plainguy
-
Posts
2007 -
Joined
-
You have to remember that melee pets like Ninja's are inherently weaker because they get a chance to take all damage types, Melee, AOE and Ranged. What this means is unless you have some way of mitigating that damage or incoming attacks they will die much more then ranged attack type pets like Robots.
As was already mentioned depending on what you want to do, you need to pick you secondary carefully. I can tell you players like Redlynne who are big Ninja TA players out of concept will quickly tell you its not awesomesauce if your looking to do Robot Traps type of things like fighting AVs solo.
Traps as was mentioned is always great regardless of Archtype as it affords you the ability to defense cap yourself. With masterminds you can pick up provoke and try to get some attention to yourself letting your pets gets some extra hits in. Mind you Provoke alone will NOT gain a bosses ( AV, EB, GM ) attention for long without some other personal attacks that will cause them damage to build up that aggro. Provoke just adds to your aggro list.
Dark is good as well, it gives you some pools with resistance and defense. The only issue is many of the defense abilities are based on -To Hit Debuffs. To Hit Debuffs can be resisted by big bosses like AVs. Which can mean instant death for all your pets at times.
Time is nice since it has many assorted AOE powers and debuffs. So basically team teleporting and dropping all these debuffs on a group can be fun.
Storm can be fun and wild but without a doubt limited on teams. Hurricane one of your best powers for debuffs can be pretty much hated on teams and can get you kicked or threatened. I can tell you without a doubt on Incarnate missions before even joining a team I have been questions or instructed on how I needed to use Hurricane. As annoying it can be, I do get the fear that some other storm player instilled in this player now that he or she should be asking me if I am a Hurricane nut. I have played on teams where some players never knew you could turn hurricane off.
Personally I am thinking Time with Oppressive Gloom with Team Teleport might be a good way to go. Oppressive Gloom is just the icing on the cake. What does not get debuffed, frozen in time, Slowed has a chance of being stunned by Oppressive Gloom. I think its total lock down. -
Quote:I used to have Thunder Strike, it's nice when too many mobs get around you and you need a moment to breath. Usually knocks back all the mobs.Originally Posted by Jibikao
Has anyone tried using Thunder Strike or Knockout Blow from epics? Are they good? -
Quote:Funny you said that I was on a team and we were discussing this a while back. I'm almost thinking we were on the same team..Originally Posted by Supernumiphone
I've seen it happen many times. I'm not sure what causes it though. One person on a league I was in seemed to think it was a combination of hitting him with a Pac 'nade as soon as he spawns, and stacking immobs on him. I don't know, but some leagues seemed to be able to do it consistently, so presumably it should be possible to reproduce consistently if you can figure out how.
-
I reworked a quick build off my build. I noticed you are slotting the PvP IO so I am assuming you can afford the 2 Billion for it, which of course makes it much easier for the build.
I think you could work hell on earth to have 2 more slots and still be capped.
If you could get 2 more slots from somewhere in the build and place blood mandate full set in hell on earth you could frankenslot the Tier 3 pet with all the procs and soulbound IOs. I leave that up to you to do though.
Either way now your defense capped and some of your resistances are in the 50s and 60s. Not bad at all along with Bodyguard mode and the AOE heal.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.953
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Demon Summoning
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Presence
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Summon Demonlings- (A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage
- (15) Blood Mandate - Damage/Endurance
- (15) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Endurance
- (19) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (19) Blood Mandate - Accuracy
- (25) Blood Mandate - Damage
- (A) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Recharge
- (3) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Endurance
- (3) Enfeebled Operation - Endurance/Immobilize
- (5) Enfeebled Operation - Immobilize/Range
- (5) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize
- (7) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize/Recharge
- (A) Ragnarok - Chance for Knockdown
- (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
- (7) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
- (9) Miracle - Heal/Recharge
- (11) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge
- (27) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
- (A) Accuracy IO
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff
- (11) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Defense Debuff
- (13) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Recharge
- (13) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff/Endurance/Recharge
- (46) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
- (46) Shield Breaker - Chance for Lethal Damage
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (27) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (33) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
- (45) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (17) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (17) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
- (40) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (42) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
- (42) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
- (42) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
- (43) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
