Lord_Regulus

I posted this in another topic and thought it'd be useful if I posted it here as well for comparison purposes. For some added reference, here is my view of the Primaries.

Ninjas (level 50-Like the back of my hand)
Damage Type: Smashing, Lethal, and Fire (Tier order)
Possible Secondary Effects: Stun(Thunder Kick), Slows(Caltrops), Immobilizes(Ring of Fire), Holds(Char), Sleep(Blinding Powder), Confusion(Blinding Powder), To-hit De-buff(Blinding Powder), Defense De-buff(Ninja Blade), Knockback(Crane kick, Golden Dragonfly, and Soaring Dragon)
Unique Abilities: Critical Hit Capabilites
My Playstyle: Genin and Jounin are sent into melee and the Oni supports from the rear with his great mezzes.
Tier 1-Genin: Squshy Martial Arts. They like their shurikens a lot. If they start using their melee attacks, they have a solid attack chain.
Tier 2-Jounin: My favorite pet in the game. Not only do they have critical hits when they are hidden or placate, they have Nijitsu utilities which make them superb melee battle masters.
Tier 3-Oni: The backbone of the group. Once given the third upgrade, he turns into a dominator supreme with his Immob->Hold->Immob chain. He can keep bosses locked down easily if slotted for control. He does great damage with his Fire Breath and Rain of Fire as well. Dmg/Mez HOs are his friend.
Unique 18-Smoke Flash: 10 seconds of confirmed critical damage. Can't be much better than that.
Personal Attacks- Archery: Pitiful damage. Only get em if you want them if you're a /Force Fields. Otherwise, you'll get bored being a walking bubble for your pets.

Mercenaries (Level 33-Pretty good experience)
Damage Type: Lethal, Smashing(Very Little), Fire(Very Little)
Possible Secondary Effects: Immoblize(Web Grenade), Hold(SCAR Tear Gas), Stun(SCAR Flashbang, Rifle Butt), Defense Debuff(Numerous Rifle Attacks), To-hit Debuff(SCAR Flashbang), Knockback (AR's specialty).
Unique Abilities: Medic provides Healing, Mez Protection, and the Soldiers and commando can land Lucky Bullets from Full Auto for extra damage.
My Playstyle: Using Passive Goto bind for my Commando, I position him in locations to maximize cone effectiveness. Resummon Commando before big mobs to open up with an LRM Rocket. Medic is excluded from all commands so he is rarely not in Defensive/Follow. Other than that its run and gun.
Tier 1-Soldiers/Medic: Standard guns-a-blazing rifle weilders. The Medic sometimes has a Rambo complex. If slotted with some healing, heals a little less than Poison's Alkaloid.
Tier 2-Spec Ops: Attempting-to-be-controlling blasters. They have mezzes out the wazoo, but take a while to recharge them. They get a nice snipe later on.
Tier 3: Commando: AR/Munitions blaster. Cones and AoEs with a lot of Knockback. LRM Rocket and Full Auto are very fun.
Unique 18-Serum: A Force of Nature clone for pets with some added features and lasts thirty seconds less. Many people see it as not being worth it. It is a very situational power.
Personal Attacks: Somewhat worth it. The damage can be ok and Burst has a nice -def component with it. M30 has knockback, so be careful.

Thugs (Level 45-I know them very well)
Damage Type: Lethal, Smashing, and (you guessed it) Fire.
Possible Secondary Effects: Knockback (A LOT OF ATTACKS), Defense Debuff (Several Attacks), Hold (Knock-out Blow), Stun (Super Strength's featurette), did I mention Knockback?
Unique Abilities: Arsonist scourges with Fire Breath, Enforcers provide Leadership, and the Bruiser builds fury
My Playstyle: Send the Bruiser in melee and all hell breaks loose. (NOTE: Some people do not give the bruiser his second upgrade to avoid Handclap.)
Tier 1-Punks/Arsonist: Single Target, Cone, and AoE. Bread and Butter attacks. The Arsonist's Petrol Bomb is killer.
Tier 2-Enforcers: Very good blasting pets. Wide cones as well as a cool looking AoE Throw Clip attack. Their Leadership is different from player's. Higher defensive values for Manuvers and lower to-hit and Attack from Tactics and Assault.
Tier 3-Bruiser: AI that makes people's heads scream. Once he throws a rock, he just can't stop. I personally like his handclap at times, but it does tend to mess up cone attacks.
Unique 18-Gang War: Summons 10 punks outta nowhere. They are essentially upgraded hellions. They are aggro magnets and can get you killed if you're not careful but their damage is well worth the chaos.
Personal Attacks: I like them. They are still low damage but you basically attack just like the Punks do, but deal slightly more damage.

Robotics (Highest was 22, got sick of /traps. I know em like the front of my hand... Hey thats new...)
Damage: Energy, Smashing, and Fire.
Possible Secondary Effects: Stun (Photon Grenade, Seeker Drones, and the Assault Bot's Brawl), Knockback (Several Attacks), To-Hit Debuff (Seeker Drones), -Regen (Dual Plasma Cannon)
Unique Abilities: Protector Bots provide Healing and Force Fields.
My Playstyle: "Hey look, people" *Fires many lazers and missles for a few seconds* "Hey look, more people" *continues*
Tier 1-Battle Drones: Until the second upgrade, these guys aren't very good at all. Standard single target lazer blasts. But the Second upgrade, they don't stop firing their full Auto Lazer.
Tier 2-Protector Bots: They live up to their name. They bubble and heal as well as stun.
Tier 3-Assault Bot: Fluffy is very strong. His missile attacks decimate mobs. the only problem is that he really likes his flamethrower. I mean, he REALLY likes his flamethrower. HE LOVES HIS FLAMETHROWER AS MUCH AS THE BRUISER LOVES THROWING ROCKS.
Uniqe 18-Repair: Fully heals a robot minion and gives him a little endurance, not that robots have any kind of end problem. Aid Other > Repair.
Personal Attacks: Energy damage is always good. Watch out for the second attack's knockback if you don't like it. The Photon Grenade has a chance for a mag 2 stun. Try stacking it with the protector bot's Photon Grenade.

Necromancy (Word of Mouth. never played em, probably never will)
Damage: Smashing, Lethal, Negative Energy, and Toxic
Possible Secondary Effects: Fear(Fearsome Stare), Immoblize(Tenebrous Tenticles), Hold(Petrifying Gaze), Defense Debuff(Broadsword Attacks), To-Hit Debuffs(All Dark Attacks), Knockback (Torrent, Headsplitter, and Disembowel)
Unique Abilities: All pets get Life Drain with the second upgrade. Zombies have very good Slow Resistance.
My Playstyle: I don't have one so I wouldn't know. I'd probably do something like I do with Ninjas.
Tier 1-Zombies: They barf and barf and barf again. Take a shotgun to their face, they act like any zombie would from the movies.
Tier 2-Grave Knights: Broad Sword weilders from beyond the grave. They hit very hard for being undead sacks of flesh.
Tier 3-Lich: "A lich? TURN UNDEAD!- Order of the Stick" A very mezzy pet with some nice -tohit debuffs. His Immobilizes and Holds last as long as the Oni's do but their recharges are longer. His Fearsome stare is very powerful though.
Unique 18-Soul Extraction: Take your even deader undead after he falls and extract its soul for a 7th pet. It has some very nice attacks as well as debuffs. The stronger the minion extracted from, the more powerful the extracted soul is. Use Tier 3 for best results.
Personal Attacks: They have to-hit debuffs tied to them and the 3rd attack is Life Drain. It only heals 15% though, but its better than nothing.

[ QUOTE ]
I remember it was once a mission full of 7th Generation Paragon Protectors on villain side...that was awesome...

[/ QUOTE ]

I woulda kept that one for fun.

Defeat BOSS_NAME and Guards in Cap... a VERY interesting mission if I do say so myself.

... Huh. Well... at least they're 18s I suppose.

There's old BOSS_NAME

Anyone want to take a stab at what is going on here?

[ QUOTE ]
Uh... why is everyone quoting everything?

[/ QUOTE ]

You hath been quoted!

But Ghost Widow likes to see everyone's jealousy when she enters the room with her flowing hair. We can't spoil her fun.

I'm glad you guys like your new offices.

And Posi... You're office rocks. Got cool nerd crap all over the place.

Heres a couple with messed up tooltips if they haven't been pointed out already.

My name is Error!

I like the powerbar macro tray myself. For those of you who want a macro tray, I suggest a set-up like this:

My Macro Tray

I've got a laptop so I don't have a number pad unless I press and hold an "Fn" key between Ctrl and Windows while pressing a corresponding letter that has small numbers on em. Too much of a hassle! If you think you might get a laptop to game on sooner or later, either plan on gettin a USB keyboard or use the macro tray. It'll be a lot easier on ya.

Method for Making a Mastermind Set

Summary
In a nutshell, this essay (if you can call it that) is a method of what to consider when making your own imaginary Mastermind power set to submit to the suggestion box or post for others to look at. I'm not saying that if you do these things, a power set will be made. That's just silly. What I am suggesting is that people might consider a power set more worthwhile if it has already had a lot of the idea thought out for them, to see what you really mean. When you say "I think so-and-so minions would be awesome!" the reader asks, "Why? There's no reason why to make this set or to suggest where to begin." If you instead say, "So-and-so minions would be amazing! Here is the the basic build idea I had for it (Complete powerlist). The reasons why this build is worthwhile is because (General power description along with details of minion abilities and how they are all balanced)," that is worth someone's time. So here is my Method for Making a Mastermind Set.

