How to sucessfully complete a Mayhem Mission
By
BigBud,
Posted on: 2006-08-16 21:18 in Player Guides
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3) Make a straight shot for the bank, ignore everything on the way and get inside the bank.
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Sorry, but this strategy does not work on a team with masterminds. Mastermind pets seem to draw aggro even on passive. So all the mobs they just ran through are now following you to the bank.
If the mastermind waits to enter the bank before summoning his pets, he is at a serious disadvantage when longbow arrives because it takes him time to get up to full strength. While he's summoning pets, he's taking damage, dies then unless you have someone that can rez him.... it cascades from there till eventally the team is overwhelmed and more start falling.
The best strategy for a team with masterminds is to let the MM get up to full strength when they enter the mission and the [u]whole team[u] slowly work toward the bank fighting and getting time bonuses on the way.
Your strategy may work in the early game, but speaking as a lvl 36 mastermind... the only time i've ever failed a mayhem is on a large team when people attempted your way.
Sorry, it just does not work. 
Nox Annihilation - Level 36 Bots/Traps Mastermind - Justice
Phaeleon - Level 50 Energy/Ice Blaster - Justice
Ledgund - Level 32 Invuln/SS Tank - Justice
Fair enough. I hadnt taken in consideration the MM summoning and buffing the pets at the begginning. Plus, this guide isnt to be taken too seriously. It kinda stemmed from my frustration that I could complete the bank job by myself but enter into it with a team and it never could even get to the bank.
Generally, smaller teams are better: Ambushes get out of control on large teams, not to mention it takes more destruction to get more time.
I've duoed MM quite sucessfully; the biggest problem with MM is that the openness and multipel objective lends to people wandering off, which you *can't* do and expect to live in MM.
Tygara - 50 Claws/Regen/Power Scrapper, Virtue- Member of Kitties on the Prowl.
Shadeburn - Dark/Rad Defender, Virtue- Member of Catch 'Em Crew
Nature Boy' - Elec/Ice Blaster, Virtue - Member of Young Phalanx
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I've duoed MM quite sucessfully; the biggest problem with MM is that the openness and multipel objective lends to people wandering off, which you *can't* do and expect to live in MM.
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Quite true. Its jsut my opinion that as long you and the team head straight for the bank quickly or slowly as the poster after me pointed out, then you will have a higher chance of getting the money. Hopefully. That and keeping your pets on a tight leash, dont want them blowing up crates if your surronded by cops and Longbow.
If you follow step 1 and solo, then you can fairly easily destroy all sorts of things on the way to the bank and you'll have plenty of time to spare. I almost always solo mayhem missions, and I've had upwards of 30 minutes available when entering the bank on multiple occasions.
What works best is to make a beeline for the side missions except for the kidnap mission. That one takes too long to be worthwhile. Kill the cops on the way, those 30 second bonuses add up when you only have to beat up 3-5 minions to get them. And destroy whatever objects you see that will give a time bonus. On the lower levels, don't bother with cars, trucks, and large crates, they take too long.
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I also prefer the strategy of destroying objects, eliminating police officers, and doing all of the side missions first, then going to the bank once I'm done with the incidental stuff. I rarely finish a mayhem mission with less than 20 minutes on the timer.
If you are in a large group, then perhaps your strategy would work better. In a small group or solo, I heartily disagree that you should go straight for the bank. In my experience, you wind up with less time in the long run when you do it that way.
@SithRose and @Sith Rose
Permanent resident of Virtue
"Mommy, I need Cthulhu. He keeps the bad dreams away."
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Now you can out and beat up the other cops, cars, mailboxes, hydrants,etc.
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Cars, mailboxes, hydrants, etc do not give time bonuses after the bank (at least not reliably, i've heard some folks claim 'yes' but i have yet to see an item bonus). Cops and side-jobs yes, items no.
Many groups fail because they destroy half the number of each item, spending effort for no time bonus. If you lower the diff to Villianous, strong-arm the group into destroying items until you actually get time bonuses and then enter the bank -- much easier. If you haven't seen a bunch of bonuses when you get to the bank clear the area around it -- a string of time bonuses!
Someone mentioned not doing the kidnap before the bank -- I'd add the grab'n'run if you're with a group -- too easy to get overwhelmed.
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3) Make a straight shot for the bank, ignore everything on the way and get inside the bank.
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While I realize the guide is mostly in jest, this point is one that can't be emphasized enough. This tactic only works well if you are either flying or teleporting. If you're superspeeding, it's going to be horrible and you're going to trigger every single Longbow spawn between you and the bank. If you're superjumping, you're probably still going to trigger a lot of spawns when you touch down. As near as I can tell, the longbow ambushes trigger off the equivalent of invisible badge markers (the locations are very consistent), and if you walk/run over or near them, you will trigger the ambushes, and they will definitely follow you into the bank.
