Frith_the_Dark

I would definately like to see a few things villain side

Martin Henry vs. the snakes, they're transformation, the
binding of Batzul

Death of Scrapyard

Mu vs. Circle

i have this happen to me all the time... how do you do the demo mode?

The single shot for Wolf Spiders is really slow considering the damage it does. The setup animation for it is just too long.

I also find the defence and resists for wolfspiders (pre level 24) are really lacking considering the limited damage output they have prior to the level 24 respec. I'd either like to see damage increased for the wolf spider attacks, or defence and resists increased a tad.

Widow training has defence + sliding resists, and excellent damage output. Prior to Lv 24 respec Wolf spiders have mediocre damage, no sliding resists, and minor defence... The balance (IMO) appears heavily weighted to Widows prier to the lev 24 respec.

EDIT - I'd also really love to see Widows get the option for the metallic skin that nightwidow mobs have. My nightwidow outfight, just doesn't look right. it's got a flat matt looking black feel to it. The chest and legs need the same metallic sheen the helmet has (or at least the option for it when making the costume)

Every cape I've had on a character so far for some reason will look fine, but after a few minutes of moving around, flying, jumping, etc... begins to clip with chest clothing. The only way to get it back to normal is to zone. Here is a specific example of the starshot cape clipping with military vest (sleaveless).

http://img502.imageshack.us/my.php?i...ntitledlv3.png

I like all your suggestions so far. I may just respec into the rez power to see what all the fuss is about.

As for 2 accuracies in the henchman... Pre single origins I would agree. But after you have single origins, if you've taken tactics and you've followed my slotting for enforcers you just don't need it. If you have a 3 slotted SO tactics and at least 1 SO to hit buff in your enforcers, plus your Thugs and Enforcers both have at least 1 defence debuff, the extra Accuracy is simply not needed. Trust me... try out the slotting and you'll see it's not so wacky after all.

Please feel free to make your comments. As I stated at the very start of the guide, this is a starting point from which to customize to fit your needs.

Thugs/Dark Miasma Guide

[url=http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=5930960[/url]

Alrighty, my first Guide. This if my personal suggestions for Thug/Dark Miasma Masterminds. This is, of course, my entirely subjective analysis of Thugs/Dark Misama, and others may feel differently about my choices. I definitely encourage people to take my guide as a mere starting point and customize to fit YOUR needs. This guide is written in water…

So I will provide an overview of the primary, secondary, as well as power pool suggestions, and around what level I recommend taking them, and suggested slotting for enhancements. And then my own tips for playing this AT

SECTION 1: Choosing your powers

SECTION 2: Tips on playing the mastermind


THUG PRIMARY

Pistols

Roughly a 2x brawl attack at distance. Slow activation time considering any attack you take should be a purely defensive action. It’s damage, without any great effect. Forget it as far as I’m concerned.


Call Thugs

These guys are your boyz, this should be the first power you take. They are your offence and defense at the same time. You’re most important power in the early game, and a staple in the late game. It’s American Express, don’t leave home without your boyz.

Slotting Suggestions: 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 2 Defense Debuff, 1 Knockback


Dual Wield

If you plan on taking an attack, and I recommend you have at least one attack as a purely last ditch defensive action, this should be it. Take it early, level 2 if you can because the going will be slow until you get more thugs. This is roughly 2.5 brawl at range with the added bonus of knockback. The knockback is the reason I recommend this power. When the mobs are closing in on you, or running away, knockback is just what you need to give your pets the extra seconds they need to get the job done. You don’t want damage, you want knockback. Your pets are your damage

Slotting Suggestions: 1 Accuracy, 2 Knockback


Equip Thugs

Just plain great. Give your thugs more power, more damage, faster… This is what it’s about. Gives your Thugs a second pistol attack. Gives your arsonist (3rd thug) a firebreath attack that can scourge. Gives your enforcers dual machine pistols with a great cone on them, and upgrades their leadership abilities. Gives your Bruiser Hand Clap and knockout blow. Now doubt, you need this power as ASAP.

Slotting Suggestions: 1 Recharge, 1 End Reduction


Empty Clips

It’s Dual Wield, but in a cone arc of fire. You’ve got your one attack already, let your boyz do their job. Skip this.


Call Enforcer

Oh yeah, now you’re starting to look like you’re running a gang. These guys have natural leadership power pool abilities. They increase the accuracy and defense of your boyz. They have a great cone attack and provide some great stacking debuffs with your thugs. No doubt, you take Enforcers your first opportunity.

