Finally a Necro/Dark guide! Thanks for putting this together, DrkAv. Not bad.
I've heard a lot of praise for Tar Patch and Darkest Night. I'm starting to wish I'd gotten them instead of Dark Blast and Gloom--especially since, as you point out, the Grave Knight uses the blasts himself.
I personally don't feel the need for hasten or stamina with my MM build. I'm never out of end except after a round of summoning/upgrading, and popping a few blues takes care of that. I think the 12-13% change they made to end usage (not to mention ED making the slotting of End Red ehns more common) is going to really drop the "99% of toons take stamina" tendency. Plus, my blasts just don't drain my end much.
I also don't feel the need for hasten when the only recharges I'm ever waiting for are my summons (with a single DO rech red on my Enchant, it comes up fast enough to get through the upgrading cycle for me.)
I find it interesting that you didn't mention flight at all when talking about travel powers. I chose flight because:
A) The streets and buildings in the Rogue Isles are crazy. My wife got Super Leap, and she's always getting hung up on the lips of buildings--where as it was her favorite travel power in COH, she's constantly cursing it now. I wouldn't want Super Speed either with out any straigh line streets. Just my pref.
B) The LAG! TP is my favorite travel power in COH. When it's working fine w/o any lag, it's hands down the fastest. Even with a the bad lag I would tend to get at the Talos tram, hover made up for the issues. On some of my COH toons, I do a TP/Flight double travel power combo. TP and hover work great together getting across zones. And flight is great for speeding around within a mish. By bumping up my turn speed, I've even gotten good at flying through caves. But I can barely sprint through parts of COV most of the time, so I wanted something that would take me places in a straight line w/o needing much user input. I fly straight up, point myself to a spot right above the arrow, fly straight there, and then fly straight down. My trajectory looks like a squarish U.
I'll probably take the TP pool later for recall friend and TP foe. I hear the portals in Oranbega can be a b17ch to get your henchies through w/o recall friend. And I used to like TP foe on my scrappers for pulling. Even when it aggros the whole group, it usually gets me one minion that I can take down faster so as to mitigate the overall damage to me and my team more quickly.
My other pool powers will definitely include Leadership and ... not sure if I'll take a 4th. I was thinking about Concealment in order to be able to grant invis to my boys. I had read about Ninja MMs using grant invis to good effect for stalker-like alpha strikes with their henches. But I find that I can pretty much accomplish the same with Shadow Fall--especially if I can come up behind the mob.
I just hit 17 last night, and I can't wait to get to 18 for my ghost and 3rd zombie.
PS: the black text color was almost impossible to read against the maroon COV forum background. It was a little bit easier if I switched over to read it under the COH forum here. But on both, I had to select all (ctrl+A) in order to read the black text. Maybe my monitor is just darker than most.
You're right, I forgot to mention Fly. Hover would be another nice self-defensive buff, not to mention knockbacks/downs only cause you to do a roll in the air and you're able to act immediately. I guess I didn't mention it because I'm not happy with the speed of flight and haven't been since my Controller in CoH. It is good for all the reasons you said travel wise (the landscape of CoV is very jagged), but I find that I was **always** the last to arrive at a mission point.
As for Hasten ... yea, as I said in my guide, I don't feel it's an absolute. Honestly, the main reason I took this and stamina is because of twilight grasp. I find myself running around healing my minions and my group, a lot. You might be able to get by without haste, but I often find myself at 50% endurance or lower at the end of a good battle. Even with 3 slotted Stamina, the character builder I used predicts usage at 1.64 endurance per second. Without Stamina my recovery would only be +.03 edurance per second. Given the way I use heal, I didn't feel I'd be good without Stamina.
Now, if you don't take stamina ... you have 3 more powers you can pick up elsewhere. In that case I might go Fearsome Stare (although I HATE running mobs, so I'm not keen on making them run), Black Hole and who knows what else. No other power really appeals to me.
You might notice I have not picked Howling Twilight at all ... I am NOT a fan of this power. Some people argue that this spell is good ... often citing its use in invasion type situations ... my retort: How often do you REALLY anticipate raising 50+ people? The practical of it is, you might use it to raise a group member or two during a mission. And I've discovered people often carry 1 or 2 inspirations of the awaken line, so this spell is a wasted power IMHO.
