Red Skull?

[Ultimo]

So, I started a Mastermind character based on the Red Skull.

My original thinking was to make him Mercs/Poison, and supplement him with the Experimentation pool.

However, I found Poison to be almost entirely useless (at least at lower levels).  The debuffs don't seem to DO anything, and there's no way to protect MYSELF in combat.  So, I changed over to Radiation.

However, I'm finding Radiation rather underwhelming too.  The debuffs again don't seem to do much of anything, and while he CAN heal himself, the heal is pretty weak.

On top of all that, the Experimentation pool is striking me as really weak too.  Toxic Dart recycles pretty quickly, but does almost no damage.  Corrosive Vial is an AOE, but again does almost nothing and has a ridiculously long cooldown.  Experimental Injection... does what, exactly?  It seems to do almost nothing as well, and has an even LONGER cooldown.

 

In short, I'm having a tough time figuring out how to build this character so he's in concept, so I thought I'd see what you all think.  Am I out to lunch on these power sets?  Are Poison and Radiation actually better sets than I'm seeing?

 

The basis of the character is still Red Skull, but the one from the comics, not the movies.  That means he's a normal guy in a mask, a brilliant scientist and leader.  The plan was to give him the Field Master pool at the end to reference his control of the Cosmic Cube (probably his most iconic story arc).

 

So, what do you all think, how would you build a Red Skull themed character?

Edited November 16, 2021 by Ultimo

[pblue]

Mercs/Traps fits thematically and Traps is one of the better matches for Mercs.  Radiation worked pretty well for me on Bots, but that is becaused bot bring their own defence to the table.  Red Skull has used robots before (his Sleeper robots) so that could work too.

[Ultimo]

Well, it's been a while (I decided to post in the original thread rather than starting a new one, since the point remains the same), and I'm still struggling with the character.

 

Right now he's still Mercs/Radiation, but I'm still finding that underwhelming.  I've added in the Experimentation pool, but I'm finding THAT underwhelming too.  Really just struggling to get the character in a position where he's fun to play and seems capable.

 

Poison has a really, REALLY weak single target heal with a moderate cooldown that the character can't use on himself.  His debuffs seem really weak, and seem to be single target, with diminished effects on nearby targets.  It doesn't seem to have anything that does any actual damage.

 

Radiation has some reasonably debuffs that affect larger areas, and an area effect heal, but the character has to be next to the mercs, and the heal itself is also really weak.

 

All this is exacerbated by the fact that the mercs are SO weak themselves.  Almost any Warrior enemy will immediately oneshot them, and most other enemies will leave them nearly dead in one attack.  If several foes attack at once, all the mercs could be instantly wiped out.

 

I'm not sure what else to do with him.

 

I've looked at Traps, but haven't really tried it much yet, because it lacks the conceptual connection, wherein the Skull uses poisons, toxins or corruptive effects.

[evetsleep]

Go over to Brainstorm and make a few different merc MMs to see what feels good.  Currently there are page 5 changes on Brainstorm that buff Merc significantly.

 

I have a number of Merc MM's.  Traps and Trick Arrow are the stronger ones on live servers, but the page 5 stuff will toss that all up in the air.

[Ultimo]

Brainstorm?  Is that a test server?  How do I access it?

[evetsleep]

2 hours ago, Ultimo said:

Brainstorm?  Is that a test server?  How do I access it?

 

This is the beta forums and should have the instructions you're looking for.

[Sir Myshkin]

I was just talking about the Red Skull at work today (who would win in a fight against The Shredder, actually).

 

Merce don’t carry much for innate self protection other than a built in healing unit with the Medic, and some stealth with the Spec Ops, so they’re straight up a bit harder to focus on. Sets like Poison, Radiation, these don’t directly benefit the general safety of your Mercs upfront like other sets. The area of first focus you can work from is resistance though as they do have a starting point here, and there’s two pet unique IO’s that’ll pump them another 20% with just two slots which is huge. Going from that, and your desire for a “corrupt” theme, Pain Domination can fit this very well as it’s easily on par for that type of “leadership” Red Skull presented. The AoE heals and +Damage will also spread well across your mercs, and with the change to Serum making it impact all your Mercs, you can stack some nice boosts. Between their inherent resistances you can enhance now, and Pain, you should be able to break the squad into the 60-70% range.

 

Something I’m testing for a Merc/Cold is using Socery with the Absorb toggle on the Medic to help buffer his health, and then a heavily prof’s Enflame on my strongest enemy target to get them to cause frantic fire on everything and help break up the focus on the Mercs while it adds even more damage. 
 

For your theme I might suggest dipping into Intimidate and the fear AoE counterpart. Fear is a a poorly resisted effect and you’ll be able to throw it around pretty freely (for the most part).

 

Also, these changes are all live now, so now need to hop on to the beta server!

Edited October 18, 2022 by Sir Myshkin