Known Mastermind Issues

[Apparition]

Let's keep a running tally of known Mastermind issues.

 

I'll start.

 

• When zoning or entering a mission, pets of a level 32+ Mastermind seem to lose their first equip and need to be re-equipped.
   
  
• Mastermind pets (and all NPCs actually), do not like elevators in lab maps.  Roughly about a third of the time, instead of taking the elevator one or more pets will instead keep circling around the lab map elevator like a rabbit on cocaine.  The only way to fix it is to unsummon the pet(s), and then unsummon them again.
   
  
• The only Incarnate Hybrid that works on Mastermind pets every time is Support.  Assault and Control work, but only if you use them before summoning the pets.  If you zone or enter a mission, you must unsummon the pets, use the Hybrid power, and then resummon the pets in order for them to benefit.  For Melee Hybrid, only the taunt effect of the radial Melee Hybrid works on pets.
  

[Redlynne]

• Mastermind pets (and all NPCs actually), do not like elevators in lab maps.  Roughly about a third of the time, instead of taking the elevator one or more pets will instead keep circling around the lab map elevator like a rabbit on cocaine.  The only way to fix it is to unsummon the pet(s), and then unsummon them again.

 

I've noticed that Twinshot in the Level 5-9 part of the arc is especially susceptible to this issue ... and by that I mean RELIABLY ... as in every single time, on every alt I've run through Proton's lab, Twinshot does this EVERY time.  Curiously enough, the other NPCs don't have this problem (and there are multiple who ride the elevators with your PC).  I'm thinking that the scripting on Twinshot's pathing might offer a useful clue for resolving this issue, if anyone is brave enough to go down into the guts of the coding with a flashlight, a #2 pencil and a surplus 286 processor (or words to that effect).

[PaxArcana]

• When zoning or entering a mission, pets of a level 32+ Mastermind seem to lose their first equip and need to be re-equipped.
  

 

Just to put this in perspective:  when CoV was first launched, pets wouldn't even enter a map with you.  Every time you entered or exited a Door mission map, youhad to completely resummon and re-upgrade your pets.

 

And, what's more, none of the upgrade powers (or the shields from various secondaries, e.g. Forcefield) were AoE.

 

My Robotics/FF mastermind, even at level cap and fairly well slotted (before IOs, mind, so using just SOs) ...?  I'd spend a minute or two, on:

• Summon (3) Battle Drones
  
• Summon (2) Protector Bots
  
• Summon Assault Bot
  
• Equip Protector 1
  
• Upgrade Protector 1
  
• Equip Protector 2
  
• Upgrade Protector 2
  
• Equip Assault
  
• Upgrade Assault
  
• Equip Drone 1
  
• Upgrade Drone 1
  
• Equip Drone 2
  
• Upgrade Drone 2
  
• Equip Drone 3
  
• Upgrade Drone 3
  
• Deflection Protector 1
  
• Insulation Protector 1
  
• Deflection Protector 2
  
• Insulation Protector 2
  
• Deflection Drone 1
  
• Insulation Drone 1
  
• Deflection Drone 2
  
• Insulation Drone 2
  
• Deflection Drone 3
  
• Insulation Drone 3
  
• Defelction Assault
  
• Insulation Assault
  
• Toggle: Maneuvers
  
• Toggle: Tactics
  
• Toggle: Assault
  
• Toggle: Dispersion Field
  

 

... and only then, could I proceed to actually, you know, do the mission.  After thirty-one power activations.

 

:D :D :D

 

One time, teamed with several other MMs ... good lord, several of us doing similar all at once.  And trying to make our END last enough to buff each others' pets, too ... ugh!

 

Now, though?  Even including all the toggle-on steps? Eleven steps, just one-third as many.  :)

[Apparition]

• When zoning or entering a mission, pets of a level 32+ Mastermind seem to lose their first equip and need to be re-equipped.
  

 

Just to put this in perspective:  when CoV was first launched, pets wouldn't even enter a map with you.  Every time you entered or exited a Door mission map, youhad to completely resummon and re-upgrade your pets.

