Khenal_Baroney

If bots, go for fly and eventually group fly. The bots have freaking rocket boots! If not bots, either way will work. Pets tend to not get stuck very much, and will auto-teleport to you if you get far enough away.

I have mine with recharge/debuff and just a tough of extra range. Makes putting them into a new group that much easier.

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I am a bit torn right now between making a defender and a blaster. Right now the character I am planning on making is a kid who's powers manifested as a teen and killed his girlfriend, making him run to a monastery where he learned to control his powers.

I am torn because I'm concerned about how difficult playing as a blaster is. Reading through the guides I see that blasters tend to die a lot and I don't like dieing Is being a blaster really that tough or is their lack of durability exaggerated. Thanks in advance for the advice

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Blasters are a bit more consistent with your backstory after all who would believe a defender accidentally killed anything ??

(I Kid I kid, dont want a lot of upset defenders like the insp vs defenders thread caused)

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Obviously not a defender, they kill things on purpose

Kidding asside, Blasters are there to do damage, and they do so with gusto. Nothing can keep up with a full tilt blaster for damage. Unfortunatly, they give up a lot of toughness for that privilage. I didn't find my blaster to be too hard to play, though getting dead doesn't seem to phase me as much as it seems to bother other people. I would reccomend something with some controll, and /ice and /devices are very nice for this. My favorite blaster is my fire/ice, all the damage of Fire with most of the control of Ice! Make your friends jealous as you use rain of fire to actually kill things instead of scatter them!

For WP, +hp and regen are the way to go if you want to be tougher. Try to get about 21% +hp and as much regen as you can find.

I don't think powerboost will work on the FFG. My guts says +special doesn't transfer to things you summon, but I could be wrong.

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Snazzy. I like it.

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Same.

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forge is the best buff in the game. period.


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speed boost

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adrenaline boost

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power boosted vengeance

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/em shakefist

Next time!

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forge is the best buff in the game. period.


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speed boost

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adrenaline boost

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Escrima's lame. What can you do with a pair of sticks that you can't do with a pair of unbreakable blades like we get in CoH?

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Beat the piss outta conquistadors?

If you want to be a support character with poison, there is still no reason to ignore the primary, except for simple concept. If you summon and upgrade your stuff at the beginning and simply set them to BG mode, you can happily focus on debuffing the hell out of the foes and still contribute significant damage.

Whole thing could be taken so wrong, and you know it

Appart from that, sounds like fun.

You can't override the bodyguard talky that they come with, but you can turn it off in your options and give them a simple petsay to replace it. Be prepared for people to ask you to shut your pets up though

Did they fix the animation bug for anchor toggles? As in: try to toggle on when you cant (out of range/LoS, no End, mezzed, etc) and still play the animation?

Also, last I heard, Vigilence would actually increase your end use if allys had more than their max base hp (from bonuses/accolades/powers). Did that get fixed as well?

Power Pools

I wont go over them all, but here are a few that people often take with bots/traps.


Teleportation

Used to be that you could teleport your traps around with you. This is no longer the case. However, you can still teleport people you don't like into a hand crafted pile of doom with teleport foe.


Leadership

Leadership is a popular pool with MM in general. I had it for a while, then eventually specced out of it. Maneuvers gives a small +def(all), assault is a small +dam for you and your friends, and Tactics is a decent +tohit for all your favorite people. I don't like them because I feel they are too little boost for too much endurance. Many people do like them, and they stack very well when multiple people have them.


Flight

Used to be you could get around the animation of setting down several traps by having hover on when you clicked the power. They fixed this little glitch a while ago, but I still like having a 3 slotted hover for mobility and some psudo-KB protection. Also, group flight+Robots=rocket boots on all of them! It really looks awesome and group fly can help give you some mobility in outdoor maps. Set yourself to follow your pets and tel them to goto somewhere in the sky and just steer like that.


Fitness

Stamina is optional for a trapper. Despite those large end costs you noticed earlier, you aren't clicking them very often, and a single end redux in key powers works wonders. That said, I have stamina on my bots/traps simply because I had room for it. I didn't get it asap, but I did get it.


Speed

Hasten is a nice thing to have with the longish recharge on your powers. It is hardly required. In fact, I do not have it. I feel it is is overrated. Not useless, but not the "OMG best pwr evar!" that so many seem to think it is. You will probably have room for it, and you can do worse as far as power choices go.

