The Ultimate Master Mind Guide! {I6}
I7 Update - Here what information is currently available on what new stuff will be available in I7 for Master Minds.
[*]Thugs Primary Power: Now that the information on the New Power Sets is available, I thought I'd post the Master Mind information and my opinions of them.<ul type="square">[*]Call Thugs - Calls forth one to three Thugs (depending on your level) to do your bidding. The third Thug you gain will be an Arsonist. Thugs use Dual Pistols and can be taught additional pistol attacks. You may only have 3 Thugs under your control at any given time. If you attempt to call more Thugs, you can only replace the ones you have lost in battle. If you already have three, the power will fail. Recharge: Very Long
This will be your 1st Tier Pet(s) available at level 1. It appears that they will do Lethal damage, and better damage at range.[*]Call Enforcer - Calls forth one to two Thug Enforcers (depending on your level) to do your bidding. Thug Enforcers carry a Sub-machine Gun, and possess good leadership skills. Their weapon of choice is an UZI, and can be equipped to carry up to 2 at once. You may only have 2 Thug Enforcers under your control at any given time. If you attempt to call more Enforcers, you can only replace the ones you have lost in battle. If you already have two, the power will fail. Recharge: Very Long
This will be your 2nd Tier pets and become available at level 12. Like the 1st tier pets, they will probably be doing mostly lethal damage and better at range. What leadership skills they'll have and their bonuses is still unknown.[*]Call Bruiser - Calls one massive Bruiser. He is strong, tough and has a mean temper. As a Brute, he will generate Fury and deal more damage the longer the combat lasts. His Super Strength powers means he favors hand-to-hand combat. He has resistance to Lethal and Smashing Damage and some resistance to Fire and Cold Damage. You may only have 1 Bruiser under your control at any given time. If you attempt to summon another Bruiser, the power will fail. Recharge: Very Long
This will be your 3rd Tier Pet and becomes available at level 26. Using the information about Super Strength Brutes, he'll probably be doing only Smashing damage at melee range.[*]Equip Thugs & Upgrade Equipment - These will be your First and Second Pet Upgrades (levels 6 and 32) respectively. Nothing about what they do to your Pets.[*]Gang War - Calls a gang of 10 or so Thug Posse to come to your aid for a brief while. Posse are not like your true Henchman. They cannot be given direct commands, nor will they appear in your pet window. You must select an enemy target to attack first before calling these Thugs. Posse are many, but they are very weak, and are only equipped with the most basic weapons. Although they will follow you, they are not as loyal as your Henchmen, and they will only stick around for a few minutes before taking off. Recharge: Very Long
This power will become available at level 18 and looks very interesting. A Posse of 10+ Thugs. However, you probably won't be able to keep this up continously even with Haste and you won't be able to upgrade them. That and the fact that you can't control them means they're running around in Aggressive mode and having the same problems as leaving your pets in Aggressive mode. And with that many of them, lag may become a problem. :[*]Pistols, Dual Wield, and Empty Clips - Three new pistol (probably Lethal damage) attacks available at levels 1, 2, and 8 respectively.[/list]
To be honest, I don't know how to rate this. There will be advantages and disadvantages. Lethal damage is highly resisted in the higher levels, and Smashing Damage (from your Bruiser) is the most resisted in the game. Having your pets in two parts - Bruiser in Melee, everyone else at range - may be good or bad. With the Bruiser in Melee your other pets (especially the 1st Tier Pets) will last a lot longer since they're not together so AoEs will only affect the Bruiser or the everyone else. However, with Dark Miasma - due to it's PBAoE heal - you won't be able to heal both the Bruiser and your other pets at the same time.
[*]Secondary Power Sets:<ul type="square">[*]Nothing New - Unfortunately, no new Secondary Power Sets will become available for the Master Mind. However, I reciently read another post where someone stated that their first MM was a Necro/Dark and he thought that Necromancy was overpowered. Much later he played several other combinations of MMs and found out that it wasn't Necromancy that was overpowered, it was Dark Miasma's power (compared to the other Secondaries). I agree with this, Dark Miasma is the best secondary by far.[/list][*]Patron Power Pools: (you can read about them here)<ul type="square">[*]Leviathan Mastery - Captain Mako will embolden you with the knowledge of the Coralax and their mysterious powers over the seas.