 

And, what's more, none of the upgrade powers (or the shields from various secondaries, e.g. Forcefield) were AoE.

 

[...] Now, though?  Even including all the toggle-on steps? Eleven steps, just one-third as many.  :)

 

I understand all of this.  I had five Masterminds on live, including two bubblers.  But that still doesn't change that this is an issue.  The vast majority of my friends are speed runners.  They like to run task forces and strike forces as quickly as possible.  They consider a twenty minute MLTF or LRSF "slow."  It's how they like to play.  My bringing a Mastermind slows them down.  Like it or not (and I don't), it just does.  For a few reasons, one of which is the above.

[PaxArcana]

But that still doesn't change that this is an issue.

Not trying to imply it isn't.

 

Just, that it's not an earth-shatteringly important issue, that's all.  :)

[Rebel230]

The thug arsonist is an idiot. Please fix him. He should not run into melee range and die every time.

[Karthunk]

Let's keep a running tally of known Mastermind issues.

 

I'll start.

 

• When zoning or entering a mission, pets of a level 32+ Mastermind seem to lose their first equip and need to be re-equipped.
   
  
• Mastermind pets (and all NPCs actually), do not like elevators in lab maps.  Roughly about a third of the time, instead of taking the elevator one or more pets will instead keep circling around the lab map elevator like a rabbit on cocaine.  The only way to fix it is to unsummon the pet(s), and then unsummon them again.
   
  
• The only Incarnate Hybrid that works on Mastermind pets every time is Support.  Assault and Control work, but only if you use them before summoning the pets.  If you zone or enter a mission, you must unsummon the pets, use the Hybrid power, and then resummon the pets in order for them to benefit.  For Melee Hybrid, only the taunt effect of the radial Melee Hybrid works on pets.

 

Thank you!!! I've been trying to figure out how some people can get this to work.

[Makeshift Sage]

My biggest mastermind issue is that they don't code it so the henchmen are non-solid for teams like they are for the mastermind. I think that would make such a HUGE difference for teaming!

 

Oh and remove brawl from the thug's arsonist so he is no longer a suicide bomber! :D

[PaxArcana]

My biggest mastermind issue is that they don't code it so the henchmen are none-solid for teams like they are for the mastermind. I think that would make such a HUGE difference for teaming!

ISTR that at some point on Live, they made the pets pushable.  That seems to no longer be the case.

 

Making them nonsolid to other players (or at least, to team-mates or allied-faction players) would seem like a good alternate to that.

 

Oh and remove brawl from the thug's arsonist so he is no longer a suicide bomber! :D

 

How about, remove it from ALL ranged minions.  So sick and tired of my Battle Drones running up into an enemy's face.  FFS YOU HAVE A LASER GUN, USE IT!!

[You]

Not really a bug or major issue. But either, as mentioned above, remove melee attacks from range pets or add an immo to the GoTo function to prevent pets from running off (and remove the effect when use Follow).

 

We already have a set of pure melee pets why can’t we have pure ranged pets? Brawl may be needed at a lower level to fill in the gap of an attack chain. But by the second upgrade, it can be deactivated all together. In fact, add the function to the second upgrade whereby brawl is to be deactivated.

 

Adding on/off immo to Goto/Follow should be quite easy and address the issue of pets running away. I have been a long term bots player. It always annoys me to see one little bot running into melee range to punch someone in the face when I ask specifically ask them to GoTo as spot and shoot. Add an immo (only being turn off on Follow) hopefully would remedy that.

[Doctor Brainbottle]

I have robot and thug masterminds, and I can't say I've noticed their minions losing their first equip when zoning. I suppose I can double check next time I play them, but I'm pretty sure I would have noticed, especially with my robots which I play the most, and the visual cues of both equip powers are pretty distinct and noticeable.

[Sovera]

I know that there is an issue with removing Brawl, but surely it could be replaced for a very low CD ranged attack that takes over its job as a filler. Normal mobs have a generic Throw Rock and I think even that would fit, since I suppose it would be a pain to make a special low CD ranged filler attack for each MM set.

[khy]

Issue : Caltrops makes MM pets just FLIP THE FUCK OUT and scatter like leaves on the wind. It acts like an uber-fear to them, and they become uncontrollable when fleeing.

