Defense Cap Traps build

It is Musculature, by bad yet again.. I should have said Endurance Mod. I didn't have access to any info persay beyond what was in my head. I felt it offered the most for the set at that time. To me the biggest thing was the level boost. Remember I had no issues before. I fought both AV at the same time doing the Incarnate mission because I misunderstood the mission level settings all this time. It was only after I tried with my AR Device and was asking for help that someone explained where to look to make sure my settings were correct. Stupid me..

@Arbegla

I guess my whole point of my comments to you is my build stinks and I can solo 4/8 which is the highest setting. I can solo 0/8 without the pets and Traps only. There are players that can't solo 0/5 with a full set of powers let alone 0/8 on half their powers.

So if I am doing with less then what you have posted, you don't need to spend the 15 billion when you can do it will 300 million, maybe. I think there just is a max where its just over kill. We are both doing the same thing but for 2 extremely different price values. Which is fine, but if I posted your build as the primer for this thread no one would have cared because maybe only 5% of the gaming community can afford 15 Billion for a build. I think I would have gotten more insults then anything, because it would come off as look at me and it would give the impression that its 15 billion or nothing.

Its like talking about Lamborghini's and a Ford Mustang. I can't relate to a Lamborghini. Even if I had the cash I would never buy one. It serves me no purpose. The speed limit is 65 in the USA for the most part so I don't need a car that can go 240. I like the look of the Mustang and it gets me to 65 and yea a bit faster if needed. Further I could not fathom a time I would need to go 240 MPH in real life and living in NYC you couldn't even get that fast without hitting another car it is so congested. Get my point or frame of mind. Neither am I saying though that spending 15 billion is wrong. I am just trying to keep a realty on this for newer players who just don't have that cash flow. You can sell 3 LOTG + recharge and buy the IOs needed for this build.

My whole point of this thread is answer that same question that keeps coming up about Robot Traps or Traps in general. Traps is Traps is Traps. You bring this build over to Corruptor or Defender and you pretty much have another defense cap toon.

I think without pets I can survive much longer then someone who relies on pet bubble.

I cannot hold aggro with Provoke alone maybe you can. Eventually my pets will out dps my aggro. Especially at the start of a fight with all the AOE. So I use Trip mine to help build up the aggro. It works for me. But again it all depends on the setting your running your missions on also. On a 1/1 setting the most you need from Traps is FFG. Trip mine also helps me when I cannot summon pets. Again I won't waste your time with examples unless you ask. I'm sure your aware of those instances.

Stealth Proc is to help out when stealth runs are needed. EG LGTF assorted mission, BSF last mish, Several Tip missions. In caves for those that have issues with SS and caves. They can purchase a Temp jet pack activate SS and fly around with the jet pack and still obtain the same stealth. So its a win / win situation in that respecs.

I don't know where you were going with the trip mine and stealth proc comments ( well I actually did but just ignored it ) but I figure I would clarify.

As far as pet defense, for the most part I explained my tactics. My pets are just range attack powers.. They stay behind me at all times if I can help it. Spamming All pet stay helps at keeping them behind me. My complete control goes as follows.. All follow, all stay, all attack, all passive followed by all defensive when removing aggro from a runner.. My pets are in defensive mode at all times otherwise. When I'm solo I loose 1 T1 pet usually, otherwise I have no issues. I loose more pets in teams then I do solo and we are on the same settings. Which is common since I cannot control other players.

All I am doing is now showing where I found something better and explain why I feel it's better. EG removing the IO from Caltrops, picking up Oppressive Gloom.

But in the end if it all works for you that is all that matters right.

I can understand the Mustang vs Lamborghini analogy, and it fits pretty well here, as both builds will do about the same.

My main point is that you seem to be sacrificing a lot of your debuff values to maintain your softcap, when you can reach close to the cap (say in the ballpark of 30-35%, and have much higher debuff vaules which is what i feel /traps is all about)

Softcapping a build is great, but keep in mind that /traps has no DDR, so once you get debuffed yourself, you have a really limited backup plan.

I'm not saying 15 billion or bust, i'm just saying a well rounded build (say, decent defence, decent debuff, decent buff) would top out a pure defense capped build any day.

While you can solo without your pets, it'll be at a very slow pace especially with defense debuffs detering your ability to set up trip mines. Looking at the bigger picture, a softcapped mastermind with below soft cap pets won't last as long as a below soft capped mastermind and softcapped pets, especially when you consider that pets are below the materminds level and have much lower hit points.

While we both can run at 4/8, the speed at which we run them at would be much different, due to the debuff values affecting +4 mobs much more.

And you become a defender with even worse damage and equally terrible debuff/buff numbers during team content if you you don't build with pet survivability in mind and only for the MM himself. Debuffs help your pets, set bonuses only help you.

The best builds of anything are the ones that find a balance between chasing set bonuses and maintaining good slotting of the actual powers themselves. This is especially true considering that a MM's primary receives almost nothing from set bonuses, baring the pet uniques.

Quoted for Truth. This is exactly the point I'm trying to make

I'm just asking, have you tried running your build on some higher settings ?

Another comment I think any Defense cap player will agree Cots and Freakshow are easy to deal with. I hate Malta and Longbow nullifiers. It would be insane and painful for me to run 4/8 setting vs those mobs.

My build runs +2/8 for tips all the time, and while i can run at +4, its just not worth the time and effort for little gain in drops. Its not that it can't handle the higher difficulty, its just that i don't enjoy doing it.

Apex and Tin Mage are both +4, and my build runs just fine in both situations without any problems at all. Heck, i can dive head first into those spawns of clockwork and survive just as long as any brute can. The debuffs make that much of a difference.