Veslin

I'm not sure what that means. Should we NOT be reliable healers even though we are defenders? We don't have major damage of Corruptors, we don't have pets to soak up aggro and deal damage (among other things), we are pretty much support only, with a little damage on the side.
And on a side note, it wasn't in the game I read about the radius change, it was on a website. Is there any way to see the healing radius in the game itself?

So, I came back to the game after being gone a while and started up my Dark Defender. The Radius on Twilight grasp seemed a little smaller but I thought was just my imaginateion.
Then I looked at the numbers on my enhancements screen. No, it really is a smaller radius, down to 20 from 25. I just wanna ask: why? For Masterminds, fine, they have a lot of other tools, even for corruptors, fine, I can deal with that. But for defenders their primary powerset is Buff. Why nerf something that helped us maintain our standing as reliable healers? I just don't get it. We are Buff primary. Why take that away, even just a little bit?

So, I see some threads about different drawbacks of Mastermind primaries. Out of curiosity then, what are some things (not necessarily gameplay wise) that annoy you about your pets? I'll go first as an example:
Zombie vomit. Really? They couldn't just have toxic breath or even at least spit at things, it has to be vomit? Well I've decided that my zombies don't vomit, they breathe on things. That horrid sound is them... um... exhaling. Don't shatter my dreams!
Oh, and if my robots KB everything and cause mass chaos one more time, I'm going to scream and throw things at them.

You know, stuff like that. I kinda wanna ask other ATs which mastermind pets annoy them and why, but I don't think I should post in 11 other archetype boards.
So, what annoys you about YOUR pets?

I actually was inclined to believe that it was a decent change as well. A vast majority of Masterminds were Robotics because they were both very tough and very damaging, not to mention the AV killing capability they have.
As far as the Mu Mastery thing, though, I dunno if I would get rid of it just yet. The bots still do a lot of knockback, and Mu really helps mitigate that.
Makes me sad that the KB is considered so bad almost everyone chooses a specific Patron Pool for that reason alone. Takes away from the idea behind CoH being making a unique character and taking powers you like rather than to mitigate a drawback of your primary powerset.

Well, I got both a Necro/ and a Bots/ to level 20ish this weekend, and I have to say, I totally see both sides, even without the level 32 upgrades for either of them.
In the end, I really don't like the KB of bots, even just ST. I come from Defender/Controller stock and like things to be "tidy" for lack of a better word. it makes me crazy when they KB something, even just the single target. At the level 32 upgrade, that will just get worse, as you guys have mentioned.
What's interesting, is that I think it comes down to my personal playstyle. I rarely ran out of end on the Bots character, and I assume that is because I had to heal and replace the bots less. They were also easier to use, or at least it seemed that way to me. I got my teams into a lot less trouble with the Bots, and the fact that they were ranged meant they annoyed me less, as they stayed behind me and never got in my view.
That being said, I like the "Dark Controller with Zombie pets" as Punk said. It is exactly the kind of thing I like to play, and the KD/immobilize that Necromancy provides is already fun to me. If what you guys are saying is correct, then at 32 I will be adding even more control and some good -to-hit to that as well, and that's more my style.

Hmm. okay. I tried out Necromancy and Robotics both a bit and am considering what you guys have been saying.
I actually find that Necromancy seems to really benefit from the new pet AI changes. They nuke twice, and then enter melee. I don't have to watch them very much.
Robots seem to do more KB than I thought they would, but from what you guys are saying, it seems like everything changes at 32, when they start dealing AOE damage.
I'm actually looking to pair one of those with /Pain since after trying that set, I really like it. It's like having Thermal without the shields, and frankly I'd play Thermal if it weren't for the fact people will be expecting me to take the shields.
You guys have mentioned, and I can see how it's true, that Bots handle themselves well because they shield themselves AND me, and they deal ranged AOE damage, so I don't have to retarget them every few seconds. I think in the end, it comes down to the knockback from Bots as it seems pretty bad, at least in the early levels. From what you guys are saying, it seems like Lich is awesome, but the other Necromancy pets die off fast and are melee, requiring me to manage them more. I don't know if I should take a powerset because one of it's pets is great for what I'm trying to do, when the other pets are not.