- (A) Lockdown - Accuracy/Hold
- (21) Lockdown - Accuracy/Recharge
- (21) Lockdown - Recharge/Hold
- (23) Lockdown - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
- (23) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
- (25) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (48) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (A) Perfect Zinger - Taunt
- (43) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Recharge
- (43) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Recharge/Range
- (45) Perfect Zinger - Accuracy/Recharge
- (48) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Range
- (48) Perfect Zinger - Chance for Psi Damage
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO
- (A) Stupefy - Accuracy/Recharge
- (29) Stupefy - Endurance/Stun
- (29) Stupefy - Accuracy/Endurance
- (31) Stupefy - Stun/Range
- (31) Stupefy - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge
- (31) Stupefy - Chance of Knockback
- (A) Edict of the Master - Defense Bonus
- (37) Sovereign Right - Resistance Bonus
- (39) Resist Damage IO
- (39) Resist Damage IO
- (39) Healing IO
- (40) Healing IO
- (A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy
- (33) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage
- (33) Blood Mandate - Damage/Endurance
- (34) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Endurance
- (34) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (34) Blood Mandate - Damage
- (A) Obliteration - Damage
- (36) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
- (36) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
- (36) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (37) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (37) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO
- (A) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance
- (A) Rope A Dope - Accuracy/Recharge
- (45) Rope A Dope - Accuracy/Stun
- (A) Call to Arms - Defense Bonus Aura for Pets
- (50) Call to Arms - Accuracy/Recharge
- (50) Call to Arms - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (50) Call to Arms - Endurance/Damage/Recharge
- (A) Celerity - +Stealth
Level 1: Brawl- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
- (9) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
- (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
- (40) Performance Shifter - EndMod
- (46) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
Code:| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1472;667;1334;HEX;| |78DA6593594F135114C7EF74A6600BD856A8EC425904A10CE0121F4D14252634210| |17C250D0C304999D62E89B8B0A81F4041638C7179707DF133F8454CD43717C017DC| |B51EE7FF276D9C9B4E7F33FF7BCEB9E79E7B6EE2C248F5CBD1B5134A0B9F4A2573B| |9E9443297B7B28BB633EB4F24E7ED195DC9A89427569A999E282C2EA61D73C4927F| |7ED8CE7CB4CCE264616ECE9CCC2633B9C85967C1CA5A4EDEDC7DA9194FA753E6197| |B7E212F5E41F76B226359B321F775CC4ACE5AD9DC829D89B8DF89A463670AA964DE| |4E3B2DA733F68C599E49BA9062CE4B0D9265B73C77C38AA3E8571F04C386DAFB91F| |C04EEDB24B7C0866D70C928F3BDA1B99A6F9DBC091A1BE46DB0E21678517C35F82A| |EDB8CFD52E89A6BB62D1D013B49F04F78C0A7B0C159C009BA684AD86D2A4DC7EC6F| |13721AF0ED12A114755F643BB2CB103CC35A0E9AE6FD00756EBA4010EF8C90A3022| |F1AA10CF5715453E4D75607B18D4C5A606365A4D3D728B1F86FF15593B44FF5014F| |987EBC830582BFE11D8F8238F518F9E27E0A1A7E433F239D8F7025C96F8B5DC5BED| |0EB4BA2FE45770FF37F23BD8F0033464DD28F38E724F83BB7B94B97AC6AD77B8669| |ACC80F1F3E06096CC81F7A4AF1A792E8D319CC18AE4D9CC78CD2BA851CB2AB9061E| |B84A5E23AF83F7255E2B7D5BDF2BB7665D3B887B30FE1FBBC01EF2A1F8B6D1B78D3| |DDCCE5E6F67AFC7D8EB31F67A8C3DBE2A3977D0B7E327F6D6F98BFC4DFE01BB8AA4| |D25D3E0AE38EFDAB41376BF04AA67AD99BBDC750E7CFD54AF5F30CFA97A0C597C10| |712C3440CDD7CE7736B31FC9A7C43BE053BE5BC86B8DE5000B9B494EEA8FC64A831| |8F325E7E175D2551B2290624039DEF9B41B1D4CA2DB73CCA7649D1B473BCBD53DC6| |969CEA7DD6197AF83031BE09027BF3E8F32EC518E7A94231EE52F2C14F64C| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
-
Can't look at your MIDS atm..
So just going to make general comments Robot Traps in a nutshell has 2 builds with a few variances, but at the end of the day they pretty much accomplish the same things. One build is getting defense capped with the pets bubble and another is getting capped without the pet bubble.
In your instance you have not pet bubble of course so your limited to getting defense capped without the pets. I know you can get defense capped without the pets because that is what I did with my Robot Traps. The issue is I needed ( might have not needed but didn't try to be honest ) the set bonuses from the pets to obtain defense cap.
Here is a link to some resistance / Heal numbers the pets give you. The rest of the wording is related to a Demon Thermal build.
Personally if you could frankenslot the Tier 2 pets for some resistance and still be able to get defense cap without the set bonuses from that power then your ahead of the curve since your getting the max out of your pets resistance bonus and your defense capped.
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showp...93&postcount=5 -
Quote:I get what your saying and understand total. But I have to agree squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you look back, it might have been the 2nd or 3rd reiteration of the posting that someone brought up the good and simple point of having Null the Gull in other places. That was a great idea.Originally Posted by Gemesis
Not to come off as confrontational or anything, but you realize that is breaking the forum rules, right? Starting new threads for topics that already exist.
I did a quick search, and saw in your previous posts, that like this one, many forumites agree with you about this, but spamming the forum with a new thread about it every month isn't going to help you.
What I like about the idea is it tosses the ball into he Devs court. Basically we cut out the whole idea of redoing the power. Would be nice but we are okay with the way we can disable it. We are just asking for more places to make these choices beyond one unique semi complicated zone to get to.
