Motion_Blur

If the civilians in Mayhem and LSSL robbery missions were just made non-targetable that would be great, although I still find it odd that you could be playing as a huge SS/Stone brute and a weedy group of civilians can knock you back and forth like a pinball machine as they run round like headless chickens. Also, are they coded to run up to the players, since they seem to cluster round me a lot (and I'm not that lovable, really!).

Another thing I would like to see is what level you took a power and the level you added each slot shown on the Enhancements screen. This would help when trying to work out what powers you would have if you exemplar/malefactor down or join a lower-level TF/SF.

I'd also /sign a lot of the suggestions already made, except the one about the leader of a TF/SF team being able to disband it, I see potential for that to be abused (or even just done accidentally, depending on how it was implemented), leaving up to seven other unhappy players if significant progress had been made.

[ QUOTE ]
Downsides:
It's still going to be another expensive toggle to run. Can I handle 6 combat toggles? (All 3 VEAT Leadership toggles, 2 normal Leadership toggles, and Fortification)

[/ QUOTE ]

Both my Crab and Bane run six toggles constantly with no trouble at all. Aside from a little trouble in the mid-levels before I got Stamina slotted (full set of Performance Shifter on the Crab vs three - End, End/Acc and Chance for +End - on the Bane), I have found it fine. That said, without Stamina it's not a great idea, so if you don't have/don't want Stamina then I'd probably avoid it. Picking up IO set bonuses helps with the endurance drain as well.

One thing that will affect you in a big way is the attack chain you run - if you have a chain which is not well-slotted for endurance reduction you can burn through any amount of endurance (I should point out that my Bane is rather non-standard and runs a Build Up > Venom Grenade > School of Sharks > Bile Spray attack chain as standard, so not exactly what anyone would normally play ).

A bigger issue is retoggling whenever your toggles get dropped - if you get held/drained/killed/slept/whatever then you will have to retoggle them all again, which can be less than amusing at times

As far as Aim goes, I have that on my Crab as well as both Tactics toggles, and I find the main use is for the Vengeance-stacking Nemesis groups in large teams, since there are times when I drop below a 95% hit chance then. Your mileage may vary, but Aim is probably skippable in my opinion (Build Up on the Bane is a different story, as it delivers a bigger +damage component and Bane is more oriented towards a large first strike than a Crab).

[edit] Happy to add more information about my builds if you want, although my Crab build is a little lacklustre compared to some.

Grats sandwich.

Now put down the PvP and back away slowly

[ QUOTE ]
If Im not mistaken that 3rd SO is like +25% compared to 33%ish of the 1st or 2nd SO. Thats not 'little' by my standards.

The aid self interrupt is one of those things that must be as high as possible. With 3-slotted intered SOs I managed to use aid self against Dark Blasphemys rad/psi a total of one times during the match when the debuffs were on me. EAch time I destroyed my own end by spamming it. Im tempted to punch anyone who says that its even possible to use aid self under the toggle debuffs.

[/ QUOTE ]
Don't forget the OP's build was using IO's, which are worth 42.4% each - 2 interrupt reds gives a 0.5s interrupt against 0.46s for 3 interrupt red IO's. I take the point about not wanting to be interrupted in PvP, but 0.04s difference is fairly minor when you consider you get reductions from 1s to 0.66s for the first IO and to 0.5s for the second IO.

[edit] I think many players would kill for a unique IO that gave a global reduction to interrupt times

Fair enough - if the build works for you then that is all that matters

Thanks for the rationale.

[ QUOTE ]
You don't PVP much, do you?

[/ QUOTE ]

Correct, but (and here is the question) does that tiny edge make that much of a difference? The ED presumably still hits before any account (for example, on recharge) is taken of slow effects?

Happy to be corrected if it truly makes a major difference, I'm genuinely interested.

[edit] Educate me - I'm always happy to learn something new - if it makes a big difference, why does it do so?

