Newbie questions! (bots/traps)

Thinking ahead a bit.

Trip Mines is often pitched as a power that is used for toe-bombing; same for Poison Trap.

That's a pretty stealth/invis-oriented build. Presumably I'll want a stealth IO. However, given that, I'm not seeing an obvious sane way to get invisibility. The actual "stealth" power seems like it would be a poor choice in many ways, but it would make toe-bombing easier. I don't get Cloaking Device (that's /dev blasters), and I don't think any of my other powers create stealth.

So do I just do without nigh-invisibility, or what? Is Trip Mines less practical for me than it would be for a /devices blaster or /traps defender?

I don't stealth toebomb because it's more effective for me to lock them in place with Electrifying Fences and let the bots have their way. Big Bertha and her victory-scented napalm do a much faster job of melting things than my tripmines.

I still use Trip Mine but maybe once in five spawns, and only when the bots have done a little pulling of the next spawn. The pain in the *** about Trip Mine is the scatter and if you do something to mitigate that, you've lost the advantage of stealth anyway.

If you do think about toe-bombing, think about picking up grant invisibility for your forcefield generator so your position isn't given away and you suck down a lot of AoE splash.

I suppose trip mines could be used purely as a strategic defense -- drop it before doing a large pull, and if you get unlucky and things come at you, well, problem solved.

FFG's been annoying to me because:
1. It tends to follow sort of erratically, and gets stuck easily on other party members (or minions).
2. The bots run out of it anyway.

So I have to close up a bit with enemies once the bots have done their first couple of ranged attacks. But I'm getting the hang of it.

Hadn't thought about the grant invisibility thing, but obviously, I'd need that too... In which case, grant invisibility+invisibility is probably better than stealth+grant invisibility. Hmm. 6 seconds each for my entire robot army plus FFG is 42 seconds, so I'd have somewhere around a minute with the ENTIRE TEAM invisible. This has serious abuse potential. Of course, that'd chew up most of the slots I'd been planning to use for patron pool stuff. I could still get charged armor and electrifying fences, though. Hmm.

Wait, does "only powers that affect yourself" mean I can't drop traps? If it does, then that strategy is not viable after all.

Drat, I was totally thinking that avoiding the pulse rifle powers would get me enough power choices that I wouldn't run out of slots for once.

So, here we are a month later. My bots/traps MM just made 32. I've been poking around with things in Mids, and wanted to share my half-baked attempts at a build. I don't have a very clear idea of how the various set bonuses weigh against each other, and I'm not quite sure whether the amount of knockback protection I have is a good idea; I've heard people say that if you can't get 16, there's no point in going past 4, but I don't know whether that's true.

At 31, close to this build but not actually on it, and without much in the way of the enhancements listed, I was doing okay, mostly. I definitely have room for improvement in some areas, but I'm hoping the level 32 upgrades provide some of that.

The TP Foe/Recall powers are pretty much there as pure utility powers -- I fell in love with TP Foe on my DS/dark mastermind, and I love having it. Recall Friend has been a wonderfully convenient thing for me many times, even though it has marginal combat utility at best. I'm pretty committed to fly as my travel power, and I pretty much always hover while out smiting whoever someone will pay me to smite.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

