McBeans Guide to Thug Life (Thug Mastermind Guide)
By
Burly,
Posted on: 2006-06-11 16:19 in Player Guides
Secondary Powers
Twilight Grasp
The Villain channels negative energy through himself to a targeted foe. Twilight Grasp drains the power from that target and slowly transfer it to yourself and all allies near you. The targeted foes accuracy and damage is reduced while you and your nearby allies are healed. Twilight Grasp can only heal you and your allies as long as there is a valid target to steal power from. This power is the power that is going to keep you alive for most of your vile career. When slotted properly, you can heal up to 400 hP whenever you successful land a hit. This heal does not 100% always hit, so you can enhance with 2 Acc or 3 Acc, I made a choice of 2, and added a debuff so that when it hits an enemy, they can't hit as good as normal (good for PvP too).
Tar Patch
Drops a large patch of viscous negative energy which dramatically Slows down enemies that run through it. This power is going to be your best power, if not your most used power when it is available, this tar patch slows enemies down so that you can take them down before they even have a chance to touch you or your pets. This power also has a -res to those enemies affected within the tarpatch. Also helps your pets, team members do a bit more damage to the enemy player or mobs.
Darkest Night
While active, the Villain channels negative energy onto a targeted foe. Darkest Night decreases the damage potential of the target, and all foes near the target, as long as you keep the power active. If you have ever PVP'd alot like I have, base raids, pvp zones, arena, ect. You will know this is your most powerful secondary power you have. Select Target > Click. Your set. The target will rarely, if almost never get a single hit on you, or your pets. PVP zones, people will try to run away from you when this is cast on them because simply, they cannot hit you. Take it, slot it, enjoy it!
Howling Twilight
Activating this power channels the power of the netherworld to weaken your foes in an attempt to revive all nearby fallen allies. You must stand near your defeated allies to revive them, then select a foe. Selected foe and all foes around the target will be Slowed, Disoriented, and drained of some life. Revived allies suffer no ill effects and the more enemy foes are drained, the more your ally will be healed. Unless you team alot, which most people who I know play masterminds do, you solo alot. This power is never taken by me personally, as I never really need it, had it at one point, cast it every now and then, but got rid of it in a respec because it was not benefical to me as a mastermind.
Shadow Fall
Envelopes the Hero and all nearby teammates in a shroud of darkness. It does not make the Hero and his allies invisible, but it makes them much harder to see as long as you don't get too close or don't attack. Even if discovered, Shadow Falls grants a bonus to Defense while it reduces energy, negative energy, and psionic damage. Shadow Fall reduces the casters movement speed. A great power in my opinion, with super jump your moving fast enough to not be seen by enemies, but is really heavy on endurance - but in the end worth it. Slot with one End Red, and slot with 3 Dmg Res and you will be good to go.
Fearsome Stare
Instills tremendous Fear within a cone area in front of the caster and causes all affected targets to run away in terror. Well, this power does not make the enemies run away, but rather stand there shaking in their boots, since alot of players and mobs don't have resistances to fear, this is a great power to have on big mobs, hit fear > tar patch, and send your pets in!
Petrifying Gaze
Petrifies a single targeted foe with an terrifying gaze. The victim is held and defenseless. I would skip this power, single targeted fear isn't as good as fearsome stare, take it instead of fearsome if you want, slot them same, but I would highly suggest that you don't
Black Hole
Opens up a Black Hole that temporarily pulls all foes within the affected area into another universe. The phase shifted victims become completely intangible, are hard to see, and cannot affect or be affected by those in normal space. Easy words, just skip it.
Dark Servant
Summons a Dark Servant to your aid. The Dark Servant possesses an assortment of dark powers to weaken your foes. The summoned entity is not a willing servant, and it is only your power that partially binds it in this realm. If you considered gangwar as another pet, well consider this your 9th pet, has a few hold powers, a heal, an immobolizing power, and a fear instilling power. This is offically called my "Oh $hit button" great to have along with your others pets even if it does not stay for the lonest of time. Long recharge.