Leaping

Combat jumping is some nice mobility in combat, as well as a little more def to stack up with. Acrobatics is also helpful for keeping you off your butt with some KB protection and some small hold protection.



And that's pretty much it! Thank you for reading and hopefully this will help you decide if you want to make a MM!

Secondary: Traps

Traps is a thinking man's set. To get the most out of it, you must be able to adapt to any situation and act accordingly. You must be ready to make a death zone to lure the foes into, and yet also be willing to run in and drop mines at the soon to be gone feet of your enemies.

I love traps, it has a trick for everything and can do some amazing things if done right. But enough talking, on to the powers!

Lv 1
Web Grenade. 9.75 end, 4sec recharge, 70' range. Lt mag. immob.

Web grenade is the forced power from traps, and it may seem like you are getting the short end of the stick at first. However, it can stack to permanently immob a boss right out of the box and it is also -jump, -fly and a goodly -recharge on whoever you hit, though the debuffs do not stack from the same caster.

Slot for 1-2acc/1end redux/immob to taste. I only have 1 end and 1 acc in mine.



Lv 2
Caltrops. 9.75 end, 45 sec recharge, 15' radius slow

Caltrops are fun, they are a great area denial power. Simply place them wherever you don't want foes to go. Placing them between your bots and your foes is a good way to keep them away from your pets, for instance. They do some damage, but it isn't worth slotting for. I have mine with a recharge or two and a slow. 1-3 recharge/1-3slow and/or whatever procs it can take.


Lv 4
Triage Beacon 13 end, 200 sec recharge, +150% regen 90 sec duration

This is another power that many people on the boards hate, and many also love. As one poster once said "people either by Triage beacon, or swear at it." I like the thing, slotting makes it 300% regeneration and about a 10sec down time. My only real complaint is that it really needs SO lv enhancers to really show it's stuff. I would recommend taking the strong attack instead of it at first, then recpeccing out of the attack and into Triage around the time you can find a respec team.

Slot 3heal/3recharge and call me in the morning.


Lv 8 (10?)
Acid Mortar. 16.25 end, 90 sec recharge, def and resist debuff

Acid Mortar is one of the great traps that no trapper should ever be without. The mortar itself can shoot up to 100' away with an 8' splash radius. It has a -20% resist all to whatever it hits, along with a rather nice -def, ensuring you and everyone you like can hit reliably.

Slotting is pretty simple, 3 recharge and whatever procs you like as an optional bonus. Some go for an acc in it, but it doesn't ever seem to miss for me.


Lv 16
Force Field Generator! 16.25 end, 15sec recharge

The FFG is another staple power from traps. It follows you around and gives you a goodly +def(all) as well as nice protection from immob/stun/hold.

Slot for 3def and profit.


Lv 20
Poison Trap! 16.25 end, 90 sec recharge, 25' radius "puke" and -regen and -recharge

Yet another staple that every trapper should have! (starting to see a pattern?) The poison trap is pure gold. When you hit this power, you set down a little green globe on the ground. If it noticed a baddie too close, it will go off and doomify the whole area. When it first goes off it can choke foes in the radius. After that wears off, anything wandering through has a chance to puke. It's hard to explain the actual effect the puke is. It is a forced animation that doesn't seem to drop any toggle and even AVs/Heroes have nothing to protect from it. Additionally, anything inside the cloud has it's regen severely reduced and also has recharge times extended.

Slot for 3 recharge and some procs if you can afford them. Poison trap can take 3 damage procs, two of which are psi damage!

Lv 28
Seeker Drones. 19.5 end, 90 sec recharge, 60' range.

More toys that every trapper should have in their toy box. Seekers are simply the best thing ever for taking an alpha strike. What is an Alpha strike you ask? It is the first attack from a group of baddies and usually the most painful. Seekers can be summoned from just outside aggro range on most things, right into the middle of the group! The seekers then eat the alpha, and go off. When they go off, they give some -tohit, -dam and have a decent chance of stunning things. One of my favorite traps. Just make sure you don't summon them and expect them to follow you, they are hopelessly retarded and only reliable if you drop them right into a spawn.

Slot 3rech/1acc/1 range They feel like they have a low acc to start with, but maybe that's just me. Give them a range to make it easier to summon them without being noticed and recharge to take more alphas!


