Beasts secondary

[FenrisWolf44]

Got my heart set on playing a Beasts Mastermind and would like some advice on secondaries. Now, I am a solo player only, and it will be just door/story missions, I'm in no rush to 50, just want to enjoy the missions and the slow climb.

I've kind of narrowed it down to Thermal or Nature (although I'm open to changing my mind if you have better experience with another set).

Want something that's fun, keeps me occupied but also keeps me and the gang alive and powerful, or, the set that does a 'better' job of that.

So any experienced Beasties out there? Thanks 🙂

[The_Warpact]

The secondaries your asking about i have no experience with my beasts. I've never used nature but, thermal I've used to great success on other builds.

Buffs, heals, and debuffs you can't go wrong. 

 

I have seen posts about nature and cold with beasts, but, nothing about any higher lvl progression. You could always search the MM forum for any other threads.

Or do a build on Mids see what it looks like strengths/weaknesses, then post on here for feedback.

I went sonic just to try out to see if it could work and I'm still low lvl so the jury is still out.

[Miltonaut]

I'm all about character design and went with Beasts/Nature for Nature Bro. I have no clue how powerful/efficient is compared to other builds, and I don't really care. I like it, and that's all that matters.

[Force Redux]

My Beast/Time is ..well...a beast! 😀

 

I also would recommend Beast/Dark.

 

Both are excellent secondaries that offer very different play styles!

[SableShrike]

Wound up going back to the old Beast/Storm I had on Live, and it’s a lot of fun.

 

I skip the personal attacks and go heavy in Storm, Flight, and a bunch other Pools like Leadership for Gambler mules.  Only Ancillary power I took is Temp Invuln, but Leviathan’s Immob, Hold, and shield could be good choices as well.

 

Storm’s a very aggressive set and I find it most fun on a MM.  You can really monitor the field and unleash pinpoint hell when you’re not button mashing attacks.  Plays more like a Controller in that regard.

 

Storm is also really nice in that you can slot pet IOs in Tornado, meaning you can easily fit all six Uniques across your four pet powers.

 

Key to doing well with teams is the Sudden Acceleration KB to KD IO.  I put one in Gale, Tornado, and Lightning Storm as soon as I can.

 

Gale is really good converted to KD, and it’s great for proccing a Force Feedback +recharge IO.  Guaranteed knockdown on anything it hits.

 

Snow Storm and Gale are up every fight at low levels, and Freezing Rain you can also fire off on top of them for heavy slow and more knockdown.  Your Beasts rip stuff apart while it’s downed or unable to run/fly (Snow Storm drops flyers).

 

Hurricane is an “oh shit” button if you’re facing a team wipe.  It also debuffs AVs without repelling them, but careful when getting close.  I never run Hurricane all the time.  It’s often too noisy and unwelcome on most teams, but in those situations where you need it there is no substitute.

 

Tornados will lock anything they can juggle once you have the KD IO on them, and can deal significant damage to a lone target (780 or so at level 50).  Lightning Storms are further knockdown and good damage.  I can usually get two Tornados and Lightning Storms out at a time during a longer fight.

 

O2 Boost is a good spot-heal and has handy status buffs to boot.  You can keep pets topped off from range or heal them after the fight.

 

This organized chaos all costs a ton of endurance, so you have to be picky with enhancements and set bonuses.  Make sure to get your Accolades.

 

For set bonuses I chose to focus on +recharge when I can, but +MaxEnd, End Discount, End Recovery, and +HP are good too.  I can usually chase S/L resistance while building for other bonuses.  I think I have 61% with Temp Invuln on.

 

Usually I don’t run with pets in Bodyguard as you need pets set to Aggressive to allow them to retarget faster and not waste DPS.  Keep a Bodyguard command handy for ambushes and such though.

[Force Redux]

Because of the Pack Mentality stacks, I would personally never forgo at one of the personal attacks in order to help build and maybe them.

