Sooner

Very nice guide, but I do have to take exception to the "unimaginative" assumption for people using the l/I trick.

I have exactly one character who uses that trick, and it is not due to lack of imagination. As a person who is rather proud of her imagination, I have to say I resent that assumption.

Otherwise, a nice solution, if you consider it a problem.

And the newly discovered
"Let the AV fix the problem for you" Plan

My illusion controller on a team with two khelds stealthed ahead in the Anti-matter AV mission only to find evil-posi in a mob with a cyst crystal.



I confused Anti-matter and he wiped out his mob, and then cyst crystal for us.

Consider this appendix A to the guide.

Well, I haven't read this whole thread, and I'm not going to. However, one quote sticks in my mind, "You are what you pretend to be," In CoH, I pretend to be a super hero. I'm ok with that.

Travel Powers!

That is a great bind. I don't think I knew you could do that!

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Heh. Is it bad that I was interpreting the "Brief Shadow Cyst Guide" to mean:

A. Encounter Shadow Cyst
B. Team Wipe



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Hence... the guide.

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Question still remains with me for WS's. Are they also the best suited to solo the Cyst?

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I would welcome comment from an experience WS player on this, as my WS only reach lvl 25 before she tripped over the delete key.

However, to the best of my knowledge, a warshade would still be your best choice over any non-kheldian to handle a cyst. They are perhaps not as direct in their damage dealing as a PB, but will still be stronger against a nictus than a non-kheldian would be.

Neely's Brief How to survive a Shadow Cyst Crystal Guide

Few things can induce a team wipe faster or more efficiently than a Shadow Cyst Crystal. These crystals can spawn into missions when you have a large team and/or a high difficulty setting and either have a Kheldian on your team, or have previously teamed with a Kheldian.

Some Crystal facts:
1. The crystal will spawn a certain number of unbound Nictus for every character in aggro range of it. NOTE: Not for every member of the team, for every toon in aggro range. So, on an 8 member team, if one team member enters aggro range of the crystal, it will spawn unbound nictus for one. When a second toon enters aggro range, it will spawn additional unbound nictus for that toon.

2. All Nictus creatures (Dwarves, Novas and Shadow Cyst Crystals) are weak to Kheldian energy attacks, and kheldian defenses are strong against the type of damage that nictus do.Therefore, against any type of nictus, a Kheldian will fare better than other ATs. Note for clarity: Voids and quantums are not nictus.

3. Upon being defeated, the Shadow Cyst Crystal will explode, doing massive damage to everything around it. However, as stated above, kheldian defenses are strong against this damage, and are rarely affected by this damage. This includes the unbound nictus summoned by the crystal.

4. If any member of your team has teamed with a kheldian in their current play session, a "kheld flag" is activated and, even though there are no khelds on your team, the missions may still spawn voids, quants, and shadow cyst crystals.

So.. to begin:

Oh $#%^&!!! Its a Shadow Cyst Crystal!!!

There are three basic scenarios for finding a cyst crystal. One quick note... if the crystal has already aggro'd and spawned unbound nictus, you can still proceed with the plans below. Everyone needs to back out of range, however.

The Basic Plan (Plan A) - You have at least one Kheldian on your team, and a Shadow Cyst Crystal has spawned into your mission.
The easiest scenario is one in which the Crystal is far enough away from other mobs that you can deal with the crystal without aggroing other mobs. This is the best scenario, because you only have to worry about the nictus, which will not hurt a Kheldian significantly.

1. Most importantly: Everyone stays well back from the Crystal. It is critical that only the Kheld approach the Crystal, so that the smallest number of unbound nictus are spawned. Repeat: Everyone stays back. No tank goes in to help with aggro, no defender goes in to heal/buff/debuff, no troller goes in to hold/immobilize... everyone stay well back. If there are multiple khelds on the team, by all means.. send in every available kheld.

2. It is my opinion that human form is best for this. Nova is too fragile to withstand the damage, Dwarf deals damage too slowly. And, since Crystals spawn typically on large teams, the human form should get plenty of bonuses from the team. The Kheldian should make sure all sheilds are on before proceeding. Any and all available buffs should be used on the Kheldian now.

