Deacon_NA

One more tidbit you should know about the stealth ios, they can be slotted into Sprint (or any sprint variants you may have). Not all of the travel IOs can be slotted that way, the -kb and the slow resists cannot go into Sprint. I always put the stealth io into Sprint (which can take either Celerity (run speed) or Unbounded Leap (jump)) so I can put something else in the travel power. Sprint simply provides a free slot is the way I see it.

The alpha level shift (all alpha effects actually) works down to level 45, not 50. I'm going to guess (though I don't know firsthand) that the other incarnate abilities do the same. I do know firsthand about alpha exemping to 45 though.

The purple IOs are unique. You can't slot any more Soulbounds. The Apocolypse set has a 3% HP bonus but 3 of those are probably as expensive as the entire build I just posted.

I did gimp your blue bar a bit, I admit. I think it's sufficient as is and, anyway these days I think folks are going to be eager to dust off their kins for the new buffs. I think Cardiac would be the alpha you'd want to go for anyway (for endurance and resists), and that will solve any endurance issues. Looks like it would take your s/l resists to 41%.

1. I dunno, I'd check www.paragonwiki.com

2. I don't really understand the question, but I don't think I need to because we'll get to the bottom line soon enough...

3. See #1.

4. Yes

5. Yes! and yes, to get to pve cap.

If you're a returning player, you may not be aware of the stealth IOs available in travel power IO sets. These are mandatory for me, for all my characters.

So, to bottom line it, you'll be fully pve invis by combining any of 2 of these 3 - Stealth (from Concealment), stealth IO and SS.

I'll say it just to say it, but this won't help against Rikti drones, Rularuu eyeballs, Nemesis snipers and whoever else has +percep.

Now I have access to Mids, so let's take a deeper look shall we?

With your current slotting, Nullify Pain (PBAOE heal) recharges in 3.18 seconds, cast time of 2.03 seconds. Soothe, the ally heal, recharges in 1.6 seconds, cast time of 2.27 seconds.

In my experience, if I'm in some super-reactive mode needing to focus on healing, then Soothe> NP > Sooth is seemless. That doesn't even get into using Share Pain.

Aid Other has a cast time of 3.93 seconds and (this is important) is interuptable, not just by enemy fire, but by you accidentally hitting a move button. I honestly don't know how I'd fit Aid Other into my "heal chain" if I took it.

I'll concede that Aid Self will restore more of your hp than NP will. Again, it's interuptable and will only heal you. Personally, I find with NP, Suppress Pain (+regen) and bg mode, I always have a full supply of green insps (since I don't consume them). I usually take Aid Self with my MMs, but not for my /PD.

As for the rez, if it's that important to you, I'd put 2 recharge IOs into Conduit of Pain. That gets you a rez every 62 seconds as opposed to 2 every 88 seconds with your current build. If you're spamming rezzes like that, something's wrong that's not build related. That's not a jab at you, it's at your hypothetical team's tactics.

Other notes -

To a high regen build, the +regen proc doesn't do a lot and Suppress Pain really amps up your regen. With the proc you regen 25.43 hp/sec, without, it's 24.5 hp/sec.

I added some higher priced items, but I don't think they're too high priced - Lysosome HOs so you get Acc, -tohit and -def all in one slot, freeing up your henchmen to do some actual damage. The purple pet set isn't terribly expensive. At 3 slots it provides the highest +HP bonus in the game (3%) so I always slot 2 sets of 3. The sleep purple is trivially cheap, so I went for that.

I kept your power selection as is, including Medicine, except I swapped Resuscitate for Veng. Believe me, veng will be more helpful to your team's survival than a second rez. It's not the build I would make for a Necro/PD I'd build for myself, but it's how I'd modify your build to satisfy what you're looking for, while still providing a satisfactory level of MM performance. I'd make more changes given the time and inclination to do so.

