new archytype idea

ok nearly every archytype on the hero side has a villain side counterpart, except defender

and nearly every villain archytype has a hero counterpart, except mastermind

I had an idea for a hero version of a mastermind, it would be a bit different, the name for the archetype is still in question but for this purpose I'll call them a 'Sidekicker'

masterminds are villains that use their minions to do their bidding so they don't have to get in danger. a Sidekicker is a bit different, they train 'sidekicks' to fight along side them because they are literally a 'half-a-hero' when it comes to powers.

a Sidekick will be a fully customizable character at the tailor

a sidekick would be a pet summon-able like a mastermind's pet, however unlike a mastermind each pet summon power only summons 1 pet and you can choose whether you want 1,2 or 3 sidekicks total later on.

a sidekick fights within melee range of their Sidekicker and wont go charging into battle like mastermind pets and yet there are similar controls,

passive (doesn't fight at all, but follows)

defensive (tries to get in-between enemies and you to absorb the damage)

aggressive (follows you closely and fights along side you)

Sidekicking power sets:

your secondary powerset is your sidekick abilities, there are only 3 powers on that list to start with, each one is 1 sidekick, you can have a total of 3 but it will diminish their power.

quite literally what makes a sidekick different from a minion is that you train them like yourself, you decide what powers they get when you train (at the cost of your own abilities)

Sidekick power numbers;

1 sidekick gets 8 powers and shares your powerpools automatically (though does not share mastery or patron powerpools)

2 sidekicks; one sidekick will get 3 powers and the other gets 4 and shares your powerpools automatically (though does not share mastery or patron powerpools)

3 sidekicks: each gets 2 powers and shares your powerpools automatically (though does not share mastery or patron powerpools)

they do not automatically come with superjump, flight or super speed.

RULE: when you have multiple sidekicks you can decide to give them some of your own power selections (at a cost of one less power for you) so they have more powers, the catch is your character MUST have at least 1 more powerset power than any of your sidekicks at any given time so the amount you can give them is limited.

when you first select your sidekick power it will be a powerless meat shield summon and wont be allowed to get any new powers until your 3rd power (LV4) garaunteeing that your Sidekicker has 1 more power than your sidekick

a sidekicker gets 9 powerset powers max as well as powerpools and mastery/patron pools

seeing as both the sidekicker and the sidekick(s) will be limited in how many powers they have (making them really weak compared to any other character) I would suggest they be allowed fully custom power selections (allowed to chose any power from any set)

remember the limitation is your sidekicker can only chose 9 powers of their own being equivalent to them having 1 power set (not counting power pool powers).

each side kick counts as a power so the more you get the less powers they have. they should be allowed fully custom power selections as well from any power-set (cause they get so few powers)

it's just an idea, but I think it could work.

... you did, I assume, notice that "Going Rogue" was released? There's absolutely nothing preventing someone from having a heroside mastermind right now. (Past level 20, admittedly.)

As for the idea itself? I see... well, issues.

For starters, you have them sharing your power pools. So... I'm self-stacking Leadership and Medicine. I'd be foolish not to. Multiple self-heals and stacked mez protection, plus all leadership values quadrupled?

Then, "Fully custom power selections?" There's a reason that didn't make it into the game for players. I'll have two stacking Force Fields, one Thermal or Sonic. Then just order them to stay back while I take care of things... and if something DOES get through two sets of FFs and four Maneuvers, I've got three "healers" behind me.

That's without me even trying *hard* to come up with ways to abuse this.

See my Guides and Tutorials

I would also dispute that there's no equivalent archetype on redside to Defenders... Corruptors are just inverted Defenders. Definitely closer to them than Blasters.

Masterminds are definitely the most unique of the standard archetypes, but making a clone for blueside does not seem to be a good idea, even if you couldn't make Masterminds heroic now... which you can.

1: yes going rogue is released and now a mastermind can be a hero, but theres controlers and dominators. ETC. theres should be some other form of a mastermind.

2: very valid points about abuse, so more rules would have to be in place, maybe for example the sidekicks only share your Travel type powers (so they can keep up, which was my original idea for this)

3: more abuse, ok, so just limit each sidekick and the sidekicker to 1 of each type of power maximum (so they can't select more than 1 FF) each power must be different. and of coarse other pet summons are off-limits to avoid 9 pet summon powers ETC.

maybe even further limit, like; you're not allowed more than 4 Def and/ or Res powers and they cannot be of the same type.

the attacks/holds/heals ETC. could be fully custom without much grief though.

so with the changes what does everyone say?