I just want to see how long its gonna take them to just add the same exact NPC in each zone. Heck we even gave them the idea of where you can put them to make it easy to find and have the most visibility. -
I'm just asking Glasswakerny, why need perma hasten ? Beyond the 10 second difference for overcharge I don't understand the need. Personally I am NOT a purple set player, I might add in one or 2 purple IOs in a build that are cheap but usually not full sets. That being said I would say that Rag IO would be the way to go. Your killing so much of your DPS with Overcharge slotted that way.
I can tell you this when I fire off Overcharge and have Disintegrate working I can kill off a full group. It does not happen all the time but when it happens it is great. I don't see that happening with the low DPS output of AA IOs you have.
Though your resistance numbers are very, very nice.. I'm a bit torn between having Aid Self as it helps out tons being range capped. But I think maybe going your route and picking up Rebirth might be better. -
The penalty from Group Fly was removed June or July of some year. I posted this a while back. You would be best looking for postings under my name in these forums and skimming them for the answer. I linked the patch notes as well.
If your gonna use powers like Time with a bunch of PBAOE or targeted AOE powers I would go with Team Teleport when SOLO. Crysys brought that up in a posting recently. It makes good sense just to Teleport you and the pets into combat and drop all your AOE powers.
I post up about the issues with Group Fly on the Suggestion forums regularly to get it fixed. in 2012 it will be a Monthly posting to see what can be done.
I would NOT use Group Fly in a team setting. Regardless of the penalties being removed and you even having a macro that will post this in the chat for everyone to see, it will still upset people and probably get you kicked from teams. I would imagine that is the last thing you want to do with a mastermind. Many people already have negative feelings about the use or value of masterminds compounding Group Fly onto that will not help your cause.
Team Teleport on the other hand is okay as that can be fix quickly in the option setting by the player at any time.
Fixing Group Fly is a bit involved and you need to be out side the mission and in Pocket D to speak to a sea gull on a truck to get it done. Just not going to happen, especially in a TF, SF or Incarnate mission. I can see you / me saying just go to pocket D and speak to null the gull getting answers like, I'm not going there and then followed by whats pocket d and who is null the gull.
Personally I take super speed with stealth proc. Some put the stealth proc in sprint power and turn both on to get the stealth bonuses of proc and super speed. I don't do that because some NPC escorts are fast enough to still follow you with sprint on. But putting the proc in sprint will make him loose you for sure. Where as I know not many NPC can follow you with super speed on.
As I mentioned, Super Speed also has a stealth component that combines with the stealth IO Proc so the only thing that will see you is sniper / high perception mobs ( EG Rikti drones ). If you need to speed through a mission like in several TF / SF you can eat a few purples to cap your defenses out and run though. If you find some clear spots away from mobs you can stop and wait for your stealth to refresh and then continue on. You can also have super speed on with hover and still be afforded the stealth bonus as if your were zipping around, you can do the same with jet packs also.
Thematically Hover can be creepy.
There is a stealth proc with super jump but it does NOT afford the same ability as super speed. So mobs will see you. I have really no clue why someone would put that in unless you were combining it with super speed and that proc for higher stealth radius, maybe for PvP ? As you can imagine Super Jump is very limited in cave missions.
To me I have tried all the travel powers with my masterminds at one time or another. I would suggest Super Speed as it helps you keep up with team mates and with the stealth proc it affords you the best options out of the travel powers.
-
Thanks for the input I made the changes and noticed the resistance numbers jump up.
As far as the +recharge to be honest I'm a bit stumped without getting into Purple sets combined with incarnates.
I can get it down to 34 seconds, 4 seconds short with incarnates though.
I will keep working on this, now that you have given me some ideas.
I went for the regeneration on the way to the hit points. I figured it didn't hurt.
But without a doubt just making those changes made the build better so thanks
P.S. There is a option to undo if you right click on a blank part of the page. I've deleted stuff accidentally sometimes. -
I am attaching the Data Chunk if anyone is interested in looking at the build. But in a nutshell its defense capped and perma Energy Drain, which means with large groups my defenses will be over kill and endurance should be no issues.
My question is between Confront and Overload.
My thoughts on this are Confront will allow me to pull the boss at least on Incarnate missions or TF missions. So it has some use on a team especially when they need a puller.
Overload I look at as a panic button when something goes wrong. I do hate the drain at the end of timer on this power though. I do know its instant death if I time this wrong or the fight last longer then expected. I've seen this happen already to other players on the team, also the request to wait because Overload was wearing off.
But I'm just not that sharp on Confront or Overload to make a good decision. I see it on paper and I like Confront as I think I might be using it more, but I also thought World of Confusion was nice on paper as well, but didn't like it when I spec'ed into it with my defender.
