GuyPerfect

I'm not looking at the numbers here, but are you taking damage Enhancements into account?

Actually, they did:

Whatever the current snag is for the redraw issue is analagous to whatever it was that made BAB think geometry particles couldn't be color-tinted when they're generated. Don't be so quick to dismiss the possibility.

Remember that Back Alley Brawler is looking into removing the time wasted by weapon redraw. Look at the possibilities as though redraw were not an issue.

The Pistols powers already in the game, called Pistols, Dual Wield and Empty Clips, are effectively guaranteed to make it into the new powerset, and they're just as ranged as any other powers in the game. There's also likely to be at least one of the Gunslinger mez powers, such as Tranq Dart, Liquid Nitrogen Round or Explosive Tip, but we'll have to wait and see.

Grandville has convenient elevators all over the place to get you up when you're not already on the top. They're not as obnoxiously abundant as the ones in Faultline, but they're there... Speaking of which, anyone else unfortunate enough to have fallen into the cracks of the old Faultline with Super Speed?

It won't be gimp if you take the Henchmen. You can take the pets AND ranged attacks on the same Mastermind, you know. (-:

In any case, you get pistol-slinging Masterminds with more than likely three powers out of the dedicated ranged powerset, so I don't feel that the archetype needs to be excluded just because of the mechanical differences.

I was on one about a week and a half ago that finished the mission with no Temporary Powers. Lots of Inspirations, though.

The +HP in Energy Drain is not a self heal: it's only there to recover from the scratch that results in casting the power. (-:

/energydrainrant

I think the devs have still allowed for their vision even in the latest wave of Patron updates, but most players have taken a different approach.

As I understand it, the most effective Masterminds on these forums either don't have or scarcely use their ranged attacks. This makes the class entirely built on damage from the Henchmen and support from the Mastermind himself. This is all well and good (and extremely entertaining), but does not constitute a red-side Tanker, as you have stated.

On the other hand, Masterminds can be built differently from the norm: what some people actually call "Tankerminds" for the very way they are played. My belief is that the devs implemented Bodyguard for the express purpose of supporting "Tankermind" play style, and that they eventually overhauled how Henchman upgrades work to discourage rapid re-summoning and persuade Masterminds to protect their Henchmen as well as work with them.

The fifth powers added to the Mastermind epics (Thunder Strike, Oppressive Gloom, Knockout Blow and Power Boost) are all focused on aggro management. Power Boost makes the Mastermind's mez and debuffs more powerful, but that's the odd one out. Look at the others: they're all melee powers. What's the point of melee powers on a Mastermind? Well, it's for aggro control: if the Mastermind is dealing heavy damage or messing with groups while in the middle of it all--sucking up damage using the aforementioned Bodyguard--then he's in a prime position to A) take alpha, B) survive and persist through the fight, and C) be able to hold the attention of numerous enemies to prevent them from attacking his allies.

While Masterminds aren't typically used for aggro management purposes, it's certainly possible, and I'm of the belief that the devs have been accomodating that functionality all along.

Them or the Dominator, yeah. If you want durable and relentless, Brute. If you want flexible and controlling, Dominator. I tried rolling some kind of Ice themed Hero, but the combinations available blueside just didn't do it for me. Dominator is perfect, though.

This would be the missing link, then. I'll admit that my "research" is incomplete and when I made my analysis of mez powers, I didn't notice the flag that determines which aspect of the power is buffed. Once I "look into it" again in a week or so, I'll keep an eye out for this flag.

Clue found in that same mission: