Arbegla

Like I mention above, triple stacking mortars, double stacking triage beacon and poison trap, and quad stacking seeker drones allows for some nice buff/debuff values. Bot/traps isn't really a huge proc monster to begin with, as most of the powers are long recharge, so even if you shorten them down, you're not going to murder your proc rate that much. Plus, procs are going to be looked at eventually, so I wouldn't place all your eggs in that basket right now.

I'll argue that triple Acid Mortars will provide better damage boost then Musculature would, and thus the extra recharge you get from Agility (and the extra defense boost) is more useful overall. Also consider being able to double stack Poison Trap, quad stack Seeker Drones, and double stack Triage beacon, you can get a lot of value out of recharge that actually has little to no effect on your pets themselves. YMMV of course, but stacking more buffs/debuffs is more of a force multiplier, especially on teams then the extra Damage Enhancement Value you get from Musculature. Especially because your pets should be close to the ED cap on damage from normal slotting anyways.

I'm going to comment on this for a bit, because it has some information that doesn't really apply to Bot/traps. Alpha -> If going for a recharge heavy build, i would go with Spiritual or Agility as the extra recharge can let you get away with a single slot in Hasten, and still have perma Hasten. Musculature is nice, but the Damage boost from Page 5 already gives you some pretty nice DPS with the robots, so you don't really need extra damage. Especially if you can get near the ED cap with Damage/Acc already. Judgement -> I would go for any of the range Judgement powers, Ion being my personal favorite. The melee Judgement powers, while having some nice benefits, wont really suit a bot/traps, as you're going to focus on range the most. Interface -> I'll agree with Degenerative here, as the -maxhp is such a high effective DPS increase its not even comparable to other interfaces. Lore -> The best lore pet combination is the Banished Pantheon Defiler/Ravager. This is because the debuff from the defiler also does damage, AND the buff he gives is +recovery/+def, which stacks really nicely with bot/traps going for max recharge. It also allows you to hit the incarnate softcap while buffed with the defiler which can be amazing mitigation even in normal non-incarnate content. Destiny -> Clarion is a waste on a bot/traps. Simply put, the FFG gives you enough mez protection that you don't need to worry about granting it to your pets. I would go for Rebirth for a massive heal (+maxhp if you really want to take triage beacon, as it boosts the regeneration rate as well) OR go with Barrier to really make yourself into a tanker-mind. Either options are good, and I rotate between Rebirth and Barrier depending on what content i'm doing. Barrier is nice for Hard Mode content, as it helps your pets, and your teammates get close to the cap on defense and resistance. Keep in mind that pet resistance cap is actually 90%, not 75% like what the MMs resistance cap is, so you can really get some value out of having extra resistances on the bots. Hybrid -> Support Core is really the only option here. This is another way to hit the incarnate softcap and allow you to not have to worry about resummoning your pets. Also, the global endurance reduction helps a lot to offset the extra endurance costs that MMs have to deal with on their secondary powers.

For my bot/traps build I went full recharge and endurance reduction. I'm currently at work, so I can't post the build, but I can solo anything put in front of me. I do use both Web Grenade and Triage Beacon, which are the skippable powers in /traps, though I do not use Trip Mine or Detonator as those are just wasted powers entirely. I slotted to have maximum debuffs and survivability for myself and my bots with Mu Mastery (another immobilize helps lock down bosses and AVs) plus Charged armor helps bodyguard mode as your resistances are checked before the damage is split, allowing you to reduce the damage you take even more. I like triage beacon with the panacea proc because it spreads around and helps the bots, especially with the fact they have some endurance issues now. Giving them an occasional endurance boost helps keep them in the action longer especially against hard targets like AVs and GMs. I have over 50% defense to most things on my build, and the bots are well in to incarnate softcap due to getting the auras to boost their defense above what FFG and the protector bots shield give. This allows them to tank a decent amount, and I also run the rebirth +max hp for additional Bodyguard mode fuel, as it allows even the battle drones to take a solid hit before dying.

