My MM

I was asked to post this in-game so here it is


For some reason my posting of my build keeps getting mesed up so here a link that i made to get it http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/downl...44F6072B43B215

Just so you know but since i dont use IO'S i didnt go thought with puting anything in the slots. But all of them are filled wight SO'S



This is what im thinking of what it will look like when i reach 50 http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/downl...C4F00F58A43959

PS I cant remebe exactly there all my slots are so it may be off freom what it actualy is

Knowledge is power.
Power corrupts.
Study Hard. Be evil.

Hello again; I'm the individual that was discussing this with you in game before the server maintenance. Since we were rushed for time, I think the best place to start is for me to explain my position on leadership, and assault in particular, a bit better.

The logic goes like this:
1) Leadership is a good power for teams.
2) Masterminds have lots of pets, so they're like teams even when soloing.
3) Hence, leadership is good for masterminds.

Makes sense right? NOPE! It's based on a faulty premise of what makes leadership effective; in fact, the number of entities (characters, pets, whatever) being buffed by leadership isn't actually the important part. I think an example with simplified numbers explains it best.

Suppose you have a brute that puts out 100 units of damage, and we give him a 10% damage buff on top of that. Now he's putting out 110 units of damage. Simple enough.

Now suppose we have a mastermind with 5 pets, each of which put out 20 units of damage for a total of 100. We provide the mastermind with a 10% damage buff that applies to all his pets. Each pet now deals 22 units of damage, for a total of 110. That's the same as the brute. The fact that the mastermind has 5 pets is completely irrelevant; the argument that masterminds get more out of the buff because it's being applied "5 times" is meaningless.

What actually makes assault good on teams is the efficiency of power selection. If a character uses one of their 24 powers to give himself a 10% damage buff while soloing, that's one thing. If that character is on a team of 8, it's only one power out (8*24=) 192. Alternatively, if 8 players use one of their 24 powers to give the team a 10% damage buff, that's 80% for everyone. You're going to notice that.

MM pets are typically going to be looking at 220% damage minimum from enhancement and supremacy. Adding 11.3% isn't overly noticeable; less so in a situation like thug/pain where you already have additional damage buffs. You're probably looking at a net increase of about 4%. Is that worth it? Up to you to answer.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not knocking the leadership pool. It's quite good actually, and there are good reasons to take it. A lot of MMs don't have endurance concerns approaching those of other characters for example, and assault does just fine with a single slot. Also, going for tactics is a very reasonable strategy as some MM pets are routinely looking at +4s or higher and could use the tohit buff. I simply think it's important to dispel the myth that MMs somehow get more out of assault than other characters, when generally they get less.

To go back to our in-game discussion then, the debate over taking the personal attacks has been going on since day 1 of CoV. In general I believe an AoE attack like empty clips is a solid choice to increase your overall damage output, whether for team or solo play. There are a number of other options I would consider also, such as:

1) Provoke. Love this power on MMs. Bodyguard is sexy.
2) Fighting pool. Tends to stack nicely with PPP toggles.
3) Hasten. More gang war + more pain buffs = good. Indeed, I expect this power would provide you with waaaay more effective damage output than assault, as well as a lot of other benefits.
4) Other attacks from your primary, PPPs or other pools. Air superiority isn't bad as an attack and provides a heck of a lot of mitigation.
5) QoL and utility powers.

If it were me, I'd dump the leadership pool, pick up provoke and hasten asap, and consider empty clips depending on how many PPP powers I expected to take.

46.25 is how much dem buff my minions get totall between me and my enforcers while solo. 11.25 from my assult and 5 from each enforcer as well as 25% from supremacy (keep forgeting that last one).

As for the list i cant see getting provoke since my brut makes a better brute then i do (think hes a ss/wp) with the better HP to prove it. Since im realy weak getting the Fighting pool and going into mele range dosnt quit sound right. I could hasten but as it is i rarly use gang war tought it would be benificial when fighting powerfull vill. Especial eb's and above. As for the attacks i realy cant see a differince between it and my assult since the boost that i get seems to eaquil about as much as the wapons do anyway

Knowledge is power.
Power corrupts.
Study Hard. Be evil.

Remember that damage buffs work off base damage, so if you're using 95% worth of enhancements, the difference between assault and not is 241.25% versus 230%. That means the difference in damage output that you're actually seeing is roughly 4.7%. It's actually less if you take into consideration the damage buffs from pain, which is why I eyeballed it at about 4%. If you feel that's worth more to you than other options by all means stick with it, but as our initial discussion was looking at the damage potential of the power I wanted to make sure the actual numbers are out there.

I personally love provoke, though it is a pretty substantial shift in playstyle that may or may not work for everyone. While thugs comes with a bruiser that can handle aggro, the ability to pull aggro off your other pets is very effective. Bodyguard mode will effectively split damage between a lot of targets that can easily handle it thanks to all the regen from your secondary; this tactic turns a very squishy MM into an extremely sturdy individual.

Keep in mind also that hasten helps not only with gang war but other important powers such as painbringer and world of pain that are not perma.

Ultimately, of course, the most important thing is that you're happy with and enjoy your build.