It's a BOW Time! (Ninja/Time/Mace)

[Redlynne]

Okay … this … is going to take some explaining.

There really isn't any way around that, because the interactions with the procs slotted into this build (and WHERE they're slotted, and why!) isn't going to be something that translates out as being intuitively obvious just looking at the build planner. It's why I really wish that future evolutions of the build planner we keep using will include a new section detailing the proc chances of any procs you slot into your powers, within the context of the build's "design" and overall choices. It would make cross-comparison of these factors to weigh alternatives a LOT easier to do! But since that hasn't been implemented yet as a Feature Request™ … we work with the tools we have.

So, just in case all of that preamble wasn't obvious enough …

WALL OF TEXT CRITS YOU!!!
Seriously.

Even I'm looking at what I wrote up for this, with all the Show Your Work math involved in this rewrite for Rebirth, and it's pretty daunting. Even I took a critical hit from the wall of text on this one (and if you think that's bad, take a look at my sig)! But if you're fine with taking damage like that … let's get down to brass tacks on what I've got going on here.



So … with all of that out of the way, let's talk about what latest bit of "You did WHAT? With WHO? And for HOW MANY jelly beans?!?" that wascally Redlynne has been up to lately, shall we?

"There is madness to our methods, YEEESSSSSSSS …"

So these are all of the procs that I'm putting into this build that have a chance to proc functionality that we need to be worried about in an offensive context (I'm not including "defensive" procs in this list such as Miracle, Numina and Performance Shifter, et al.).

• Overwhelming Forcein Genin [@ 1]: 20% chance per attack (not a PPM) for Knockdown
• Soulbound Allegiance in Genin [@ 1]: 3 PPM for +100% Damage and +15% ToHit (on Genin) for 10s
• Impeded Swiftness in Time Crawl [@ 1]: 3.5 PPM for 71.75 Smashing damage
• Pacing of the Turtle in Time Crawl [@ 1]: 3.5 PPM for -20% Recharge for 20s
• Decimation in Snap Shot [@ 2]: 1 PPM for +64% Damage and +32% To Hit for 5.25s
• Entropic Chaos in Aimed Shot [@ 8]: 3 PPM for 5% Heal
• Annihilation in Fistful of Arrows [@ 10]: 3 PPM for -Resistance
• Witchcraft in Time's Juncture [@ 14]: 3.5 PPM for -20% Resistance
• Entomb in Distortion Field [@ 20]: 2 PPM for +Absorb
• Winter Storm in Distortion Field [@ 20]: 3.5 PPM for 71.75 Cold damage
• Neuronic Shutdown in Time Stop [@ 22]: 3.5 PPM for 71.75 Psionic damage
• Gladiator's Net in Time Stop [@ 22]: 3.5 PPM for 71.75 Lethal damage
• Ghost Widow's Embrace in Time Stop [@ 22]: 3.5 PPM for 71.75 Psionic damage
• Unbreakable Constraint in Time Stop [@ 22]: 4.5 PPM for 107.1 Smashing damage
• Shield Breaker in Slowed Response [@ 35]: 3.5 PPM for 71.75 Lethal damage
• Achilles' Heel in Slowed Response [@ 35]: 3.5 PPM for -20% Resistance for 10s
• Touch of Lady Grey in Slowed Response [@ 35]: 3.5 PPM for 71.75 Negative Energy damage
• Gaussian's Synchronized Fire Control in Tactics [@ 44]: 1 PPM for +64% Damage and +32% To Hit for 5.25s

Notes are appended at the end of the build post below showing what the proc chances are for each of the above (and yes, there's a lot more of them now!).

Also note that this amounts to 18 out of 71+24=95 total slots in power picks, amounting to a 18/95=18.95% fraction of all slots devoted to power picks being taken up by offensive PPM procs (and there are more procs slotted beyond just these, but those are pet auras and health/recovery/regeneration/absorb/stealth procs that are defensive in nature, with some slotted into Sprint, Health and Stamina).

And yes ... this build is different from what I posted on Homecoming (go figure, eh?).

For one thing, I figured out how to drop Hasten from the build and make the whole thing still work just fine ...


Notes for Snap Shot and Aimed Shot
Swapping the Decimation and Entropic Chaos procs between Snap Shot and Aimed Shot yield a 6.50% chance for Decimation in Aimed Shot and a 12.25% chance for Entropic Chaos in Snap Shot. Since this is inferior to the (minimum clamped) 6.5% and 19.50% chances to proc (+0.0% and - 7.25% respectively), Entropic Chaos is used in Aimed Shot so as to keep Decimation in Snap Shot to exploit the minimum chance to proc clamp for a higher proc chance than would otherwise be possible. Also, Snap Shot will tend to be used more often, leading to more proc opportunities (of the Chuck Lots o' Dice variety) leading to better uptime potentials.

Snap Shot has a 0.81s (without Chrono Shift) or 0.67s (with Chrono Shift) recharge time, while Aimed Shot has a recharge time of 1.62s (without Chrono Shift) or 1.34s (with Chrono Shift) in the context of this build without any Incarnate slotting at all. Since both Snap Shot and Aimed Shot have arcanatime animation times of 1.188s each, this means that against a single target it is perfectly possible to have a 121-121 repeating attack chain using just these two powers(!), that lasts only3.564s(!) per cycle (not including pause before repeating) at a cost of 3.01+3.97+3.01=9.99 endurance per cycle, which is an endurance cost of -2.8/s (not including pause between cycles), which cannot be sustained indefinitely … but which this build would be perfectly capable of sustaining for "a while" with the endurance recovery options fully slotted into this build before needing to pause (or chomp a blue skittle). And as if that weren't enough, while doing a 121-121 repeating attack chain, if the Decimation Build Up procs the 5.25s duration of the buff AFTER Snap Shot finishes animating it will last long enough for at least another FOUR ATTACKS … since 1.188*4=4.752s giving you multiple bites at the Build Up apple (so to speak). And in the context of the chances to proc Build Up at least once every 3 rotations of the 121212 pattern of using Snap Shot and Aimed Shot, you're looking at a 1-(1-0.065)²=12.6% chance to proc Build Up EVERY 3.564s(!!!), not including pause times between cycles. That's roughly equivalent to rolling a 1 on a 1d8 every rotation. Not bad, eh?

 A Build Up proc will yield the following.
+13.312 Lethal damage per buffed Snap Shot
+19.5776 Lethal damage per buffed up Aimed Shot
+17.8112 Lethal damage per $Target per buffed up Fistful of Arrows
Although that sounds like meager small potatoes, in the context of a 121-121 repeating attack chain, this adds up to being enough extra damage to a single target to be "felt" (or noteworthy, if you prefer).

That additional Lethal damage actually amounst to more total damage produced than a stock and standard 71.75 damage proc would generate per proc (although it would likely proc ~2x as often in Snap Shot). Given the animation duration of the 121-121 attack chain producing this performance, that's somewhere in the neighbothood of +10 additional Lethal damage per second(!) increase over the entire duration of the Snap Shot that procced Build Up through the end of the last single target attack to benefit from the buff (and this is on a Mastermind using the personal attacks!).

 

Okay ... granted ... if you take that extra damage output and multiply it by the 12.6% chance to proc every 121 rotation cycle, you'll wind up with only about +2 (or so) additional Lethal damage per second over an averaged infinite time frame ... but that's if you're only using the single target 121-121 attack chain. What happens if you're throwing in Fistful of Arrows into the mix too? Well, funny you should ask ....


Notes for Snap Shot, Aimed Shot and Fistful of Arrows
Fistful of Arrows has a 3.82s (without Chrono Shift) or 3.08s (with Chrono Shift) recharge time in the context of this build without any Incarnate slotting at all. This is merely 0.256s longer than the animation time of Snap Shot/Aimed Shot/Snap Shot (121) attack rotation cycle as detailed above when not buffed by Chrono Shift. Meaning that with a 1213121-3 attack rotation it is also perfectly possible to repeat (for as long as your endurance holds out) which will have an arcanatime animation duration of 4.884s per 1213 cycle (adding only 0.256s to pause on the 2nd and subsequent cycles when not buffed by Chrono Shift) and cost 3.01+3.97+3.01+6.68=16.67 endurance per cycle, which is an endurance cost of -3.41/s, which cannot be sustained indefinitely … but which this build would be perfectly capable of sustaining for "a while" with the endurance recovery options fully slotted into this build before needing to pause (or chomp a blue skittle). And as if that weren't enough, while doing a 1213121-3 repeating attack chain, if the Decimation Build Up procs the 5.25s duration of the buff AFTER Snap Shot finishes animating it will last long enough for another FIVE ATTACKS … since 1.188*2+1.32+1.118+0.256=5.14s giving you multiple bites at the Build Up apple (so to speak). And in the context of the chances to proc Build Up at least once every 2 rotations of the 1213 pattern of using Snap Shot and Aimed Shot, you're looking at a 1-(1-0.065)²= 12.6% chance to proc Build Up EVERY 4.884s to 5.14s(!!!). That's basically as difficult as rolling a 1 on a 1d8 every 4.884 to 5.14s. Not bad (again), eh?

In the context of a 1213121-3 repeating attack chain, this adds up to being …(Snap+Aimed+Snap+Fistful+Snap+Aimed+Snap+{pause}+Fistful) = 13.312 (Snap) + 39.1552 (Aimed) + 35.6224 per $Target (Fistful) = +88.09 additional Lethal damage to selected $Target plus +35.62 additional Lethal damage to every additional $Target hit by Fistful of Arrows (max 10 targets)

The trick for the extra damage potential then comes down to "which Snap Shot" is the one that procs?
If it's the first Snap Shot, then the Build Up proc is going to buff like so ... 1213121-3.
But if it's the second Snap Shot, then the Build Up proc is going to buff like so ... 1213121-3.
So as you can readily see, that's going to make for quite a wide swing in damage output potential in a target rich environment. How much are we talking about? We're talking on the order of a difference between +35 to +71 Lethal damage (give or take) to every $Target within the cone of Fistful of Arrows (which against 10 potential targets really adds up quickly!). This is where the behavior of Build Up starts coming into play, because unlike a damage proc that may hit some but not others, while Build Up is in effect the bonus damage gets applied to ALL $Targets that get hit (simultaneously).

SERIOUSLY NOT BAD (for a Mastermind's personal attacks), eh?

Alright, you won't be shaming any Scrappers (or Blasters, for that matter) with that kind of performance ... but you've got to admit it's kind of remarkable, for a Mastermind!

Also note that this performance can (will?) be modified even further(!) by the -Resistance debuff procs in Fistful of Arrows (what a coincidence…) and Slowed Response and Time's Juncture ... all of which can stack with each other(!) since they're different procs. NO REALLY SERIOUSLY NOT BAD, eh wot eh wot eh wot?

I mean … in the light of everything I've laid out above with Snap Shot and Aimed Shot in the overall context of this entire build, this is a pretty decent performance yield from a proc in a single target ranged attack, wouldn't you say? I mean, am I right or am I right? Now think about what the -Resistance debuffing from Fistful of Arrows, Time's Junture and Slowed Response is going to do for your Ninja Pets (and Teammates as Pets?) with this build. Go on … just imagine the possibilities …

I'm a Mastermind of */Time Manipulation/* ... I can afford to wait for you to work out what all of that means … 


Additional Important Note(!):
Everything I wrote earlier upthread about the Decimation Build Up proc in Snap Shot adding damage to your attack chain?  Copy Paste those yield results in here for the Gaussian's Build Up proc in Tactics … and even better yet, the two procs CAN STACK with each other!  And it's right about "now" that I'm simply going to stop Feeling Sorry™ for my $Targets … along with anyone else who thinks that taking the personal attacks on a Mastermind is a waste of animation time, effort, power picks, enhancement slots, enhancements acquisitions, endurance and (of course) overall build efficiency.

Foolish mortals ...

Because … yeah … UNaugmented by Build Up, your personal attacks as a Mastermind look kind of wasteful/pathetic/squandery compared to any other Archetype's attack powers.  But when you're proc monstering -Resistance debuffs and Build Up procs all over the place (like I am here), while debuffing the stuffing out of your $Targets while you pincushion them with pointy sticks from your bow as your Ninjas go all La Machine on them in a frenzy of dismantle-age (in a hurry) … yeah … even with Time Manipulation, this Mastermind hasn't got the time needed to Feel Sorry™ for you.