Code:| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1477;682;1364;HEX;| |78DA6594596F125114C7EF300394AD85B2B64029745FA490D667A3B636D5A2282E8| |91B19DB291D25030134F2E8A326AD4D6BF413D8C4173F8F6F3EAB717976C3C39C7F| |21712690DF9D3367F99F33776EE1E9AAF7FDFAB333421A3C5F559BCD7269ABA1D6E| |B5AC35E502BFA96E85E4EFA274EECE58256D5B4EC75BDA51AE55B9A5AAF19CDFEC3| |556D47339A5A76CDD01A9576F9ECE3862A7CC55AAD9ABDA057765BBA51F19A779B1| |448376EF3A654D7B4ED80B9DC309EE84DFD815ED55BEDC05A5DDFCA9EAB6DB7CB05| |B5D9D21AED180999A5FF5E54E0EAC8A248C828C27B9539780D2C31950851327D6D2| |24C8BBC226C21D0CFB4938FC43E8A749A6DCA0A98630EE4C165A6836264E49591D7| |81BC0EE4DD279D76D669B7FFB299B6E1DFCCC81FF02F73A6C39C13B2C997511E7C3| |7D6799B30A388D13BE05D66E21E789F3956663A499BCB6CA8235C6961E63BA07C1E| |E8F5BC43CDB7CCF963A68D0AFAB8A6F08D72DC00E51AE23879282399F9FD63608A3| |99C661E528D00340776387EBC02EE823A33FD107CC474519D20F40531CF10E619C2| |3C65D217864F384A8B24F51C612EC6980AF944E113459E18F2C490E788748E40E7C| |8279B1997FECC9CF8025659D784C19CAC31DDA4338EBD12BFC4F9168B608179EA32| |788519214D498E9192D03416E299BD222D29684941CB24B44C42CB34B44C43CB3CB| |478484B4692CD5E33FBFC0EA70FF06EF79819AA3D85794C2D70DCDC7FF446F8BBEA| |BEF759D826286E01B68538EFC912210B5B167EC7B46172D81FB971B6E54FB8C13DE| |6D7995FDDBDEF4C481DBAC4F7BE45966EF264BC3730BD8B1CB5842CDF2CD13FFA16| |BBF486FB751F8247D8DBAF994BCF8941E20B6642E99D21F4EB664B29BD93A2336F7| |99AB358F216CBB2C5B262B16C5A2C4505657B7DB9FCA27B0A984A3EF6CFBACE8720| |B582F5CF487FFD0F98EEE0C8| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
-
This is what I am currently running.
I picked up Barrier to have some protection in the PBAOE area in fights. What I noticed is being high up I miss out on the buffs from team mates as well.
Range Defense cap, Resistances in the 50s. Aid Self.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.953
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Beam Rifle
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Medicine
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Single Shot -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Charged Shot -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15)
Level 4: Cutting Beam -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(7), Posi-Dmg/Rng(37), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37)
Level 6: Disintegrate -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(9), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(17), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 8: Aim -- AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(42)
Level 10: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Lancer Shot -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(19), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(21), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(21), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23)
Level 14: Bone Smasher -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(27), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(27), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Mako-Dam%(29)
Level 16: Energy Punch -- Mako-Dam%(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg(31), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(31), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 18: Penetrating Ray -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(33), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 20: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 22: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 24: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(25)
Level 26: Piercing Beam -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48)
Level 28: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 32: Overcharge -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(39), Posi-Dmg/Rng(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 35: Super Speed -- Clrty-Stlth(A), Zephyr-Travel(36), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(37)
Level 38: Hover -- Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(A), Zephyr-Travel(42), LkGmblr-Rchg+(43)
Level 41: Boost Range -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Total Focus -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(45), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Mako-Dam%(46)
Level 47: Aid Other -- Heal-I(A)
Level 49: Aid Self -- Numna-Heal/Rchg(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(50), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Numna-Heal/Rchg(40), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Numna-Heal(40), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(42)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(43), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(43)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Code:| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1447;624;1248;HEX;| |78DA6594DB72D25014861308B69C5ADAD252DA723E95020146EF9DA9566FCC4C05F| |516236CD2280D190E33F6D257D00BAFB4D507F0C6D3BBE8337878035C61FD506792| |19F8E0DF7BFDFFDA5901EDE5DDD0A7FBAF6E4B72F8CE401F8F3BC7F43E11239FA61| |B665772AE157AC521775ABA65889E7A2CF4F34ECBEC0F446EB1D29EDAF67034514F| |2C31322E3A9A6E99F674A04FCCA125854F87C3817ACF34CE26A66504E6DFDAB610B| |D202F0C9C15DEA4899ED9352D113FB1CDAEBA30D7F4AEA037E7F3C52EF553A05727| |2AE19AF9A47784AA2279DE83974CE58A19F8007E649E4BCB5A49DA63ED29F9C9F09| |3B14F81EF2A7C43F00DC1770DBE3AD57AB956F17E66EDC617F02B33FF0DFCCE7C46| |353EE4F9E0B38ABC35E445901741DE26FAEA46792E542BAF5C7AE65AF98A3924D58| |FB3F92BBCBF47FB83C80AC263135951644591B583AC1DF46413C2A80DF759DB3598| |7B67A0C93C780EBE605A8475D4AE434BC223098F243CD2F048C34350CF1BA8DD402| |F69F49C41CF19F49C41CF399C4DA69BB3857BB085F97A49DB9659DB8ED18704CD97| |B4186B72CC5974CE1665F6293FCE1E9E38665AC34CEB98E998B08F9C7DDCEB2C792| |6E0998096030DF24CE14C297816E15984671DCF491DCF4973E141BE59F493F5F3AC| |733F98F99F4C3FED2970B6A700AD8C3D4738DF84560FD1F321BCA7840AFAAA603E5| |5CCA78AF954319F1AE653C33C1394A9C24FCDB39622AD815E1B6DCE6D3E0235E681| |F2DF6F704697947114EE7E76E45A6DB894A64BB9E9526EB994072EE5578062F164C| |873E5CFB5E2931F72BFC516B384F394709ED26366F909F3B7CBEDEFB5E291DF621A| |AFC137CC5365F9EF832A7F64F99F32FB0786A5E6D0| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
-
Quote:Sweet heart, hey look you need to talk to them.. I'm just repeating what they say.Originally Posted by Reppu
Too bad charm and charisma are opinion!
