Interface

Arc #3416, "Blitzkrieg"

The title immediately made me think of the Metallica song, which would have been awesome to have playing at peak volume while playing this.

(Insert rant about how old Metallica is better then new)

(Insert debate about what exactly constitutes 'old Metallica')

Since this contains Malta and EBs, I used my Brute, Fast Kitty. And yes, I'll admit that is a rather pointless name. Normally I spend half an hour planning out a character's name, costume and backstory, but this one was created in a hurry for some reason I can't remember, and 'Faster Pussycat' was taken.

The contact is Crimson, and the author captures his style of speaking well. Except that on a 'real' mission, Crimson usually keeps you on a need-to-know basis, which is fine there, but wouldn't really work for an MA mission. "Go kill everyone in that bagel factory, I can't tell you why" would cause half the players to quit right there. Maybe his bagel didn't have enough raisins or something.

1) Infiltrate a Malta base to seek info. Nothing special here, dialog is good but not memorable.

2) Infiltrate an Arachnos base to seek info. Ditto.

3) We learn about Malta's sinister plan. I won't spoil it here except that it's plausible and well written. Anyway, the map is the Zig breakout. The mission intro even states that you may need to enter the sewers, which is a nice touch.

4) The map from the LRSF where the Titan appears. An optional EB who fortunately spawned out of the way, some glowies to smash, and a well-written hero boss.

5) Enter the Malta base to smash the head badguy. This was the arc's only required EB, who wasn't too hard, although it might be too much for a char who isn't Really Awesome.

This is a hard map to rate. The dialog was well written with no spelling or grammar mistakes, and the author didn't do anything blatantly wrong, so no FAILs are warranted. Still, there just wasn't anything that made me jump up and say 'wow!!!1' To be honest I'll probably forget this one by tomorrow. So, I'll invent a new rating, the MEH. But then, even that seems a bit harsh, so I'll give 'Blitzkrieg' half a MEH.

Rating: ME

I've finished "Blitzkrieg" and "How to survive a Robot Uprising". Reviews up when I have more time tonite. (quickie: both pretty good).

As an update, it seems the author of "The Revenge of Hor'dotoz" didn't play one of my arcs, so therefore his work gets five FAILs. Every other sentence is misspelled, the mobs are all catboys in their underwear, and the final mission requires you to beat eleven grav/storm AVs at once. Really.

Mission 1356: The Revenge of Hro'Dtohz

Because this has such a low mission number, this mission was most likely written during I14 beta and copied over, like my first one was. Because of this, I had high hopes for this arc. It goes without saying that people who play on Test are smarter than the average player. I mean, we're willing to go without earning anything, and endure bugs, just to help make the play experience smoother for everyone else. Where would we be without beta testers? (I played Anarchy Online day-of-release. 'nuff said.)

Because The Revenge of Hor'Dtohz has EBs, (which _was_ pointed out in the mission description, thanks!) I used my 50 Dark/Elec Brute. This does seem like an odd combination, but it works out well. I was going for a buzzsaw build, but gave it up when I realized that it would require farming for 4-5 LotG. Even with Midnight Grasp in the attack chain, the DPS is still quite good. Of course, given that many purple sets give a 10% global recharge, maybe...

Sorry, got sidetracked. Anyway, The Revenge of H'roDuhz...

1) You go into caves to rescue Vanguard from Rikti. Nothing special, except that you get a Rikti ally.

2) Serpent Drummer needs to be rescued from the Rikti. You get both Rikti and Malta allies. Here, a problem arises. S.D. is found at the end of the mostly linear cave system. He needs to be led to the exit. Dra'gon spawns between you and the exit. I attack Dra'gon. S.D. attacks Dra'gon and is killed. Mission FAILed.

This is not a critical FAILure because a hero spawns to 'save' S.D., and the dialog catches it properly. Still, it looks like getting the 'you win' ending would be difficult.

