The Mastermind - Subarchetypes
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The Mastermind is uniquely a villain Archetype, there are no real counterparts to it in City of Heroes, although it combines some of the features of the Defender with the pets of the Controller. In many ways, though, it is the ultimate expression of the villain, the evil genius that plots and schemes his complex crimes, while commanding a legion of cohorts to do his bidding. While the player Masterminds may never match the power and influence of the greatest Mastermind of them all, Lord Recluse, they can command their own little part of the Rogue Isles for their own ends. And it is those ends that determine what kind of subarchetype a Mastermind is.
Necromancer: The Necromancer does not care for worldly power, because he is a master of the forces of death himself. He might be an evil wizard who has made a pact with some demon, or a scientist who has created monstrosities in his quest for eternal life. Either way, he typically commits crimes to further his quest for knowledge or power, although he may need material wealth to continue his research. Zombies are very strong and hardy, making them excellent for "tanking", but they can also be stupid. Their slow, shambling movement makes them difficult to direct and position, as well. Fortunately, the higher level henchmen, and the Necromancer's unique ability to summon the "soul" of his fallen allies as an additional henchman, can make up for this. Dark Maisma is a perfect mix with Necromancy since it matches the Dark Blasts of the Mastermind's Primary. So as mentioned below in the entry for the Demon Mastermind, Dark Miasma is one of the best choices for Secondary, because of its powerful healing and support abilities. Traps also makes a good mesh with Necromancy because of the link between the concepts of the "mad scientist" bringing the dead to life and technological gadgets. Plus, you can use Detonate to make your zombies explode, just like Dr. Vahzilok. I mention Thermal, just because of the way the idea of flaming zombies seems to be universally described as "cool!" :D
Ninja Master: The Ninja Master is a Sensei, well, actually the description says that he could also be called Shogun, Kage, or Lord, or even other names as well. The main thing is, he is a trainer and leader of ninjas, and is able to command their absolute obedience. He may be a petty thief, or he may have grandiose plans to rule the world or recover some ultimate relic. Although it is possible for the Ninja Master's henchmen to be modern-day Ninjas, it is also possible that they are summoned from some shadow realm, making them magical in nature. (And this would mesh nicely with Dark Miasma) Like Zombies, Ninjas are primarly limited to hand to hand combat, which can make them somewhat unpredictable and difficult to command. Even so, they are very fast and agile, unlike the slow and shambling Zombies, and can Super Leap as well. They use Super Reflexes to dodge attacks, instead of just enduring them as a more resiliant henchman would, which can lead to some nasty surprises if you try to use them as "meatshields". They actually act more like Stalkers, and with the Ninja Master's innate ability to Hide his Smoke Flash, he can control when they make their Assassin Strike. In order to keep with the "theme", the Mastermind may wish to take Stealth or Invisibility himself, or take Dark Miasma for Shadow Fall. Trick Arrow is the more "natural" pairing for this Primary, since it matches the arrows fired as the Mastermind's primary attacks. However, Trick Arrow is not a very popular set, because of its weak debuff effects, and an overabundance of control powers which are not that strong for a Mastermind. Dark Miasma and Poison may be better choices, so check the descriptions below for the Demon Mastermind and the Homicidal Madman.
Evil Overlord: The Evil Overlord wants one thing; POWER. Material wealth is not important to him, and neither is violence and death, although he may be driven by revenge. The Evil Overlord is a conquerer, though, and his ambitions go far beyond the Rogue Isles. He will not be satisfied with anything less than the entire world enslaved to his will. He may even have mental powers that make his command of others complete and irresistable. Or he may just be incredibly wealthy or charismatic. Mercenaries are a very powerful Primary that have good long range attacks, as well as hand to hand capability, and strong defenses. They don't make particularly effective meatshields, but they can stand back and snipe from a distance, drawing ranged aggro. Their resistance to status effects like Confusion and Fear (for the Commando) can be very useful, too. (Zombies are also resistant to status effects, but it is more dangerous to have a henchman with ranged attacks turn on your group) The third Soldier under your command also is a Medic, which can heal both you and your teammates, however, it can be a bit difficult to command this tier as a group, since they have somewhat different capabilities. It may help to assign a name to the Medic and give him commands separately.Traps is the closest "match" to Mercenaries because of the synergy with the Assault Rifle and Traps sets, but Force Field is a good combination as well. In fact, this type of Mastermind is the most likely to take hand to hand attacks from the Power Pool and get in there with his soldiers as they fight. You can't make a character who is a super strong brute like the Kingpin, but with Force Field you can create a very strong defense. Traps also has a Force Field Generator, and is a strong defensive set as well.
