The Master Guide

[ruesteur]

So, Swinging's advantage " Flippin' " costs 2 Advantage Points and does this:

While Swinging is active, you gain a bonus to your ability to dodge attacks.
+ 4.2% dodge
+ 21% avoidance

I guess my question is, would this help more than a boost to speed with a rank 2 or 3 TP? If when a Travel Power is active it makes powers cost slightly more (except Swinging?), wouldn't it be better to get even a slight boost to dodge and avoidance? And if not, why?

I'm not inciting an argument, I genuinely want to know.

[Deleted]

The answer is simply if you have or want to spare 2 advantage points from your other powers to Flippin for a little bit of boost to dodge and almost nothing to avoidance. A 4.2% is easily made up for if you have been diligently investing in your superstats through your gear.

[Malchiel]

I still don't think you get the message about R2 Form of the Master. It doesn't increase your chance to get stacks, but only to get an ADDITIONAL stack on top of the one you get every dodge. So 20% means you have to dodge 2 attacks less to max focus.

[Deleted]

You're right, I should have read it more clearly. It would then make sense that only Rank 3's 40% would be worthwhile if not for taking the advantage and the 4 AP cost. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

[Deleted]

Updated to reflect a tanking and non-tanking build options.

[Deleted]

Finalised the guide, added a section on power selection that now covers the Master for possible aspects of play regarding dedicated PVE/PVP/Solo.

[Deleted]

quick post-patch update, from what I see, damage is decent with pre-update gear, expect it to be lower with new gear initially.

[brocephalus]

great update to the guide, when I logged in that specialization spread is pretty much 99% identical to mine on the first pass working through them, great minds think alike I guess? Or maybe the choices are just THAT obvious

[Deleted]

Since post update, my Master has been wasting away since the Savage's low cost powers from gear and specialisation + Supernatural Power + Recovery sSS + 40% crit meant my Master could no longer keep up with its DPS.

I have many alts to gear up, and I have finally gotten around to my Master, sorry it took this long. This time, I have revised the build with gear recommendations to a self sustaining tank as only the Master is capable of.

Tested this build in training room with 5 men Demon on Hard and able to take on all 3 groups at once. Then I took her to VB cemetery and ran around taking on multiple Bloodgorgers. Lastly I soloed TT Elite, and with great care was able to defeat the groups before Valerian Scarlet one by one.

Edit: I also did the Smash Alerts daily today. Between using Shuriken Storm on surrounding enemies and then spamming Thundering Kicks on the boss, I was able to hold aggression on everything throughout even over DPS roles and the attacks hardly reduced my health points. Post game update the Master has become probably the best archetype tank in the game.

[axjetvv34]

Tammy would you be so kind as to explain/show how beneficial your gear and mods are, I bought the master last Friday and I have been lvling up quite fast, I have a r7 impact so I might slot that but I don't know what other primaries to get

[Deleted]

The bonus from the offense and defense gear allows the Master a high damage resistance of 60%+ and healing bonus of 50%+. I ran a Nemcon yesterday too, basically these gear allowed me to simply run into a nemesis room and pull everything without dying which is a feat for any AT. Also consider this, Shadow Destroyer's charged blast which usually hits an AT for around 4k damage, only hit my Master for a maximum of 1.3k when I didn't dodge and 400 when I dodged it, both of which is quickly recovered by the higher healing of my BCR. The utility gear on the other hand is simply one of the most beneficial to any AT since it greatly reduces power cost, as much as shaving 30 energy off Burning Chi Fist, which greatly helps the Master whom has neither Int nor Rec as a sSS.