3) On the King's Row outdoor map, kill two guys, then kill a third guy who spawns after you kill the first two guys. Lots of other guys, including EB Heavy Assault Suits, for those who can't get enough Rikti smashin' fun. A bit time-consuming if you just want to zip though.

4) I liked this one. It uses an outdoor RWZ map, on which you have to defeat all four Riders, but you get a LOT of allies: two Rikti and two Malta, plus some more Malta who don't follow you, plus the turrets that come with the map. Oh, and one of the Malta says he has a 'surprise' for you, but I couldn't find it. Personally, I'd be worried if a Malta leader said he had a surprise for me. It would probably _look_ harmless, like a box of donuts or a DVD set of History Channel documentaries, but when eaten/watched it would program you to be a Malta sleeper agent, to be activated upon hearing a code phrase. Anyway, the Riders weren't too hard to defeat as EBs, although I suspect Famine will be difficult for those without end drain protection.

5) Kill Hru'Dats. You get some Vanguard allies, but for some reason they're just minions and an Lt., who didn't even make it to Her'Ditz, not that they would have made a difference. There's a plot twist at the end which I won't spoil here.

Overall, The Revenge of Houn'Dogs is a good, challenging arc with just a few small bugs. I like the concept of having people who are usually foes being allies. Overall, I give it only half a FAIL.

Rating: FA

Mission 119228: Hero Therapy

Hero Therapy, I regret to say, is quite good. I regret this because I was hoping to start the reviews off by hurling buckets of sarcasm at some poor slob's work. Ah well, I'll do a search for 'furries' after.

The plot has you taking a series of trips into your own mind, to conquer your phobias and mental blocks. The concept isn't a new one- Psymon Omega's arc does this, among others- but as I said in my 1918 bestseller 'The Elements of Style', "Copying other people's ideas is just like using your own, only easier."

The missions take place across four unique maps. The 'Mother Mayhem hospital' one fits especially well here. Playing that one always reminds me of the Nova Prospekt level in HL2, although you can't summon antlions here. Still, though, that is kind of a good thing. Since you have an unlimited supply of antlions, it almost makes no sense to engage the Combine directly; it's invariably better to hang back and save your health and ammo. You'll need every bit of both for that one part where you're trapped in one area and an endless swarm of Combine come at you. Granted, you get three gun turrets, but they get knocked over very quickly. It took me about five tries to get past that part. Despite the uneven difficulty, I give the Nova Prospect section four of five stars, because of the genuinely creepy atmosphere, and the overall-

Oh wait, I'm reviewing Hero Therapy. Right.

Anyway, there are four levels, which play out pretty much the same. The end boss of each level becomes your ally in the next, a nice touch. The dialog is a mix of funny and serious, both of which are well written. There are dozens of non-required glowies just for atmosphere. The mobs are a mix of assorted regular ones and glowing 'dream' ones, which leads to my only complaint about this arc (besides no antlions). The minion level mob uses Kinetics. Six stacked Siphon Speed is no fun, as are minions using AoE heals. Control powers on minions = bad.

Since giving stars is cliche, I'm going to rate arcs using zero to five red FAILs. Despite the slowing minions and missing antlions, this is a great arc that gets zero FAILs. Nice work!

RATING:

Since reviewing arcs seems to be the latest thing, I'm going to hop on the bandwagon with my own review thread. To carve out a niche for myself, I'm going to try for the maximum amount of sarcasm possible without melting the forum. This does NOT mean that I will be more critical than the average reviewer; I'll try to be as fair as possible. Maybe even MORE fair; sarcasm becomes dull when you use too much. I'm quite happy to lavish praise on a well-written arc, and save my scathing wit for those who deserve it.

Anyway, the review criteria are:

Soloability: I'll do most of this with my oh-so-powerful Warshade. (sarcasm) If it has an AV, hard EBs, or it's otherwise hard, just say so and I'll use a Brute instead. If my Brute can't beat it on difficulty level 3 (full IO sets with some purples), it's too hard. FAIL.

Spelling and grammar: I won't pick on one or two mistakes, but if it looks like a 6th grader wrote it, FAIL.

