Lord Mayhem

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Feasible, or should I just run?

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Or is going for Acro a better bet? I know it helps with holds, but does it help with disorient?

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Acrobatics has knockback resistance and a mag1 hold resist - it doesn't protect against any other status effect like disorient.

And I can't tell you what Black Hole is like because I skipped it as well on my /dark MM, mostly because every guide/forum I read said to skip it

Black Scorpion's AE immobilise is FotM for brutes in PvP (because it has -fly, -jump, -spd and -rchg on it, so even if you fail to immobilise the target you still inhibit their movement/attacks), but afaik stalkers don't have access to it - iirc they get a snipe, ranged attack, single-target hold and a short-duration pet - iirc Scirocco offers the same, and Ghost Widow definitely does (I'm going with her for concept reasons, but none of the patron powers fill me with excitement).

Mako offers a Tornado-type Water Spout attack instead of a snipe, which I've variously heard is either rubbish or the best thing ever, but that was re PvE. You'd have to ask another PvP-ing stalker who'd taken Mako what it's like - I've only bumped into one 41+ person on Union so far who has taken Mako, and he was a stalker with the Water Spout (he summoned it by the arbiter in Grandville), but I can't recall his name

I went with Energy Aura and I really couldn't recommend it (typed defence is bad, mkay?) unless you're trying to go Stamina-less (like I did - fortunately I'm teamed with a /kin 99% of the time) or want the extra status protection (and all on one lovely toggle) for PvP. Psi and Toxic damage just cuts right through me, and quite frankly I don't even find my defence that noticeable for other damage types either.

If I was doing a PvE-orientated stalker anew I'd probably go Ninjitsu instead (in fact I've made an MA/Ninjitsu, but doubt I'll get to play him anytime soon) - that's because for just a couple of toggles you get close to the defence protection of Super Reflexes (both are positional, not typed, so you're protected against psionic/toxic too), for a lot less power picks, and you also get a self-heal like /Regen's reconstruction, plus a few control options too. /DA is great for a brute, but I'm not convinced resists and aggro-drawing AEs are the way to go for a low HP stalker.

The one thing I miss on my /EA Stalker is not having a self-heal - there are lots of situations where it would have saved my life. Of course you could probably go /regen and just take the status toggle and the 3 click-heals (recon, dp, ih) - that would probably work well for PvE/PvP.

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The rez part is definately auto-hit but i was under the impression that the disorient/debuff part needed a tohit check? Really not sure as i just run with one recharge.

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As Faultline and Dark_Siren have said it is all auto-hit. The debuff part lasts a lot longer than the disorient too - you can easily tell on AV/H/GM fights because of the -regen part of the debuff (which is amazing, especially with stacked Twilight Grasp), and because the graphics for the debuff stays on the enemy for a while after the disorient effects wear off.

Like I said I'd have slotted it with extra recharges and disorients if I could, if only for when I faced Nemesis - every single Nemesis is immune to fear - they can be quite "fun" when you're used to relying on Fearsome Stare

I haven't decided whether I'll respec my L50 bot/dark for PvP or LRSF, but if I do I'll definitely be six-slotting Howling Twilight.

As far as fun/busy gameplay I find my Bot/Dark MM is second only to my EM/EA Stalker in terms of the manual dexterity needed and how generally busy I am (my Mercs/Traps MM is less active but he's lower level and doesn't have many /Traps powers yet - I think /Traps is more about pre-battle set-up anyway).

My 3 brutes have lots of button-pressing, but actually less buttons to worry about (lots of their powers are toggles or passives, not click powers) - generally I can play them all one-handed using the same 5-6 keys in a rhythm (attacks, Tab + auto-follow), with occasional variation (heals, end-drains or AE), but I only need to use the mouse to move between fights or change my camera view.