Disclaimer: These are all opinions and educated guesses based on observations of the Mastermind Power Sets and the Henchmen AI.

People like imagining about their perfect power sets. Some dream of their blasters using the power of the sea to wash their foes away, some imagine their character growing to the size of Atlas and stomping their foes like ants, some even imagine having a character on a couch eating chips and salsa while mounted on a flying couch running over enemies--- maybe. I, personally, enjoy entertaining the idea of different Mastermind power sets. To me, it is taking what is already readily available in the game and modifying it to make an army of summons that were easy to make and at the same time outrageously fun. It also seems more likely that a Mastermind power set idea might be implemented faster than another primary because one can just transform what is already there. If you, the reader, want to consider Mastermind power sets seriously then continue reading. Trust me, it’s a long one.

I. What Makes a Mastermind?

The Mastermind is one of the most interesting power sets in City of Villains. It is probably the most versatile set out there with many an entourage of possibilities. For those of you less familiar with the archetype, it is simply the following:

1) The Mastermind is a low damage, low defense archetype in which the player summons more powerful subjects to do his or her bidding.
2) You are there to support your minions either by buffing/healing or de-buffing whatever they are fighting
3) The minions are there to protect their leader. The leader doesn’t (and shouldn’t) have to do much actual fighting (Basically meaning Primary Melee powers for the Masterminds themselves are no noes.)

Minions are not limited to a specific archetype and can range anywhere from brawlers to snipers, from magic users to technological marvels, from damage dealers to controlling types. Yes, the term minion is very wide in our villainous game.

II. Identifying Your Mastermind Power Set

Think of the creative process as an upside-down pyramid. At the top is the broad term which is the first step to making almost anything. For us, it will be to IDENTIFY what the power set is going to be. A general theme if you will, of what the power set is going to be comprised of. You can’t make a mastermind set that has cavemen, robots, and a super chicken as its summons. It just doesn’t make sense. Try following a general theme. For example, a recent post was made about a Pirate or a Medieval Mastermind, whichever one you wanted to apply it to. Focusing on Medieval, (because I think its cooler… and Ninjas > Pirates by far) try to think of a set that utilizes themes from that time period. Since Masterminds are villainous, try to make it more evil sounding. Dark Ages Mastermind sounds slightly more sinister because darkness has a more of an evil feel to it. So the theme I will select for creative examples is a Black Knights Mastermind. (Good think this isn’t a formal essay, that would count off =P)

Many people who suggest power sets often make the same common mistake. The most important key to making any power set great is BALANCE. Balance means that something is equaled out. It has reached homeostasis. It is at equilibrium. That it possesses just the right mixture of pros and cons to give it viable strengths and weaknesses. So what should you consider to balance? In a sense, you are your own team, and every good team has a strategy behind their purposes. Logically, the next step is to decide what their focuses are. Looking at the different Mastermind Primaries, they boil down to a two different classes, Primarily Ranged types and Primarily Melee types.

Ranged types’ and Melee types’ goal is the same, to defeat the enemy, but they have different ways going about accomplishing it. Primarily Ranged types focus on killing their enemies from a distance obviously, but it also has the purpose of keeping the group you are attacking away from you. Sure it takes a second for the enemy to get to you, but your enemy has time to run up to your minions and start mutilating the attackers. Ranged minions do not have many defenses or resistances. If a horde of Freakshow begins overrunning your firing lines, they have very few melee attacks to defend themselves with so the minions will quickly perish. So to make sure they are safe, they keep the enemy detained and away from them. Robots accomplish this through mass knock-back controlling. If the enemies can’t keep on their feet, they will die before they have a chance to get back up. Soldiers use controlling shots to keep their foes stunned, slept, held, and immobilized to keep the enemy from approaching. Thugs have their bruiser to occupy the enemy’s to tank the foes while your other minions blast away. Since they are ranged, they typically have more Area of Effect and Cone damage so they can deal with all their enemies at once. It is more effective than picking off each enemy one by one as they advance. Consider this Firing at a distance, keeping foes contained and away, and to include more AoE and Cone attacks in your minion’s power selection than melee minions would have.

Primarily melee types focus on getting in their enemy’s face and beating the absolute crap out of them. It is less sophisticated than ranged attacks because there is less control in an all out slugfest than a firing line. Of the offered melee sets, each one so far has come with a controlling type of minion that can function at a longer range. For what has been observed. The melee minions have the ability to run into the fray while the specialized ranged minion offers controls to help maintain the battle from the rear. This, of course, isn’t the only option, but so far it has been a good idea to have something that can fire from outside the fray that can greatly lessen the burden on the fighters. Out of our two current Melee types, we have Zombies and Ninjas. They both have that controlling figure but the two operate on completely different tactics. While Zombies focus on more less resisted types of damage with a little control, Ninjas deal more commonly resisted damage but have a lot more control, but Zombies are also more resilient than Ninjas and can take damage while Ninjas have to dodge to survive. An easy example of this is if a Jounin throws his caltrops into a group of enemies, they are slowed – an example of control. If a Jounin throws caltrops under a Grave Knight, the Grave Knight resists the slow and walks right over it only taking damage from it, but being almost utterly unaffected by it – an example of resistance. Keep in mind that melee pets are going to be in the fray a lot more and will be focusing mainly on one person at a time. Points to remember are focused attacks, controlling factors or all out massive damage, and a Ranged support minion type to keep your foes under control.

III. Creating Your Mastermind Power Set

When making your first start getting into the actual minion summons, there are some fundamental principles you should keep in mind when making them and assigning powers and abilities.

1) Do NOT overpower minions!
-It is the most common mistake I’ve seen in power suggestions. Remember the next idea to keep yourself in line…

2) Make sure the minions mesh together well!
- If you have the cavemen charging into battle with his club while the robots are trying to stay back and heal as the super chicken is casting fears on a single enemy, it’s not going to work! It’s like driving a car on the wrong side of the road; you’re eventually going to hit something! Instead, make sure the minions complete each other by somewhat supporting each other.

3) Make sure each pet has at least one ranged and one melee attack
-If you’re fighting a flying sky raider and all your pets have are melee attacks, you’re in a pickle. Each minion type should have at least one of each attack so they can combat in melee or at a distance. There used to be a time where Soldiers couldn’t brawl and we discovered that was a bad thing.

4) Remember that Pets Have Passive Resistances! (for the most part)
-Aside from thugs, most minions have a certain amount of resistance or defense initially. Don’t forget this unless you plan to have an army that can’t take a punch.

Considering what has been discussed, a Black Knights themed mastermind will most likely be melee oriented. Swords are drawn, maces and axes at the ready, and you possibly have support through archers or mages from behind the lines. Keep in mind that this is going to be evil mastermind. Chivalry is definitely an idea that is to be put aside. This set will be based on the idea of a corrupt group of outlawed black knights. They are Cruel, sinister, greedy, and everyone’s rights are determined by their might. Before we decide on the Mastermind’s powers, it is easier to first consider the minion types. After all, the power set is modeled around what is being summoned, not what the mastermind’s primary weapon is. Medieval weaponry is the underlying element here. This is where it gets challenging. Think of the possibilities of minion types! Anything from unruly warriors, to sneaky archers, to dark warlords, to evil sorcerers, to black knights, to an extremely ticked off peasant, the list goes on and on. A slew of weapons are at their disposal too. They have all types of swords, axes, maces, bows, pitchforks, and even rusty spoons to pick from! Decisions, decisions – first let’s start by organizing some of your favorite combinations. I picked the following for my version of a Black Knights Mastermind, but there are many other possibilities:

Tier 1: Summon Warriors (Picture)
Tier 2: Call Woodsmen (Picture)
Tier 3: Summon Dark Warlord (Picture)

The upgrading powers are:

Tier 1: Mentor
Tier 2: Knightly Vow (Based on when Kings declared a person to be at the rank of a Knight)

When considering powers to give your minions, make sure you limit their powers accordingly. If you look at the first tier of all the minion types, rarely do they have more than four attacks. Ninjas’ Genin are the only exception, they get a melee and a ranged attack each level. The first tier is understandably limited because there are three of them so any massive damage being dealt by these minions alone would be absurd and the build would be tossed out like garbage. For our Dark Aged set, The Warriors have many possibilities. I favored their primary weapon to be a longsword. You could also consider each first tier minion having a different weapon like one has a sword, the second one has mace, and the last one gets an axe, but I like swords for these guys. They also, like all melee fighters, need at least one ranged attack. I decided on the crossbow. If you compare the Genin to the Zombies, at first glance it seems that Ninjas have an upper hand in ranged attacks. The zombie’s ranged attack is a cone though, thus making them better for groups. They are just limited to one target so consider that when selecting ranged attacks. Another thing to remember is their inherit resistances or defenses. Are your minions clad with armor? Have they undergone rigorous mental strengthening? Are the flexible acrobats, dodging anything that is tossed at them? Or are they basically new and have no resistances at all. For the Dark Aged Mastermind, they will be clad in iron breastplates giving them resistance to lethal and smashing. At first they only have leather armor but as they are upgraded they don more and more armor. Here is the Example Build for the Warriors.