Three Lethal Damage attacks (one includes a hold) and one shield (Shark Skin - This improves your Damage Resistance to Lethal, Smashing and Cold damage).[*]Mace Mastery - Black Scorpion will give you access to an Arachnos Mace, and teach you how to use it in battle.
An interesting set. Two webs (one AoE, one more powerful but single target, no damage holds), a shield (Scorpion Shield - This shield grants you Defense to Lethal, Smashing and Energy attacks, as well as improves your Damage Resistance to Toxic damage), and an attack (cone - Kinetic - probably Smashing - damage). This set might be nice if you want a couple of webs.[*]Mu Mastery - Scirocco will instruct you on the Way of Mu, ancient techniques that give access to the lightning-based powers of the ancient race.
Three Electrical (Energy) based attacks that also drain endurance (one holds can also give you some of that drained endurance) and one shield (Charged Armor - Toggle - Makes you highly resistant to Smashing, Lethal, and Energy damage).[*]Soul Mastery - Ghost Widow will teach you how to corrupt and utilize souls of the dead to damage and hinder your enemies.
To me, this looks like the best set and will fit nicely with Dark Miasma secondary. It has another power like Shadow Fall (Dark Embrace - although it is probably self only - not your pets) and grants resistance to Lethal, Smashing, Negative Energy, and Toxic damage. You can also get three negative-energy based attacks; two cones - one of which holds, and a single target hold.[/list]Just by reading the descriptions, I think Soul Mastery is going to be the best. Time will tell.
This post goes into great detail about Master Minds and their power sets. The MM Archtype is primarily designed around getting your Henchment (Pets) to do the dirty work for you. Master Minds make great solo players and team players, however, they don't do very well in PvP since the MM has low health and other players will ignore your pets since when you go down, so do your pets.
They are highly resistant to Disorient, Fear, Sleep, and Slow. They are also fairly resistant to Psionic damage and somewhat resistant to Cold, Negative Energy, and Toxic damage. However, they seem to take extra damage from fire.[*]Ninjas - The power of your Ninjas are primarily designed around attacking at melee range, although they do get ranged attacks. They can do Lethal and Fire damage. They are highly resistant to Confuse and Taunt effects, and they're slighlty resistant to all attacks. They are also slightly faster than the other pets choices. Personally, I believe that Undead are a better choice for melee based pets.[*]Robotics - The robots attacks are primarily designed for ranged attacks that are energy and fire based (depending on the pet and upgrades). Your 2nd tier pets (Protector Bots) can heal your other bots with the first upgrade. With the final upgrade on your 3rd tier pet (Assault Bot), it has nice AoE attacks. Bots are very resistant to Disorient, Fear, and Sleep. They are also fairly resistant to Cold, Lethal and Psionic damage. Bots seem to take extra damage from Energy (and maybe Negative Energy), although I have no proof of this.[*]Thugs - To be released in I7. Very little information is currently available about them and I'm not going to speculate on what powers they're going to have.[/list]Although you could get by with any of these choices, Necromancy and Robotics are the better ones (with the higher resists). And Necromancy with it's extra pet is a nice bonus. The real choice is between Melee and Ranged attacks. Melee attacks do more damage, however, your pets will also be taking more damage (and thus be going down faster).