By contrast my /dark MM has less button-pressing, but each press tends to be a different button across all 3 of my hotbars as I have so many different controls/debuffs/attacks I can use - this takes more manual dexterity but less rhythm than the brute, and is less forgiving if you make a mistake (easier to die if you make a mistake as you don't have the HP/resists of the brutes) so you need to think faster and more tactically too. But button pressing isn’t continuous as there will be times you just need to stand back and oversee the battle, looking for potential dangers to your pets and yourself which might need your controls/debuffs to resolve.

The Stalker combines both types of gameplay - it’s like the Brute when scrapping, but there are times you step back (like the MM) when picking your next target then changing position, and it also needs more timing & dexterity than the Brutes or MM when using controls (stun, placate, etc) or doing your opening attack combo (especially if the target is moving, as assassin’s strike moves are interruptible). I need to use both keyboard and mouse constantly and sometimes feel I don’t have enough hands/fingers

From my experience with Corruptors (to mid levels, not higher level like the others) they are slower and less demanding than all of the above, imho - maybe because I’m /rad, but it’s only really busy when laying in the opening debuffs. I have even less experience of Dominators, but so far it seems quite edgy (like the Stalker - the slightest mistake gets you killed) and with no toggles/passives I expect it will have tons of button-pressing at higher levels.

With Corruptor and MM I think certain powersets are busier than others, but the other ATs seem less affected by that. Also my Corruptor gets a lot busier as the team gets larger (my /dark MM does too), but team size doesn’t overly affect my Brute or even my Stalker.

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Sea witch? Pfft, a STALKER could solo her...

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And has - but I did have to run away and come back after my opening gambit, and I may have inadvertently consumed a lot of Enrages

Baron Steelfist, Mastermind, Robotics / Dark Miasma / Soul Mastery

My duo partner hit 50 not long after I did, so I'll list his details too, as I don't think he posts on the forum much:

Dark Kazail, Brute, Energy Melee / Dark Armour / Mu Mastery

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I use the default slot, bang in a recharge and that's it. Works for me and there are better places to spend slots IMO. It's a rez with a nice side effect, which is what I use it as and not as another offensive power. However, as in all things, each to his/her/it's own.

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That was my 1st thoughts just slap a reachrge in the default lost and thats it. Thanks for the answers guys.

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That is all I've done with it on my /dark Mastermind (auto-hit for him too - makes it a great "panic button" for controlling a spawn quickly). Admittedly I don't need to rez people very often (used it as a rez about half a dozen times in 29 levels). I'd like to have 3-slotted it for Recharge, but there were too many other things I used more regularly that I needed slots in.

If I could six-slot it I personally would go 3x Recharge and 3x Disorient Duration too

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thnx guys im now doin the breakout to get lvl 2 before i star the missions wat power do u suggest iget ive got summon robots and twilight grasp

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Figured I’d post my build, so you can see the order I took the powers in, and my eventual slotting:

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Mastermind - Robotics + DarkMiasma
Level: 50
Archetype: Mastermind
Primary: Robotics
Secondary: Dark Miasma
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01) --> Battle Drones ==> DmgDmgDmgAccAcc
01) --> Twilight Grasp ==> HealHealHealAccAccRechg
02) --> Pulse Rifle Burst ==> DmgDmgDmgAccAcc
04) --> Darkest Night ==> TH_DeBufTH_DeBufTH_DeBufEndRdx
06) --> Equip Robot ==> EndRdx
08) --> Recall Friend ==> EndRdx
10) --> Assault ==> EndRdx
12) --> Protector Bots ==> DmgDmgDmgAccAccEndRdx
14) --> Teleport ==> RangeRangeRangeEndRdxEndRdxEndRdx
16) --> Tar Patch ==> RechgRechgRechgSlow
18) --> Shadow Fall ==> DmgResDmgResDmgResEndRdx
20) --> Fearsome Stare ==> FearFearFearAccAccRechg
22) --> Howling Twilight ==> Rechg
24) --> Hurdle ==> Jump
26) --> Assault Bot ==> DmgDmgDmgAccAcc
28) --> Petrifying Gaze ==> HoldHoldHoldAccAccRechg
30) --> Health ==> Heal
32) --> Upgrade Robot ==> RechgRechgEndRdx
35) --> Stamina ==> EndModEndModEndMod
38) --> Dark Servant ==> RechgRechgRechgAccAcc
41) --> Night Fall ==> DmgDmgDmgAccAcc
44) --> Soul Tentacles ==> RangeRangeRangeAccAcc
47) --> Soul Storm ==> HoldHoldHoldAccAccRechg
49) --> Dark Embrace ==> DmgRes
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Travel power is a personal choice (I like TP, many don’t), but with bots I still highly recommend getting Recall Friend at some point - they tend to get stuck on terrain a lot. You could skip Assault (damage bonus is helpful, but only small) to fit it in, if you took a different travel power.

