Ren_Karalchin

It took almost 9 months to get this guide in the guide to guides. This is still a good guide, but in that long time frame a few things have changed. I am currently in the middle of creating a new version of this guide, but don't expect to see it any time soon.

I have not attempted to slot soul extraction yet for anything but recharges. It does psionic damage and has a nice hold on it. Slotting the damage might be good, but I dont have mine up enough to see the benefits of it.

Envemon just allows you to bring a foe down faster. In PvP this is essential, especially against regens. I would hate to do without it in PvE, and I would never respec out of it. But you might see the need for another power more.

Thank you both for your comments.

Griever, if you wouldn't mind, post a reply here with _Castle_'s quote and I will edit my guide accordingly (of course I will give you credit for it).

RiverOcean, if you plan to solo in PvP there is no need to take Antidote and Vengence. You may even want to skip Soul Extraction. Stealth is ok for PvP, but most players now run tactics which renders stealth null at medium range and closer.

The largest problem that I have in PvP is players with TP Foe (or a variation of it). Masterminds do not have to go into fights, minions will follow a player for hundreds of yards before they give up. So the only real hazard is someone bringing you into the fight.

I have had varying sucess in PvP. In one day my PvP reputation went up 70 points, but I have had days where it only goes up 8-10 points.

Any additional comments are always welcome.

Here is yet another guide for everyone!

I Fell Sick! A Necromancy/Poison Mastermind Guide

Ninjas : A very brief overview, these minions deal lethal, and later fire, melee damage. Also they have an inherent speed boost and are defense based. Make sure that you send your slower minions in first, by the time that your minions get to the mobs, your teammate's minions will be right beside them. You are both melee oriented, so keeping your zombies out of the fight in the later levels would be a good idea. Unfortunately, you cannot help your teammate out with his limitation to only defense, but they up you one by having their defenses applied to melee, range, and AoEs.

Robotics : To me, this seems to be the most common mastermind set taken by players. Though I do not understand why. They do pretty good smashing and energy damage on all minion levels, also some fire damage later on. They have resistances to cold, lethal, and psionic. their mez protection is good, but nothing to jump up and down about. Do not get me wrong, this is a great set to get, I do not understand why it is as popular as I have seen. Their protector bots will help your pets out with a little bit of defense, which cannot hurt. You will be taking the role of melee meat shield once again in this case, so make sure that you are in front and keep moving. Take on the boss and let the runners go, the bots behind you should clean them up.

Dark Miasma : A match made in heaven. Your deBuffs are stronger, but your teammate's deBuffs are AoE. Stacking them gets you to the point where you usually do not have to heal your pets. Almost all of your deBuffs will stack with Darks, so spam them and watch in awe.

Force Field : Beautiful bubbles! At low levels a /Force Field mastermind can ad some nicely needed defense to your minions, but more importantly, to you. The knock back on a few of the powers gets annoying, politely remind them of this when your minions have the aggro in hand. Your toHit debuff coupled with the shields can make you untouchable, but you will get wakeup calls when a hit gets through.

Poison : I have not tested to see if two envenoms from two different masterminds stack, but if they do, then this is an AVs worst nightmare. Just go through your normal routine of debuffing and your teammate will go through theirs. Together, mobs don't stand a chance.

Traps : This type of mastermind likes to plan ahead and pull a lot. Be patient with them and know precisely when to attack. You will be hiding behind corners, and cleaning up plenty.

Trick Arrow : This mastermind can do more types of debuffing than anyone, but at a price. They also draw plenty of aggro. Make sure that you take the big guys down as fast as possible and watch to see how much aggro the other mastermind is holding. I have never actually teamed with a /Trick Arrow mastermind, my only experience with this set is on CoH.