LOVELACE-1: Level 50 Technology Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Battle Drones -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg:50(3), EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:40(3), EdctM'r-PetDef:40(5), CmdPres-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:30(7), CmdPres-Acc/Dmg:30(7)
Level 1: Web Grenade -- TotHntr-Acc/Rchg:50(A), TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(5), TotHntr-Acc/EndRdx:50(11), TotHntr-Dam%:50(15), TotHntr-EndRdx/Immob:50(39), TotHntr-Immob/Acc:50(43)
Level 2: Caltrops -- Posi-Dam%:50(A), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(34), Posi-Acc/Dmg:50(39), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:50(43)
Level 4: Triage Beacon -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx:50(A), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg:50(9), Numna-Heal/Rchg:50(9), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(21), Numna-Heal:50(23), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(48)
Level 6: Equip Robot -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 8: Hover -- Zephyr-ResKB:50(A)
Level 10: Acid Mortar -- ShldBrk-DefDeb:30(A), ShldBrk-Acc/DefDeb:30(11), ShldBrk-Acc/Rchg:30(25), ShldBrk-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg:30(34), ShldBrk-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:30(40), ShldBrk-%Dam:30(46)
Level 12: Protector Bots -- SvgnRt-PetResDam:40(A), CmdPres-Acc/Dmg:30(13), CmdPres-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:30(13), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:30(15), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx:50(17), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg:50(17)
Level 14: Assault -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 16: Force Field Generator -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), Ksmt-ToHit+:30(25), GftotA-Def:30(31), Ksmt-Def/EndRdx:30(34), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:40(48)
Level 18: Tactics -- GSFC-Build%:50(A), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx:50(19), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx:50(19), GSFC-ToHit:50(37)
Level 20: Poison Trap -- BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(A), BasGaze-Acc/Hold:30(21), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg:30(40), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold:30(40), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(42), BasGaze-Slow%:30(46)
Level 22: Aid Other -- Mrcl-Rcvry+:40(A), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg:40(23), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:40(33), Mrcl-EndRdx/Rchg:40(42), Mrcl-Heal:40(48)
Level 24: Fly -- Zephyr-ResKB:50(A)
Level 26: Assault Bot -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg:50(27), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx:50(27), BldM'dt-Acc/EndRdx:50(29), BldM'dt-Acc:50(29), BldM'dt-Dmg:50(31)
Level 28: Seeker Drones -- Cloud-%Dam:30(A), Cloud-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:30(31), Cloud-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg:30(33)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(33), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:40(43), GftotA-Def:40(46)
Level 32: Upgrade Robot -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 35: Trip Mine -- Posi-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(36), Posi-Dmg/Rng:50(36), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(37), Posi-Dam%:50(37)
Level 38: Recall Friend -- Zephyr-ResKB:50(A)
Level 41: Charged Armor -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx:40(A), ImpArm-ResDam:40(42)
Level 44: Electrifying Fences -- TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(A), TotHntr-Dam%:50(45), TotHntr-Acc/Rchg:50(45), TotHntr-EndRdx/Immob:50(45)
Level 47: Electric Shackles -- BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(A), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(50), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg:30(50), BasGaze-Acc/Hold:30(50)
Level 49: Teleport Foe -- Acc-I:50(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Supremacy
Level 6: Ninja Run

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Echoing what the others have said: Get an AoE immobilize from your patrons. If you lock those suckers in place, Line-of-Sight, and tell your bots to attack you'll see the entire mob explode in flame and DIE.

It's beautiful.

Maybe I am confused. I thought electrifying fences was an AoE immobilize...?

If you are looking for a bots/traps guide, check out mine in my sig. It includes a few IOed out builds that will be able to handle 0/x8 diff without a problem.

If your going to use IO's, then I would suggest Raterro thread. He has a great build listed. I would challenge someone to make it better. I took his build and dumb it down. I can solo +1 +8 without issues. +2 +8 pretty much in similar fashion only I cannot pull as many as I can with +1 +8. Raterro would start at +2 +8 and should be able to take on +4 +8. I have fought several GMs with the build with no issues as well.

I'm working on a Positional Defense cap AR Dev Defender currently, then I am going to jump back on my Robot Traps and start building up to Raterro build.

It's gonna be a long time before I make 50. Right now, I'm mostly looking at trying to get a bit better recovery or a bit less endurance drain than I have in my existing build, which has three leadership toggles, no stamina, and I think at most 1% increased recovery. It's a little tight sometimes. If I can get a bit more recovery from set bonuses or special IOs, I should be fine, though -- it's not as though I'm hugely crippled by lack of blue, I just can't use all my powers every fight.

I'm pretty sure I can't get def capped at 32 anyway. I guess the question is, at 32, should I be frankenslotting or starting to try more for set bonuses?