I also suggest switching Tar Patch and Darkest Night around, now that DN isn’t so uber anymore (since the I7 defence changes and ToHitDbf enh nerfs) - DN is still useful for the -dmg debuff on tough Boss/EB/AV/H/M/GM fights, so it’s still worth taking, but the -ToHit isn’t so noticeable anymore, even stacked with TG & FS (I7 ruined my /rad corruptor’s RI too, /sigh). Tar Patch will be more useful at lower levels as a control tool and the -resist debuff is useful throughout the game (main thing I use it for at high levels).

I haven’t needed/wanted to respec (have a couple saved up) and I’ve been happy with slotting (after trying out several variations). I’m 49 now, should be 50 in the next couple of days, and the only slots I haven’t put in yet are the last two in Soul Storm and the EndRdx in Shadow Fall (not sure it needs it - I may stick a Hold Duration in Dark Servant instead, to make our stacked holds on EBs last a bit longer - I can perma-hold bosses myself now without his help).

Hope that helps. You can easily solo Relentless with this build (though I stick to Vicious/Ruthless to avoid getting AVs/Heroes solo and as a trio/duo) and you only tend to die when you get over-ambitious or make a mistake.

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If this is just a strict PvE build then i recomend getting dark hole (2 acc, 2 intangables) since its a very handy power for those moments when you have an 8 man team and someone accidently aggro's another large mob you can just throw down dark hole at the center man and not have to worry about that mob for a few seconds, thinking 30 cant remember but its more than enough time to finish your current mob off.

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I use Howling Twilight for that - disorient only lasts 15-20secs (depending on levels), but it's auto-hit (very important when your survival depends on it working) and it buys enough time for Fearsome Stare to come back up (my FS is slotted 2 Acc, 3 FearDur, 1 Rchg). I think I'd probably get annoyed waiting for Intangible to wear off from Black Hole (main reason I didn't take it) - and then you'd just get the alpha-strike all over again from an un-debuffed spawn. I'd rather disorient them, debuffing them at same time, and not hold up the team (30secs can seem like ages in combat).

Howling Twilight has so many uses (mass resurrect, auto-hit disorient, serious debuffs that last ages after the disorient including a huge -regen component that's handy on AV/Hero fights), but I've seen very few /darks with it - either it's getting very bad press or people think it's just an in-combat resurrect (I've used it for that maybe half a dozen times in 27 levels). In a fantastic set I'd rank it as one of the must-haves - not quite as regularly useful as Fearsome Stare, Petrifying Gaze, Dark Servant or Twilight Grasp, but close. It's saved my life tons more times than it's brought others back to life

So I think the OP will be fine without Black Hole, unless he's regularly going to be on big teams that screw up and get tons of additional spawns (admittedly I've been in lots of pick-up groups myself like that - it's part of the reason I hate PuGs ). The only thing that tempted me to take Black Hole was the ability to isolate an AV/Hero/EB from their surrounding spawn in one power, but I couldn't justify taking it for just that isolated situation, especially when Fearsome Stare and Howling Twilight can both do the same job.

It's a fantastic PvE combination and lots of fun.

I think you'll be amazed just how good it is - I am - even after 47 levels I still discover new strategies and am surprised just how many enemies I can handle, especially when several team members die and you're left with impossible odds, but still win through (and with Howling Twilight you can resurrect your dead teammates while fighting too! ).