This is to say nothing of the bizarre longbow eagle death squads who hover above the bank and come in to gank you when you go through the door. I did one on Villainous last night with my 25 Corruptor (solo), and had 12 Longbow Eagles follow me in, PLUS two more Longbow for the standard "Entered the bank door" ambush. Best way to deal with those is to run for the mission exit, go out, and come back in; when I've done that, the death squad has gone away, leaving only the non-bugged portions of the ambush to come after you.
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6)Start breaking into the vault, pausing only to take care of what law enforcement officials want to try stopping you.
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There is an ambush that you can see the "We've got a situation" text for that spawns when you first come close to the vault door, and another ambush that spawns a block and a half away (it feels like) once the door is destroyed. The first ambush is whatever guards are on the bank itself, the second is the local constabulary.
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8) Take out the hero and his crew. If you did this solo he will only have two or three Longbow with him.
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Or one, on Villainous at level 25. I think it only gets up to 2 if you're running on the second or fourth difficulty setting, or if you have more team members (which is irrelevant, since you did specify "solo" 
).
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Congratulations you finished your top priority of robbing the bank.
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Nah, you've finished your broker's top priority, which was you robbing the bank. My top priority is getting whatever's hidden in that glowing box, and trying to get stolen codes for the Warburg nukes.
Good guide. Don't take my comments the wrong way -- there's plenty of ways to do Mayhem, this is just what I've found that works best for me.
~Wyrm
Edited to add: there are at least 3 ambushes after you get to the vault door, with the second and third both being PPD. Found that out the hard way last night in the IP mayhem. First time I had one of those flargin' PPD Ghosts "Stealth Strike" me, too. Made me go, 'Huh? I thought hero-types didn't get assassin-strike abilities!"
My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.
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Someone mentioned not doing the kidnap before the bank -- I'd add the grab'n'run if you're with a group -- too easy to get overwhelmed.
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Total agreement here, Smash and grabs can gt *totally* out of control on large teams, since crowding reduces the chances of not being detected (and the fact that masterminds have essentially a 0% chance of not being detected if they want their minions along, since minions don't avoid security system.) That, combined with the huge ambush size, they rapidlly become death to anyone who attempts them, unless you have a fantastically organized team.
Tygara - 50 Claws/Regen/Power Scrapper, Virtue- Member of Kitties on the Prowl.
Shadeburn - Dark/Rad Defender, Virtue- Member of Catch 'Em Crew
Nature Boy' - Elec/Ice Blaster, Virtue - Member of Young Phalanx
It isn't really that the quantity of mobs gets out of control in smash and grabs -- at least in the 20s (where my brute is right now). The problem is that the debuffs that quantity of mobs puts out gets out of control.
When 3 ghosts and 3 equalizers land the flash-bang grenade on you, you won't hit anymore. I've tried popping yellows and it helped while those were up. Once they were down, I was screwed until dead. Then there's the equalizers with the stupid -recharge glue grenade that can just stop your powers from cycling. Again, tasty lenolium results.
I'm not quite sure where the triggers are in there. I know there is the "you got near the vault." I suspect there may also be a "you smashed the vault" or a "you got near (or touched) one of the back-room safes."
Given some of the masses of longbow I've seen two friends and myself survive (2 brutes, ss/ela, stone/ela, one rad/rad corr) it isn't the quantity that is the issue. We can handle that many mobs. It is the MAD DEBUFFS that kills you.
I wish we had debuffs that were as good as theirs. I've also got a /TA MM, and his glue arrow isn't impressive compared to the glue grenade, and his flash-bang is practically not noticable. (of course, he's pre-SOs as well, so that could be it)
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3) Make a straight shot for the bank, ignore everything on the way and get inside the bank.
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No. Noooo no. When I join a PUG for a mayhem mission, this is the first sign that the leader hasn't been part of a comprehensive mission. The team should stick together - always - building extra time and completing the side missions (the kidnapping mission can be skipped). By the time the bank mission is completed a good group witll have 15-20 mins left over.
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If you're wanting to work the Mayhem badges, then you need to kill the cops and the mailbox/news/phones/fire H on the way to the bank. Also you'll want to find the Arson side quest for that badge (have to do it 10 times).
Now soloing them is easier, and if you get an Arson side quest, you don't have to worry about someone stealing it from you (only the person who clicked the last bomb gets credit).
Also get the other breakable stuff for the time bonus. But once you get a time bonus for an object solo, breaking more of that object will not give you more bonus time.
