this is my guide for the use of the master mind. it uses some other material from sources because.. well.. I can't know everything can I? they are credited at the end though. Anyways here is the guide, going through building and gameplay!
(this was my first ever guide BTW)
this has some information from other sources then me do too the fact I haven't used every MM type
for reference in this article
AoE: area of effect
TAoE: targeted area of effect
TCAoE: Targeted, cone area of effec
PBAoE: point blank AoE
PoI: Point of impact
DoT: dealt over time
KB: knock Back
KD: Knock down
The Mastermind Archetype
[u]BUILDING AND PLANNING YOUR MASTER MIND[u]
by Lt.Zerge
AKA: Celtech
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For those of you familiar with WoW, and SWG the Mastermind is the CoV equivalent of a creature handler (SWG) or a hunter (WoW). Essentially, they are a ranged class who has the aid of a pet to do the tanking for them as they pick off the mobs with their ranged weaponry. In addition, Masterminds also receive a bit of a bonus and actually have the power to buff themselves and group members. They are an extremely complex class of character to control, and provide you numerous ways to play the game in a group or on your own. They are praised for being a tanking class and a one man army.
HENCHMEN
The calling card of a Mastermind is their ability to Summon Henchmen (AKA call a pet). When first creating your Mastermind youll have the option to choose one of the following primary powers. Choosing one of these powers will determine what kind of Henchman youll be able to call.
Mercenaries
Necromancers
Ninjas
Robots
Thugs
While their names may differ quite a bit, each one of these classes do one thing for you.Fight and tank. There are some slight differences in terms of resistances and a few special powers each type of Henchman possesses, and your choice of henchman will actually determine your toons ranged weapon.
Here is how all of these differences break down. Use these to help determine what kind of Henchman youll choose.
Types of Henchmen (Mastermind Primary Power Sets)
Mercenaries:
The main differentiator between a mercenary henchman vs the other 3 types is the fact that they use weapons one would expect a humanoid mercenary to use. guns, grenades and so forth. Lots of different weapons, primarily ranged
Mercenaries have a slightly increased resistance to certain types of melee damage, and they are innately resistant to Confusion and Placate powers. Also, if you choose this power set your toon will use a gun as his/her main weapon.
Necromancy:
Choosing necromancy allows your Mastermind to call Undead Henchmen to do your bidding. Its pretty much what it sounds like, you call down skeletal beings to fight for you.
These undead henchmen have very few distinguishing characteristics in comparison to the other types of Henchmen. They have no special weaponry, and have some increased resistance to certain types of powers. Namely, cold, negative energy, psionic damage, sleep, fear and disorient. Keep in mind all of these resistances while increased, dont really make that huge of a difference after applying enhancements as you advance in the game.
As for the impact of choosing this power set on your actual character, your toon will utilize spells for ranged attacks.
Ninjas:
Ninjas tank, throw shurikens from a distance...and even have the ability to super leap. While any henchman will eventually get to the target you seek them to pummel, Ninjas many times will jump extremely high and up to the mob much quicker than other types of henchman.
Ninjas also receive increased resistance to Confusion powers. If you go with Ninjas, your toon will be toting a bow for ranged assault.
Robotics:
Robotic henchmen are probably the coolest henchmen to look at. If you ever wanted to have an R2D2 lookalike to tank for you, this is the choice you should make. Again, in my opinion your choice of a henchman type is really aesthetic. Eventually you can make any henchman do what you want. Robots have no true unique innate ability, other than the fact they are well, robots.
As far as the slight resistance boosts, robots are less vulnerable to Lethal, Cold and Psionic damage attacks. In addition, your toon will be using a rifle for long ranged attacks to assist his robot minions.
Thugs:
You can summon a variety of mobsters to assist you. These thugs become quite varied in abilities later on. The more infamous of these is your Bruiser, which is basically an SS tank, complete with fury and everything. The Thugs are a farely popular build to do the variety of the minions that go from melee, to buff, to debuff, to AOE etc etc. And manage to look cool doing it
Thugs are practiced fighters who have some natural resistance to lethal attacks as well as minor elemental but are still some what squishy but make up for it with the pure size of mobs and buffs that come in later. Having Thugs as a summon set will allow you to use some pretty sweet pistols
PRIMARY POWERS
For each Power Set, your individual primary powers may bear different names, but they all do the same thing regardless of power set. In other words, the burst power for mercenaries has the same effect as the dark blast power under necromancy. With this in mind, Ive grouped all individual powers together, and listed their impact on your henchman in the description.
