The Mastermind Class
For those of you familiar with WoW, and SWG the Mastermind is the CoV equivalent of a creature handler (SWG) or a hunter (WoW). Essentially, they are a ranged class who has the aid of a ?pet? to do the tanking for them as they pick off the mobs with their ranged weaponry. In addition, Masterminds also receive a bit of a bonus and actually have the power to buff themselves and group members. They are an extremely complex class of character to control, and provide you numerous ways to play the game in a group or on your own.
HENCHMEN
The calling card of a Mastermind is their ability to ?Summon Henchmen? (AKA call a pet). When first creating your Mastermind you?ll have the option to choose one of the following ?primary powers?. Choosing one of these powers will determine what kind of Henchman you?ll be able to call.
Mercenaries
Necromancers
Ninjas
Robots
While their names may differ quite a bit, each one of these classes do one thing for you???..tank. There are some slight differences in terms of resistances and a few ?special? powers each type of Henchman possesses, and your choice of henchman will actually determine your toon?s ranged weapon.
Here is how all of these differences break down. Use these to help determine what kind of Henchman you?ll choose. My personal favorite is the Ninja?..
Types of Henchmen (Mastermind Primary Power Set)
Mercenaries: The main differentiator between a mercernary henchman vs the other 3 types is the fact that they use weapons one would expect a humanoid mercenary to use. guns, grenades and so forth. However, keep in mind regardless of the type of henchman and their weapon of choice??they still just tank for you. In that regard it?s really aesthetic.
Mercenaries have a slightly increased resistance to certain types of melee damage, and they are innately resistant to Confusion and Placate powers. Also, if you choose this power set your toon will use a gun as his/her main weapon.
Necromancy: Choosing necromancy allows your Mastermind to call ?Undead Henchmen? to do your bidding. It?s pretty much what it sounds like, you call down skeletal beings to tank for you.
These undead henchmen have very few distinguishing characteristics in comparison to the other types of Henchmen. They have no special weaponry, and have some increased resistance to certain types of powers. Namely, cold, negative energy, psionic damage, sleep, fear and disorient. Keep in mind all of these resistances while increased, don?t really make that huge of a difference after applying enhancements as you advance in the game.
As for the impact of choosing this power set on your actual character, your toon will utilize spells for ranged attacks.
Ninjas: Again, I?m biased but these guys are my personal favorite. Ninjas tank, throw shurikens from a distance??..and even have the ability to super leap. While any henchman will eventually get to the target you seek them to pummel, Ninjas many times will jump extremely high and up to the mob much quicker than other types of henchman.
Ninjas also receive increased resistance to Confusion powers. If you go with Ninjas, your toon will be toting a bow for ranged assault.
Robotics: Robotic henchmen are probably the coolest henchmen to look at. If you ever wanted to have an R2D2 lookalike to tank for you, this is the choice you should make. Again, in my opinion your choice of a henchman type is really aesthetic. Eventually you can make any henchman do what you want. Robots have no true unique innate ability, other than the fact they are well, robots.
As far as the slight resistance boosts, robots are less vulnerable to Lethal, Cold and Psionic damage attacks. In addition, your toon will be using a rifle for long ranged attacks to assist his robot minions.
PRIMARY POWERS
For each Power Set, your individual primary powers may bear different names??.but they all do the same thing regardless of power set. In other words, the burst power for mercenaries has the same effect as the dark blast power under necromancy. With this in mind, I?ve grouped all individual powers together, and listed their impact on your henchman in the description.
------------------------------------
Primary Powers Level One:
Burst (Mercenaries)
Dark Blast (Necromancy)
Snap Shot (Ninjas)
Pulse Rifle Blast (Robotics)
Description:
This power can be selected as your first primary power during character creation. This power allows you to blast off quick shots from your ranged weapon. This pretty much takes the safety clip off your ranged weapon, so to speak.
------------------------------------
Primary Powers Level Two:
Soldiers (Mercenaries)
Zombie Horde (Necromancy)
Call Genin (Ninjas)
Battle Drones (Robotics)
Description:
This power can be selected as your first primary power during character creation. This power allows you to call your first henchman. A Mastermind is useless without it!
------------------------------------
Primary Powers Level Three:
Slug (Mercenaries)
Gloom (Necromancy)
Aimed Shot (Ninjas)
Pulse Rifle Burst (Robotics)
Description:
This power allows you to shoot a more powerful blast from your ranged weapon. Takes longer to recharge, but is much more powerful. Better used when you minion has complete agro of the opponent.