Excessive time wasters: please, no kill-alls, no maps with 28 glowies, no escorting a hostage through five frakkin' floors to the exit.

Story: I realize we're not all Shakespeare, but if the storyline consists of "hey hero there are some hellions in that warehouse go kill them"... FAIL.

And oh yeah, you hafta play one of my arcs. Post a quickie review on this thread, doesn't have to be a lot, just enough to let me know you did it.

#1945: Positron's Task Force: the Remix
Suitable for any level, no challenge at all. Dialog written for heroes.

#83920: Two Chicks at Once
Moderately challenging, for level 40+. Has two EBs, but you have allies for them. Dialog written for villains.

#167567: Curiouser and Curiouser
The sequel to Two Chicks at Once, although you don't have to have played it to follow the story. Moderately challenging, for level 40+. Has 3 non-required EBs. Dialog written for villains.

Don't worry, your opinion of my arcs won't affect the review.

Really.

Honest.

#1945, "Positron's Task Force: the Remix" should be lowbie-friendly. The mobs are all Hellions, Skulls, and CoT.

Arc Name: The Portal Bandits
Arc ID: 3326

The best thing about the is mission was the custom mobs. There was a wide variety of them, and none were unbalanced. Stacked Flash Arrows may or may not be a problem for large teams, depending on the 5/5 patch. The self-insertion characters were also done well, not overpowered like many 'Mary Sue' characters are. The bosses weren't too hard, although I was on the lowest difficulty level.

The only thing I didn't like was the caves-into-sewers-into-Rikti map on the last level. It's huge, and the final room makes my graphics card asplode. Still, that's just a personal preference.

Overall, definately worth playing.

I think you might enjoy this one

Two Chicks at Once
Arc ID: 83920
Faction: Villainous
Creator Global/Forum Name: Interface
Difficulty Level: moderate
Synopsis: Working for Lord Recluse, you discover that Longbow has launched a cunning and titillating plot to overthrow the Rogue Isles. With your help, Arachnos will strike back in kind...

This one is intended for players level 40+. The dialog assumes you are a villain. It has some challenge, one custom boss and two EBs, (AVs at the top difficulty level), however, you will have allies for them. It has a bit of naughty dialog, but nothing you wouldn't see on TV.

Despite being 5 missions, you should be able to finish in 15-20 minutes. No kill-alls, huge maps, or 'collect 20 glowies'.

Starting on 'Portal Bandits' now, hopefully will have a review up today. [UPDATE] Played, it, review up.

Submitted for review...


Positron's Task Force: The Remix
Arc ID: 1945
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: Interface
Difficulty Level: effortless
Synopsis: Ever since CoH launched, people have complained that Positron's task force was long, hard, boring, and unrewarding. No more! It's just a matter of time before the devs see this easy, fast and funny rewrite and replace the old one. Be among the first to baldly... er, boldly save Paragon from the Circle's latest foul plot.

This arc is playable by all levels, and should be quite suitable for lowbies (the mobs are the same as those you face on the real Posi TF, except no Vahzilok. I hate Vahzilok.) There's really no challenge at all here; it's all in the story.

Don't be fooled by the 'Very long' ranking; you can easily do this in 15 minutes. Not wasting the player's time was my top priority.


Two Chicks at Once
Arc ID: 83920
Faction: Villainous
Creator Global/Forum Name: Interface
Difficulty Level: moderate
Synopsis: Working for Lord Recluse, you discover that Longbow has launched a cunning and titillating plot to overthrow the Rogue Isles. With your help, Arachnos will strike back in kind...

This one is intended for players level 40+. The dialog assumes you are a villain. It has some challenge, one custom boss and two EBs, (AVs at the top difficulty level), however, you will have allies for them. It has a bit of naughty dialog, but nothing you wouldn't see on TV.

Again, despite being 5 missions, you should be able to cruise through in 15-20 minutes. No kill-alls, huge maps, or 'collect 20 glowies'.