YOU'RE WELCOME! 

[Redlynne]

And speaking of not feeling sorry for $Targets ... Time Crawl, Time's Juncture, Distortion Field and Time Stop got updated in this build, along with Slowed Response.


Note for Time Crawl:
Time Crawl is one of the two "out of the box" T1 secondary powers that offers a 90% proc chance to any proc slotted into the power so long as there is NO RECHARGE enhancement added to the power (the other is Infrigidate in Cold Domination which can slot even more procs!). With a 90% chance to proc, Time Crawl is capable of delivering more damage per casting of the power than Snap Shot, Aimed Shot or even Fistful of Arrows can deliver to a single $Target ... and the damage proc in Time Crawl gets magnified/multiplied by -Resistance debuffs, of which this build incorporates THREE procs in addition to the resistance debuffing offered natively by Slowed Response (ouchies!).

However, it's putting a Pacing of the Turtle -Recharge proc into Time Crawl that makes it utterly devastating against single $Targets, because this stacks the recharge debuffing deep enough to make most powers on most $Targets take 4x longer to recharge ... effectively denying them offensive capability for long stretches of time, rendering them substantially helpless to inflict damage on either yourself or your Ninja pets. This slotting of Time Crawl essentially turns Time Crawl into something of a "neutralizer" power that can take single $Targets out of the fight for extended periods of time. The combination of dealing damage while neutralizing offensive capacity at the same time is really quite potent ... but then Time Crawl enables the Delayed mechanic for Time Manipulation debuffs and mez powers, making them all 20% more effective (and increasing mag on some of them).

So the addition of slots to Time Crawl allows use of Time Crawl for very explicit Divide and Conquer strategies that allow both you and your Ninjas to take on fewer foes in parallel by ordering them in a more sequential fashion, dramatically reducing the risk of to any one Ninja at your command. After all, foes that can't fight back are easy prey for Ninjas to gang up on (safely!).

Remember kids, you can use a Break Free to neutralize Mez Debuffs ... but a Break Free DOES NOTHING for Recharge Debuffing(!). Most NPCs will have little resistance to Recharge Debuffing, while they can potentially have significant resistance to Mez (especially with PToD in play) ... which is something to consider when it comes to multi-path neutralization of threats. Sure, Recharge Debuffing isn't a "HARD" lockdown like many Mez powers offer, but in plenty of situations it's for all intents and purposes the next best thing if you can stack "enough" Recharge Debuffing to prevent Foes from taking actions (for a long long time). Something to consider, I would think.

The trick here is that Time Crawl + Pacing of the Turtle 90% proc chance is basically going to smash the recharge times of your $Target into the FLOOR ... and keep them there for a good long while. It's not a "proper HOLD" power, but with a Pacing of the Turtle proc it you might as well start thinking about Time Crawl being as "effective as a HOLD" with respect to denial of actions ... and no, I'm not bluffing on this point.


Note for Time's Juncture:
Time's Juncture created a unique opportunity for slotting in that it debuffs both Speed and ToHit, making this power the ideal multi-purpose debuffer for the Universal Debuff set, Witchcraft. So rather than needing to choose to slot for Slow OR ToHit Debuffing, just slot Witchcraft and get BOTH. Combine the ToHit Debuffing of Time's Juncture with the Defense Buffing of Maneuvers plus Farsight and you're looking at living in the realm of NO GET HITSU!! Defense Softcap within 25ft around your Mastermind, before even needing to add an Incarnate Alpha slot into the build.


Note for Distortion Field:
Distortion Field underwent a major revamp from previous versions of this build, primarily due to the existence of the Winter Storm Slow set. While Distortion Field does have a chance to Hold $Targets within its radius, that is only like 10% chance of a MAG 2 and remarkably unreliable (all things considered). Slotting in a Lockdown proc can help that, but you're still looking at a circumstance in which Distortion Field, as Hold AoE, isn't terribly reliable.

By contrast though, as a Recharge and Speed Debuff it is an EXCELLENT power, capable of creating "defeat zones" that Foes find it remarkably difficult to escape from. It's not exactly an Immobilize, but slotted up with Slow enhancements (and despite appearances in Mids, the Winter Storm set is a really good Slow set!) you can Recharge and Speed Debuff entire piles of adversaries into the ground ... and keep them there (for as long as they live).

Did I mention I don't feel sorry for my $Targets anymore?
I did?
I have?
Okay, moving on ...

I'm not entirely certain about the Entomb proc "working properly" in the Distortion Field power. What I expect to happen is that every 10s (so upon casting, then @ 10, 20, 30 and 40 second of duration) a chance to proc will be checked against every $Target within the AoE (so multiple rolls of the dice for multiple targets!) and if any of them proc Entomb, a +Absorb shield will be cast on the Mastermind. If it doesn't work out that way (I haven't tested this on Rebirth) then alternative slotting can be any Slow or Hold proc, although I'm thinking that the Impeded Swiftness proc for Smashing damage might be the best option (although the Lockdown proc remains an option).


Note for Time Stop:
Time Stop received the proc MONSTER treatment in this rebuild, mainly because an AoE damage power isn't necessarily "needed" with swarming Ninjas providing a lot of the damage production on multiple $Targets simultaneously (who are all going to be Debuffed INTO THE GROUND by Time Manipulation powers!). However, having the means to use a heavy hitting proc monster power like Time Stop (particularly in combination with Time Crawl) to "remove foes from the fight" via a combination of Hold plus actual high damage production was simply too compelling an option for this build overall. Depending on what you're up against, you can either split Time Crawl and Time Stop to neutralize 2 separate $Targets, or combine the two to suppress a single $Target VERY effectively (while hitting them with up to four 90% chance damage procs in the process!). This then gives the Mastermind the "heavy hitter" needed to control/shape/sculpt the flow of battle in a way that favors taking even more pressure off your Ninja pets by reducing the opportunities for incoming damage even further!

And just in case it wasn't obvious, you're often times going to want to do a 1+2 combo of Time Crawl followed by Time Stop for a guaranteed Hold on a Boss, due to how the Delayed mechanic converts Time Stop from a mag 3 Hold to a (stacked) mag 4 Hold. Both Time Crawl and Time Stop recharge in about 6-7 seconds(!), with Chrono Shift being the variable, so there's no excuse for NOT using Time Crawl and Time Stop to bring the pain when these powers are recharged. USE THEM to protect both yourself and your Ninja pets!

And in between uses of Time Crawl+Time Stop you can have fun casting Snap Shot, Aimed Shot and Fistful of Arrows (if you've got nothing better to do for 7 seconds) while Time Crawl and Time Stop recharge.


Note for Slowed Response:
The changes to the slotting for Slowed Response happened because I finally realized that it was actually possible to turn Slowed Response into something of an AoE proc monster power that would not only inflict a lot of damage on $Targets (plural!) but also apply a pretty severe amount of -Resistance debuffing very reliably. The slotting that I've chosen for Slowed Response is a mere 0.03% Recharge shy of causing the procs slotted into the power to fall below the 90% proc chance clamp. The specific and exact slotting you see in this build produces a +59.11% recharge from slots, and the "breakpoint" of 90% chance for 3.5 PPM procs is at ... +59.14% recharge from slots. To put it mildly, I did a "Price Is Right" effort of squeezing in as much recharge into the power as possible "without going over" so as to sustain a 90% proc chance on all 3 procs (2 damage, 1 resistance debuff) ... and I'm kind of surprised that I managed to find (and settle on) the exact Level numbers for each set IO like I did, since it looks so stock 'n' standard for how I usually do things. But make no mistake! The levels on the slotting in Slowed Response are VERY DELIBERATELY CHOSEN to yield maximum return on investment AS IS ... meaning that if you attune (or buy as attuned) the enhancements to be slotting into Slowed Response, you'll only be hurting/gimping yourself. Same deal with boosting these slots. DON'T DO IT. Trust me on this one.

With the Shield Breaker and Touch of Lady Grey damage procs, along with the Achilles' Heel resistance debuff proc, Slowed Response becomes the GO TO opening bid power for use in alpha strikes ... since it debuffs Defense (which helps Ninja pets hit their $Targets), debuffs Resistance (making everyone deal more damage) and actually inflicts AoE damage into the bargain, all in one Click. Follow up with Distortion Field to apply Movement debuffing so $Targets cannot flee the (now) Defeat Zone and you can basically just move in with your Time's Juncture aura and your Ninja pets and proceed to make a mess of any who dare to stand against you. Best of all, the -Resistance debuff proc in Fistful of Arrows can stack(!) with Slowed Response AND the Achilles' Heel proc for a total of -62.5% Resistance debuffing ... which is nothing to sneeze at. Add in the Resistance debuff of the Witchcraft proc in Time's Juncture and you're stacking somewhere around up to -82.5% Resistance debuffing.

No, I'm still not feeling sorry for my $Targets ... why do you ask?


Preliminary Notes on Build Up and Resistance Debuff procs:
And this is then where you start getting into two different strategies for dealing damage ... the Build Up procs in Snap Shot and Tactics advantage base damage on powers but do not enhance damage from damage procs, but the -Resistance debuffing WILL in fact increase the damage throughput of both methods of your Mastermind dealing damage personally (and by your Ninja pets as well). So what you wind up with is a sort of hybrid single target + cone repeating attack chain that just "burns them all down" into the ground with extreme prejudice.

And obviously, that damage production gets magnified by any Build Up procs and Slowed Response (with Achilles' Heel proc) and Fistful of Arrows (with Annihilation proc) and even Time's Juncture (with Witchcraft proc) stacking some pretty serious -Resistance debuffing ... and that's not even including what your Genin, Jounin and Oni will be delivering in terms of damage(!).

 

So ... yeah ... all three of these changes to the secondary powerset in this build makes the entire build SO MUCH STRONGER and more capable than the previous iterations that it's not even funny.

And speaking of not even funny ...


Notes on Temporal Mending, Temporal Selection and Smoke Flash:
Temporal Mending and Temporal Selection received some serious reworking in this build revision.

Temporal Mending is now slotted with the Panacea set ... and the Preventative Medicine set was moved into Temporal Selection.



These changes mean that Temporal Mending ought to apply the Panacea proc for +HP and +Endurance to everyone affected by Temporal Mending. I haven't confirmed if the Panacea proc is coded as Self Only, which is why I want to verify which way it works when slotted in this power ... but if it does apply to everyone, that buffing alone to Ninja pets will help them survive taking hits even better, in addition to reducing downtime for healing them back up to full. It would basically be a "heal on top of a heal" when it happens. Also, I've found that in practice (with Ninjas) use of Temporal Mending before, during and after combat tends to become relatively routine, so even though the Panacea proc is getting slotted into a Click power instead of a Passive or a Toggle here, I honestly feel that this is the "best" location within the build for this specific set. Of course, it's going to be "pricey" to acquire a PvP Heal set like this, but it certainly makes for a good long term "sink" of both INF and Reward Merits that might otherwise wind up going to waste.



Likewise, the transfer of Preventative Medicine to Temporal Selection has turned this power into a SERIOUS contender as a support power! For one thing, with all the global recharge buffing from set IOs, the recharge time on Temporal Selection has been brought all the way down to under 45 seconds (without Chrono Shift, it's down to under 38 seconds with Chrono Shift) ... which means it is therefore possible to have Temporal Selection applied to up to THREE Allies (and your Ninja pets count as allies!) simultaneously, since the power has a duration of 120 seconds! This means that with this slotting it is possible to cover up to 3 of your 6 Ninja pets with Temporal Selection, which then adds the Accelerated status buff which in turn increases the healing delivered by Temporal Mending in addition to the benefits of buffing Damage (by +18.75%!) and Recharge (+30%!) and Regeneration (a whopping +300.3%!).



Oh and did I mention that Smoke Flash will recharge in less than ~10 seconds, and can be alternated between any of the 3 Ninja pets who aren't being covered by the 3 durations of Temporal Mending?

What's that?
I just did?

Well okay then ...


