I decided on traps. Detonation seems hilarious. Any suggestions what to take/slot would be very helpful.
/Traps and /FF are the two "tanking" secondaries. I'd actually go with Bots rather than Thugs though... Protector Bots will bubble you and give you around 10% more defense. With Thugs/Traps or Thugs/FF you can get the pets themselves up to near soft-capped defense, but your own defense will be lower since Thug leadership buffs only affect pets. On the other hand, Thugs get a Brute for their tier three minion and with extra defense from you he tanks fine.
As for builds, Masterminds are very forgiving. Just about anything will work as long as you keep the following in mind:
- Tier one pets eventually spawn at -2 levels to you, which means they will often face enemies +4 or more levels above them. They need maximum accuracy and damage to compensate... I suggest 3 generic Accuracy and 3 generic Damage IOs (or even SOs, though generic IOs are cheap and never go yellow or red on you after leveling mid-mission) for a budget build. If you can afford a full set of Blood Mandate you get the same effective slotting plus some nice bonuses, including defense.
- Tier two pets will be -1 level to you, so they still need good accuracy. For Thugs or Bots, they also provide defense buffs... I'd go with the Acc/Dam and Acc/Dam/End IOs from two different sets (preferably ones with recovery or regen as the first bonus) and two defense IOs. Though if you can afford it and go Thugs, one defense and an Achilles' Heel -resist proc would be better since Enforcers have lots of attacks than can trigger it.
- Tier three pets need an accuracy and three damage (except Lich, which needs control and debuff slotting). They don't need a second accuracy (unless you plan to fight purples) since they're even level, which makes this a great place to slot the Defense Aura and Resist Aura uniques if you can afford them.
- For Thugs, Gang War can accept both Pet Damage and Recharge Intensive Pet sets. That means you can stick both Resist Aura and both Defense Aura IOs in here along with a couple of recharges and leave all your main pet slots free for enhancements and procs. Having both defense auras, the Enforcers' Tactics buff, and Traps' Force Field Generator will make all your pets very hard to hit. If you go /FF instead, they won't be just hard to hit, they'll be "Super Reflex Scrapper in Elude" level hard to hit.
I'd recommend Traps for a secondary. You get Force Field Generator, which gives you and your pets defense and also hold and stun protection. You also get Acid Mortar, which is a fantastic debuff (slot for recharge) and Poison Trap, which was nerfed but still can hold things and, more importantly, has a huge regen debuff. Acid Mortar and Poison Trap combined are what let you take down elite bosses (or higher) quickly... add in Web Grenade to keep them at range (and in burn patches) and Seeker Drones to debuff their damage and you really won't ever have to worry about getting help to deal with an annoying EB at the end of a mission. I know Bots/Traps can solo some full AVs / Heroes with only SO slotting, so I'd be surprised if Thugs / Traps can't do it with moderate IO investment (like enough defense to make up for no Protector Bot bubbles while tanking AVs).
I would not suggest going /FF. It's very, very safe... but also slow. You get no real damage or debuffs, so you basically go read a book or watch TV while the pets chew through each spawn. /Traps will get you to 50 faster and almost as safely, and will let you go big game hunting (AVs and Heroes) if you want to... I suppose /FF can solo them too, but with no debuffs to speed things up I'd suggest packing a lunch if you try because you'll be there a while. 
Cascade, level 50 Blaster (NRG/NRG since before it was cool)
Mechmeister, level 50 Bots / Traps MM
FAR too many non-50 alts to name
[u]Arcs[u]
The Scavenger Hunt: 187076
The Instant Lair Delivery Service: 206636
if you go thugs, i wouldnt suggest ff. not that it's broken, but the lack of -regen in your primary and secondary can make some missions rough, and make you want to punch a baby when you start dealing with arachnoids.
for sure, thugs traps. if you want ff, go with bots. assault bot has -regen in both of his plasma blasts
Should all masterminds take the leadership pools?
Is fitness needed or just nice to have?
Is the presence pool warranted?
Should I take everything from traps? Are there some things that just suck?
Are the EPPs good for a MasterMind? Which ones? What would I need to give up to take them?
Should I ignore the .. three? attacks in Thugs.