[*]Force Field - You put up force fields to proctect yourself and your team-mates/pets. I've found this to be a lot more difficult than most of the other secondaries. At level 1 you get Force Bolt (tiny damage - mainly used for it's knockback). The knockback effect can be a pain since now your pets have to chase the target, you frequently knockback into another spawn of enemies, and you can knockback into the wall (making it impossible to hit - a real pain). At level 16 you can get Personal Force Field - however, it doesn't stop every attack and it blocks the effects of Supremacy and the Leadership power pools, and you can't summon/upgrade pets while it's active (although it's pretty good "oh-my-god" power to get you out of trouble, to/from missions, and for ambushes). It's not until level 20 - when you can get Dispersion Bubble - that this set really beings to shine. And once you get SOs, it really helps reduce the damage taken.[*]Poison - You use poisons to help your friends and hurt your enemies. This is a pretty good choice. At level 1 you get a single-target heal (for your team-mates/pets, not yourself). It's not as good as the Dark Miasma one, but you'll never miss. At level 16 you can get Elixir of Life - single target revive - to use on fallen team-mates (it doesn't work on pets). When you revive someone, they are more powerful (+Acc, +Dam, +End recovery, and +Recharge). After 90 seconds, they become weak and can do nothing but puke for a while.
You also get some nice debuffs throughout the secondary.[*]Traps - You use devices to help your team-mates/pets and hurt your enemies. At level 1 you get Web Grenade (Immobilize, -Fly, -Recharge). At level 4 you can get Triage Beacon (immobile object that gives +Healing Rate to anyone within 20 feet). Overall, it's pretty good secondary, but the Triage Beacon doesn't really heal well, has no revive ability, and can draw aggro as they go after the person doing damage.[*]Trick Arrow - You shoot your bow to hurt your enemies and reduce their effectiveness. What can I say about this except that it sucks? No healing or revive, no buff team-mates/pets, just hurt/debuff your enemies. As a MM, hurting enemies is a problem since you'll get attacked instead of your pets.[/list]Personally, I like the ability to heal my pets that way I don't have to re-summon and re-upgrade them. Debuffing enemies while doing little or no damage is also important. Reviving fallen team-mates is pretty good bonus. Overall, I'd rank the secondaries as: #1 - Dark Miasma (who can say no to yet another pet at level 38?), #2 - Poison, #3/#4 - Traps/Force Field (it's a tough choice), and #5 Trick Arrow (I'd put it even lower if I could).
Group Fly just sucks since your team-mates/pets fly slower than you and you/they get a massive -Acc. Team-mates also complain since that can't choose not to have it affect them.[*]Leadership - +Dam (Assault: +12%), +Def (Maneuvers: +2.75% or better), and +Acc (Tactics: +10% or better, Resist Fear, and help you see those invisible/hidden enemies). Just what the MM needs, even more improvements on his/her team-mates/pets, although Vengance doesn't work on fallen pets (skip this one). I highly recommend this power pool![*]Leaping - Super Jump is a pretty good movement power. Most walls in CoV are designed so that 3 SO Jump Enhancements will get you over them. Combat Jumping adds a nice defense boost and increases your jump height. Too bad you can't have both active at the same time to really increase your jump height.
Don't take Jump Kick. Acrobatics might be nice to get the minor resistance to knockback and hold.[*]Medicine - Probably a skip set unless you have Force Fields, Trick Arrow, or maybe even Traps as your secondary. Aid Other/Aid Self would be nice to decrease your down-time between combats. I don't know if Stimulant works on your pets, although I do know that Resuscitate (revive) doesn't work on the pets.[*]Presence - Yet another skip set. You don't need to taunt your foes since this will give you a lot of aggro that you'd rather have on your pets. Getting Intimidate and Invoke Panic might be nice, but your slots are probably better used elsewhere.[*]Speed - Although Hasten has really taken a hit since you can really only 3-slot it with Recharge Reducers (thus not have perma-haste), I still like it. The Second Pet Upgrade has a long recharge and this reduces the time it takes. Some of your better secondary abilities have a long recharge and this helps them too. Super Speed isn't a very good movement power in CoV where vertical movement is almost a must. However, in PvP it could really help you escape (although the +Stealth bonus doesn't works against other players).[*]Teleportation - This is the fastest movement power in the game. Super Speed and Teleport in PvP are probably the best combination of powers to get you into combat and out of trouble fast. Recall Friend is great to get team-mates/pets out of trouble (or walls if they get stuck) or to the to the mission faster. Teleport Foe also comes in handy during PvP and PvE, however it takes practice to understand it's full potential. The only problem with this set is that you don't get one with a +DEF like Combat Jumping or Hover.[/list]These are a matter of choice and personal preferance. I've just given my opinions of them, although it's hard to find a MM without Leadership. 