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3) Make a straight shot for the bank, ignore everything on the way and get inside the bank.
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No. Noooo no. When I join a PUG for a mayhem mission, this is the first sign that the leader hasn't been part of a comprehensive mission. The team should stick together - always - building extra time and completing the side missions (the kidnapping mission can be skipped). By the time the bank mission is completed a good group witll have 15-20 mins left over.
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yes, i see now how if you are in a good group then you should take this route. my go straight for the bank first I think works best when you only have yourself or maybe one or two people. I know personally that at the times I can rob Atlas or Kings I dont have enough attack power to sit there and attack every cop or object on the way, and as far as side missions go, theres been a few buggy times when i get the key but the door doesnt show up.
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yes, i see now how if you are in a good group then you should take this route. my go straight for the bank first I think works best when you only have yourself or maybe one or two people. I know personally that at the times I can rob Atlas or Kings I dont have enough attack power to sit there and attack every cop or object on the way,
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I don't think anybody was advocating that. I know that at least I wasn't. You can get to the bank with a minimum of carnage, but any time you see a Longbow speech-text show up in your global chat window, you need to stop and wait. Solo, it will only be 2 of them, and if you keep moving they will not only follow, you run the risk of triggering more ambushes.
Yeah, destroy what's convenient (definitely ignore anything that cons purple), pick up the easy time bonuses (it takes 5-7 cars to get 3 minutes, but one mailbox to get a minute, one news vendor to get a minute, etc.), and have fun with it.
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and as far as side missions go, theres been a few buggy times when i get the key but the door doesnt show up.
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You won't ever get a yellow door on the map when the side mission is a jailbreak. I've yet to see a non-jailbreak side mission that didn't give me a door, though, and I've run 80-100 mayhems. Not saying it couldn't happen or hasn't happened, just that I haven't seen it.
Gads. I think I need a life.
~Wyrm
My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.
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What works best is to make a beeline for the side missions except for the kidnap mission. That one takes too long to be worthwhile.
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Depends on how you do it, and what your character build is. My brute stealths to the hostage, then carves a swath of destruction in a straight-line path to the exit. I always end up with more time than I started with. My mastermind does something similar, cutting a path to the hostage, and ignoring any foes outside of aggro range.
Your whole post is exactly the way I have successfully done solo mayhems. You can easily run to the bank without any harm and fight the few Longbow either outside the door or inside the lobby. Granted, I have only done the mayhems up through Ind. Port, but several times each (I have a lot of alts), and they are very predictable. I have not run into any of the bugged huge groups of mobs (yet?!). I should also point out that my main objective is the cool temporary power, so I never bother with any of the other stuff. Maybe I should(!) since I've mastered getting the temp power.
One of the strongest points you made is never do a mayhem with strangers. It is a recipe for disaster and people wind up hating each other. I always politely decline when invited to join a "bank robbery" as some people have started calling them. I don't understand why some people start putting huge teams together as soon as they are given the mayhem mission.
Well anyway, thanks for the cool guide. It is exactly how I have done them successfully, meaning getting the temp power of course. It just depends on your purpose I guess. All the other stuff is out of my league right now. 
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I'm not quite sure where the triggers are in there. I know there is the "you got near the vault." I suspect there may also be a "you smashed the vault" or a "you got near (or touched) one of the back-room safes."
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The triggers are all the red light beams you see around. If one hits you it triggers an alarm/ambush. There's 2 right outside the vault door, making them dang near unavoidable.
I ran my brute into the smash and grab after doing the bank and hit all the alarms i could just for kicks. Happily smashed away at the multitude of PPD that came pouring in until my time ran out 
Had some status/debuff issues, but not too many (he was 22ish at the time)
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I'm not quite sure where the triggers are in there. I know there is the "you got near the vault." I suspect there may also be a "you smashed the vault" or a "you got near (or touched) one of the back-room safes."
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The triggers are all the red light beams you see around. If one hits you it triggers an alarm/ambush. There's 2 right outside the vault door, making them dang near unavoidable.
I ran my brute into the smash and grab after doing the bank and hit all the alarms i could just for kicks. Happily smashed away at the multitude of PPD that came pouring in until my time ran out Had some status/debuff issues, but not too many (he was 22ish at the time)
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Those are the triggers for the Longbow ambushes. I think he (she?) was talking about the ambushes of PPD that come later on during the smash-and-grab. They aren't triggered by the red-beams-of-doom, as near as I can tell.
~Wyrm
My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.
I tend to agree with the OP a lot. My problems doing this were with my Mastermind, for reasons mentioned, and my lowbie Stalker. The MM had troubles with the initial ambush, and if you get jailed with an MM solo, it's over (until the later pets). My stalker had not-yet-solid defenses, and because the hero makes a beline for you hid or not... well that's pretty understandable.