I would suggest dropping one recharge each from Build Up and Hasten, one jumping from Hurdle, one endurance modification from stamina and one endurance reduction from acrobatics and one recharge reduction and one endurance modification from power sink, since ED is making those slots fairly marginal. Likewise I would change one of the interrupt mods in aid self to something else.

Actually, I would take grounded instead of acrobatics - with the seven slots freed up you can slot that fairly well to boost your negative energy resistance, and still have slots left to add a few -knockback IOs to resistance powers if the knockback protection mag is not enough for your liking. I'd also slot power surge with a recharge mod.

Personal opinion only of course

Here is what I came up with if you are interested (only made the changes I suggested above, didn't want to play with your build too much ) :

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.21
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php

Olympus: Level 50 Technology Brute
Primary Power Set: Energy Melee
Secondary Power Set: Electric Armor
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Energy Punch -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(15), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(25), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(31)
Level 1: Charged Armor -- TtmC'tng-ResDam:50(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx:50(3), ResDam-I:50(9), TtmC'tng-EndRdx:50(13), S'fstPrt-ResKB:30(27)
Level 2: Bone Smasher -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(9), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(15), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(17)
Level 4: Conductive Shield -- TtmC'tng-ResDam:50(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx:50(5), S'fstPrt-ResKB:30(7), ResDam-I:50(11), TtmC'tng-EndRdx:50(17)
Level 6: Build Up -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(7), ToHit-I:50(11), ToHit-I:50(25)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(37)
Level 10: Static Shield -- TtmC'tng-ResDam:50(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx:50(13), ResDam-I:50(23), TtmC'tng-EndRdx:50(29)
Level 12: Aid Other -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx:50(A), Dct'dW-Rchg:50(29), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg:50(42), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:50(45), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(46)
Level 14: Super Speed -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 16: Combat Jumping -- Jump-I:50(A), Jump-I:50(37), LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(43)
Level 18: Total Focus -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(19), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(19), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(21), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(21), Acc-I:50(23)
Level 20: Lightning Reflexes -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 22: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A), Jump-I:50(34)
Level 24: Swift -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 26: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(27)
Level 28: Super Jump -- Jump-I:50(A), Jump-I:50(31)
Level 30: Aid Self -- Mrcl-Heal:40(A), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg:40(31), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:40(36), IntRdx-I:50(36), RechRdx-I:50(40), IntRdx-I:50(43)
Level 32: Energy Transfer -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(33), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(33), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(34), RechRdx-I:50(34)
Level 35: Grounded -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx:50(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg:50(36), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg:50(37), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:50(39), Aegis-ResDam:50(40)
Level 38: Power Sink -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(39), EndMod-I:50(39), EndMod-I:50(40)
Level 41: Power Surge -- Aegis-Psi/Status:50(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam:50(42), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg:50(42), RechRdx-I:50(43), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:50(46)
Level 44: Stun -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg:50(A), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg:50(45), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx:50(45), Stpfy-Stun/Rng:50(46), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun:50(50)
Level 47: Web Envelope -- Enf'dOp-Acc/Rchg:50(A), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx:50(48), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(48), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob:50(48), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob:50(50)
Level 49: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury



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</pre><hr />

This gives you mag -8 knockback protection even if your toggles are dropped somehow, plus higher negative energy resist, at the price of some slight reductions here and there.

Feel free to critique

It amounts to the same thing - refusing to sidekick someone because you think they are leaching is counterproductive. If they are leaching, they get more xp when NOT sidekicked, thus a leacher would rather stay un-sidekicked. The only reason for them to sidekick is because they want to help the team more, which is precisely the thing a leacher is not interested in doing. So basically, you can not have been wanting to leach, because you actually wanted to be sidekicked.

Possibly a fire/anything dominator for Smoke? The dom would have to be willing to take a dive, but the -perception could help the stalkers get in close. The dom could even pick up Grant Invisibility so the stalkers don't have to. If (yeah, I know, unlikely ) the dom survives they could even try holding a blaster or two to make the stalkers' lives easier.