[*]Pets don't level when you do! - When you level, your pets stay at the level they were when summoned. Normally, it's best to dismiss then resummon your pets to up their level. Especially at the lower levels. There are a few exceptions;
[*]Run Away - You're not a fighter, you're a Master Mind. You use others to do the dirty work for you. When your pets are going down fast, get out (hopefully you'll be out of aggro range when the last of your pets fall). Make sure you turn off any enemy toggles so they can't follow it back to you. Elevators and mission doors (to get out) are a great way to lose your foe (some ambushers will follow you through the elevator). You have low heath and scrapping it out really isn't an option.[*]Who to attack first? - This actually depends on how well your pets stand up and what you're fighting. It's usually best to focus all your pets on the toughest enemy first (usually the Lt+ or the minions with AoEs - Longbow Flamethrowers come to mind). If your pets fall too fast, run, resummon/upgrade, then start taking out the minions first (you'll have to repeat this until just the Lt+ is standing).[*]Levels 1-5 - This is before you get your second 1st tier minion and the first upgrade. Send the pets in to get aggro before you use one of your powers. If there's a LT or better present, then you need to "clear out" the other spawns before you take on the Lt's spawn. Then have your pets attack the LT. If your pet falls before the Lt does, try to resummon your pet real fast to get the aggro off you. Then have your pet finish off his/her minions. If there is a Boss+ present, use the above strategy to take out their minions before taking on the Boss+.[*]Levels 6-11 - Now you have two 1st tier pets and the first upgrade. While it's true that they're now -1 to your level when you summon them, having a second pet really helps. Add in the first upgrade and your pets are a lot more effective.[*]Levels 12-17 - Now you get your first 2nd tier pet. Life gets a lot easier. Remember to use the first upgrade on this pet.[*]Levels 18-23 - Now you have three 1st tier pets and all of them are -2 to your level. They seem to go down a lot faster due to this and you'll be spending more time resumming/upgrading them. Make sure that you have them at least 3-slotted with Accuracy enhancements.[*]Levels 24-25 - Now you get your second 2nd tier pet and both are -1 to your level. Don't worry, it doesn't last long.[*]Levels 26-31 - Now you have your 3rd tier pet and life is a lot easier. 6 pets running around - ALL with the first upgrade - defeating anything in your path.[*]Levels 32+ - The second pet upgrade! This is what you've been waiting for! Your hoard becomes practically unstoppable![*]Difficulty Settings - Villainous is the default setting (with 2-3 enemies per spawn at your level or +1), and I'd leave it here until you're at least level 6 (with the first upgrade). Vicious (+1 or +2 to enemy level, 2-3 enemies per spawn) and Relentless (+2 or +3 to enemy level and 2-3 enemies per spawn) are a lot better than Malicious (with 4-6 enemies per spawn at your level or +1) or Ruthless (+1 or +2 to enemy level AND 4-6 enemies per spawn) since larger spawns are a lot tougher than higher level spawns. However, those larger spawns are worth a lot more XP/Infamy than the higher level spawns.[/list]These have worked well for me, I hope they help you.
