You're going to find that 90% of the mayhem missions you get become insane as soon as more people are involved. There are a few different reasons for that; the main one being that for every extra team member, you have to destroy more of any one type of destructible item to get it's time bonus. I.E. instead of blowing two of something you'll be required to blow up four. I can't say that I know what the exact ratio of increase IS, but I can tell you that on an 8 man team it takes a LOT of items. Oh, and most people are crazy, stupid, or both.
This is the main reason why most people will tell you to solo mayhem missions. At a certain point, it will take more time to actually find and DESTROY those items than the time bonus they are really worth. (With a few exceptions of course.)
In fact, there are two main strategies I'll use when dealing with a mayhem. My main desire in taking on a mayhem is XP and temp. powers. In order to be able to farm all that XP, you need time. In order to get the power, you need to rob the bank. These goals can easily be completed at the same time, but depending on your focus (power or XP) can influence what you really want to do.
If you want both, the simple way to start is blowing stuff up. I'm not saying ignore the longbow and cops, just don't make them your primary target unless you're crazy. Keep track of what you're blowing up, and target more of it's kind to receive it's bonus sooner. Flight is a really useful power to have while doing this, even if it's just a jetpack. Basically, fly around and find groups of objects that either have minimal bad guys or none. Land. Destroy junk.
Now, it is very key to remember exactly what time bonus you've already done in order to not slow yourself down with things that won't matter. My primary object targets are as follows.
List:
Trash Cans (look like barrels, so be careful)
Barrels
Cardboard Boxes
Metal Crates
News-stands (Very easy to get this bonus)
Pay Phones (another easy one)
Mailboxes
Fire Hydrants
PPD Cars
PPD Vans (These take forever!)
Trucks
Cars
Dumpsters
Large Cargo Containers (also a long one)
This is not by any means a complete list. There are just the things that I usually look for. Keep that in mind.
In general these will be very easy to destroy. AoE's will do wonders for you, and if you don't have AoE's, well, all these objects do a small amount of explode damage to the objects around them. If you chain it right, you can sometimes take out a whole group of items with one or two well placed blows. Most of these have a one minute time bonus, some have two or even three minute bonus.
Now, while you're on your rampage of destruction, make sure you're moving towards the bank. Otherwise it just takes to long. If, by some chance, you see the side mission on the way then kill the guys to get the key. You can usually tell who gives the side missions by simply looking for the group of enemy that aren't cops or longbow. Mook, Freakshow, Gears, it's all the same.
Now, if you DON'T see those guys on the way to the Bank don't worry. When you get there, you should still have at least 15 minutes from your rampaging. Go in, and wait at the entrance door for about 15 seconds. Sometimes a longbow ambush comes in behind you, but I've found that in teams of two or less they generally don't show up.
After you're in the bank, walk to the door and look in. A lot of people will run past you and out, and I suggest letting them run by and don't do anything until the ones that are gonna run do so. After this, all that should be left are one or two cowering citizens and the cops. Kill the cops. Work your way to the vault and go to town. Be careful though, because when you start attacking the vault an ambush spawns at the door and makes it's way to you. Most of the time, I'm able to get the door down before the ambush gets to me. If this isn't the case, well, I suggest opening the vault first then killing the mob. If you aren't a brute or mastermind you should probably kill the mob first.
After opening the vault, steal the treasure. At that moment, a hero spawns at the doorway and makes it's way to you. My suggestion is to wait at the vault entrance for them, or at the elevator (if there is one) instead of running to them.Choke points are your friend as any class.
Now that the Hero (or you) is dead you have free reign. I usuallly have about ten minutes left at this point, and usually I'll just wander around clearing mobs and blowing up anything that I don't have a time bonus for yet. With luck, you can find one of the side mission groups and attempt it for a bonus of six, or up to 11 minutes bonus time from it, as well as an extra temp. power.
(A word of warning though, if the side mission involves wall safe's, be VERY careful or don't try it at all. Alarms sound after each safe and in certain area's of the map, and each time a longbow ambush appears and hunts you down. If you end up with several alarms, well, you're dead or they are.)
(Another word of warning, I would not consider doing a mayhem solo with a dominator. Not that they can't do it, and maybe even do it well. Mainly, just because their damage output is very minimal in almost every case. Many of the items are easy to destroy even for a Dom, but many are a bit more difficult. If you DO try with a dominator, I'd just go for the bank and hope for the best. If you finish that, well, use dominate on the bigger items you can't destroy easily.)
If anyone has a better guide for this, feel free to link it. I'm especially interested in people with expierence in the higher level mayhem missions since most of my characters are around the twenty mark.