I can't stand not having a Travel Power. Are using those two slots going to gimp me? (CJ/SJ)
Thugs/Pain can tank if you take Provoke.
In fact, it can tank very well indeed.
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Should all masterminds take the leadership pools?
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Leadership is handy, but you can do without it. The biggest benefit is Tactics, which not only gives a To-Hit bonus but also +Perception and Fear and Confusion protection. /Pain gets all of that except the To-Hit from Enforced Morale so they can skip it easier, though it's still useful if you fight grapes. Maneuvers only makes a real difference if you already have lots of defense to stack with it, and Assault is a minor damage boost but nothing vital.
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Is fitness needed or just nice to have?
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Pretty much needed for Dark or Storm, nice to have for Traps, not sure about the others. If you have an active secondary, you use your personal attacks, or you run multiple Leadership toggles it really helps.
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Is the presence pool warranted?
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It really helps against EBs or higher. You can tank whole spawns if you build for defense and are /FF or /Traps, or tank single tough enemies with pretty much any combination provided you have a way to heal. Even without healing or high defense, Bodyguard alone will let you take the alpha from an EB and then you can let the pets take the aggro... good way to keep them alive long enough to apply debuffs. You probably won't need a taunt unless you plan to actively tank tough enemies (which most MMs can do to an extent, but some much better than others).
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Should I take everything from traps? Are there some things that just suck?
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Trip Mine is situational. It's great if you have high defense so you can run up and drop them at an enemy's feet, or if you solo a lot and are patient enough to plant minefields. On a fast team it's pretty useless though, since by the time you plant it everything's dead. Detonator is also pretty situational... it makes a big boom, but costs you a pet (and the boom scales up with the pet tier so for best results you lose a tier 3). It works really well for Necro though, since you can blow up a Lich and then raise him as a ghost. I'd take all the others, though some (like Seeker Drones and Caltrops) don't need heavy slotting if you are tight on slots.
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Are the EPPs good for a MasterMind? Which ones? What would I need to give up to take them?
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The main thing the EPPs give you is a shield and an immobilize. Scorpion Shield in Mace Mastery is nice for /Traps or /FF since it gives defense and those sets have a fair amount to stack with it. Mace also gives you Power Boost, which is nice for /FF since it boosts the strength of their bubbles. Mu Mastery gives you a nice resist shield and also the only AoE immobilize with -KB, which is great for Bots since you can immobilize a spawn in a burn patch and it won't get knocked off.
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Should I ignore the .. three? attacks in Thugs.
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If you don't have any veteran attacks, you may want to take one or two to help at low levels and respec out of it later. At higher levels the MM's personal attacks are very weak... if you have spare power choices and slots then take one or two, but you'll usually have better options.
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I can't stand not having a Travel Power. Are using those two slots going to gimp me? (CJ/SJ)
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Not at all. In fact, Combat Jumping is very handy on a Mastermind (or any other AT with no status protection) since it protects from immobilizes and you can drop a KB Resist IO in it. Even the defense can be handy if you go /Traps or /FF, since those sets can soft-cap and every little bit helps when doing that.
Cascade, level 50 Blaster (NRG/NRG since before it was cool)
Mechmeister, level 50 Bots / Traps MM
FAR too many non-50 alts to name
[u]Arcs[u]
The Scavenger Hunt: 187076
The Instant Lair Delivery Service: 206636
I've decided on traps and have reached 17. You say you can softcap defense at 45%? Is this possible without IOs? If not how about budget slotting? Would anyone be willing to post a defense and resistance (to lower damage even more while in bodyguard or while not in bodyguard). The build would need to include CJ/SJ for travel and preferably early on since I hate walking places in cov lol. one of the taunts would also be needed as i'd love to herd/tank while my thugs kill things.
Anyone willing to throw one of these together? just something to look at would be nice.
I am going to roll my first MM ever. I've never been a huge CoV player.
I want something that can "tank" well as well as level at a respecable rate. Traps is looking cool as I like my /dev blaster. Anyone have some sample, inexpensive, builds that are good for leveling from 1-50? I really want to unlock the VEATs as I like the way they look.
Any help would be awesome as all I know about MMs i've read on these forums.