Wait... I thought protector bots only bubbled you and the other robots. If they bubble the team, then yea for sure that is my choice. But I thought it didn't...

So I am currently trying to decide between Robotics and Necromancy, the other sets don't really appeal to me as much. I like teaming more than soloing. and so Necromancy looks good because of the To-hit debuffs on most of the powers, but I hear they die quickly. I hear that Robots do more damage and are tougher, and themetically, I like them better. Also, from what I understand they manage themselves better than other pets as they heal and buff themselves, but I hear some negatives as well, especially for teaming Masterminds.
I really had a few main questions:
1) How bad is the knockback on robotics? I'm more of a team player, and if they are knocking things back all the time, It'll be annoying for my team and I want to avoid that.
2) Damage wise, how much better is Robotics than Necromancy? On the rare occasion I have to solo, I'm looking for a set that can get me through those missions (Cape, costume, patron power pools, etc.)
3) Is Necromancy actually better for protecting a team than Robotics? Looking over the list, it seems like only the Lich has any real -To-hit, and I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes. Plus with the -Regen on Robotics, it might be the Robots that help more since they can help take down AVs/Heros etc.
Thanks for any insight you can provide.

I think they move if they are not doing anything, but this was in combat, while the Demon Prince that was beside me was activating powers, pretty constantly. If it's like players, then he is rooted while he activates them so that would make sense.
That might be why others have had similar problems.
Either that, or it's just that demons are so big, even if they move, it's STILL in your way.

So, I made a DS/Pain and really loved it. The Little Demonlings are cute and all the pets do pretty well taking care of themselves. I also liked the team support I could provide with both the primary and secondary.
And then I got to level 26. And HATED them. Frankly, they are just too big. I was teamed with two other DSers and couldn't move half the time, there was a giant demon in my way. Moreover, I got knocked back against a wall, and was stuck there for the whole fight, until the DSers moved away and the demon that was next to me moved with them. Moreover, my demons really block my view.
I have played Thugs and Necromancy before and never had anything resembling this problem.
My question is this: I want to choose a primary that will let me solo fairly well with my secondary of /Pain, but I'm not a fan of Thugs. I don't like to solo often, but I want to at least be able to do a string of missions without too much frustration. Team support on the primary would also be nice. Robotics looks good, but how big is the Assault Bot? Necromancy seems good with the team protection in the -To-hit, but is their damage too low for me to solo effectively with them?
Basically, I am trying to find a decent replacement for Demon Summoning/ since I liked the secondary so much, but just hated the demon's size.
I HATE DS now because on paper it has everything I really wanted: pets that handle themselves well, team support, unique models, different damage types, even the summoning animation: that magic circle and symbols are cool. They have everything I'm looking for... except the ability to actually move in a mission or see what I am doing, :P

I did a search for this but couldn't find an answer, so here goes:
Is there a way to have the additional power trays you can create (via the + symbol on the basic power trays) hold less than 10 powers? I'm trying to create just a small vertical power tray to put alongside the other two trays with only three powrs in it. Is there a way to do this?

Well, I primarily chose the most populated server because I hate soloing. It seems Freedom is actually the most populated server most of the time. It's just when I was checking, it was slightly below Virtue. I imagine that might be because it is East USA and Virtue is West USA. Today when I checked, Freedom was more populated during the day.
I may still make a character over on Virtue and check you guys out. I'm a light roleplayer, but it's fun to play with people that like making characters like I do.
Cept I can't seem to get a name I like on Virtue. Gonna have to scrape the bottom of the barrel and see what I can come up with. Hehe.

So, I have been playing exclusively on Freedom since I started playing CoH not so very long ago. I chose that server because I had read it had the highest population. This entire week, I noticed that every time I logged in Freedom was at yellow and Virtue was at Red.
Some people are saying that the reason Freedom is at yellow is because it has a higher capacity, and is therefore still the most populated. Does anyone know if that's true, or if Freedom still is the most populated?
Frankly, having read about virtue's message boards and various other stuff, I like the Virtue server people better. I'm a pretty big fan of making "characters" more than making numbers.
So, I may jump ship over here. For SURE I will if you guys actually are the most populated server.