Teaming in large groups
-------------------------
As I have said before, you do not need all those pets to crowd into a cave mission. Later on in levels, just dump your zombies and stick with your tier 2 and 3 minions and debuffing. Envenom, weaken, paralytic poison, and your minions' toHit debuffs really shine here. Keep on a single target, and take them down quickly. Watch when your teammates need a little pick-me-up heal, mez resistance, and revive when necessary. I highly suggest that you never put your minions on aggressive here. The only time that I have done that is in the last room of a mission when they cannot run off and aggro another group or when I am trying to find that last hiding minion on a map. I would suggest keeping them on passive and ordering them around on a target by target basis.


Builds
---------
Now that I have been rambling on and on you will get to see some of the possible builds that I have created. There is no perfect build to this set, experiment on the test server when you get your first respec and see where you feel the most comfortable.

This is my main PvE build:
01) --> Zombie Horde==> Acc(1) Acc(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(5) TH_DeBuf(7)
01) --> Alkaloid==> Rechg(1) EndRdx(7) Heal(9) Heal(9) Heal(11) EndRdx(11)
02) --> Envenom==> Acc(2) Rechg(21) DefDeBuf(21) DefDeBuf(34) DefDeBuf(37)
04) --> Weaken==> Acc(4) Rechg(19) TH_DeBuf(34) TH_DeBuf(36) TH_DeBuf(37)
06) --> Enchant Undead==> EndRdx(6)
08) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(8)
10) --> Neurotoxic Breath==> Acc(10) EndRdx(17) Rechg(19)
12) --> Grave Knight==> Acc(12) Acc(13) Dmg(13) Dmg(15) Dmg(15) DefDeBuf(17)
14) --> Super Jump==> EndRdx(14)
16) --> Hurdle==> Jump(16)
18) --> Soul Extraction==> Rechg(18)
20) --> Antidote==> EndRdx(20)
22) --> Health==> Heal(22) Heal(23) Heal(23)
24) --> Stamina==> EndMod(24) EndMod(25) EndMod(25)
26) --> Lich==> Acc(26) Acc(27) Immob(27) TH_DeBuf(29) Fear(33) Hold(34)
28) --> Paralytic Poison==> Acc(28) Acc(29) Hold(31) Hold(31) Hold(31) Rechg(37)
30) --> Elixir of Life==> Rechg(30)
32) --> Dark Empowerment==> Rechg(32) Rechg(33) Rechg(33)
35) --> Life Drain==> Acc(35) Acc(36) Heal(36) Heal(40)
38)--> Noxious Gas==> Rechg(38) Rechg(39) Rechg(39) EndRdx(39) EndRdx(40) EndRdx(40)

I wanted to get the full effect of the Necromancy/Poison combination, I took the leaping power pool for convenient transportation and fitness to be able to spam heals with stamina. A couple notes on this, I have a toHit debuff on my zombies, a defense debuff on my grave knights, and 5 different types of enhancements on my Lich. This is to get slightly better results with each fight, not to create an overwhelming type of debuff. I got to fight many different enemy groups on my way to 40, each with their own weaknesses. A little longer hold or a little bit longer debuff on a boss can help a lot over the long run, but not in the short run.

Envenom and Weaken each have 3 of their respective debuffs in them. Envenom's defense debuff does not stack, so the longer the debuff the better. Weaken's toHit debuff does stack, and I can turn an AV into a wind machine rather quickly. You will read many people arguing about putting 2 accuracy enhancements into minions. Some say that it is too much, others say it is not enough. I am not going to get into the middle of it, they have their opinion, and I have mine. It is up to you, the player, to decide how many you are comfortable with.

As for the slotting in Noxious Gas, I agree that this could be inefficient use of my slots. I may not need all those endurance reductions with the long recharge time that it has. I am working to see if I can use the slots better in another place at the moment on the Test server.