While I admit the mastermind attacks aren't *great*; and you don't need them - - it should be pointed out that one can have and use them practically; and for me at least its more fun that way. Like I said; it's not *necessary*; but they can be worth having, if only for the fun factor.
There is also, one particularly practical use for them (thanks to bodyguard). If you happen to be a lazymind; leaving your pets on Defensive/Follow (Ie: Bodyguard) you can shoot the next spawn; and it'll attack you (ticking of your pets); meanwhile, you take very little damage from the incomming fire as your pets soak it up (and disperse it).
Just don't do that against AoE heavy bosses - otherwise, it works quite well and its fun to finish enemies yourself.
Anyways; just thought I'd put in a plug as to why you might want to take those powers; even if they aren't great; they're fun, have a couple niche uses ^^m worth taking if you like that style; but as you say, skippable.
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While I admit the mastermind attacks aren't *great*; and you don't need them - - it should be pointed out that one can have and use them practically; and for me at least its more fun that way. Like I said; it's not *necessary*; but they can be worth having, if only for the fun factor.
There is also, one particularly practical use for them (thanks to bodyguard). If you happen to be a lazymind; leaving your pets on Defensive/Follow (Ie: Bodyguard) you can shoot the next spawn; and it'll attack you (ticking of your pets); meanwhile, you take very little damage from the incomming fire as your pets soak it up (and disperse it).
Just don't do that against AoE heavy bosses - otherwise, it works quite well and its fun to finish enemies yourself.
Anyways; just thought I'd put in a plug as to why you might want to take those powers; even if they aren't great; they're fun, have a couple niche uses ^^m worth taking if you like that style; but as you say, skippable.
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Well they may be fun to some people - that's there own choices, (not meant to be in a rude way) but those attacks are completely useless to me, there are other powers that you could use instead of choosing one of the Masterminds offensive powers. It's the users choice whether or not to use them, I just stated to me they were pointless in the higher levels.
I choose not to use them simply because of all the wonderful debuffs and things in the secondary set then wasting them on "fun powers". If you want to have fun with those powers then choose them by all means. You want to be a decent team member, Strikeforce member, ect. You want someone who knows how to build strong characters, taking those powers aren't strategic - but then again, it's up to the user. Simply my opinion 
I thank you for your feedback, this is my first attempt at a "serious" guide, and I hope it does help someone figure out how to use masterminds, or help them build a solid character.
--McBean
Next I will go over the basic power pools I used for this character.
Leadership
I took both Maneuvers & Tactics - for the sole purpose of extra accuracy and extra defense - and skipped every other power. You can notice this difference when you toggle them on/off when in battle, so try to keep them running whenever in a fight.
Leaping
I took leaping only because of the layouts of the zones, very hard to maneuver around with superspeed, fly is to slow, teleportation is a bad travel power (again, in my opinion). Now back to Leaping. The very first power you should take is Combat Jumping for the extra defense. When in battle, turn it on > your good to go. Hit level 14, and you got your travel power "Super Jump".
Fitness
Fitness is the main power pool that almost 99% of people take, only for stamina. You need this power when constantly summoning your pets, and running a few toggles. You can take either Hurdle or Swift, I took swift only to run a little bit faster, as well as Health for a little bit of health regeneration.
Teleportation
No travel power taken from this, but I took recall friend only because sometimes pets get stuck in certain areas of maps, or they are just way to slow. Also when in teams, you can recall your team members. That is about it for this power pool.