Robotics Master: While other Masterminds hire or enslave their "friends", the Robotics Master builds them! He is a master of high technology, and can do anything with electronics or metal. While other Masterminds may look down on petty theft, he must often steal, to fund his techological experiments. This often drives him to a life of crime, which of course leads to more experimentation to build the best robotic henchmen. The Mastermind may have some sort of mental power over robots, though, such as City of Heroes' own Clockwork King. Or he may be a robot himself, and be driven to destroy all "primitive" organic life on the planet. Robots are a very strong Mastermind Primary, being equally useful as long range, sniping attackers, and close up, hand to hand meatshields. They have strong defenses, although they tend to be vulnerable to smashing, as well as EMP attacks, as stated in the description. The Mastermind unique ability, Repair, is somewhat useless due to the fact that it must be used separately on each target, and that Protector Bots naturally repair your henchmen. However, the ability to fully repair AND Endurance recharge a henchman in trouble can occasionally come in handy. Considering how strong the set is overall, especially with the Assault Bot's flashy missile attacks, the weak unique power may not be such a disadvantage. As mentioned above, Force Field makes for a strong defensive set, although it does not offer much by way of offense. In combination with the knockback from the Robots' laser cannons, though, not to mention your own attacks, Force Field has enough status effects to keep a team of enemies off their feet. If push comes to shove, you can "turtle up" behind your Personal Force Field while your henchmen continue to attack, although this is one reason why PFF recharges so slowly, compared to other Archetypes like Defenders and Controllers that can use the set. Although Traps doesn't offer quite as much defense as Force Field, the Force Field Generator is another option that stacks nicely with the Protector Bots' Force Shields. And even if it may not be the best trade-off in actual practice, there's just something fun about rigging your Robots to explode.
Elemental Sorcerer: The Elemental Sorcerer has the forces of nature at his command. While Demon Summoning appears to be designed around this concept, with the Mastermind's attacks appearing fiery in nature, since that has yet to come out it is hard to choose a fitting Primary. The Secondary is much easier to define, as either Storm or Thermal would represent the harnessing of the elements, with Cold Domination as a potential choice in the future. The Robots/Storm combo would particularly fit a techology oriented villain with a weather machine. Storm Summoning is a very strong Secondary, which as mentioned for the other Archetypes that can use it, is very soloable. Masterminds do not usually have problems soloing, but the chaos and knockback that can be caused by the Storm effects can make this a very good choice for a Mastermind that plans to mostly solo. The defensive powers provided by the set give good protection to the Mastermind's choice of henchmen, while its control powers keep the foes distracted and off their feet. Thermal Radiation, likewise, is a strong buffing set for much the same reasons given for other Archetypes. Since the henchmen can be protected by the buffing powers that the Mastermind cannot use on himself, this is probably quite a bit more soloable than it is on a Corruptor. The rez cannot be used on henchmen, however, and the healing capabilities are not as good as Pain Domination. Still, as mentioned for Necromancy, flaming demons, robots, or even common street thugs look intimidating, and if Demon Summoning does have a fiery theme then it will be a more direct match than Storm.
Petty Thief: The Petty Thief is the lowest type of villain, but he rarely cares. He grew up on the streets, surrounded by gangs and violence, and knows how to live among them. He's able to call in some favors, or maybe he is the leader of a gang of his own. Either way, he's out for himself, to take what he wants, and live the "good life". In some cases, he will take on a "theme" of some sort, modifying the gadgets and gizmos that he uses to protect himself and his goons to match the concept. Thugs, like Robots, is a good strong Primary, although it is somewhat more dependent on hand to hand attacks in the first tier. The second tier Enforcers, however, have machine guns that do a respectable amount of damage. The Bruiser is the ultimate "tank" for the team, though, building up his damage like a Brute as he wails on his foes. Even the unique power Gang War is melee themed, so the set is a good mix of range and melee.
Homicidal Maniac: The Homicidal Maniac is the most dangerous kind of villain there is. He doesn't care about power, or money, except as a means to an end. All he really cares about is death, death in the most violent, horrible manner possible. In his own twisted mind, there may be a reason and pattern to his crimes, but to everyone else, he is just an insane madman. Poison fits the theme of the crazed madman because it represents the connection between villainy and death. On the one hand, the Poison Mastermind uses his drugs and chemicals to heal his teammates and even bring them back to life. On the other hand, he uses his poisons to weaken his enemies and debuff their abilities. There may even be dangerous side effects to the positive use of poisons, such as Elixir of Life making the raised ally throw up after it is used. The Poison Mastermind really doesn't care who he hurts with his poisons, as long as it gets the job done. Poison is fairly weak because it is a single target set, thus requiring a lot of constant work to keep it on the foes and allies who need it. On the other hand, it can be more powerful than many players give it credit for. The healing Alkaloid, for instance, while it is not particularly powerful, recharges very fast. While it can be annoying to have to interrupt everything else to hit a number of allies with a heal back to back, at least that is possible. Many other healing sets can find themselves out of powers and waiting to recharge, just when an ally needs it.