IOs aren't very expensive if you buy the recipes and parts -- and I make a ton of money along the way, because I overcraft.

Say I want two blood mandate acc/dam. I bid on four, I bid on the materials for four, I craft them, I use two, I sell two, and I am ahead on the deal in money. Oops, made a Kismet +6% accuracy I don't actually have a slot for? Might as well sell it for two and a half times what I spent on it...

I have a newbie question on my MM B/T, but it's not about the build. It's about how hit points and REC works. The Triage Beacon, as I understand it, gives you +REC. I can look at the power's stats, and they say, at this time, that Triage Beacon adds 1.58 to my REC.

The way I understand this works, is that you take my current REC, multiply it by 1.58, and that is how much my HP goes up, each cycle (not sure if it is per sec or per what, it doesn't matter). Let's use some real, made-up numbers. If I have 100 maxHP, and a REC of 1, my HP would normally go up 1 per sec, until I reached 100. If my HP is currently at 20, it would take 80 secs. If someone were to Heal me, this would just add HP to my current HP. If someone were to Enhance Recovery on me, I would not suddenly experience a jump in my HP, but I would recognize that my current HP is going up faster. The same thing occurs if I rest: my HP goes up faster, according to the green bar at the top, as well as the popup when I mouse over it.

(Sorry if this is getting long-winded, I just want you to understand my question)

So, if I use Triage Beacon, the way I expect this to work, is like an Enhance Recovery AoE effect. In other words, the way I would expect this to work, in the example above, is that my REC would be multiplied by 1.58 (my current Triage level), so that I would start at 20, and then every sec, would go to 21.58, 23.16, etc. My REC goes up so I don't get healed, but I heal intrinsically slightly faster.

Having said all this, here is my problem: Does TB work on bots? I notice that my bots go up in HP by 5.00, usually, without a TB. But WITH a beacon, I notice that there doesn't seem to be any difference. The robots just don't heal any differently that without it, as far as I can see.

Granted, I see lovely green circles going up the bot's body, but I don't see a difference in recovery. I'm not sure where I'd look to find the actual number of the bot's REC, and maybe I am confused about how REC and HP interact, but most of all, I hope it is a bug, and I can get that badge!

Please, be as thorough answering this question as I was asking it, because I really want to understand all about what is being asked here.

Help me out please.

Triage Beacon doesn't buff recovery, only regeneration. I think that's what you meant, though. Regeneration increases with HP levels, meaning a higher regneration rate grants more HP per tick of healing. I can't go into it right now (posting from work) but your understanding of how regeneration buffs interact appears incorrect. View your own combat stats or that of your bots to see how the triage beacon increases their regeneration.

edit: to actually answer your question, yes, triage beacon works on your bots, in that it increases their regen.

Well first off I think you mean regen and not recovery (regen restores hit points, recovery restores endurance), however, the way in which they work is identical.

Assuming that you have no regeneration bonuses you will naturally regain 5% of your maximum hit points every 12 seconds. When you add regeneration bonuses the effect is to reduce the period between pulses from 12 seconds to a lower value, however each pulse will still restore 5% of your maximum hit points.

The formula for calculating the effect of regeneration buffs/debuffs is identical to the formula for recharge bonuses:
time / (1 + buffs - debuffs)

In your case you have a 1.58 regen buff so the time between pulses changes from 12 seconds to:
12s / (1 + 1.58) = 4.65s

So while under the effect of Triage Beacon you will regain 5% of your maximum hit points every 4.65s.

Some general comments about Regen:
1. Since regen is based on your max HP powers that increase this (such as the Task Force Commander accolade power) will increase the amount of hit points you get back for each regeneration pulse.
2. The combat stats window reports regen as HP/sec. while this value is (I think) accurate it's important to remember that it is a simplification of the actual process, you don't regen every second.
3. Regen buffs do not count for the healing badges (although Repair does)

I hope that helps.

thank you for the detailed answer. I think I now understand. I'm not getting the badge.