plainguy

I'm running +0 +6 right now since I am a bit shy of the full defense cap. What I notice is sometimes I get pulled into a series of hits that become problematic. So I pop a purple and the hits go away to give me a bit of breathing room.

I have to say for me the heal / Recharge combo for Triage Beacon is very handy. I do notice the difference when I have out and when it goes away. Even if I do get hit the moments the mobs go back to missing I can notice the health regen kick in. Nutshell I am healing up to max very fast with small hits.

Also I am finding Mass Hypnosis handy, even if I use it to pause the mobs for a split second when they are standing on the Caltrops. The nice thing about it is anyone out of the caltrops will at least be mezzed. Which lessens the amount of attacks on me.

I think World of confusion will be great to help mitigate the damage even more.

In a group I do the normal let the tank lead then move in behind him and lay down all my stuff. Though I usually drop Triage beacon behind the tank where he will be at the edge of the aura. This gives the squishy players a bit of leeway and not drag them into the AOE hits or what not.

I offer to use seeker drones to absorb the aggro before the tank moves in, but usually they don't really care. Personally I find it silly not to let the seekers take the nice big alpha but to each their own.

I have several traps toons so I'm comfortable using the set. Without a doubt once I pick up the mind over body I can do +1 +8. Which is what I am doing with my other trap toons. I can do higher, but at slower rate.

With health and stamina going inherit. I am going to assume no extra slots will be given out. So I will probably just pick up assault for extra DPS and maybe SS with a stealth IO.

I'm just going to address those 2 comments.

I do my fair share of reading, but without a doubt don't read it all and miss stuff. You tend to speak from first hand knowledge. I wouldn't mind seeing where the dev said, mentioned or hinted they are against de-crafting IOs.

I would imagine they where against the market merge at one time also. And I recall you stating something along the lines that the devs would never do that as well. I think its poster mac( something) that has your comment as his signature.

As for the merit system, sadly that systems clashes with the grouping system in this game. So either I need to solo a story arc to get my merits or they need to fix it so a group could get merits for doing missions. I recall them saying that they were aware of the merit system not being useful in a group situation and were looking into it. So I think that also goes against what you think the devs are thinking as well.

I don't what your talking about with the 22 missions in 2 to 3 hours. I have numerous 50s of assorted builds at my disposal. I just find it very unlikely to complete 22 missions in 2 to 3 hours even stealth running. BUT I am willing to try it out if your willing to explain a bit more.

I would like to see a way where I could use my unwanted IOs and salvage to get stuff I would like without having to deal with the market or the randomness of the AE system. The market is too easily manipulated. Further you need to plan a build weeks in advance or be consumed by the buy it now syndrome. I would be willing to turn in 10 kinetic weapons and get 1 other salvage in return. Or turn in 5 Thunderstrike assorted IOs for 1 Thunderstrike Acc / Dam I am missing and need from the set.

Basically convert several items into 1 item I can use. That is the crux of the idea.

Simply if you took the time just to do a search on these forums you will see what a cheapskate I am. I sell any purple IOs I get. I would rather spread the wealth across several toons then build up one toon with millions. Personally to me even Frankenslotting IOs is better then using SOs. I do not frown upon someone though if their choice is to use SOs.

As for your second comment. I could not really imagine a poorly played petless mastermind getting to level 50 unless the person was dual boxing or PLing the character. The amount of frustration a person who does not understand the game mechanics would have to deal with in this type of build while leveling would be very high. OR of course unless the person used the 2nd build option on their mastermind and leveled normally. Again if that were the case then honestly this whole discussion /debate and thread is really useless persay. My impression from the start was the OP was looking to level in a petless capacity and not just create a second build to be petless.

You would have a point if this were the corruptor forum and the guy was asking about a AR / Traps. But he is not.. The OP did not say he wanted Merc Traps. He asked for info on these sets. Merc happens to be one of them. But you never came here and said hey don't make a merc because its the same as corrputor or defender ar traps but not. I would suggest something different for other reasons as well.

Though I will side with you that I see no sense in making a Merc Traps as well since you can do limiting effect with a Corruptor or Defender. But that is as far as I would go. I surely would not have gone to the lengths of commenting what a bad idea this was. Again its not my call and it is not what the op was asking for. If I was so dead against this idea or post I just would not even bother posting and let the guy sink or swim on his own accord.

Yet again you derail with YET another analogy or comparison. And then you go as far as saying you have a petless mastermind or tried one. Well saying you tried it gives you the chance to say how bad it was for you I guess. So it was bad for you maybe. Then it must be bad for everyone else.