---------------------------------------------

This is my PvP/Base Raid build:

01) --> Zombie Horde==> Acc(1) Acc(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(5) TH_DeBuf(7)
01) --> Alkaloid==> Rechg(1) Rechg(7) Heal(9) Heal(9) Heal(11) EndRdx(11)
02) --> Envenom==> Acc(2) Rechg(23) DefDeBuf(25) DefDeBuf(33)
04) --> Weaken==> Acc(4) Rechg(19) TH_DeBuf(21) TH_DeBuf(25)
06) --> Enchant Undead==> EndRdx(6)
08) --> Hover==> Fly(8)
10) --> Swift==> Run(10)
12) --> Grave Knight==> Acc(12) Acc(13) Dmg(13) Dmg(15) Dmg(15) DefDeBuf(17)
14) --> Fly==> EndRdx(14) EndRdx(17) EndRdx(19)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)
18) --> Soul Extraction==> Rechg(18) Rechg(34) Rechg(36)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(23)
22) --> Antidote==> EndRdx(22)
24) --> Assault==> EndRdx(24) EndRdx(37)
26) --> Lich==> Acc(26) Acc(27) TH_DeBuf(27) DefDeBuf(29) Fear(33) Hold(34)
28) --> Paralytic Poison==> Acc(28) Acc(29) Hold(31) Hold(31) Hold(31)
30) --> Tactics==> EndRdx(30) EndRdx(34) TH_Buf(36) TH_Buf(37) TH_Buf(37)
32) --> Dark Empowerment==> Rechg(32) Rechg(33) Rechg(36)
35) --> Vengeance==> DefBuf(35) DefBuf(39) DefBuf(40)
38) --> Noxious Gas==> Rechg(38) Rechg(39) Rechg(39) EndRdx(40) EndRdx(40)

Not much really changed. I took the Flight and Leadership power pools and shuffled some of my slots around. Vengeance does not activate on a dead minion, but with so many teammates dieing in a base raid, you get a nice buff that makes a mastermind a good addition to the raiding party. Having Vengeance for a pure PvP build is not really that efficient, unless you team a lot.

---------------------------------------------------------

My last build for you is one without any accuracy enhancements in the minions' slots:

01) --> Zombie Horde==> Dmg(1) Dmg(3) Dmg(3) TH_DeBuf(5) TH_DeBuf(5) TH_DeBuf(7)
01) --> Alkaloid==> Rechg(1) Rechg(7) Heal(9) Heal(9) Heal(11) EndRdx(11)
02) --> Envenom==> Acc(2) Rechg(23) DefDeBuf(25) DefDeBuf(33)
04) --> Weaken==> Acc(4) Rechg(19) TH_DeBuf(21) TH_DeBuf(25)
06) --> Enchant Undead==> EndRdx(6)
08) --> Hasten==> Rechg(8) Rechg(17) Rechg(19)
10) --> Swift==> Run(10)
12) --> Grave Knight==> Dmg(12) Dmg(13) Dmg(13) TH_DeBuf(15) TH_DeBuf(15) DefDeBuf(17)
14) --> Super Speed==> EndRdx(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)
18) --> Neurotoxic Breath==> Acc(18) Slow(34) Slow(36) Slow(39)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(23)
22) --> Antidote==> EndRdx(22)
24) --> Assault==> EndRdx(24) EndRdx(37)
26) --> Lich==> TH_DeBuf(26) TH_DeBuf(27) DefDeBuf(27) Fear(29) Fear(33) Hold(34)
28) --> Paralytic Poison==> Acc(28) Acc(29) Hold(31) Hold(31) Hold(31)
30) --> Tactics==> EndRdx(30) EndRdx(34) TH_Buf(36) TH_Buf(37) TH_Buf(37)
32) --> Dark Empowerment==> Rechg(32) Rechg(33) Rechg(36)
35) --> Soul Extraction==> Rechg(35) Rechg(40) Rechg(40)
38) --> Noxious Gas==> Rechg(38) Rechg(39) Rechg(39) EndRdx(40)

Just to put the doubters out of their suspicions, this is not a PvP build, and should never be used as one. ToHit buffs are better than accuracy enhancements, but not that good. The idea behind this build is to debuff as much as possible so that you just do not get hit. That is why I included hasten and put 3 slow enhancements in Neurotoxic Breath. Hasten speeds up my recharges to the point where I can debuff 3 separate mobs with Envenom and get Noxious Gas on a minion for just over half the time it takes to recharge. A weakness of this build is it forces you to keep your minions in range of supremacy and tactics. Outside of that and they can only swat flies....maybe.