You're going to find that 90% of the mayhem missions you get become insane as soon as more people are involved. There are a few different reasons for that; the main one being that for every extra team member, you have to destroy more of any one type of destructible item to get it's time bonus. I.E. instead of blowing two of something you'll be required to blow up four. I can't say that I know what the exact ratio of increase IS, but I can tell you that on an 8 man team it takes a LOT of items. Oh, and most people are crazy, stupid, or both.
This is the main reason why most people will tell you to solo mayhem missions. At a certain point, it will take more time to actually find and DESTROY those items than the time bonus they are really worth. (With a few exceptions of course.)
In fact, there are two main strategies I'll use when dealing with a mayhem. My main desire in taking on a mayhem is XP and temp. powers. In order to be able to farm all that XP, you need time. In order to get the power, you need to rob the bank. These goals can easily be completed at the same time, but depending on your focus (power or XP) can influence what you really want to do.
If you want both, the simple way to start is blowing stuff up. I'm not saying ignore the longbow and cops, just don't make them your primary target unless you're crazy. Keep track of what you're blowing up, and target more of it's kind to receive it's bonus sooner. Flight is a really useful power to have while doing this, even if it's just a jetpack. Basically, fly around and find groups of objects that either have minimal bad guys or none. Land. Destroy junk.
Now, it is very key to remember exactly what time bonus you've already done in order to not slow yourself down with things that won't matter. My primary object targets are as follows.
List:
Trash Cans (look like barrels, so be careful)
Barrels
Cardboard Boxes
Metal Crates
News-stands (Very easy to get this bonus)
Pay Phones (another easy one)
Mailboxes
Fire Hydrants
PPD Cars
PPD Vans (These take forever!)
Trucks
Cars
Dumpsters
Large Cargo Containers (also a long one)
This is not by any means a complete list. There are just the things that I usually look for. Keep that in mind.
In general these will be very easy to destroy. AoE's will do wonders for you, and if you don't have AoE's, well, all these objects do a small amount of explode damage to the objects around them. If you chain it right, you can sometimes take out a whole group of items with one or two well placed blows. Most of these have a one minute time bonus, some have two or even three minute bonus.
Now, while you're on your rampage of destruction, make sure you're moving towards the bank. Otherwise it just takes to long. If, by some chance, you see the side mission on the way then kill the guys to get the key. You can usually tell who gives the side missions by simply looking for the group of enemy that aren't cops or longbow. Mook, Freakshow, Gears, it's all the same.
Now, if you DON'T see those guys on the way to the Bank don't worry. When you get there, you should still have at least 15 minutes from your rampaging. Go in, and wait at the entrance door for about 15 seconds. Sometimes a longbow ambush comes in behind you, but I've found that in teams of two or less they generally don't show up.
After you're in the bank, walk to the door and look in. A lot of people will run past you and out, and I suggest letting them run by and don't do anything until the ones that are gonna run do so. After this, all that should be left are one or two cowering citizens and the cops. Kill the cops. Work your way to the vault and go to town. Be careful though, because when you start attacking the vault an ambush spawns at the door and makes it's way to you. Most of the time, I'm able to get the door down before the ambush gets to me. If this isn't the case, well, I suggest opening the vault first then killing the mob. If you aren't a brute or mastermind you should probably kill the mob first.
After opening the vault, steal the treasure. At that moment, a hero spawns at the doorway and makes it's way to you. My suggestion is to wait at the vault entrance for them, or at the elevator (if there is one) instead of running to them.Choke points are your friend as any class.
Now that the Hero (or you) is dead you have free reign. I usuallly have about ten minutes left at this point, and usually I'll just wander around clearing mobs and blowing up anything that I don't have a time bonus for yet. With luck, you can find one of the side mission groups and attempt it for a bonus of six, or up to 11 minutes bonus time from it, as well as an extra temp. power.
(A word of warning though, if the side mission involves wall safe's, be VERY careful or don't try it at all. Alarms sound after each safe and in certain area's of the map, and each time a longbow ambush appears and hunts you down. If you end up with several alarms, well, you're dead or they are.)
(Another word of warning, I would not consider doing a mayhem solo with a dominator. Not that they can't do it, and maybe even do it well. Mainly, just because their damage output is very minimal in almost every case. Many of the items are easy to destroy even for a Dom, but many are a bit more difficult. If you DO try with a dominator, I'd just go for the bank and hope for the best. If you finish that, well, use dominate on the bigger items you can't destroy easily.)
If anyone has a better guide for this, feel free to link it. I'm especially interested in people with expierence in the higher level mayhem missions since most of my characters are around the twenty mark.