Notes on Defense Buffs combined with ToHit Debuffs:
Combine these powers with Farsight, Time's Juncture and all of the Pet Defense Aura IOs slotted into the build and your Ninja pets ought to be MIGHTY STURDY INDEED! Layer on top of all of that NO GET HITSU!! factor the Defense debuffing, Resistance debuffing, Recharge debuffing and Health "debuffing" (via damage procs) this build is going to be delivering and you'll be "directing traffic" as a Mastermind from a position of strength with the ability to recover and keep rolling with relatively little difficulty.

I believe that the best way to describe how this build feels to me with this combination of powers and slotting (and how they can all be used in mutually supporting ways) can best be summed up, I think, with the following maxim of how the build ought to play ...

You have already been defeated.
You just haven't gotten the memo yet ...

Hey, I'm a Ninja Mastermind who manipulates time ... figure it out already ...



Okay … with that minor bit of business/preamble out of the way (and no doubt making your heads explode from info dump overload right about now) … the other thing I need to explain about this build is that, ironically, this isn't a build aimed at winning a Rikti Pylon Challenge (although it might do well now, I don't know). You can tell because the build skews more towards being a more Controller-ish type to play, relying more heavily on hard/soft controls to "neutralize" $Targets as an enabling tactic so as to keep my Ninjas alive (and kicking) longer. Pretty much everything I'm doing with this build is angled towards increasing the survivability of my Ninjas, rather than aiming for insta-gib DPS-ness Of Doom™! (+3) for fastest possible face planting of $Targets (although proc monstered Time Crawl plus Time Stop plus Slowed Response really go a long way on helping out this side of things too). This build is all about making the fight unfold on MY terms, rather than trying to end it as fast as inhumanely as possible.


Notes on Putting It All Together™:
So, ideally speaking, when you're playing solo, what you want to do is open with Snap Shot from long range to attract the attention of only a few (preferably 1) $Target(s) who will then try to bumrush towards you and your Ninjas (that you've got on Bodyguard Mode). As soon as you're attacked, your Genin will respond by throwing Shurikens. This can potentially faceplant a Minion charging towards you before they even reach you, even if you aren't following up with Aimed Shot and/or Fistful of Arrows to take them down. If your $Target brought "friends" with them (who noticed that you Snap Shot-ted the first faceplanter) then you can pincushion them too while your Ninjas get to work on delivering the necessary BEATdownage.

 

I personally have found Time Crawl to be almost invaluable as a soft control/neutralizer of Lieutenants (and up) while soloing, because once they've emptied their attacks it takes them a LONG time to recharge … often "too long" for them to be able to attack ever again. This then lets me take them out of the fight while mopping up any other opposition with near impunity. The Pacing of the Turtle proc in Time Crawl only makes this "neutralizer" function even more dramatic.

 

For ease of reference, for those not steeped in the mechanics of -Recharge debuffing … the way the recharge formula responds to debuffing looks like this:

RechargeTime = BaseRechargeTime / ( 100% + Buffs - Debuffs )

What this means is that a -75% Recharge debuff will cause a power to take 4x as long to recharge as normal (if it wasn't already recharge buffed). In a lot of contexts, this kind of -Recharge debuffing is as good (or even better!) than a Hold, because you can Breakfree out of Hold ... whereas you CANNOT Breakfree your way out of -Recharge debuffing! Consequently, against "most" PvE $Targets, sufficient -Recharge debuffing can feel an awful lot like a "harder" soft control, especially when you can stack it somewhat effectively.

So the Recharge debuff of Time Crawl makes powers take 2.5x (4x with a Pacing of the Turtle proc at 90% chance!) as long to recharge on most PvE $Targets, which is quite the damage mitigator, particularly if you like to "kite" your $Targets so they can't melee you (which having personal attacks using your Bow makes this VERY easy!). $Targets that "can't fight back" effectively are basically Test Dummies for my Ninjas use as combat practice while I stuff them full of pointy sticks. It's not a pretty picture (FOR THEM!) ...



I often times find myself using Temporal Mending either right after finishing a fight, so my Ninjas start the next one "fresh" and full up on their green bars (and to start the recharge countdown "early" before the next fight), or I'll use Temporal Mending after the first few hits have been exchanged so as to "negate" the value of the alpha strike(s) that were taken at the opening of the combat. Temporal Mending is a HUGE boost to the survivability of pre-folded origami rice paper thin Ninja survival rates, particularly since it effectively "multiplies" the damage mitigation by division offered when using Bodyguard Mode to share out the damage that your Mastermind takes (think about it...).

Likewise, Time's Juncture with its -ToHit debuffing affords a remarkable increase in protection to Ninja Pets … enough so that it's actually rare to want to keep your Mastermind more than 20-25 feet away from what they're engaging on your behalf (so as to keep them within the PBAoE of Time's Juncture). However, despite this factor, I still wanted to make sure that Fistful of Arrows got at least some Range buffing on the power (in this build, enough to reach out to 59.63 feet away) so as to get the power to better be able to reach the limits of your inherent Supremacy radius of 60 feet (eh ... close enough).


Anyway, I think that's enough pontificating on this subject for the time being (don't you?) … let's get down to the actual build itself, shall we? Also, I'll be posting my bindloadfiles afterwards too, so look forward to that.

[Redlynne]

You can have three guesses as to who's going to win.
The first two don't count.

This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.6
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

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Level 50 Technology Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Ninjas
Secondary Power Set: Time Manipulation
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:

Level 1: Call Genin

• (A) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27
• (3) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 27
• (3) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 27
• (5) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown: Level 27
• (7) Call to Arms - Defense Bonus Aura for Pets: Level 10
• (50) Soulbound Allegiance - Chance for Build Up: Level 50

Level 1: Time Crawl

• (A) Impeded Swiftness - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 27
• (7) Impeded Swiftness - Chance of Damage(Smashing): Level 10
• (17) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 20

Level 2: Snap Shot

• (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27
• (5) Decimation - Damage/Endurance: Level 27
• (9) Decimation - Damage/Recharge: Level 27
• (21) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 27
• (21) Decimation - Chance of Build Up: Level 25

Level 4: Temporal Mending

• (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance: Level 10
• (42) Panacea - Heal/Endurance: Level 27
• (42) Panacea - Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
• (43) Panacea - Heal/Recharge: Level 27
• (43) Panacea - Heal/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
• (43) Panacea - Heal: Level 27

Level 6: Train Ninjas

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50

Level 8: Aimed Shot

• (A) Entropic Chaos - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27
• (9) Entropic Chaos - Damage/Endurance: Level 27
• (11) Entropic Chaos - Damage/Recharge: Level 27
• (19) Entropic Chaos - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
• (19) Entropic Chaos - Chance of Heal Self: Level 20

Level 10: Fistful of Arrows

• (A) Hamidon Origin: Centriole Exposure (Dam/Range)
• (11) Hamidon Origin: Centriole Exposure (Dam/Range)
• (25) Detonation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 27
• (31) Detonation - Damage/Endurance/Range: Level 27
• (33) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 20

Level 12: Call Jounin

• (A) Edict of the Master - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 27
• (13) Edict of the Master - Defense Bonus: Level 15
• (13) Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27
• (15) Command of the Mastermind - Damage/Endurance: Level 27
• (15) Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
• (17) Command of the Mastermind - Recharge/Pet +AoE Defense Aura: Level 27

Level 14: Time's Juncture

• (A) Witchcraft - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 27
• (40) Witchcraft - Universal Debuff: Level 27
• (40) Witchcraft - Accuracy/ Universal Debuff: Level 27
• (42) Witchcraft - Universal Debuff/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27

Level 16: Temporal Selection

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb: Level 20
• (45) Preventive Medicine - Heal: Level 27
• (45) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance: Level 27
• (45) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 27
• (46) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime: Level 27
• (46) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance: Level 27

Level 18: Smoke Flash

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50

Level 20: Distortion Field

• (A) Entomb - Recharge/Chance for +Absorb: Level 20
• (34) Winter Storm - Recharge/Chance for Cold Damage: Level 27
• (34) Winter Storm - Accuracy/Slow: Level 27
• (34) Winter Storm - Damage/Slow: Level 27
• (37) Winter Storm - Accuracy/Damage/Slow: Level 27
• (40) Winter Storm - Damage/Endurance/Slow: Level 27

Level 22: Time Stop

• (A) Neuronic Shutdown - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 27
• (23) Neuronic Shutdown - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 10
• (23) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 10
• (25) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 20
• (50) Unbreakable Constraint - Chance for Smashing Damage: Level 50

Level 24: Maneuvers

• (A) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage: Level 20
• (46) Reactive Defenses - Defense: Level 27
• (48) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance: Level 27
• (48) Reactive Defenses - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 27
• (48) Reactive Defenses - Defense/RechargeTime: Level 27
• (50) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 27

Level 26: Oni

• (A) Mark of Supremacy - Damage
• (27) Mark of Supremacy - Damage/Endurance
• (27) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Endurance
• (29) Mark of Supremacy - Endurance/Pet +Resist +Regen
• (29) Hamidon Origin: Endoplasm Exposure (Acc/Mez)
• (31) Hamidon Origin: Peroxisome Exposure (Dam/Mez)

Level 28: Farsight

• (A) Karma - Knockback Protection: Level 10
• (31)  Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed: Level 25
• (33)Hamidon Origin: Cytoskeleton Exposure (End/Def/ToHit Buffs)
• (33)Hamidon Origin: Cytoskeleton Exposure (End/Def/ToHit Buffs)

Level 30: Tactics

• (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up: Level 21

Level 32: Kuji In Zen

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50

Level 35: Slowed Response

• (A) Analyze Weakness - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
• (36) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 27
• (36) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
• (36) Shield Breaker - Chance for Lethal Damage: Level 10
• (37) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 10
• (37) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage: Level 21

Level 38: Chrono Shift

• (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge: Level 50
• (39) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge: Level 50
• (39) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge: Level 50
• (39) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge: Level 50

Level 41: Scorpion Shield

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed: Level 25

Level 44: Power Boost

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50

Level 47: Assault

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50

Level 49: Vengeance

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed: Level 25

Level 1: Supremacy
Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50

Level 1: Sprint

• (A) Celerity - +Stealth: Level 15

Level 2: Rest

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50

Level 2: Swift

• (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50

Level 2: Hurdle

• (A) Jumping IO: Level 50

Level 2: Health

• (A) Regenerative Tissue - +Regeneration: Level 10
• (9) Miracle - +Recovery: Level 20
• (17) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery: Level 30

Level 2: Stamina

• (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
• (13) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
• (23) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End: Level 21

Level 1: Disintegrating
Level 1: Genin
Level 12: Jounin
Level 26: Oni

Set Bonus Totals:

(click to show/hide)

• 4% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 4% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 4% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 4% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 4% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 4% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 4% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 4% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 10% Defense
• 1.56% Defense(Smashing)
• 1.56% Defense(Lethal)
• 3.75% Defense(Energy)
• 3.75% Defense(Negative)
• 3.13% Defense(Melee)
• 1.88% Defense(Ranged)
• 10% Defense(AoE)
• 4.5% Max End
• +2.5% Enhancement(SpeedJumping)
• +2.5% Enhancement(JumpHeight)
• +2.5% Enhancement(SpeedFlying)
• +2.5% Enhancement(SpeedRunning)
• +18% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 7.5% Enhancement(Max EnduranceDiscount)
• +91.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  
• +6% Enhancement(Heal)
• 6% SpeedFlying
• GrantPower Preventive Medicine (10% chance, when PreventiveMedicine, if Scourge)
• 66.26 HP (8.25%) HitPoints (when HealSelf)
• 6% JumpHeight
• 6% SpeedJumping
• Knockback (Mag -4) (when Knockback)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• 35% MezResist(Confused)
• 35% MezResist(Held)
• 35% MezResist(Immobilized)
• 35% MezResist(Sleep)
• 35% MezResist(Stunned)
• 35% MezResist(Terrorized)
• 7% (0.12 End/sec) Recovery
• 132% (4.42 HP/sec) Regeneration
  