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Primary Powers Level One:
Burst (Mercenaries)-(Ranged dmg, Foe -def)
Dark Blast (Necromancy)-(Range dmg, Foe -acc)
Snap Shot (Ninjas)-(Ranged dmg)
Pulse Rifle Blast (Robotics)-(Ranged dmg)
pistols (Thugs)-(Range dmg, foe KB)
Description:
This power can be selected as your first primary power during character creation. This power allows you to blast off quick shots from your ranged weapon. This pretty much takes the safety clip off your ranged weapon, so to speak.
@ level 1+
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Primary Powers Level Two:
Soldiers (Mercenaries)-(Rifle Ranged)/medic(Rifle Ranged,Team heals)
Zombie Horde (Necromancy)-(Melee,foe debuff)
Call Genin (Ninjas)-(MartialArts, Ranged arrow)
Battle Drones (Robotics)-(TLR Ranged)
Thugs (... Thugs)-(Pistol Ranged)/Arsonist(Fire Ranged)
Description:
This power can be selected as your first primary power during character creation. This power allows you to call your first henchman. A Mastermind is useless without it! You will earn more of these as you go along.
1@ Level 1-5
2@ Level 6-17
3@ Level 18+
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Primary Powers Level Three:
Slug (Mercenaries)-(Ranged dmg, Foe KB)
Gloom (Necromancy)-(Ranged dmg, foe -acc)
Aimed Shot (Ninjas)-(Ranged dmg)
Pulse Rifle Burst (Robotics)-(ranged dmg, foe KB)
Dual Wield (Thugs)-(Ranged dmg, Foe KB)
Description:
This power allows you to shoot a more powerful blast from your ranged weapon. Takes longer to recharge, but is much more powerful. Better used when you minion has complete agro of the opponent.
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Primary Powers Level Four:
Equip Mercenary (Mercenaries)
-SOLDIERS
Heavy Burst(Ranged dmg)
-MEDIC
Heavy Burst(Ranged dmg)
-SPEC
Flashbang Grenade(Ranged TAoE, Foe Disorient)
Butt of Rifle shot(Silent Ranged dmg(won't draw agro as easily))
-COMMANDO
Commando Full Auto(Ranged TCAoE dmg)
Buckshot(MRanged TCAoE dmg, Foe KB)
Enchant Undead (Necromancy)
-ZOMBIE HORD
Projectile Vomit(Ranged dmg, foe -acc)
Zombie Vomit(Close dmg, foe -regen -recharge -acc)
-GRAVE KNIGHT
Disembowel(Melee dmg)
Gloom(Ranged DoT dmg)
-LICH
Tenebrous Tentacles(TAoE, foe imob,DoT dmg), Life Drain(+health, foe -acc)
Train Ninjas (Ninjas)
-GENIN
Snap Shot(Ranged dmg)
Storm Kick(Melee dmg)
-JOUNIN
Soaring Dragon(Melee dmg)
Poison Dart(Ranged dmg, Foe -recharge -dmg),
Placate(Foe ignores)
Super Leap(+jump)
-ONI
Fire Sword Hack(Melee dmg, chance of DoT)
Ring of Fire (DoT dmg,Foe imob), Fire Breath(TCAoE dmg)
Equip Robot (Robotics)
-BATTLE DRONES
Heavy Laser Burst (Snipe dmg)
-PROTECTOR BOTS
Heavy Laser Burst (Snipe dmg)
Repair robot(Bot +Health)
-ASSAULT BOT
Dual Plasma Bursts(IPAoE dmg, foe KB)
Flamethrower(TCAoE DoT dmg)
Equip Thug (thugs)
-THUG
Dual wield(Range dmg)
-ARSONIST
Fire breath(Close TCAoE)
-CALL ENFORCERS
Dual Uzi Weapons(Ranged dmg)
Tactics(PBAoE, Thugs +acc +perception)
-BRUISER
Haymaker(Melee dmg)
Hand Clap(Melee PBAoE dmg, Foe disorient, Foe KD)
Description:
This power basically upgrades your henchman, and makes them a bit more powerful. They cause more damage in combat with higher DPS.