One other thing ... about minions and teleport. I do not know how it works for Ninjas, Mercs, or Robots, but if I tell my pets to go to X-spot ... then run far enough ahead or get recalled by a groupmate, my minions 'teleport to me' by coming up out the ground. (Same animation as if you just got off an elevator) No need for recall friend here. If you are being teleported by a groupmate, make sure your pets are on 'follow me' before you get teleported (compared to 'stay' or 'go to' when you run ahead yourself) otherwise they won't do their fancy teleport thing right away and when you tell them to follow you later, they may just try to run to you. Stupid zombies.
I'll change the text color on the main post.
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In that case I might go Fearsome Stare (although I HATE running mobs, so I'm not keen on making them run)
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Fearsome stare doesn't make mobs run. They cower in place and have reduced accuracy. It's supposed to prevent them from attacking (unless first hit by you) but that seems to be somewhat broken at the moment.
I went with a necro/dark but a slightly different concept. I went sans hasten and sans stamina. I took dark blast to get me through the early levels but am considering specing out of it. I am slotting extra end-redux to deal with my endurance issues.
I am also getting leadership powers earlier. I convinced my SG of the value of the leadership pool and when grouping with them... it is amazing. We hit often and hit hard.
Finally, I am a firm advocate of teleport as a movement power for MMs in COV. My points go like this
<ul type="square">[*] Recall Friend is great for a stuck pet. Just recall him[*] Recall Friend is great for the CoT missions with portals launching you throughout the map. Henchmen can't go through those portals.[*] Recall Friend is good for recovering from a team wipe or near wipe.[*] If there are location AoEs such as caltrops or Ignite your henchman AI goes nuts. Recall friend gets them out of the AoE and they can then assault other targets or use ranged attacks.[*] TP Foe has some interesting uses as well[*] In PvP Teleport provides excellent "get out of here NOW" abilities[*] Teleport allows me to move when immobilized and when stuck in a caltrop patch myself[/list]
I love teleport for MMs.
great post-think u could make a fire/thermo curropter!? 
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Now, if you don't take stamina ... you have 3 more powers you can pick up elsewhere.
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I have always thought that taking the Presence Power pool would absolutly fit this build.
Since Stamina and Hasten are both easier to skip with MMs, It seems like a good oportunity to take this pool. In the end you will have the AoE fear, the single Fear as well as Fearsom stare. This leaves you with basically a set of 3 hold powers.
Also, why not think of Howling Twilight as another AoE Hold (even if it is a disorient, most likely the mob is also in a tar pit so it might as well be a Hold) AND debuf power?? Slot this for 2 tohit debuf, 2 disorient, and 2 recharge. Am I not mistaken that this autohits??!! Even if it doesn't autohit, you still have a Dominator-ish ability to control a mob while your pets take care of things.
Oh and with all of hold-like activity going on, in theory at least you don't have to spam the heals as often.
Granted since I've never crunched numbers or played this idea, I don't know if you wind up needing Stamina after all.
Just a thought.
Just a little pitch. If you're on Champion and looking for a VG, The ARES Group is recruiting. We got our on base, chat server and forums. Visit The ARES Group for more information.
Or you can send a tell to any of the folks on the website above the rank "Press Gang" for an invite.
-Dark Avalon 28 Necro/Dark Miasma (Champion)
Nature's Wrath 11 Plant/Thorn Dominator
End Game 10 Assault Rifle/Radiation Corruptor
Nite Tremor: 37 Earth/Radiation Controller (Victory)
I gave a lot of thought about Stamina and Hasten and came up with this alternative training plan. It appeals to me, but I wouldn't want to respec to this until I had 2 respecs, that way i could change back if I didn't like it.
