind +Def
Mark of Supremacy +Res/Regen

 

I highly recommend that you get these 6 individual enhancements and slot them ASAP, the most expensive ones are the 2 from the Mastermind Archtype category but the other 4 are fairly cheap. If you are playing as Demons, Thugs or Necro put them all in Hell on Earth, Gang War or Soul Extraction as they will be functional even if those skills aren't active freeing up those slots for your main pets. If you are running any other set you should put 2 in each of your pets to spread them out evenly so not to gimp any one pet.
That being said, I will usually 5 slot Hell on Earth/Gang War/Soul Extraction because it's nice to have the 2pcs bonus from Mark of Supremacy in all your pets to get that sweet sweet 10% recharge bonus 3 times

 

3) right click on your pet in the pet window

 

4) not that I know of but lots of good information on this forum.

The best place to start with how to MM is to set up some keybinds for the various pet commands so that you don't have to rely on quickbars. I personally enjoy playing with the numpad keybinds Here

Next is choosing a Primary, you can play with any one of them, they are all perfectly serviceable but some stand out more than others. Demons and Thugs are the strongest (see slotting auras above in Hell on Earth/Gang War above for one solid reason to run these sets). Beasts, Bots and Necro are middle of the road with bots being the sturdiest set. Ninja and Merc trailing the back end. If you are looking purely for a good time and don't have a specific theme for your character, Demons and Thugs will get you places. 

As for choosing your secondary, most of them will be good and do their job but if you are playing your first MM, I would stay away from the sets that don't have any healing or have very little of it. Sets like Cold, Storm, Force Field, Traps, Trick Arrow, Poison and Sonic will be a lot harder to pilot if you are playing as your first MM and don't have much experience with the game.
The best sets to choose for a smooth Mastermind experience are sets that have heals, buffs and debuffs Time, Nature, Dark and to a lesser extent Radiation are the best picks here. Although sets with great buffs but little debuffing ability will also do well, Electrical, Kinetics, Pain, Empathy and Thermal are all perfectly serviceable.

When you set your pets in Defensive stance they enter into a "Bodyguard" stance. When in this mode all damage directed directly at you will be split between you and your pets which is why it is important to have a set that has some AoE heal capability.



 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Seigmoraig

[Bonkleberry]

1. No,.

2. If you mean set bonuses, no. If you are referring to the pet aura Def/Res IOs, then yes. All of the "pet aura" IOs, no matter where they are slotted, give the player a PBAOE effect that buffs all pets in range. You do not even need to use the power they are slotted in. On my Mastermind, I use Gang War as an IO mule for slotting four of the Aura IOs.

3. Yes. Right-click your pet in the pet window and there is an option to see their stats.

4. I would not know. Everyone has their opinions on how to play the class. I am the type of person who prefers to find their own way, so I never tired too look too hard for a good guide. But I can provide a few good tips below:

 

1. Defensive Stance is your friend. At higher levels and with certain personal defenses, it can turn you into a so-called Tankermind. You cannot hold aggro, but it can be difficult for enemies to kill you. Defensive stance also works the best, in my opinion, for controlling your pets so they do not run around everywhere.

2. You need to buff your pets' defense to soft cap, somehow. Without good defenses, your pets will die easily and often. Even with jacked up resistances, minions die within like three or four hits. Thugs and Robots are very easy to get to Defense cap without a Secondary supporting powerset. The rest of the Primaries need defense from your secondary somehow. Although, I hear that Demons are very survivable without defenses from your secondary.

[kiramon]

1 hour ago, Bonkleberry said:

 

2. You need to buff your pets' defense to soft cap, somehow. Without good defenses, your pets will die easily and often. Even with jacked up resistances, minions die within like three or four hits. Thugs and Robots are very easy to get to Defense cap without a Secondary supporting powerset. The rest of the Primaries need defense from your secondary somehow. Although, I hear that Demons are very survivable without defenses from your secondary.

My little zombies with 90% S/C/N/T 80% E/L/F 60% P have been doing just fine on my Necro/Sonic, lol 

[Bonkleberry]

25 minutes ago, kiramon said:

My little zombies with 90% S/C/N/T 80% E/L/F 60% P have been doing just fine on my Necro/Sonic, lol 

How are you getting 60% Psionic res? Is that the default undead resistance to Psionic?

 

Anyway, I do not know how you do it. I have teamed with Sonics or Fire before and my pets go squish just as often as if the Sonics or Fire were not there. In other words, it was the +defense keeping them alive and the res did not matter.

 

EDIT: I mean, I even see my pets sometimes die fast through the Incarnate +res barrier.

Edited July 9, 2020 by Bonkleberry

[kiramon]

6 minutes ago, Bonkleberry said:

How are you getting 60% Psionic res? Is that the default undead resistance to Psionic?

 

Anyway, I do not know how you do it. I have teamed with Sonics or Fire before and my pets go squish just as often as if the Sonics or Fire were not there. In other words, it was the +defense keeping them alive and the res did not matter.

 

EDIT: I mean, I even see my pets sometimes die fast through the Incarnate +res barrier.

Iono. I just did a whole bunch of teaming for like 6 hours and didn't actually have a single death outside of one Grave knight to Malta. in a x4x8

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by kiramon

[Bonkleberry]

1 hour ago, kiramon said:

Iono. I just did a whole bunch of teaming for like 6 hours and didn't actually have a single death outside of one Grave knight to Malta. in a x4x8

 

Interesting. I never realized Necro pets resisted Psionic.

 

I was thinking of trying a /Fire Mastermind, but was not sure which primary to pair it with. Your information inspires me.

[Nymaen]

Thanks for all the great information everyone!

 

Next step, find a good MM command binding when you have no keyboards with the numpad....

[kiramon]

1 hour ago, Nymaen said:

Thanks for all the great information everyone!

 

Next step, find a good MM command binding when you have no keyboards with the numpad....

I use my mouse buttons... 

[Redlynne]

5 hours ago, Nymaen said:

Next step, find a good MM command binding when you have no keyboards with the numpad....

*AHEM!!*

[kiramon]

10 minutes ago, Redlynne said:

*AHEM!!*

Go away redlynne you’re alway the last to die in my fire farm spawns

[Nymaen]

Thank you Redlynne. That is a huge wall of text,, but exactly what I am looking for. I will spend a few hours getting that merged over for my pets. I appreciate the help!

[Redlynne]

1 hour ago, Nymaen said:

Thank you Redlynne. That is a huge wall of text, but exactly what I am looking for. I will spend a few hours getting that merged over for my pets. I appreciate the help!

It's a huge wall of text because ... well ... there's a lot to unpack and explain if you want to figure out what I do (and why) so as to adapt the scheme to your own purposes.  So the RTFM factor is kind of unavoidable, but I'd like to think that I give enough info to reverse engineer what I'm doing so that you can convert what you need to your own Mastermind.  💪