@ Level 6+
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Primary Powers Level Five:
M30 Grenade (Mercenaries)-(Ranged TAoE, Foe KB)
Life Drain (Necromancy)-(self + Health, foe - acc)
Fistful of Arrows (Ninjas)-(Ranged TCAoE dmg)
Photon Grenade (Robotics)-(Ranged TAoE dmg, Foe disorient)
Emtpy Clips (Thugs)-(Ranged TCAoE, Foe KB)
Description:
This is an AoE power. It allows you to fire a volley of shots simultaneously effecting any mobs within range. Each of these has a unique effect
@ Level 10+
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Primary Powers Level Six:
Spec Ops (Mercenaries)-(Rifle Ranged, Traps)
Grave Knight (Necromancy)(-Broad Sword Melee, DM)
Call Jounin (Ninjas)-(Katana Melee, relflex)
Protector Bots (Robotics)-(LaserRifle Ranged, TechSupport)
Call Enforcers (Thugs)-(Uzi Rifles Ranged, Leadership)
Description:
This power allows you to call a new type of henchman, dedicated to ranged attacks. In combination with your melee henchman youll be quite a force when soloing.You Can earn more of these as you level
1@ Level 12-24
2@ Level 24+
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Primary Powers Level Seven:
Serum (Mercenaries)-(Merc, +dmg +acc +def +resistance, will where out leaving henchmen - all of those)
Soul Extraction (Necromancy)(-dead Target summon,1 soul henchmen)
Smoke Flash (Ninjas)-(Ninja + stealth +critical)
Repair (Robotics)-(Bot, full heal)
Gang War(Thugs)-(Target mass summon 10 "possy")
Description:
these are you're back up plans!. When something goes awry and you need away out, these powers will provide a quick solution by summoning mobs, uber buffing you henchmen, and crippling your foes for some time. These powers take very long to recharge and should only be used only when really needed
@ Level 18+
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Primary Powers Level Eight:
Commando (Mercenaries)-(RifleRanged Heavy)
Lich (Necromancy)-(DarkRange Heavy)
Oni (Ninjas)-(FireRanged Heavy)
Assault Bot (Robotics)-(Plasma,FireRanged heavy)
Bruiser (Thugs)-(SS/invul, brute Heavy)
Description:
This power allows you to call a henchman who carries a heavy ranged weapon, and has superb melee abilities. This power is essentially the Mercedes-Benz of Henchmen. This guy will kill everything in sight. You may only ever have one of these guys in your possession after getting it at level 26! you don't need any more, your ruthless enough as it is!
1@ Level 26+
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Primary Powers Level Nine:
Tactical Upgrade (Mercenaries)
-SOLDIER
Assault Rifle(Ranged dmg)
Full Auto(Ranged TCAoE dmg)
-MEDIC
Stimulant (protection from control effects)
Hand Grenade(Ranged TAoE dmg, Foe KB)
-SPEC OPS
Sniper Shot(Long Range dmg, Foe KB)
Tear Gas Grenade (TAoE, Foe Choke hold -res)
-COMMANDO
M30 Grenade(Ranged TAoE dmg, Foe KB)
LRM Rocket (Ranged dmg, Foe KB)
Flamethrower(Mranged TCAoE dmg)
Dark Empowerment (Necromancy)
-ZOMBIE HORD
Siphon Life(+health, Foe -acc)
-GRAVE KNIGHT
Head Splitter(heavy melee)
Siphon Life(+health, Foe -acc)
-LICH
Fearsome Stare(MRanged TCAoE, Foe fear imob), Petrifying Gaze(Ranged Foe fear imob)
Kuji In Zen (Ninjas)
-GENIN
Aimed Shot(Ranged dmg)
Crane Kick(melee dmg)
Super Leap(+jump)
-JOUNIN
Golden Dragonfly, Blinding Powder(TAoE foe -perception), Hide(+stealth+crit)
-ONI
Char(Melee, DoT dmg)
Rain of Fire(PAoE, DoT dmg)
Upgrade Robot (Robotics)
-BATTLE DRONES
Full Auto Laser(Ranged TCAoE dmg)
-PROTECTOR BOTS
Photon Grenade(TAoE, Foe Disorient)
Seeker Drones(summon 2 drones, foe debuff all stat, minor dmg, Foe disorient)
-ASSAULT BOT
Swarm Missiles(TAoE, DoT PoI dmg)
Incendiary Swarm Missiles(TAoE, DoT PoI dmg)
Upgrade Thugs (Thugs)
-THUGS
Empty Clips(Ranged TCAoE dmg, Foe KB)
-ARSONIST
Fire Bomb(TAoE PoI DoT dmg)
-CALL ENFORCERS
Dual Uzi's(Ranged dmg)
Blast Clips(TCAoE dmg)
Assault(PBAoE Thugs +dmg)
-BRUISER
Knockout Blow(Melee extreme dmg, Foe KD)
Hurl(Ranged dmg, Foe KB)
Foot Stomp(Close PBAoE dmg, Foe KD)
Description:
This power allows you to permanently upgrade a called Henchmen with new ranged and melee weaponry. This is good to use on your lowest level henchman, as it will increase their skills almost to that of your highest level henchman power with great DPS.
