Villains: Do You Still Take PPPs?

This question is for those playing Villains. Now that APPs have been available for some time, do you find you still take Patron Power Pools, or do you more often than not take the Ancillary Power Pools instead and why?

WARNING: I bold names.

depending on my toon, yes i will take the PPP if that fits the best

With the notable except of Doms, I don't know that the hero epics are across the board better than the patron powers.

I haven't leveled a character to 40 since the APP's have been available, but I plan on taking Mace Mastery on my 38 Bane when I get there. I also have a MM about to hit 40 but just haven't decided what to take with him yet.

Yep. The Soul pools in particular still hold up in many cases, and the mu/mace pools are well used too. The leviathan powers are weird thematically, (The sea being an odd fit in this game) but are functionally very good for several archetypes.

It depends. Basically, if it's a non-defense based character, and one of the PPPs give me access to Shadow Meld... I'm totally going with that one (meaning it's useless for my /SR, and would be for my /Nin if I ever get around to slotting her ).

Some of the Patron powers are now fairly decent, although it's still annoying that you have to unlock them, but not too annoying. I've not leveled any characters up since then (yet), but I wouldn't be surprised if I took the APPs at 41, then eventually get around to respecing into the PPPs on some for new characters.

We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.

Almost across the board I take the epic pools over the patrons. The only exception is on Brutes, because lets face it gloom + darkest night rock, and Stalkers Shadow Meld rocks. Other than that I mostly stick to epic pools because they are so much better for most every AT, I mean look at Doms! Who wants the crappy patron pools when you can get things like melt armor, sleet, energy transfer, or link minds?

It depends on what the toon needs. For most of my brutes, except the stoner, I took Soul Mastery. For the stoner, I took an epic pool (energy master? the one with physical perf...)
My dom has Mu and was tanking Rom with Power Surge by her lonesome in an poorly assembled ITF until the team came back from the hospital.

If it suits them... absolutely.

Shiba, my little chibi of a Bane, for instance, just started Black Scopion's arc with the intention of picking up Mace Mastery. Zhen'kei, one of my hero-side Defenders, actually crossed over to the Isles as a villain long enough to do the same. My Praetorian mind/psi Dom will be making the same blue-to-red-and-back-again journey to pick up Scir's arc and a few of the Mu powers. (I have a great time with my favorite Stalker and her Adept, so I figured I'd try out running a Guardian with my Dom. )

If I'm trying to softcap S/L on a Corruptor, I'll take Mace Mastery. Besides that, though, not really.

How could I make a dom WITHOUT Sleet?

I unlock them whether I plan on using them or not.

It depends. The hold from Ghost Widows's set is, in my opinion, one of the coolest effects in the game. Also, for some AT's, having a pet to pull some aggro off you is really useful.

On some villains, I take PPPs, on others I take APPs. I take some heroes redside to get PPPs too. It really depends on what the build needs most.

I give my villains Patron Powers just because I can.

Also, one thing I prefer PPP over APP is that squishies get their armor power at 41, not 44. That always kinda bothered me about the APPs.

I have more heroes with PPPs than villains as it happens.

Sometimes, depending on the character. May just unlock them to unlock them, though.

See my Guides and Tutorials

I'm another who decides on a case-by-case basis for each character, depending on what suits them best... not just for power usefulness but also story-wise. A few of my level 50 villains switched to better fitting APPs, and currently one of my low 40s heroes is side switching against concept just to get the by far best match for him in the PPPs. There's even my Stalker who had a PPP, switched to an APP, then switched sides to hero, and I decided that a different PPP than the one I originally chose was the best fit.

Nope.

Since I'm usually more focused on Form over Function I still find myself sticking to themes and pick whatever Epic Pool works best with that.

My Fire/Fire Brute took Pyre Mastery
My Robot/Dark MasterMind took Soul Mastery
My Elec/Elec Dominator took Mu Mastery (just wish I could change the color!)
My Demon/Thermal Mastermind took Chill Mastery (to somewhat match the Fire/Ice theme of the Demons)

My Mind/Energy Dominator on the other hand, took Ice Mastery simply for the function of Sleet, Frozen Armor and Ice Storm.

Since VEATs don't really count in this, my Villains that have Epics so far are 2 for PPPs, and 2 for APPs. My SS/WP Brute is probably going to go with the Toggle/Auto powers from Energy Mastery though to maintain her concept so that'll 2 PPPs, 3 APPs.

Most of my characters (hero or villain) end up using a Patron Power Pool. My Blasters, in particular, often use Mace Mastery for Scorpion Shield. Given what's available, when I really start working on Dominators, I'm sure I'll looking at Ice Mastery. Energy Mastery can be pretty wonderful on an especially endurance-hungry Brute.