Crossfire_EU

If anyone else is interested in trying a 'Blastermind' or 'Ironman'. I've created a global channel called 'Blasterminds'

Feel free to join in and have a laugh

Hi Akaoz, I can't help with IO slotting, but as for power choices....firstly I have to say is there a need for stamina in your build?, my Merc FF at lvl 31 still doesn't need the fitness pool and I don't think he will even at lvl 50.

Teleport pool would be usefull and would be more useful than the fitness pool, or maybe group fly as one other power chioce ( I've found it helps on maps like Oranbega)

One other thing to note, (as a fellow FF) manouvers (although a bit sucky on its own) when combined with FF gives a decent boost to your bubbles.

Regrading Force Bolt: I slot it 1 acc, 1 recharge and 1 end red, thats enough for me, keeps flamethrowers and any other AoEs away from my minions till I'm ready to deal with them.

Detention Field is another FF power that you could take instead of any fitness powers, worth taking to isolate a boss, AoE'er or mezzer (see above), finish off the surrounding minions and then take out that problem on it's own without any adds

One last thing, I don't know what lvl you are, but Personal FF should really be taken earlier in the build, many times, even at lower levels, when pets aggro too much or the fight goes wrong, PFF and get away, regroup, go back and finish the job.....it's alot quicker than going to hospital (no debt either )

Sorry I can't help with IO's, but to be truthful, I'll only be looking at the benefits when I ding 50
I hope I've been of help.

Deep Strike is now created on Defiant (no room on Union), lvl 3 at the mo and no faceplants yet ...I understand what you say regarding the travel powers, I may switch em around a bit. Toon looks like terminator too which is what I had in mind.

Heres a petless MM build I've come up with, based on a super tech android/robot.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.152
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/hu/mhd.php

Level 50 Technology Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Pulse Rifle Blast -- Acc(A), Acc(7), Dmg(46), Dmg(50)
Level 1: Web Grenade -- Acc(A)
Level 2: Pulse Rifle Burst -- Acc(A), Acc(3), Dmg(3), Dmg(5), Dmg(5), EndRdx(7)
Level 4: Caltrops -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(9), Slow(39)
Level 6: Air Superiority -- Acc(A), Acc(34), EndRdx(42), Dmg(43), Dmg(43)
Level 8: Photon Grenade -- Acc(A), Dmg(9), Dmg(11), Dmg(13), EndRdx(13), EndRdx(15)
Level 10: Acid Mortar -- Acc(A), EndRdx(11), DefDeb(15), DefDeb(17), DefDeb(19), RechRdx(19)
Level 12: Hurdle -- Jump(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight(A), EndRdx(27), Flight(43)
Level 16: Force Field Generator -- EndRdx(A), DefBuff(17), DefBuff(23), DefBuff(25)
Level 18: Health -- Heal(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(21), EndMod(21)
Level 22: Poison Trap -- RechRdx(A), EndRdx(23), RechRdx(25), Hold(27), Hold(31), Slow(31)
Level 24: Aid Other -- RechRdx(A)
Level 26: Aid Self -- RechRdx(A), Heal(29), Heal(33), Heal(33), IntRdx(34), RechRdx(40)
Level 28: Seeker Drones -- Acc(A), EndRdx(29), ToHitDeb(31), ToHitDeb(34), ToHitDeb(37), EndRdx(40)
Level 30: Stealth -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(46)
Level 32: Invisibility -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(33)
Level 35: Trip Mine -- Acc(A), Dmg(36), Dmg(36), Dmg(36), RechRdx(37), RechRdx(37)
Level 38: Phase Shift -- RechRdx(A), EndRdx(39), RechRdx(39), RechRdx(40)
Level 41: Web Envelope -- Acc(A), Acc(42), EndRdx(42)
Level 44: Scorpion Shield -- EndRdx(A), DefBuff(45), DefBuff(45), DefBuff(45), EndRdx(46)
Level 47: Web Cocoon -- Acc(A), Acc(48), RechRdx(48), RechRdx(48), Hold(50), Hold(50)
Level 49: Triage Beacon -- RechRdx(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Supremacy
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)


Ignore the slotting levels as I was just playing around with Mids new builder.

Quick suggestion re IO's, you know you can do the tutorial each time you log in?....theres your answer, it'll take a while to make enough to kit you out at lvl 17 but it'll save that inf you have for when SO's become available, also remember that the IO's won't degrade over time/levels

If you were on Union I could help out with an inf donation to you both.

I'll be making one of these on defiant in the next few days, sounds like a challenge too. I did think of going the normal route for MM's till lvl 22 and then use one of my respecs to go petless, but I guess that'll be cheating

Hi, heres my Merc/FF build Force Recon

Level 30 at the moment.

I still enjoy playing my ill/rad....and I never tire of decieving malta sappers

Hehe, I do think it will be a long and painful road to lvl 10 or 20 let alone 50 with a petless MM. The best of luck to you if you do try the concept out.
I would give the Ironman Challenge a go if only I had a spare toon slot left on Union and Defiant.....hmm, checks slots on Zukunft, dusts off German/English dictionary

Heres a link to a monster of a thread regarding 'Petless Masterminds' over on the US forums
Ironman Challenge

My Merc/FF (currently at lvl 29) has only took Slug as a personal attack.....it has come in very usefull for pulling but I'll be leaving it out on my next respec at 32

I hope Cap gets plenty of relaxation time in that cool looking library, I can just imagine him in his monogrammed smoking jacket and matching velvet slippers being waited on by his loyal crew

Nice one Ducky!..