Slotting Suggestions: 1 Accuracy, 1 To Hit Buff, 2 Damage, 1 Defense Buff, 1 Defense Debuff


Gang War

Once you’ve got Gang War, you own any boss you come across. A single opponent doesn’t stand a chance. If you’ve seen gang war in action you know what I’m talking about. Has a very long recharge time on it so you want to save this just for the bosses, elite bosses, Heroes, etc…

Slotting Suggestions: 1 Recharge, 1 Accuracy, 2 Damage


Call Bruiser

With the addition of your bruiser, your gang will be complete. There’s no doubt, this man is a tank armed with some really big guns. He generates fury, just like a brute so in a rampage the damage enemies will start dropping like flies. Take him when you can. My one suggestion is to avoid using Equip Thugs on him. Why? Because of the hand clap attack. It completely contradicts the arc of fire that your enforcers have and ruins the compliments of the Dark Miasma secondary that relies on debuffing groups of enemies in an area. If you Equip your Bruiser, be prepaired to never tar patch or Darkest Night, Fearsome Star… One Hand Clap will nullify the usefulness of your secondary by spreading out all the mobs.

Slotting Suggestions: 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Disorient Duration


Upgrade Equipment

By the time this becomes available to you, you are an unstoppable force. Do you need this power? No. At this point, you’re a very well rounded offensive machine. Whether or not you want this is much like Dual Wield, it’s entirely up to you as far as I’m concerned.

Recommended Slotting: 1 End Reduction.




DARK MIASMA

Twilight Grasp

This Area of Effect Heal is reason enough to invest in this secondary. For the most part your team will be staying in a tight nit group (if you’re controlling your pets properly), and, properly slotted, this is the primary thing you will be doing while you’re boyz are killing everything left right and center. Expect to get the healing badges pretty early.

Recommended Slotting: Without Stamina (1 Accuracy, 1 End Reduction, 1 To Hit Debuff, 3 Heals) With Stamina (1 Accuracy, 2 To Hit Debuff, 3 Heals).


Tar Patch

This should be your level 4 power. This is a great debuffing and defensive power. It slows the movement speed and recharge rate of anyone in the area of effect, as well as bringing down low level fliers. Also, mobs caught in the area of effect take more damage from attacks. Considering your Smashing/Lethal attacks are the most resisted damage type in the game, this alone is reason enough to take it. Foes take about 27% more damage in the field of effect than they would otherwise (adds up in the late game).

Recommended Slotting: 1 Recharge, 3 Slow


Darkest Night

This toggle power is used on a mob. It’s an auto-hit, and the targeted mob and any other mob caught in the area of effect get wonderful To Hit DeBuffs and Damage Debuffs. This power is definitely worth taking. Your guys don’t have the best resists or defenses, so adding this only helps your survivability. I took this at level 8.

Recommended Slotting: 1 End Reduction, 3 To Hit Debuff


Howling Twilight

I’m not really too keen on any power designed to revive my teammate, or pets. If my team worked better together, no one would have died to begin with, and I can just resummon my pets. I didn’t take this power. Others may take it… up to you.


Shadow Fall

This is a late game power, I didn’t take until 32. But it does help out with your squishy thugs. Since your thugs prefer ranged, this will help their ranged defense as well as provide some nice damage resists.

Recommended Slotting: 1 End Reduction, 2 Defense, 3 Damage Resist


Fearsome Stare

If you follow my schedule this power is yours at 35, when you’re running into lots of debuffing, and high damage mobs. The cone fear is your friend. Take it, love it.

Recommended Slotting: 1 Accuracy, 3 Fear Duration, 2 To Hit Debuff


Petrifying Gaze

I skipped this power. I don’t need a single target hold, that’s what gang war does for you, and it damages at the same time. Skip this. You’ve got better powers to take.


Black Hole

This is an entirely emergency power. It’s highly situational, and as far as I’m concerned a waste of a needed power. Skip this unless you find yourself dieing a lot and could use a few seconds to help you out.


Dark Servant

Oh yeah… a pocket controller. By now, you’re completely unstoppable… take the Dark Servant and glide through all that more easily. Because the servant is unpredictable. Slotting is completely up to you. I chose to slot evenly across all aspects of its capabilities rather than focus in one spot.
Suggested Slotting: 1 Accuracy, 1 Heal, 2 Immobilize duration, 1 Hold, 1 To Hit Debuff


POWER POOL SUGGESTIONS

LEADERSHIP

First and foremost, this power pool was made for you. Taking this pool, plus Shadow Fall will most likely require you to take Stamina however in order to keep up with the heals you’ll need to be spamming on your weak pets, but the extra buffs far outweigh the stamina costs as far as I’m concerned.

