New to the game and rolled MM, what do I need to know?

[XDannyManX]

First time playing CoH, me and a few friends decided to give it a go.

I went Demon/Dark, only level 12 so far and was wondering if there is any tips or leveling guides I should know about. Maybe some end game builds I should look at, not even sure if Demon/Dark is the way to go and if I should go with a different set up.

 

I love pet classes in any game I play and this has been no exception so far and having a blast.

[Force Redux]

As a pet-class lover myself, welcome to City of Heroes!

 

Demons/Dark is one of the strongest pairings in the game. I have one at Incarnate level and its one of my top characters both for visuals, fun factor, and taking on the game content. 

 

I don't do any builds any more in Mids character builder, but if you search this subforum you can find some posted builds for this combo.

 

General recommendations:

 

Demons:

get all three pet powers, Hell on Earth, both pet buffs, and choose one or more of the attacks (I take the ranged whip power, which helps me either pull or help debuff damage resistance). 

 

Six slot the Hell on Earth when you can with all  six of the Mastermind Invention Origin (IOs) enhancements that provide a buff aura that boosts Damage Resistance and Defense of your pets. This is essential for making pets tough enough to handle content at higher levels/purple conning. Start with the Defense ones first, then add the Resistance ones, depending on price. Its a damage buff power that also spawns some fragile minions, but its actually best used to mule the pet IOs so they don't need to go into your Demon power slots. 

 

Slot the Demons with accuracy, damage and some END reduction. For basic IOs, 2 Accuracy, 3 damage, 1 Endurance reduction. Don't both with recharge. For more advanced slotting with invention origin enhancements, see some of the other guides). Demon Prince especially likes to suck down his blue bar (endurance) so he benefits from some advanced slotting. He can also take a damage proc in his lineup as most of his powers have a slow component than can trigger the damage (again see advanced guides). 

 

the two buff powers are fine with one Endurance recuction each. 

 

You can delay the Whip attacks until you have time, as you have quite a few powers to take up through your twenties/thirties. When you do, basic slotting is Accuracy, Damage x3, endurance, recharge. 

 

Dark Miasma:

you want everything except Black Hole (which is not in synch with how the game actually plays). Petryfiying Gaze (your single target hold) is not mandatory, but can be handy to take out annoying lietenants (such as Malta Sappers), or stack with your Dark Servant/Demon Prince's own holds (Demon Prince especially as he spams his ice hold), letting you take down Bosses. Don't pass up on Howling Twilight, as although its a ressurection power, it actually comes with huge debuffs and an AOE stun for control. In fact, most powers in Dark Miasma serve multiple purposes.

 

These will be your meat and potatoes powers: Twilight Grasp. Tar Patch, Darkest Night, Fearsome Stare, Shadowfall. 

 

Lead off with Fearsome Stare, its a big cone and it not only makes targets afraid, but also debuffs their To Hit/accuracy. Or you can lead off with your toggle debuff, Darkest Night. 

 

Slot Darkest Night with -To Hit and some END reduction.

Slot Fearsome Stare with -To Hit, not fear, as the fear lasts long enough, and its the stacking -ToHit that you want. 

 

Dark Servant is a handy pet. Slot him (or her) also with -ToHit, as he has absurd levels of it, especially in its point blank debuff aura Chill of the Night. His heals, holds, damage are all secondary and work well enough without any focused enhancements.

 

While Demons are tough, and Shadowfall and pet aura IOs add greatly to that, Dark Miasma really does't buff, so you must be proactive and maintain your debuffs on your foes. Dark Servant will help when you get it, though its supplemental, as you can't control it. Dark requires a bit of concentration, unlike say Force Field, where you can fall asleep at the wheel.

 

Other powers:

Leadership - at the very least, take Maneuvers and Tactics. if you have room you can take Assault. I generally don't. 

Speed - I take Hasten on all my builds, as having powers recharge faster is too good to pass up. 

Flight - I take Hover, Fly, Group Fly and possibly Afterburner. You can take what fits your theme. I like Group Fly because while it may annoy some teammates, it helps my pets on the rare occasion Z axis maps cause pet pathing AI to go wonky, running along beams or jumping up and down off ledges, etc. 