If you prefer to solo then very few things should give you problems and you shouldn't die much (if at all), even on Ruthless (my usual setting), unless you make a mistake. You should be able to solo most (if not all) of the Elite Bosses you run into as well. My Robot/Dark MM levels a lot faster than any of my other characters (even faster than my two brutes).

Dark Miasma can be quite a "busy" set to play compared to other sets, though. I like that, it makes me feel useful (rather than having pets do everything), but I know some people would rather have a more "passive" secondary. I took everything in Dark Miasma except Black Hole, and I've found every power useful in so many different ways - so I recommend them all (except Black Hole, obviously, as I haven't used it).

The only frustrating problems I've had with the bot/dark combination have been due to bugs, many of which have been fixed on test server and should go live soon.

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Whats the recharge now on the Lvl 32 upgrade running at now as that may help my build greatly.

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Pre-I7 I had 3 Recharge SOs in the Tier2 and a single Recharge SO in the Tier1.

To save using up my freespec just to move slots after I7 I tried out several different combinations of enhancements and I find the fastest buffing comes about with an EndRdx in the Tier1 then 2 Recharge SOs and 1 EndRdx SO in the Tier2 - that way I can upgrade a bot with the T2, followed by the T1, then I only have a couple of seconds to wait for the T2 to be back up again, so I use it on the next bot and, just as I finish clicking the T2, the T1 upgrade comes back up ready to be clicked (hence why I swapped out the Recharge for an EndRdx in the basic slot).

Now I can get all 6 bots summoned and upgraded on one bar of endurance (I usually have to wait a few seconds for some End to regen to upgrade the final bot) in just over one minute, then while I'm Resting I flick both of my toggles back on, then click off Rest.

So in about 90seconds I'm ready to go with full End and 6 fully upgraded bots - compared to pre-I7 when it took me around 4 minutes to summon all 6 bots, upgrade them all with the T1 buff, and just upgrade the Prot/Assault bots with the T2 (I'd upgrade the drones during the next few fights).

It's much much better now. And when you lose bots in combat its less annoying to get them back up to full strength again.

But personally I think both of the upgrade powers should be PBAEs, so you could upgrade all 6 bots at once - I really don't see how the extra minute of "timesink" upgrading bots individually balances the archetype in any way.

I'd guess that unslotted the recharge time on the T2 is now around 12-15seconds (never had mine unslotted or bothered to time it) and the T1 is still around 5-6 seconds like it always was.

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then mock that team of 20 uber-built gankers on their fine moment of triumph against the outstanding odds of my lvl 25 Empath.....

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[Don't take this personally War_Hero, because it's not aimed at you, just your choice of word - I agree with the sentiment in the majority of your last post]

It's the mocking (and gloating, and accusations) that really puts me off PvP in predominantly PvE games. Whether you win or lose, chances are that someone will hassle you, either aggrieved because you killed them, or gloating nastily because they "owned" you, and a lot of the time it escalates. God forbid if you kill them, then later they get “revenge” on you - you never hear the end of it. And before anyone says it, I never liked putting players on ignore - just means they get to slander your reputation on broadcast without you being able to defend yourself (so you look guilty).

I love PvP if it’s done right (game is built with it as a core design concept) - I think it's quite telling that I ran into less "mocking" in pure PvP MMOs like Planetside (which I really enjoyed), than I did in an MMO with a PvP endgame like Dark Age of Camelot - and I saw less "mocking" in DAoC (Euro servers) than on the US PvP servers in EverQuest 1 (RZ & SZ), a pure PvE MMO with PvP bolted on as an “unbalanced” afterthought. It just seems to me that the more integral PvP is to the game’s design (i.e. the more commonplace it is to PvP) the less problems you have with other players when you kill/get-killed-by them.

Now I haven't spent a lot of time in the PvP zones in CoV/H, but almost everytime I’ve gone there (usually to do missions, get badges or just explore) I’ve seen some kind of argument on /broadcast. Honestly it just doesn't tempt me into going there purely to PvP.