Arc Name: Positron's Task Force: The Remix
Arc ID: 1945
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: Interface
Difficulty Level: effortless
Synopsis: Ever since CoH launched, people have complained that Positron's task force was long, hard, boring, and unrewarding. No more! It's just a matter of time before the devs see this easy, fast and funny rewrite and replace the old one. Be among the first to baldly... er, boldly save Paragon from the Circle's latest foul plot.
Estimated Time to Play: 15 minutes

Arc Name: The Conundrum Guy's Challenge
Arc ID: 6518
Faction: Neutral
Creator Global/Forum Name: Interface
Difficulty Level: pretty darn hard
Synopsis: A quick challenge for one player. Requires you to actually THINK in order to solve it in time.
Estimated Time to Play: 5 minutes (that's the time limit!)

Arc Name: Two Chicks At Once
Arc ID: 83920
Faction: Villainous
Creator Global/Forum Name: Interface
Difficulty Level: moderate
Synopsis: Working for Lord Recluse, you discover that Longbow has launched a cunning and titillating plot to overthrow the Rogue Isles. With your help, Arachnos will strike back in kind...
Estimated Time to Play: 15 - 20 minutes
Link to More Details or Feedback: Movie Poster

Arc Name: Two Chicks At Once
Arc ID: 83920
Faction: Villainous
Creator Global/Forum Name: Interface
Difficulty Level: moderate
Synopsis: Working for Lord Recluse, you discover that Longbow has launched a cunning and titillating plot to overthrow the Rogue Isles. With your help, Arachnos will strike back in kind...
Estimated Time to Play: 15 - 20 minutes
Link to More Details or Feedback: Movie Poster

Arc Name: The Conundrum Guy's challenge
Arc ID: 6518
Faction: Neutral
Creator Global/Forum Name: Interface
Difficulty Level: pretty darn hard
Synopsis: A quick challenge for one player. Requires you to actually THINK in order to solve it in time.
Estimated Time to Play: 5 minutes (that's the time limit!)

Arc Name: Positron's Task Force: The Remix
Arc ID: 1945
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: Interface
Difficulty Level: effortless
Synopsis: Ever since CoH launched, people have complained that Positron's task force was long, hard, boring, and unrewarding. No more! It's just a matter of time before the devs see this easy, fast and funny rewrite and replace the old one. Be among the first to baldly... er, boldly save Paragon from the Circle's latest foul plot.
Estimated Time to Play: 15 minutes

The trouble with this is, when it comes to glowie placement, the game often ignores the front/middle/back directive and places them at random. Either that or some maps have _very_ loose definitions of front and back.

Well, I've published my oh-so-risque story: "Two Chicks at Once", mission #83920. Please take a look and tell me if you feel it's over the top; I'd rather hear it from forumites then a GM.

Of course there are a dozen ways to get around the profanity filter, by using stuff like 'P3N1S' and 'B00BS'. Every 3rd grader knows this by now :-)

But, I'm not interested in potty humor, I want to know how deep into naughtyville your story in can go. Prime-time sitcom is OK, but how about Family Guy naughty? Late-night cable? Showtime? HBO?

After having read the article on Gamasutra (Clicky) I'm glad that the devs are implementing a less than Draconian policy on user content, but OTOH, I'm concerned that we haven't been given any guidelines on exactly what is and is not allowed.

I'm planning a mission arc that is somewhat risque, but still nothing you wouldn't see on TV. (Not even HBO levels... Fox maybe.) I wouldn't mind trimming it in places, but I really, _really_ don't want to have to pull the whole thing for being out of bounds. Can someome give me some idea of what we can't do? Dev input would be greatly appreciated.

[ QUOTE ]
<ul type="square">[*] Fury of the Gladiator (Melee AoE Set) (Recipe Level Range 10-50)[/list]
[/ QUOTE ]

...melee AoE?

When a Kheldian above level 30 is playing, mob groups will contain level 30 Warrior Quantum Gunners, regardless of the group's level or composition.