[SableShrike]

Yeah, you could fit Call Hawk in easy enough, but Call Ravens drew too much hate for me to want it.  Maybe it’s better on a tankermind.

 

Not taking attacks let me take debuffs and such earlier, which is important for exemping.

[Riverdusk]

The amount of damage a beast/storm could put out I bet is amazing.   It is on my list to try one of these days.  Being able to slot the pet IO's in /storm is also so useful on any primary that doesn't have an extra "pet" to do that with, like beasts, bots, and mercs. 

 

Makes me think again that I wish you could slot pet sets into dark servant to open that set up as well for it.  So annoying that you can't.  I bet the devs original idea was they didn't want players to "waste" slots trying to improve servant's damage as it is so low and it wasn't its point.  But now it'd be so useful.

[TygerDarkstorm]

If you like a fast and in your face kind of playstyle, beast/kin is a really fun pairing. Mine is level 37 I think, and while she has mostly teamed, I have done some solo stuff on her and didn't think it was too bad (granted, I don't play at +4/x8) given that she's only lightly slotted. Beasts are pretty tanky, so they handle running with /kin nicely. I also have a beasts/nature, but she's only in her teens, and a beasts/thermal in her 20's. Thermal feels like a pretty nice compliment to beasts, though it's a bit passive compared to /kin. Beasts/storm sounds like fun. 😄

[SableShrike]

For the hell of it, here's my planned build.  I'm still working on IOs in some powers, but it's getting there.

 

I generally only run with Snow Storm, Steamy Mist, Hover, and Temp Invuln on for toggles.  You need to save up endurance for Rain, Lightning, and Tornado so I chose not to bother running other stuff like Leadership or Fighting.  Why defend when you can attack!

 

I do take Thunder Clap, and it's decent in this build.  Recharge makes it usable every fight, and it takes out every minion long enough for your pets to drop them unscathed.  Amazement's proc IO can further debuff a hard target's ToHit, as well.  Not sure how noticeable this is versus an AV, but in theory it would stack with your Hurricane debuff.

 

I didn't bother to cap Defense, but this is plenty sturdy as is (especially in Bodyguard if you need it).  Not taking Hasten lets you manage your Endurance a little better as well as lets you do things like set Barrier or Clarion Incarnate on autofire.  I rarely take Hasten in my builds, honestly.

 

Edit: Forgot a KB to KD in Tornado...  Fixed now.

 

Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10
https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Beast Mastery
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Field Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Summon Wolves -- HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(15), BldMnd-Dmg/EndRdx:50(17), TchofLadG-%Dam:50(17), ShlBrk-%Dam:30(19), AchHee-ResDeb%:20(19)
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(13), EndRdx-I:50(13), SuddAcc--KB/+KD:50(15), FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(48)
Level 2: O2 Boost -- Prv-Heal:50(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx:50(3), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg:50(3), Prv-Heal/Rchg:50(7), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx:50(11), Prv-Absorb%:50(11)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- TmpRdn-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow:50(A), PcnoftheT-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow:50(5), EndRdx-I:50(5), Slow-I:50(7)
Level 6: Train Beasts -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 8: Hover -- WntGif-RunSpd/Jump/Fly/Rng:50(A), WntGif-RunSpd/Jump/Fly/Rng/EndRdx:50(9), WntGif-ResSlow:50(9), Ksm-ToHit+:30(48), Ksm-Def/EndRdx:30(50), Ksm-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:30(50)
Level 10: Steamy Mist -- Rct-Def:50(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx:50(25), Rct-EndRdx/Rchg:50(27), Rct-Def/Rchg:50(27), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(29), Rct-ResDam%:50(29)
Level 12: Summon Lions -- HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(21), BldMnd-Dmg/EndRdx:50(21), SprCmmoft-Rchg/PetAoEDef:50(23), CaltoArm-+Def(Pets):30(23), EdcoftheM-PetDef:40(25)
Level 14: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB:50(A)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Rgn-Acc/Rchg:50(39), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg:50(39), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(40), Rgn-Knock%:50(48)
Level 18: Fortify Pack -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A)
Level 20: Hurricane -- HO:Enzym(A), HO:Enzym(31), HO:Enzym(31)
Level 22: Afterburner -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP:50(A)
Level 26: Summon Dire Wolf -- SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg:50(31), SprMarofS-Dmg:50(33), SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen:50(33), SlbAll-Build%:50(33), ImpSwf-Dam%:30(34)
Level 28: Thunder Clap -- AbsAmz-Acc/Stun/Rchg:50(A), AbsAmz-Acc/Rchg:50(34), AbsAmz-Stun/Rchg:50(34), AbsAmz-EndRdx/Stun:50(36), AbsAmz-ToHitDeb%:50(36), RopADop-Acc/EndRdx:50(50)
Level 30: Tactics -- RctRtc-Pcptn:20(A)
Level 32: Tame Beasts -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 35: Tornado -- SlbAll-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(A), SlbAll-Dmg/EndRdx:50(40), SlbAll-Dmg/Rchg:50(40), SuddAcc--KB/+KD:50(46), SvrRgh-PetResDam:50(46), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets):50(46)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Apc-Acc/Rchg:50(42), Apc-Dmg/Rchg:50(42), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(42), Apc-Dam%:50(43), SuddAcc--KB/+KD:50(43)
Level 41: Temp Invulnerability -- GldArm-End/Res:50(A), GldArm-ResDam:50(43), GldArm-3defTpProc:50(45), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(45), EndRdx-I:50(45)
Level 44: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A)
Level 47: Grant Invisibility -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A)
Level 49: Invisibility -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(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 -- UnbLea-Stlth:50(A)
Level 1: Supremacy 
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End:50(A), Mrc-Rcvry+:40(36), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+:50(37)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod:50(A), PrfShf-End%:50(37), PwrTrns-EndMod:50(37), PwrTrns-+Heal:50(39)
Level 1: Alpha Howler Wolf 
Level 1: Howler Wolf 
Level 1: Pack Mentality 
Level 12: Lioness 
Level 26: Dire Wolf 
------------
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 4% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 4% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 4% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 4% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 4% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 4% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 4% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 4% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 10% Defense
• 8.5% Defense(Smashing)
• 8.5% Defense(Lethal)
• 6% Defense(Fire)
• 6% Defense(Cold)
• 6% Defense(Energy)
• 6% Defense(Negative)
• 6% Defense(Psionic)
• 11% Defense(Melee)
• 6% Defense(Ranged)
• 21% Defense(AoE)
• 7.5% Enhancement(Max EnduranceDiscount)
• 45% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 95% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 16.5% SpeedFlying
• GrantPower Preventive Medicine (10% chance, if Scourge)
• 78.31 HP (9.75%) HitPoints
• 16.5% JumpHeight
• 16.5% SpeedJumping
• Knockback (Mag -7)
• Knockup (Mag -7)
• MezResist(Confused) 46.25%
• MezResist(Held) 46.25%
• MezResist(Immobilized) 46.25%
• MezResist(Sleep) 46.25%
• MezResist(Stunned) 46.25%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 46.25%
• MezResist(Teleport) 100% (20% chance)
• 20% PerceptionRadius
• 12% (0.2 End/sec) Recovery
• 188% (6.29 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 20% ResEffect(SpeedFlying)
• 20% ResEffect(RechargeTime)
• 20% ResEffect(SpeedRunning)
• 49% Resistance(Smashing)
• 49% Resistance(Lethal)
• 64.75% Resistance(Fire)
• 64.75% Resistance(Cold)
• 43% Resistance(Energy)
• 43% Resistance(Negative)
• 43% Resistance(Toxic)
• 43% Resistance(Psionic)
• 16.5% SpeedRunning
  

Edited October 7, 2020 by SableShrike

[FenrisWolf44]

I ended up going with Beasts/Nature. I tried Thermal for a bit, and while I do really like Thermal (think I'll go Thermal/Necro), it didn't really gel well with Beasts, but Nature works a treat, I'm loving it so far, upto level 24. I took Call Hawk, as it really does some suprisingly good damage, and recharges super quick. 