Don't get upset with me because I'm good.
Now I am done hereQuote:Originally Posted by AnekoI think we're done here.
-
Just updating for sake of final results.
With T4 Agility and T3 Ageless I can put out 3 Lightning Storms for 20 seconds before one drops off. No endurance issues. Its good for those big fights.
End result very playable and no disappointments. -
With all the PBAOE and targeted AOE stuff it does make sense to do the team teleport idea.. Good idea there..
Look if your telling me you can handle 4/8 solo. What more is there really.. Good enough for me.. -
Quote:Luckily the team enjoys my charm and charisma, so it's a wash.Originally Posted by Reppu
I agree! You do gimp your team for selfish reasons, better than I!
-
I'm gonna complain about this every so many months until I see it fixed or I get tired with the game.
Group Fly is a very nice power, but very unusable in a group the way it is ATM.
Either allow players to click the buff off or allow for a option in the interface right below the teleport option to disable group fly.
I have zero clue why they could make an option in the interface for Teleport ( Single or Group ) but not for Group Fly.
Players in the past have mentioned Null the Gull, but as everyone knows only limited players take use of his abilities because of where he is. Someone mentioned in a previous thread ( sorry don't recall the name for credit ) about having Null the Gull in different places.
So would now suggest have Null the Gull hanging around EVERY TRAINER in EVERY ZONE. At least with this if someone decided to use Group Fly now they would have some leg to stand on telling the person you can go to any trainer in any zone and look for the sea gull near him or her to fix your issue. Instead of telling someone go to Pocket D and look for a sea gull on a truck. Especially when they might not have the power to get there and have no clue what in the world Pocket D is.
Now of course that is not a fix compared to having it in a interface because you cannot reach Null the Gull inside a mission like you can your interface. But least its something. Its a start in the right direction.
I get the gist of trying to get this in a interface can be an issue. So how difficult is it to add a sea gull hanging out near a trainer. It does not need to be on anything special. Even just standing on the floor near the trainer is fine.
Coming 2012 I think I will up the posting to once a month.. Just a heads up.. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Reppu
As a pet-using mastermind, I can +4/x8 infinitely faster than you. Heck, I can AFK through things you need to pay attention to!
Then again, on every other AT on +4/x8, I can do it /faster than you/ by an infinite level. Your damage scaling and ratios are so bad it's hysterical. Your bases are less than a soloing Defender, which that alone is priceless.
Don't say the idea works with Incarnate Powers. Incarnate Powers break non-incarnate content.
Don't say the idea works in incarnate content. You're just there for your support set and nothing more as a Petless Mastermind. No, sorry. Your whip attacks debuff is horribly resisted.
The idea doesn't work. It doesn't perform as well as a Pet-using Mastermind, and by that definition it fails. Saying "anything works" in CoX is not a valid excuse.
And if you HONESTLY do better as a petless mastermind, you honestly are BAD at masterminds.
The idea doesn't work, with or with out incarnate powers. You are infinitely less useful than a pet-using mastermind. This is not a debate, this is a fact. If you DO play a petless mastermind better than a pet-using mastermind, why are you purposely gimping yourself and holding your team back (Don't respond with that 'If your team is relying on you, derp derp derp' thing!), and not just playing a Controller, Corruptor, or Defender?
They ARE petless masterminds. They also suck compared to Masterminds so WORKING AS INTENDED.
Trolololol.
No I am saying I do it better then you..
-
Quote:I'm actually happy you got the gist of the comment.Originally Posted by Bionut911
Sorry I took so long to get back to this thread. Thanks for all of the tips guys
:O nrg/nrg was my first CoH character, and he makes an awesome addition to a team. It's not the KB that's the problem, it's the player not knowing how to use it
I'm gonna jump on Mids and look at a Whip Dark myself.
I might have understood the issues if Masterminds came out when the game first came out. Back then It took much longer and was much harder to get to 50. Today I have a 2 week old TW EA that is at 33. I think my first 50 toon 5 months to level to 50 and I had much more play time back then. My point is all this useless complaining for nothing. -
Nice work leo G bookmarked your post for future reference
-
I recall a couple of points that have been brought up in the past which made some sense against time.
