[ QUOTE ]
I opened up Leadership for the extra defense dispersion bubble would have given me,
[/ QUOTE ]
If it's a choice of one or the other, I would definitely take Dispersion Bubble over Maneuvers.
The bubble has higher defence and resistance to disorient, sleep, fear, hold and immobilise, whereas Maneuvers only has fear resistance and a lower defence bonus than the bubble.
If you can take both then do so though, as that will still allow you to get Tactics.
I have that photon grenade, the damage is a bit lower then Pulse Rifle blast and stun-chance is fairly small, i would go for the acc enh. Overall a nice aoe with funny animation.
Imho i would take PFF from the FF side, if you get too much attacks, pop the bubble and let your bots either kill all or die while you run away, a panic button 
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
[ QUOTE ]
Imho i would take PFF from the FF side, if you get too much attacks, pop the bubble and let your bots either kill all or die while you run away, a panic button
[/ QUOTE ]
Yep I was thinking that to as I'm facing ever more difficult boss's and starting to bite it more often.
only qeustion remains, if summon_pets is seen as a self buff or "hostile" power. Since in PFF you still can do self-buffs, might be even able to do upgrade or summon-powers.
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
Ohh that would be asking to much, sit behind your PFF all day summoning pets, I don't think you can do that but i havn't tried so?
But you might be able to sit behind your PFF once your pets are all out and buffed and drop inspirations on them from time to time, and running tactics and maneuvers isn't a problem.
Ohh that would be asking to much, sit behind your PFF all day summoning pets, I don't think you can do that but i havn't tried so?
But you might be able to sit behind your PFF once your pets are all out and buffed and drop inspirations on them from time to time, and running tactics and maneuvers isn't a problem.
So in both cases, PFF is a great power to get 
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
PFF supresses your inherent MM Ability which gives the bonus to Acc and Dam to your pets. (100% sure about that)
Maneuver, Tactics shouldnt work on your pets either when PFF is up, only on you. (99% sure about that)
PFF is still great, when your pets get creamed you can run away with PFF up and wait for your summoning powers to recharge .. or for travelling, or well.. I read that on the US board: PFF made one MM able to tank an AV when he got aggro
you can't summon your pets when you have PFF.
i have made twice a mission with only one room and mobs near the entry, i got FF every time, and i need to remove pff under the fire for sumoning my pets.
[ QUOTE ]
Maneuver, Tactics shouldnt work on your pets either when PFF is up, only on you. (99% sure about that)
[/ QUOTE ]
Correct, I have all the Leadership powers on my FF Defender and if I turn PFF on then I will still get the Leadership buffs, but the rest of my team will not.
When using a Robo/FF MM in beta I found that the endu cost for Photon grenade was quite high and many people recommend not taking it as your protector bots get it as an attack later on.
If you chose to keep it and can afford the slots then acc,dmg,dmg,dmg,endrdx,recharge would be a sensible strategy.
General consensus is that repair is worth taking as it's an extra heal for your bots.
Flight works well in big open missions - you can take to the skies and control your bots in relative safety.
The US boards generally have better generic guides as they had beta for much longer than us and seem to have waaaay too much free time 
Take a look at the US guides index in player guides
Pah, the US Forums are linking to here for my Mastermind Guide They love me *g* (I was fairly well known in the Masterminds forum in US CoV Beta).
Let me tell u from experience i had with my MM...(i had ZOMG Greek level 36 3 bars away from 37 Bots FF MM)
Drop maneuvers and get assault for that little extra damage and dispersion field asap...photon grenade and the attacks u have from primary u need drop as they only waste endurance and not really good damage plus unwanted aggro...try take the medicine pool asap for that extra heal to your bots and PFF asap...PFF is a multi tool with it u can even tank AV's if u get the trick how to do it effectively and fast enough....
[ QUOTE ]
Let me tell u from experience i had with my MM...(i had ZOMG Greek level 36 3 bars away from 37 Bots FF MM)
Drop maneuvers and get assault for that little extra damage and dispersion field asap...photon grenade and the attacks u have from primary u need drop as they only waste endurance and not really good damage plus unwanted aggro...try take the medicine pool asap for that extra heal to your bots and PFF asap...PFF is a multi tool with it u can even tank AV's if u get the trick how to do it effectively and fast enough....
[/ QUOTE ]
Solid advice (ex-L33 Robotics/FF MM, CoV US Beta)
Mind you, I never took PFF myself
Now I got one or two questions myself about the FF Pool.
