Help with a Thug/Cold

[SaxyGuitar]

So it's time to me roll another thug mm. I'm thinking cold this time. Anyone got any recommendations or tips for me. The build I planned the other day is attached.

 

Thank you for any info.

 

-Update for those joining-

Made an update to the build its below in another message. Only thing I've changed after that was swaping the dmg proc IO for Overwhelming force on the basic pet.

 

Frosty_Jack_-_Mastermind_Thugs_-_Cold_Domination.mbd

Edited January 18 by SaxyGuitar
Build update/spelling

[StrikerFox]

Your pet's stats look pretty good. They'll be even better if you pick up the Musculature Alpha incarnate. I think the Enforcers could use more endurance. +47.7% is low for long fights. The pets will be at softcap, cold shields + Arctic Fog + Maneuvers + Enforcer Maneuvers + Edict/CtA. I recommend slotting the Overwhelming Force KD proc into Call Thugs.

I think your pets can run with less accuracy. Supremacy + Tactics + Enforcer's Tactics should put them at around +22% tohit. Add in Enforcer and Sleet's -def debuffs + random BU on Enforcers and Bruisers on top of that. 

Also I'm not convinced that Gaussian's is worth it in Enforcers. I see a lot of players slot it but I did some testing and it didn't trigger very often. Maybe once per minute. Enforcers would do more damage with the Lady Grey or Shield Breaker proc.

The MM def/res stats are kind of low. Cold shields and Enforcer's Maneuvers do not work on the MM. Maybe slot Steadfast and Gladiator's Armor for +6% def into Arctic Fog or Frozen Armor. Also the Shield Wall IO for +5% dam res. Tough and Weave can help a lot and a different Epic pool, but I get it's a theme.

I haven't played Cold but I think Benumb is supposed to be useful. -Dam and -regen debuff, good for bosses.
 

If you can scrounge a slot, put it in Hover for the Freebird +stealth IO. That + Arctic Fog should make you fully invisible, then Stealth can be dropped for Combat Jump. They have the same +def bonus but has a lower end cost.

Maybe slot the Annihilation -res proc in Sleet. It can stack on top of Sleet and Achilles' debuffs.

All in all, I think the build is pretty good and will take you far.

[SaxyGuitar]

Thank you! I've IOed a thug mm a handful of times. But I'm brand new to Cold, and I'll be honest 100% missed some things when throwing this test build together just from reading some powers wrong. I took stealth because I forgot artic fog is a stealth power plus a strong buff. So I got some powers to play around with. I'll start reworking some things tonight. I appreciate the recommendations.

 

I do have a question.Why overwhelming force over a dmg proc on the basic thugs?

 

 

[SaxyGuitar]

Ok I have made some changes.

 

Moved around some enhancements in my pets to even out the bonuses.

Realized I was over slotting some of my cold powers to free up some slots.

Added some more strong IOs like the +Def and Annihilation.

Then I was able to work in EM from Flight with a Sealth IO and Vengeance.

 

But I was unable to get Wave added while keeping perma Haste.

Also, because I'm a lot happier with this I added Alpha just to see how it changes things.

I'll probably run with this, and just want to post here in case someone wants to see what I did.

Frosty Jack 2.0 - Mastermind (Thugs - Cold Domination).mbd

[StrikerFox]

8 hours ago, SaxyGuitar said:

I do have a question.Why overwhelming force over a dmg proc on the basic thugs?

 

The Overwhelming proc has a chance to knockdown with any pet attack. It will gives T1 Thugs some mitigation since when they knockdown a target, the target can't retaliate until they get up. It triggers often. The video below, it triggers 17 times, split between 3 pets, in about 55 seconds, when it was slotted in Illusion's Phantom Army. 

 

 

[SaxyGuitar]

Ohhh that is cool. I didn't know it worked like that on the pets

 

I'll be changing that as well.

[evetsleep]

12 hours ago, SaxyGuitar said:

Ohhh that is cool. I didn't know it worked like that on the pets

 

I'll be changing that as well.

It's kind of the go-to for T1 pets.  Especially necromancer's Zombies and their puke attack.  For almost all my MM's that overwhelming force proc always goes in my T1'S.  It adds a ton of survivability to ninjas.

[SaxyGuitar]

Yeah I made the change last night on my main mm and a good one.