---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.6.9.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: DA Proto
Level: 41
Archetype: Mastermind
Primary: Necromancy
Secondary: Dark Miasma
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Zombie Horde==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Dmg(7)Dmg(9)Dmg(11)
01) --> Twilight Grasp==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Heal(7)Heal(9)Heal(11)Rechg(17)
02) --> Tar Patch==> Rechg(2)Rechg(21)Rechg(23)
04) --> Darkest Night==> TH_DeBuf(4)TH_DeBuf(5)TH_DeBuf(5)EndRdx(21)
06) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(6)DefBuf(36)DefBuf(36)EndRdx(36)
08) --> Enchant Undead==> EndRdx(8)
10) --> Maneuvers==> DefBuf(10)DefBuf(33)DefBuf(33)EndRdx(37)EndRdx(40)
12) --> Grave Knight==> Acc(12)Acc(13)Dmg(13)Dmg(15)Dmg(15)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Shadow Fall==> DmgRes(16)DmgRes(17)DmgRes(25)DefBuf(34)DefBuf(34)EndRdx(34)
18) --> Tactics==> TH_Buf(18)TH_Buf(19)TH_Buf(19)EndRdx(37)
20) --> Fearsome Stare==> Acc(20)Acc(23)Rechg(29)Fear(37)
22) --> Soul Extraction==> Rechg(22)Rechg(25)Rechg(31)Acc(31)Dmg(33)
24) --> Assault==> EndRdx(24)EndRdx(40)
26) --> Lich==> Acc(26)Acc(27)Dmg(27)Fear(29)Hold(31)
28) --> Petrifying Gaze==> Acc(28)
30) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(30)
32) --> Dark Empowerment==> EndRdx(32)
35) --> Howling Twilight==> Rechg(35)
38) --> Dark Servant==> Empty(38)Empty(39)Empty(39)Empty(39)Empty(40)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Dmg(1)
01) --> Supremacy==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------
Keep in mind, according to the character builder, the Endurance used per second with all toggles up, except super jump, is 1.60 per second, and recovery is onl 1.67. So not in the negative, but you ain't exactly overflowing with endurance recovery. Without
Darkest Night up, the recovery is .31 per second.
A second alternative plan would be to go Teleport versus Leaping ...
---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.6.9.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: DA Proto 2
Level: 41
Archetype: Mastermind
Primary: Necromancy
Secondary: Dark Miasma
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Zombie Horde==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Dmg(7)Dmg(9)Dmg(11)
01) --> Twilight Grasp==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Heal(7)Heal(9)Heal(11)Rechg(17)
02) --> Tar Patch==> Rechg(2)Rechg(21)Rechg(23)
04) --> Darkest Night==> TH_DeBuf(4)TH_DeBuf(5)TH_DeBuf(5)EndRdx(21)
06) --> Recall Friend==> EndRdx(6)
08) --> Enchant Undead==> EndRdx(8)
10) --> Maneuvers==> DefBuf(10)DefBuf(33)DefBuf(33)EndRdx(37)EndRdx(40)
12) --> Grave Knight==> Acc(12)Acc(13)Dmg(13)Dmg(15)Dmg(15)
14) --> Teleport==> EndRdx(14)EndRdx(36)EndRdx(36)
16) --> Shadow Fall==> DmgRes(16)DmgRes(17)DmgRes(25)DefBuf(34)DefBuf(34)EndRdx(34)
18) --> Tactics==> TH_Buf(18)TH_Buf(19)TH_Buf(19)EndRdx(37)
20) --> Fearsome Stare==> Acc(20)Acc(23)Rechg(29)Fear(36)Fear(37)
22) --> Soul Extraction==> Rechg(22)Rechg(25)Rechg(31)Acc(31)Dmg(33)
24) --> Assault==> EndRdx(24)EndRdx(40)
26) --> Lich==> Acc(26)Acc(27)Dmg(27)Fear(29)Hold(31)
28) --> Petrifying Gaze==> Acc(28)
30) --> Howling Twilight==> Empty(30)
32) --> Dark Empowerment==> EndRdx(32)
35) --> Teleport Foe==> Acc(35)
38) --> Dark Servant==> Acc(38)Acc(39)Immob(39)Hold(39)Fear(40)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Dmg(1)
01) --> Supremacy==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------
You'd be better at recovering endurance, but your defense wouldn't be as good as the first setup.
If I were to try either, I'd probably go with the first setup because of the increased defense. You could of course go fly too.
-av
I don't understand how you can love debuffs and not get Howlling Twilight. The res is secondary in my opinion.
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I don't understand how you can love debuffs and not get Howlling Twilight. The res is secondary in my opinion.
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Well, like I said, it's just a guide and some folks won't agree with me.
To answer your question though I'll give you two reasons.
1) I haven't had it and I've had no problem without it so far.
2) Its base Endurance cost of 32.5 (1/3 of my endurance bar) and recharge time of 3 minutes doesn't make it a great debuffer considering the duration of the debuff effects only last 15 seconds. And most battles I've been in last way longer than 15 seconds.
Fully slotted with SOs, I can get the endurance down to 16.67 (which is very acceptable), but the recharge remains a minute and thirty-two seconds. One minute and eight seconds with Hasten.
Not bad, but that's 5 slots toward a power I'm doing well without. I'm still debating back and forth and will now likely take Fearsome Stare over Petrifying Gaze. Although someone said it might be buggy.