Epics
-------
Since I7 has not hit the test server yet, I can only get good information from this source: Feature Updates. This are only guesses to what will actually be in the game. So I will have to update later on.

Ghost Widow – Soul Mastery
----------------------------
Night Fall – Originally a */Dark defender power, this is a nice addition to this character with its cone toHit deBuff.
Dark Embrase – I am torn on this power, it gives a nice range of resistances(smashing, lethal, neg. energy, and toxic), but since your minions already have these resistances anything that could take down them, can take you down as well.
Soul Tenticles – A cone immobilize would also be a nice power to have. You are able to catch a group of runners or keep a pile of enemies and send a minion in with Noxious Gas on them.
Soul Storm – Like every other epic set that you will see, this is a single target hold. A hold would be a nice addition, but we will see later on that there are better ones.

Black Scorpion – Mace Mastery
--------------------------------
Web Envelope – Now this is a nice power. A range AoE Immobilize with a -speed stacked on top. Stack Neurotoxic Breath on top of this and your enemies may never get off a second or third attack, when they finally get to your minions.
Scorpion Shield – At first, I was totally against this power (Defense to Lethal, Smashing, Energy and a resistance to toxic). Then I starting looking at the other shields in the epics, and this one is the only one with defense and these damage types are mostly common, and could tear your minions to shreads. The exception here is toxic damage which is rare and your minions can almost bathe in it.
Mace Beam Volley – A cone attack with knockback tacked onto it. A great idea if you like range attacks, but not really useful with this character.
Web Cocoon – This, in my opinion, is the best hold offered in the epic power sets. It is again a single target, but with a -recharge, -speed, AND -fly added onto it. I really don't care how long the duration is on this, any power that can get flyers down to my minions for lunch will work for me.

Capitan Mako – Leviathan Mastery
--------------------------------
School of Sharks – Ground based cone attack with immobilize and -end. Not a bad idea, though I would not want to choose this if I PvPed a lot.
Chum Spray – Cone DoT with toxic damage. If you have other attacks in your mastermind build, then this could be another good choice to get. I think that I would skip it, but that is just me.
Shark Skin – Damage resistance to smashing, lethal, and cold. I think that this is the best shield for PvP purposes. I cannot count the number of ice/ice blasters that I have come up against. I may not have resistance to their holds, but at least I would have a better survival rate.
Spirit Shark Jaws – Another good choice for PvP and even PvE. This single target hold has a -fly component along with it.

Scirocco – Mu Mastery
------------------------
Static Discharge – Cone attack with -end. If you have other attacks, then this would be nice. The energy damage this would do would give this build another type of damage that it can deal, but I doubt that the damage will be great.
Charged Armor – With Resistance to smashing, lethal, and energy, this is also a good choice for either PvP of PvE. A great way to combat the first attack from an energy based character, even though they usually disorient you.
Electrifying Fences – I believe this is an AoE immobilize with -end. If it is, then this could help our melee minions stay close to all their targets.
Electric Shackles - I think this is the second worst hold of the epics for this build. It does have some -end added onto it, but it has no -fly component.


Conclusion
--------------
Wow this is a long guide, it is more like a short book. I hope this encourages more players to create a Necromancy/Poison mastermind, and gives those that have one a few more tips on how to improve your game. Thank you all for your patience and your time. Now go out there and take a hero's cape!