You know what.. Your right.. I have no clue why this guy or anyone would want to gimp themselves to play a petless mm. Sorry I didn't see it before.

Though if you did want to make a petless mastermind for some ludicrous and crazy reason as I mentioned in my previous posts and agreed with the build that Blacksly posted. I will add whips would be nice since it is new and has some cool effects and colors you can mess around with. It has a cone and range and a single target.

Robot has some good powers as well which are energy. But again whip does Toxic damage which is probably one of the least resisted and it does have a -res component as well. No other set has 3 attacks that debuff. Robot has 1 which is -def, which is nice but personally I would rather have 3 -res attacks that do toxic as well as other damage.

send 1 in

Okay lets set up a date and time where we can meet so I can bring out my lvl 50 Robot Traps MM and solo a +8 +1 mission without pets. Then you go get a few of your non tank / brute toons and see what can be done in the same mission. Not gonna go crazy, everything goes. Use Inspirations etc.. standard game play. Just I will use no pets.. Would that be enough to prove it is dobable ?

Again your skewing..

I would be foolish to say that a petless mastermind is better then all AT regardless of player. As it is foolish for you to think that a Defense capped Petless mastermind would total hinder a team or that any AT regardless of build would be better then a well played Petless Mastermind.

But regardless I have stated already the down falls as well to running a petless mastermind. So again your point is moot.

I also mentioned that if YOU are running a team and see a petless MM LFT, YOU are not required to invite him to your team. If the TL invites a petless MM to the team YOU are not required to stay on that team.

So again we get your point..

Absolutely not.. Because you still find it necessary to run a line of side smack while trying to pretend to be helpful. The reality is your not.

"No matter how nice I try to be your idea sucks, I'm sorry I'm really trying to be helpful, but no matter what I say or suggest your idea sucks. So it's not my helping that sucks, it's your idea." <-- This is you..

Again your looking to banter a useless point. You don't need to justify yourself to me. It's obvious your not looking to help out in any way shape or form. So don't bother even trying. You have made that point very clear with your postings in this thread.

You think this is a bad idea for the OP and you want to make sure you let him know how bad it is and everyone else how bad and foolish this idea and / or the OP as well for even trying to attempt it.

Again your bringing points which is apparent by the OPs posting, he was aware of the issues going into when he posted this.

So what is your point ?

All the primaries stink because your not picking up the pets.. Okay we get it.. Is that it ? Great then there is nothing more for you to say here. Right ? You made your point..

I clearly understand what your saying..

But if others of my ilk would like to "pretend" that petless mm are leet and cool. Then we will just discuss possible make believe potentials. Not that we would do them in game.. Just stuff to talk about on the forums. Like a forum game or something.

But hey, thanks for stopping by.

Thanks for the build, your build has some improvements over mind that I didn't think of. I modified it for my concept but still keeping the defense caps.

Your right, but as I mentioned in my 5 years I have seen some lousy level 50 players and I have never grouped with a lvl 50 petless MM. So all those lousy ATs are anything but petless Masterminds Unless you can tell us how many Petless masterminds you might have grouped with that ruined the team for you. I know the answer is going to be none or less then 2, I'm just being facetious.

I don't think you can build a Petless Mastermind unless you go defense cap. You need at least something going for you. Otherwise I think the personal struggle would just be too mounting to over come. But at high levels lets say at 42 where you can slot lvl 45 IO's which are really small percentage smaller then lvl 50 IOs of the same set. I think a lvl 42 properly slotting IO Petless MM is as useful as any other AT. Again I would rather have that type of Mastermind then then level 50 player with the 3 travel powers. Which I know are out there and have grouped with.

I think your digging too deep and making your own assumptions up..

See the comments in BOLD, I Think the OP is intelligent enough to know what he is getting into. What would be the point in saying he is dead set to creating a petless MM if it was a common build.

It would be similar to me saying okay against all rational thought I am going to make a Robot Traps, no swaying will change my mind. Your thoughts would be okay your probably picking the 2 best sets as a Mastermind so whats your issue ?

I think he gets this might not be the best idea but I want to make one. That being said. I have another question that I know might be silly but since I am going to pick a challenging endeavor which primary do you think would at a minimum be the best choice for this challenge.

It's similar to what a friend of mine told me about his cancer. " If you went to the cancer store, my cancer is the one you want to come out with." Meaning it was curable or less life threatening. I am pretty sure he didn't want the cancer but at least he ended up with a more "cureable" one. If we can say that.

Stop skewing it to what suits your line of insult. Help the guy out or don't post really it is a simple as that. All I get out of your comments here is how dumb you perceive or want to make someone look. It's just not right..