Note that I have never tried Smoke out, so may not be *that* useful - hopefully someone else who has can comment.

Hehe, sounds like poetic justice

Never heard of people refusing to sidekick because you would be leaching - makes more sense that someone who doesn't is leaching since they can't do much.

[ QUOTE ]
The guys that could have sk'ed me didnt

[/ QUOTE ]

That is your problem right there. If people don't sidekick you and then accuse you of leaching... *sigh*

I assume you asked to be sidekicked? If so and you got no response, then following up with something like "grateful if someone could sidekick me, since most of my buffs/debuffs need to hit for me to help the team" might have been needed.

Otherwise I guess you just had bad luck with your team - I have a level 50 dark blast/kinetics corruptor that when in teams mostly buffs/debuffs/heals, and have never been accused of leaching. Most people really appreciate those buffs and debuffs, although there are always a few who don't rate anything other than damage numbers (which is why I hope CoX never gets a damage meter). I guess unless it's a visible number above someone's head it isn't easy to see what is happening, but I know that *I* watch my buffs as well.

Don't let it get you down

According to Mid's Hero Designer 3-slotting with level 50 IOs would give 14.3%, but you are suffering with ED by that point - 2-slotting would give 13.5% to hit.

Don't forget though that to hit is often more desirable than accuracy because it helps overcome high defense (I will not go into the maths here, but there are plenty of posts on the subject if you are really interested). I'd say slot the attacks with reasonable accuracy and Bright Nova with two level 50 to hit IOs.

As a matter of interest, Tactics (from the Leadership pool) gives the same base 9% to hit bonus (although obviously for the whole team not just yourself).

I can not comment on your power choice or slotting specifically, since I have never had a high level mastermind.

However, I do have a couple of questions to ask you :

Firstly, how attached are you to the set bonuses? You have slotted almost everything as level 53 enhancements, which will mean you lose them as soon as you malefactor down to level 49.

Secondly, if you do want your set bonuses, are you happy with the mix? I note that you have a reasonably high accuracy set bonus total - do you have enough powers that rely on accuracy to make it worthwhile, or might you be better going for another set? (Probably you do want the accuracy, but worth checking)

Also, I know you enjoy PvP a lot - have you considered taking advantage of things like +stealth (usually easiest to just slot it into sprint or one of the prestige versions of sprint), or -knockback? (Here's a tip - slot brawl with the chance of knockdown IO from the Kinetic Combat set - it may not save you, but what else would you be slotting brawl with anyway? )

I'm sure other people will be along to critique the actual build soon enough, but you might want to think about these questions until then.

[ QUOTE ]
I can't wait for Motion Blur to post his Melee-Combat Kinetic Corruptor's.

[/ QUOTE ]

You'll have to - not posting until level 50

Returning to the subject though, I have taken a Thugs/Dark Miasma petless Mastermind to level 12 so far, and it makes a fairly good combination. Empty Clips + Tar Patch can thin out a group fairly fast, and the heal is always useful. Endurance [u]is[u] a big issue though, since the attacks are fairly heavy end use when you spam them.

Now, I don't want to rain on your parade, but a few things to note if you go ahead with this :

<ul type="square">[*]You will probably get invited to a lot less teams. Basically, if you take a build that is non-standard AND which is blatantly less effective, people are not going to want you along often.[*]If you do get invited to a team, you should ALWAYS make it clear to the team leader that you have no pets. Some people will not mind this, but if you join a team without warning them in advance they will be unhappy with you, and they will be right to be unhappy.[*]It will be a grind a lot of the time. You are going to find that you can only do easier missions, and often even basic minion groups will be a stretch for you to take on.[/list]Okay, assuming I have not discouraged you, there are some good points. The feeling of achievement when you take out a difficult encounter on your own, the way it encourages you to improve the efficiency of a build, and often the fun of just doing things a different way.

Anyway, good luck with it!