@ Level 32+
SECONDARY POWER SETS:
Choosing your secondary power set will determine how you engage in battle. There are 5 main secondary power sets
-Dark Miasma
These skills grant you powers which are focused on reducing your opponents HP and resistance ability. These are useful to help you create the most amount of damage, and aid your henchman in battle.it has everything from heals, to holds, to debuffs, making it a very popular secondary
-Force Field
If you are going the Mastermind route looking to assist others in groups, and essentially be a buffer
.youll need to go either force field or poison for your secondary power set. Force Field powers will allow you to cast certain spells which aid your allies (and yourself) in battle situations. These are primarily def BUFFs that, when built right, make you and team mates nearly untouchable, meaning it can be a big tease in PvP/PvE
-Poison
Poisons can oddly enough BUFF you or your ally, or DEBUFF your opponent. Quite an oddity considering the name. For example the alkaloid power under this tree of powers can heal your ally, or drain an opponent. All of the powers in this set have similar effects (buff or drain), but at varying strengths. This set is great but often has you buffing a lot, draining your endurance quickly
-Traps
This set of powers jives directly with the definition of the set
traps! By using traps you can shoot a crippling trap from your ranged weapon rendering your opponent completely immobile, covering a large area of the map with a damaging effect, or set traps which are only sprung when an opponent steps on or near it. One of the most powerful secondaries if used strategically
-Trick Arrow
Trick arrows equip your range weapon with a number of skills which allow you to cause havoc from afar, further increasing your value as a ranged attacker. You can entangle opponents, rendering them immobile...throw up traps and more. This is a sort of combination of the trap powerset and the dark miasma power set. I think it compliments soloing quite well..and allows you to play the game as a mastermind without always searching for a group. Excellent if you want to screw tih your enemies, because of the holds and debuffs supplied
Going into the individual powers of these secondary powersets really isnt necessary. The overall description of the powerset really defines how you will play the game. All the powers in the secondary tree all play back to that original purpose. Those who choose Dark Miasma are purely focused on causing damage, Force Field and Poison focused on buffing allies and stopping opponents from causing damage. Traps and trick arrows will cause you to be more of a disrupting force during combat, allowing your henchman to continue inflicting damage on your opponent, while you continue to rain down damage from a ranged distance.
POOL POWERS
as a master mind you will need many different powers other then your basic primary and secondary powers. I've compiled a list of the most useful powers and how the are so
-Leaderships
this is a very popular pool for an obvious reason, it auto buffs you and any ally nearby, meaning your minions as well. They aren't super powerful ,but once well built, will be your best friends as they can give both you and you minions more DEF, ACC, PERC, and DMG. Goes nice with anything really, especially FF
-Invisiblity
this power set is useful for PvE and PvP as it wil allow you to go straight through mobs unnoticed, and set up the battle field in you favor undetected only to unleash hell on your enemies moments later. For strategic and escape purposes, this is a nice set to have with traps secondary
-Medicine
Why is this set good? well because you can keep your pets from dying! the heals in this set are not particularly powerful, but they do have a quick recharge rate, which is perfect for MMs with there large numbers of pets. Having this set will allow you to keep you and you pets allive and kicking. This set is best used with FF because the powers are interruptible, and FF will keep you from being interrupted
-Flight
This Set isn't useful to much until later on, when you get group fly. This will allow you to and your minions to fly as a ... group. this means you can travel long distances fairly quick with your pets able to fallow you. Be careful though, as you may lose a pet that gets out of range, and the fall... pain! This goes good with anything really, but looks cool with bots becuase the get jet boots!