3. The Kheldian needs to move fast. Charge the crystal. Throw everything you have at it as fast as you can. Ignore everything but the crystal. Again, it is vital that the rest of the team stay back to limit the number of unbound nictus spawned.

4. When the Crystal is defeated, it will defeat most of the unbound nictus as well. Once the Crystal is defeated, the rest of the team can move in, and help defeat the remaining unbound nictus.

The More Complicated Plan (Plan B)
If there are mobs nearby, the situation becomes more complicated, because the mobs can kill the Kheldian while the Kheld is concentrating on the Crystal. Nonetheless, with the possible exception of an AV, nothing nearby is as dangerous to your team as an overwhelming spawn of unbound Nictus.

1. It remains important that everyone stay well out of aggro range of the Crystal.

2. As above, the Kheld needs to be buffed and ready to go. Some of those really short duration buffs (AB for instance), you should hold until the kheld goes in.

3. Begin pulling the nearby mobs away from the crystal. Yes, this is true even if the nearby mob is a named boss, an elite boss, or an AV.

4. If you manage to pull everything away from the crystal, go back to plan A. If, however, the crystal aggro's before the area is clear, you need to make a choice.
a. If the remaining mobs are few enough that the Kheldian can take the damage, stick with plan A.
b. If there are still too many mobs, you may need to send someone else in with the Kheld. A well-built, well-played tank is a great choice. Or, to put it another way, a toon that can take the nearby mobs off the kheldian, without being overwhelmed by those mobs, and the unbound nictus. When the Crystal is close to being defeated, the nearby non-kheldians need to be prepared to take that explosion, either by backing out of range, using some inspirations, making sure they are at full health.

5. As above, when the Crystal is defeated, the rest of the team should enter the fight, clearing the remaining unbound nictus, and any remaining mobs.

The "But there's no Kheld on the team!" plan
If there has been a Kheldian on the team earlier, missions can continue to spawn Void Hunters, Quantums, and Nictus. You have a few options if a Shadow Cyst Crystal spawns when you don't have a Kheldian on the team.

1. The easy solution: reset the mission. In fact, if you want to be sure to fix the problem, everyone should log, then reform the team. This will reset the "kheld flag"

2. The other easy solution: recruit a kheldian, go to Plan A.

3. The gutsy choice: Fight it yourself. Non-kheldians can defeat a Crystal, it will just be a lot harder, and has a very high risk of defeat. But, hey! Its only debt!

==================================
- I have used this strategy successfully many times. Generally, I take no significant amount of damage from the time I charge the crystal to the time it explodes. There was one occassion where after the explosion, I lost about 1/4 of my health, but I think that may have been from nearby mobs rather than the crystal. This works.

- This is not to say that non-khelds can't take out a crystal. They can. This is, however, the easiest and safest way for a team to handle a crystal.

- Many thanks to Ice9_UPS for his help on this. Any errors are entirely mine.

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Just my thought: Instead of tossing your thugs a clip of ammo, how about tossing them a can of spraypaint? I think it fits pretty well with the "gangster" feel of the set.

AnubisXy

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How about if the mm pulled a pistol out of the back of her belt and tossed that to them? Since.. they end up with a second pistol from the equip, it seems to make sense that she could give it to them.

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DO NOT assume the Kheldian is a paragon of heroic knowledge, just because they're a Kheldian.

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But also DO NOT assume that a Kheld is automatically a n00b, a jerk, an arrogant know-it-all, or otherwise a bad player just because they're a Kheld. As with ANY AT, or better yet, ANY player... give them a chance to show whether they are a good fit for your team.

*jumps on bandwagon, trips, falls, lands in street*

*brushes self off, runs after bandwagon, grabs the bumper, is finally helped up the 200 people barely clinging to the bandwagon's bumper because there is no more room inside*

*notices that everyone else has really cool animated hearts, and is upset because she won't have time to do something really cool like that until this weekend*

*sniffs, cries, holds on tight to the bandwagon*

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Do not trust scrappers to act properly in groups.