1. How do you handle the constant rebuffing with Dispersion Field and Insulation Shield? When I look at the Duration of 120 Seconds I can imagine you start rebuffing the first Pet when you finished with the last
2. Are there any Powers in the FF Set (besides Repulsion Bomb) which can be skipped? All those Powers beside the Bomb seem to be very usefull .. Repulsion Field with Mercs together looks especially good since the Mercs are pure Ranged with the exception of the Rifle Headsmash
3. Can FF be run without Stamina? I see all this toggles and when Leadership is also be considered
06) --> Assault==> EndRdx(6) EndRdx(7) EndRdx(7)
14) --> Tactics==> EndRdx(14) EndRdx(15) EndRdx(15)
20) --> Dispersion Bubble==> EndRdx(20) EndRdx(21) EndRdx(21) DefBuf(23) DefBuf(23) DefBuf(25)
28) --> Repulsion Field==> Acc(28) Acc(29) EndRdx(29) EndRdx(31) EndRdx(31)
38) --> Force Bubble==> EndRdx(38) EndRdx(39) EndRdx(39)
Running those toggles, with the EndRdx Enhancements leave the Stamina Regeneration at -0.05 without Stamina.
Taking Stamina isn't probably an Option since any 3 important Powers need to be skipped for that.
[ QUOTE ]
1. How do you handle the constant rebuffing with Dispersion Field and Insulation Shield? When I look at the Duration of 120 Seconds I can imagine you start rebuffing the first Pet when you finished with the last
[/ QUOTE ]
Where are you getting your numbers? Deflection and Insulation both have a four minute duration. Dispersion Bubble is a toggle that is up constantly if you slot right (1-2x End Rdx)
[ QUOTE ]
2. Are there any Powers in the FF Set (besides Repulsion Bomb) which can be skipped? All those Powers beside the Bomb seem to be very usefull .. Repulsion Field with Mercs together looks especially good since the Mercs are pure Ranged with the exception of the Rifle Headsmash
[/ QUOTE ]
I will not be taking PFF and Detention Field. I will be taking Repulsion Field and Repulsion Bomb. Make of that what you may
[ QUOTE ]
3. Can FF be run without Stamina? I see all this toggles and when Leadership is also be considered
06) --> Assault==> EndRdx(6) EndRdx(7) EndRdx(7)
14) --> Tactics==> EndRdx(14) EndRdx(15) EndRdx(15)
20) --> Dispersion Bubble==> EndRdx(20) EndRdx(21) EndRdx(21) DefBuf(23) DefBuf(23) DefBuf(25)
28) --> Repulsion Field==> Acc(28) Acc(29) EndRdx(29) EndRdx(31) EndRdx(31)
38) --> Force Bubble==> EndRdx(38) EndRdx(39) EndRdx(39)
Running those toggles, with the EndRdx Enhancements leave the Stamina Regeneration at -0.05 without Stamina.
[/ QUOTE ]
Again, where are you getting numbers? Very many of the old planners are severely outdated. There's be an across the board Endurance Discount. Things like Force Bubble have had their endurance use cut.
In CoV Beta I had Assault, Tactics and Dispersion Bubble running all with only one SO End Rdx and was able to still use Repair, Force Bolt, Pulse Rifle Burst and re-shielding as needed. Seldom had endurance problems. I did not have Stamina at all.
I was looking at the COV/COH Character Builder from Sherkhan for the Numbers, since there are constantly Updates for this Builder I actually thought the Numbers would be quite accurate since it also already takes ED into account.
Thinking about a build the last 2 Days, something like this:
Archetype: Mastermind
Primary: Mercenaries
Secondary: Force Field
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Soldiers==> Acc(1) Acc(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(5) Heal(7)
01) --> Force Bolt==> Acc(1)
02) --> Deflection Shield==> DefBuf(2)
04) --> Insulation Shield==> DefBuf(4) DefBuf(9)
06) --> Equip Mercenary==> Rechg(6)
08) --> Aid Other==> Heal(8) Heal(9) Heal(11) Rechg(11) Rechg(13)
10) --> Detention Field==> Acc(10) Acc(13)
12) --> Spec Ops==> Acc(12) Acc(15) Dmg(15) Dmg(17) Dmg(17) Immob(19)
14) --> Hover==> Fly(14) Fly(19) Fly(21)
16) --> Personal Force Field==> DefBuf(16) DefBuf(21)
18) --> Fly==> Fly(18) Fly(23) Fly(23) EndRdx(25) EndRdx(25)
20) --> Dispersion Bubble==> DefBuf(20) DefBuf(27) DefBuf(27) EndRdx(29) EndRdx(29) EndRdx(31)
22) --> Assault==> EndRdx(22) EndRdx(31) EndRdx(31)
24) --> Tactics==> EndRdx(24) EndRdx(33) EndRdx(33)
26) --> Commando==> Acc(26) Acc(33) Dmg(34) Dmg(34) Dmg(34)
28) --> Repulsion Field==> Acc(28) Acc(36) EndRdx(36) EndRdx(36) EndRdx(37)
30) --> Serum==> Rechg(30) Rechg(37) Rechg(37)
32) --> Tactical Upgrade==> Rechg(32) Rechg(39) Rechg(39)
35) --> Group Fly==> Fly(35) Fly(39) EndRdx(40) EndRdx(40)
38) --> Force Bubble==> EndRdx(38) EndRdx(40) EndRdx(42)
---------------------------------------------
Probably the Levels for the Enhancements are not right since I just did a draft for this build.