-Teleportation
This set allows you to warp you and allies to certain positions extremely quickly. This set is handy because, as mentioned later on, Pets can get stuck or lost in some area, and TP can recall them to your position without having to re summon them. Later in the set you will get TP self, which is worth it. though hard on the endurance, it allows you to travel huge distances in an instant!
those are main power choices, you may want others but those are recommended the most. now on to some actual fricking gameplay!
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[u]PLAYING YOUR MASTER MIND[u]
Lesson 1:The Pet Basics
When your first start out in mercy you should have your first pet summon by level 2. I would suggest to go to options in your pet window(top left-hand corner) and toggle advanced mode and show individual pet commands. Its a little harder but when you get used to it you can have much better control of your pets. If you don't, thats fine, just remember that it is better to switch to a harder interface to make it easier on yourself and your teammates. Here are some things about pets that to get frequently asked about
-To name your pets Just right click on your pet and click rename them.it's really that simple!
-some people think that their pets are fallowing other MMs, it's not that your a bad person and they don't love you, infact, they aren't following them, they are most likely in defensive or aggressive mode and detect a battle nearby. Set them in passive by either using the default passive command (green button on your power tray) or use the petwindow to set your pets to passive.
-you may notice pets are pretty damned useless with out you. That is because of your default/inherit leadership power. This only affects your minions.
-Despite what some people think, for some reason, you can't summon more then a certain amount of pets at a time. Please see the above guide as it mentions the allowed pets per level
-YES, you can give your pets inspirations. In fact, this is a must in many situations! just take the inspiration and drag it over your pet name and it'll use it ASAP, the effects are the same for them as they are for you. the only inspiration that can't b used by you pets are wakes.
Lesson 2: Petsay and Petsay binding
This is a command you type in your chat which allows you to make your pets say things and perform emotes. You can use these commands to either bring some attention to your pets or to give them peronalites of their own (for all you roleplayers out there)
KEEP THIS FORMULA IN MIND! IT IS THE MOST BASIC AND IS THE BUILDING BLOCK FOR ALL PET COMMANDS IN THIS TUTORIAL!
/petsay formula
/petsay <em emote> -text-
an example of this is:
/petsay <em wave>Hello!
Now the selected pet will do a little wave and say hello. Depending on where the text and the emote are placed makes all the difference. Make sure that if you want the pet to do the emote and the text togehter, you put the emote before the text, otherwise the pet will say hello and then do a wave a few seconds later. Also you can make conversations by adding more than one emote. This is what I call EMOTE TIMING. The /Petsay command needs to be taged, as to say it needs to know who to make talk. So see lesson 4 for tags
/petsay_all <em emote>text<em emote>more text<em emote>even more text... etc
example of this is:
/petsay_all <em point>What is that?<em peerin>Its so far away!<em >I can barely see it!
all your pets will then point, say "What is that" stare a bit, then say "It's to far away!" pause, then say "I can barely see it"
this can go on until you max out the number of characters in your text box.
NOTE: notice how I made an <em >, This is what I like to call an EMOTE SPACER. This will separate text so that an emote is not uninterrupted by another emote.
Just like any command, you can bind it to a key or make a macro in your power tray.The preffernce /macro because it will be more beneficial later on in the tutorial.
A keybind will look like this
/bind "key" petsay -----
A macro will look like this
/macro "Macro name" /petsay -----blah de blah
I stress that you only use macros and binds in special cases. If it is just a simple conversation, don't macro it.