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Do not blame an entire AT for the actions of one bad player.

I agree completely. My scrapper flew (well, hovered) in combat from about lvl 22 all the way to 50. Post-ed, she's grounded. I can't move fast enough with hover to be effective in combat anymore. I find it very disapointing, because the flying super-hero is such a staple of comic-books.

Please! Give Sooner back her wings!

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Used the binds to do my first "bot pull" on a team yesterday. Something I do alot solo, but never tried it in a crowded team setting. The keypad binds are a must for this sort of manuever:

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Great job showing the varied skills of the Mastermind! I would only recommend some slight alterations to the steps:

--After moving all the pets to their Goto spot, set them to Passive stance.

--After the chosen pet attacks (actually as he is firing), click his Goto spot, just ordering him alone. You don't need to use All when bringing him back. It can lead to some confusion if you or your team suddenly see all your pet jumping around as the pull is incoming.

--Don't forget to shift their stance again when battle begins, depending upon how you like them set during a fight. I often will set Aggressive and let them choose targets in an open melee, as I am busy with my secondary supporting the team.

I don't like using the boss pet for pulling. It's too likely he'll end up taking an alpha if the pull goes wrong. When using one of the other pets, one of the control by name setups is invaluable.

Also, depending upon which pet set your are using, you'll want to choose a puller that uses a long range attack as a first choice, and make sure the pet has that attack cued up.

Finally, remember there is no real substitute for a stealthy, skilled, human pull.

Good luck!

-Sandolphan

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Another nifty little trick for bot pulling is if you have recall friend. If they are set to stay, they will always try to return to that spot. So.. set pets to passive-stay. I then stealth myself near the mob, and tp the drone into or near the mob. It will madly run back to the 'stay' spot, usually pursued by the mob. I prefer using the drone for this, since, as stated already, if the drone gets wiped out, eh.. .no great loss.

And, btw Lazurus, it is a very nice guide. Thanks for putting it together.

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In the OP, there were comments about not playing with corruptors who wouldn't heal/buff. There were comments about the types of players and the types of AT you should take. MMs were the ONLY AT singled out with their own sub-heading for a discussion of incompetance. So... some of us are a little more sensitive about it than others. Myself, I've played with some seriously bad MMs... and here is what I've decided: Everyone can, and does, screw up. However, when a mastermind screws up it is terribly obvious, and, likely to have very very serious consequences. ... sorry, getting off topic. Let me step off the soapbox... All I have ever asked is that you not blame the entire AT just bc you've met an incompetant player, and, that seems to be what the OP did. Thanks.

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I didn't get that at all. But like Shakespear says...'nothing is but think makes so'

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What don't you get? How can I clear it up for you?
(With TWO smilies to make it clear I don't mean to be rude!!)

Speaking only for myself, and not trying to put words in anyone's mouth here:

I play 2 masterminds, one is at lvl 40, and one is at lvl 15. I believe I am one of the good ones (but who really believes they are bad?).

MMs are often singled out as an AT. I've seen people claim they will never team with one, I've seen multiple rants against them, and I don't know that there is any other AT that is the target of as much hostility.

In the OP, there were comments about not playing with corruptors who wouldn't heal/buff. There were comments about the types of players and the types of AT you should take. MMs were the ONLY AT singled out with their own sub-heading for a discussion of incompetance. So... some of us are a little more sensitive about it than others. Myself, I've played with some seriously bad MMs... and here is what I've decided: Everyone can, and does, screw up. However, when a mastermind screws up it is terribly obvious, and, likely to have very very serious consequences. ... sorry, getting off topic. Let me step off the soapbox... All I have ever asked is that you not blame the entire AT just bc you've met an incompetant player, and, that seems to be what the OP did. Thanks.

Thanks for the guide.. .it was quite handy. One point is that he did indeed summon mobs at about 50%. We wiped, came very close to just quitting, but then battled our way to him again. The second time, he did NOT summon anybody and was actually not that hard to kill.