And I've seen a number of people with Dark Miasma around my level and I have yet to see anyone employ the Howling Twilight Debuff tactic. Now, this does seem to be a very good plan for PvP.
I will say this though, it's something I've never really considered, but I have given it more thought lately. Several recent battles I've had in a few story arcs have led me to believe that Stamina really is a must, at least for my playstyle. So I don't have many powers I could do away with.
Anyway ... maybe one day if I get a couple respects I'll play with the concept.
-av
Here's my current and favorite build right now. I'm so glad I was able to respec, finally, and get fearsome stare. It does cause mobs to occassionally run, but most of the time they just cower.
---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.1.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Dark Avalon 3
Level: 35
Archetype: Mastermind
Primary: Necromancy
Secondary: Dark Miasma
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Zombie Horde==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Dmg(7)Dmg(9)Dmg(11)Heal(34)
01) --> Twilight Grasp==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Heal(7)Heal(9)Heal(11)Rechg(15)
02) --> Tar Patch==> Rechg(2)Rechg(15)Slow(21)
04) --> Darkest Night==> TH_DeBuf(4)TH_DeBuf(5)TH_DeBuf(5)EndRdx(21)
06) --> Enchant Undead==> EndRdx(6)
08) --> Hasten==> Rechg(8)Rechg(19)Rechg(19)
10) --> Swift==> Run(10)
12) --> Grave Knight==> Acc(12)Acc(13)Dmg(13)Dmg(17)Dmg(17)Heal(34)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Shadow Fall==> DmgRes(16)EndRdx(33)
18) --> Soul Extraction==> Rechg(18)Rechg(25)Acc(25)Acc(31)
20) --> Health==> Heal(20)
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod(22)EndMod(23)EndMod(23)
24) --> Fearsome Stare==> Acc(24)Acc(27)Fear(27)Fear(33)Rechg(33)
26) --> Lich==> Acc(26)Acc(29)Fear(29)
28) --> Assault==> EndRdx(28)
30) --> Tactics==> TH_Buf(30)TH_Buf(31)TH_Buf(31)EndRdx(34)
32) --> Dark Empowerment==> Rechg(32)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Dmg(1)
01) --> Supremacy==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------
-Dark Avalon 34 Necro/Dark Miasma (Champion)
Nature's Wrath 12 Plant/Thorn Dominator
End Game 14 Assault Rifle/Radiation Corruptor
Nite Tremor: 37 Earth/Radiation Controller (Victory)
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I chose flight because:
A) The streets and buildings in the Rogue Isles are crazy. My wife got Super Leap, and she's always getting hung up on the lips of buildings--where as it was her favorite travel power in COH, she's constantly cursing it now.
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I swear the game makers decided to piss off the people who use SJ just because it's such a cheap and easy travel power. I wanted SJ versus Fly because Fly will use end and thus after I get to a mish, it would likely take me even more time to "unpack." I really didn't think of my toon as a flier either. Come respec time though, I'll very likely be taking Fly instead. My mm is already lvl20 and by the time i7 hits my flight time won't be bad via SO enchants. Before I do my respec I may just see what a multi slotted SJ does for me though. Sometimes I'm so close that maybe just one SO will put me over.
I just started this build last night and wow I'm enjoying it. I like how plays. Thanks for the build info. Only change I will go is with Fly or Teleport.
Ok, new to CoV, but I love the concept of this build already. Still, let me ask a REALLY dumb yet (to me) important question:
When it's all said and done, can this build summon 3 zombies AND 2 knights AND 1 lich AND 1 dark servant? I mean, a full army? Nothing in the power descriptions contradicts this, but I want to make absolutely sure before I start down this road--because the idea of a dark villain commanding such an awesome army appeals to me greatly. Thanks in advance.
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Ok, new to CoV, but I love the concept of this build already. Still, let me ask a REALLY dumb yet (to me) important question:
When it's all said and done, can this build summon 3 zombies AND 2 knights AND 1 lich AND 1 dark servant? I mean, a full army? Nothing in the power descriptions contradicts this, but I want to make absolutely sure before I start down this road--because the idea of a dark villain commanding such an awesome army appeals to me greatly. Thanks in advance.
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Yes. /Dark comes with a pet. So you can have the hencheman from your primary in addition to the pet from your secondary.
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I chose flight because:
A) The streets and buildings in the Rogue Isles are crazy. My wife got Super Leap, and she's always getting hung up on the lips of buildings--where as it was her favorite travel power in COH, she's constantly cursing it now.