Summon Warriors: Summons one to three Warriors to do your bidding. These unruly fighters have learned only basic sword techniques. Their light armor protects them against lethal and smashing damage and is easy to move around in. They can be upgraded with better weapons and armor and taught better swordplay.
AutoRes: Lethal (20) Smashing (20) +DEF (Mel/Rng +7)
Initial Abilities: Slash (Moderate, fast)
Mentor Abilities: Hack (Moderate-High, Moderate, Hand Crossbow (Minor, fast)
Knightly Vow Abilities: Slice (Cone) (Moderate, Moderate)

So the first tier summons is done. What about the second? The second tier is a big jump from the first set of minions. The second tier has a significantly wider array of powers than their lower tier counterparts. Along with their attacks, some can have mild buffing, de-buffing, or controlling powers. For instance, Spec-Ops on the Mercenary Masterminds have a slew of controlling powers at their disposal. They have web grenades, flash bangs, and tear gas that keep their enemy at bay. Protector bots from Robotics have repair and force fields to defend their friends along with seeker drones and plasma grenades that stun enemies that are getting too close. Jounin have a slew of sword attacks and controlling powers like caltrops and blinding powder that give them an advantage in fights. It is difficult to clearly define the second tier because they are so varied and versatile to their own Power set. Sometimes they’re the main damage dealers, sometimes they are the support. It really just depends. For the Black Knights mastermind, something that hasn’t been introduced is a support second tier for melee pets. These guys are designed to support the first and the third tier from a safe distance away by firing arrow volleys into the fray. Balancing a second tier support damage dealer is hard considering there is nothing really to base its balancing off. I’m still a little shaky on these guys, but here is an example build for the Woodsmen.

Call Woodsmen: Calls one to two Woodsmen from the depths of the forests to come to your aid. After years or training, They are master marksmen and are known to move swiftly and silently. They can be upgraded to have even better arrows volleys and to blend into their surroundings.
AutoRes (Placate, Taunt) +SPD +DEF (Mel/Rng/AoE, 15)
Initial Abilities: Snap Shot (Minor, Very Fast), Aimed Shot (Moderate, Fast), Dagger (Moderate, Moderate)
Mentor Abilities: Fistful of Arrows (Moderate, Moderate), Entangle Arrow (Moderate Recharge)
Knightly Vow Abilities: Ranged Shot (Very High, Long), Stealth (Auto)

We finally get to the big, the bad, the awesome, third tier summon. The third tier pet is a minion that doesn’t need to have a lot held back. It still needs to be balanced of course, but it has far more options. Once you get him, he completes your army. Also, it adds the missing part of the mix to balance the power set out to make it mesh as a whole. Is he basically a gigantic cannon on the front lines firing God knows what at the enemy? Maybe he is massive tanks that can take the damage and dish it back out. Or perhaps he is a mesmerizing controller in the back supporting your troops in the fray. Just remember, when you’re thinking of the third tier, he is supposed to be the best he can be without going overboard. For instance, looking at the Mercenary Masterminds again, when fully upgraded, their Commando has the three most powerful Assault Rifle attacks in the game: Full Auto, Flamethrower, and LRM Missile. He sacrifices all possible controls for damage. In this imaginary Black Knights Mastermind set, the third tier is going to be the Dark Warlord. With all the current hype from Issue 11, I decided this guy was going to be a mean, seasoned knight who wields dual blades. Since I’m not too familiar with the set, I am not sure exactly how to balance this pet out properly. Also, when considering dual blade’s combo attacks, the AI would be hard to program to use them correctly. With that in mind, here is my idea for the Dark Warlord’s build.

Dark Warlord: Summons a powerful, fearsome Dark Warlord. He is a veteran warrior who has seen the field of battle many times before. His experience makes him resistant to fear and confusion. He bears empowered dark armor that makes him very resilient to Lethal and smashing damage as well energy resistance.
AutoRes: (Confuse, Fear) Smashing (28) Lethal (28) Energy (14) Neg Eng. (14) Poison (7)
Initial Abilities: Nimble Slash (Minor, Very Fast) , Ablating Strike (Moderate, Moderate), Heavy Crossbow (Moderate, Long)
Mentor Abilities: Typhoon’s Edge (Moderate, Long), Vengeful Slice (High, Moderate), Intimidate (Long Recharge) (Weaken)
Knightly Vow Abilities: Power slice (Moderate, Fast) One Thousand cuts (Superior, Long), Cloak of Fear (Semi-Auto) (Sweep)

Now, the minions are done. Now comes the easier part. Since the summons and the upgrades take up five power slots, that leaves four remaining. In the past, these last remaining powers have consisted of three attacks and a power that matches the set. The first three are simple. To match your power set, take one of the ranged weapons that is used and give it to the mastermind. For Black Knights, I did consider using crossbows, but it is easier to use the bow considering so much work has been done already for Archery and one of the mastermind secondary powers is Trick Arrow. The powers will be the following:

Level 1 - Snap Shot (Minor, Fast)
Level 4 - Aimed Shot (High, Moderate)
Level 8 - Fistful of Arrows (Moderate, Moderate)

Now we deal with the hardest of the four. The power available at level eighteen is a very unique power for every set. Ninjas have Smoke Flash, granting critical blows to any minion for ten seconds. Mercenaries have Serum which considerably boosts accuracy, damage, endurance recovery, and damage resistance for sixty seconds with the drawback of being fatigued at the end. Necromancy Soul Extraction summons a ghost from one of your fallen minions to fight for you temporarily. Robotics has Repair which fully heals a robot and replenishes some of their endurance. Thugs have Gang War which summons a large posse of punks to fight for a while. What is your mastermind set going to be unique with? For Black Knights, I decided on a Battle Cry power. It works somewhat like Serum.

Battle Cry: You inspire an uncontrollable rage inside one of your knights for a short time. The selected minion is thrown into a wild frenzy and his Damage, Running Speed, Recharge Speed, and Health is boosted are greatly increased while his accuracy and defense are slightly decreased. The knight is also resistant to all types of slows and controlling effects including Disorient, Sleep, Hold, Immobilize, and Knockback. After he recovers from his rage, the warrior is left exhausted, drained of all endurance and cannot recover endurance or regenerate for a while.
Effects: +Damage -Accuracy -Defense +Speed +Recharge +Health

IV. Proofreading and Revising Your Power Set

Now we have all the powers done. We have a good idea of what our power set will look like as well as what the minions are and what they can and can’t do. Now, it is time for a quick analysis of the power set. Check for key factors:

1) Is the set balanced? Make sure they are neither overpowered nor underpowered.
2) Do the pets function well as a team? They need to be able to support each other.
3) Can the AI support their abilities easily? If they have a power, they need to use it correctly.
4) Do their powers make sense to have? Be able to explain why they have their powers

The power set appears good on paper, but words are nothing until they are put to the test. The Black Knights power set, when fully upgraded, focuses on primarily damage with mostly lethal attacks. The set also has mild control from immobilizes and fears to support those in the fray.

The first tier Warriors seem balanced, they don’t have the best attacks but their final upgrade giving them a melee cone attack is a good point about them. Another one of their selling points is their mix of both defense and resistance. Neither is an incredibly high buff so it is within reason as well as lacking. They are weak against all other types of damage and susceptible to all status effects. They also have a Draw Crossbow for their ranged attack. It is a quick attack but has low damage. These guys are at an extreme disadvantage when facing flying foes but the archers can cover that part as well as ground several foes if needed.

Second tier Woodsmen also seemed balanced. They function more as ranged support for the rest of the group. Their entangle arrows help keep enemies away from them as well as making them hold still for our melee pets. They have also been given stealth later to help them get to a safe position easily. If they are found within melee combat, they have a dagger to defend themselves with in melee. It might be good to consider a possible stealth strike from a Ranged Shot when hidden. The Woodsman seems a little weaker compared to other set’s second tier pets, but think of it as a scale of damage. The build is geared for melee but it has ranged pets that have the potential to overpower the set if they are too good. We sacrificed more powerful arrow volleys like Blazing Arrow, Explosive Arrow, and Ice Arrow to balance out the overall damage and control output. Think of it in terms of a the Ninjas power set. They have a powerful Oni who excels at dominating with his controls and ranged damage while the ninjas in melee do mostly single target attacks. Since the other minions in this set can do more Cone and AoE damage, a form of control that could be fitting would be adding more damage to them. Fistful of arrows when coupled with the warrior’s Slice and the Dark Warlord’s AoE attacks, it is a valid tactic to add more damage to kill swiftly rather than add more control and slowly kill through suppression.

The Dark Warlord might be a bit overpowered. The overall set was lacking in a controlling aspect so I gave him dark armor and fear powers. His ability to intimidate is from his experience in battle. He knows how to get inside the enemy’s mind. His Cloak of Fear is from his overwhelming power but is an extremely watered down variation of the Cloak of Fear. It is hard to resist someone with a strong presence like his. Even though he is based of the brute, but fury would make him too powerful. He also can perform two of the four combos. I wonder if the AI could support the combo ability. Dual Blades are good without their combos but it would be better if he could do both combos he has been given. Like the first tier, he has a ranged attack deficiency. His crossbow is more powerful than the first tier but takes longer to load and use.

It is important to look at all the subtleties of each set and compare them to each other to see if your build fits in as not only a different build, but also a different style of play than the others. From what I’ve observed, there are very clear differences between each set. They prioritize differently, they function differently, all these minor details add up in the end and amount to very different playing styles.

Foci:
Mercenaries: Ranged Lethal Damage Variations - Mass Controls - Small heals
Robotics: Mass Energy and Fire Damage - Knockback Control - Great Self Sufficiency
Ninjas: Swift, powerful single target Damage - Powerful Single Controls - Nothing
Necromancy: Heavy Lethal Melee Damage and Toxic Damage - Weaker mass controls - Self Heals
Thugs: Heavy Lethal Cones and AoEs - Barely any control - Personal buffs and Tanker pet
Black Knights: Moderate Cone Lethal Damage, Ranged damage support - weak controls - Nothing

When this power set is optimized at level 32, it is a unique set that is geared towards melee cone and PBAoE damage along with ranged support that adds to that damage in an attempt to kill swifter rather than keep the enemy in place. They sacrifice their possible control for their variety of lethal attacks to try to kill the mob before they can get away. A plausible tactic on paper, but the real test would be to imagine if it would really function like in game. Since these are fictitious, we can only speculate.