1. Debuffs have a cap limit which Time relies upon.
2. Time is weak against mezz. Now Clarion incarnate helps this of course. But still its an issue.
My question is, does anyone have a 50 Demon or Bot Time and could they HONESTLY respond what issues they do or do not have with mezzing leveling up and at 50. Personally at level 50 with my Robot Traps I do get mezzed but its usually for brief moment. I see my head drop down and then I wake back up, but nothing that would break my stride.
The issue with being mezz of course is toggles drop. Traps does not have that issue. -
Quote:I get what your saying.. But in today's game no one player is going to be dragging down a team. That is a false statement.. If a team is hinged on one player then those 7 other players have crappy builds, straight and simple.Originally Posted by Paladiamors
Eh, I wasn't going to get involved with this particular discussion, but you kinda forced my hand. His statement makes plenty of sense, and I don't really see how you can say it doesn't. An MM who doesn't take anything pet related isn't taking MOST of his powerset, leaving behind an entire THREE powers. Further, MOST of an MM's damage comes from it's six minions, so any amount of 'impressive' damage you could deal petless, could be more then doubled by HAVING minions. So yes, without a doubt you ARE gimping yourself. Now based on MM's secondaries, you can still be effective support, but again with minions you can deal good/great WHILE being effective support.
I am not trying to tell people to not do this. Do what you want to do, enjoy the game. This is just pointed at people who are trying to say that you won't be 'dragging down a team' or that it's just as effective.
The poster I quoted and your defending never said anything about being just as effective. But I will say if I can solo 4/8 and you cannot then I am more effective then you.. I can handle what a full team can handle, my one toon is equal to 8 other players and then some. So I cannot see how you or anyone could not think that is NOT effective. Is someone doing 5/9 setting I don't know about ?
I posted a build and I said what can be done with it. As always I am willing to show anyone in game this is possible if they find it questionable.
There is a reason why I have that stuff in my signature and more posters should learn about the math that makes this game work as it would change their minds.
But I will leave you with this blanket statement. Energy Energy blasters are no good and ruin teams. -
Quote:Anyone who knows this game, knows that any non Incarnate content can be soloed. Anyone who knows this game, knows that just about many TF and SF can be soloed or at least completed by 4 competent players who understand game mechanics. So I do not understand how one player regardless of AT or build could in any way shape or form drag a team down.Originally Posted by GreenFIame
A Master mind with out a pet is a gimpy Player, I won't and many other will team up with you, MM with pets have a better time staying alive then one without them. You are just going to end up dragging you team down.
Again I think your just posting stuff just to post without understanding what goes on behind the scenes with this game. Or your playing on some very poor teams.
Your statement really just does not make any legitimate sense. -
I happen to leveling up one of these myself and as MIDs was updated I was playing around with the build.
I did notice that power like energy drain are not adding onto the endurance increase but you get the percentage listed. I also noticed that Incarnate powers are not show increases as well. EG Musculature is not adding its damage increase to the powers as it used to and the difference between the 33% and 45% recharge increase from Agility are the same though I would imagine there has to be a difference for 12% when I notice a 5% change even if its fractions of a second. So there are some glitches with the new MIDs but it is absolutely better then not having it, so no complaints here.
I the key 2 powers of course in EA are Energy Drain and Energize. One is easily Perma and the other you can get close to perma.
I am gonna speak more general terms as I know you seems to understand the specifics.
After creating and toying around with the build, you start to come some simple conclusions getting Typed Defense capped is not hard and your pretty much over capped in many defenses. So I started trying to get Energize as close to perma as I could. End result I had to make a bunch of changes just to shave off a second or two and it wasn't worth it. So I decided to go the other route toward Incarnate missions. Simply once your past 45 in defenses your dealing with streak breaker attacks and at this point having close to 20 defense capped toons from various AT but only one scrapper and no tanks or brutes or dominators. Doing 4/8 anything the biggest thing your worrying about is those hits. Anyone who has soloed a farm will always notice a bunch of mobs just hanging around not attacking you while a small group is. Its the aggro cap that is preventing that. So once you hit 50% in defenses in regular content its a moot point.
But getting 50 and 60 for Incarnate stuff matters as 59% seems to be the new defense cap for incarnate missions. Fortunately a TW / EA can easily obtain these ranges or close enough that 1 purple and 1 orange inspiration will put them in good standings to tank an AV or pull one if needed.
So this is my build under the new Mids. The last minute changes I made were removing 1 slot from Overload and placing it in Build Momentum. The issue was either going with 3 Rectified or Gaussian. I went with Gaussian for the chance of getting a buildup and it recharges a bit faster then with Rectified. I am also considering getting rid of Overload for Confront. Though I could clearly see the use of Overload during some incarnate wipe situations. But confront can be helpful when you need to taunt a AV for the group or League. If you double slot overload for recharge its up every almost 110 seconds. So you would 2 slot Build Momentum and 2 slot overload. Yet again you could slot Overload with Serendipity and get a bit of extra regeneration in the build.
As you can see not knowing the choice between Overload and Confront is my inexperience with the Scrapper AT and specifically those 2 powers..