Thematically a lot of fun. 🙂

I will definitely come up with something for Storm though, I remember playing Storm back in the day on a Defender, but never got around to doing it on an MM, just have to figure out which primary.

Thanks for the responses. 🙂

[TygerDarkstorm]

3 hours ago, FenrisWolf44 said:

I ended up going with Beasts/Nature. I tried Thermal for a bit, and while I do really like Thermal (think I'll go Thermal/Necro), it didn't really gel well with Beasts, but Nature works a treat, I'm loving it so far, upto level 24. I took Call Hawk, as it really does some suprisingly good damage, and recharges super quick. 

Thematically a lot of fun. 🙂

I will definitely come up with something for Storm though, I remember playing Storm back in the day on a Defender, but never got around to doing it on an MM, just have to figure out which primary.

Thanks for the responses. 🙂

If you don't care about theme, thugs/storm is supposed to be a pretty damaging MM combo. I have a demons/storm MM that is a lot of fun to play; as another user on the forums once said, it's kind of like summoning the apocalypse. 😄

[FenrisWolf44]

2 hours ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

If you don't care about theme, thugs/storm is supposed to be a pretty damaging MM combo. I have a demons/storm MM that is a lot of fun to play; as another user on the forums once said, it's kind of like summoning the apocalypse. 😄

Ok I'll give it a go 🙂

[Bananaghost]

Thought I'd post my question here instead of making a new topic, since it's along the same line.

 

I'm also doing a Beast MM, and I'm picking fighting and at least provoke from presence for some up close and personal gameplay. Not too worried about performance, I just want more of a "pack leader" type approach.

 

Playing with Kinetics atm, and it's been fun, apart from some untimely pet deaths. Don't like those. Now I'm only in my low 20's and I've not been using Fortify Pack alot, maybe that's one reason. I always forget I have it.

 

I just recently realized Thermal has those shields, fire and plasma or something.

 

Anyway, my question is, how effective are those, say compared to the ones from FF?

Figured shields and heal from Thermal could help with keeping my furry friends alive.

 

[Force Redux]

Should be rock solid with Thermal. Beasts are the only primary that can self cap Defense, though it requires some stacks of Pack Mentality converted with Fortify Pack. You'll lose the extra damage/criticals, in return. But you'll be very tough.

 

I use Time. Between Farsight for capped defense and Times Juncture for -ToHit, the posts are rarely hit, and Temporal Mending makes things all better for the pack. Plus the buffs apply to you more than with Thermal.

 

Can't go wrong either way, however.

[Force Redux]

I love FF on my Bots. But Time is better as an overall set due to heals and debuffs. 

[kelika2]

Beasts work stupidly well with many secondaries.  But my favorite ended up being Thermal.  With their inherent resists and thermal shields they are stupidly tough and forge on the cats and big wolf felt nice.  And power recoloring allowed a frosty look

[Force Redux]

3 hours ago, kelika2 said:

Beasts work stupidly well with many secondaries.  But my favorite ended up being Thermal.  With their inherent resists and thermal shields they are stupidly tough and forge on the cats and big wolf felt nice.  And power recoloring allowed a frosty look

Nice! 

[Riverdusk]

Ended up going beast/dark on mine and can attest that is also a very good combo.  Their personal defenses combined with all the dark tohit debuffs make them tough to hit and shadowfall adds in some resistances they are missing (gets them into the 50-60% res range to all but fire and toxic once you also add in the pet IO's and assuming they don't run off of course).  I hardly use fortify (and not sure they are really any safer when I do as then they take longer to kill things).  Only bothered slotting it with a LoTG and called it a day.