Lesson 3:Pet commands
Now for Pet Commands. These are the orders you give for your pets to attack and defend you. You will usually never type these commands so I suggest setting up a macro power tray specifically for these commands. Now, why would you want a power tray full of orders? Well for one thing, most players don't use all their power trays. Also, it saves time from having to manually issue orders to all the pets which makes if a life or debt situation. Like the Petsay, you will want to issue a targeted henchemn when setting these up(see lesson 4)
Petcom's basic formula:
/petcom stance order
Example of this is:
/petcom passive attack
The three stances and the four orders are:
Stances:Aggresive, Defensive, and Passive
Orders: Attack, goto, follow, and stay
-Aggresive: your minion(s) will attack any neerby targets
-defensive: your minion(s) will only attack if attacked
-passive: your minion(s) won't to **** about anything, you have an emo pet
-Attack: Your minion(s) will attack the target you set for them, if you swich your target, they will stay on their previous target. This can let you micromanage a battle well
-Goto: Your minion(s) will go to a possition and stay there unless you go out of range. If the minion should have to attack enemies far away (see goto wall in lesson 5) they will run back there designated postion as soon as the fight is over
-Fallow: Your minion(s) will fallow you around, eveyrhwere you go. Be careful with this command as the AI can be retarded and get your minions stuck in stupid places
-Stay: Your minion(s) will stay where they are. They will not move unless you go out of range or tell them to go elswhere
Try combining different stances and orders to suit your situation. But before you make macros or key binds for these take a look at lesson four.
Lesson 4:The Three Important "Tags"
There are three tags that I find important to add to petsay and petcom commands. These are tags you can add to either petsay or petcom to specialize commands to suit your situation.
The three tags are:
_all - This tag commands all pets to perform the command
example1: /petsay_all <em wave> Hello!
example2: /petcom_all passive attack
_pow "pet group" - This tag commands a group of pets to do a command.
example1: /petsay_pow "call genin" <em no>We aren't ready
example2: /petcom_pow "zombie horde" passive stay
Note: To find out what the group is called, look at the white text above the name of the pets in the petwindow.
Lesson 5:Utilizing actions
You now know the basics of how to set up and use your commands! but next is how to utilize them to here fullest in real situations. this is going to be split up into special sections for the four main tactics
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BG mode
BG mode is put on once your pets are both in fallow and defensive stance. BG is what it sounds like, body guard mode. By having this combo on, your pets will stay near you and attack anyone who dares attack you. One of the biggest bonuses to having BG mode on is the fact that it will, depending on how many pets you have, grant you a bonus to damage resistance! the average cap is + 75 % resistance to all damage. this effect will only work if pets are rather nearby, if you ran away from them your resistance will drop to normal
recommendation: when drawing in to much agro or a tanking is in order, BG mode is the best way to out endurance your opponents in a fight. keep this on during PvP at almost all times
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Goto walls
this is the goto wall tactic. You use this putting you pets into a goto and then put them in aggressive. This will make it so your pets will attack anything near where they have been placed, essentially making a "wall" for NPCs .If you have your advanced pet command window on you can make unique formations to suit different conditions. This is quite handy for various reasons
recommendation: Use this when pulling enemies out of mobs, Or if you know patrols may be coming and you need a way to block their path.
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Total focus
to use the total focus tactic, put you pets on attack my target and passive mode. This particular combo wil make it so your pets will attack one target and one target only.
recommendation: use this when you need a boss dead! Most pets have AoEs that will fry the minions and ,sometimes, Lts around that boss.
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Room Buster
To achieve agro monger use fallow and aggressive together. This combination makes it so your minions will go nutz on anything near you. Don't use this unless you feel confidently buffed
recommendation: use this when you have a big mob that you want DEAD. this is by no means a tanking tactic... this is a method of complete and utter decimation. best used with tar patch or other mob debuffer
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Retreat
To use a retreat, place one or more (though not more then 2 is nescicary) of you pets into stay/aggressive as you run. this will make it so the pet will distract those mobs that may be chasing you
recommendation: This is only to be used if you retreating from a battle. You pet will almost certainly be killed trying to fend them off so only uses it when really needed. there is a very small chance that they will live though, if buffed right. if so then 2x the good
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that concludes the basic play, but feel free to tinker around. not everyone has the same battle type
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Hopefully this tutorial will help all of ponder on how exactly you wish to play the game, and allow you to build your Villain accordingly. I'm going to go rest my hands.. for a day or 2
special thanks to the good people of GAME AMP and REGULAS who had lots of information for me to compile!