So, after the entire process, our example build is complete! Let’s see how it basically looks.

Black Knights: Release the ancient order of the Black Knights from their dark forests of the old world. This dedicated order has pledge their allegiance to serve your dark designs. They wield powerful medieval weaponry and techniques that can be improved over time.

Level 1) Snap Shot: A quick attack that fires an arrow at your foe after only minimal aiming. Fast, but little damage. (Minor, fast)

Level 1) Summon Warriors: Summons one to three Warriors to do your bidding. These unruly fighters have learned only basic sword techniques. Their light armor protects them against lethal and smashing damage and is easy to move around in. They can be upgraded with better weapons and armor and taught better swordplay (Very Long Recharge)

Level 4) Aimed Shot: Though it takes longer to execute, your Aimed Shot deals greater damage than Snap Shot. (High, Moderate)

Level 6) Mentor: Trains henchman blah blah blah. (Medium Recharge)

Level 8) Fistful of Arrows: You fire a fistful of arrows at foes in a cone in front of your. Good at close range. (Moderate, Moderate)

Level 12) Call Woodsmen: Calls one to two Woodsmen from the depths of the forests to come to your aid. After years or training, They are master marksmen and are known to move swiftly and silently. They can be upgraded to have even better arrows volleys and to blend into their surroundings. (Very Long Recharge)

Level 18) Battle Cry: You inspire an uncontrollable rage inside one of your knights for a short time. The selected minion is thrown into a wild frenzy and his Damage, Running Speed, Recharge Speed, and Health is boosted are greatly increased while his accuracy and defense are slightly decreased. The knight is also resistant to all types of slows and controlling effects including Disorient, Sleep, Hold, Immobilize, and Knockback. After he recovers from his rage, the warrior is left exhausted, drained of all endurance and cannot recover endurance or regenerate for a while. (Very Long Recharge)

Level 26) Summon Dark Warlord: Summons a powerful, fearsome Dark Warlord. He is a veteran warrior who has seen the field of battle many times before. His experience makes him resistant to fear and confusion. He bears empowered dark armor that makes him very resilient to Lethal and smashing damage as well energy resistance. (Very Long Recharge)

Level 32) Knightly Vow: Upgrades weaponry and techniques. (Very Slow)

It is always fine to suggest new ideas for the Developers to ponder possible new power sets. You can suggest a general theme for a set like pirates, mages, elementists, clones, or medieval masterminds, but usually the reader will skim over the idea and maybe agree that it is a good set, and then throw the short, vague concept in their “suggested names for power sets” pile and never think of it again until it is brought up by someone else. Instead, by providing a detailed overview of the build and what you think should consist of, you can establish the concept power set as something balanced, unique, and worthwhile rather than just a carbon copy of a pre-existing set with a different costume.

Valuable Sources: Use these when creating and balancing your own sets.

Red Tomax's Guide to City of Heroes
Paragon Wiki
Red Zero's Mastermind Notes v.3.0

Huzzah 2 years of Villainy goodness... or badness... some ness word... anyways... YAY!

[ QUOTE ]
Seems like it was just yesterday that I was rolling up my Robots/Force Field Mastermind on Virtue, then re-rolling him 4 hours later when I realized I spelled his name wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

See, now I would've re-rolled it out of sheer boredom. Unless you're ok with being a walking bubble-buff for a set minions that you just order around for fourty levels >_<. (You could maybe get the pulse rifle blasts but I don't know or many who do.) Oh well, to each their own.

Oh, I have to stop assuming people know things that read guides. Most people don't know something if they are reading a guide . Sorry for not answering your initial question but make sure to check out the rest of the MM guides on the forums for the wealth of information. Mercs are a good choice stick with em.

[ QUOTE ]
Great guide and all, but what I want to know is how to make binds or macros for those special type of minions or special (arsonist, medic, and Wraith/Tortured Soul/Ghost).

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You can't actually of course use a macro to tell a minion what attack to use and when (if only). But what you can do is try making a macro or bind for a single target retreat

/macro Run petcom passive follow

or if you want it to be directed to a minion specifically...

/macro MDR petcom_name "Roy the Med-man" passive follow

This will cause the minon targeted or the minion named Roy--- to run full speed back to you. This should save the suicidal types from going into melee when they are ranged pets.

And you can't command those Necromancy extracted souls.

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This is all very well and good. But first and simple things first!
How the devil do I replenish the failing health of my poor mercs before they die off?
Or did I miss the section on pet buffing?
If so, please point me in the right direction and I will be happy enough to say 'My bad'

[/ QUOTE ]

Again, there is no macro or bind to make your medic heal your minions.

A) Try spreading them out a bit so that they don't get pounded by AoE damage. Maybe send your Commando in first to absorb some damage then get the other pets in the action while you heal the Commando.

B) Get Aid Other if you're not /Dark or /Poison.

C) Place your Medic in passive and have him follow you around then put him in defensive when someone is injured. I've never tried this, but maybe the medic will prioritize healing the injured comrade rather than going "Dork Rambo". I don't know the Medic's AI well enough so don't quote me on that one but its worth a shot.

D) If pets are dying...

Commando: Fall back! Fall back! We are taking to many hits and Roy the Med-Man is already gone!
Roy: Im a tank! Ph3ar MeH! *rushes into the mob in melee*
Soldier 1: Hold the line! Hold the line!
Spec Ops 2: Retreat!
Sodier 2: I'm not leaving Roy behind! YARGH! *Charges in* I'M COMIN' ROY!
Commando: No Johnny, don't do it!

... what?

ANYWAYS... Just use this command and hope for the best.

/macro Flee Petcom_all passive follow

Lord Zulu:
Well choose the origin with the nifty Tazer Dart and you can light your own Oil slick without the oni. As far as early on is concerned. If you wanna invest in some of the Arrow Shots to help out the dmg, go ahead. I'd suggest respecing out of em later.

Longbow:
Ok well I guess I'll go down the power choices one by one for ya. Before I start, remember this: Each trick arrow has their use in different situations. Just because a power isn't good against everyone but you should get it anyways for whoever you run into. Heres my opinion for PvP and disregarding PvE.

If you go pure PvP, see if you can fit Stamina in. Stamina always helps incase your end is being drained from something. Trick Arrows are generally endurance friendly. You're on your own for squeezing it in though. You also need Hasten so you can keep the arrows flying. I'd suggest to get it early enough to use it in Bloody Bay.

1) Entangle Arrow: Get this power for squishies and those with fly. Remember that Glue Arrow doesn't have -fly. I suggest putting some slots into this one to keep the effects of -fly longer and be more accurate. I'd put five in it. Maybe get an IO set in there for some added bonuses.

2) Flash Arrow: I'd skip it in PvP. I only have it for the stealth in PvE.

3) Glue Arrow: I recently tried slotting this power with three recharges rather than three slows. The effects of it are already powerful and this power is stackable.

4) Ice Arrow: This arrow is great. It isn't the most powerful hold but it works against most squishies if they don't have acrobatics. If it doesn't work alone stack it with either your patron hold if you have it or the Oni's char. I six slotted this one with three hold durations, two accuracies, and one endurance redux. I'm going to try to get an IO set for it.

5) Posion Gas Arrow: The attack is already a pretty good debuff to attack. Its small but noticable. Why I got it though was for the sleep. The mez in this arrow is a 50/50 chance of putting your foe to sleep, and since this arrow is auto-hit, it is great for detoggling squishies with no sleep resistance. Bubblers beware! I put three slots for sleep in it incase I need to keep a squishy out for a few seconds longer to deal with a more threatening foe.

6) Acid Arrow: Its a de-buff and should be used as such. I six slotted it with 3 Defense Debuff, 2 Accuracy, and 1 Endurance Redux.

7) Disruption Arrow: Auto-Hit -Resistance auras are good against tanks. I have mine slotted with one recharge because there is not much else you can do with this arrow. I've never tried stacking it before but if you have the slots available, consider slotting it with 3 recharges incase the battle moves out of your disruption field.

8) Oil Slick Arrow: In PvP, you don't need to worry about the dreaded Oil Aura that much. Your pets will still attack in melee and not run from the burning enemies usually. I have had some occurances when the oil aura did affect them but I think it was because of a Mu that ran through the battlefield... anyways! Getting back on the subject, get this power six slotted with damage and recharge. Whats worse than a debuffing, knockback enducing, burn patch on crack? A "___" on crack that comes up fast. This is Godly against fellow masterminds when you use this against ranged pet MMs. Successfully light it and they are screwed three ways to sunday if you combine it with...

9) EMP Arrow: This is a great power to use wisely. Against your fellow Mastermind, this mass hold is great and will subdue your foe's pets. Besides the nice hold against armies, you can use this as a last ditch effort to turn the tide of a battle. If your foe isn't paying attention to their endurance, use this power to disable their end recovery and sap some of their end while you're at it. Slotting is up to you.
Optimum Slotting (IMO): 3 Acc/Mez HOs and 3 End Mod IOs
My Current Slotting: 4 Essence of Curare* and 2 End Mod IOs
Single Origin Slotting: 3 Acc and either 3 End Mod or 3 Hold.

*I can't remember which Curares I used off the top of my head.

Hope this helped you two.

