Slice and-Dice

I haven't played this guy in a long time. I think he dinged 50 in I8. With double xp weekend coming up, a buddy of mine is looking to finally, after 3 years get his first 50. To help him out, I chose this guy. I want to give him a respec that will take advantage of the new fire APP. The build I came up with is pretty bare bones, as this guy is limited on cash. He's still sitting in all SO's at the moment, and I'm not sure I'll have enough to get him fully IOed. I'll be giving it a shot, though. Here's what I came up with, constructive criticism is appretiated

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Broad Sword
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Blaze Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Hack -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(5), Acc-I(7), Acc-I(9), RechRdx-I(43)
Level 1: Fast Healing -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(42), Heal-I(42)
Level 2: Slice -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(5), Acc-I(7), Acc-I(9)
Level 4: Quick Recovery -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(25), EndMod-I(25), P'Shift-End%(40)
Level 6: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(43)
Level 8: Parry -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(11), Acc-I(11), Acc-I(17), LkGmblr-Rchg+(23)
Level 10: Reconstruction -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(13), Heal-I(13), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Integration -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(37), Heal-I(37)
Level 18: Dull Pain -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(19), Heal-I(21), Heal-I(21), Heal-I(23)
Level 20: Resilience -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 22: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 24: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(37), Heal-I(43)
Level 26: Disembowel -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(27), Acc-I(29), Acc-I(29)
Level 28: Instant Healing -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(31), Heal-I(31), Heal-I(34), Heal-I(45)
Level 30: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(34), EndMod-I(36), P'Shift-End%(40)
Level 32: Head Splitter -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33), Acc-I(33), Acc-I(34), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 35: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 38: Moment of Glory -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39), DefBuff-I(40)
Level 41: Char -- Acc-I(A)
Level 44: Fire Blast -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(45), Dmg-I(45), Acc-I(46), Acc-I(46), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 47: Fire Ball -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(48), Acc-I(48), Acc-I(50), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 49: Melt Armor -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

I've been posting over on the MM forums, but this one seems to get more traffic from more people. I'll be starting a bots/traps MM in the coming week, and I'm looking for some little tricks people have picked up along the way. Particularly helpful bits of information that people wish they had thought of/knew when they started their's.

What secrets and stratagems can you guys tell me?

I started a thread about an AV killer a few days ago and that got me to thinking: When should I ramp up the difficulty from EB to AV? Should I wait till SOs...IOs?

What's the lowest concievable level you all think could take them on?

When you post please post powerset combo

Now before I get too far into this character (only level 8 atm because of limited playtimes), what would you think I would have an easier time destroying AV's with?

Is /dark able to take on AV's as easily as /traps? Is /FF worth the consideration? Do you think I should switch from thugs/? to bots/?. I know the assualt bot has the
-regen component two of his abilities, but it's only a 30% chance to trigger.

Again I'm still looking for the best combo for AV's here. I know bots/traps is extremely proficient at it, although I've never been much of a /traps fan. I enjoy dark more, and am also more experienced with it. If I were to 3 slot howling twilight for recharge, would the -regen component be able to be perma? How is dark at hitting the soft cap? If -tohit works the same way that +defense does, and I'm not certain on whether or not it does, but if it does then the -to hit from darkest night (2 slotted) should be about enough to soft cap a bots/dark when combined with 1 slotted prot bot's bubble, shadow fall, and maneuvers.

But again, I don't know if they work the same way. I'm thinking I may go bots/dark. Maneuvers from Enforcers doesn't affect the MM himself right? It's been a long time
-_-

Are you taking stamina? That will have an effect on what many will tell you. IIRC FF is low end usage, so you probably wont need it.

Staples are generally:

Speed for hasten

Leadership is particularly good for MM's

Medicine is nice for FF MM's in particular as it gives you both a self and other heal, which your secondary lacks.

Fitness is nice for stamina if you find yourself spamming forcebolt for some reason, or using epic attacks frequently. Not entirely necessary, but nice.

Flight doesn't have much to offer except for maybe some backup control in AS. I wouldn't reccomend flight.

With 3 power picks from leaping, you can get some decent KB and hold resists. Combat jumping can also help softcap until you get the inf.

Presence gives you the staple taunt in Provoke. Many Tankerminds have this.

Fighting gives you tough and weave. Tough gives minor resists and taking weave would mean you probably wasted 3 powers to get it, when FF alone can soft cap you without too much trouble.

I've never needed concealment on my MM's, I would say pass on it but YMMV.

Teleport is specifically useful for buggy pet AI that will sometimes get them stuck, and also for bringing the fight to the mobs with team teleport. Teams benefit from it as well.

If I were a bots/FF my picks would likely be:

Speed: Hasten

Leadership: assault, tactics and picking up maneuvers until I had the inf to softcap myself and my bots.

Presence: Provoke

Travel power of choice. (Mine is SJ, or SS if I'm in a tight build, yours is for you to decide.)

Bump.

I'm probably going to comebackto the game for the first time really since issue 7. I'd like to go through the contacts on the villain side and read the flavor text and story arcs. Generally I'd like to really get a feel for the game villain side instead of paper missioning my way into the mid 30's, getting bored and quitting for a while like I've been doing for the last few years.

The Archetype I've chosen to go with is a Mastermind. I'm having trouble deciding between thugs and bots, though. Also I don't know if my chosen secondary is an issue. I started playing around with possible options and the one I'm having the most fun with is Thugs/Thermal. With the shields and heals from /thermal, will thugs have the damage resistance to stand toe to toe with AV's (or generally keep the arsonist from suiciding all the time)? Would it be better to taunt the AV's to me and have the pets in bodyguard mode? Do thugs' deal enough hurt to overcome the massive regen? Will heat exhaustion provide enough -regen to make up for it if they cant, and will recharge slotting be enough to make it perma? Who should I put forge on, the bruiser or the arsonist? (I'm thinking arsonist would be better forged for AoE fights and the bruiser would be better if it was a single target, like most AV fights.) Can I get Forge's recharge low enough to forge a third guy before the first one runs out?

I'm new to the /thermal set and to AV tackling in general. I have 3 masterminds though, 32 necro/dark, 35 bots/dark and a 38 thugs/dark, so at least I have a bit of experience there. I'm hoping the two sets have a lot of synergy and it's not just all in my head.

There's a lot of things I still have yet to experience with the game. Even though I played in coh beta back in 04, I get the feeling I've been playing this game like a newbie all these years >.>

I want to compare this to AV's because the way I see it, if I can take down AV's, I shouldn't have too much trouble with anything else except for strike forces. Is that accurate?

I appretiate all the help. It's going to take a while to get back up to speed with all the changes since i7.