 

I was doing the Mako Patron arc, which has a ton of Knives of Artemis, as a Beast/Kin. What an awful, awful mistake. Every time the knives would drop Caltrops, my speed-boosted pets would just tear off in random directions, pulling more and more and more enemies. I stopped speed boosting them after I realized what was going on, and used Increase Density to slow my pets down, but every time they'd get scared of the caltrops they'd ignore any and all orders until they reached the point they were fleeing to. They wouldn't follow, go to, anything. It was the most obnoxious and annoying time and I was sick and tired of it by the middle of the 'bomb the ship' mission. Only to find that, joy of joys, I had ANOTHER KoA mission immediately afterwards.

[kelly Rocket]

Annoyingly, they run like hell from the completely meaningless damage of caltrops, but they'll happily stand in burn patches being roasted to death.

[Redlynne]

Annoyingly, they run like hell from the completely meaningless damage of caltrops, but they'll happily stand in burn patches being roasted to death.

 

Winter is coming.

Stand in fire to warm up.

[Dixa]

be sure to cut and paste the old forums thread here, because nothing on that list was ever fixed.

[Frostweaver]

Here's an issue:

 

I run into way too many 40+ MM's who have no idea what pet control means, or even what Bodyguard mode is.

 

It gets HARD to get into a team when all they have experienced from MM's is those idiots that summon their pets and then run around whipping stuff and clogging doorways and roar-spamming Miss Liberty.

 

I wish I had a solution.

[PaxArcana]

No-skill MMs were just as much an issue on Live as it is here.  :'(

[Clave Dark 5]

Here's an issue:

 

I run into way too many 40+ MM's who have no idea what pet control means, or even what Bodyguard mode is.

 

It gets HARD to get into a team when all they have experienced from MM's is those idiots that summon their pets and then run around whipping stuff and clogging doorways and roar-spamming Miss Liberty.

 

I wish I had a solution.

This seems like one of those issues where nothing in-game really tells you much about anything and only hardcore, forum-reading players know much about it.  I dunno how we'd fix this, maybe make a bodyguard button one of those given out to every new MM?

[kelly Rocket]

I seem to be welcome on teams if the leader's teamed with me before. Probably because I play my MMs as supports that happen to have pets ;-)

[Maxzero]

 

So any updates on this?

[ranagrande]

On 7/23/2019 at 3:27 AM, Clave Dark 5 said:

This seems like one of those issues where nothing in-game really tells you much about anything and only hardcore, forum-reading players know much about it.  I dunno how we'd fix this, maybe make a bodyguard button one of those given out to every new MM?

All you'd really have to do is change the default Follow command from Aggressive to Defensive.  Then the defaults given to new MMs would include one command for each stance, which is how I always thought it should be.

[Targren]

On 3/31/2020 at 5:41 AM, ranagrande said:

All you'd really have to do is change the default Follow command from Aggressive to Defensive.  Then the defaults given to new MMs would include one command for each stance, which is how I always thought it should be.

You can do this manually (I did it just yesterday when I learned I could edit the follow command). Should come that way out of the box, tho. 

[EyeLuvBooks]

On 7/7/2019 at 2:39 PM, Rebel230 said:

The thug arsonist is an idiot. Please fix him. He should not run into melee range and die every time.

Since the recent changes to pet AI I've mound that most of the pets don't do this nearly as much as they used to. Except this fool. The issue is that his Breath Fire cone attack has a range of about 40' so in order to use it he HAS to get closer. If his chosen target runs back into a spawn, he'll chase them right through other mobs.

 

I'd settle for him having a small ranged AoE instead of the Breathe Fire cone. Then he wouldn't need to run into melee.

 

[Crysis]

On 7/7/2019 at 10:03 AM, PaxArcana said:

Not trying to imply it isn't.

 

Just, that it's not an earth-shatteringly important issue, that's all.  🙂

“Important” is contextual though.

 

But lets spend more time on allowing two peglegs on space strippers than addressing an eleven step process to begin a mission.

 

Because....it’s “important.”