Maneuvers

Three slotted defense, plus one End Reduction will give you roughly 3% situational defense, plus an additional 3% defense to all damage types except toxic. 6% defense is not much, but so worth it when you add up your enforcers and shadow fall. Trust me.

Assault

Adds an additional 11% damage to your team, on top of all your damage enhancements. You’ve breached the 100% damage mark on all your guys. Way to go! Slot and End Reducer and be done with it.

Tactics

Needed…so needed. 3 slotting tactics gives you and additional 14% accuracy to your team. This along with your enforcers slotted with additional to hit buffs and you’ll never miss… ever! Plus the addition perception is excellent for seeing those pesky PPD Ghosts in Mayhem Missions.

Vengeance

Not needed. There are better powers to get.


FITNESS

If you’ve taken the Leadership power pool, you’ll probably want this to get stamina. Summoning all your pets, plus equipping them, and then all your toggles, can be a huge drain, and slow down the game for you and your team. Having stamina can only help you out.

Swift, or Leaping?
It’s up to you. Personally, I find leaping to be more usefully for me, but it’s all up to you.

Health

Will all the heals you’ll be spamming, you don’t really need this for anything other than it’s sleep protection. Take it, 3 slot it if you want, or not.

Stamina

The goal of this Power Pool. 3 slot it, and you won’t even have to slow down after you’ve summoned all your pets, with all your toggles on, after teleporting across the zone.


Travel Power

It’s all up to you. I took Flight, just so I could have Air Superiority. It’s a great control power to use against the early bosses before you get your gang war. Slot it for 1 Accuracy, and maybe a Recharge.



SECTION 2: Tips on playing the mastermind


If you’ve taken all, or most of my suggestions, there’s some subtle playing changes you’ll need to make in order to maximize your offensive, and defensive capabilities.

First things, first. Learn the abilities of your gang, and how they can compliment each other, or work against each other.

My best recommendation is to never, ever using the Equip Thugs ability on your Bruiser. One hand clap can ruin the best laid offensive plans by spreading out the tightly packed mob and leave you running around, trying to clean up the mess.

Your enforcers have a cone attack. The hand clap works against that.

Your Tar Patch is an area of effect. The hand clap works against that.

Your Darkest Night is an area of effect. The hand clap works against that.

One hand clap will make your 2 simultaneaous cone attacks, and 2 AoE powers have minimal effect. So to reiterate, do not equip your bruiser.

Second tip. Leadership and you!

You’ve taken Maneuvers, Assault, and Tactics. Your equipped enforcers have maneuvers and tactics too. All the leadership powers have an effective range of 60 feet. Shadow Fall has an effective range of 40 feet. That leaves you to successfully control your henchman to always be within 40 feet of you, and each other in order to obtain maximum effectiveness of defensive and offensive output. Don’t forget about your supremacy range too!

Your bruiser has a tendency to run off, into melee. Your enforcers and thugs prefer range until someone shoots them, then they want vengeance and run into melee. You’re squishy, you want to stay away from melee. How to keep everyone together? Two things… you need a bind for target closest target, and you need a shortcut to the defensive follow command, which puts all your pets in bodyguard mode, effectively making you invincible as long as you’re healing everyone.

Here’s what you need to do. You’ve come across a large spawn. You can send your bruiser in, but he’ll be out of you’re Supremacy, Leadership range, as well as your enforcers Leadership range. You need your pets in bodyguard mode and the tactic is this. Run into the middle of the mob. You’ll draw an alpha strike from the mob. But that won’t matter. Actual damage will be minimal assuming you were the primary target of all the attacks, and you didn’t run so fast your pets couldn’t stay within supremacy range. You Twilight grasp the weakest enemy, healing everyone to full, drop a Tar Patch right on top of you. Now the entire mob isn’t going anywhere, and they’ve been debuffed. Leave your pets in bodyguard mode for a few seconds because you’re still the primary target after dropping the tar patch. You pets will attack whomever attacked you, drawing agro off you. Now is the time to focus your attacks. Choose your closest target, and send all pets to attack. You target someone else with a Twilight Grasp, keeping you and your closely nit pets healthy, while further debuffing someone’s accuracy. No point in Twilight Grasping the target your pets are currently attacking, it’ll be dead soon. Debuff someone else who can actually do some damage to you.

As the mob thins, your bruiser will wander out of heal range. That’s okay, he’s tough. Just make sure you don’t let his hp’s drop below half. If you see he’s dropping and your thugs and enforcers are cool, run into melee with him and give him a Twilight Grasp. Or drag a heal inspiration from your tray onto him. If you find your thugs and enforcers are spreading out of your heal range, click the defensive follow command. Everyone comes back to body guard you. Maneuver your group closer to the enemy again. Don’t worry about taking damage because you’re body guarded.