Because PvP isn't the main focus in CoH/V team PvPing is a rarity rather than the norm. In Planetside & DAoC you have no problem getting into teams for PvP - it’s the norm - so I think less "mocking" goes on because it's harder to victimise individuals (there was plenty of inter-faction rivalry between teams in Planetside & DAoC, but it was usually without malice).

Here PvP is a minority interest on already underpopulated servers, so you're pushed more into one-on-one PvP if you want to PvP at all, which the game isn't balanced for - so some builds can just dominate (making their player more likely to gloat) while other builds struggle (making the player more likely to complain, feeling they’re being “griefed/ganked” a lot).

I could be wrong - I haven't spent more than a handful of hours in the PvP zones yet with my 3 highest characters (MM, Brute, Stalker), and I haven’t been to RV yet - but that's just how it seems to me, and is the reason I don't feel like PvPing much in CoH/V - that and the fact most of my friends in CoH/V despise PvP unreservedly. I might feel different once I have some L50 characters, but only if I get fed up of the PvE game (where generally everyone is friendly and less interested in aggravating each other). The rest of the time I can just do without the hassle from players, and the lack of character progress/rewards in CoH/V PvP.

I have the standard 2xAcc, 3xDmg slotting on all my robots, and I always fully upgrade the 1st tier battle-drones - they add significant damage. If more than one of them gets killed (e.g. on an Elite Boss fight) I really notice the drop-off in damage. Sure, they don't do as much damage as the other pets, but they still contribute a lot, even on higher difficulties (I mainly solo or duo on Ruthless - I'd be on Relentless if AVs/Heroes didn't spawn solo on that difficulty) - they can even draw aggro from the Assault/Protector Bots sometimes.

I almost forgot to talk about the /dark powers, hehe.

Apart from Black Hole (which I didn’t take, so can’t comment on) EVERYTHING in Dark Miasma is fantastic. All the powers have varied uses. Even at later levels when you may stop using Tar Patch & Darkest Night every spawn (because things die so fast), they’re invaluable for debuffing on boss/EB/Hero/AV fights. ShadowFall is lovely for the stealth, but it's even better for the resists, and you seem to have already realised that Fearsome Stare and Petrifying Gaze are good (godlike might be a better description - take them as soon as you can and fully slot them - I use them every single fight).

Dark Servant is just godlike too - he heals, he debuffs, he holds & immobilises things, he can take alphas for you on boss spawns, and he can even tank Elite Bosses because with his auto-hit aura (like DN I think) and spammed powers he can hold aggro very well and his heal keeps him alive. When I took on Numina solo my Dark Servant tanked the 3-4 ambushes that spawned while I killed her - that’s around a dozen red/orange-con Longbow - he's just that good! I can't praise him enough. With 3 Recharges you can have him up all the time, but I tend to just summon him as needed.

I think Howling Twilight is very underrated - it’s the unsung hero of the set - sure it's a mass resurrect (and a great one too), but 99% of the time I use it as an area disorient. It's a fantastic "panic button", especially if Fearsome Stare isn't up, when you really need to lock down a spawn (such as an incoming ambush) - it's auto-hit so is 100% reliable, and there are not many powers you can say that about. It has saved my life more times than I can count, and with just one Recharge SO in the base slot it's always been there when I needed it. Consider it as an extra control power rather than a rez.

I don't find /dark End-heavy at all. I only took Assault from the Leadership pool and I have one EndRdx in all 3 of my toggles (Assault, Shadow Fall, Darkest Night), but I use the /dark powers constantly in combat. I only took one attack from my primary (the second one) for myself, though - I really only use it to finish off runners or to add extra damage on EB/Hero/AV fights (although I picked up another attack from my Patron Pool at L41, and it seems to use tons of End). Running Assault & Shadow Fall constantly the only times I came close to running low on End in combat up until around L35 were when using Darkest Night on boss fights - even then it wasn’t that bad, and I never had End crashes.

But at the start of every mission I had big Endurance problems when summoning all 6 pets and buffing them with both upgrades (from L32 onwards) - it's going to be even more noticeable now that pet buffs recharge faster. And like boomtime says there will be occasional situations where you need to re-summon and re-upgrade those pets in combat (some EB/Hero/AV fights spring to mind, both solo and teamed) - although solo or duo’d you shouldn’t really lose (m)any pets under normal conditions, perhaps a first tier pet here or there as you get higher in level and face stuff that can one-shot them.

So I took Stamina at 35 mainly for that, and it helped noticeably with pet summoning/buffing. Even with 3-slotted Stamina, an EndRdx in my second pet buff (2 recharges in it too), and my toggles off, I still have to Rest after summoning all 6 bots and fully upgrading them all - but at least I don’t have to Rest in the middle of upgrading them anymore, and then wish Rest was available again when I finished! Really it depends how impatient you are to get started on missions - I don’t like standing around for my End bar to refill when I could be earning xp You may not mind so much.

So combat-wise I think I could have lived without Health/Stamina if there were other things I really wanted instead, but there weren't. And there are crunch moments when I’m glad I took it. YMMV. Imho Stamina is certainly skippable until the mid to late levels (unless you want to run more toggles than I do). I just found L35 a good time to take it because with 2nd pet upgrade at L32 and Dark Servant at L38 that was the latest I could pick it up before 40. And with all the long EB/AV/Hero fights past 40 I have a feeling you'd rather have Stamina than not for the 40-50 stretch. Also at L40+ Malta Sappers and Longbow Spec-Ops can drain all of your Endurance in one shot, so having Stamina helps to recover from that if you happen to not have any blue insps.

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I havent been playing my MM since the last patches, but this sounds alarmingly like the result of some haphazard way to fix the naming bug..

.. Although its great news if ALL the bots indeed have SJ now?

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Yep ALL bots have SJ now (not just the drones like in I6). Duoing with a friend he confirmed to me that all his zombies have SJ now as well (none of them had SJ in I6). All Ninjas had SJ anyway, but I'm guessing all Thugs and Mercs have probably been given SJ as well now (I'd log in my Mercs MM to check, but he only has Soldiers anyway, so it wouldn't confirm much).

I noticed all the pet control problems I listed above both before and after the naming bug was fixed, so it's definitely I7 to blame, not the name-bug hotfix - perhaps they messed up pet AI while implementing "bodyguard" /shrug. Although like I said the bots getting attracted to crystals in Oranbegan missions was happening in I6 as well, so pet AI was hardly stellar before

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Guess theres a differene on Melee/Ranged and the DmgType defenses? Hows that work anyway? First it counts out the ranged/melee miss/hit and then Dmg Type miss/hit if ranged/melee check failed?

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The way I understand it is the game uses the highest of your typed or positional defence totals (any that apply) against a certain attack.

So if you have, say, a total of 5% Melee/Ranged Defence and 28% Smash/Lethal then against:
- against any kind of Smash/Lethal attack you'd have 28% defence
- against melee or ranged attacks that do Energy/NegEnergy/Fire/Cold/Toxic/Psionic damage you'd have 5% defence
- against area/cone attacks that do Energy/NegEnergy/Fire/Cold/Toxic/Psionic damage you'd have no defence at all

And if an attack does two types of damage I think you get a defence check against each portion separately.

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I was just reading thru this forum burning some time cos of the hopeless downtime and i came across this posted in a thread lower down

"I slotted all 3 of my bot summons with 2 Accuracy and 3 Damage. The only thing I wish I'd done differently (which I'll rectify with a slot from 40-50) is put an End Recution SO into the Protector Bots - when you're burning through spawns at a good pace they sometimes run out of End. It's not a massive problem, I just feed them blue insps (I don't need them), but it's something to consider if you have slots to spare."

he/she states that they feed their bots a blue catch a breath Insps. you can do that???? i thought the insps's was just for yourself?... sorry if i misread it. but could someone explain?