The game isn't balanced around IO or set bonuses, so the argument that you can frankenslot using dual/tri/quad aspect IOs and also retain set bonuses from PvP/Purple/ATO/Winter IOs falls flat as well. The game simply isn't balanced around those things. Last I checked, the game is balanced around SOs. And the current exemplar scaling has your character perform worse then SOs at certain low level break points. That's the argument I'm making. Yes, you get more powers (1 - 3 more depending on when you exemplar down to) and yes you have access to more slots (up to the max you have at level 50) but the value of your enhancements are worse then when you were the native level. I noticed this the most on my MM when my Battle Drones had only a 24% boost to damage at level 9, due to scaling even though I have near ED levels of damage in them at level 50.

For a bit of clarity here, procs only work in powers that the pets have that specific chance for. I/e, Explosive Strike will only 'proc' in a power that the pets also have a chance for KB for. The proc won't fire on a power that doesn't have KB/KD on it. Slotting something the Touch of Lady Gray proc will work on any power that the pets have that also does -def. Which I think is most of the Ninja attacks. Just something to think about when slotting procs.

I'm talking this the pets you get at your actual level.. Like your second Battle Drone at level 6, third at level 18, and the second protector bot at level 24. Those you do not get if you exemplar down below those levels. Do a DFB and summon your battle drones. If you're right, you should get 2 battle drones (you're level 1 at the start of the DFB) and you don't. You don't get the second battle drone until you're actually level 6. Yes, if you're exemplared to level 9, you get access to the Protector bot (a level 12 power) where a true level 9 character wouldn't, but you also don't get 3 battle drones exemplared to level 13, even though its 5 level lower then when you should get them (level 18)

I wonder if the +hp works as well. I'll have to verify, as I'm slotting that in my bots equip power right now.

My main concern is from a pet oriented aspect, so MMs and other pet classes that deal with Exemplaring down frequently. Masterminds already deal with the purple patch against mobs the most due to the way pets scale, and with the enhancement values of pets being affected by the Exemplar values you end up getting pets that definitely perform less than what they did at a native level. Masterminds also have the least amount of 'extra' powers and suffer the most from Exemplaring, due to the 'true' level being the level at which they receive their pets, i/e, you only get the third T1 pet at level 18, you only get the second T2 pet at 24, etc. Mastermind Pets also don't get access to set bonuses, so the argument for 'Well just slot set bonsues!' falls flat, as you're only relying on enhancement values for your pets, and not other factors. Granted, changing the whole system just to 'balance' Masterminds doesn't seem worth while, which is why I wanted to suggest it work for all characters.

One could argue that both the Freakish Lab of Dr. Valz, and the other 'newer' content which aren't level 50 could be 'beginner content'. Basically all of the story arcs that have been added to the game require your to exemplar down, unless its hard mode content, and then that is level 50 only. The justification is because TOs don't actually exist as a drop anymore, and the enhancement devaluation puts you lower then DOs, which do drop for content. Its a matter of 'My character actually has WORSE enhancement values as an exemplar then it did at the same native level' not a 'cuz lowbies get SOs now..' though that is definitely a factor in the suggestion.

This is exactly my point. Its not about slots, or available powers, its about the enhancement values themselves being so much less then what a normal, native low level character would have.

IO set bonuses only work if you attune the sets (or use PvP/Purple IOs) and most don't go down to pre-level 10.

Now that we can slot SOs at level 1, can we have the exemplar values for Enhancement values looked at and maybe adjusted? I know before the enhancement values when exemplar-ing were meant to simulate running on TOs and DOs, but with the fact that those don't really exist anymore, can we get the scales adjusted to compensate? It feels weird that my level 50 character exemplared down to level 9 has worst enhancement values then a true level 9 character does..

Ice Armor also has debuffs with -rech and slow, which makes peeling mobs off them even harder, because the slows just well.. slow things down so much.

Once you get the Ouroborus portal, i used that to double check that I did all of the content (not contacts, just content) for a specific level range. This also allowed me to flash back to Praetoria and grab the 'Who will die?' and 'Pandora's Box' content while I was leveling up, instead of waiting until I was level 50. Some of those contacts for the Signature Story Arcs can give their missions at a pretty low level.