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If you want to have fun with those powers then choose them by all means. You want to be a decent team member, Strikeforce member, ect. You want someone who knows how to build strong characters, taking those powers aren't strategic - but then again, it's up to the user. Simply my opinion
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Isn't the point of playing this game to have fun. My thug MM is my second MM, my first being a robt/ff MM. I agree that for him taking any of the offensive powers is pointless as they take too long to recycle and just don't have enough DPS. He summons his pets, buffs them and sends them into combat while trying to avoid getting shot at. If I wanted to play that style then I have no need for a second MM. However so far I have found the Thug MM attacks to be of much higher DPS. First, you don't get a heal power in your primary and I beleive they comepensate this powerset by giving it more offense. With the new bodyguard feature a Thug MM can actually attack without dying and it is a lot of fun when you line up with your Thugs and start blasting away. I don't know what the attacks are like at higher levels but I play this game to have fun and have been since the 3rd wave of beta and I have no intention of changing that philosphy. CoH is also a well balanced game that does not require any specific power sets to complete missions but simply requires players that pay attention and know how to use their own toon with the powers they have.
I'm not critisizing your decision to avoid these attacks but did want to point out that they can be appropiate depending on your goals.
Well, I think more important than whether you think you should use the Offensive powers or not, is the point (which I see lacking in many guides) that you can have the best of both, at lower levels you can take the Offensive, take the recall friend port, take whatever you might not want at higher levels, and then just respec out of it in the high 20s low 30s or again in the high 30s...
I think a Great guide would have a Start up choice of powers, to say mid-20s and then the respec set of powers that will take you to the higher levels.
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Darkest Night
While active, the Villain channels negative energy onto a targeted foe. Darkest Night decreases the damage potential of the target, and all foes near the target, as long as you keep the power active. If you have ever PVP'd alot like I have, base raids, pvp zones, arena, ect. You will know this is your most powerful secondary power you have. Select Target > Click. Your set. The target will rarely, if almost never get a single hit on you, or your pets. PVP zones, people will try to run away from you when this is cast on them because simply, they cannot hit you. Take it, slot it, enjoy it!
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The way you described it could be misleading. Granted, it does lower their "damage potential", but through an Accuracy Debuff. Just a little nitpick, because you worded it like it was "-Damage" like Siphon Power or Fulcrum. Just figuring, being a guide, you would want the most accurate information possible.
Also, for Twilight Grasp, you should note that each application has a Regen Debuff. With I7's AV Regen buff, even after it is patched, knowing that your heal has a -regen will be invaluable. You should tell people that, because otherwise, during AV battles, they will only use it when a heal is needed, rather than spam it for the -regen, which is what's necessary at this point.
"Before there was Rock, you only had God."
Playing on Protector
Heroes - BurlyTorch, Johnny Tectonic, BurlyFrost, Maridon, Soul Doubt, ProtoTorch
Villians - Matt Daemon, IceLuge, Incendere, Mugwort, Vedova Mortale
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Darkest Night
While active, the Villain channels negative energy onto a targeted foe. Darkest Night decreases the damage potential of the target, and all foes near the target, as long as you keep the power active. If you have ever PVP'd alot like I have, base raids, pvp zones, arena, ect. You will know this is your most powerful secondary power you have. Select Target > Click. Your set. The target will rarely, if almost never get a single hit on you, or your pets. PVP zones, people will try to run away from you when this is cast on them because simply, they cannot hit you. Take it, slot it, enjoy it!
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The way you described it could be misleading. Granted, it does lower their "damage potential", but through an Accuracy Debuff. Just a little nitpick, because you worded it like it was "-Damage" like Siphon Power or Fulcrum. Just figuring, being a guide, you would want the most accurate information possible.
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Note that Darkest Night lowers accuracy AND has a damage debuff. I forget the number for Defenders and I expect it's lower for Masterminds, but it has always had -damage. Unless they changed it.
Sailboat
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
Just looked at the Hero Planner, and I stand corrected. It just struck me... this is a guide to a powerset that was just released last week. What level do you have your Thug MM up to? Especially to be calling out powers as useless, etc., I would figure you would need to have played through at least until the point where you have all of the powers. I'm sure it is possible to have gotten one to 40ish by now, but doubtful that he was much involved in the missions. Especially since you claimed to already have a 50 in another thread. Not being a jerk, just sayin, pretty improbable that you know this set well enough to be putting out a guide. Cool thread name, at the very least.