I have Agility selected for the Alpha Incarnate. The build is short by 5 (4.97) seconds to having Energize perma. Though as I mentioned the 33% and 45% are giving the same numbers atm. Don't know if that is a bug or not. So it could be less then 5 seconds. Without Agility Alpha your at 8 seconds if you wanted to pick up musculature.
I only have Energy drain slotted for 3 mobs which is a very, very conservative number with this type of build. You will be running more then likely at max or at least 8.
Again as you can see it starts to become small percentages near the end when making these changes. Which I think starts to become ridiculous sometimes.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Titan Weapons
Secondary Power Set: Energy Aura
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Crushing Blow- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (13) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (3) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (3) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (A) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance
- (5) Aegis - Resistance
- (5) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance
- (9) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge
- (9) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (7) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (7) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (A) Obliteration - Damage
- (19) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
- (23) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
- (23) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (40) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (42) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
- (A) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage
- (27) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance
- (27) Touch of Death - Damage/Recharge
- (29) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (29) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (31) Touch of Death - Chance of Damage(Negative)
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO
- (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
- (40) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (43) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
- (A) Accuracy IO
- (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance
- (17) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
- (17) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
- (19) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage
- (33) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance
- (33) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge
- (33) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
- (34) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (34) Mako's Bite - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (21) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (21) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
- (31) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/Endurance
- (45) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (25) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (25) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (A) Eradication - Damage
- (34) Eradication - Accuracy/Recharge
- (36) Eradication - Damage/Recharge
- (36) Cleaving Blow - Accuracy/Damage
- (36) Cleaving Blow - Damage/Recharge
- (37) Cleaving Blow - Accuracy/Recharge
- (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance
- (45) Doctored Wounds - Recharge
- (45) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
- (46) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
- (46) Doctored Wounds - Heal
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (31) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (A) Eradication - Damage
- (37) Eradication - Accuracy/Recharge
- (37) Eradication - Damage/Recharge
- (39) Cleaving Blow - Accuracy/Damage
- (39) Cleaving Blow - Damage/Recharge
- (43) Cleaving Blow - Accuracy/Recharge
- (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
- (39) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy
- (40) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (42) Recharge Reduction IO
- (42) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Endurance Modification IO
- (50) Endurance Modification IO
- (50) Miracle - Heal
- (50) Miracle - Heal/Recharge
Level 50: Agility Core Paragon
------------
Level 2: Swift- (A) Empty
- (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
- (13) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
- (46) Miracle - +Recovery
- (48) Miracle - Heal
- (A) Empty
- (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
- (11) Performance Shifter - EndMod
- (11) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
- (43) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
- (48) Energy Manipulator - EndMod
- (48) Energy Manipulator - EndMod/Recharge
- (A) Empty
Level 1: Sprint- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
Level 1: Momentum
Code:| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1482;683;1366;HEX;| |78DA6594DB6F124114C667D985965B5B0A055A6E85DE69A590D667A3B636D5A2285| |E126F64A55BBA4A160268E4D1474D5A9BD6E85F60135FFC7B7CF3598D97676F78D8| |F3151277C2E6377B76CE37DF9C1926FF74CDF37EE3D919210D9DAFAACD66A9586EA| |8F5BAD6B0E7D58A5E16DD36404FF4245ECA6B554DCB5CD75BAA51BAA5A9F59AD1EC| |7F5CD37634A3A965D60DAD516997CE3E6EA8C25BA8D5AA990B7A65B7A51B158FF9B| |64589F4E2325F8A754DDBF699DD4DE389DED41FE855BDD5F6ADD7F572E65C6DBB5D| |CAABCD96D66887C9C8023D7B2181D6914581905284E72A73E81A58642A41A2648EB| |58931EAE414610B80234C3B8D91788C229DE698B20A669983397085E9A01C19BA32| |741DD07540779F7CDAD9A7DDFECB66C6467F33837FC0BFCCB90E7341C8265F86B8F| |0DDDC81DB8439454CDC01EF32A3F7C0FBCC78893940DE9CE6823AC29914A6DE01E9| |B9E1D7FD0E73BE65A68F99369AD0CB730AEF04E70D92D630E7C9C329C9D41F89830| |9E66892794873F8E0D9B7C3F993157017D499C987E023A693E6F1C39F1FF50CA09E| |01D453267F63183316A24E8CD61C642E85990A8D09614C083A61E884A173443EC7E| |173FC93CDCC4B7E664E7D01ABEC6BCA604ED7982EF219C159895C62BDA50298679E| |BA0C5E6106C9538C73A4183CC5035CB357E425012F0978998697697899859759784| |9C38B9BBCA424D95C6B6A9FF770F6007BBBC74CD1DC33A8C7CC22E72DFC470FE9CC| |63DFE7119BA2BC45C416237C268B840C62198C3BA60393C5F9C84E722C77C24D5E6| |36E83F9D5D5FB9F09A9434D7CEF4764E92657C67303D5BBC859CB50F966C9FED18F| |D8A537BC5ED7217884B3FD9AB9FC9CE827BE604695DE1D42BFAE5A42E9DD149DB4E| |56BD612C959222B96C8AA25B2658914144CDB5B977344746F01D3C9C7FE5DC7ED83| |9FD6039B3F83FDFE3F6910E5C6| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
-
Quote:With all politeness and respect my original post just disproved your comments.Originally Posted by DrGemini
While I (and many others) certainly encourage people to do whatever they want...