I got dice7 from Hess before. Did they change that with the addition of the STF?

I'd have to disagree with your opinion of Ninjas being horrible with Trick Arrows. IMO, Ninja's different mezzes and debuffs mesh very well with Trick Arrows. If you get medicine there isn't much of a problem. All you have to do is make sure you keep up with each minion. Ninja/Trick Arrow is just very hard because you need to keep a close tab on all your minions. The only problem I have with the build itself is that I didn't have room for Stamina because I like the Ghost Widow PPP's Hold. Of course, if you're one of those MMs who expect a fairly easy ride, you shouldn't even have considered Ninjas or Trick Arrows in the first place. Ninja/TA is my main MM's build so I suppose I'm bias. But I wouldn't count the ninjas out of this because of the Jounin's slows and the Oni's superb control. I would shy away from Necro because they are pure damage with a little control.

Man, remind me next time to get someone who knows more about the numbers of powers before I write a guide. I just went by on observations of the build itself ingame. I've been getting some very negative private messages from people who complained that I didn't use numbers.

Again, this is just from in-game battle observations, I do like criticism and comments about the actual build and some clarification on the numbers and those other numerical things I didn't have in this build, but don't send me stuff about how you think the guide is absolute bull because it doesn't have numerical values in it, or that it is totally worthless without them (Which would be true for those of you with calculators I guess). Its just a my opinionated guide people! Sheesh!

-Added upon request.

Lesson 7:Petsay Mastery (Extended)

First, create a folder somewhere that is easy to access, I chose the c:/ drive. (Its the one in My Computer). Once there create a folder inside the c:/ drive (I named mine songs) and save all txt files into that folder. Try to keep the names short. Here is an example.

This is for "A Girl Worth Fighting For" from Mulan.

This file is named agwffa.txt (the A stands for Part A which is for Zelos, on of my ninjas)

$$petsay_name "Zelos" <em lotus><em ><em ><em ><em ><em drumdance><em ><em winner>Hey! Think of instead, a girl worth fighting for!<em ><em ><em point>Thats what I said,<em winner>a girl worth fighting for!<em ><em thankyou>I want her paler than the moon,<em ><em welcome>With eyes that shine like stars!<em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em huh>...

agwffb.txt (B is for Sansoke)

$$petsay_name "Sanoske" <em lotus><em >For a long time we've been marching off to battle<em ><em ><em ><em drumdance>Like the pounding beat Our aching feet aren't easy to ignore<em ><em ><em ><Em huh>Huh?<em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em ><em hmmm>...

and so on and so forth. Look at the <EM > Spacing, that is what keeps the illusion of timing and rythm. It is very important to know how to keep track your simulated timing.

With my /Bind_Load_File songs, usually there are 6 txt files in all loaded simutaniously to produce the entire song. the command for that looks like this:

/macro ML bind_load_file c:/songs/agwffa$$bind_load_file c:/songs/agwffb$$bind_load_file c:/songs/agwffc$$bind_load_file c:/songs/agwffd$$bind_load_file c:/songs/agwffe$$bind_load_file c:/songs/agwfff


Since there are so many commands in that one command, make the macro first "/macro ML a" and then right click on it, click edit, delete the a in the command line, and then paste the commands into the macro.

-End of Lesson 7 Extended

-Post
I got a request to go further into the details of Lesson 7:Petsay Mastery, so I hope this will clarify /Bind_Load_Files a bit more for those of you who are interested. I am not going to include this in the e-mail I send out, it wouldn't fit. Infact, Lesson 5 on the forums is actually 5a and 5b in the online set e-mails.

/signed

It's a great idea. I'd love to have a power that would be special to my character.

Geez, Diov and Serps sure did post a LOT in this topic. Bumped the absolute heck outta it.

WAY OFF-TOPIC-NESS: Just a comment, your tabs are funky.

(emphasis added)

Why? CJ is notoriously cheap. You'd have to run five toggles that cost what CJ does in order to equal the drain of Sprint. It's 1/5 as expensive as Dark Embrace and only 11.5% the cost of Acrobatics.

Did you mean Acrobatics? Now that is a somewhat pricey toggle, costing the same as any two Tanker toggle shields, and any two Brute toggle shields (except Dark Armor, whose shields are inexplicably less expensive than other Brute secondaries).

Scrap

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In this build, you don't have Stamina, I 3 slotted Acrobatics for end reduction so I can keep it on. When I turn CJ on my end goes down a lot faster *at least to me* So thats why I said to watch the end.

[ QUOTE ]
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3) Trick Arrows are Accurate: The bow already has an inherit accuracy bonus for a drawn weapon and most arrows themselves auto-hit. Only three commonly used arrows require an accuracy check in PvE (Entangle Arrow, Ice Arrow, Acid Arrow). EMP Arrow has an accuracy check too, but it’s not as commonly used. With good accuracy, the build’s enhancements are pretty flexible

[/ QUOTE ]

That's not true. Entangling Arrow has a 1.2 Acc, and all other arrows have standard 1.0 Acc. Otherwise, I agree with your assessment of Trick Arrow (I use it with my Thugs, I tried a Nin/TA before but eh, I don't like Ninja's I think. I might try it again sometime though dunno).

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm, I heard it had an inherit accuracy bonus. Oh well I guess ignore that then.

Got two today. First one is...
Lord Regulus's Guide to Ninja/Trick Arrow
and the one I have thrice neglected to put in the right forum...
Lord Regulus's Pet Command Mastery 101

LORD REGULUS’S GUIDE TO NINJA/TRICK ARROW
For the Mastermind who wants to push the envelope

So, you’re making a new mastermind and feel like taking an easy route with a generic build from a helpful tutorial? Well you are fresh out of luck there buddy. Ninjas are ADHD and Trick Arrows are tough to master. Putting both together opens a hellish gate of torment for newer masterminds. Granted this is a very hard combination to use, I must say it is an extremely fun and versatile build when you get used to it. Keep in mind that everything I say in this guide is based on my own opinion and with trick arrows it really wires down to how you want to use them in combination with your ninjas and other arrows in the set. Before we get to the powers themselves let’s look at your selection’s pros and cons.

Pros:

1) Jack of all Trades: Trick arrows themselves are nothing to laugh at. They have a bit of everything ranging from good controls to great de-buffs. The set starts off pretty slow but the higher levels yield better results. Stay with it and you’ll see.

2) Tactics Galore: There are so many strategies and options you have with these sets. Combining arrows with ninja attacks come in very hand. One example is Ice Arrow and Oni Char. Instantly holds any boss.

3) Trick Arrows are Accurate: The bow already has an inherit accuracy bonus for a drawn weapon and most arrows themselves auto-hit. Only three commonly used arrows require an accuracy check in PvE (Entangle Arrow, Ice Arrow, Acid Arrow). EMP Arrow has an accuracy check too, but it’s not as commonly used. With good accuracy, the build’s enhancements are pretty flexible

4) Over-all fun build: Once you learn it, other builds seem boring. You are constantly giving commands, de-buffing enemies, and (I’m not gonna lie) Oil arrow is a great prop for shows.

5) Low Endurance Cost: Hallelujah! Thank you devs for lowering the end cost of arrows. If you are still worried about endurance, I put one end reduction on each power and am fine without stamina.

Cons:

1) Micro-management: Ninjas are the squishiest minions around. What little defense they have is easily bypassed and quite frankly, the Ninja’s AI is retarded to most players. Personally, I’ve played the set long enough though to actually use the AI to my advantage.

2) Very slow start: You are in for the long-haul when you start out. Genin aren’t exactly the best fighters at level one. They have a weak kick and even weaker shuriken attack. And with trick arrows, the only good thing you can do before Level 10 is slow the enemy with a glue arrow. Without SO’s, the de-buffs aren’t going to have a major effect due to the Mastermind’s inherit abilities I think the mastermind’s secondary is about 40% worse than a defenders. Don’t quote me on that, I really don’t know the number but nevertheless, our arrows don’t hit as hard as the defenders do.

3) No Defense: Ok, technically your de-buffs are your defense, but your defensive power is not set in stone though. You have to get your arrows off before the enemy hits you or you might be in trouble.

4) Body Guard is Hard: I seriously think there is an error with Ninja BG. Played with a fellow ninja mastermind not too long ago and his BG wasn’t functioning even with all of his minions right next to him in defensive. Don’t try to rely on body guard because it is best for you to stay in the rear while your ninjas fight in melee.

5) Slow Recharge and Slow Cast: Without Hasten, these arrows take a while to recharge. When you fire an arrow, most of the time you are going to be rooted for a long time. If you don’t like being rooted, this isn’t the power for you.

If you are willing to accept the downsides of these powers by all means continue reading. Check other guides if you want numbers and percentages, to me, numbers can be overcome with enough strategy. The smallest difference is what turns the tide of a battle.

First off, your primary powers, let’s review those ninjas. I’m not going to bother mentioning the arrow shots you can get, I don’t think they are worth it. You are the de-buffer, your pets do the damage. So let’s take a look at those pets shall we?