This is a good guide overall. However, using it requires one important skill: the ability to tell a good team from a bad team. A good team bring levelling and fun, a bad team brings frustration and debt. The most common sign of a bad team is death, and on a good team, no death. This isn't 100% tho... a good team can have a run of bad luck, and a crappy team can still survive underpowered missions. My only advice here is, go with your gut.

A few specific comments:

-Try to get the fortuneteller mission, around 12-15. Yeah, you can Ooroobooroos it later, but this saves time.

-Jurassik is hard, true, but not insanely hard. Any good 8-person team can handle it.

-Unless you're a hardcore badger (or a masochist), stay away from the Shadow Shard, especially Dr. Quaterfield. His TF makes Posi look like a picnic.

[ QUOTE ]
Also - something on the patron powers - were you talking about AOEs for the *blasts* or the *immobilizes* - because, and speaking strictly and objectively from the prespective of an evil robot mastermind... anything that gets an entire group to hang around IN the fire patches launched by the assult bot's incidineary missiles is DEFINITELY worth picking up. Especially if you go Mu, which has -kb.

[/ QUOTE ]

Making guys stand in the burn patches is deadly. However, the patron immobs are only mag 3, so they don't affect bosses or higher. Minion/ Lts. tend to die too soon to make immob/burn worthwhile.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
A quick guide to Darkness

The MM Dark secondary is awesome. Although it's more thematically tied to Necromancy or Ninjas, a Robot/Dark Mastermind is the pinnacle of awesomeness. Fitting it into your character concept is difficult, but not impossible.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...us_Kitty/4.jpg

[/ QUOTE ]

Nanite clouds. This is what I came up with for a robot/dark MM I made, on a server I don't go to very often, admittedly!

But, yeah. It's not necromancy or dark magic. Those are nano assemblers, and your robot/cyborg body manufactures them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you play Anarchy Online? Nowadays, nanites seem to be the plot device that a science fiction setting uses whenever a 'magic' effect is required. (Insert A. C. Clarke quote here).

A quick guide to Darkness

The MM Dark secondary is awesome. Although it's more thematically tied to Necromancy or Ninjas, a Robot/Dark Mastermind is the pinnacle of awesomeness. Fitting it into your character concept is difficult, but not impossible.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...us_Kitty/4.jpg

Twilight Grasp The power you have to take is one of the best. You and everyone nearby is healed, while a foe gets a penalty to accuracy, damage, and regen. It has a mere 8 second recharge and a reasonable end cost.

OTOH, if it misses, no heal. Don't skimp on the yellows, and if you are very low on health yourself, eat a green instead.
Slotting: 2 accuracy, 3 at low levels. 3 heal. Add an acc debuff if you like, but it's not really worth it, IMHO.

Tar Patch This is Caltrops on steroids. Like Caltrops, you drop a patch which slows enemy movement to a crawl, and prevents jumping and flying. Unlike Caltrops, the patch is _big_, and has a good range. Instead of the teeny-weeny damage Caltrops does, Tar Patch debuffs damage resistance.

You can use this one of two ways. Placed between you and a spawn, it keeps them out of melee range. This is handy at low levels, less so later on. Dropped on top of a spawn, it keeps them in place and makes them more vulnerable to damage. This will draw aggro onto you, so order the pets to attack a second before.
Slotting: 1-2 recharge. Add slow buffs if you like. Throw in the damage proc from Impeded Swiftness for some extra ouchies.

Darkest Night Another winner. A foe and all within 25 feet take a hefty penalty to accuracy and damage, no to-hit roll required. Great against regular spawns and AVs alike.

There are a few things you need to be aware of. This will draw aggro onto you, both from the target and everyone in the aura. Order the bots to attack a second beforehand, or eat a purple or two. Also, when used on any mob that's not an EB/AV/GM, they tend to run away. This can be handy on a mob you don't want to fight right now, annoying on a mob you _do_ want to fight, and fatal if the mob runs into another spawn and aggroes them. Tar Patch comes in handy here.