 

Some folks really enjoy the keybind commands for masterminds, but I get buy admirably with just my basic GoTo/Stay and Aggressive/Defensive/Passive commands 99% of the time. How intricate you want to get with controls and emotes and all that extra fun stuff is up to you 🙂

 

Leveling up:

I can't stress this enough, do NOT speed level. City of Heroes/Villains has some great missions and story line. (yes, the earlier blue side stuff, can include some clunkers or repetative missions, but overall...its really good). For your first time playing through either blue or red side, stick with the story missions. Read through dialog. Look at and read your clues in the clue window. There's so much good stuff, background history and references, it would be a shame to miss it by jumping into a farm group or speed radio XP team. Take your time, enjoy. This game has some deep lore in it, some of the best original stuff I've come across in MMOs. 

 

I may have missed a few things, but you get the general idea. 

 

Have fun. If you are on Everlasting, feel free to grab me at my global (@Force Redux) and I can jump on my Demon/Dark and do some missions with you. I may even have a few IOs I can help you with. I don't level many new toons these days and I'm happy to do story missions, etc. 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2020 by Force Redux

[XDannyManX]

3 hours ago, Force Redux said:

As a pet-class lover myself, welcome to City of Heroes!

 

Demons/Dark is one of the strongest pairings in the game. I have one at Incarnate level and its one of my top characters both for visuals, fun factor, and taking on the game content. 

 

I don't do any builds any more in Mids character builder, but if you search this subforum you can find some posted builds for this combo.

 

General recommendations:

 

Demons:

get all three pet powers, Hell on Earth, both pet buffs, and choose one or more of the attacks (I take the ranged whip power, which helps me either pull or help debuff damage resistance). 

 

Six slot the Hell on Earth when you can with all  six of the Mastermind Invention Origin (IOs) enhancements that provide a buff aura that boosts Damage Resistance and Defense of your pets. This is essential for making pets tough enough to handle content at higher levels/purple conning. Start with the Defense ones first, then add the Resistance ones, depending on price. Its a damage buff power that also spawns some fragile minions, but its actually best used to mule the pet IOs so they don't need to go into your Demon power slots. 

 

Slot the Demons with accuracy, damage and some END reduction. For basic IOs, 2 Accuracy, 3 damage, 1 Endurance reduction. Don't both with recharge. For more advanced slotting with invention origin enhancements, see some of the other guides). Demon Prince especially likes to suck down his blue bar (endurance) so he benefits from some advanced slotting. He can also take a damage proc in his lineup as most of his powers have a slow component than can trigger the damage (again see advanced guides). 

 

the two buff powers are fine with one Endurance recuction each. 

 

You can delay the Whip attacks until you have time, as you have quite a few powers to take up through your twenties/thirties. When you do, basic slotting is Accuracy, Damage x3, endurance, recharge. 

 

Dark Miasma:

you want everything except Black Hole (which is not in synch with how the game actually plays). Petryfiying Gaze (your single target hold) is not mandatory, but can be handy to take out annoying lietenants (such as Malta Sappers), or stack with your Dark Servant/Demon Prince's own holds (Demon Prince especially as he spams his ice hold), letting you take down Bosses. Don't pass up on Howling Twilight, as although its a ressurection power, it actually comes with huge debuffs and an AOE stun for control. In fact, most powers in Dark Miasma serve multiple purposes.

 

These will be your meat and potatoes powers: Twilight Grasp. Tar Patch, Darkest Night, Fearsome Stare, Shadowfall. 

 

Lead off with Fearsome Stare, its a big cone and it not only makes targets afraid, but also debuffs their To Hit/accuracy. Or you can lead off with your toggle debuff, Darkest Night. 

 

Slot Darkest Night with -To Hit and some END reduction.

Slot Fearsome Stare with -To Hit, not fear, as the fear lasts long enough, and its the stacking -ToHit that you want. 

 

Dark Servant is a handy pet. Slot him (or her) also with -ToHit, as he has absurd levels of it, especially in its point blank debuff aura Chill of the Night. His heals, holds, damage are all secondary and work well enough without any focused enhancements.

 

While Demons are tough, and Shadowfall and pet aura IOs add greatly to that, Dark Miasma really does't buff, so you must be proactive and maintain your debuffs on your foes. Dark Servant will help when you get it, though its supplemental, as you can't control it. Dark requires a bit of concentration, unlike say Force Field, where you can fall asleep at the wheel.