Overall, mayhem missions for me seem to be more successful in the 2-3 person range, and 6+ it seems to drop off considerably. Not because we have trouble getting in there, or with the ambushes. It's because that we kill the hero but never get a completion. I think that's because on a team that big there's always one MOB from the final ambush who somehow runs off and escapes, and once he's out of range it's tough to track him down.
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What works best is to make a beeline for the side missions except for the kidnap mission. That one takes too long to be worthwhile. Kill the cops on the way, those 30 second bonuses add up when you only have to beat up 3-5 minions to get them. And destroy whatever objects you see that will give a time bonus. On the lower levels, don't bother with cars, trucks, and large crates, they take too long.
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I had my henchmen on Agressive, and they took pot shots at anything that wasn't nailed down. Then they decided to take out a car from close range. Car go boom. Punks go squish. Silly minions.
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"I'm a tech. I tell it how it is. I'm incapable of the sunshine blowing necessary in their field." - BillZBubba
Ok my $.02
Mayhems are tricky, I've done a few and have hated each mish that I signed up for until recently. Now my mishs are registering complete with time to tear da club up. I'm running a thugs/poison mm and have been loving this toon. As I see it; being a mm, I've noticed that you're going to need at least 2 mms on ur team. And when I join a mayhem team, I announce my job, me an my boys are gonna wreck havoc so the other team members can hit the bank. Sure, no one really wants to split from the group but I do find that giving the (1 times) police a beat down so the team can make it is a nice sacrafice. 2 mms and a healer on a team in my mind is a diversion while a stalker or any1 with tp makes his/her way the bank and transports the other 4. I set my boys on aggressive and let them fry up some bacon. After around 3-5 mins of givin KR fuzz a serious beat down, the mms should be calling over channel and asking how's that vault comming. The star should call back saying make your way to bank, we have plenty of time now and need back up. This is when the mms make that 100-200 yd march to the front door taking out whatever decides to step in front of the .45s
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I wish we had debuffs that were as good as theirs. I've also got a /TA MM, and his glue arrow isn't impressive compared to the glue grenade, and his flash-bang is practically not noticable. (of course, he's pre-SOs as well, so that could be it)
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We do have debuffs that are as good as theirs, and if you had 6 debuffers all working the crowd over, they'd be neutered as well. See the RSF for an example. Our problem is just that we don't generally HAVE half a dozen debuffers on our team, whereas the mobs often do. They had to tinker with the CoT Earth Thorn casters at one point because their lousy minions were stacking 10-12 quicksands on teams. . .
I have a countersuggestion with MMs, at least on a small team. Go straight to the bank and unpack the henchmen there; the advantage is they pop out in defensive/follow mode, so the MM has full bodyguard as they are equipping them, and with the ambushes coming in the henchmen can be fighting while the ambush is happening instead of just sitting, waiting for upgrades. And some MM sets (traps and to some extend dark) can make the entry door a death zone for the ambushers.
Mayhems (for MMs) are also particularly good places to be able to place some pets on aggressive, so they are always racking up time shooting surroundings, and some on defensive so you have bodyguard against ambushes.
Has anyone encountered the two groups of 4 Longbow hovering high above the IP bank? I acidentally jumped too high and aggroed them in 2 waves of pain...
Now I save them till last, and with my Thug MM, just lure them down to their death after the bank is done. But that first time encountering them after the map was cleared was a hoot!
i personally havent got high enough yet to steal from the good people of IP, but I will remember those guys may be there.
All right, this kind of in jest but it works.
Step 1) Do it solo. The ambushes are easier to handle and if you get thrown in jail, its your fault not anyone else's.
2) If you have to do it with a team for the love of your sanity do it with people you know and trust. 9 times out of 10 if you do it with a PUG you will see more jailtime than bank time.
3) Make a straight shot for the bank, ignore everything on the way and get inside the bank.
4) Wait inside the front doors for the Longbow ambush to enter. Take care of the meddling do gooders.
5)Rush to the vault. I personnally dont bother taking out the cops on the way to the vault. Just take care of the ones that follow you to the vault.
6)Start breaking into the vault, pausing only to take care of what law enforcement officials want to try stopping you.
7)Rest up real quick if need be then grab the cash.
8) Take out the hero and his crew. If you did this solo he will only have two or three Longbow with him.
Congratulations you finished your top priority of robbing the bank. I have done it this way so far each time and I end up with at least 5 mins to spare. Now you can out and beat up the other cops, cars, mailboxes, hydrants,etc. without seeing that awful Misson Failed screen.
Have fun.