Lv 35
Trip Mines! 16.25 end, 20 sec recharge, 12' radius damage!

A simple mine that 'splodes stuff up good! It is pretty easy to toe bomb (run in and drop on the toes of people you don't like) with all the other things you have going on by the time you get these. They are a lot of damage. A lot of damage. Some people don't like them because they can be interrupted, but that's really the only down side to these puppies

Slot for 1acc/3dam/3rech or frankenslot to get as much as possible of all three!


Lv 38
Detonator! 32.5 end, 600 sec Recharge, 100' range 25' radius Damage!

Detonator lets you blow up a minion for a crapload of damage! I tried it out on test and it seems to be about 4x the base damage of trip mines if you use your boss pet. Whether your boss pet with worth basically nuke lv damage is up to you. I skipped it, mostly because I don't like making my bots die if I can help it. Though it is tempting when my robots decide they have to go punch something instead of making with the laser show...

Slot for 1-3 acc/3 damage/1-2 recharge, or frankenslot for all three!

Primary: Robotics

Lv 1
Pulse Rifle Blast. 6.5 end cost, 4 sec recharge, 80' range.

The first personal attack. I personally don't much care for it. It does piddly damage for a fairly high end cost. Skip it. If you insist on having it, then likely 3 dam/1acc/1end, or franken slot to taste.

Also Lv 1
Battle Drones!

Yes, your first pet! This gives you your minion class pets. You get one until Lv 6, which gives you a 2nd one. Lv 18 gets you your 3rd battle drone. When you get the 2nd one, they both become one Lv lower than you. The 3rd one makes them all 2 Lv lower.

Consequently, Battle Drones should have several slots for Acc along with damage. 2-3 Acc/3 Dam for slotting. Nice and simple.

Battle Drones have some resists to lethal/cold/psi, as well as some sleep and terrorize protection. Tough little guys and they will rarely ever get mezzed. They start out with a light laser blast and a punch. Try not to let them punch too much.

Lv 2
Pulse Rifle Burst. 10.66 End, 8 sec recharge, 80' Range.

Another personal attack. This one does alright damage and 40% chance for some KB. Often a MM will take one attack to make the lower levels easier, then respec it out about the time they get all the pets. If you want an attack, take this one for single target.

Lv 6
Equip Robot 16.25(!) End, 6 sec recharge.

Get it. Just do it. Don't look at me, get this power! It lets you upgrade a pet for more powers, and it lasts until the pet is no more. Battle Drones get a heavy laser blast, the Protector bots get the same, along with a repair, and the Assault Bot gets a Dual plasma Blast and a Flamethrower!

There is some debate as to whether you should give your Assbot his Equip. They claim the "long" animation cuts down his use of the missiles he gets later. I never noticed and always give the Assbot all his toys. The decision is up to you, really.

Slotting Equip is usually just an end redux and call it good. If you have extra slots and hate the setup time, a recharge or two is nice on top, but make sure to have the end redux. You will bottom out on end before everyone has all their toys.

Lv 8
Photon Grenade 19(!) End, 16 sec recharge, 80' Range, 15' radius.

The final personal attack, and an AoE to boot. It does slightly less damage than the wimpy blast you get, but has a pretty nice AoE and a 30% chance for a minion lv stun. Pretty meh on it's own, really. I have this power though. Why? Mostly so I can join in on the light show that is a post 32 robotics attack. The stun has a lot of things to stack on at that point in your career, with the prot bots' grenades and seekers and your seekers. There is a pretty good chance that anything alive after the first volley will be stumbling around for the short time it has remaining.

1-2 acc/3dam/1end/1stun if you have slots to throw around. If not, a simple 1acc/3dam works well, or simply skip it. Honestly, it is hardly a make or break power.


Lv 12
Protector Bots!

Yes, your lieutenant class pet! First one at 12 and the 2nd one shows up at lv 24. Similar to the drones, the 2nd protector bot makes them both one lv lower than you.

The protector bots are, as the name suggests, pretty good at protecting your guys and even you. They start with a fairly weak laser blast and a force field to cast on you and your other pets. City of Data lists the def as a little over 5%, but I'm pretty sure the actual number is 7%. You will only ever get one bubble, but your pets will get one from each protector bot.