"Before there was Rock, you only had God."
Playing on Protector
Heroes - BurlyTorch, Johnny Tectonic, BurlyFrost, Maridon, Soul Doubt, ProtoTorch
Villians - Matt Daemon, IceLuge, Incendere, Mugwort, Vedova Mortale
I agree with "no attacks" personally. Your personal damage, while possibly fun, is way lower than your minions'. also I micromanage my minions a lot, make them go in melee, stay at range, ... so I keep plenty busy between this and the secondary.
That approach has been working extremely well for me on my Necro/Dark, and should work great with Thugs.
you may want to consider Haten and superspeed. Hasten is very nice both for some of the longer recharging /dark powers and to set up at the start of the map (once you get 6 minions and 2 upgrades per, it can take a while to get setup).
Superspeed stacks with shadowfall for complete invisibility: tell your minions to stay where they are, scout ahead, then have your minions attack, totally undetected.
Add Recall friend and you can stealth an entire team to a named boss (or the Thorn Tree room in the respec trial ). Recall is also mildly useful to get minions positions or back from a fall in those Oranbega caves (although I usually just let them die).
I like Gang War. It's a great Oh ***** button when you need someone to divert aggro. even 3-slotted their damage is sub-par, but it acts as a good distraction for that purple boss. I use them a little bit like Phantom army, but they're squishy.
I tried the bruiser in the test even where everyone could be lvl40 for a wekend and really liked him. Use pet controls to get him to melee
If you take superjump, you are really cheating yourself by taking Swift instead of Hurdle.
Hurdle will double your jumping distance (not height) and will make your jump much more maneuverable.
I agree about skipping Petrifying Gaze because you don't have room for it, and it doesn't have the magnitude to hold a boss. Unlike Necro, none of your minions can help with holds. Otherwise it's a pretty good power.
That, and the OP said it was a fear power, like Petrifying Gaze.... it's actually a single-target hold, like any controller's hold. It's not enough to hold bosses, you're right about that.... unless you can slot it up for recharge and stack it.
But, it's a hold.... not a fear power. It should also be noted that Petrifying Gaze will accept acc debuff enhancements as well, so, when you combine Darkest Night with Petrifying Gaze, and your Dark Servant, the acc of your opponent will be tremendously reduced while you whoop up on them. 
Always up for teaming with good players, so hit me up: @Deceivius and @Deceivius2
McBean's Guide to Thug Life - A Thug Mastermind Guide v1.0
Primary Powers
<ul type="square">[*]Pistols[*]Call Thugs[*]Dual Wield[*]Equip Thugs[*]Empty Clips[*]Call Enforcer[*]Gang War[*]Call Bruiser[*]Upgrade Equipment[/list]Secondary Powers
<ul type="square">[*]Twilight Grasp[*]Tar Patch[*]Darkest Night[*]Howling Twilight[*]Shadow Fall[*]Fearsome Stare[*]Petrifying Gaze[*]Black Hole[*]Dark Servant[/list]I will try to go through most of the primaries and the secondary as best as possible, give a small rating and why I have chosen certain powers over others, ect. But first, I will give you the build I -- plan to use once I get high enough to complete it. I build all my masterminds almost the same, and the end result in each of them is very pleasing.