Seems like that would be a bear to balance, as you'd have to balance around the characters being able to use 1, 2, or 3 sidekicks. With 1, they could make the sidekick basically as powerful as a full character, with little chance that the player's character dies. With 3, each one would still have an impressive array of powers, especially if they could be given basically any powers.

What powers would be available to this AT? Would they only be melee powers, or ranged as well? Would you be able to duplicate powers between them? If so, you could just give all three an aggro aura, and never take any direct fire.

No villain defenders???

Defenders are closer to Corruptors than Controllers are to Doms.

It isn't a terrible idea, but I think giving Materminds the ability to customize pet costumes would acomplish your goal. If I wanted to make a Batman/Robin-esque team, I could roll up Ninjas/Traps MM and make my Ninja look like a sidekick instead of a ninja. We just need the ability to take the tier 3 pet without having to have the first 2 tiers (which may already be possible as my MM is only lvl 4 atm so my knowledge of the AT is limited) so people who only want one sidekick could have it. I have always thought costume customization for pets would be totally awesome. So many more possibilities for RPers especially. I would also like to see my Ninja MM with a different attack option than archery. Not sure if that is feasable though.

EDIT: The best option is to go out and make a friend in game, and ask them if they would like to set up a hero/sidekick duo and run missions together. It is a multi player game after all.

First, I agree that Defenders are much like Corruptors. While I think Corruptors are their own unique archetype, I would sooner call them "a better-damaging-weaker-buffing defender" before I would call them "a weaker blaster."

I like that there are still some unique archetypes and/or powerset types to both the sides. And while I am completely in favor of exploring ways to create new archetypes that would be completely unique in their own right, I don't think "trying to balace side A with side B" is the way to go about it.

That all being said...

I like the idea, though I would implement it differently. I would make it 1 pet, which is your Tier 1 power, and rather than a henchman, it is a partner. Nearly all of your attacks work with your pet-partner. Different powersets would have different varieties of power-types (i.e. some may be more AoE oriented than others). Naturally, power pools would have to go through some extensive balancing, so that your pet-partner could fly/jump/run/stealth with you, but could not necessarily enable you to stack things like Leadership buffs. *Note: I'm not taking the time to flesh out this idea and all of its loopholes, just saying that I think that would be the way I would do it to keep it further from a Mastermind.

1. When you say each AT has a opposite, your wrong. Most AT have diferent goals.

Tank=Aggro holder to defend team
Brute= Holds aggro to max out damage
Scrapper=Helps with constant melee damage
Stalker=Helps eleminate tough bosses
Defender=Buff first, attack later
Corrupter=Attack now, buff when you want to
Controller= Hold and buff
Dominator= Hold and kill at your leisure
Blaster= Kill and AoE
Mastermind= Control pets and buff them


2. If the sidekick was added in, you know there would be grief from A. The Masterminds on not getting customizable pets as well B. The redside lovers who would want their own new AT as well.

3. The mastermind was made the way he was to make sure he had LIMITED pets. Not too strong, not over buffing, etc. You would upset the equality with this AT you propose.


4. Pew Pew Pew. Idea shot down.

I tend to view the redside ATs as a mix of two blueside ATs rather than as "evil" versions of a single AT. The Corruptor comes closest to being an evil opposite but even there he has a bit of the Blaster in him since like defiance Scourge means he does more damage midway through the fight than at the start.

Dominator: Blaster + Controller (trading some of the Blaster's damage for more control ability)
Corruptor: Blaster + Defender (trading some buff/debuff ability for more damage)
Brute: Scrapper + Tank (trading straight up damage for better aggro management)
Mastermind: Blaster + Defender (trading some buff/debuff ability and most personal damage for toughness and higher overall damage)
Stalkers: Scrapper + Tank/Controller (trading AoE damage for the ability to protect the team by removing individual problematic or tough enemies from the fight)

How about I just go with a big fat /unsigned?

We already have a SideKick AT. They are called Empaths.

Seriously though, I would like to see more ATs, but would rather see something else than a another Pet-user.