These guys are likely the most differently slotted power in the whole game, they can do a lot of stuff! Some go for a simple 1-3acc/3dam to maximize the damage from them, some go more for the defensive side, with maybe 3heal/3def. There are two things that they can be slotted for that you should NOT slot for, however: stun and tohit debuff. For one, is doesn't get any of it's stun/debuff until 32, so they don't do anything for you until then. For two, the grenade has a fairly short stun and they are not very good at using the seeker drones. Also, stick an end redux into these guys post 32. They seem to run dry otherwise.

I recommend 1acc/2dam/1heal/1def/1end redux. Well, I actually recommend frankenslotting for an end result similar to 1-2acc/3dam/1heal/1def/some end redux. I think you can find 2 triples for acc/dam/end, 1 acc/dam, then a generic damage, generic heal and generic defense. Try out a lot of different slotting styles for them, everyone seems to have their own sweet spot.


Lv 18
Repair 16.25 end, 120 sec recharge, 80' range. Full heal, 25% end recovery

Ah, the much maligned repair. As you can see, it has a pretty long recharge. Most of the board people hate it for the recharge and take aid other from the medicine pool instead. Aid other recharges in a fraction of the time and is pretty much a full heal for a bot and can also be used on team mates. However, it is also very short range and can be interrupted and takes one of your pool choices. Personally? I love repair. It's a full heal every min for whatever bot needs it. I don't need to go and hug the bot who got hurt and I can continue moving. If my bots are taking more damage than I (and the prot bots) can heal in that time, I should rethink what I'm fighting. This is another power that you need to make your own decision on.

Slot for 1-3 recharge.


Lv 26
Assault Bot!

The crown jewel, the Boss class pet! This is one mean looking robot! He starts out with a plasma blast and a decent punch. He really comes into his own with Upgrade for his missiles, but more on that when I get to that power. Really, there isn't anything else to say except that the Assbot simply is awesome. Slot for 1-3acc/3dam or whatever procs you like. He can take the KB set damage proc, which works well for him. Most of the attacks he has do some KB and it's a fairly cheap proc to buy.


Lv 32
Upgrade!

This is the turning point in your career as a mastermind. You drones get a full auto laser blast, your protector bots get photon grenades and seeker drones and your Assault Bot gets swarm missiles AND incendiary swarm missiles! The missiles are a pretty nice 20' radius attack, and the incendiary missiles drop a burn patch on each guy they hit. Tightly packed groups melt fast.

Section 1: Megalomania and You

Masterminds are a class that summons pets and can buff/debuff. As a "pet class" they rely on the pets for most/all of their damage. The biggest difference between a mastermind and any other pet class you are likely to find is that a mastermind controls his pets and can issue surprisingly diverse commands.

I won't go over all of them myself, as there are some really good guides for binds and pet controls. My personal favorite set of binds is Sandolphin's binds, also known as the numpad binds. I use these, but I move them around the WASD keys for easy access. I highly recommend looking over there, as it also tells how to have your pets say things and even do emotes.

One of the main things to bind is a set up for Bodyguard mode. Set to defensive/follow and you take less damage depending on how many pets you have alive. Only real pets count, your FFG and Acid Mortar do not. In BG mode, the damage is split into parts equal to the number of pets plus two. Each pet gets one part and you, the MM, get 2 parts. It boils down to getting 75% resist to everything if you have all 6 pets in BG mode. This is what Tankerminds are based on.


Another thing is in my slotting suggestions I often recommend "franken slotting." What is franken slotting? It's simply mixing and matching different IO sets to get really nice enhancement numbers and ignoring set bonuses. Capn Canadian has a good guide for details.

Resistance is Futile: A Guide to Robotics/Traps Masterminds


So, you want to make a bots/traps mastermind do you? DO YOU?! Of course you do! And I'm here to help. I recently noticed that the bots/traps guides available feel really old and offer....strange advice. As such, people are constantly asking about the combo on the boards.



First, I'll cover the basics of being a mastermind and a few general tips for them. Then I will do the expected run down of the powers and how I feel about them. I will also offer several suggestions for slotting, even if I hate the power. Lastly, I will talk a little about some pools and the pros/cons of them as well.

I would have expected the AS to be a swipe through the victim, pulling a bit of thier soul out to be crushed in the stalkers hand.