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Necromancy/Poison Mastermind Guide
-----------------------------------------

(1)Introduction
(2)Supplemental Guides
(3)Overview of this Mastermind
(4)Basic power overview
(5)Soloing
(6)Teaming with each AT
(7)Teaming with other Masterminds
(8)Teaming in large groups
(9)Builds
(10) Epic Choices
(11) Conclusion


Introduction
--------------
This Guide is focused primarily on the Necromancy/Poison Mastermind. I will address why this character is a great one to have. Also addressed are the roles that you play with other ATs and possible builds to the Necromancy/Poison mastermind. I will supplement this guide with other guides already posted.

First off just for an introduction to the Mastermind I suggest reading these guides:

Mastermind Notes v.2.1 by: Red_Zero
This is a very basic introduction to the Mastermind, if you already have general knowledge about all the Mastermind power sets, you can skip this.

This guide includes:
Who a Mastermind is
How to command your minions
Some advanced commands
and A run down of all sets and powers

Red_Zero made a great basic guide with only facts. Since it really did not have any opinions or biases of his own, I highly recommend this guide to get the beginner familiar with the Mastermind.

Ultimate MM Guide - Basics by: Mageman
This is another basics guide, although it does have some added information but it does not go into the detail that Red_Zero went through.

It includes:
General layout of Masterminds primary sets
Brief description of the Mastermind primary and secondary power sets
Advice on power pool choices
General problems with the Mastermind sets
Some strategies for PvE and PvP

Mageman then added a post with the Thugs primary set and Epic powers.

Mageman does use his opinions in the guide. The average reader will have to keep this in mind when going through the guide. Some examples of where this is obvious: [ QUOTE ]
Personally, I believe that Robotics are a better choice for ranged based attacks.

[/ QUOTE ]
and
[ QUOTE ]
Personally, I believe that Undead are a better choice for melee based pets.

[/ QUOTE ]

The less obvious would be: [ QUOTE ]
Make sure that you have them(your pets) at least 3-slotted with Accuracy enhancements.

[/ QUOTE ] There is plenty of controversy on the boards on how to slot your pets. It is entirely possible to put no accuracy enhancements into your pets and still be effective in combat. Then again some players, like Mageman, insist on putting 3 accuracies into your pets. I think this is how you want your pets to be, and how you play the game.


Necromancy Guides
----------------------
There are 3 Necromancy guides out there right now. Unfortunately, they are all Necro/Dark. This was my motivation for creating this guide. When getting my character through to level 40, I could not rely upon these guides to give me good advice to my specific build. But reading them will help you understand the Necro/Dark viewpoint anyway, which is good when you are teaming with one.

Dark Avalon's Necromancy/Dark Miasma Guide by: DrkAvalon614
This is not a guide per say, but an explanation behind the build that was created. The average reader can skip this.

ThePacster's Guide to Necromancy/Dark Miasma - I6 by: ThePacster

This guide is a little better that DrkAvalon614's guide in the fact that ThePacster gives numbers with the run down of the powers that are given. ThePacster gets his stats from the CoV/CoH Character Builder by Sherk Silver. As to the accuracy of the numbers, I am not for certain, and I am not going to number crunch for you. Once you get going into your character, you will understand your character better than simple numbers will tell you.

Undead Love: A Necro/Dark Love Story by: Geek_Boy

This is probibly the best guide of the lot. Geek_Boy goes through each power, his opinions on it, and his recommending slotting. Though he really is rather aggressive in pushing his opinions as facts, so be wary when reading it. Geek_Boy is also more helpful in the fact that he gives two separate builds for his character. But in this guide, those builds are not that important.


Poison Guide
--------------
Michel Frost's guide to /Poison by: Michel

I would first like to thank Michel for posting this. In all the guides for Masterminds, this is the only one that focuses on the poison secondary. This guide helped my understand the Necro/Poison Mastermind better than all the rest. His opinions are just that, opinions. Do not take what is written there, or even here, as what everyone should do with this set.