[*]Common Master Mind Powers:<ul type="square">[*]Supremacy - This is your Archtype power. It's always on and drains no endurance. It give close-by pets that can see you (about 65 feet range with direct Line Of Sight - LOS) a 15% bonus to accuracy and damage. Too bad you can't slot it.[*]Summon 1st Tier Pet(s) - You can choose this power at level one as the second choice on the list. This is always a better choice than the single target attack as the other choice. This pet is at your level from 1-5. At level 6 you get your second one of these and both become -1 to your level (example - you're level 8 so when you use this power, you will summon two 1st tier pets at level 7). You get your third and final 1st Tier Pet at level 18 and all three are at -2 to your level. Fortunatly, you only have to use this power once to get all of them since it has a 90 second recharge. Slotting this power affects the summoned pets so Accuracy and Damage enhancements are always a good choice.[*]First Pet Upgrade - This choice is available at level 6. It gives one pet more attacks so they can attack more often and thus they'll do more damage (you have to do this to each pet so they can use the additional attacks). This power also lasts until the pet has been defeated, so you don't have to keep putting this on the pets. This will also upgrade your 2nd and 3rd Tier Pets so they have additional attacks also. Do yourself a favor and get this as soon as possible. I normally don't put extra slots in this and just put in one Endurance Reducer or one Recharge Reducer (it normally takes six seconds to recharge).[*]Summon 2nd Tier Pet(s) - This tends to be a more powerful pet than the first tier and is available at level 12. Remember this pet also needs the First Upgrade to be effective. You get your second one of these at level 24 (and like the First Tier pets, it's at your level when you can summon only one, and -1 to your level when you can have two at levels 24+). Slotting affects the summoned pet, so again slotting for accuracy and damage is a good choice.[*]Summon 3rd Tier Pet - This is your "Ultimate" pet. You only get one of these, so it is always at your level when you summon it. It will have the best attacks and other effects. It will be available at level 26.[*]Second Pet Upgrade - This is your last Primary power choice available at level 32 and it stacks with your First pet upgrade (you need both upgrades on you pets to give them all the attacks/abilities). However, it has a high endurance cost and long recharge (60 seconds). I recommend that you upgrade your 3rd tier pet first due to this.[/list]Other than Supremacy, all of these powers are from your Primary Power set. Summoning Pet(s) will replace fallen pets, but will fail if you already have your maximum number of them. Since these are all great powers, and every MM should get them as soon as possible.
[*]Primary Power Sets:<ul type="square">[*]Mercenaries - This set is primarily designed around fighting with guns at range. They do mostly lethal damage, which becomes highly resisted at the higher levels (they can also do Fire and Toxic damage depending on the pet and upgrades). Although they do have a melee attack, it's better to have them attacking at range since they have better ranged attacks. Your third 1st tier pet is a Medic (at level 18 who can heal you and your team-mates in addition to your pets), although his attacks aren't as good as the other two 1st tier pets. Mercs are highly resistant to Confuse and Placate, and are somewhat resistant to Smashing and Lethal damages. Personally, I believe that Robotics are a better choice for ranged based attacks.[*]Necromancy - This set is primarily designed around Melee attacks. Although they do have ranged attacks, it's better to have them beating on your enemies. They can do Lethal, Toxic and Negative Energy damage - depending on the upgrades on them. They can also self-heal (3rd tier pet with the first upgrade, 1st and 2nd tier pets with the second upgrade). You can also have another pet with "Soul Extraction" (available at level 18 - use this power on a defeated pet) then summon a replacement.
[*]Secondary Power Sets:<ul type="square">[*]Dark Miasma - You use the power of the Netherworld to debuff your opponents. This is my personal favorite. At level 1 you get a PBAoE heal (Twilight Grasp) that will heal you and nearby friends/pets while debuffing the targeted enemy (however, you have to hit that enemy to get it to work so missing really sucks - and you'll miss a lot until you get at least 2 accuracy DOs). At level 10 you can get an AoE revive for team-mates (Howling Twilight - again, you need an enemy, however, it's an auto-hit power and it doesn't revive your fallen pets). At level 16 you can get a PBAoE stealth field (Shadow Fall). There are also a bunch of great debuffs available. And at level 38 you can get another pet with Dark Servant.
[*]Power Pools:<ul type="square">[*]Concealment - A nice Power Pool if you plan on PvP and it can come in handy in PvE. Although Stealth slows you, it's a nice power. Grant Invisibility for your team-mates/pets (although it only lasts 2 minutes). Invisibility will break Line of Sight (LoS) for your pets, meaning that they lose the bonus from Supremacy and the Leadership power pools. A pretty good set, although there are probably better choices for PvE.[*]Fighting - Probably a Skip set. You really don't need the attacks. Tough & Weave only protect you from Smashing & Lethal damage.[*]Fitness - I like this set. Swift & Hurdle give you extra maneuverability/escape during combat. Health means less downtime between fights. Stamina helps since most of your secondary click/toggle powers hurt your Endurance.[*]Flight - Although I really enjoy flying, it's the slowest movement power. Hover is a nice added defense and will help you get over walls and add defense, however, it's even slower than walking.