• 24.25% Resistance(Smashing)
• 24.25% Resistance(Lethal)
• 21.25% Resistance(Fire)
• 21.25% Resistance(Cold)
• 14.5% Resistance(Energy)
• 14.5% Resistance(Negative)
• 13% Resistance(Toxic) (when Resist)
• 13% Resistance(Psionic) (when Resist)
• 6% SpeedRunning

Set Bonuses:

(click to show/hide)

Mark of Supremacy
(Call Genin)

•   +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)

Overwhelming Force
(Call Genin)

•   12% (0.4 HP/sec) Regeneration

Call to Arms
(Call Genin)

•   5% Defense

Impeded Swiftness
(Time Crawl)

•   1.5% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), 2.5% Status Resistance

Decimation
(Snap Shot)

•   1.5% Resistance(Energy,Negative), 2.5% Status Resistance
•   9.04 HP (1.13%) HitPoints (when HealSelf)
•   2.25% Max End
•   +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)

Panacea
(Temporal Mending)

•   2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery
•   2.25% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), 3.75% Status Resistance
•   10% (0.33 HP/sec) Regeneration
•   1000% MezResist(Repel) (10% chance)
•   12.05 HP (1.5%) HitPoints (when HealSelf)

Entropic Chaos
(Aimed Shot)

•   10% (0.33 HP/sec) Regeneration
•   2.25% Resistance(Fire,Cold), 3.75% Status Resistance
•   2.25% Max End
•   +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)

Detonation
(Fistful of Arrows)

•   1.5% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), 2.5% Status Resistance

Edict of the Master
(Call Jounin)

•   6% Movement Speed
•   5% Defense

Command of the Mastermind
(Call Jounin)

•   2% DamageBuff(All)
•   15.06 HP (1.88%) HitPoints (when HealSelf)
•   +7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
•   10% Defense(AoE)

Witchcraft
(Time's Juncture)

•   2% DamageBuff(All)
•   3.75% Defense(Energy,Negative), 1.88% Defense(Ranged)
•   +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)

Preventive Medicine
(Temporal Selection)

•   2.25% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), 3.75% Status Resistance
•   15.06 HP (1.88%) HitPoints (when HealSelf)
•   3% Resistance(Fire,Cold), 5% Status Resistance
•   3.75% Enhancement(EnduranceDiscount)
•   +8.75% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
•   GrantPower Preventive Medicine (10% chance, when PreventiveMedicine), GrantPower Preventive Medicine (when PreventiveMedicine)

Winter Storm
(Distortion Field)

•   2% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
•   +2.5% Enhancement(Slow)
•   +9% Enhancement(Accuracy)
•   +5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)

Neuronic Shutdown
(Time Stop)

•   2.25% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), 3.75% Status Resistance

Reactive Defenses
(Maneuvers)

•   1.5% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), 2.5% Status Resistance
•   15.06 HP (1.88%) HitPoints (when HealSelf)
•   3% Resistance(Fire,Cold), 5% Status Resistance
•   3.75% Enhancement(EnduranceDiscount)
•   +8.75% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
•   3% Resistance(All) (when Resist)

Mark of Supremacy
(Oni)

•   +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
•   +9% Enhancement(Accuracy)
•   3.13% Defense(Melee), 1.56% Defense(Lethal), 1.56% Defense(Smashing)
•   10% Resistance(All), 100% (3.35 HP/sec) Regeneration

Karma
(Farsight)

•   Knockback Protection (Mag 4)

Luck of the Gambler
(Farsight)

•   +7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) (when Recharge)

Shield Breaker
(Slowed Response)

•   2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery
•   2.25% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), 3.75% Status Resistance

Luck of the Gambler
(Scorpion Shield)

•   +7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) (when Recharge)

Luck of the Gambler
(Vengeance)

•   +7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) (when Recharge)

Proc chances:

(click to show/hide)

Time Crawl: Impeded Swiftness (3.5 PPM), Pacing of the Turtle (3.5 PPM)

• 3.5 * ((15 / ( 1 + 0 / 100 )) + 1.6) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 96.83%)

Snap Shot: Decimation (1.0 PPM)

• 1.0 * ((2 / ( 1 + 37.91 / 100 )) + 1) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 6.5% (Pre-clamp: 4.08%)

Aimed Shot: Entropic Chaos (3.0 PPM) or Apocalypse (4.5 PPM)

• 3.0 * ((4 / ( 1 + 37.91 / 100 )) + 1) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 19.50%
  
• 4.5 * ((4 / ( 1 + 89.92 / 100 )) + 1) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 23.30%

Fistful of Arrows: Annihilation (3.0 PPM)

• 3.0 * ((8 / ( 1 + 0 / 100 )) + 1.17) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 40 * (11 * 30 + 540) / 30,000))) = 24.52% per $Target

Time's Juncture: Witchcraft (3.5 PPM)

• 3.5 x 10 / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 15.30% per $Target

Distortion Field: Entomb (2.0 PPM), Winter Storm (3.5 PPM)

• 2.0 x 10 / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 20 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 10.26% per $Target
  
• 3.5 x 10 / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 20 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 17.95% per $Target

Time Stop: Neuronic Shutdown (3.5 PPM), Gladiator's Net (3.5 PPM), Ghost Widow's Embrace (3.5 PPM), Unbreakable Contstraint (4.5 PPM)

• 3.5 * ((16 / ( 1 + 16.85 / 100 )) + 2.17) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 92.53%)
  
• 4.5 * ((16 / ( 1 + 16.85 / 100 )) + 2.17) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 118.97%)

Slowed Response: Shield Breaker (3.5 PPM), Achilles' Heel (3.5 PPM), Touch of Lady Grey (3.5 PPM)

• 3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)

Tactics: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control (1.0 PPM)

• 1.0 x 10 / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 60 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 6.5% (Pre-clamp: 2.15%) per Teammate buffed
  
  • Team-1: 1 - (1 - 0.065)¹ = 06.5% chance to proc every 10 seconds
    
  • Team-2: 1 - (1 - 0.065)² = 12.5% chance to proc every 10 seconds
    
  • Team-3: 1 - (1 - 0.065)³ = 18.2% chance to proc every 10 seconds
    
  • Team-4: 1 - (1 - 0.065)⁴ = 23.5% chance to proc every 10 seconds
    
  • Team-5: 1 - (1 - 0.065)⁵ = 28.5% chance to proc every 10 seconds
    
  • Team-6: 1 - (1 - 0.065)⁶ = 33.1% chance to proc every 10 seconds
    
  • Team-7: 1 - (1 - 0.065)⁷ = 37.5% chance to proc every 10 seconds (with 6 Ninja pets summoned in Supremacy)
    
  • Team-8: 1 - (1 - 0.065)⁸ = 41.5% chance to proc every 10 seconds
    
    • League-16: 1 - (1 - 0.065)¹⁶ = 65.8% chance to proc every 10 seconds
      
    • League-24: 1 - (1 - 0.065)²⁴ = 80.0% chance to proc every 10 seconds
      
    • League-32: 1 - (1 - 0.065)³² = 88.3% chance to proc every 10 seconds
      
    • League-34: 1 - (1 - 0.065)³⁴ = 89.8% chance to proc every 10 seconds
      
    • League-35: 1 - (1 - 0.065)³⁵ = 90.0% (Pre-clamp: 90.4%?) chance to proc every 10 seconds

[Redlynne]

Alright.
Bindloadfiles for controlling (my, specifically) Ninja Mastermind Pets.
But first ... I need to explain a few more things.

I know ... this is my shocked face.


So, first of all, I need to explain what my keyboard and mouse setup is, simply so as to make the ergonomics of my user interface is like.

I use a (wired) full keyboard Apple Keyboard (I'm a Mac user) ... and I use a dirt cheap wired Logitech M100 mouse.  These items look like this:

(click to show/hide)

Now, as for the keys on the keyboard I actually wind up using most/all of the time ... it's these:

• The ESC through F1-F12 keys get used.
• The Tilde through Backspace keys get used.
• TAB is rarely (if ever) used, but it does happen occasionally.
• Q and A are usually used for "throttle" functions in games, but I use them here for things like Auto Run/Walk and cancelling power queuing on the Q key (with modifiers for the extra functions) and doing the Ninja Run, Power Surge/Sprint toggling on the A key (with modifiers to differentiate) via slotting of those powers in specific slots in tray 9.
• WER SDF are my movement keys, and I "invert the T" so as to put side to side strafing movement on top, with turning down below.
• Backspace is used to return tells.
• Backslash is used to open the Menu (so as to change costumes, check ID or simply Quit).
• I have custom coded to require ' (the apostrophe) to startchat, so as to prevent "rolling startchat" after hitting Enter to actually send a chat.
• The Semicolon key I have custom bound to toggle open the Auction House.
• M is simply there to toggle my Mission window from the keyboard. Shift+M opens the Contacts window, and Ctrl+M is used to toggle back to the "map" window.
• Spacebar is, of course, Jump and "fly up" ... while Shift+Spacebar is used to "fly down" when needed ... and Control+Spacebar activates the Jump Pack via keybind to a specific slot in tray 9.

Which then brings me to all of the Mastermind (and as it turns out, Kheldian too) keybinds for controlling Mastermind Pets.

• The T, Y and U keys are for all of the Tier 1 Pets.
• The G and H keys are for all the Tier 2 Pets.
• The B key is for all three Tiers of Pets ... but when doing Shift+B I can address the Tier 3 Pet individually.
• Likewise, Shift+ T through U addresses the Tier 1 Pets as individuals.
• And Shift+ G or H addresses the Tier 2 Pets as individuals.
• Z, X and C are used for Attack, Goto and Follow.
• Shift+ Z, X and C are used for Aggressive, Passive, Defensive.
• V gets used invoking the Level 18 primary power (in this case, Smoke Flash), and gets "reassigned" depending on which set of Pets I'm currently commanding.
• Control+X is used to Dismiss the Pets I'm currently commanding.

Control+ T, Y, U, G, H or B allows me to select that specific Pet as my current $Target, allowing me to target and train/buff my Pets from keyboard alone.

Alt+ T, Y, U, G, H, V or B allows me to issue Inspirations to a Pet if I've got them loaded as the Pet I'm currently commanding. This disables when commanding more than 1 Pet at a time.  Needless to say, this can come in very handy, but requires a good deal of practice/self-training to "get down" and loaded into muscle memory.



So from here, an important starting point is going to be my "basic" default keybind set that I use whenever I reset and/or update the keybinds on ANY of my alts.  I use this keybind file as my goto so as to simply go into the Menu > Options and go to the Keybinds tab and hit the Reset Keybinds key on the left in the window, to reload the factory defaults.  I then simply click the Load Default Keybinds key on the right to pull my keybinds.txt file in and load it onto my alt.  This then gives me a common basic setup to use for ALL of the characters I play ... and then I can use individual bindloadfiles for each character to "personalize" their necessary keybinds for their archetype and so on.

So this is my default keybind file used for all alts.  It's got a lot of extra functions built into it.