[axjetvv34]

May 8, 2012 16:07:25 GMT -5 @wimpazoid said:

The bonus from the offense and defense gear allows the Master a high damage resistance of 60%+ and healing bonus of 50%+. I ran a Nemcon yesterday too, basically these gear allowed me to simply run into a nemesis room and pull everything without dying which is a feat for any AT. Also consider this, Shadow Destroyer's charged blast which usually hits an AT for around 4k damage, only hit my Master for a maximum of 1.3k when I didn't dodge and 400 when I dodged it, both of which is quickly recovered by the higher healing of my BCR. The utility gear on the other hand is simply one of the most beneficial to any AT since it greatly reduces power cost, as much as shaving 30 energy off Burning Chi Fist, which greatly helps the Master whom has neither Int nor Rec as a sSS.

First: I just love your replies, so detailed and specific
second: exactly what are the numbers for your bcr with the bonus healing AND if I got an offensive piece would that benefit me more, I kinda wanted this toon to be decent with dps and hoped to get at least a 3k tap with a BCF crit. I have my utility planned already(a r7impact core for a high cost discount purple) and I'm not sure what to do with defensive. What would you recommend for those two primary slots, also[/i] what is your current dodge chance and avoidance without buffs? Then if you don't mind I'd like the numbers(if possible) with buffs.

[Deleted]

Base numbers (off the back of my mind right now): BCR 220hp per tick without any points in Pre, 62% dodge/80% avoidance. With floating butterfly, thundering kicks and Amazing Grace Device = 104% dodge in a pinch.

With the specialisation tree, you get 100% of your defense value as offence, and for my setup which uses a +defense gear, that level of offense (at least 37% dmg strength already) would give a high diminishing return to using a +offense piece. You'll be better off taking a crit strike piece instead if you want more DPS, at the loss of healing which adds up significantly if you are trying to tank since RR ticks furiously with multiple enemies while dodging.

Defense wise, same logic, a dodge/avoidance gear would give a higher diminished return due to LR, hence the +defense works in conjuction with your dodge to give more damage mitigation.

Having a minimum of 200 in all 3 SS would give your BCF a full charge dmg of 2.4k and 1.1k tap with only the 1 focus stack (not taking into account of enemies' resist for higher than henchmen level), so a tap crit of 3K right off the bat without focus is unlikely due to only having a 60% crit severity, but each stack of focus giving +20% dmg may give a decent 2k+ crit with 8 focus, close to your desired figure.

[axjetvv34]

May 8, 2012 19:09:41 GMT -5 @wimpazoid said:

Base numbers (off the back of my mind right now): BCR 220hp per tick without any points in Pre, 62% dodge/80% avoidance. With floating butterfly, thundering kicks and Amazing Grace Device = 104% dodge in a pinch.

With the specialisation tree, you get 100% of your defense value as offence, and for my setup which uses a +defense gear, that level of offense (at least 37% dmg strength already) would give a high diminishing return to using a +offense piece. You'll be better off taking a crit strike piece instead if you want more DPS, at the loss of healing which adds up significantly if you are trying to tank since RR ticks furiously with multiple enemies while dodging.

Defense wise, same logic, a dodge/avoidance gear would give a higher diminished return due to LR, hence the +defense works in conjuction with your dodge to give more damage mitigation.

Having a minimum of 200 in all 3 SS would give your BCF a full charge dmg of 2.4k and 1.1k tap with only the 1 focus stack (not taking into account of enemies' resist for higher than henchmen level), so a tap crit of 3K right off the bat without focus is unlikely due to only having a 60% crit severity, but each stack of focus giving +20% dmg may give a decent 2k+ crit with 8 focus, close to your desired figure.

So I could get a critical strike mod or a bonus healing mod in my primary offense slot. For primary defense It would be best to stick with a defensive piece since anything slotted would cause diminishing returns and primary utility could be a cost discount or cooldown reduction piece. -_- For once I'm not sure how I'm going to gear a toon

[Deleted]

I can only recommend, the decision is ultimately yours alone. As per my recommendation, for tanking, the gear setup provided in my guide or for more DPS, swap the offense gear for [Heroic Gloves of Precision] + Gambler's Lucky Gem.