Pain Mastermind: The Pain Mastermind is similar to the Homicidal Maniac in that he is usually violently insane. Instead of using poisons or technological means to torture his victims, however, he uses the sheer power of his mind. The Pain Mastermind is an Empath turned inside out, instead of healing others, he uses his powers to dominate and control them. The Pain Mastermind is also similar to the Mind Dominator, but instead of just taking over the mind of his slaves directly, he bends them to his will with pain and anguish. The Mastermind's henchmen are usually human, as robots and the dead cannot (normally) feel pain. Obviously, the closest connection is to the Pain Corruptor, with which the Mastermind shares his Secondary. The set is subtly different in the hands of a Mastermind, however, as he has much weaker attacks, and can only use secondary weapons such as pistols or a machine gun, instead of blasting his foes directly with his mind. Since Pain's damage boosts don't effect the Mastermind's allies, this makes a good choice for a Blastermind, as noted below. Masterminds also do not get the Soothing Aura toggle that heals automatically at regular intervals, instead their Suppress Pain is only a regeneration aura.
Demon Mastermind: While Dark Miasma naturally "meshes" with Necromancy, or even Ninjas, the Demon Mastermind commands normal humans, or even robots. What sets him apart from his more earthly counterparts is that the Mastermind himself draws his power from mystical, even demonic power. He may be an immortal, calling upon the wisdom of thousands of lifetimes to command others. Or, he could be a normal human who sold his soul to a demon, or discovered ancient spells that gave him uneartly power. At any rate, he commands the worldly forces of mankind (or even technology) though the evil forces of darkness. Dark is easily the best choice of Secondary for any Mastermind. It has the most healing abilities of any Secondary, plus the only other rez. (Poison being the other one) You cannot rez your henchmen, but for a Mastermind that intends to team a lot, Dark Miasma is a natural choice. It is also a very strong debuffing set defensively, and even offers an offensive buff. Don't confuse the Demon Mastermind with the Demon Summoner, which was already covered with the Elemental Sorcerer, above. In this case it is not the henchmen that the Mastermind summons that are demons, it is the Mastermind himself. I suppose I could have called it the "Dark Mastermind" or the "Evil Mastermind" (wouldn't that be sort of redundant? ;) ) but I was trying to capture the idea of the "demon in human form". In fact, while the Mastermind could be an actual demon, if he looks human, or can take on a human form, that makes him all the more dark and evil.
Blastermind: "Blastermind" is a usually derogatory name for a Mastermind that skips one or all of his henchman Summoning powers, preferring to use direct attacks. Some players can even use the term to refer to a Mastermind that uses any attacks. I am using the term to refer to a Mastermind that concentrates mainly on his attacks, skipping at most one tier of henchmen. Any more than that, and the Mastermind just isn't playable. (It may be possible to play with just the second tier and not the first or third, but so far I have only personally played without the first) The name is misleading, however, because a Blastermind should not be played like a Blaster, he should be played like a Defender or Corruptor. He cannot do the damage of a Defender, but if you look at his henchmen as the Defender's major AoE attacks, then there is some similarity. And like a Defender, the Mastermind's greatest ability is to buff and heal himself and his allies. If you do not take the Mastermind's Secondary powers, you will not be able to solo, much less participate on a team. The best powers to choose, as with a Solo Defender or Controller, are those that give you a boost to offense. Damage boosts are hard to come by in the Mastermind sets, but Pain Domination is a good choice in that respect, as is Poison. In fact, since Poison's debuffs are nearly all single target, it can work better for a Mastermind who will be mostly soloing, since his groups of opponents will be smaller. The three recommended primaries are all ranged, although the Mastermind could choose some hand to hand attacks and defenses from the Power Pool if he wanted to fight alongside Ninjas or Zombies. Robotics is probably the best choice for the protective aspects of knockback, although Thugs does have Gang War, which can taunt foe off of yourself and your henchmen. Their additional damage can help in the lower levels, too. What makes this concept interesting, though, is the capability to fight alongside your henchmen, basically putting yourself into the fight as one of your henchmen. Although you have fewer henchmen to provide Bodyguard protection for you, it is easier to leave more of them in Defensive Follow since you will be in front of or beside them. Plus, it can just be easier to look after your henchmen, because there are fewer of them and you can concentrate them in a smaller area. "Petless" Masterminds are not very popular with some teams, however, and so you are more likely to not be able to team than to find one. If you plan to team a lot, you may wish to just concentrate more on attacks, instead of taking all of them.