There is also a minor bug, in that if you attempt to deploy Darkest Night on a target that's out of range, the animation will play anyway. This is a known issue that will hopefully be fixed soon. In the meantime, always check to be sure that the effect appears on the target.
Slotting: 2-3 acc debuff, 1 endredux if necessary. Dampened Spirits and Dark Watcher's Despair both have good set bonuses and are fairly cheap at the market.

Howling Twilight First and most importantly, you can't rez a pet. So, if you mostly solo, this one is skippable (but not totally useless, see below).

If you team a lot, this is quite handy. All fallen comrades near you are revived with full health and endurance, and 20 seconds of debt protection; while a mob and all nearby take minor damage, a mag 2 stun, and for 30 seconds are slowed and have a huge regen penalty. This is the _only_ mass rez in the game, which will make you everyone's best friend at Hami and mothership raids. On the other hand, if no mobs are nearby, your friends are off the the hospital.

You can also fire it off even if no one is dead. The stun isn't really relevant (it can only affect minions) but the -regen part is deadly against AVs. Oh, did I mention it auto-hits? Unfortunatly, it has a three minute recharge and eats a third of your endurance, so using it as an anti-AV weapon requires some slotting.
Slotting: as a rez, just use one recharge. If your team is dying faster than that, you're doing something wrong. To use against AVs, 2-3 recharge and 2-3 endredux.

Shadow Fall PBAoE stealth, defense, Fear protection, and resists vs. Energy, Negative, and Psionic damage. A decent dose of protection, and it helps prevent mobs from catching you by surprise. Plus, despite having a Mighty Army of Deadly Robots, sometimes it's just easier to ghost a mission.

(Oddly, this also reduces your jumping by 20%. Although this is far from crippling, it seems out of place here. Anyone know why this is here? Anyone? Beuhller?)
Slotting: 1 damres or endredux. The defense bonus is only 3.75%, not worth slotting.

Fearsome Stare I haven't taken this one yet- too much other Good Stuff- but it looks good. Although the bots' fondness for AoEs makes fear marginally useful, it also delivers an 11.25% tohit penalty.
Slotting: accuracy, -accuracy, fear, recharge, take your pick. Many strong sets could go here.

Petrifying Gaze It's a hold. Holds are good.
Slotting: try to get a set of Ghost Widow's Embrace: it has good numbers plus strong set bonuses and a damage proc. If you're rich, grab the purple Unbreakable Constraint instead.

Black Hole The only crappy power in the set. Making foes intangible will confuse the pets and piss off your teammates. I suppose it could be useful as an "oh crap, I pulled too much" power, but Fearsome Stare could do the same.
Slotting: no.

Dark Servant It's another pet. Pets make you awesome. Therefore, Dark Servant makes you more awesome.
Slotting: I've found that two recharge is about right: not perma, but almost always there when you need it. Other than that, I'm not sure what's the best slotting for Fluffy. Accuracy, hold, heal, acc debuff, sets... go nuts.

Traps: a 30 second overview

The Traps secondary for Masterminds is like a Twinkie that's slightly stale and dusty. It has some good stuff in the middle, but the ends are dry.

Web Grenade: as far as powers that you have to take, this one is so-so. It inflicts a mag 3 immobilize which stacks with itself, and a 50% -recharge which doesn't. The immob is useful at level 1-5, when you have one bot with one attack. But, when your Deadly Robots quadruple in power at level 6, keeping mobs away from you stops being an issue.

Web Grenade gets better at level 32, when the Assault Bot gets Incendiary Missiles. Forcing a mob to remain in a burn patch is brutal. However, you'll need to stack them to immob a boss, which means boosting it's hold, accuracy, recharge, and endredux.

Slotting: at level 1, throw in a +acc and forget about it. If you intend to root bosses later, go with a set. I used the Enfeebled Operation set, which has good set bonuses and is dirt cheap at the BM. The other two sets that go to 50, Trap of the Hunter and Gravitational Anchor, have good set bonuses as well.