To illustrate my point about +hp being more imporant than +regen on a high regen build - Though I lowered your regen, your hp/sec increased to 26.98 (from 25.43) due to more +hp.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.94
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Necromancy
Secondary Power Set: Pain Domination
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Chill Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Zombie Horde -- SvgnRt-PetResDam(A), EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg(5), EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), EdctM'r-Dmg(7), HO:Lyso(15)
Level 1: Nullify Pain -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(9), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(13), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Dct'dW-Heal(15)
Level 2: Soothe -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(3), Numna-Heal/Rchg(3), Numna-Heal(34)
Level 4: Share Pain -- Heal-I(A)
Level 6: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(9), RedFtn-Def(11), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(11), RedFtn-EndRdx(33), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(34)
Level 8: Aid Other -- Numna-Heal(A)
Level 10: Enchant Undead -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Conduit of Pain -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(27)
Level 14: Aid Self -- Mrcl-Heal(A), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx(40), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg(45), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 16: Grave Knight -- HO:Lyso(A), S'bndAl-Dmg(17), S'bndAl-Build%(23), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg(37), HO:Lyso(37), Achilles-ResDeb%(40)
Level 18: Tactics -- AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(A), AdjTgt-ToHit(40), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(50), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(50), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 20: Suppress Pain -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(21), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(21), Numna-Heal/Rchg(23)
Level 22: Enforced Morale -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 24: Vengeance -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(34), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 26: Lich -- S'bndAl-Dmg/EndRdx(A), S'bndAl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), S'bndAl-Acc/Rchg(31), EdctM'r-PetDef(33), EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), EdctM'r-Dmg/EndRdx(45)
Level 28: World of Pain -- AdjTgt-Rchg(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(29), AdjTgt-ToHit(29), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(31), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 30: Soul Extraction -- C'Arms-+Def(Pets)(A), ExRmnt-+Res(Pets)(42), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(42), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(45)
Level 32: Dark Empowerment -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 35: Anguishing Cry -- LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg(A), AnWeak-Acc/DefDeb(36), LdyGrey-Rchg/EndRdx(36), AnWeak-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(36)
Level 38: Painbringer -- Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx(39), Mrcl-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg(39)
Level 41: Flash Freeze -- FtnHyp-Sleep/Rchg(A), FtnHyp-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(42), FtnHyp-Acc/Rchg(43), FtnHyp-Sleep/EndRdx(43), FtnHyp-Plct%(48)
Level 44: Hoarfrost -- Mrcl-Heal(A), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg(46), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Mrcl-EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Recall Friend -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Supremacy
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Heal(19), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx(19), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg(25), Mrcl-Rcvry+(25)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), P'Shift-End%(7), P'Shift-EndMod(17)

I know it's an extra step, but even camped at your day job, say the Shadow Shard, you can use your base tp, do your /auctionhouse work and craft at your base's station, then hit the base entry point to zone back to where you were.

If you intend to solo, I couldn't suggest Siren's Song more. I solod my Sonic/EM about 85% of the time leveling up and it was rather like playing a Dom - sleep the spawn, if you missed someone Screech him to stun and take him down, otherwise just choose your targets. Rinse and repeat. Very safe, very effective.

I confess I haven't digested the details, but I guess a new melee set is going to incorporate the ability to speed up animation times. Would be a very cool, unique buff for a time control set, I must say.

Yes.

Very nice, I wish I had discovered this guide before I made my final build a few months ago. I consider my Bots/TA one of the hidden gems in the game. TA isn't a "carebear" support set, so Bots are a particularly good pairing since they have good self sufficiency. The -res debuffs, OSA and Bots damage types make this the most offensive MM I have. I'm not saying "best", but puts up more and bigger orange numbers than any other I've played.

Your guide is quite thorough, so I'll mention you may want to add the hero APPs as well. Ice Master (Chill, Cold, or whatever it's called) is also good for building s/l defense and can also take resistance sets, for the 3% Def uniques.

I still don't see how ATT and TTP are comparable. TTP is used for getting all of your teammates that are near you from one place to another a short distance away. ATT is used for getting all of your teammates, regardless of where they are, to your spot.

The most well known use of TTP is teleporting 8 fire/rads into a spawn so that Choking Cloud and Hot Feet take more immediate effect. It's not unheard of for MMs to use it as well. Personally I've used it for both of those situations. Assemble doesn't serve that same purpose.

Having said that, for the OP's purpose, yes it's a silly pick, I can't imagine a practical use for an emp to use TTP.

I've got 3 50s of Thugs and 3 for Bots. Performance-wise I see little to no distinction between the two. The bots are probably a tad more self-sufficient, due to prot bots heals. Really it's the secondary that will differentiate them. You'll most certainly come to a point where you find your bots/traps outperforming your thugs/ff (I happen to not only have 50s of both of those combos, but they've gotten solid IOing and Alphaing). The Bots/Traps will be doing things your Thugs/FF is not capable of, that's due to the secondaries, not Bots being superior to thugs.

The devs did a decent job with previously questionable powers (Sleep in this case) becoming useful with Electric Control. I think it would be interesting to see if they could find a way to make some of the intangible powers more usable as well.

Ultimate Colossus and Northstar