GuyPerfect

Funny you should mention it. I was just sitting here wondering why Thugs didn't get the hilarious new pistol animations.

Count me in again. Bob the Biohazard is 50 and fully IO'd up. 1144.5HP FTW

I first realized this thread had been resurrected by noticing quotes within quotes.

Heh. I remember when people would make quote pyramids!

That may be, but it's a tactical consideration more than something that goes in this kind of introductory guide. I don't want to bog down the article with all manner of cryptic numbers when all people really want to know is "What does this power do?" before considering if they should take it.

Poison is a buff/debuff powerset available only to Masterminds, and it's one of the most versatile and interesting grab bags of different power types available in the game. Amidst its ally buffs, enemy debuffs and status effect powers, the toys themselves come in different forms from normal cast powers to a debuff anchor and even a placeable trap.

The single-target nature of Poison's more prominent debuffs makes it more effective against individual stronger enemies rather than multiple weaker enemies, but the sheer number of possibilities in the set as a whole make it useful in just about any situation.




Alkaloid is a single-target heal power that takes very little time to cast and serves as a respectable aid in combat. The intensity of the heal is not all that impressive, at least compared to dedicated healing powers like Soothe from the Pain Domination powerset, but it's good in a pinch and serves well with the relatively low hit points of a Mastermind's Henchmen. The power can be compared to Aid Other from the Medicine pool, and unslotted, it does take a fair chunk of Endurance to cast.

A quirk about Alkaloid is that it grants a non-stacking +15% Resistance buff to Toxic damage to the target for 60 seconds.




Envenom is a single-target debuff that affects the opponent with -22.5% Defense to all, -30.0% Resistance to all and -50.0% Regeneration for 30 seconds. Although the power only affects one target, it's a staple in the Poison diet because it makes the enemy significantly easier to defeat. Especially for Masterminds, who deal low damage as a rule, this is a way to deal greater damage to the target than is available through self buffs. This is all not to mention making the enemy easier to hit, such as those Sky Raider Force Field Generators or Rikti Drones.




The complement to Envenom, which makes an enemy easier to defeat, Weaken makes the enemy less able to defeat your character or the team. Its primary use is to affect the target with -22.5% to all Damage and -11.25% ToHit for 30 seconds.

An additional bonus is a -74.5% debuff to a slew of secondary effects for 30 seconds, such as status effects, defense buffs, movement debuffs and endurance drains. This means that hitting a mezzer or Sapper with Weaken will significantly reduce the trouble they can cause to the team.




Joining the ranks of the "breath" powers comes this little gem of a cone power, which affects the targets with -65.0% to both Recharge as well as Movement Speed for 20 seconds. This is extremely useful for reducing incoming damage as well as keeping the foes from scattering very quickly. The power can be set to recharge in less time than its affects actually last, which means you can keep the whole battle choking on your stinky breath.

The power also has two 25% chances for short-duration magnitude 2 Holds, with means that every once in a while, it will even Hold a boss. The Holds are purely anecdotal and have few practical benefits, but it's a fun little quirk about the power anyway.




Returning to the world of ally buffs, we get the most two-sided ally Rez power in the game. On the one hand, it's a significant benefit because in addition to being revived with full HP and Endurance, the target is affected with +200% Recovery, +100% Recharge, +30.0% to all Damage, +22.5% ToHit and +15.0% Resistance to Toxic damage, all for 90 seconds.

However, after that 90 seconds is up, the ally's body rejects the poison and ends up with a debuff instead. It starts out with a magnitude 1,000 Hold for 4 seconds, which will make the ally stop in his tracks and vomit; suppressing the effects of any defensive toggles he has active, which isn't something you want happening during combat. After the Hold wears off, the target is affected with -30.0% to all Damage and -22.5% ToHit for 45 seconds.

As with any rez power, Henchmen can't be brought back to life, so this can only be used on ally players.




Antidote is a standard-issue, single-target status protection power that grants the ally significant protection from Hold, Stun, Sleep, Terrify, Immobilize and Confuse; and resistance to Sleep, -Recharge and -Speed; all for 90 seconds, and these effects stack with multiple casts of the power.

Following up on the out-of-place Resistance buffs, the power also grants non-stacking +15.0% Resistance to Toxic damage and +7.5% Resistance to Cold damage for 90 seconds.




The second control power of the set, Paralytic Poison is an unassuming magnitude 3 Hold that lasts for about 10 seconds from a Mastermind and recharges in 16. Other than the super-cool animation, there is nothing else to know about this power. Having said that, though, it is a hold that can be applied permanently, so it's nothing to shake a stick at.




Poison Trap releases a cloud of knock-out gas on the battle field. You have to take a moment to place it on the ground, which can be interrupted, and when it detonates, the cloud puts enemies to Sleep, has a 2% chance of a short-duration magnitude 3 Hold, and has a 1.5% chance of -10% Endurance to target.

It is worth noting that this power is different from the Poison Trap in the Traps powerset.




The kingpin of debuff powers. In fact, that little overlay on the icon is known as "mega debuff," and Noxious Gas is the only power that uses it. You select a Henchman to infect, then they emit a gas that debuffs all enemies around them with -Damage, -Resistance, -Defense and -ToHit. The exact amount of each depends on which Henchman you infect:

First Henchman (3 of them): -15.0% to all Damage, -22.5% Resistance to all damage, -15.0% Defense to all, -7.5% ToHit
Second Henchman (2 of them): -20.0% to all Damage, -30.0% Resistance to all damage, -20.0% Defense to all, -10.0% ToHit
Third Henchman (1 of them): -25.0% to all Damage, -37.5% Resistance to all damage, -25.0% Defense to all, -12.5% ToHit

These values graciously stack with the effects from Envenom and Weaken, which can make for some serious debuffing for that one target who happens to get hit with all three powers. The sums come to -60.0% Defense to all, -47.5% to all Damage, -67.5% Resistance to all damage, and -23.75% ToHit.

There's a sinister secret to the power as well: there's a 0.2% chance (one fifth of one percent) that the gas will deal a magnitude 1,000 Hold to the target for 4 seconds. This is well more than enough to choke the strongest Heroes and Arch-villains no matter what kind of status protection they happen to have.

To those who have received my build: please respond. I'm not in it to simply boost your library of builds.

EDIT:
I'm happy now. (-:

What kind of crazy-apple definition of healer is that? I have, slot and use every single power from Empathy during combat, and my teammates are grateful. If that's not a healer, then I should start handing out dictionaries.

To those who feel the need to remind me that the character would be more effective with Henchmen: don't waste your breath. The purpose of the experiment was to take a Mastermind with no Henchmen and see what I could do with it. If I was in it for the orange numbers, I'd roll a Brute or a Blaster.