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He

I said that. I hardly ever use inspirations myself (except Break Frees and very rarely Lucks) - I feed just about every insp to my pets. The only ones I really save up are Enrages (red damage insps) then before an EB fight I'll feed the Assault bot and both Protector Bots 1-2 reds each - then their opening salvo on the EB's spawn will kill off almost everything but the EB, and they'll be doing great damage to that as well.

Blue Catch-a-breaths can be quite handy against Longbow and Malta though - if a Spec-Ops or Sapper manages to drain the End from you and most of your bots then you'll be in real trouble, but feeding the Assault Bot and Protector Bots with blues can get you back up and fighting much faster.

I prioritise the Assault/Protector Bots for most insps as they're more durable and do more damage than the Battle Drones, but I do give yellow Insight insps to the drones to improve their accuracy on boss/EB fights (they are 2 levels beneath me so even with 2 Acc SOs I think they'd probably find the extra Acc useful - especially against EBs that debuff accuracy heavily like Positron).

A handy hint is to put your pet window directly above your insp window, then it's quick and easy to drag insps across to drop on the pet names.

I've been noticing this as well - it happens every single time I use lifts. Recall Friend on the missing pets doesn't work, as they run back through the wall, as you said. The only workaround I've found to save a bit of time is to use the lifts as normal, then immediately go back through them, then use them as normal again - the pets seem to respond a lot faster and will rejoin you (after a bit of comical running between lifts) much more quickly.

It is very annoying and I've noticed pets ignoring commands in normal combat a lot more often too (particularly "stay", "go to" and "follow", when you're trying to stop them pursuing a runner or trying to get them to move out of flame patches).

They're still getting attracted to crystals in CoT missions on the Oranbega maps as well (which also is prone to make them ignore "stay" and "go to" commands - you really have to spam "follow" to pull them away) and sometimes refusing to use portals - but then they've done that since CoV launch, regardless of I7.

The code for pet AI certainly needs some work

At least the bots all have superjump now - that's made Oranbegan maps slightly less painful (probably a lot less painful for those without Recall Friend).

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DN wants two end reducers. can you explain why

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I don't find it that high cost on my Bot/Dark with just a single EndRdx (and the 3 ToHitDebuff SOs of course), but then the only other toggles I run are Assault and Shadow Fall, plus I have Stamina. YMMV.

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Aid other even when you have twilight grasp? If you really want it, at least give it decent amount of slots. can you advise a replacement power pool

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Yes, Howling Twilight is fantastic - even with just a Recharge SO in basic slot it's there when I need it. I hardly ever use it as a rez - mostly it's my "panic button" because it's an auto-hit area disorient (it debuffs too, for longer than the disorient lasts). It can be quite handy if you've just used Fearsome Stare to control one spawn for your pets to kill, but then an ambush runs in or you aggro another spawn - or even if you just want to neutralise a threat from several mobs while your pets kill them safely (e.g. if you have a spawn with multiple Spec-Ops - those EMP grenades are so annoying). It's a real life-saver.

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DS needs 3 rech to perma. DS is my best mate so i understand you advising perma but i usually only bring him out when im fighting bosses/AV's so I find the slots better used to enhance him when I do bring him out, but would like to hear your view on the slotting of DS

[/ QUOTE ]I like having him around at all times. Personal slotting: 3 rech 2 ToHit debuff 1 heal

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I have 2 Accuracy and 2 Recharge in my DS - he's definitely getting a 3rd Recharge and, if I can spare it, a Hold Duration too. That's because when I see him use his Petrifying Gaze on a boss I throw in my PG as well to stack it (can't wait to get my PPP hold too).

I mainly use my DS as a decoy to take alphas on boss spawns (poor DS) or to keep Elite Bosses occupied when solo - I summon him next to them and his aura will debuff & taunt them. My DS seems a lot more durable than my bots as he likes to spam his heal, and with the accuracy SOs it usually hits, so that's probably another reason he holds aggro so well against EBs/bosses (even while my bots are kicking out major damage).