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I swear the game makers decided to piss off the people who use SJ just because it's such a cheap and easy travel power. I wanted SJ versus Fly because Fly will use end and thus after I get to a mish, it would likely take me even more time to "unpack." I really didn't think of my toon as a flier either. Come respec time though, I'll very likely be taking Fly instead. My mm is already lvl20 and by the time i7 hits my flight time won't be bad via SO enchants. Before I do my respec I may just see what a multi slotted SJ does for me though. Sometimes I'm so close that maybe just one SO will put me over.
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Flights end usage is rather comical now compared to what it used to be. Since they changed it it's not hoggish at all anymore.
My Necro/dark is lvl 45 and I have a slightly different playstyle so here's my 2 cents.
I take the damage powers. There's something about my pets having all the fun and not being able to do any damage if they are dead or confused(any fire or toxic or caltrops laying around for instance) that bothers me. Sometimes it's just gravy on top of their damage, but I'd feel pretty weak with no actual damage powers. And I don't agree with being a support class. I solo alot and have since the early levels, quite unlike a controller or dominator, easily destroying everything in my path quickly and safely.
I had teleport for the longest time. It fit the concept, I could tp pets out of strange places, and tp friend is a power I always seem to take(impatient much?). But there are so many reasons to respec out of it too(I just did) or never take it. In Grandville, my lag was so bad, I'd drop to the ground and take falling damage, and sometimes aggro, every single time I'd teleport anywhere near the center of town. Coastlines were better, but I got tired of dying due to lag after a tp. My connection is fast, my cpu is older, your mileage may vary. Flight and air superiority are a nice change. I fly over the battles as my henchmen fight and if anybody dares to fly up to me(I stay in close range so my henchmen get all my stealth and leadership buffs) they get a brutal smackdown from my air superiority (on autoattack) and my henchmen immediately proceed to eat them alive. Tp friend on henchmen is less and less useful as the recent bugs pretty much have them either ignoring me consistently, or not. If they dont obey a follow command, if I try to tp them, they'll just go back to whatever they were doing before (attacking flaming ground or looking at walls) and I've even teleported them up elevators to have them just run away directly **through** a wall. If I upgrade my cpu, and they fix the henchmen bugs I may return to teleport.
I wouldn't slot darkest night that much that soon. Later on I do, but at level 5, with training enhancements, fighting minions and lts mainly white or yellow, I'd rather put the slots in damage for my zombies or gloom.
I use stamina, I run lots of toggles so it's a must. Haste I'm not so sure about, if only because (other than my damage powers) I only need my powers about once per fight. They recharge fast enough for the next mob. A tar patch, a cone fear, even the petrifying gaze all come up fast enough for me to use them pretty much at will. Plus the hasten aura is so not a necro/dark look.
I max slot all 3 minion sets as soon as I can. Zombies are 3 acc, 3 dam to get past the fact that they are lower level than me and by now I tend to fight reds and purples. I need the extra acc for them. Grave nights get a tohit debuff as these are my goto hack and slashers and I want the further debuffs(I agree that Khaiba's MM controls are great, but I use a single macro'ed goto command to send them to the front lines, it's rare that I ever attempt to split up my minions targetting). My lich gets a 6th slot in hold and I see him long term holding things all the time. Wish I could -knockback on them though haha (you'll see).
I run tactics and assault only, as shadow fall takes the place of manuevers. The extra damage and acc for all my minions once again ensures that I'll be able to quickly hit and kill red and purple enemies.
I take the rez. It really is optional, but I don't always carry awakens and I find that if anybody has them, they will share as they know that I can rez 5 people if there's just one awaken(for me). It fits my concept build as well.
I dont take the ghost(soul extraction). I found he didnt do enough damage, I didn't have enough pets dying, his recharge was too long, and his long long range snipe meant that if I didn't constantly tell him to go passive, he'd aggro mobs way before me or my team was ready.
On playstyle: Also due to lag(other peoples), I found many times when I am on full teams(or in cave maps), the number of minions I had was too many. Early on, I was in love with the idea that necro/dark had so many pets, but with even 2 MMs on a team, cave missions, office missions, arachnos lab missions all get way too laggy and hard to navigate with a full set of minions. So sometimes I just run with my two top tiers and forgo the zombies. In a pinch, I'll summon them for a kamikaze, and/or for a boss, I'll summon fluffy the dark servant. But many people don't like to have to fight their way through lots of stupid pets who block a doorway, and they can't see well because of all the dark effects like shadow fall(robot ff annoy me sometimes). So I try to be aware of the team size and map types and adjust accordingly. And quite often, I'll be spamming the goto macro telling my pets to get to one side, clear a door, or get to the back. Though impatient, I'll often either take a rear position in the group as they travel thru a mission, or tell my pets to stay put and then call them once we find the next enemies.
