Mastermind

Overview

As a Mastermind, you excel at using others to do your dirty work. Perhaps you build killer robots, command deadly ninja, order hardened soldiers or street thugs, or summon the undead to do your bidding. Whatever your choice, you have an army of minions at your beck and call. You can summon them when needed, order them to work your will, and even use your powers to enhance them or weaken your foes. The Mastermind is a difficult class to play, often demanding constant attention to control your minions and stave off the retribution of your enemies.

Faction: Villain

The Mastermind's power sets are:

Primary: Summon
Secondary: Buff/Debuff

The Mastermind has Low Hit Points and Medium Damage.

Power Sets

Primary Power Sets

A Mastermind's primary power sets are designed specifically for summoning. All of the Mastermind primaries have a common structure. Masterminds gain access to their first type of Henchman at level 1, their second type at level 12, and their third type at level 26. They also gain access to one Henchman upgrading power at level 6 and another at level 32.

Unlike other pet-summoning powers, Henchman-summoning powers change as the Mastermind gains levels. Specifically, once a Mastermind hits level 6, their first Henchman power stops summoning one minion at the Mastermind's level and starts summoning two at the Mastermind's level - 1. Then, at level 18, the power changes further and instead summons three minions at the Mastermind's level - 2. The second-tier Henchman power also undergoes changes like this – it begins by summoning one equal-level minion, then changes to summoning two -1 Henchmen at level 24. This behavior depends on the Mastermind's Combat Level, not his Threat Level, so Lackeying and Malefactoring can affect it.

The Mastermind Primary sets are:

• Mercenaries
• Necromancy
• Ninjas
• Robotics
• Thugs

Masterminds were the only Archetype not to get a new Primary powerset in Issue 12.

Secondary Power Sets

A Mastermind's secondary power sets are designed for buffing and debuffing. They are:

• Dark Miasma
• Force Field
• Pain Domination (Issue 13)
• Poison
• Storm Summoning (Issue 12)
• Traps
• Trick Arrow

Patron Power Pools

• Leviathan Mastery
• Mace Mastery
• Mu Mastery
• Soul Mastery

Inherent Power

• Supremacy

Henchmen vs. Pets

Henchmen are different from traditional pets in several ways.

• Commands. This is the obvious one. Only Henchmen may be given orders and aggression stances. Also, only Henchmen may be made to speak or use emotes.
• Resummoning. Using a pet-summoning power automatically dispels any pets still alive from the last use and creates a brand-new pet, or a full set of pets, with no buffs or debuffs. Using a Henchman-summoning power only replaces missing Henchmen that have been defeated or dispelled.
• Warping. Henchmen will warp and reappear directly at their creator's location if he gets too far from them. Pets always travel normally.
• Inspirations. Henchmen can be given Inspirations to use by dropping one onto either the Henchman itself or its name in the Mastermind's pet list window, or by using the slash command implemented for this purpose. Pets, in general, cannot be buffed with Inspirations. (Some Masterminds may be able to give Inspirations to some of their own non-Henchmen pets. This feature may be removed some day.)
• Names Pets keep whatever generic name they are given but Henchmen can be renamed by their Mastermind.

See Also

• Mastermind Strategy

External Links

• Archetypes documentation on official City of Villains site
• Official City of Heroes Manual as a PDF file