In a full team against Numina last night I summoned my Dark Servant right next to her so his heals kept our brutes topped up and his debuff aura stacked with my Darkest Night on her. However against Numina solo (as an EB) I summoned him into the doorway that the ambushes came through - he tanked several spawns of Longbow in the 3mins it took my bots to deal with her. So he's quite a handy little blob, however you use him

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and use your lvl 38 power.

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Poor /dark Stalkers - they probably will be using their L38 power a lot if your tactic is the only one that works

(Dark Armour's L38 power on a Stalker is a self-revive - they get no Elude/Overload/MoG/Kuji-in-Retsu type power)

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I am not sure about a pet yet, depends on how much I like the single target attack and whether I want more slots in it.

I'd imagine not many people have the pets yet so hard to advise on, and there's probably not a lot of people with the attacks either, just people testing them out. so mighrt be a while before you get conclusive answers to both questionins

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I'd only take a pet for the "cool" factor, because at best (with 3 Recharges and/or Hasten/LR/Quickness/SB/SiphonSpeed) you can only have them up half of the time, and "dumb" pets can get you in lots of trouble

But then yesterday I saw a L47 Stalker, obviously with Ghost Widow as a patron, who had a Night Widow pet (and I thought they only got Blood Widows...) - so now I'd be very tempted to get that for my Stalker when he hits 47, both for concept and coolness factor, but also because Night Widows seem so damn annoying when we fight them. The only other pets I'd personally get for "coolness" factor would be an Arachnobot Blaster (love their shooting animation) or a Toxic Tarantula (huuuuuugggge spider!), but none of my characters who'd take Black Scorpion for concept reasons are anywhere near 41

I'd probably slot 2 Accuracies first, so they'd be useful against AVs/Heroes/EBs, then recharge and/or damage to taste, if I could spare slots - but I think I'd be prioriting my own direct attacks for slots first, so I doubt I'd have any to spare (on any of my characters).

I don't think the colour is a problem, but having seen the new Invul effects on a friend of mine I do think they need to make them a bit more transparent.

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IRRC Fire damage is defended against by glacial or frost armour to a small degree - so even if permafrost is missing its not like pounding away with psionic damage...

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According to SherkSilver's planner Frozen Armour gives 12.5% Fire resist (non-enhanceable, as that toggle only seems to take defbuffs for the smash/lethal) - and that's it for Ice/ if you don't take Permafrost. So we're talking less fire resist than even an /Invul Tanker (or a Blaster/Controller/Defender with the Fire Mastery Shield). With Permafrost you can push it up to 32% with slotting.

Your point about Psionic damage is well made (heroes have more psionic-based sets than villains as well) - although I'm sure a Dom's Psionic Lance would sting with enough enrages+domination. Fire corruptors aren't so rare, though, and I know from playing my own that they can do serious damage, especially once you get below half health

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Lol I have heard this before, although on my bots MM i find that I have one 1st tier that always dies first too, he seems all to keen to go melee - anyone else get this?

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Yeah I do - I even renamed that bot Twiki, after the annoying little robot in the old Buck Rogers TV series (the late 70s... oh what a golden age ), because I always wanted to see that little freak get served

My Twiki tries to get himself killed ALL the time /sigh. I've even started using him to check out doorways in offices before I run through them (though I summon my Dark Servant in doorways to do that too, and he usually survives it) - easy to convince myself that Twiki volunteered for "taking point" - he's just so eager to please (/die)

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With I7, the bullet casings left on the ground are also orgasmic, too.

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I created a Merc/Traps MM the other day and that was one of my main motivations for doing so - yes, I’m silly

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I suggest you all avoid the Merc/Traps combination, because it can be addictive. Stay away, it is not too late for you. ;-)

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I’m dooooooooooooomed!

Well, after I get my existing Bot/Dark MM to L50 I am

I've always hated pet classes in previous MMOs (prefer direct combat, preferably melee) - I don't know why that isn't the case with Masterminds, but Cryptic must be doing something right