Hello all, me and my friend just recently maxed out or Escape characters. We wanted to do this before attempting all of the hives on MASTER.
However, we would like to know where to begin for each character on building the correct card set-ups. I am sure it varies by hive. If someone would be able to respond with a generic build for each character it would be much appreciated. We have completed all hives already but we have not attempted any on Master yet.
Thank you ahead of time.
Mr. Siggg
Hey there,
These guys can help. @avaramis @FirestormOfFear @GhostofDelta2 @Ektope @Omen_LP @Bleeding_Pepper
I don’t do Escape much otherwise I would help out here.
Cheers!
Wow this is seriously impressive!
I still haven’t got the achievement ‘Who’s your escape main’ because I don’t bother playing escape using the Scorpio team(Lahini, Keegan and Mac) that much… There are many other characters who outperform Team Scorpio in multiple ways and hence I only play with those characters exclusively.
I am not sure what made you guys lead to conclude that ‘max level characters’ were an absolute requirement for completing any hive on master.
It wasn’t necessary though. A low level character can also perform well enough on master difficulty.
Level 18 doesn’t mean much (level 17 and 18 only yields you bloodsprays and banners, which are completely useless in escape).
Actually once you have reached character level 16 (you would have unlocked the golden cards by now) and having card levels 4 and above, that alone is more than sufficient to clearing hives on master difficulty. It just depends on setting the correct card combination for that specific hive.
Since you have claimed that you have maxed out all escape characters by now, you would definitely have a good knowledge about each character’s playstyle. You would at least have some idea about which characters are good and which character’s won’t perform properly for a hive since you have completed all hives already.
Past experience and trial and error ( to some extent ) would help you clear any hive on master difficulty. If you are still unsure about this, then @Hu1k_Daddy 's post above me mentions some of the players who would readily help you. Approaching them would be your best bet.
I am actually sad that you haven’t experienced the thrill of master difficulty on escape much sooner!
My broad advice:
Keegan:
Shredder
Venom Explosive Resupply
Venom Boost
Resupply Duration
And my last card is usually Grenade Pouch, but this is Hive dependent. If I know there won’t be many grenades etc, then I’d choose something else. Recharge Bounty is a good one. Healing Module is also good if you use the ammo resupply in a combat situation.
Lahni:
Venom Blade
Thrill of the Hunt
Venom Resistance
Shock Chain
And the last card varies but I tend to choose Short-Range Resistance; or Brawler. The difference in melee attack damage with and without Brawler is relatively small and you’ll be relying on Lahni’s bleed damage much more - the time it takes for most Drone enemies to bleed out is around half a second. I tend to choose Short-Range Resistance for the extra defence, but on certain Hives where the enemy needs to die ASAP and cannot wait for them to bleed out (even though the time is relatively small), then I go for Brawler. For example The Warren has lots of Juvies at the same time, and even half a second can make a difference so most people just want them to die ASAP (especially as they have extra melee damage resistance themselves).
Mac:
Bloody Shot
Venom Resistance
Adrenaline Junkie
And the last two cards vary, but Boltok Bandolier is good for ammo, but some hives have lots of ammo available anyway so it may be less important. Crazy Tough seems popular, but I personally prefer damage resistance stats over maximum health. In Your Face is great for distracting enemies and allows team mates to run up close to enemies if necessary - works well with Lahni.
EDIT:
Also as an FYI, while the original Hivebuster characters are good and versatile, some Hives will be much easier with other characters too. Cole, Kait and Fahz are considered extremely strong characters; while Clayton and Paduk also have alot of use too. Look at it on a hive-by-hive basis!
XP or Cards? XP means nothing.
And unless you have experience on Master I wouldn’t recommend Scorpio runs, especially not for the newer Hives. Scorpio is in a pathetic state compared to the current Meta-chars atm.
Ohhhh, I don’t do Escape, beyond doing the Surge on Beginner as Mac, for daily Escape objectives… 
Firs off - congrats!
Here is my usual set up for Team Scorpio.
Keegan -
Shredder
Venom Boost
Venom Explosive Resupply
Resupply Duration
Healing Module
Mac-
Bleeding Shot
Bolton Bandolier
Adrenaline Junkie
Crazy Tough
and 5th optional
Lahni
Venom Blade
Venom Resistance
Thrill of the Hunt
Close Range Deflection
Shock Chain
Off-topic, but excellent profile picture of The Big Red Machine 
Woops,
lol, well good to know. But I knew if you could you would have
Cheers!
I’d replace Venom Boost with Grenade Pouch usually. It depends on the hive of how fast the Venom moves though. Having Recharge Bounty is just generally more supportive also for other teammates.
Back in the days I was going for more damage resistance usually so I took both Mid- and Short-Range Deflection cards instead of Shock Chain (I barely used Shock Chain). Brawler was only used on The Line.
I think I almost never changed my setup there. It was always Bloody Shot, Venom Resistance, Adrenaline Junkie, Boltok Bandolier and Crazy Though.
Basically both. Keegan is done for me for both. Lahni is done for my friend for both. Both our Macs are lagging. But the original Level 5 Maxes is what I mean if I misinformed.
I wasn’t a big fan of grenade pouch until recent hives, especially the Split, where there’s just so many enemies and the difficulty is so high that you want that extra explosive option and not to depend on perfectly timing your resupplies every time. I typically replace Recharge Bounty though, just because Venom boost is much higher and usually the major fights happen in venom anyway. I suppose there’s a tradeoff though because it’s no longer benefitting teammates.
At least his brother has tombstone piledriver execution in gears. Just need chokeslam now.
No, it’s just Batista’s variant of a Powerbomb.
But this…
This is good. I’d enjoy that.
This is excellent! Thank you so much.