The idea of a pet-less Mastermind may be fun. But, in this case, I would strongly encourage you to re-think this concept for a very important reason...
Namely, Masterminds are completely designed around having the henchmen (not pets because pets can't be controlled). Without those henchmen, you are disrupting the lynchpin of what a Mastermind can do.
Without your henchmen, you can still do some good stuff. But, without them you...
1. Lose the protection of Bodyguard. Masterminds have the lowest base health in the game. Bodyguard compensates for this in ways people who don't play masterminds cannot fathom. Bodyguard is the sole reason a Mastermind can wade right into most mobs without fear of being 1-shotted like other squishier classes would be.
2. Lose out on your best damage. Yes, Masterminds do get 3 attacks. But, your damage numbers are pitiful compared with everyone else. Your henchmen hold all of the DPS that makes it possible to steamroll through threats that others can't either because they are too squishy or lack sufficient damage.
3. Become a weaker defender. Yes, your secondaries are good. But, again, without the benefit of your henchmen, you lose out on what Masterminds contribute to teams.
So, yes! Certainly try out whatever your concept is. This game is great at letting people have a lot of flexibility without much in the way of negative results. But, do keep in mind the design of Masterminds. You may find that the concept is far less effective than you think.
Being a player of 6 years ( start to year 5, 1 year break for WoW and CO ) and also having a petless mastermind along with 3 other masterminds which are IOed and incarnated and another 15 other IO'ed & Incarnated toons. I can say, I am a born again defense cap player. I get the whole cascade defense drop issue but having close to 20 defense cap toons none which are Tanks or Brutes ( I have one scrapper ) that can solo 4/8 I have no issues with the chance of cascade failure.
I think a knowledgeable player knows in a standard mission of 4/8 setting or TF / SF does not need 8 players to complete.
As I mentioned I did incarnates with SOs and had no issues or complaints. No one was the wiser or had a clue. They see 50+1 and do not look any further. It is more of a players perceived notion more then anything else.
Not to be bullish but the issues if anything are as I mentioned.
I will also add that I have seen and played with players of all archtypes that failed to meet out what their archtype described they could do. I have seen blaster face plant after firing off a fire ball right after eating 3 red inspirations, I have seen tanks flop after every Rom Ress where my AR Traps defender needed to tank for the team.
I would also like to add that "steam rolling" is subjective to the person. Do I want to spend 1 hour doing a 4/8 setting mission ? Of course not. But do I need to do it in 5 minutes ? Of course not. If I wanted to do that I would not be on my petless mastermind I would be on my scrapper or brute.
As much as people like yourself bring up these same points. I have to say if I can handle a 4/8 setting with no pets and you cannot do that on every fully slotted IO mastermind then I think I have made my point. Nutshell my petless mastermind is BETTER then some fully slotted IO masterminds or even MANY other Archtype builds.
As another example, recently there have been several threads about TA Defenders needing buffs to improve the set. Now while I am not against getting TA it buffed, heck it just makes my toon better. But I also have no issues soloing 4/8 on my TA Archery Defender. Is it a LRN2PLY issues ? no clue. I think its a LRNGAMEMECHANICS issue.
Yet another example. I am on with my petless mastermind doing some 4/8 setting mission for drops. You come along with some toon of yours and your bored. You ask me what I am doing and I tell you. You know you cannot do 4/8 setting. You ask to join me and I accept. What did you just give me ? All you have done was just increase my DPS. To me your nothing more then a higher end pet, the ultimate mastermind pet. If we get insync with each other you might cut my mission time in half maybe. I doubt it would be half though. But I will give you that benefit. But I just gave you 4/8 setting drops and Inf. You might have been doing 8/0 or 5/1. End result is your lost nothing from being with me. You only gained.
Now if the OP was going to make a toon that could barely handle 1/1 then I would have to agree whats the point.
But saying that a mastermind without pets is weaker then a defender is a false statement. -
Wasn't thinking but after looking at Mids, time would help you as well.
Here is the deal why I simply think you need to obtain defense cap. Your not going to wow them with damage. Consider yourself the Tortoise in the race. Slow and steady. This why I picked Traps, Time bomb though slow compared to other powers really does pack a nice punch when it goes off. I am guaranteed to kill a few mobs with every explosion and if it gets too busy or crazy I can just huddle down pop a few inspirations to cap out my defenses and resistances a bit more and slowly clear out mobs. I use this tactic when the pet runs off or I just get too much aggro. Pet drops off fast and it becomes too hard to drop down another FFG because they keep aggroing on the FFG.
Thematically just messing around real quick DS Dark with the Tier 2 pets might be cool. Sort of like a badass CoT.