Tankermind: The Tankermind is the opposite of the Blastermind. While the Blastermind concentrates on his offense and tries to deal much of the damage himself, the Tankermind concentrates entirely on defense, and uses his henchmen to boost his own hit points to Tanker levels. The Tankermind essentially leaves his henchmen in Bodyguard mode, and then wades into the fray himself, drawing aggro with Provoke from the Power Pool in order to concentrate all the fire on himself. While this may seem suicidal, in fact with enough henchmen to protect him the Mastermind can actually be more resiliant than a Brute, and by holding aggro with Provoke he can protect his team much like a Tanker does, although obviously not to the same degree. The best Secondary for the Tankermind is most likely Force Field, as it provides enough Defense to keep the Mastermind and his pets alive, and keep the damage to the Mastermind himself down to the point where Bodyguard can allow him to survive all the aggro he is drawing. Personal Force Field can also be used in an emergency, although it's important to note the Mastermind will lose Bodyguard, since he is cut off from his henchmen. PFF's own resistance is not quite as good as the "resistance" provided by Bodyguard, but the Defense is much higher, so it's a lot easier to survive with very low hit points. Force Field also has plenty of knockback effects that can draw lots of aggro, too, most notably the known aggro magnet of Force Bubble. Robotics makes a good choice for Primary because of the ability to stack Force Fields, although Thugs can be quite useful for Gang War. As with the Blastermind, their ability to taunt is VERY useful, moreso because that is what this concept is intended to do. You do want pets that can survive in melee, so they can draw as much aggro as possible, as well, although you may wish to have them stand just outside of melee range, or send one or two of them in while you use Provoke on the rest. You will likely want to take Aid Self and Aid Other from the Power Pool, as much to ensure your own survival as to heal your Bots or Thugs. And you may want to take additional defenses such as Tough. Even more than many other Mastermind concepts, this one lends itself well to taking hand to hand attacks from the Power Pool, so you can draw more aggro with your attacks. Since you are built around maximizing personal defense anyway, you should be able to survive in melee fairly well. The weakness of the Tankermind is AoEs, which deal damage to your henchmen while they also take a share of your damage through Bodyguard. If you cluster your henchmen too close together, they could all be killed at once, which would leave you defenseless and helpless against the aggro you have drawn. So it may help, if you anticipate an AoE counter attack, to spread out your henchmen, sending them to different locations to fight while you remain in the center, still in Bodyguard range, but too far away for an AoE targetted on you to hit them. You may even choose to leave your henchmen in place (providing cover fire from range) while you (and possibly your Bruiser) charge into melee.
Petless Mastermind: Although I covered much of the concept of the Petless Mastermind above under "Blastermind", I'm including it here for completeness. The Petless Mastermind is more a concept than a playable character, in my opinion it is not possible to get it to level 50. My experience with a partially petless build is that it becomes increasingly difficult until 12, and then virtually impossible as you approach 26. Past 26, without even the Bruiser, it is probably impossible to continue. The biggest issue with the Petless Mastermind is that its three innate attacks are the equivalent of a Defender or Corruptor's basic attacks. While these may be adequate for laying down the foundation of a ranged damage dealer's offensive capability, it can't replace the more powerful higher level attacks like Snipes, Burst attacks, and the level 32 "Ultimate", like Nova and Inferno. While these attacks are very situational, at higher levels they become the bulk of your damage. As I said above, you can think of your pets as your version of these powerful AoE attacks, and so if you skip them, you're skipping the equivalent of those AoE attacks. While a Defender may be able to get away with skipping the AoE attacks, and being a "pure Defender" (as I described under my entry for the Empath) a Mastermind isn't really the equivalent of a Defender when it comes to team support. He isn't even the equivalent of a Corruptor. A Mastermind all by himself is sort of "half the villain", and so without his henchmen he has only half of his defensive ability, too. He could do more good for a team even if he only took the pets as cannon fodder and never slotted their attacks. Many people choose a Petless Mastermind for concept reasons, though, or to give themselves a challenge. Needless to say, it IS a challenge. If you are set on it, the advice for the Blastermind should apply. Even if your concept is just a villain with guns, though, I would still recommend picking up at least one henchman, even if it's the last one. You may even wish to take a single henchman and just respec him into the next tier as you open up the Power. At least you can then consider your team a duo instead of an army.
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