[*]Master Mind Problems:<ul type="square">[*]Your Pets are stupid! - In theory, you could use your pets as a "fire and forget" type weapon. However, it's far better to keep a tight leash on them. Having all your pets attacking the same target is a good way to get rid of it. If someone is foolish enough to attack you, unleashing the power of your hoard upon them is a quick way to get them to forget about you. When they're in melee range, they won't use their ranged attacks (and vice-versus). If they're better at range, stop them from running in. If they're better at melee, force them to run in. Don't let them chase most runners since they will quickly leave your Supremacy/Leadership range and they will frequently run into even more enemies (and this can be painful). The only exception to this is when you have to stop that boss from leaving. Setting them to Defensive mode is far better than Aggressive since they will only attack anything that attacks them. I've had frequent problems with my pets running off to attack another group of enemies that are ignoring us while leaving some of those still attacking behind
* Level 6 - I really like the first upgrade, and if the mission door is close to a trainer, I'll exit and train. As a minimum, you just need to use the summon pet power to get the second one (the first pet is level 5, now you can have 2 at level 5 so you don't need to resummon the first one).
* Levels 12 and 26 - Now you can learn to summon a new pet. Again, if your mission is close to a trainer, go get it!
* Level 18 - Now you get your third 1st tier pet. Although you still have to resummon your 2nd tier pet to up it's level, the 1st tier pet doesn't need upgrading since you'll get three at level 16 and the two you have are at level 16. Just summon to get the third.
* Level 24 - Now you get your second 2nd tier pet. Just like level 6, you just need to summon and upgrade it since both will be level 23.[*]When you are defeated! - All your pets instantly fall. That's why it's so important to keep the aggro on your pets instead of you. Everyone in PvP knows this, so they'll go straight to you ignoring your pets. As a solo MM (PvE or PvP), it's better to go to the hospital then use an inspiration unless those that defeated you are no longer around. On a team, wait for someone to revive you or finish off the enemies before using the inspiration.[*]Take care of your pets - and they will take care of you. That's why I like DM so much. Heaing them in combat means that you don't have to resummon them and then re-upgrade them. When your pets can Self-heal, it makes your life a lot easier (Robotics and Necromany do, Mercenaries maybe (the Medic isn't very reliable), and Ninjas don't - Thugs unknown)! Also, debuffing your enemies so your pets take less damage is another "Wow - this is great!"[*]"Zoning" SUCKS! - Whenever you change map zones or enter/exit a mission, all your pets go away! This really sucks since you have resummon/upgrade them and sometimes there are enemies waiting for you.[*]Recall Friend will greatly help your Team and Pets! - Sometimes your pets become stuck, and this is a great way to get them unstuck. Just be careful that if you've told them to "Stay" or "Go To" they'll try to run back there. Getting everyone to a mission door means faster mission.[*]Wait to upgrade all your pets! - It's a time/endurance hog summoning and upgrading all your pets! While it's better to do it solo, waiting to upgrade is better than having everyone else stand around waiting for you on a team.[*]Be careful of your slotting! - Any slots you put into the pets affect the pets, not the summoning (putting recharge reducers in it will make the pets attack faster, not how fast you summon them). And you can slot your pets for abilities they won't get until upgraded. Example: Necromancy - you can slot your 1st tier pets for Healing at level 1, but it will have NO EFFECT until they get the second upgrade (level 32) that gives them the ability to self-heal.[/list]Remember - you solo well since you're a mini-team. Although teaming really won't hurt you, you really don't need to team unless you're doing a Strike Force.
[*]Master Mind Strategy and Tactics for PvE:<ul type="square">[*]Best Missions;
* Defeat ______ and crew - These are great. Just run through the mission and find your objective. Defeat him/her/it and everyone in the room to get the mission completed.