------------------------------------
Primary Powers Level Four:
Equip Mercenary (Mercenaries)
Enchant Undead (Necromancy)
Train Ninjas (Ninjas)
Equip Robot (Robotics)
Description:
This power basically upgrades your henchman, and makes them a bit more powerful. They cause more damage in combat.
------------------------------------
Primary Powers Level Five:
M30 Grenade (Mercenaries)
Life Drain (Necromancy)
Fistful of Arrows (Ninjas)
Photon Grenade (Robotics)
Description:
This is an AOE power. It allows you to fire a volley of shots simultaneously effecting any mobs within range.
------------------------------------
Primary Powers Level Six:
Spec Ops (Mercenaries)
Grave Knight (Necromancy)
Call Jounin (Ninjas)
Protector Bots (Robotics)
Description:
This power allows you to call a new type of henchman, dedicated to ranged attacks. In combination with your melee henchman you?ll be quite a force when soloing.
------------------------------------
Primary Powers Level Seven:
Serum (Mercenaries)
Soul Extraction (Necromancy)
Smoke Flash (Ninjas)
Repair (Robotics)
Description:
Consider this power an almost ?invulnerability? power for a henchman. All of your henchman?s power pools will be greatly increased as well as inflicted damage. After completion your henchman will be exhausted and will be rendered close to useless for a long period.
------------------------------------
Primary Powers Level Eight:
Commando (Mercenaries)
Lich (Necromancy)
Oni (Ninjas)
Assault Bot (Robotics)
Description:
This power allows you to call a henchman who carries a heavy ranged weapon, and has superb melee abilities. This power is essentially the Mercedes-Benz of Henchmen. This guy will kill everything in sight.
------------------------------------
Primary Powers Level Nine:
Tactical Upgrade (Mercenaries)
Dark Empowerment (Necromancy)
Kuji In Zen (Ninjas)
Upgrade Robot (Robotics)
Description:
This power allows you to permanently upgrade a called Mercenary with new ranged and melee weaponry. This is good to use on your lowest level henchman, as it will increase their skills almost to that of your highest level henchman power.
SECONDARY POWER SETS:
Choosing your secondary power set will determine how you engage in battle. There are 4 main secondary power set
Dark Miasma
These skills grant you powers which are focused on reducing your opponent?s HP. These are useful to help you create the most amount of damage, and aid your henchman in battle.
Force Field
If you are going the Mastermind route looking to assist others in groups, and essentially be a buffer?.you?ll need to go either force field or poison for your secondary power set. Force Field powers will allow you to cast certain spells which aid your allies (and yourself) in battle situations.
Poison
Poisons can oddly enough BUFF you or your ally, or DEBUFF your opponent. Quite an oddity considering the name. For example the alkaloid power under this tree of powers can heal your ally, or drain an opponent. All of the powers in this set have similar effects (buff or drain), but at varying strengths.
Traps
This set of powers jives directly with the definition of the set??.traps! By using traps you can shoot a crippling trap from your ranged weapon rendering your opponent completely immobile, covering a large area of the map with a damaging effect, or set traps which are only sprung when an opponent steps on or near it??.
Trick Arrow
Trick arrows equip your range weapon with a number of skills which allow you to cause havoc from afar, further increasing your value as a ranged attacker. You can entangle opponents, rendering them immobile??..throw up traps and more. This is a sort of combination of the trap powerset and the dark miasma power set. This is also my personal fav. I think it compliments soloing quite well??..and allows you to play the game as a mastermind without always searching for a group.
Going into the individual powers of these secondary powersets really isn?t necessary. The overall description of the powerset really defines how you will play the game. All the powers in the secondary tree all play back to that original purpose. Those who choose Dark Miasma are purely focused on causing damage, Force Field and Poison focused on buffing allies and stopping opponents from causing damage. Traps and trick arrows will cause you to be more of a disrupting force during combat, allowing your henchman to continue inflicting damage on your opponent, while you continue to rain down damage from a ranged distance.
CONCLUSION:
In my estimation, the Mastermind is the most entertaining class to play in the game. You can be a soloing machine, or a buffing champion. The game doesn?t do a good job of explaining the differences between the individual power sets, and their purpose in the game.
Hopefully this tutorial will help all of ponder on how exactly you wish to play the game, and allow you to build your Villain accordingly.
 |