[Minion information quoted Red Zero’s MASTERMIND NOTES v.3.0 (Issue 7)]

1st Tier Pet : Call Genin (Available at level 1)
Auto Res(Confuse, Taunt), +SPD, +DEF (Mel/Rng/AoE,7)
Initial Abilities: Super Leap, Thunder Kick, Shiruken
Training: Snap Shot, Storm Kick
Kuji-In Zen: Aimed Shot, Crane Kick

Genin: Ok so the Genin in general suck when they start out. They have One little kick and an annoying throwing star, whoop-di-frikin-doo. My suggestion for slotting at first is pure damage and accuracy. One good thing about the Genin’s powers is the fact that their primary attacks have accuracy bonuses. Martial Arts and Archery both have accuracy boosts. They don’t have anything else. Later on when they got crane kick, I noticed (like my Ma/SR) they REALLY liked crane kick. My final slotting on them was:
My Slots: 3 Dmg 2 Acc and 1 Knockback

Upgrade Henchmen: Training (Available at level 6)

I don’t care what you do, just get this power. All upgrading powers are staples to every Mastermind. Why wouldn’t you get it? It basically levels up your minions so they perform better. Get it! This shouldn’t even have to be said it is so obvious. Get it now!
My Slots: 1 Recharge

2nd Tier: Call Jounin (Available at level 12)
Auto Res(Confuse, Taunt), +SPD, +DEF (Mel/Rng/AoE,14)
Initial Abilities: Super Leap, Sting of the Wasp, Gambler's Cut, Caltrops
Training: Soaring Dragon, Poison Dart (-Regen), Placate
Kuji-In Zen: Golden Dragonfly, Blinding Powder, Hide

Jounin: I love these guys. When used correctly, they are the best 2nd tier pets. Usually, the mastermind has Training by this level and can upgrade their pet to have placate and soaring dragon (which every ninja blade stalker wishes they had at level 12). The Jounin’s caltrops are extremely useful and it is a good thing they use them effectively. Masterminds are plagued though by their minions poison darts. It is a waste of a critical hit if they use it when hidden but not many realize that is has a nice –regen tagged on it. When you use Kuji-In Zen the Jounin almost becomes a full fledged stalker. He uses hide every time it is up (It is a click I assume for these pets), throws blinding powder which I believe is one of the greatest powers they have, and they get the Golden Dragonfly which always makes me happy to see them use when hidden. Overall the Jounin shine in glory when used effectively. Just make sure you make them go in melee range with goto commands so they don’t spam their darts (though sometimes I like that).Slot him first with attack and accuracy but also try out defense de-buff for his sword attacks or slap slow on it so the caltrops cause your enemy even more pain.
My Slots: 3 Dmg 2 Acc 1 Def De-Buff or Slow

PBAoE Placate: Smoke Flash (Available at level 16)

Ok, cast this on a minion and it vanishes and placates everyone around him. Unlike the stalker, the hide stays even after attacking. Your ninja, whichever one you choose, will perform critical hits for a few attacks which is nice. In the end, taking this is your call on this power. It is a glorious power if used correctly but cost a lot of endurance to use. If you slot this power it is good but I didn’t find a reason to slot it much. Two recharges can make it perma with hasten and two or three endurance reductions can make it cost hardly any endurance but its entirely up you and your strategy if you pick up this power. Personally, I don’t use it enough to have it heavily slotted yet I use it enough to sacrifice a second slot for recharge so it’s up when I use it.
My Slots: 2 Recharge

3rd Tier: Oni (Available at level 26)
Auto Res (Smashing, Lethal, Fire, Confuse, Taunt), +SPD, +DEF (Mel/Rng/AoE, 14)
Initial Abilities: Super Leap, Fire Sword Slash, Fire Blast
Training: Fire Sword Hack, Ring of Fire, Fire Breath
Kuji-In Zen: Char, Rain of Fire

Oni: Ugh! This thing is NASTY looking! Once you get over the Oni’s face you can see his true strength. When you first get the Oni and train him (You’ve got to have training by now right? RIGHT?) you’d think he is a blaster with his fire attacks. I’d classify him to be more of the dominator myself because of his awesome controls. He has so-so damage, but good lord when you get Kuji-In Zen, you will find new appreciation him. Oni freakin spams control powers. It’s his favorite ones! Once I moved pass the generic damage and accuracy slotting after getting Kuji-In Zen and replaced some of the damage with hold duration, I found his calling. With his hold duration extended, get this, he can PERMA-HOLD bosses. Seriously! If you let him solo a boss he will 75% of the time keep it held. Just use your ice arrow with his char power and you instantly hold most any boss if they both hit. I find myself aiding his initial hold with ice arrow and then I let him continue to hold and reenact a hamidon hold phase on the boss of my choosing. He can even keep squishies in PvP down if they don’t have break-frees. Slot for damage and accuracy until you get Kuji-In Zen then beware his final slotting!
My Slots: 1-2 Dmg 2 Acc 2-3 Hold

Upgrade Henchmen: Kuji-In Zen (Available at level 32)

Get it. Don’t ask, don’t care, just get it. It functions just like Training and allows your minions to perform superbly. Get it at level 32 or be the laughing stock of the Mastermind world.
My Slots: 1 Recharge

Note: Hamidon Origins are your friends. All pets utilize Hamidon Origins because they carry to all their powers. For example, Dmg/Mez or Acc/Mez give the Oni attack and accuracy for all his powers as well as benefiting both Char and Ring of Fire at the same time. Try De-buff/End or De-buff/Acc on the Jounin.

Now, for the Trick Arrow powers, they all have their uses. With ninjas, every little edge helps. People complain about some of the arrow’s overall power but trust me, getting all of them is a good idea. I have all the powers listed in order so I’ll just sort them by level
Trick Arrows:


Lvl 1: Entangling Arrow (Immobilize, -Speed, -Recharge, -Fly, -Jump)

A basic immobilize, nothing special here really. Use in conjunction with glue arrow on flyers because glue arrow isn’t a –Fly)
My Slots:

Lvl 2: Flash Arrow (Targetted PBAoE -Perception, To-Hit De-buff)

It isn’t the greatest power in the world but it does have its uses. It has a small To-Hit De-Buff which does help with Ninja defenses (every little bit helps). It is also good to prevent accidental aggro. One of my strategies is to launch this arrow to aid in pulls. It doesn’t aggro, it auto-hits, and if used with blinding powder, it can be very effective. This power is auto-hit in PvE but requires an accuracy check in PvP.
My Slots: 3 To-Hit De-Buff 1 Accuracy

Lvl 4: Glue Arrow (Targetted PBAoE -Recharge, -Jump)

In my opinion, the greatest AoE slow in the game. It doesn’t do anything but slow but this slow is unique. The initial explosion of the arrow gets glue on the target and whoever steps in the patch but the slow itself lasts for a given amount of time rather than wearing off outside of the patch. Use it with Entangling Arrow to bring down flyers that were caught in the glue.
My Slots: 3 Slow 1 Recharge

Lvl 10: Ice Arrow (Foe Hold, -Speed, -Recharge)

I love this arrow. It can’t break through acrobatics but it can pretty much hold everything else that isn’t a boss with one shot. It is accurate and it is so great for the ninjas not to worry if the next attack will hit them. Stack with Oni Char and you’ve got a boss held.
My Slots: 3 Hold 2 Acc 1 End Redux

Lvl 16: Poison Gas Arrow (Targetted PBAoE -Damage, Sleep, Choke)

This power is great for its de-buff for masterminds. It always hits for de-buffing and the sleep is good, but from my experiences with this arrow for the mastermind, it doesn’t put people to sleep too often or too long without enhancements. I have it 3 slotted with sleep just incase it does put them to sleep, but with all the damage flying about, don’t expect them to be sleeping too long.
My Slots: 3 Sleep 1 End Redux

Lvl 20: Acid Arrow (Targetted PBAoE -Resistance, -Defense, Minor DoT)

This is probably one of the best arrows in the set. It can bring most defenses and resistances to their knees. This is one of those “Must-have” powers. It explodes and covers foes in acid causing minor damage and just eats away at their means of survival.
My Slots: 3 Def De-Buff 2 Accuracy

Lvl 28: Disruption Arrow (Target AoE –Resistance)

It’s a nice, little resistance de-buff. This is what the Longbow Nullifiers use to turn Granite Armor into Wet Tissue Paper. Add an Acid arrow to it and you’ve severly weakened most tanks. The recharge is long but I have hasten so it isn’t that big of a problem.
My Slots: 1 Recharge

Lvl 35: Oil Slick Arrow (-Speed, -Def, Knockdown, DoT, -Defense)

This is the double-edged sword arrow. This arrow acts like an Ice Slick on crack. Use the Oni as a match and burn baby burn! It is basically a giant de-buffing, slowing burn patch. Burn your foes to the ground with the oil if you can but be warned, all pets in the area freak out when it is set on fire. Most of the time pets won’t respond and will not move or will run around frantically. This is the double-edged sword part. On one hand, you light it for extreme damage but on the other hand if you light it you need to make sure the enemies die or else a bug will occur. I call this bug “Oil Aura”. Basically, anything caught in a burning Oil patch will permanently have an invisible fear barrier equal to the circumference of the enemy. That means that your pets will think the enemy is a giant walking burn patch and keep their distance. This leads to accidental aggro easily. Use With Care. You do not want to use this arrow too often even though it is great. I use hasten to cover its downtime but it’s generally up when I want it up with my current slotting.
My Slots: 3 Damage

Lvl 38: EMP Arrow (Targetted AoE Hold -Recovery, -Regen, -Endurance, Special Dmg Vs. Robots, -Recovery on self)

This is powerful. EMP arrow is a massive hold with drastic results tied to it. You decide on this power’s slotting, do you want to hold them or drain their endurance more? Either way is a viable strategy, I choose to drain their endurance. It drains a massive amount and renders the victim helpless and unable to recover endurance for a time. The only drawback is the loss of recovery from launching the arrow. All in all it’s a great Tier 9 attack. (Use this on those high and might robot masterminds to show them a thing or two about bots.) I put some extra accuracy just incase so it doesn’t miss.
My Slots: 3 End Mod. 3 Acc

Note: Try slotting your powers to fit your style. I go for controls with de-buffs. Try matching your playing style with the arrows and see which combinations you like. I liked all of the arrows, each has its use. If you need to drop a power to get a power pool then I would suggest dropping one or two these based on their type. Remember; only drop a trick arrow if you want another power more. I’d sacrifice my patron powers before I dropped my trick arrows.

