Dangit, I had to look at the other builds...
By
Clave_Dark_5,
Posted on: 2010-12-27 01:25 in Masterminds
The keys to soloing AVs and GMs are:
1) Survival. Bots/Traps can softcap the mastermind and all but the Protector Bots with minimal effort. Bots/Dark doesn't look easy to softcap, but it has to-hit debuffs, a damage debuff, and a powerful rapid-fire heal.
2) Regen debuffs. Bots/Traps can generate a perma 1000% regen debuff from Poison Trap, while the best Bots/Dark can manage appears to be about a 250% debuff from five-stacked Twilight Grasp.
I've soloed a number of GMs on my Bots/Traps. The specific tactics vary, but the keys were to use Provoke to keep the GM's attention off the bots, use Poison Trap to debuff the GM's regen, and use Forcefield Generator to keep everyone alive. Triage Beacon is nice in theory, but fights tend to be too mobile for it to actually provide much healing. The damage debuff from Seeker Drones would be nice if I had the endurance to summon them, but I can usually only use them to open the fight. Acid Mortar is nice for speeding up fights, but it suffers from some of the same "mobile battle" problems that Triage Beacon does. Web Grenade's slow tends to be highly resisted, but it stacks with Provoke to help keep the GM's attention. The remainder of the Traps powers are useless for a GM fight (can't toe-bomb a mobile GM with Trip Mine, Caltrops do trivial damage for their endurance cost, and Detonator simply reduces your damage output).
I expect that Bots/Traps will be a better AV/GM soloer than Bots/Dark simply because of the better regen debuff, but Bots/Dark should be able to do the job too.
Quote:
You forget the 500% regen debuff from /Dark's Howling Twilight, the -res from Tar Patch which can be stacked too with a decent amount of recharge.|
Originally Posted by Katie V
2) Regen debuffs. Bots/Traps can generate a perma 1000% regen debuff from Poison Trap, while the best Bots/Dark can manage appears to be about a 250% debuff from five-stacked Twilight Grasp...
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While /Traps does have an easier time of softcapping defences, /Dark relies on its -tohit and -dmg debuffs which means it's not acuatally necessary to softcap defences. Running Darkest Night, Dark Servant, and spamming Fearsome Stare (slotted for -tohit) and Twilight Grasp act as a decent +def bonus to the MM and his/her pets.
Still, /Traps is considered a better GM/AV killer than /Dark and I won't dispute that.
http://www.scene-and-heard.com/cov/covsig.jpg
Quote:
It's not perma. With reasonable levels of recharge, it's only active about a third of the time.
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Originally Posted by Scene_EU
You forget the 500% regen debuff from /Dark's Howling Twilight,
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Quote:
Dark's Twilight Grasp heal can also be slotted with To Hit Debuff. I don't recall which set I used, but my Bots/Dark has hers frankenslotted to give me a reasonable amount of heal with the debuff; more debuff is always a good thing.|
Originally Posted by Scene_EU
You forget the 500% regen debuff from /Dark's Howling Twilight, the -res from Tar Patch which can be stacked too with a decent amount of recharge.
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I haven't tried any AV soloing with her, but I know I've fought some really tough foes and after Howling T, the above mentioned heals, etc etc etc, I often think "wow, that guy sure is missing a lot!"
One important difference to note is the Mezz Prot to Stun, Hold, Immob that /Traps gets from FFG. The sad thing is that /Dark needs the mezz protection more than /Traps. If /Dark is relying on their Darkest Night toggle for -Tohit then a single mezz drops the toggle thus dropping their psuedo softcap.
It's also important to note that while a Dark Miasma has one hell of a time making any to-hit debuffs actually worth a damn against an AV, straight up defense from something like FFG isn't going to be neutered. You -can- softcap a DM, but it's a lot easier on /Traps and clears up room for other stuff.
Also, Acid Mortar is superior to Tar Patch in that it can be stacked just as often, can tank for you a bit, and it can slot the -res proc from the defense debuff set. I think it can take some damage procs as well.
Poison Trap is much better at -regen than anything in DM. That's not to say DM can't debuff regen pretty well, but /Traps does it a lot better.
Well I wanted a Mastermind for soloing AVs and GMs just for the fun of it, I had my mind set on a Bots/Dark, and a good build already set for him (thanks to Scene)... And then I had to go and look over the froums and discover the Bots/Traps. So my question here is, would a Bots/Dark be able to solo Avs and GMs just as well as the Bots/Traps, or are there AVs/GMs that a Bots/Traps can solo, but a Bots/Dark cant?