Oh and incidentally, I use all 9 power trays in the bottom right of my screen, keeping them all open and visible at all times.

keybinds.txt

Code: [Select]

1 "powexectray 1 2"
2 "powexectray 2 2"
3 "powexectray 3 2"
4 "powexectray 4 2"
5 "powexectray 5 2"
6 "powexectray 6 2"
7 "powexectray 7 2"
8 "powexectray 8 2"
9 "powexectray 9 2"
0 "powexectray 10 2"
F1 "powexectray 1 3"
F2 "powexectray 2 3"
F3 "powexectray 3 3"
F4 "powexectray 4 3"
F5 "powexectray 5 3"
F6 "powexectray 6 3"
F7 "powexectray 7 3"
F8 "powexectray 8 3"
F9 "powexectray 9 3"
F10 "powexectray 10 3"
shift+1 "powexectray 1 4"
shift+2 "powexectray 2 4"
shift+3 "powexectray 3 4"
shift+4 "powexectray 4 4"
shift+5 "powexectray 5 4"
shift+6 "powexectray 6 4"
shift+7 "powexectray 7 4"
shift+8 "powexectray 8 4"
shift+9 "powexectray 9 4"
shift+0 "powexectray 10 4"
shift+F1 "powexectray 1 5"
shift+F2 "powexectray 2 5"
shift+F3 "powexectray 3 5"
shift+F4 "powexectray 4 5"
shift+F5 "powexectray 5 5"
shift+F6 "powexectray 6 5"
shift+F7 "powexectray 7 5"
shift+F8 "powexectray 8 5"
shift+F9 "powexectray 9 5"
shift+F10 "powexectray 10 5"
ctrl+1 "powexectray 1 6"
ctrl+2 "powexectray 2 6"
ctrl+3 "powexectray 3 6"
ctrl+4 "powexectray 4 6"
ctrl+5 "powexectray 5 6"
ctrl+6 "powexectray 6 6"
ctrl+7 "powexectray 7 6"
ctrl+8 "powexectray 8 6"
ctrl+9 "powexectray 9 6"
ctrl+0 "powexectray 10 6"
ctrl+F1 "powexectray 1 7"
ctrl+F2 "powexectray 2 7"
ctrl+F3 "powexectray 3 7"
ctrl+F4 "powexectray 4 7"
ctrl+F5 "powexectray 5 7"
ctrl+F6 "powexectray 6 7"
ctrl+F7 "powexectray 7 7"
ctrl+F8 "powexectray 8 7"
ctrl+F9 "powexectray 9 7"
ctrl+F10 "powexectray 10 7"
alt+1 "powexectray 1 8"
alt+2 "powexectray 2 8"
alt+3 "powexectray 3 8"
alt+4 "powexectray 4 8"
alt+5 "powexectray 5 8"
alt+6 "powexectray 6 8"
alt+7 "powexectray 7 8"
alt+8 "powexectray 8 8"
alt+9 "powexectray 9 8"
alt+0 "powexectray 10 8"
alt+F1 "powexectray 1 9"
alt+F2 "powexectray 2 9"
alt+F3 "powexectray 3 9"
alt+F4 "powexectray 4 9"
alt+F5 "powexectray 5 9"
alt+F6 "powexectray 6 9"
alt+F7 "powexectray 7 9"
alt+F8 "powexectray 8 9"
alt+F9 "powexectray 9 9"
alt+F10 "powexectray 10 9"
shift+ctrl+1 "inspexec_slot 1"
shift+ctrl+2 "inspexec_slot 2"
shift+ctrl+3 "inspexec_slot 3"
shift+ctrl+4 "inspexec_slot 4"
shift+ctrl+5 "inspexec_slot 5"
shift+ctrl "nop"
F11 say "Ready!$$emote thumbsup"
F12 say "$battlecry$$emote attack"
shift+F11 say "HELP!$$emote whistle"
shift+F12 say "RUN!"
lalt "nop"
w "+left"
e "+forward"
r "+right"
s "+turnleft"
d "+backward"
f "+turnright"
up "nop"
space "+up"
shift+space "+down"
ctrl+space "nop"
q "powexectray 5 9"
shift+q "++autorun"
ctrl+q "powexectray 10 9"
alt+q "nop"
a "powexectray 6 9"
shift+a "powexectray 7 9"
ctrl+a "powexectray 8 9"
alt+a "powexectray 9 9"
tilde "targetcustomnear enemy alive$$targetcustomnext enemy alive Quantum$$targetcustomnext enemy alive Void$$targetcustomnext enemy alive Cyst$$targetcustomnext enemy alive Sapper"
shift+tilde "targetcustomnext enemy defeated"
ctrl+tilde "follow"
' "afk Typing…$$startchat"
- "nop"
alt+- "nop"
/ "nop"
\ "menu"
b "nop"
backspace "afk Sending tell…$$autoreply"
c "nop"
comma "nop"
shift+comma "show chat$$beginchat /tell $target, "
delete "++first"
down "powexecname Hover"
end "+zoomout"
enter "nop"
shift+enter "nop"
ctrl+enter "em point$$say $target sighted."
equals "nop"
alt+equals "nop"
esc "unselect"
h "nop"
home "+zoomin"
nop "+lookup"
lctrl+lalt "+camrotate"
lcontrol "nop"
lctrl "nop"
left "nop"
leftarrow "nop"
; "em cellphone$$ah"
m "em clipboard$$windowtoggle mission"
shift+m "em cellphone$$windowtoggle contacts"
ctrl+m "em drinkenriche$$map"
mbutton "nop"
mousechord "nop"
mousewheel "powexecunqueue"
n "nop"
p "powers"
pagedown "sync$$reloadgfx$$camreset$$camdist 24"
pageup "nop"
ralt "nop"
rbutton "+mouse_look"
right "nop"
rightarrow "nop"
sysrq "nop"
shift+[ "screenshot"
t "nop"
tab "target_enemy_next"
ctrl+tab "nop"
shift+tab "target_enemy_prev"
v "nop"
ctrl+v "nop"
x "nop"
z "nop"
Note that this default keybind set assigns the 1-0 keybinds to power tray 2 ... not 1 ... and that the F1-F10 keys are assigned to power tray 3 ... not 2.

This is because I use power tray 1 for "extra unlocked powers" on alts like Kheldian Form powers and the extra ammo types unlocked by Swap Ammo in Dual Pistols.

Shift+ 1-0 is bound to power tray 4.
Shift+ F1-F10 is bound to power tray 5.
Control+ 1-0 is bound to power tray 6.
Control+ F1-F10 is bound to power tray 7
Alt+ 1-0 is bound to power tray 8.
Alt+ F1-F10 is bound to power tray 9 ... although I tend to load this tray with powers I'm in the habit of clicking with the mouse rather than using keybinds to address (due to the Alt+F4 combo being in here).

This whole keybind regime lets me use a "common muscle memory language" for all of my alts such that I can put powers into similar places on different alts and not have to entirely "relearn" my whole keybinding scheme from scratch every time I start playing a new character.  Everything "goes" to reasonably common places.

Additionally, the binds used for the power trays point to the Slot In Tray to activate the power in that particular slot on that specific tray.  This lets me reshuffle the powers in my trays without needing to completely rewrite all of my keybinds every time I need to move a power to a different slot in a different (or the same) power tray.  The powers just happen to be in the slots and trays that make it easy for me to invoke them via keyboard binds, rather than needing to click on them using the mouse.


From this foundation, I then load in my bindloadfile(s) for each alt.

For my Mastermind ... that means loading a "master" Ninja control file that uses "reserved" keys that don't get overwritten by sub-options in the various sub-files.  In my case, that is the Ninja.txt file which then controls which groups of Pets and/or individual Pets I'm wanting to address at any given time.

Ninja.txt

Code: [Select]

t bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaGenin.txt"
shift+t bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaRoku.txt"
ctrl+t "petselectname Roku"
y bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaGenin.txt"
shift+y bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaNana.txt"
ctrl+y "petselectname Nana"
u bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaGenin.txt"
shift+u bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaHachi.txt"
ctrl+u "petselectname Hachi"
g bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaJounin.txt"
shift+g bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaShi.txt"
ctrl+g "petselectname Shi"
h bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaJounin.txt"
shift+h bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaItsutsu.txt"
ctrl+h "petselectname Itsutsu"
b bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaAll.txt"
shift+b bindloadfile "./binds/NinjaOni.txt"
ctrl+b "petselectname San"
For whatever reason, my game client simply WILL NOT accept any additional commands being appended onto a bindloadfile command.  This means I can't do something like load a bind file AND execute a power function (toggle on, toggle off, execute, etc.) within the same keybind.  It just doesn't work for me.  For this reason, I have needed to get as bare bones basic as possible with my keybinds so as to ensure that my keybinds actually WORK on my game client ... rather than FAIL spectacularly and utterly refuse to work (or even load properly, as it turns out).



In my case, I named my Ninjas ... numbers (in Japanese) ... even my Mastermind.

• Ku no Ichi (九の一) means literally "1 of 9" for my Mastermind ... but written as KunoIchi (くノ一), which sounds EXACTLY THE SAME to the ear, it literally means "Female Ninja" while also being the stroke order for the kanji used to write woman (女).  So yeah, multi-level linguistic pun in this context.
  
  
• San (三) is the number 3 ... is my Oni ... uses the B key.  The pun here being this makes him Oni-San ... for those who like their onii-san jokes.
• Shi (四) is the number 4 ... is my Jounin 1 ... uses the G key.
• Itsutsu (五) is the number 5 ... is my Jounin 2 ... uses the H key.
• Roku (六) is the number 6 ... is my Genin 1 ... uses the T key.
• Nana (七) is the number 7 ... is my Genin 2 ... uses the Y key.
• Hachi (八) is the number 8 ... is my Genin 3 ... uses the U key.

As for what happened to number 2 ... Ni (二) ... I deliberately leave that number (and pun potential) "unused" so it can mean anything anyone wants it to.  Ninjas are just mysterious that way, you know?

So that's how I named my Ninjas.  I've explained it this way so that anyone who is (still) reading at this point will be able to easily identify what they need to do a Find/Replace on when converting my bindloadfiles for their own use, either as other Ninja Masterminds (easy) or as other primary type Masterminds (a little bit more involved, but doable with some extra effort).

Also, just as an extra aside, I incorporated emotes that my Mastermind will "perform" whenever issuing any commands to my Ninjas.

• Attack emotes a Throat Slash.
  
• Goto emotes a Point.
  
• Follow emotes a [urlhttps://wiki.cityofheroesrebirth.com/wiki/Emote_FireworkBloom]Firework Bloom[/url] (so they know where to fall back to).
  
• Aggressive emotes a Bring It (as my Ninjas race to engage any hostiles nearby).
  
• Passive emotes a [urlhttps://wiki.cityofheroesrebirth.com/wiki/Emote_Stop]Stop[/url].
  
• Defensive emotes a [urlhttps://wiki.cityofheroesrebirth.com/wiki/Emote_Flip]Backflip[/url].
  
• Dismissal of Ninjas emotes a Buzz Off.

If you're adapting my bindloadfiles to other Mastermind primary powersets, you may want to edit which commands incorporate which emotes, and to do so you'll want to do a simple Find/Replace All with the desired replacement emote in all of the bindloadfiles you're using for your own command set.  I picked these emotes because they're thematic to a Ninja Mastermind, but feel free to get creative on your own if you want something else.

So these are the requisite bindloadfiles called for by the "master" bindloadfile of Ninja.txt above (there are 9 of them).

NinjaAll.txt

Code: [Select]

z "petcomall attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcomall aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcomall goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcomall passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcomall dismiss$$em buzzoff"
c "petcomall follow$$em fireworkbloom"
shift+c "petcomall defensive$$em flip"
+v "petselectname Hachi$$petselectname Nana$$petselectname Roku$$petselectname Itsusu$$petselectname Shi$$petselectname San$$powexecname Temporal Selection$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
alt+t "nop"
alt+y "nop"
alt+u "nop"
alt+g "nop"
alt+h "nop"
alt+v "nop"
alt+b "nop"
NinjaGenin.txt

Code: [Select]

z "petcompow Genin attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Genin aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Genin goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Genin passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Genin dismiss$$em buzzoff"
c "petcompow Genin follow$$em fireworkbloom"
shift+c "petcompow Genin defensive$$em flip"
+v "petselectname Hachi$$petselectname Nana$$petselectname Roku$$powexecname Temporal Selection$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
alt+t "nop"
alt+y "nop"
alt+u "nop"
alt+g "nop"
alt+h "nop"
alt+v "nop"
alt+b "nop"
NinjaJounin.txt

Code: [Select]

z "petcompow Jounin attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Jounin aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Jounin goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Jounin passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Jounin dismiss$$em buzzoff"
c "petcompow Jounin follow$$em fireworkbloom"
shift+c "petcompow Jounin defensive$$em flip"
+v "petselectname Itsusu$$petselectname Shi$$powexecname Temporal Selection$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
alt+t "nop"
alt+y "nop"
alt+u "nop"
alt+g "nop"
alt+h "nop"
alt+v "nop"
alt+b "nop"
NinjaOni.txt

Code: [Select]

z "petcompow Oni attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Oni aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Oni goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Oni passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Oni dismiss$$em buzzoff"
c "petcompow Oni follow$$em fireworksparkle"
shift+c "petcompow Oni defensive$$em flip"
+v "petselectname San$$powexecname Temporal Selection$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
alt+t "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate$$em alakazam"
alt+y "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight$$em alakazam"
alt+u "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage$$em alakazam"
alt+h "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Fight$$em alakazam"
alt+g "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence$$em alakazam"
alt+v "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck$$em alakazam"
alt+b "petselectname San$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant$$em alakazam"
NinjaShi.txt