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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name:
Level: 50
Archetype: Mastermind
Primary: Thugs
Secondary: Dark Miasma
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01) --> Call Thugs==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Acc(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)
01) --> Twilight Grasp==> Acc(1)Acc(7)TH_DeBuf(9)Heal(9)Heal(11)Heal(11)
02) --> Tar Patch==> Rechg(2)Slow(36)Slow(37)Slow(37)
04) --> Darkest Night==> TH_DeBuf(4)TH_DeBuf(37)TH_DeBuf(39)EndRdx(39)
06) --> Equip Thugs==> EndRdx(6)
08) --> Swift==> Run(8)
10) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(10)DefBuf(43)DefBuf(45)
12) --> Call Enforcer==> Acc(12)Acc(13)Acc(13)Dmg(15)Dmg(15)Dmg(17)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)Heal(17)Heal(19)
18) --> Gang War==> Rechg(18)Rechg(19)Rechg(25)Dmg(34)Dmg(36)Dmg(36)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
22) --> Fearsome Stare==> Acc(22)Fear(23)Fear(23)Fear(25)
24) --> Recall Friend==> EndRdx(24)
26) --> Shadow Fall==> EndRdx(26)DmgRes(27)DmgRes(27)DmgRes(33)
28) --> Call Bruiser==> Acc(28)Acc(29)DisDur(29)Dmg(31)Dmg(31)Dmg(31)
30) --> Maneuvers==> DefBuf(30)DefBuf(34)DefBuf(34)
32) --> Upgrade Equipment==> Rechg(32)Rechg(33)Rechg(33)
35) --> Tactics==> TH_Buf(35)TH_Buf(39)TH_Buf(40)
38) --> Dark Servant==> Acc(38)Acc(40)Hold(40)Immob(42)Immob(43)Fear(43)
41) --> Chum Spray==> Acc(41)EndRdx(42)Dmg(42)Dmg(45)Dmg(45)Rechg(46)
44) --> Shark Skin==> DmgRes(44)DmgRes(46)DmgRes(46)
47) --> Spirit Shark Jaws==> Acc(47)EndRdx(48)Hold(48)Dmg(48)
49) --> School of Sharks==> Acc(49)EndRdx(50)Dmg(50)Dmg(50)
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01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Supremacy==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
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Primary (Thugs)
Pistols
Quickly fires a round from one of your heavy automatic pistols. Damage is average, but the fire rate is very fast. I never take any of the offensive powers from the mastermind primaries - why you ask? Because the seem nice in the low levels, then they become useless in the higher levels, and use an extremely high amount of endurance. My advice, never take any offensive powers, wait till your Patron Powers for a few more powers that damage.
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 is your very first pet power, until you get all of them your stuck with them. They get better once you get your first upgrade, and your second upgrade. Slot it like the guide above and you cannot go wrong. Take this power ASAP.
Dual Wield
Fires both pistols at once at a time target. Firing both pistols at once is slower than a single shot, but deals more damage, and the target may get knocked down by the force of the impact. Damage: Moderate, Recharge: Fast. Skip these offensive powers, you can take other powers that can benefit your pets and yourself.
Equip Thugs
Equip your Thug Henchmen with better ammo, weapons and training. This power permanently bestows new weapons and abilities to one Thug Henchman. The powers gained are unique and dependent upon the target Thug Henchman. This power only works on your Thug Henchmen and you can only Equip any given Thug Henchman once. Take A.S.A.P
Empty Clips
Again, skip and offensive powers given by your primary, if you do take them you will realize it was a big mistake, you can take other powers that will help you more. Dont take these powers.
Call Enforcer
This is where things begin to pickup, by this time you will have three pets that will be able to take down whatever comes at them (well maybe not an AV) but you get the point. A great add-on to your current pets, once you upgrade this puppy, it is very nice. This is when you can start changing mission difficulties.
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. Some people like this power, some people dont. I have chosen to include this into my build because all you got to do is click the main boss and WHAM, you got yourself a few more weak, but a few more pets to help you out, does not last that long, this is the reason for the three recharges and three damage enhancements.
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 dont take this power, you are making me wonder if you like Masterminds. See Guide for how to enhance. Take A.S.A.P and get your big toy.
Upgrade Equipment
Permanently Upgrade the most advanced ammo, weapons and training to one Thug Henchman. The Upgraded Thug will gain new powers, weapons and abilities. The powers gained are unique and dependent upon the target Thug Henchman that is Upgraded. This power only works on your Thug Henchmen and you can only Upgrade the Equipment of any given Thug Henchman once. Take A.S.A.P - your pets are full enhanced and ready to start some chaos.