Droppable Control Oriented: If you want to be more of a de-buffer, drop one of these.
Ice Arrow (Use Glue arrow to keep your foes from getting too far)
Poison Gas Arrow (The sleep is usually is usually interrupted by a pet’s attack)
EMP Arrow (This is more or less mainly a hold. If you aren’t controlling, drop it)

Droppable De-Buffs: If you want to control more, I suggest dropping one of these.
Flash Arrow (The de-buff isn’t that potent. I mostly use it for aggro control)
Disruption Arrow (It is just a –Resistance de-buff.)

Power Pools:
Power Pools, you love em and you need em to get around. I suggest these power pool powers for your build.

Hasten – Those trick arrows take their sweet time to reload. I recommend hasten with all my heart. Take it!

Medicine – Aid other and Aid self is crucial for this build. Ninjas are squishy and so are you. Keep yourself alive using these

Leaping – I recommend taking Combat Jumping, Super Jump, and Acrobatics. These powers are always good for squishies and provide good defenses against immobilize, hold, and knockback. Watch your endurance if you leave CJ on.

Patron Powers:
I have only had Ghost Widow as a patron so I can’t compare patrons. I do suggest though with whatever patron you get if you get one to get the Defense/Resistance Toggle and the Hold. Patron holds are nice and if stacked with Ice arrow can lock down a boss.

Pet Commands
Keep your ninjas on a leash! People complain about the Ninja’s AI all the time. They don’t do this right or they keep doing that. When it comes right down to it, no pet is perfect and will do what you want them to without work. This is why I suggest a macro tray for pet commands and heals. On Katakana, my Ninja/TA, I have three commonly used trays. My first is my trick arrows and super jump, my second tray is a macro tray filled with commands and has heals, and my third tray is pet summoning and some of my other commonly used powers. To learn how to make some good pet command macros/binds, check out this guide
Lorrd Regulus's Pet Command Mastery 101

Strategy
Now that all the power information is out of the way, time to develop your strategy. Trick arrows require practice to be good with. Analytical minds should have fun with this part. It is important to take in factors of the combat situation you are about to engage in:

1) Am I Soloing or Teaming? – Lets face it, if you are a Mastermind it is generally easier to solo than get on teams. Soloing is easy, you can keep the enemies controlled easily. If you are on a team keep an eye on your pets. In big fights it is easy to lose track of them and you don’t want one accidentally aggro-ing another mob. How many are there to kill? Would this arrow be the best one to use in this situation?

2) What is Enemy Group I’m fighting? – You’re worst nightmare with Ninjas is anything with high accuracy that will eat through their defenses. They don’t have many resistances so they are squishy. The anti-ninja villain group is longbow. They just rip them apart because their DoT guns keep you from healing them and the bullets lower defense. Their burn patches mess all pets up but ninjas are faster than other pets and run farther.

3) What are my surroundings? – Pay attention to the world around you. Can you pull the Mob around a corner for maximum AoE de-buff potential? Or maybe it would be better if you kept them separated so you can lessen their numbers slowly until they are gone? Another problem is will minions pass over the terrain like I would or take an obscure route that potentially aggros a mob or two?

Before I attack, I decide who I am going to de-buff first and what pet will attack which enemy. I separate my minions into teams and after deciding what is the best course of action I launch a flash arrow and begin the assault. One example is taking down Arachnoid groups in Warburg to get scientists. Assume that you are alone, you have my build, your minions are fully upgraded, and you are facing down six arachnoids (2 lieutenants and 4 minions). I’d first attack first launching a flash arrow to de-buff their accuracy and then see if I can kill a lieutenant without the group noticing. If that didn’t work, I’d first send my Oni to hold one of the lieutenants and send a Jounin to fight the other lieutenant while my second Jounin and my Genin keep the minions busy. I’d then use a glue arrow to slow the mob down, Ice arrow the lieutenant that my Jounin is soloing, then proceed to continuously de-buff the mob starting with Poison arrow for the chance to sleep, disruption arrow, and acid arrow. By this time the Jounin have probably used their caltrops and most of the mob is either held or slowed and de-buffed. Keep the ninjas healed and you should win and have your scientist. Another way you could do it is to send the Jounin and Genin in the middle of the mob as bait, launch an oil arrow, and light it so that the enemies light up. Keep launching de-buffs and hope that your minions don’t go AWOL. It’s risky but if you do it correctly, the enemies will burn to asunder.

Build
Here is an example build that suits me just fine. Sorry I don’t have Hero/Villain Builder and I am too lazy to get it. It’s Odd how I can write this entire guide but still be too lazy to get Hero Builder. Ok well here it is.

1: Call Genin 3 Dmg 2 Acc 1 Knockback
1: Entagle Arrow, 2 Immob 1 Acc
2: Flash Arrow, 3 To-Hit De-Buff 1 Acc
4: Glue Arrow, 3 Slow 1 Recharge
6: Training, 1 End Redux
8: Hasten, 3 Recharge
10: Combat Jumping, 1 Jump
12: Call Jounin, 3 Dmg 2 Acc 1 Def De-Buff
14: Super Jump, 1 Jump
16: Aid Other, 3 Heal 3 Recharge
18: Aid Self, 3 Heal 3 Recharge
20: Ice Arrow, 3 Hold 2 Acc 1 end redux
22: Poison Gas Arrow, 3 Sleep Duration 1 End Redux
24: Acid Arrow, 3 Def De-Buff 2 Acc 1 End Redux
26: Oni, 2 Hold, 2 Dmg, 2 Acc
28: Disruption Arrow, 1 Recharge
30: Acrobatics, 3 End Redux
32: Kuji-In Zen, 1 End Redux
35: Oil Slick Arrow, 3 Damage
38: EMP Arrow, 3 End Mod 3 Acc
41: Dark Embrace, 3 Dmg Resistance
44: Soul Tentacles, 2 Acc 1 End Redux
47: Soul Storm: 3 Hold 2 Acc 1 End Redux
49: Smoke Flash: 2 Recharge

As you can see I put End Redux everywhere. I wanted to have acrobatics take hardly any end at all so I put more slots than usual on it.

Conclusion
Ninja/Trick Arrow is a very adaptable and fun build. It is also one of the hardest and I do recommend learning pet commands very well. Ninjas require your attention and direction. If you want an easy build, this isn’t the build for you. But, if you are like me and enjoy a good challenge and interesting battles, than this is the build you should try.

I've already posted this in the past on different parts of the forum and I was told to re-post this here so this is why this has come up a third time for those of you who were curious.

Pet Command Mastery 101

My Opinion For Starting Masterminds

You can skip this part. This is just my opinion
Consider these two things in Mastermind creation
1)You hardly do any damage by yourself
2)Your defenses are pitiful
If your new to the Mastermind and do not wish to respec later then Don't Go For Personal Attack Powers in your primary set. I usually see all these masterminds in their higher levels (including myself) cursing themselves for gettin the first two attack powers of their primary power set(like snap shot and aimed shot) Sure you think you do damage early on, then you notice you keep doing relativly the same damage at higher levels. It is a good plan to get the first attack powers then respec out of them later but if you don't want to waste it my suggestion to you is to focus on summoning and your second powerset. The only problem with this of course is that if your minions are down, well, so are you. You problably would be dead anyways seeing as how your defenses are horrid, the best idea if all your minion die is for you to run and hope you can resummon. If you do have your second power pool however, you can slow your enemies down or debuff them to give you time to summon up your guys again. With most early mastermind builds I have seen, running is half the battle. Anyways now after getting my opinion on MasterMinds, lets get to the lessons.

Lesson 1: Pet Basics

When your first start out in mercy you should have your first pet summon by level 2. I would suggest to go to options in your pet window(top left-hand corner) and toggle advanced mode and show individual pet commands. Its a little harder but when you get used to it you can have much better control of your pets. If you don't, thats fine, just remember that it is better to switch to a harder interface to make it easier on yourself and your teammates. Here are some FAQ I get about pets:

Q:"How do I name my pets"
A:Just right click on your pet and click rename them.

Q:"My pets are glitchy and follow other masterminds"
A:They aren't following them, they are most likely in defensive or aggresive mode and detect a battle nearby. Set them in passive by either using the default passive command (green button on your power tray) or use the petwindow to set your pets to passive.

Q:"Is there a reason why my pets do better when I am near them?"
A:Yes. that is because of your default/inherit leadership power. This only affects your minions.

Q:It says my first summon can summon 3 pets at a time, but every time I try to summon, it fails"
A:You simply aren't high enough of a level to summon more than one pet. As you level up you can summon multiple minions and they will all be summoned at the same time.
1 lower summon- level 1 (when power is first available)
2 lower summons- level 6
3 lower summons- level 18
1 mid summon- level 12 (when power is first available)
2 mid summon- level 24
1 high summon- level 26 (when power is first available)


Lesson 2: Basic Petsay
What is /petsay you ask? It is a command you type in your chat which allows you to make your pets say things and peform emotes. You can use these commands to either bring some attention to your pets or to give them peronalites of their own (for all you roleplayers out there)
KEEP THIS FORMULA IN MIND! IT IS THE MOST BASIC AND IS THE BUILDING BLOCK FOR ALL PET COMMANDS IN THIS TUTORIAL!
/petsay formula
/petsay <em emote> -text-

an example of this is:

/petsay <em wave>Hello!