Keybinds
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I would be remiss if I did not point you here: Khaiba's Mastermind Numeric Keypad Pet Controls by: Sandolphan. The binds take a few levels to get use to, but if you start early then they become second nature by the time you are at level 26.


Overview of the Necromancy/Poison Mastermind
----------------------------------------------------
What does this combination bring to you as a player? Why would I chose this build over that of the common Necromancy/Dark or other mastermind sets? Necromancy minions give you many different damage types: Smashing, Lethal, Toxic, Negative Energy, and Psionic. This gives you the flexibility as a player take on many different types of bosses and other players. Your enemies have a hard time getting around all the damage types that you deal, giving you an upper hand. Your minions give you range, cone, and melee damage plus support powers from the Lich. Another advantage that you get are the side effects of your minion's attacks, primarily toHit debuffs and defense debuffs.

If you set aside the AoE and single target attributes of the Dark and Poison sets, you will start to see the similarities: a heal, debuffs galore, a rez, and a hold. So why would you choose Poison over Dark since Dark has all of these AoEs? Single target powers are always more powerful than AoE powers, that is the way the game is designed and it makes sense. This means that a poison masterminds are generally better at dealing with single, tough targets than with groups. This coincides with all of the single attacks that your minions have, and the way that most mastermind players order their minions around.


Powers of the Necromancy/Poison Mastermind
-------------------------------------------------
I know that I sent you to other guides earlier to read, so I will only highlight certain powers that I think need reiterated or a different opinion laid out.

Dark Blast/Gloom/Life Drain : These are the skipable powers in the Necro set in my opinion. I believe that a mastermind should not purposely bring aggro onto their self. Additionally, Life Drain is nice to have only when it is slotted up properly. I can use the slots in better places, but you may see that it fits very well into your style of play or build.

Alkaloid : This is a horrible heal, I have to admit it . Even so, I would take it even if I did not have to. Your minions are resistance based. Therefore they will take damage slowly, giving you time so that this power is enough to keep them alive. Aid Other from the Medicine power pool might work if you did not have to take this, but since you do not have a choice in the matter...

Envenom/Weaken : Please take these. They help a lot in a fight and keep you from getting to bored with the mastermind sets. The /poison guide ranks Envenom as the defining power of the secondary, and I would have to definitely agree.

Elixir of Life/Antidote : If you plan to solo your way to 40, by all means skip these. Your pets have better mez protection than you ever will, but your teammates may not be so lucky.

Poison Trap : For those of you who are looking at this power and wondering where it would be advantageous, I am right there with you. I have tested it out of the test server, but never on live. I found that you have to get the enemy right into the center of the trap.... just so they can fall asleep. The sleep duration is not that long without slots and moderate when slotted fully. The AoE side of it is about 10 to 12 ft. Since this character has no other sleep powers, I suggest skipping it.

Noxious Gas : Not that great for masterminds with ranged pets, but a great addition to this build.

As for your weaknesses, be scared of fire damage. Necromancy minions seem to have a weakness for fire. The Binder of Beasts strike force will really highlight this for you.


Soloing
--------
As has been said and implied time and again, Masterminds are their own little mini-teams. You bring diversity and numbers into a fight. On my way to 40, I found that I preferred soloing to a PuG (Pick up Group). I knew what I could handle, and I usually pulled more weight around than my teammates. This does NOT mean that grouping is a bad thing. There is nothing better than a well formed 8 person team (super groups and coalitions help out a bunch here), no matter what AT you play.

The Necromancer/Poison combination is a boss' and elite boss' worst nightmare. Even AV's tremble before you (not so much Infernal as other AVs). As pointed out in the The Ultimate Master Mind Guide! {I6}, your bread and butter are the Defeat Boss missions. Simply skip to the last room, spawn your minions, and kill the boss in less than 5 minutes. The worst missions would be any with ambushes in it, this includes Heist missions. The minions are mostly single target in nature, and have a hard time getting the aggro away from you, the mastermind. One way that I found to counter act this is to be proactive. Attack the ambush as soon as possible so that the minions take the aggro and not you.