In targetting, I tend to focus all my pets on one enemy at a time. Slowly killing all the enemies means they get more attacks in, killing them one by one means I take one set of attacks out of the equation and the battle gets easier and easier with each kill. The only exception is when I start taking lots of aggro personally. I'll refocus all of them on whoever is giving me aggro (if I can't fear or hold them, which I usually can) or after they kill their first target, they tend to attack whoever attacked them last or is closest, so I let them aggro whoever that is further, and then refocus them on who I want them to kill next. That way they spread a wide aggro net and I'm free to fear, hold, and heal without being noticed really.
Fear is a great tool. Against knives, for instance, it is a great way to prevent the massive caltrops spam. Against most enemies they will simply root in place for a good 20 seconds trembling. So you can single target destroy 2 or 3 enemies before they even come out of it. A well placed hold or two for anybody who doesn't get hit by fear or resists it ensures that half the mob is gone before the fear wears off. With 2 acc, 2 hold, and 2 recharge in paralyzing stare, I routinely hold lieutentants and bosses even without the lich or dark servants help.
And in regards to 'unpacking', unless the mission is hugely difficult or I'm waiting on teammates, I tend to start the mission once the pets are out. The first couple of mobs I may lose a zombie or two, but I spend a lot of the fight casting all my pet enhancements on the lich and grave knights as they hack away. It saves time and I've noticed that if my grave nights are hanging back throwing dark blast, once I give them their first enhancement they immediately charge into battle to do sword strikes.
I have just respec'd from the initial guidelines, concentrating on END and damage.
Granted I am only lvl 20 at this point I am happier with changing to having TP Flight, then mostly DeBuffs and pets. I am up to raising Souls which is nice due to the ranged damage a spirit does, I am not sure how many times that comes in handy.
I also like my Tarpit, and I allways use my twilight night and darkest grasp, these combos make a Mob totally useless and basically sitting ducks for my minions.
I have toiled the idea of TP Foe, which may be my new power. Most of my slotting has been END centric with recasting in mind - especiall twilight, currently slotted with disorient, damage, timing. I plan to add more slots later so the mobs are disoriented instead of running away. I hate it when mobs run away.
I definiately like this better than when I had more damage abilities, I don't even miss any of my damage powers, although I do have the AXE of death, which is a verteran reward.
I can't wait to get more pets and eagerly await the liche....
Very good guide overall. But might I add a small tip that some may question but it is VERY effective. I took teleport foe as one of my skills, that coupled with shadow fall is lethal! (pve wise, not sure how this would work in pvp). There are some rooms that are questionable wether to have your pets kamakazi in and do their thing, this is where teleport foe comes in handy. I'd cluster my pets together, have shadowfall up(this lowers add chances), and start porting them into the middle of my pets. Have you ever seen hungry hyenas fight over a bone? Well this has the same effect. This works so well that people I've grouped with would go create the same build. I am by no means a good build creator, but I have to say this is a effective way to go. Shadow fall WILL lower your chances for added aggro, but i suggest picking off the lower level ones first and working your way to the higher levels. Just an option to look into. my mm is lvl 28 and I've solo'd her mostly through it.
OK, let me start this off by saying this right away ... I'm sure some MMs will disagree with me, but if you're playing your MM 'right', IMHO, you're going to be standing around, A LOT during a battle. Either waiting to jump in with a heal or some sort of debuff. My MM has *ZERO* direct damage abilities ... well, unless you count brawl.
This has occasionally made me a little bored, but you really are a support class ... you are there to support your minions (not the other way around) and your teamates. This sort of playstyle lends itself more to the people who liked being a controller in CoH.
Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy my Master Mind, but when I went to get involved in the action, I'll play my Dominator or Corruptor. And of the three, I solo far easier with my MM, who's level 28 now.
With that said, if you really want to be active in doing the damage to a MOB and not watching your teamates or minions do the damage, I'd suggest another build for you. OK, now that that is out of the way.