Code: [Select]

z "petcompow Shi attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Shi aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Shi goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Shi passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Shi dismiss$$em buzzoff"
c "petcompow Shi follow$$em fireworksparkle"
shift+c "petcompow Shi defensive$$em flip"
+v "petselectname Shi$$powexecname Temporal Selection$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
alt+t "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate$$em alakazam"
alt+y "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight$$em alakazam"
alt+u "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage$$em alakazam"
alt+h "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Fight$$em alakazam"
alt+g "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence$$em alakazam"
alt+v "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck$$em alakazam"
alt+b "petselectname Shi$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant$$em alakazam"
NinjaItsutsu.txt

Code: [Select]

z "petcompow Itsutsu attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Itsutsu aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Itsutsu goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Itsutsu passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Itsutsu dismiss$$em buzzoff"
c "petcompow Itsutsu follow$$em fireworksparkle"
shift+c "petcompow Itsutsu defensive$$em flip"
+v "petselectname Itsusu$$powexecname Temporal Selection$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
alt+t "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate$$em alakazam"
alt+y "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight$$em alakazam"
alt+u "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage$$em alakazam"
alt+h "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Fight$$em alakazam"
alt+g "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence$$em alakazam"
alt+v "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck$$em alakazam"
alt+b "petselectname Itsutsu$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant$$em alakazam"
NinjaRoku.txt

Code: [Select]

z "petcompow Roku attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Roku aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Roku goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Roku passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Roku dismiss$$em buzzoff"
c "petcompow Roku follow$$em fireworksparkle"
shift+c "petcompow Roku defensive$$em flip"
+v "petselectname Roku$$powexecname Temporal Selection$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
alt+t "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate$$em alakazam"
alt+y "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight$$em alakazam"
alt+u "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage$$em alakazam"
alt+h "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Figh$$em alakazamt"
alt+g "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence$$em alakazam"
alt+v "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck$$em alakazam"
alt+b "petselectname Roku$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant$$em alakazam"
NinjaNana.txt

Code: [Select]

z "petcompow Nana attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Nana aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Nana goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Nana passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Nana dismiss$$em buzzoff"
c "petcompow Nana follow$$em fireworksparkle"
shift+c "petcompow Nana defensive$$em flip"
+v "petselectname Nana$$powexecname Temporal Selection$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
alt+t "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate$$em alakazam"
alt+y "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight$$em alakazam"
alt+u "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage$$em alakazam"
alt+h "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Fight$$em alakazam"
alt+g "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence$$em alakazam"
alt+v "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck$$em alakazam"
alt+b "petselectname Nana$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant$$em alakazam"
NinjaHachi.txt

Code: [Select]

z "petcompow Hachi attack$$em slash"
shift+z "petcompow Hachi aggressive$$em bringit"
x "petcompow Hachi goto$$em point"
shift+x "petcompow Hachi passive$$em stop"
ctrl+x "petcompow Hachi dismiss$$em buzzoff"
c "petcompow Hachi follow$$em fireworksparkle"
shift+c "petcompow Hachi defensive$$em flip"
+v "petselectname Hachi$$powexecname Temporal Selection$$powexecname Smoke Flash"
alt+t "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Break Free$$inspexecpettarget Emerge$$inspexecpettarget Escape$$inspexecpettarget Liberate$$em alakazam"
alt+y "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Insight$$inspexecpettarget Keen Insight$$inspexecpettarget Uncanny Insight$$inspexecpettarget Sight Beyond Sight$$em alakazam"
alt+u "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Enrage$$inspexecpettarget Focused Rage$$inspexecpettarget Righteous Rage$$inspexecpettarget Furious Rage$$em alakazam"
alt+h "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Catch a Breath$$inspexecpettarget Take a Breather$$inspexecpettarget Second Wind$$inspexecpettarget Back in the Fight$$em alakazam"
alt+g "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Respite$$inspexecpettarget Dramatic Improvement$$inspexecpettarget Resurgence$$em alakazam"
alt+v "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Luck$$inspexecpettarget Good Luck$$inspexecpettarget Phenomenal Luck$$inspexecpettarget Amazing Luck$$em alakazam"
alt+b "petselectname Hachi$$inspexecpettarget Sturdy$$inspexecpettarget Rugged$$inspexecpettarget Robust$$inspexecpettarget Resistant$$em alakazam"
Now ... if you're still reading this, there's a few things I wanted to point out as little bits of clever conveniences built into these bindloadfiles, and how they inter(re)act with the ergonomics of the keyboard setup I'm using.



So the first thing I've got is that if I've got the All, Genin or Jounin files loaded/active, because those files all address multiple Pets simultaneously, it's simply not possible to use a keybind to issue an inspiration to a specific Pet, because you need to have a $Target chosen to sent the inspiration to THAT specific Pet.  This is why I've got the Alt+(T-U, G-H and V-B) keys doing this work of selecting the Pet and issuing the "largest" inspiration of that type available to that individual Pet automatically for me.  All I need to do is use the Shift+(T-U, G-H or B) key combination FIRST to pick the Pet I want to send the inspiration to ... and then use the Alt+(T-U, G-H and V-B) to send the right inspiration TYPE to that Pet.

Alt+T = Break Free
Alt+Y = Accuracy
Alt+U = Damage
Alt+G = Endurance
Alt+H = Heal
Alt+V = Defense
Alt+B = Resistance

I set things up this way so that it's at least easier to remember "what goes where" by grouping categories together as a mnemonic aid.

Break Free / Accuracy / Damage
Endurance / Heal
Defense / Resistance


Another thing that some people may notice about my bindloadfiles is ... what's going on with that +v key in there?

Well, that's a trick stolen from the Kheldian keybinds.

By setting up +v the way I did here, it's going to try to activate Smoke Flash on the down press of the V key, and then when you release the V key (if you don't let go of it "too fast" it will queue up Temporal Selection to activate next ... all with a single keystroke.

The idea here is that in a lot of situations (not all, granted, but a lot of them) I'd want to be using Smoke Flash as either an opener for a Pet about to take an alpha strike for me ... or because that Pet is in trouble and their green bar is dropping fast and something needs to be done to save them.  The Smoke Flash will Placate nearby $Targets and enable a critical hit on their next few attacks (for 10s) by a Ninja Pet, but I'm thinking that if I need to "rescue" them from too much aggro like that, they're almost certainly going to need more healing if I'm using Smoke Flash as an "Oh S***!" button.  What the +v keybinding does for me then is allow me to cause Smoke Flash AND Temporal Selection to be used on the same Pet with "one" keystroke ... assuming I've got that specific Pet's bindloadfile active so as to issue the keybind combo to THAT specific Pet.



Another thing that I'm sure anyone else playing with these keybinds will notice is ... I've built in emotes for my Mastermind to "do" while directing traffic around the battlefield.  I've even got a Firework emote for telling my Ninjas to "heel" and follow me, so as to "signal" them from afar, if need be, on where the rally point is supposed to be.

Telling my Ninjas to attack involves a throat slashing emote from my Mastermind.

It took me a while to figure out what emotes I wanted to associate with what commands, but I eventually got it all worked out and tested (that took a long time!).


At any rate, I hope that this (updated) Mastermind Control Scheme of mine winds up being useful to other people besides myself, particularly since I've gotten a few PMs from people asking me for an update on the current state of play of my bindloadfiles for my Mastermind.  Well ... here they are.

Enjoy.  8)

[Draggynn]

Hmm, that is not the way I would have guessed that Tactics operates (having a chance to proc on every ally).  That definitely changes the computation if that's how it works.  If that is how it works, then the clamp wouldn't be to 90% in your later cases because the clamp in the code is on individual proc chance.

Have you tested this on Rebirth?  I've just been running it with two on a team (only have 2 accounts, in retrospect, I probably should have created an MM to have more targets to test on) and I don't have a very large sample size, only 51 procs, 175 procs but I'm seeing closer to 7%, not the ~12.5% we would expect if it were actually triggering per target, but that could just be bad luck on my part:

It's also clearly following the 10 second trigger rule that all toggles are supposed to follow (I found some old posts claiming that tactics was doing something different, so that at least has been fixed).  If there is a timed lockout it's < 10 seconds, because I have gotten consecutive checks firing.

[Redlynne]

There's a peculiar inter(re)action that goes on with toggles and the 10s between proc chances.
You want to think of it more in terms of SUPPRESSION.

After a toggle checks a proc, subsequent checks for procs are suppressed for 10 seconds.
But it's not a case of "every 10 seconds, check for procs" ... but instead a case of AFTER 10 seconds have elapsed, the NEXT activation(!) of the power has a chance to proc.

So if, for example, and am I'm just picking numbers to illustrate the point here, agnostic of any actual powers ... let's say you have a toggle power that activates every 2 seconds.



The chances to proc are not going to be every 10 seconds "on the dot" (so to speak).

A timeline like this for the activation ticks:

00 . 02 . 04 . 06 . 08 . 10 . 12 . 14 . 16 . 18 . 20 . 22 . 24 . 26 . 28 . 30 . 32 . 34 . 36 . 38 . 40

If you think that the chance to proc is every 10 seconds "on the dot" ... the ticks that check procs would be these:

00 . 02 . 04 . 06 . 08 . 10 . 12 . 14 . 16 . 18 . 20 . 22 . 24 . 26 . 28 . 30 . 32 . 34 . 36 . 38 . 40

However, the way it actually works is more like this instead:

00 . 02 . 04 . 06 . 08 . 10 . 12 . 14 . 16 . 18 . 20 . 22 . 24 . 26 . 28 . 30 . 32 . 34 . 36 . 38 . 40



The reason why it would work like that is that the first proc chance is the first activation AFTER 10 seconds have elapsed.
So 00 to 10 seconds cannot proc anything, and the first tick AFTER the 10 second tick is then the first opportunity to proc again.

For toggles that tick "quickly" ... such as every 0.5 seconds, the differential between 10.0 seconds and 10.5 seconds isn't going to be enough for most people to notice (except in an exhaustive statistical analysis), so we tend to use "proc every 10 seconds" as a kind of shorthand for this stuff. It's a nitpick, but depending on the power it can become important (damage auras tend to have longer activation times).

Have you tested this on Rebirth?

No, my main is still level locked at Level 20 and won't have access to Tactics (with a Gaussians proc) for a LONG time yet.
However, I am quite sure that the underlying mechanics for procs works exactly the same as they did on Homecoming (meaning, proc behavior wasn't a "custom" creation on Homecoming). In fact, the way that procs "work" in game is pure legacy code from Paragon Studios ... so unless a server's devs go into the codebase with a monkey wrench and muck it up (beyond repair?), the proc system ought to work exactly the same on every CoH private server out there.

The difference is that we've had people TESTING the behavior of procs and derive formulae for how they "work" under the hood on Paragon Studios' legacy codebase ... and that mathematical modeling has proven to be accurate enough for our purposes as character builders.

Sure, there's always going to be random noise in any testing series (like you experienced) so there won't be a "perfect match" every time between the theoretical and the actual.
Just like how it's possible to MISS your $Target three times in a row (or more!) even if you've got a greater than 75% chance to hit.
Pseudo-random noise is going to make results not exactly match predictions.

However, what I can tell you is that back on Homecoming, a Mastermind tested the Gaussian's proc in Tactics with their Pets summoned, and ... well ... according to their report, it just wouldn't stop proccing (so to speak).

[Draggynn]

Interesting.  Good to know about the suppression, but it's almost certainly 10 seconds on the dot, at least for tactics (and I guess Panacea and Performance Shifter as well based on the logs I have).  I have several hours of logs from my testing, and although the logs only record the whole second every proc firing occurs on a 3.

If it actually weren't every 10 seconds, you would expect to see drift in the time of the proc firing over the course of those hours, but every firing is on a 3, so it sure looks like's every 10 seconds on the dot to me.  So either the expiration of the suppression is checked before the proc in the order of operations, or the lockout is actually a little bit shorter than 10 seconds.