Now the selected pet will do a little wave and say hello. Depending on where the text and the emote are placed makes all the difference. Make sure that if you want the pet to do the emote and the text togehter, you put the emote before the text, otherwise the pet will say hello and then do a wave a few seconds later. Also you can make conversations by adding more than one emote. This is what I call EMOTE TIMING.

/petsay <em emote>text<em emote>more text<em emote>even more text... etc

example of this is:
/petsay <em point>What is that?<em peerin>Its so far away!<em >I can barely see it!

this can go on until you max out the # of characters in your text box.

NOTE notice how I made an <em >, This is what I like to call an EMOTE SPACER. This will seperate text so that an emote is not inturrpeted by another emote.

Just like any command, you can bind it to a key or make a macro in your power tray. I perfer /macro myself because it will be more beneficial later on in the tutorial.

A keybind will look like this
/bind "key" petsay -----

A macro will look like this
/macro "Macro name" petsay -----

I stress that you only use macros and binds in special cases. If it is just a simple conversation, don't macro it.

Lesson 3:Basic Petcom

Petcom stands for Pet Commands. These are the orders you give for your pets to attack and defend you. You will usually never type these commands so I suggest setting up a macro power tray specifically for these commands. Now, why would you want a power tray full of orders? Well for one thing, most players don't use all their power trays. Also, it saves time from having to manually issue orders to all the pets which makes if a life or debt situation.
Petcom's basic formula:
/petcom stance order

Example of this is:
/petcom passive attack

The three stances and the four orders are:
Stances:Aggresive, Defensive, and Passive
Orders: Attack, goto, follow, and stay

Try combining different stances and orders to suit your situation. But before you make macros or keybinds for these take a look at lesson four.

Lesson 4:The Three Important Tags
There are three tags that I find important to add to petsay and petcom commands. These are tags you can add to either petsay or petcom to specialize commands to suit your situation.

The three tags are:
_all - This tag commands all pets to perform the command
example1: /petsay_all <em wave> Hello!
example2: /petcom_all passive attack

_pow "pet group" - This tag commands a group of pets to do a command.
example1: /petsay_pow "call genin" <em no>We aren't ready
example2: /petcom_pow "zombie horde" passive stay

Note To find out what the group is called, look at the white text above the name of the pets in the petwindow.


Lesson 5:Advanced Petsay
This section is for those with a lot of time on their hands. Now think for a second, you know /petsay can make your pets do anything u want them to do. Is there a step further? The answer is yes, an uneccesary step for those of you with so much time and nothing better to do.

Petsay Ideas
Ever get tired of the generic costume contest? It all depends on the judge's point of view. Why not use those minions for something other than battle? Make a game of some sort utilizing petsay commands! Heres an example of my original game idea:

Trivial Pursuit with Pets
Recomended # of pets - 4+

Set three pets on passive stay facing you. these three pets should be facing you and seperated so that players can stand next to them. Have one pet (the game host) standing next to. Using macros or keybinds, program a series of

/petsay_name commands for him to explain the rules
Example uses multiple macros and my pet's names:

1)/macro GS1 petsay_name "Zelos" <em welcome>Hello! and welcome to CoV Trivial Pursuit!<em fancybow>I am your host Zelos.<Em >Now before I begin let me explain the rules.
2)/macro GS2 petsay_name "Zelos" <em research> I will ask questions about City of Villians.<Em >Some are common knowlege and some are indepth
3)/macro GS3 petsay_name "Zelos" When you have your answer please let me know by pressing your Ready! quick-key<em >This is F7 by default<em thumbsup><bg color green><color black>Ready!
4)/macro GS4 petsay_name "Zelos" Do not give me your answer before I ask for them<Em >letting me know that everyone is ready allows slow typers to answer a question correctly.
5)/macro GS5 petsay_name "Zelos" If you answer early the answer doesn't count for you or against you<Em huh>But it does let everyone else use your answer.<em >get your answer ready again.
6)/macro GS6 petsay_na... you get the idea

after that introduction, then you can manually type the scorecards and questions
/petsay What is the name of the Mastermind that came out in Issue 7?
/petsay Correct! that 1 point for the genin team!
/petsay <em score1>

Have fun with that. I suggest if you have all your minion types to divide them into teams like Genin, Jounin, and Oni teams.

Songs
Recomended # of pets - 5-6

Do you have a song that you really like? You can't hear the music itself, but it is hilarious to see your pets sing and dance to it. One of the most popular ones I have made is YMCA
Example Song:
1)/macro YMCA petsay_name "Zelos"<em point>Young man!<Em welcome>Theres no need to feel down I said,<em point>Youngman!<em bowdown>Pick yourself off the ground I said,<Em point>Youngman!<em dance>Cause you're new in town theres no<em flex1>Need-to-be-unhappy!

2)/macro YMCA petsay_all <em dance>Its fun to stay at the<Em thewave>Y.M.C.A!<em dance>Its fun to stay at the<em thewave>Y.M.C.A!<em dance>

3)/macro YMCA petsay_name "Sanoske" <em welcome>They have everything<em point>that young men can enjoy!<em dance>You can hang out with all the boys!
*repeat second macro"

4)/macro YMCA petsay_name "Chidoru" <em welcome>You can get yourself clean<em point>You can have a good meal<em flip>You can do whatever you feel!<Em dance>

5)/macro YMCA petsay_name "Takashi" <em no>No man<Em huh>Does it all by himself I said,<em point>Youngman!<em bowdown>Put your pride on the shelf and just<em drumdance>Go there!<em >to the YMCA Im sure<em flex2>they can help you today!

*repeat macro 2*
*repeat macro 3*
*repeat macro 2*
*repeat macro 4*

6)/macro YMCA petsay_name "Kazuma" <Em welcome>One day!<em wave>Someone came up to me and said,<em point>Young man!<em drumdance>Take a walk up the street there is<em point>A place!<Em thewave>Called the YMCA Im they can<em flex3>Start-you-back-on-your-way!

7)/macro YMCA <em thewave>Y.M.C.A!<em dance>

*repeat macro 7*
*repeat macro 2*
*repeat macro 3*
*repeat macro 2*
*repeat macro 4*
*repeat macro 7*
*repeat macro 7*
-=Pause=-
*repeat macro 7*

And thats a song. Yes it is VERY uneccesary. but entertainting. Try making your own Petsay things. It's very fun and entertains people.

Lesson 6:Advanced Petcom
The idea here is to minimalize casulties. You never know when reinforcements might come and you have just sacrificed most of your pets to kill the last group. Here is an example using a Heist mission. The most annoying thing is that reinforcements always gun for you. They ignore minions and head right for the mastermind. This is a very bad thing if you haven't prepared. When you reach the vault itself first kill all the gaurds inside. after that, set up a blockade.
The idea of the blockade is for the minions to deal with all the reinforcement groups before you steal the cash and make your escape. You can use bodyguard but if your minions can deal with the reinforcements on their own it saves you the
Ninjas - Go to the vault room door. Put jounin in aggresive stay the hallways infront of the doorway. put your genin in aggresive stay in the doorway to prevent gaurds from coming through. Send your oni to attack the vault door. When
you hear that reinforcements have arrived move him to aggresive stay behind the genin and keep your oni in the back behind the genin so he can use rings of fire and fire blast from a distance and if they get close the your genin he can use fire breath to quickly dispatch the gaurds. After that send him back to the door.
Robotics - Hopefully you have some knockback luck with this. Set your first 3 battles drones up in the frontlines in the doorway in aggresive stay. Behind them is your assult bot, keep him in the middle and try to use him to shoot the vault door while holding his position behind the battle drones. Keep the protectors in the back in aggresive stay so they continue to bubble and heal the minions.
Mercenaries - Same set up as the robots except switch the medic with your last summon so the medic is in the middle healing.
Necromancy - exact same set up as ninjas (should work)
Thugs - Thugs are one of the best (and problably the most overpowered) masterminds in the game. You can set up a strong defense with a brute standing in the hallway, the punks in the doorway and enforcers behind them. Set your brute in aggresive and watch him run around and obliterate almost everything with ease.

Everything other than the Ninja and Thug masterminds is based on obsevations. But I hope this example helps in planning a good strategy.

Lesson 7:Petsay Mastery

This is a complicated proceedure which requres some computer skill. If done correctly you can literally cut the macros required in a song in half or more!

Step 1) Create a folder somewhere (it doesn't matter, I decided to put it in C:/ itself)
Step 2) Name the folder and open notepad. Use a simple name in lowercase letters to make it easier on yourself
Step 3) In notepad, write down all the programming required for your petsay song or skit (put $$ infront of the coding in the document or else it won't work)
Step 4) save the coding in the folder and then use the CoH/CoV command Bind_load_file to open the txt in game.

Example
/macro song1 bind_load_file "C:/songs/song1.txt"

(in the txt document)
$$petsay_all <em welcome>We can sing<em dance>we can dance<em none>and thats it<em wave>cya!

This is more complicated but if you load multiple song parts at a time you can link 6 txt files (one for each minion) and have them sing an entire song with one click.

Conclusion
Yes much of this information is uneccesary and rather pointless. And most likely this information is presented better somewhere else. But its isn't a bad idea to have the same information presented incase some people learn faster through lessons. I hope this makes up for my first attempt at this Tutorial. Feel free to ask questions, point out all gramatical errors in this tutorial, and tell me things I have missed. I have this saved for those who want this guide on their computers for quick reference. Thanks for reading!