Teaming with each AT
-----------------------
There is no one way that you should team with every archtype, for there are many differences within each power set. This is just to give you some basic pointers on things you should and should not do.

Brutes : They work off of fury and melee, always keep that in mind. Chivalrously allow them to take the aggro, and the minion enemies, that they need to build up their fury. You prefer single targets, they like jumping into the masses. So work with that. Go into a group focused on the toughest enemy there(i.e. boss, elite boss) and let your brute teammate to build up their fury. About mid fight, when your pets are getting pretty hurt by the boss, the brute will come in, with his nice damage boost, and crush the boss. Your debuffs should be stacked on really nice by this time as well.

Also remember to jump from group to group quickly. If you see that your teammate is pretty low on health after a long fight, remember that they have a full fury bar. Go into the next group and soak up the aggro, your teammate will come in and one hit almost everything in the group.

Corruptors : I cannot count the many wonderful times that I have played with some great corruptors. Jumping from one mob to the next, just blowing them into dust. Corruptors both have damage and support powers. They help you going into a fight, and can end the fight quickly. The problem is that they take aggro quickly, and that they are squishy. This mastermind is mostly single target, and not really that great at getting and holding aggro. Before you run into a mob, make sure that your teammate has enough endurance to fight with you. If they do not have the endurance to go into another fight, then you are alone in the fight or your teammate is kissing dirt.

Dominators : These are the team members to get if you are going into long fights. They control how the fight will unfold and when things will happen. They can turn the tide and allow a mastermind to kill everything in sight. I think that their secondaries are lacking, but their primary mob control powers more than make up for it. Again, you should wait to see if they have enough endurance before you wade into a mob. Keep an eye on them during the fight and make sure they do not take much aggro. They can handle a few enemy minions, but you want them to concentrate on helping your minions.

Stalkers : These are the hardest players to team with for a heavy single target mastermind. The obvious tactic is to let them pick their target out, then your minions soak up aggro the moment before they let lose their assassin's strike. The moment right after the assassin's strike is the hardest point in the battle. You have to make sure that you can hold the aggro and keep it off of the semi-soft stalker. Your heal will not help them that much, it will only buy your team time. An important note is that the stalker will control how fast you move through a mission unless you yourself can handle the mobs.


Teaming with other Masterminds
-----------------------------------
I have this as its own section because of the amount of material that I want to go through. First off, teaming with just one other mastermind in a cave mission can get very crowded very quickly. It will probably be necessary to not summon your Zombie Horde. The Grave Knights and Lich help you the most in a fight, zombies are there to just soak up the aggro and damage. Secondly, make sure that you know the weaknesses and strengths of the other mastermind. A quick look at their powers will tell you mostly what you need to know. Third, necromancer's minions should usually be the ones to attack first, they have the better resistances and are better in melee range. Now let me go over on a power set by power set basis.

Mercenaries : These boys are all about range and lethal damage. Make sure you are leading and that you give room for their minions to get into range about the same time that your minions draw the aggro. Some places where this build really helps a mercenaries mastermind is your various damage types. They are restricted in the types of damage that they can do, so if you are fighting a group with high lethal damage resistance(i.e. freakshow, longbow) then you have to be aware of how much they can help you out. Another weakness that you can cover for them is their lack of mez protection. They have resistances to confuse and placate, which is nice is certain circumstances, but with Antidote, you can help them even more.

Necromancers : Since this build uses the same minions, the weaknesses and strengths are pretty well laid out. The only thing that I have to add is that it would be nice if one of you did not summon your zombie horde since they are not that spectacular in the later levels. You should keep an eye on their minion's health so you can give them an alkaloid when needed.