Caltrops: bleh. The damage is microscopic, it doesn't do -recharge, and the range you deploy it at is pitifully short. It does a decent job of keeping enemies out of melee range, but you already have a power that does that (see above).

Slotting: eh. 1 recharge or range. Interestingly, it takes Pbaoe, targeted Aoe, and slow sets, so you could conceivably use damage procs to create Caltrops of Doom. If you've tried this, let me know.

Triage Beacon: a sad, sad joke of a power. If you 3-slot it with heals, you _might_ see your health bar move... if you squint at it... and you're drunk.
Slotting: no.

Acid Mortar: DING DING DING! Finally a power that's unequivocally good. This baby hoses a critter's defense and damres, and well as causing minor damage and drawing aggro onto itself.

Here's a neat trick. The mortar's perception radius and range are both slightly greater than the perception radius of the average mob. Walk up close to where a baddie can see you, and drop the mortar. It will fire upon the group, who will then blow their alpha strike on the mortar!

Acid Mortar really shines against AVs. It's like having a rad debuffer with you, without having to share the XP At 50, one recharge is roughly enough to make it perma; with more, you can have two at once!
Slotting: 2-3 recharge, 2-3 defense debuff.

Force Field Generator: another winner. This is basically Dispersion Bubble, but with no ongoing end cost.
Slotting: 2-3 defense. Don't bother with recharge, it's available long before it expires.

Poison Trap: a set-defining power. The Green Globe of Doom holds nearby mobs, makes them hork their cookies, and hoses health regen for 30 seconds. It auto-hits, and the -regen and vomit are unresistable. This is ok against random spawns, but invaluable against AVs.
Slotting: 2-3 recharge. Although slotting for hold really isn't worth it (it has no chance against AVs), there are three damage procs among hold sets for an extra touch of DOOOOOM!

Seeker Drones: at first, this looks like a good power. It summons two flying flashbang grenades, which deliver a mag 2 stun and debuff damage, accuracy, and perception. However, the AI on the drones is awful. They flit merrily about, ignoring the mob pounding on you, then aggroing the group 200 feet away. To add insult to injury, Protector Bots will waste their end bubbling them. You pretty much have to summon them on top a foe... and even then they sometimes don't go off!!!
Slotting: 1 accuracy, 1-3 tohit debuff, maybe 1-2 recharge

Trip Mine: a very good power... that's useless here.

Trip Mine is great for Blasters and Corruptors. Set up half a dozen at the fork in the hallway, fire a shot at a group, retreat behind cover, and chortle evilly as the mobs are spattered across the walls.

However, MMs have no need of this. When Trip Mine becomes available at 35, your team of Deadly Robots will be, well, Deadly. If you need to spend a minute before each group preparing for battle, you're doing something wrong.
Slotting: damage, I guess.

Detonator: there is _no_ situation where losing a minion will turn defeat into victory. (It is kinda cool to watch, tho. Take it at 49 just for fun).
Slotting: damage, recharge, whatever.

Repair vs. Aid Other: the deathmatch

Repair has a 120 second recharge, Aid Other 10 seconds. AO scores 50 points.

From a level 50 Mastermind, Aid Other heals approx. 210 damage. Repair fully heals the target. Repair scores 25 points.

Aid Other unlocks Aid Self. AO scores 40 points.

Repair has an 80 foot range, AO 25 feet. Repair scores 30 points.

Aid Other has a 1 second interrupt time, Repair is not interruptible. Repair scores 15 points.

Repair restores 25% of the target's endurance. Score 10 points.

Aid Other can also heal your teammates. 20 points.

Repair costs 16.25 endurance, Aid other costs 6.5. 25 points on that one.

Repair has a 2.03 second animation, while Aid Other's is 3.93 seconds. 20 points for Repair.

And the winner is... hell, I'm too lazy to add the points, so call it a tie.

One important note: if your secondary has a strong heal, use that instead. Twilight grasp provides a very beefy aura heal, on an 8 second recharge, and debuffs a foe as well. It does fail if it misses, but 2 acc IOs plus tactics are enough to make that unlikely.