Well that’s it. Enjoy!

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You're suppsed to escort the villain to the map exit? =0_o= Geez, and I thought the reward was having an NPC helping you out in the fights. <_<

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No, you're supposed to take a kidnapping villain to the exit of the map, not the NPC villian.

The NPC villain is there to help you blow stuff up.

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If you ever get a mystery Key or don't know exactly what the side mission is supposed to do, check your CLUES tab. A short briefing of the side mission should appear.

Also, if you get a key with no waypoint, you can always check your mini-map for the non-bank, non-police station waypoint (its usually near the spawn you defeated).

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Got a key with no waypoint the other day. No waypoint marker on the HUD compass, or on the mission map. Checked pretty much every door on the map. First checked the one next to the spawn, then near the spawn. We covered a couple of blocks worth of building doors with no entrances. This wouldn't have anything to do with having beaten the spawn before doing the main mission? The other times I've gotten the key, it was always after the completion of the main mission, the one time I got the key and did not get a waypoint it was when it was before the completion of the main mission.

Also, Mastermind pets are having targeting difficulties on the large trucks in Mahem Missions (at at least intermittant targeting problems with the bank vaults). The pets will either not attack the selected target, or close to melee with the target (even if they prefer range), or close to melee but not attack, and just keep running around the target as though their view was obstructed.

I wonder if the race will be the Grandville Summit I suggested a little while ago when it was announced about the drones spawning to kill players who advance passed their allowed level in the zone?

I haven't been on test yet to see Grandville, but I always thought it would be a cool race. See who can get to the top of Grandville the fastest despite the arbitor drones shooting at you.

I don't quite get it. I mean, I love collecting badges as much as the next person, but what's this obsession with the Isolator badge?

As was posted fairly early on in this topic, Slotting End Mods in the attack only increase the end you drain from your opponent. It does not increase the end you get back.

I believe the numbers were something like 30% chance to get some end back, but that amount you get back is fixed and not able to be modified. So, if you attack someone 1000 times, roughly 300 attacks will return a small amount of end (unmodifiable) to you, but all 1000 of your attacks will drain a small amount (modifiable) from your target.

The very first time I entered a PVP Zone, Bloody Bay I watched a whole team of heros, about 7 or 8 charge the Villain base and about 7-8 villains (including me) rush to hold the line. Half the hero team dropped in seconds but I was watching this tanker wade into the group of us alone and hold his place while his team left to regroup. He stayed and kept fighting. I'd watch his health go down a quater, a half, then back up to full. AS, more than half the health gone, then back up again. All of a sudden people start freezing in their tracks from ice blocks. The Tanker's team has regrouped and come back.

I'm frozen solid but being ignored, they're concentrating on a couple of Brutes. I unfreeze, go into hide, AS a controller I spot, she doesn't drop. I pull back out of the fight, go into hide again, and stalk around. AS the same controller and finish her off. I take a couple of shots from a Blaster, but speed out of the fight with Super Speed.

The tanker is still toe-to-toe with the majority of villains, he's not dropping, he's not stopping, it's like watching an elephant being attacked by a swarm of ants. They're all stinging him to death, but one stomp kills a bunch.

I speed back into the fray, hidden, but the hero's know there's a stalker somewhere. They're all jumping around randomly, trying to avoid the AS they know is comming. I finally catch another controller with the AS, it doesn't kill her, but they were prepaired for me. They all agro me at once and I recieve a half dozen controller and blaster ranged hits and drop like a ton of bricks.... the Tanker is still going. Awesome first pvp experience for me.

I think the big issue here was the fact that Flight uses so much end for very little speed, and hover does not. That's why everyone was 6-slotting hover.

Sure, lots of people would like to see the speed of hover increased, but I would rather see the speed of flight increased and it's end drain cut to level out closer to super speed or super jump. There's a reason why 90% of people take those two powers; they're fast and cheap to use.

If you put flight on somewhat similar footing, you'll no doubt see about as many fliers as you do jumpers and runners. I don't want to see flight faster than super speed, but I most definately don't want to have all my end drained using flight just to get across a zone. It's not very heroic (or villanous for that matter) to fly accross a city scape to fight a big battle only to tell your foe "wait a minute. I've got to catch my breath."

I haven't had any real trouble with the longbow. The flamethrowers do miss me occasionally. The only ones that bother me are those damn flying ones because I have not flight powers or -flight attacks I always have to run away until the give up and fly back to the ground. Besides. I enjoy the extra exp. I get from them. I'd take nothing but longbow missions if I could.