There are definitely changes that were made between Homecoming and the OuroDev Source in character_combat.c (which I suspect was likely the location of the dequeuing bug that Farm Tank fixed) and is where the proc checking logic happens.  I'm excited for the test server to come back online so that I can actually test that on an MM. (Or I may just PL an MM to test)

[Redlynne]

Interesting.  Good to know about the suppression, but it's almost certainly 10 seconds on the dot

Hmmm. Could be a programming "fiddle" involved that I was unaware of (or just plain forgot in the last couple of years I wasn't involved with CoX at all). Skills that aren't in use tend to atrophy, and all that (memories too).
Might be something as simple as the suppression lasts for 9.99 seconds, so activations that "align" nicely with 10 seconds happen every 10 seconds like clockwork (no no, not that Metronome guy, I'm "Rusty" ... remember?).

In any case, the "rule" is that anything that is a toggle (or behaves like a toggle for proc purposes) will only have opportunities to proc every 10+ seconds on the activation ticks of the power itself. So fast activations (like 0.5 seconds) will resolve "inside the 1 second" granularity of your data recording scheme and look like it is doing an "on the dot" type behavior as you cite.

I'm excited for the test server to come back online so that I can actually test that on an MM. (Or I may just PL an MM to test)

Please do.
The last time that Gaussian's proc was tested in Tactics for a Mastermind, the report came back ... it won't stop proccing! ... by the tester. Easily more than 1 PPM with 6 Pets around the Mastermind.
Unfortunately, I can't remember where that report got posted (probably in someone else's build post where I'll never find it again), but we were able to corroborate that on Homecoming putting Gaussian's into Tactics was a major advantage for Masterminds ... but only if they took their personal attacks (Build Up only works if you're personally dealing damage, after all). It's mainly the Chuck Lots o' Dice!! solution to the problem, where even if the odds are low ... if you only need one success then lots of throws of the dice will make it happen a lot more often than you would otherwise assume.

I was the one who then took that idea of "lots of Build Up procs" ... which CAN STACK MULTIPLES if you get really really really lucky (no, don't even try to "make it happen" on demand) ... to lift the Mastermind personal attacks up into "not a joke" territory for damage dealing ... and then combine that with Resistance Debuffing from Annihilation and Achilles' Heel procs (and now here on Rebirth, there's also the Witchcraft proc too!). So buffing yourself with Build Up while also enforcing Resistance Debuffing on your Foes had (I thought) the potential to make your personal attacks ... potentially respectable ... especially if you can crank them out fast enough, withering fire style, in rapid volleys.



And speaking of "crank them out fast enough" ... I've done a bit of a rethink of my Ninja/Time/Mace build here in response to some of the work that @wyldhaunt has been doing (you give me ideas, I give you ideas, which then gives me more ideas...) where I did a slight reshuffling of powers (drop Smoke Flash and Vengeance) so as to pick up Maneuvers and Tactics earlier in the build (@ 18 and 24, specifically) and still have room to get Hasten @ 30 (before Chrono Shift) and take Victory Rush @ 49 instead. Reshuffle the mid-level slotting a little bit, swap out 6-slot Panacea for 5-slot Regenerating Tissue so as to "liberate" a slot from Temporal Mending in order to be able to 2-slot Hasten for Recharge and ... it works ... BETTER ... for the later game (also "cheaper" to build too!).

Going to sit on the revision for a little bit longer, trying to figure out of there are any bits I've overlooked or neglected to consider as possibilities to stretch the build just a few microns further in terms of capability ... but I figure I'm so close to the screaming on the bleeding edge of performance, there just isn't that much room left to fiddle around with (aside from maybe slot allocation sequencing, if that, not really sure).

So a LOT in common with the "Hasten-less" build I've posted above, but the swap/reshuffle of Smoke Flash+Vengeance in favor of Hasten+Victory Rush instead puts a very different ... spin ... on the whole thing, especially for the repeating attack chains portion of it all (and simultaneous uptimes of various buff and debuff powers for greater overlaps).

[wyldhaunt]

Oh wow, especially with this latest info (which finally clicked in my brain), I'm going to have to re-examine my competing builds for Wyldhaunt (Beasts/Dark* v Necro/Dark), and Sturmboter (Bots/Storm). So much potential, it has me "/em plot"-ting.

*The reason why this would be particularly worthy of a re-look is that the Beasts primary attacks are already useful; proccing them for BU/debuff would help that much more.

[Redlynne]

Oh wow, especially with this latest info (which finally clicked in my brain)

Well ... I did warn everyone right from the beginning ...

Okay … this … is going to take some explaining.

And yes, the WALL OF TEXT CRITS YOU!!! was absolutely necessary to provide THAT LEVEL OF INSIGHT, simply because the firehose of information density is simply THAT POWERFUL ... that once you start putting all the pieces together, your whole PARADIGM for what is possible (let alone plausible!) gets upended, turned inside out, spun wrong way 'round ... and then settles into a NEW PLACE that you hadn't even conceptualized as even existing before.

It's not just the radical redirection of thinking away from the Conventional Wisdom™ of the past that has trapped so many in the cavernous ruts of "do it this way or you're gimping yourself" that turned Mastermind builds into cookie cutters ... but it's also the SYNERGIES that are possible when you break free of that past paradigm of thinking (and assuming) to realize that there is a "wider world" of possibilities out there which have remained unexplored for more than a decade now. Once you can overcome that Paradigm Paralysis that has gripped Mastermind builds for far too long ... well ... this happens ...



Some people drink from the Fountain of Knowledge
While others merely gargle
And some pee in it...

I'm going to have to re-examine my competing builds for Wyldhaunt (Beasts/Dark* v Necro/Dark), and Sturmboter (Bots/Storm). So much potential, it has me "/em plot"-ting.

Trust me ... putting the Overwhelming Force Knockdown proc into T1 Pets is an absolute GAME CHANGER for Masterminds, as is putting in the Soulbound Allegiance - Chance for Build Up proc (although you have to wait until Level 50 to do the latter, since it's part of a purple set). If you do it for your Robots/Storm Mastermind, you're barely going to believe your eyes(!) since your T1 Robots will suddenly have a 20% Knockdown chance on EVERY ATTACK THEY MAKE ... including ranged attacks (and there are three T1 Robots available, so ... Chuck Lots o' Dice ...?). For Ninjas, the T1 Genin have a ranged Shuriken attack ... which with Overwhelming Force slotted into Genin can do Knockdown AT RANGE ... which is just Stupid Powerful™ for the way that Ninjas tend to be played (especially if you're also taking the personal attacks as a Mastermind!).

The synergies just build ... and stack ... and build ... and stack ... and when I was playing the build, I just stopped worrying about the survival rates of my Ninjas and instead started (coldly) calculating the survival durations of my adversaries in every encounter.

When you get to the point of Scrapperlock while playing a Mastermind ... you KNOW you're doing it RIGHT.

*The reason why this would be particularly worthy of a re-look is that the Beasts primary attacks are already useful; proccing them for BU/debuff would help that much more.

THIS.

THIS right here.
THIS is why I go to such lengths to detail and document my build "discoveries" as exhaustively as I do.

Being able to INSPIRE OTHERS is the greatest reward I can possibly receive for my efforts ... which all too often feel like I'm just toiling away in futility.
The highest praise that I can receive in response to one of my build posts is someone taking what I have done ... and incorporating those ideas into their own character builds, learning all kinds of new tricks and ways of thinking about complex problems (such as coherent build design) in the process.

Knowledge Shared Is Knowledge Multiplied

I don't have All The Answers™ ... nor do I even pretend to presume omniscience in this area of research.
There are entire Archetypes that I haven't played myself, so I don't know the ins and outs of their build strategies and engagement tactics.
Likewise, there are plenty of primary and secondary powersets that I have never played to a high enough level to properly understand how those powersets "gel" together the way they do (and need to) in order to be successful.

I don't have All The Answers™ ... but what I can do is share the tools I used to find the answers that I have found ... and hope that there are others who can pick up those tools, recognize them for what they are and start using those tools themselves to find their own answers to questions they didn't even know to ASK (or even begin looking for).

It's that whole "teach a man to fish and you'll feed him for the rest of his life" kind of deal, rather than just feeding them ONCE with a single fish.



I did --> THINGIE <-- doesn't necessarily explain WHY you did something the way you did, or what decision process led you to that conclusion.
As Admiral Kirk once said to Mr. Saavik ... "You need to know WHY things work on a starship."

So yeah ... WALL OF TEXT CRITS YOU!!! ... but once you understand the TOTALITY of what I was trying to convey (and there was A LOT of information to process!), I'm thinking the damage taken was worth the effort.

[Draggynn]

In any case, the "rule" is that anything that is a toggle (or behaves like a toggle for proc purposes) will only have opportunities to proc every 10+ seconds on the activation ticks of the power itself. So fast activations (like 0.5 seconds) will resolve "inside the 1 second" granularity of your data recording scheme and look like it is doing an "on the dot" type behavior as you cite.

So I now have 8 hours of logs and the timing of proc firings makes 0 sense to me.  If it were in fact 10+ seconds.  Then over the course of those 8 hours I would expect to see the timestamp of the proc firing slowing increase (Suppose it's 10.1 seconds):

Time Proc Fired	|	10.1	|	20.2	|	30.3	|	40.4	|	50.5	|	60.6	|	70.7	|	80.8	|	90.9	|	101
TIme Displayed	|	10	|	20	|	30	|	40	|	51	|	61	|	71	|	81	|	91	|	101

However, what I actually see is the time stamp jumping between 8 and 9 seconds, and then no procs at 0 seconds, and the rest of the procs are at 1 second so I'm a bit lost.  I do have some vague recollection of reading something that suggested that the proc can only fire every 10 seconds, but that the 10 second timer is independent of the toggle ticking time (I'll have to see if I can find that post, and I'd have to dive into the code more to confirm, but I also think I might have seen something that looked like that when I was digging into the Freezing Rain procs a few weeks ago)  In which case if the toggle ticks every 4 seconds the proc pattern would look more like this, which could explain the bouncing I was seeing:

|<----10---->|<----10--- ->|<----10---->|<----10---->|
0      4      8      12    16    20    24   28       32     36   40

And if it's actually slightly longer than 10s, that might explain the jump from 9 to 1. I'll have to see if I can unearth that post.  But it appears not to be a fixed time (10s or longer) or else we would see a steady progression, as detailed above.

Please do.
The last time that Gaussian's proc was tested in Tactics for a Mastermind, the report came back ... it won't stop proccing! ... by the tester. Easily more than 1 PPM with 6 Pets around the Mastermind.

But of course, the part we really care about.  Here are 7 targets: 1) a level 22 Mastermind with the Gaussian Chance for Build Up Proc in Tactics 2) Draggynn (A dashing Storm Defender just there as another potential target) 3-5) Battle Drones 6-7) Protector Bots.  Even with 7 targets, I'm still only seeing a 6.5% fire rate

No idea if the proc still works that way on Homecoming, or if it's been brought in line, but on Rebirth at least, it seems to only be checking on 1 target.  Interestingly, though, it does still seem to be using the Area of Effect computation, so you end up with a minimum firing chance (6.5%, which then works out to be 1 proc every 2.6 minutes or 0.4 procs/minute, not 1 proc/minute)

[Redlynne]

However, what I actually see is the time stamp jumping between 8 and 9 seconds, and then no procs at 0 seconds, and the rest of the procs are at 1 second so I'm a bit lost.

Sounds a lot like a "granularity" issue with how your data is getting recorded.
Tactics has an activation time of 2s, so it will buff all $Targets within radius 5x per 10 seconds.

I was digging into the Freezing Rain procs a few weeks ago

Yeah, the proc formulas are ... NOT KIND to rain type powers.

No idea if the proc still works that way on Homecoming, or if it's been brought in line, but on Rebirth at least, it seems to only be checking on 1 target.  Interestingly, though, it does still seem to be using the Area of Effect computation, so you end up with a minimum firing chance (6.5%, which then works out to be 1 proc every 2.6 minutes or 0.4 procs/minute, not 1 proc/minute)

Could be a bug.
Might also need to zone after doing all the summons (to force a "refresh" of the pets upon zoning).