Picture of the End Calculation from the planner
i run all toggles with no problem having a non stamina build but thats the reason i advise not to take blasting powers from primary since they are stamina hungry and useless. The stamina u ll need will be to spam your 2 heals and maybe buff some players....after dispersion bubble SO slotting i didnt bother buffing bots individually unless there was AV or i was doing the usual one player mission with a 5 people spawn....
EDIT: one of the reasons i not got up to 40 was cause i was spending time reading MZ's guides trust me MZ knows his way and his english is much better than mine so prolly he will say things in a more comprehensive way...
Tis true as I have got higher I'm spending more time looking after my pets than helping them fight, with tactics manuevers and despersion bubble all running at the same time I can't afford to run attack powers, photon grenade has become useless, I may slot and use it much later on. Force bolt is the only realy offensive power i use not for damage but to keep boss's and Av's down on the floor and to knock guys of my pets that are causing to much damage. Now at lv25 the with tactics slotted with Endrdx,Acc,Acc SO's the bots are hitting more often and harder so my job is just to stand back and look after them.
The only real joyless part is all the summoning and buffing at the start of every mission.
Like Greek said only buff bots individually when you are up against an tough red or purple, despersion is enough with the protector bots buffing as well.
How long is the recharge on repair? Would you recommend getting this before medcine?
[ QUOTE ]
How long is the recharge on repair? Would you recommend getting this before medcine?
[/ QUOTE ]
yes is quite long pre SO but u need it cause its got good range and full heal...medicine pool needs some slots and u need close range
[ QUOTE ]
Let me tell u from experience i had with my MM...(i had ZOMG Greek level 36 3 bars away from 37 Bots FF MM)
Drop maneuvers and get assault for that little extra damage and dispersion field asap...photon grenade and the attacks u have from primary u need drop as they only waste endurance and not really good damage plus unwanted aggro...try take the medicine pool asap for that extra heal to your bots and PFF asap...PFF is a multi tool with it u can even tank AV's if u get the trick how to do it effectively and fast enough....
[/ QUOTE ]
I've taken photon grenade in my bots/FF build, and will most likely respec out of it when I can. But it IS fairly handy; lob a nade into a large group when teaming (not as an alpha strike! Dont go agroing everyone in teams for petes sake), then whack on PFF. Voila, 5+ enemies all shooting at you, with great futility. A nice way to pull agro off of headstrong Stalkers, or indeed your own henchman. With this, you can stand in the middle of them and not get others to attack them, holding the agro and keeping them out of the fight. Even with a single DO in defense, against oranges and reds (and even purple bosses), I just dont get hurt.
Necrobond - 50 BS/Inv Scrapper made in I1
Rickar - 50 Bots/FF Mastermind
Anti-Muon - 42 Warshade
Ivory Sicarius - 45 Crab Spider
Aber ja, nat�rlich Hans nass ist, er steht unter einem Wasserfall.
Hi guys
Dont use)
So this is my build so far would appreciate any comments or ideas, not sure if I should start getting into more of my secondarys like Dispersion Bubble and detention Shield, I havn't because I opened up Leadership for the extra defense dispersion bubble would have given me, and also I wanted Tactics. Have only put one slot in Photon Grenade not realy sure what to do with it, may be slot for accuracy.
Anyway tell me what you think, I was also playing with the idea of opening the concealment group in power pools for stealth.
Primary
Pulse Rifle Blast: Acc,Dmg,Dmg
Battle Drones: Acc,Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Pulse Rifle Burst: Acc,Acc,Dmg,Dmg
Equip Bot: EndRdx
Protector Bots: Acc,Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Photon Grenade: Dmg
Secondary
Force Bolt: Acc,Recharge
Deflection Shield: Def,Def,Def
Insulation Shield: Def,Def,Def
Flight
Hover: Spd
Fly: Spd
Leadership
Maneuvers: EndRdx,Def,Def
Tactics: EndRdx
Inherent
Brawl
Prestige Power Slide: (Don't use)
Sprint: Spd
Rest: Recharge
Will probably take repair at lv24 as I have enough defence at the moment, then obviously my big bot at lv26, the next slots possibly into tactics.