So, I play a bot/traps MM, and during cut scenes of my character, especially during the Pandora's Box Signature Story Arc, I notice a 'targeting drone' power that my character is using, even though I don't have access to that power at all. I also notice that when my character is 'cloned' either via Posi 1, or any other 'shadow clone, fight your clone, etc' battles, my character is spawned as a /devices, complete with Smoke Grenade, Targeting Drone, and other /device powersets, not the /traps power sets that I am. Please let me fight a real clone of /traps, instead of a /device clone 🙂

Can't you just buy the attuned version of the proc, and slot it at the minimum level?

Yes, which might be part of the issue The ambush seems like it should appear sooner then that and at the right level.

Contact: Antonio Nash Mission: Meet with Azuria (Part Three) Issues: After defeating Odysseus the ambush that spawns are level 45 Warriors, instead of level 50, resulting in no XP being granted. All other mobs are set to the mission difficulty. This was done via O-zone, but as I was level 50, it shouldn't have affected the mobs. Mission did complete before ambush arrived, as I talked to Azuria already before the ambush spawned. Contact: Same as Above Mission: Part Four: High in Demand Issue: PString entry from James Harvan before the fight with Ghost Widow towards the end of the mission. Same thing, done with O-zone. Tagging @Cobalt Arachne just to add more to their plate.

Slight correctly. It doesn't boost the 'recovery' of the, just reduces the endurance cost of any powers that can slot endurance reduction.

I thought you could do the O-zone arc and swap alignments that way, to a hero or a villain? Or do you mean swapping from Resistance to Loyalist?

Before page 5, i was using Spirit Ward as a 'spot heal' on my pets to keep the in the action while taking damage. After page 5, I was able to swap Spirit Ward for Maintenance Drone, and use the same IOs. Maintenance Drone not just lasts longer then the absorb shield from Spirit Ward, but it doesn't cost as much Endurance. Plus, between it, and the heals from Protector Bots, even if they don't happen quite as often due to the Protector Bots getting a few more attacks, my bots are MUCH more durable and last longer in prolonged fights. The only issue I have is the time before you get Maintenance Drone, where you have zero healing at all, and you used to at least have the repair in Protector Bots to cover small holes in the build. Granted, as you can get Maintenance Drone at level 16, its available down to level 11, so its not that big of a deal overall. They did however remove the endurance gain from Repair completed, so while you used to be able to slot Endurance Modification in Repair, and help top off the endurance of your pets if/when you actually used Repair, you can't do that anymore. If they would add even a small endurance boost to the Protector Bots repair, and maybe the Maintenance Drone's power, I would be a very happy camper.

I wouldn't kite on a MM anyways, its too hard to get the pets to cooperate with the mob AI. I do occasionally do corner pulls, abusing bodyguard mode, but its not really kiting, so much as smacking a mob, or waiting for a group of ambushes around a corner. on a bot/traps MM, you should be near the softcap, if not even near the incarnate softcap just from FFG and the protector bot bubble. Once you add in 6 Seeker Drones all doing -tohit, (4 from the protector bot, two from the MM) you can really hit some insane levels of mitigation.

Between this mission, the 'Stop the Destroyers from wrecking the TPN' and I think one more mission gold side, there is a lot of effort put into the mission, for little to no XP. While I can understand the mobs are 'lower' tier, more like underlings then actual minions, they should still give some XP, even if it 'Underling' levels, like Rikti Monkeys, or the swarms from DE.

I would definitely not skip poison trap. Its the best -regen power in the game, hands down, (-1000%), yes its melee range, but you can run in, drop poison trap, and run out and go back to ranged without any issue. Its literally the sole reason to be a /traps. The next best -regen power in the game is only -500%, so you're literally doing twice the debuff power, and it can be made perma, as the cloud lasts for quite some time, and ticks every 10 seconds. Yes, MMs have an endurance problem, but its only an extra 25% endurance compared to the other support ATs, and you can compensate for it with enough +recovery, +end, and endurance discount set bonuses. Here is my build, though I just put tempered readiness in web grenade for the additional recovery, max end, and recharge. https://www.midsreborn.com/builds/download.php?uc=1744&c=731&a=1462&f=HEX&dc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