I recall that in previous testing there was something peculiar with how Tactics behaved with Pets, such that freshly summoned Pets "didn't work right" with Tactics, but after zoning (forcing a "refresh" of them) it then did. All very squirrelly spaghetti code bizarro stuff.

[Draggynn]

Could be a bug.
Might also need to zone after doing all the summons (to force a "refresh" of the pets upon zoning).

I recall that in previous testing there was something peculiar with how Tactics behaved with Pets, such that freshly summoned Pets "didn't work right" with Tactics, but after zoning (forcing a "refresh" of them) it then did. All very squirrelly spaghetti code bizarro stuff.

I don't think there's likely to be any pet weirdness going on, since both sets of tests I did had two player characters, so even if the pets weren't registering, you would expect the other player character to (Resulting in a proc chance closer to 12% than 6.5%), but if you find some set of conditions that causes Gaussian to check on all targets , I would be fascinated to hear it.

I'm also not certain which part of it is a bug.  Seems like having above 90% chance for the proc to fire likely isn't the intended behavior so I don't think the fix is to have it check for each target, but if it's not checking for each target than the AoE penalty should not be applied and we should have a proc rate closer to 16.5%.  So I agree something is broken, but I don't think rolling the proc for every target is working as intended.

[Redlynne]

Well ...

Now that Redlynne is Level 50 (and tanking in Incarnate Trials) so she can earn Astral Merits and Empyrean Merits in order to "finance" development of alts ... I've been working on playing Ku no Ichi (my Ninja/Time Mastermind) and keeping her Goldside as a Praetorian, rather than moving over to Redside or Blueside, and I'm contemplating the notion of keeping her Gold (Resistance) forever and participate in Incarnate Trials (as a Mastermind) through Pocket D.

So yesterday, I was able to get Ku no Ichi up to Level 27 (which is the first opportunity to put slots into the T3 pet, Oni) ... and as I've been playing using the v1 build posted above ... I've started to notice that some of the choices I made were not as "optimal" as I had been hoping for here on Rebirth.


The big one is slotting the Gaussian's Build Up proc into Tactics.
I've done it.
I've tested it ... and it's a waste of a slot.

Even with 6 pets summoned, the Gaussian's will barely proc at all (here on Rebirth).
I have seen it proc ... so it does "work" ... just not as well as I was wanting it to.
Here on Rebirth, it's making a SINGLE proc chance check every 10 seconds (because Tactics is a toggle) ... and it has only a SINGLE 6.5% chance to proc for basically 5 seconds worth of Build Up duration.
So ... nice to have ... but hardly something that is going to make much of a difference (when you need it to), since the uptime on the proc is functionally about 3% of the time (which isn't good enough) at times that are NOT of your choosing.

Since that has turned out to be such a disappointment, I decided to swap out the Gaussian's proc for a Rectified Reticle +Perception instead.
I checked the possibilities of using some kind of To-hit Buff enhancement, but in a One Slot Wonder configuration, the yields were all pretty much laughable (especially with as much Defense Debuffing as the Ninja/Time combination makes available).


The next major change I made to the v1 build was swapping around enhancement sets between Jounin, Oni and Time's Juncture.
Specifically, I moved the 2 enhancements of Edict of the Master from Jounin to Oni (which is why I needed to wait until Level 27 to respec properly).
That then freed up those 2 slots in Jounin ... and I had noticed (while perusing around in Mids Reborn) that basically ALL of the attack powers of the Jounin feature a Defense Debuff, Slow or To-hit Debuff component to them.
And what combines ALL of those components into a single enhancement?

Why ... the Witchcraft set (which can be catalyzed to become a Superior version at 50) of course!
The Universal Debuff set enhances:

• Defense Debuffs
• Slows
• To-hit Debuffs

So rather than putting the Witchcraft (-20%) Resistance Debuff proc into Time's Juncture (which as a toggle only gets a proc chance every 10 seconds) ... if the Resistance Debuff proc is slotted into Jounin ... they have LOTS of click attacks (up to 4 katana attacks, caltrops and a ranged poison dart!) and each and every single one of those clicks has a chance to proc the Resistance Debuff!
And at levels 24+ ... you summon TWO Jounin ... doubling the number of "click attacks" and proc chances!

This yields a MUCH more reliable "throughput" of vastly more proc chances being applied to whatever the Jounin are attacking, so the procs come out "faster" and more reliably often.
Those Resistance Debuff procs then "magnify" whatever damage is being done to that debuffed $Target ... from all sources.

I've even been able to see that since the Witchcraft proc is NOT a "Grant Power" setup (like Achilles Heel) the affected $Target(s) do not "cast the debuff onto themselves" (an arrangement that bypasses their own native resistances). Instead, with Witchcraft, it is the Caster applying the debuff to the $Target.

In both cases (Witchcraft and Achilles), the proc has a Does not stack from same caster factor baked in ... so multiple procs are not additive (they do not stack), but rather they overwrite the previous proc (functionally resetting the duration and extending it).
However ... because Achilles (and other Grant Power implementations) cause the $Target to cast the debuff onto themselves, the Does not stack from same caster is keyed to the $Target forced to cast the debuff onto themself.
With Witchcraft though ... it's different.
The Caster is affecting the $Target DIRECTLY ... meaning that different Casters can proc the Witchcraft Resistance Debuff onto the same $Target ... and the debuff will stack because it is coming from different Casters!

I've actually seen this happen already with my respecced and reslotted Jounin, with the Witchcraft Resistance Debuff proc slotted into the Summon Jounin power.
Both Jounin attacked the same $Target and after it had been defeated (and the corpse disappeared) I noticed that there were TWO OVERLAPPING PENTAGRAMS on the floor where the corpse had fallen. I could tell that it was a pair of pentagrams because they were slightly rotated relative to each other (and not perfectly symmetrical evenly spaced between the star points of the pentagrams). It was very clear that the $Target had been debuffed TWICE by Wtichcraft ... not just once!

The downside to Witchcraft computing as a direct debuff from the caster, rather than as a grant power the $Target casts onto themself, is that because of how Resistances and Damage are coded "under the hood" inside the programming ... Resistances natively resist Debuffing. Arcanaville discovered this (back in the day), and it's why Defense Debuff Resistance had to be created so as to prevent a runaway COLLAPSE of Defense protection schemes when debuffed.

So if a $Target with a 50% Resistance gets debuffed by -20% ... it depends a LOT on where that debuff is coming from (game mechanically).

If the debuff is coming from a Foe ... the 50% Resistance modifies the Debuff before it gets applied to the Resistance value.
50 - (20 * 0.5) = 40% Resistance after being debuffed

If the debuff is coming from the affected $Target (via a Grant Power mechanic) ... then no native Resistance modifies the Debuff before it gets applied to the Resistance value.
50 - 20 = 30% Resistance after being debuffed

So I think that the Witchcraft proc works differently from the Achilles Heel proc ... and because of that difference, the Witchcraft proc can be stacked from different casters ... and the two T2 Jounin ninja pets "count" as different casters for this proc (much like how the two T2 Protector Bots robotics pets can cast buffs that stack, or the two T2 Enforcers thugs pets can stack their leadership powers, because they're "different casters").



Without the Witchcraft proc available to Time's Juncture, I just reverted the preferred slotting there back to a 4-slot of Dark Watcher's Despair (including the -Recharge proc) for the To-hit Debuffing and the 4-slot set bonus of +5% global recharge enhancement.


The next change I made was that after trying out the Entomb proc in Distortion Field ... I found it to be really lackluster.
For one thing, I wasn't using Distortion Field (yet) all that often (because prior to Level 27 I didn't have any sets that could generate global recharge bonuses), so I didn't have it available "every spawn group" or even "every other spawn group" while leveling through First Ward story arcs. This lack of use of Distortion Field also meant that I basically wasn't getting much use of the the Entomb proc (don't use the power, don't get the proc benefits).

However, I had put only 5 slots into Time Stop in the v1 of the build posted above ... meaning that I could pull the Entomb proc slot from Distortion Field so as to put it into Time Stop ... and then go for an Entomb: Acc/Hold/End 2-slot bonus to get the necessary accuracy and endurance slotted into Time Stop without exacerbating any proc chance reduction issues that come from slotting recharge into powers like Time Stop. The real beauty of this arrangement is that Entomb can be catalyzed to become Superior (increasing the +Absorb proc chance from 2PPM to 3PPM) at the "cost" of the proc adding +23.2% recharge at all Exemplar levels. However, for a 3.5PPM such as the damage procs use (Ghost Widow's Embrace, Neuronic Shutdown, Gladiator's Net), the chance to proc falls only slightly below the 90% cap ... at around 88.4% ... an entirely reasonable tradeoff (a 10/86th chance to not proc instead of a 10/100th chance to not proc). Given that the chance to proc Superior Entomb rises to ~75% from the chance to proc for Entomb of only about ~50% when using Time Stop (as a damaging proc monster power!), this feels like an entirely reasonable and respectable tradeoff to me.


Another change that I made for the v2 rebuild, informed by my actual gameplay experience here on Rebirth (rather than just theorycrafting into the VOID) is that ... if I'm going to be keeping Ku no Ichi as a Praetorian Goldsider "forever" ... then she is never going to get the opportunity to do any Villain Patron unlocks and therefore will never have the opportunity to pick up Mace Mastery (or the four Red/Blue Accolates for +HP and +END, but that's a separate issue). Which then means that orienting towards for a Ninja/Time/Mace build plan no longer made sense ... so Mace Mastery (and Power Boost with it!) was just going to Have To Go™.



However, if I dropped Power Boost (and Scorpion Shield in Mace Mastery) from the build plan ... that gave me two open One Slot Wonder™ power picks to choose from to replace them.
I also had Nano Net from Gadgetry in the v1 build (at Level 49) for lack of any better ideas, but that power pick could easily be cannibalized too.

What to do? What to do?


All of the power picks from Levels 1-38 are pretty solidly "locked in" where they are so as to be able to get them all both as early as possible and as late as possible if they're needed for combinations with other powers (Tactics @ 24 just when the T1 pets are summoned as 3 and get -2 Level shifts, Hasten @ 30 in the last possible "open" power pick before Chrono Shift arrives @ 38) ... but there was one exception.

Temporal Selection

Temporal Selection isn't "needed" early on in quite the same way as a lot of other powers are (in either the Ninjas primary or the Time Manipulation secondary). It's a "nice to have" power (especially when slotted up with Preventative Medicine!) ... but that slotting has to be delayed until MUCH MUCH LATER (because it's lower on the priorities list for slots) and because it isn't a critical lynchpin of new capabilities added when the power gets used. Don't get me wrong, Temporal Selection is wonderful (when slotted up!) ... but until it gets slotted ... I just wasn't using it that often, even though it applies +Damage to pets(!).

So if I pulled Temporal Selection from the Level 16 power pick ... I could drop in Jetpack from Gadgetry @ 16 ... move Temporal Selection to Level 41 (keeping Leadership: Assault @ 44) ... and then have Levels 47 and 49 left open, which would be perfect for "completing my ninjistu training" by ending off with Stealth and Grant Invisibility from the Concealment pool instead (both of which can slot Luck of the Gambler +Recharge procs).

Jetpack can be slotted with the Blessing of the Zephyr Knockback Protection proc ... meaning I no longer needed the Karma Knockback Protection proc slotted into Farsight to do that job for me ... and could convert the slotting in Farsight over into 3x Hami-O: Cytoskeleton Exposures (End/Def/ToHit Buffs) and free up a slot for something else, or just go with a 4-slot Luck of the Gambler in Farsight. Still trying to decide on where to go with that one.


So yeah ... LOTS of changes pending for a v2.0 of this build, and I haven't finished deciding where all the bits and pieces are going to land (after tossing them up in the air like this!).
But however it all shakes out, I'm going to need to make a new post thread for it ... because the build I posted up above ... is already obsolete, based on my experiences of playing up to Level 27 (so far).
Plus, I've had to modify some of my keybind patterns (grr, no /em fireworkbloom available to signal my pets to return to me!) ... so ... there's that to update too.