To a certain extent, I can see the point that it is a villian archetype, but now that you can choose which side to be on, it seems strange. The fact that the ability to choose sides comes in the same issue as the ability to summon demons is further confusing. Undead doesn't bother me as much- reanimated tissue isn't evil. It's just... dead, heh.
Oh well, doesn't really matter. With the ability to customize your powers, you can adjust powersets to have any reason for them.

Okay, so having now tried out Demon Summoning a little, I love it. I mean LOVE it. The Summoning set is very well balanced and I don't have to micromanage as much, a huge plus for me since I normally play busy secondaries. I like to play a supporting role on a team and the buffs from Ember Demon plus my own buffs/heals are nice. Plus the summoning animations on the demons themselves are awesome.
And yet, how I wish I did not like them. "Why?" I hear you ask. Well let me tell you:

-Everyone is playing DS now. I realize that eventually that might wear off, but not for a long time. It's mildly annoying to join a team and find that there are 4 other DS's in it.
-Demons are big. Really big. So a lot of teams may not invite me because my demons will block them. I totally understand. If I was not a DSer I would probably hesitate to invite me, too. I so very wish they were, at most, just slightly larger than the standard player model. This teaming aspect is compounded by the above issue.
-They are demons. I have a slight moral confusion on this one. Considering the powers, elementals or somesuch would have been just as good. Why include a powerset with demons in it in a game where you get bleeped for saying God in chat?
-Demons are loud. I know you can stop the incessent mooing with a persistent emote, but it's still annoying.

Having now read my own post, I realize most of the issues I have are just with the generalities of teaming. And I still see a lot of Demon Summoners on teams, so that's probably not as big of an issue as I think. Excuse me as I go make another Demon Summoner

Okay I think I get it. The regeneration on Nullify Pain is based on other people's HP and it's based on a percentage, hence it really helps out the team. That's good to know, since I perfer to team than solo (I only solo when I absolutely have to... like for a cape mission or somesuch). Plus, I see the point of trying to keep people alive being more important than rezing them if they die. Plus, like I said, I can always take awakens. Well, back to the Character planner to redo my build.

So I created a build with Demon Summoning/Pain domination, but I am short on power slots, and am trying to decide whith powers to drop.
Basically, I am trying to choose between Suppress Pain and Conduit of Pain. I figure most people will say to take Suppress Pain, since I can just carry awakens, but I'm wondering why everyone is saying things like that. Most people are even saying Suppress Pain is better than the Corrupter Soothing Aura, but I have seen posts with the actual numbers and Soothing Aura's tick is more (almost double) what you would get with the regeneration of Suppress Pain.
So the question comes up- Why should I take Suppress Pain over a rez?

At this point of playing the game, especially when you will see archetypes of any kind in your team, I no longer have any preconcieved notions about Characters- at all. I'm actually of the opinion that you can slap any 8 characters together and as long as it's a decent mix of powersets they will do just fine, IF everyone has a role to fulfill and they do it well.
It's kind of how I view life actually, if each person has a (possibly self-chosen) role to fulfill and does it well, then when everyone comes together and they adjust to each other a bit, the project will go fine.
So I think it's fine to be a "tankermind." As long as you are actually able to tank well, I don't care. Just like that Thermal Mastermind that is a great healer with no shields, if he heals well, then he is filling a role on the team. A very unconventional one for his powerset, but I don't care as long as he does it well. I actually really like that Masterminds can be "Defenders with pets," and frankly that's why I play them. I like to heal/support teams, and having pets attacking things while I do it. But like I said, I don't view archetypes or even powersets as having certain roles anymore. I just want you to have some sort of role that you contribue to the party.
So sure, play your tankermind, be the "Tank" role for the team while I hang back a bit and heal and buff you. But be really good at it. If you can't hold the aggro and tank like a... well... Tank, then either adjust your playstyle and do something you CAN be good at, or play a Tank instead. It sounds like you are doing just fine, and honestly I kinda wish I could see you in action. I have never seen a Tankermind before.