 

Other powers:

Leadership - at the very least, take Maneuvers and Tactics. if you have room you can take Assault. I generally don't. 

Speed - I take Hasten on all my builds, as having powers recharge faster is too good to pass up. 

Flight - I take Hover, Fly, Group Fly and possibly Afterburner. You can take what fits your theme. I like Group Fly because while it may annoy some teammates, it helps my pets on the rare occasion Z axis maps cause pet pathing AI to go wonky, running along beams or jumping up and down off ledges, etc. 

 

Some folks really enjoy the keybind commands for masterminds, but I get buy admirably with just my basic GoTo/Stay and Aggressive/Defensive/Passive commands 99% of the time. How intricate you want to get with controls and emotes and all that extra fun stuff is up to you 🙂

 

Leveling up:

I can't stress this enough, do NOT speed level. City of Heroes/Villains has some great missions and story line. (yes, the earlier blue side stuff, can include some clunkers or repetative missions, but overall...its really good). For your first time playing through either blue or red side, stick with the story missions. Read through dialog. Look at and read your clues in the clue window. There's so much good stuff, background history and references, it would be a shame to miss it by jumping into a farm group or speed radio XP team. Take your time, enjoy. This game has some deep lore in it, some of the best original stuff I've come across in MMOs. 

 

I may have missed a few things, but you get the general idea. 

 

Have fun. If you are on Everlasting, feel free to grab me at my global (@Force Redux) and I can jump on my Demon/Dark and do some missions with you. I may even have a few IOs I can help you with. I don't level many new toons these days and I'm happy to do story missions, etc. 

 

 

This is amazing, thank you so much for this!

[Nyghtmaire]

@Force Reduxgave a GREAT distillation. If you want some more tips, this guide from the legacy version of the game is quite helpful for general advice:

 

https://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2012/01/gd-mastermind.html?m=1

 

Bear in mind that IO builds is an entire mini-game of its own. There are many samples of builds on these forums. Feel free to mix and match, building to your play style and preferences. One caveat, many of the builds are geared towards max-level solo play at the highest levels of difficulty. That is an edge case and not the norm, nor necessary for grouping.  
 

Welcome to the game!

[XDannyManX]

11 hours ago, Nyghtmaire said:

@Force Reduxgave a GREAT distillation. If you want some more tips, this guide from the legacy version of the game is quite helpful for general advice:

 

https://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2012/01/gd-mastermind.html?m=1

 

Bear in mind that IO builds is an entire mini-game of its own. There are many samples of builds on these forums. Feel free to mix and match, building to your play style and preferences. One caveat, many of the builds are geared towards max-level solo play at the highest levels of difficulty. That is an edge case and not the norm, nor necessary for grouping.  
 

Welcome to the game!

Really good info in there, thank you!

[Hedgefund]

I searched for the word "bodyguard" and didn't see it, but it's one of the most important words for a MM.  It is mentioned in the Blogspot link though.  With /DA, you'll need to master going in and out of BG, or partial BG, since Fearsome Stare will cause mobs to merely cower and not attack, which will not initiate your minions attacking.  

[Force Redux]

14 minutes ago, Hedgefund said:

I searched for the word "bodyguard" and didn't see it, but it's one of the most important words for a MM.  It is mentioned in the Blogspot link though.  With /DA, you'll need to master going in and out of BG, or partial BG, since Fearsome Stare will cause mobs to merely cower and not attack, which will not initiate your minions attacking.  

This is entirely viable.

 

It should also be noted, that for the lazily-inclined (me), I simply set the demons on aggro** and 'stay' and debuff everything in sight with Dark Miasma. I don't think I've bothered with bodyguard mode except on AVs or GMs (where I can get one-shotted on a lucky hit). 

 

**caveat, in large groups where there is risk of accidentally aggroing side groups, I will put them on Defensive (or even Passive) to avoid being "that guy". 

[plainguy]

The keybinds in the sticky on top is a must.. Basically your number keypad controls your pets..  
Personally I use it as all pets attack but once you have selected all pets you just need to use the attack buttons.. 

It frees up slots on the tray and much easier once you get the feel for it..