Necromancy ... gotta love the zombies. I chose Necromancy over the other three sets ... well, because I like the idea of enslaving the undead. I picked Dark Miasma because it has an awesome heal (my AoE heal is better than any corrupters) has two great debuffs Tar Patch and Darkest Night, and will allow me to have 8, yes 8, pets at one time. [3 Zombies, 2 Grave Knights, 1 Lich, 1 Harvested Soul via Soul Extraction and Dark Servant]. If that sounds appealing to you, then this is the way to go.
Now onto the build ... now if you haven't disagreed with me after my above diatribe, perhaps you'll disagree here. Then again, this is just a guide so, to each their own.
Level 1: Zombie Hoard & Twlight Grasp: Two awesome powers. Your first minion and the heal that'll save you, your minions, and your group many, many times over.
Recommended Slotting: *Zombie: 2 Acc, 3 Dmg || Twlight Grasp: 2 Acc, 3 Heal, 1 Recharge Reduction
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Level 2: Tar Patch: Yes, I picked this over Gloom and Dark Blast. I recently read something about a person picking these two powers and slotting them for better damage than the Leadership Pool Powers. I don't agree with that mentality, and the very meager punch you get out of these two spells is compensated by the fact your Grave Knights and Lich cast them. To me, Tar Patch's slow and damage increase potential far outweighs either direct damage spell.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Recharge Reduction
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Level 3: 1 Slot for Zombie, 1 Slot for Twilight
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Level 4: Darkest Night: I cast this spell often, and I do me often. Throw it on a boss, kill everything around the boss, then kill the boss. All the while, watching the MOBs miss you and your minions over and over. It's a great accuracy and damage debuffer. Fully SOs, the accuracy debuff is supposedly 54.58% and the dmg reduction is 28%. Who wouldn't want this?
Recommended Slotting: 3 ToHit Debuff, 1 Endurance Reduction
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Level 5: 2 Slots for Darkest Night. Yep, so you have 3 ToHit Debuffs right away for this spell, that's how much I like it.
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Level 6: Enchant Undead: Give your minions a boost! As a side note, woo who, your second 1st tier pet! Two zombies are better than one.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Endurance Reduction
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Level 7: Same as level 3 ... 1 Slot for Zombie, 1 Slot for Twilight.
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Level 8: Hasten: Everyone knows the benefit of hasten ... activate your powers quicker. Not as appealing with Issue6, but I still like it. Now, as an alternative, you may want to pick combat jumping or recall friend. The point being, this power leads up to your travel power, which you definitely want by 14. I picked hasten for the faster regen of tar patch, pets (will elaborate later), and twilight grasp. However, I do not feel hasten is an absolute.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Recharge Reduction
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Level 9: 1 Slot for Zombie, 1 Slot for Twilight Grasp
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Level 10: Swift: A build up to Stamina.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Run Speed
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Level 11: 1 Slot Zombie, 1 Slot Twilight
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Level 12: Grave Knight: Finally! The second tier pet. These Knights are very good melee warriors and cast a couple of spells. They are a bit stubborn though, in that sometimes you'll want them to go into melee and they'll just stand back casting Gloom and Dark Blast. So you just order them to move up next to the mob and it's real cool-looking sword time! By the way, the best bind setup I've ever seen is Khaiba's Mastermind Numeric Keypad Pet Controls aka Sandolphan. Look it up, very helpful.
Recommended Slotting: * 2 Acc, 3 Dmg
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Level 13: 2 Slots of Grave Knight
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Level 14: Super Speed: Ahhh travel power! So nice to see you. In the alternative, Super Jump or Teleport.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Run Speed
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Level 15: 2 Slot Grave Knight
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Level 16: Shadow Fall: A good spell, not only for the defensive buff and damage resistance, but it also makes you almost invisible. As in, you can walk past MOBs without aggroing them ... just don't stand next to them forever ... they'll eventually see you if perceptive enough. Do NOT confuse this will "Hide" that stalkers have. The MOBs will find you.
Recommended Slotting: * 3 Damage Resist (first), 3 Defense Buff (resistance better than defense, imho). You might be able to dodge, but your minions who will be -1 to -2 levels below you will get hit.
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Level 17: 1 Slot Twilight Grasp, 1 Slot Tar Patch
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Level 18: Soul Extraction: Pet die? No problem, 'raise' them with this and get a very unhappy soul to do your bidding? Downside? Recharge time is painful and he doesn't really like your ripping his soul out, so he'll leave you high and possibly dry, after awhile. Another side point, hello additional minion. You get your third, and final, 1st tier pet. 3 zombies + 1 Grave Knight = now we're moving.