Grats Jewely!! cool tune too

Very nice looking base you have there Cap!

Just one question, does the shower get much use? what with it being a pirate base

I found Ballista 1 to be one of the harder EB's so far with my MM.

The only way to tank in CoV is to kill things....quickly.
Brutes don't play well as a tank, in fact they play more like a scrapper....get out of the mindset that you can sit there and take punishment, Brutes don't work like that

Inv as a secondary will be great until you come across CoT and Carnies etc, at that point you'll use Dull Pain and aid self as mitigation against them and possibly a few green inspirations.

Just a quick question regarding Leadership, would manouvers be worth taking to add to my forcefield defences?

You've hit the nail on the head there Max, stamina-less builds are fine until you come up against a Boss, EB/AV...long protracted fights with 1 or 2 blues in the tray and you need to resummon a pet or two, and then equip them, buff them....no chance. As there are a few skippable powers in FF (at later levels), I'll maybe go for fitness instead [img]/uk/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Hi Doc, my merc/ff is fine without stamina at lvl 27, I carry a few blues to help with initial set up at the start of a mission and if all goes well I get through it without worrying about my endurance.
What does cause a problem (normally when fighting EB's or Heroes) is when having to resummon and apply bubbles mid combat, in these instances I wish I had Stamina. Dropping Assault and Dispersion Bubble helps but then I find that my mercs die very quickly....especially if my insp tray is empty (and if a pesky flamethrower is hanging around!)
I do think that by taking the medicine pool and leadership, masterminds will struggle to get the fitness pool into the build. For the time being though I'm happy to run without Stamina.

As for other AT's, my claws/regen seems fine without at the moment although he's only lvl 14, on the other hand my spines/regen who is at lvl 32 does need it on protracted fights (especially when running quills and spamming spine burst).

There are plenty of players out there who slot for end red instead of going down the fitness route. I do know that there are MM's that need to take the fitness pool asap (/dark possibly and /poison) but there are other AT's that don't need it but if they do it can be a nice bonus.

Recently I rolled a Sonic/Elec blaster and in the early levels I've found that I don't need to pop many blue insps, so maybe thats another that doesn't need Stamina but it might help later in the build for long fights.

Some interesting thoughts you've raised there Doc [img]/uk/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Myself (mercs/ff) and a friend (thugs/dark) took on Barracuda and then Calystix the other night....Barracuda was an intense battle especially when Ohmtown decided to aggro the whole corridor after we had tried to pull a few minions [img]/uk/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

Watching my Commando and my friends Brute pets go to work was awesome, the Freakshow ambushes that joint the battle didn't know what hit em.

Calystix was a bit easier, which was probably down to not having Ohmtown with us [img]/uk/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

During both missions we seemed to get more than our fair share of rezzing Freaks and at one point I said 'it's just like double xp weekend all over again!'

Great fun was had by all [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

If I manage to free up a slot on Union I'll seriously consider signing up.

Good luck with the SG anyway.

Hi, my dm/elec is now lvl 18 and he's great fun to play.

Just a few thoughts on your build, from lessons I've learned so far:

Stamina is a must and I think you should try to get it at level 20, that way it will be three slotted by 22 ready for SO's. You could do that by taking Grounded in the 20's.

I also took Lightning Field at lvl 4 but it is a real end hog and running it with even just one other shield will cause endurance problems. At present I have it slotted with 1 acc and 2 end red DO's.

With regards to the shields, pre stamina you will be switching between them depending on the damage type you are going up against.

I've slotted Siphon Life with 2 acc 1 heal so far because I want it to hit as much as possible, more slots for heals will come later.

As for Shadow Maul, I too have skipped it so far but I'll pick it up in the 20's.

Lastly, enjoy the build whatever you decide to do, dm/elec is great fun and totally different to the playstyle of my SS/Inv.

Just a quick note about Serum at lvl 18....firstly it has a massive recharge duration (10 minutes I think) and secondly, it really only benefits the Commando. Have a read up on it's use on the US forums or ask here, but in my opinion I would put off getting Serum till after lvl 26 or not at all. You could use the slot to get stamina a level earlier or something else more useful at that level.

Hi, the build looks ok but as Bio Mass stated you need to get Dull Pain much earlier especially as it needs to be 6 slotted (3 recharge, 3 health). One way in which you could do it is to take Air Superiority instead of haymaker, take fly as a travel power (much more useful in CoV imho) and that will free up a space for Dull Pain at an earlier level.

SS/Inv is a great set for Brutes and I love playing mine, the first time I used KO Blow with a full fury bar gave me a grin factor of 10...persevere with it and once SO's and Stamina kick in you'll be having a ball

Good Luck

Just a quick tip about the medic, I've found that if I don't equip him he has the same range as his other tier 1 buddies, I think this is to do with the upgrade giving him a shorter range/higher damage machine gun....By using this method I've noticed he doesn't go suicidal so much.

Shock Tactics by Corona....top quality, love the style too