* Steal {item(s)} from _____ - These are good, and at higher levels you get extra Infamy and/or Prestige just for clicking on the item(s) in agent missions (I don't think you get the extra infamy/prestige from newspaper missions). You just run through the mission while laying waste to anyone blocking your path and find the item(s). Sometimes there will be an ambush that runs to your location (when there are "false items" that you have to search through to find the right one - watch Global chat for the ambushers talking about you). You usually only have to clear out the last room as a minimum to finish the mission, not the ambushers. Sometimes, not even that.
* Rescue/Kidnap - These missions tend to be ok. Most of the time you have have to escort a non-combatant NPC out of the mission WITHOUT stealth (Concealment Power Pool and Dark Miasma's Shadow Fall - they can't see you so they can't follow you) thus the ambushers can see you. Sometimes these missions act the same as "Defeat _____" (you defeat the person and his/her/its spawn and mission completed). And sometimes you get yet another pet that will fight with you. I have successfully gotten far enough away and watched the ambushers run by, then I've had a "free run" back to the entrance. I've also seen people say they use a bunch of +DEF inspirations and just run past all the ambushers. Combatant NPCs are tough too. Although they can follow you while hiding, they'll fight anything in their aggro range (sometimes getting themselves killed). Also some "Ambushes" are just a group or two that spawn between you and the exit. Before you defeat the people guarding the NPC you have to rescue/kidnap, defeat everyone between you and the exit that way you don't have to fight them in addition to the ambushers.[*]Worst Mission Types;
* Heists - These missions are the just plain tough. Frequently there are some guards that spawn close to the door, attacking you before you get a chance to summon any pets (the "Zoning" SUCKS! bug). After you've gotten the objective, there's usually 3 ambushes you have to defeat to get the mission completed. Bank jobs are even harder since the ambushers aggro on you and tend to ignore your pets and team-mates - this makes teaming your bank jobs even tougher. Bank jobs also spawn 3 ambushes when you get to the vault door (best to take out these ambushes before you take out the vault door) in addition to the three that spawn once you get the objective. With non-bank jobs, the ambushers will usually run to where you were and then de-agro (allowing you to regoup and get the aggro on your pets where it belongs). With Bank jobs (since the Ambushers know exactly where you are), I've found the best way is to clear out the entire map. Then put your pets in the doorway in aggressive mode (tell them to stay), then run up to the vault door to start the ambushes. Run to one side of a doorway and (this sometimes gets the aggro on your pets since they'll attack before you are in the Line of Sight of the guards). Once all the ambushes are defeated, take out the Vault door. Grab the loot and sometimes you get Mission Completed (even though this starts more ambushes, just hit the Exit button when it appears). Otherwise, use the same strategy for the other ambushes.
* Defeat All ______ - I just don't like these since they're tedious and ususally there is no big Lt+ at the end. Although it's not too difficult. If think you've cleared out the map and still not getting mission completed (I've had one stuck inbetween some crates making that one hard to find), just run through the mission with your pets in aggressive mode. Eventually they'll find it.
[*]Master Mind Strategy and Tactics for PvP:<ul type="square">[*]You Suck! - You suck at PvP, get used to it. If you really want to be good at PvP, go play another class. Solo PvP is even harder - it's easy for a team of heros to come along and put you in the dirt (not very heroic in my opinion). You think your hoard will protect you. However, players will ignore your pets to go straight to you.[*]Team Up! - Your best defense in PvP is having other players around you. The more targets they have to choose from, the better.[*]Hide! - There are several ways to hide. Besides the Concealment power pool and Shadowfall from Dark Miasma, make a costume just for PvP. If you can look like one of your pets, you'll be a lot harder to "pick out" in the crowd. Having a bright orange costume and flaming red hair is an easy way to get targeted. Reduce your character's height (adjust the "leg" and Physique and you'll seem less threatening. Use this to your advantage![/list]I really don't like PvP, so there is probably more information available out there.
[*]Final Note:
There's a LOT of information above. Hopefully it will help you make the Master Mind of your dreams and someone else's nightmare!