Recommended Slotting: * 3 Recharge Reduction, 2 Accuracy, 1 Dmg
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Level 19: 2 Slot Hasten.
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Level 20: Health. Like swift, just a step power to get to Stamina.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Heal
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Level 21: 1 Tar Patch, 1 Darkest Night
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Level 22: Stamina: Great Power ... improves endurance recovery. I think this power is taken by 99% of the players I've ever seen.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Endurance Recovery Enhancer
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Level 23: 2 Slots for Stamina
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Level 24: Maneuvers: Some folks might argue this choice, but I say this will go a long way to help not just yourself, but your minions and your group mates. There isn't a single player out there who won't appreciate being on a team with a player who has some Leadership powers. Let alone be on a team when 2 or more folks have stacking leadership powers. My third sidepoint ... Grave Knight number two shows up. Now your running with five minions. Soloing is very easy now.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Defense Buff
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Level 25: 2 Slot Maneuvers
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Level 26: Lich: Your final 'true' pet. The Lich is pretty darn powerful. He has AoE spells, hold spells, can get fear spells later and can heal himself. As well as a bevy of dark attacks. I'm very happy with Mr. Lich, aka Life Reaper as I've named him.
Recommended Slotting: I haven't quite pinned this one down yet. I thought about 2 Accuracy, 3 Dmg. But when I get Dark Empowerment I know I'll change it for some Fear duration enhancer and Immobilization enhancers. The 2 Acc will always remain. I'm leanding towards, 2 Acc, 1 Dmg, 1 Fear, 1 Immob.
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Level 27: 2 Slot Lich.
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Level 28: Tactics: See above for my explaination regarding Maneuvers and partly Shadowfall. By this time your zombies will be -2 your level and your Grave Knights will be -1. Every Little bit helps.
Recommended Slotting: 3 ToHitt Buff
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**FROM HERE ON OUT, IT'S ALL SPECULATIVE. I HAVE NOT MADE IT PAST 28 ... YET**
Level 29: 2 Slot Lich
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Level 30: Assault: Once again, ever little bit helps.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Endurance Reduction
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Level 31: 2 Slot Tactics, 1 Slot Soul Extraction
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Level 32: Dark Empowerment. Yet another buff for your pet. * OK, you may have noticed I starred certain sections regarding "recommended slotting" I think at 32 or 33-ish, once I get this power, I will respec and remove 2 slots from Shadow Fall. I'm not sure about this, but I may put 1 Heal slot for my Zombies and Grave Knights as they will get Siphon Life with Dark Empowerment cast on them. My lich currently heals himself for 116 points, so I will not give him another slot for heal. Depending how much the Zombies and Knights heal for, and how often they use it, I may go this route.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Endurance Reduction
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Level 33: 3 Slot Shadow Fall
I haven't slotted shadow fall up til this point because I was waiting to have all other skills covered with SOs and only wanted an SO for this power.
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Level 34: 2 Slot Shadow Fall, 1 Slot Soul Extraction
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Level 35: Petrifying Gaze: No comments on this, but a hold spell is always good IMHO.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Acc, 2 Hold Duration
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Level 36: 1 Slot Petrifying Gaze, 2 Slot Soul Extraction
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Level 37: 2 Slot Petrifying Gaze, 1 Slot Soul Extraction
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Level 38: Dark Servant: No comments on this one yet either.
Recommended Slotting: He's a debuffer, so.... 3 Acc, 1 Immob, 1 Hold.
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Level 39: 3 Slot Dark Servant
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Level 40: 1 Slot Dark Servant, 1 Slot Grave Knight, 1 Slot Zombie (if I hadn't done the respect thing), or 2 Slot Shadow Fall. Who knows for sure.
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Once again, that's just how I see things working out for me, and so far, up to 28 it's worked out pretty darn well.
One last thing I would like to say is this, get over your fear of your pets dying, especially when you group. It's far better for your pets to die than to die yourself or have others die and get debt. You can always recast your pets or rip out their soul
I'd say I hope that helps, but that's not my style ... I'll say, if it doesn't help, maybe you should go back to being a hero.
-Dark Avalon 28 Necro/Dark Miasma (Champion)
Nature's Wrath 11 Plant/Thorn Dominator
End Game 10 Assault Rifle/Radiation Corruptor
Nite Tremor: 37 Earth/Radiation Controller (Victory)