 

Beasts do work pretty well with almost anything with the natural defense and resistances they have.  Considering they are almost always in melee, appropriate that they should naturally be tougher than most sets from the get go.  Kind of the same reason I think necro grave knights should get some base s/l resistance.

[Bananaghost]

I Now made a Beast/Dark.. Realized I don't like those shields.. I always forget to buff up, and they are so short in duration...  😑

Always preferred a more reactive playstyle as opposed to a proactive one anyway..

 

I'm fairly certain I haven't made my last Beast Master, tho, but it's nice to grab ideas from other folks. Never even considered Dark before, however with the soul noir FX and a light green shade I can live with it.. 😁

[Hedgefund]

On 11/2/2020 at 2:31 AM, Bananaghost said:

Thought I'd post my question here instead of making a new topic, since it's along the same line.

 

I'm also doing a Beast MM, and I'm picking fighting and at least provoke from presence for some up close and personal gameplay. Not too worried about performance, I just want more of a "pack leader" type approach.

 

Playing with Kinetics atm, and it's been fun, apart from some untimely pet deaths. Don't like those. Now I'm only in my low 20's and I've not been using Fortify Pack alot, maybe that's one reason. I always forget I have it.

 

I just recently realized Thermal has those shields, fire and plasma or something.

 

Anyway, my question is, how effective are those, say compared to the ones from FF?

Figured shields and heal from Thermal could help with keeping my furry friends alive.

 

I wouldn't give up on Kin.  Slot Repel with an SA kb2kd IO and it's a surprising amount of mitigation.  Kin definitely makes good use of Fortify Pack.  As the saying goes "it gets better" and few things are better than FSing beasts.  I really implore you to not give up in your 20s when becoming a speed fueled death machine is just a few levels away.

[Force Redux]

2 hours ago, Bananaghost said:

I Now made a Beast/Dark.. Realized I don't like those shields.. I always forget to buff up, and they are so short in duration...  😑

Always preferred a more reactive playstyle as opposed to a proactive one anyway..

 

I'm fairly certain I haven't made my last Beast Master, tho, but it's nice to grab ideas from other folks. Never even considered Dark before, however with the soul noir FX and a light green shade I can live with it.. 😁

Agree, one of the reasons I enjoy Dark Miasma so much is the playstyle. Many is the time I've thought as I zone into a mission, "hey, I don't need to concentrate on buffing....I love that!" 👍🏻😁

[Riverdusk]

3 hours ago, Force Redux said:

Agree, one of the reasons I enjoy Dark Miasma so much is the playstyle. Many is the time I've thought as I zone into a mission, "hey, I don't need to concentrate on buffing....I love that!" 👍🏻😁

Hah, had that same exact feeling going to beast/dark after playing my necro/sonic for 50 levels.  It felt kind of weird not having to buff, buff, put disruption field toggle on a pet every time I zone into a mission.  I zone in and am ready to go.  Necro/sonic was a pretty amazing combo, but /dark is kind of a nice change.   Definitely appreciate having that stealth field as well so I don't get ganked as I zone in if the door is hot.

[Force Redux]

Yes, the extra safety of stealth when you have that hot door full of friendly Carnies who want to give hugs!

 

Zone and Go(tm), its the best feeling lol! 

 

Dark is my favorite secondary by far, followed by Time, Nature and FF. FF needs love, but I still love it after a falling out period for most of last year. But Dark is my BFF, my milk and honey baby.

[Bananaghost]

21 hours ago, Hedgefund said:

I wouldn't give up on Kin.  Slot Repel with an SA kb2kd IO and it's a surprising amount of mitigation.  Kin definitely makes good use of Fortify Pack.  As the saying goes "it gets better" and few things are better than FSing beasts.  I really implore you to not give up in your 20s when becoming a speed fueled death machine is just a few levels away.

I don't know what means.. 🤔

What's an SA

What's an IO

FSing, I'm guessing would be fulcrum shifting?