Maelwys

It does indeed.

The Force Feedback +Recharge Proc isn't an offensive one. As long as a power takes Knockback set IOs you can stick a FF Proc in it and that Proc will then get a chance to trigger "on power activation" (instead of "on inflicting damage" or even "on inflicting knockback/knockdown"). Therefore if you're using Trip Mine as a PBAoE attack (and you should) then you'll be granting yourself a rather hefty regular recharge buff... and getting your Nuke (e.g. Rain of Arrows) up faster whilst inflicting decent AoE damage? More than worth it IMO. The fact that you can't Damage Proc it up stops it from being overpowered; but it's still a good power pick if you're utilizing it as a set mule + a FF Proc.

Trip Mine on a /Devices Blaster is actually decentish because it's uninterruptible. Trip Mine on a /Traps (anything except a MM) is total whittle. Unfortunately neither are worthwhile for offensive procs because they self destruct and vanish before damage procs get a chance to activate. But they're a decent spot for gaining set bonuses (5 piece Armageddon minus the proc?) and can make good use of a Force Feedback +Rech.

Then check AA's "Active" Spines/FA Brute build here (I linked the thread above already but this is likely the specific post you'll want)

It's that time again... "DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-(inhale)-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!"

I'm without access to a PC until Friday, but you really need to decide if you want to AFK Farm or Active Farm (the two have very different build goals) and also if you're completely wedded to the idea of a Brute or not (since Tankers are considerably more effective for farming in all but a few specific powerset combos and Spines/FA isn't one of them) Further Reading:

There are different base stats based on rank but you can can always boost your henchmens' HP a fair bit before it caps out (by +50% in fact... but remember that your lower tier pets spawn at -1 and -2 to you). That's part of what makes /Marine so effective on MMs. They also get to cap their damage resistances out at 90%. So you can get some really tough bricks by capping out their MaxHP plus layering up their Defense and Resistance.

There's a bit of synergy there. Slotted FFG will give about 16% def to all; throw in the Aura uniques and Maneuvers and that'll be pushed to ~30%... so you'll only need 15% more from the -ToHit and Barrier Destiny/Support Hybrid to Softcap. No DDR, but that's less of an issue for pet builds as the attacks are more distributed and you'll have some CC (Poison Trap + Caltrops) plus reasonable levels of healing (with a Panacea Proc slotted into Dark Empowerment plus the Siphon Lifes). Getting your own Defence up so you can reliability ToeBomb Trip Mines will also enable you to shore up Necro's somewhat lackluster AoE capability. And the huge -Regen debuff from Poison Trap and stackable -Res from multiple Acid Mortars will help vs GMs. However at the end of the day... it's just not on the same level as a Necro/Time let alone a Necro/Marine. And getting FFG and Maneuvers to remain active on mostly melee pets is tricky. Expect to be micromanaging henchmen positioning a lot.

Some of the other ATs/powersets have similar stuff - an example that pops into my head is the Sentinel Super Reflexes powers "Master Brawler" and "Practised Brawler" (which are each coded to exclude you from taking the other one). Usually this is specified in the Power Description in-game; and usually Mids will stop you from being able to take impossible power combinations when you're planning your build out. But if in doubt, the Test Server is your friend.

https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=controller_control.mind_control.telekinesis&at=controller

There's a little synergy in Elec Mastery: I've got a few Sents that use the AoE Immob (Chain Fences) to keep stuff in place. (and in at least one of those builds it's not even procbombed...) 100% agree that there are much better "utility" pools out there though if maximum damage output isn't your schtick.

Plus the fact that the biggest hitter abilities like Havoc Punch actually come online at level 35 (and so remain available at level 30). It wasn't so long ago that your Primary and Secondary powerset capstones only became available at levels 32 and 38 respectively, and there's only a comparatively small number of taskforces and Ouroboros arcs that cap out below 30.

Fair point, even if a lot of swill ends up with more than one iteration through the pig. (Warning: do NOT google "coprophagia" from your work computer.... although if a coworker is dumb enough to leave theirs unlocked, have at it!) 💩 🐽 ((and yes, it was actually dumb enough to give the pig two sets of ears and no visible eyes by default))

Look further down, there's another 35.5ft (which unlike the first 15ft cancels when you attack or click a glowie)

Seismic/Elec with procced out Thunderstrike and recoloured Void Judgement? (Epic could be Arsenal for LRM, Elec for EM Pulse or Force for Forcebomb...) Or just a Seismic/RadArmor Sentinel with procbombed Ground Zero.

Nah. We'd end up with even worse tat than the above. AI output is known as "slop" for a reason. It bears a strong resemblance to pigswill. Isolating a LLM to produce output for use by MMORPG NPCs will likely result in a regurgitated assortment of tired old Everquest and WoW tropes with no plot coherence; and if you attempt to weight it to be superhero appropriate it'll have trouble determining any difference between 60's Stan Lee paperbacks and a copy of Watchmen. Besides, we already have plenty of our own Stupid Jerk Hackers around here. (Next thing you know we'll all be Gone to the Americans...)

None. It boosts raw Healing but not +Regeneration or -Regeneration.

Sucking for regular content =/= Sucking for farming. If you're only ever dealing with less than or equal to a single aggro cap's worth of enemies then the changes I pointed out above won't overly impact you (beyond a slightly reduced killspeed). It's on AE farming missions that you're going to notice a major difference to before (since several dozen mobs will be shooting at you simultaneously on top of the regular old 17 that're trying to chew your face off). It's possible to build a /FA Brute for AE farming but it involves major build concessions so your damage output will lag considerably behind a non-Granite /Stone Brute and practically any decently built Tanker.

For Set Bonuses; yes. For raw aspect enhancement; nope. Boosted 50+5s give better raw numbers better than attuned (at least over most of the level range) For "Globals" (special enhancements that are coded as set bonuses); yes. You want these to be attuned otherwise you lose access to them at lower levels. For "Procs"; it doesn't matter. As long as the power they're slotted in is accessible you'll get the benefit of them regardless of whatever level you/they are. https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Exemplar_Effects_on_Enhancements

Yes:

This. And it's worth pointing out that there's no need to spend a long time and spend lots of imaginary money in order to try different builds and/or enhancement slotting combinations out:

Some further relevant reading:

Also, this bit is old info - the bug that prevented multiple Performance Shifter from all giving benefit simultaneously was fixed years ago. @Psyonico is quite correct here in that whilst all those IOs are desirable and useful there is always an opportunity cost- you have to use up one of your precious enhancement slots on each of them. Many of them will be worth this tradeoff on virtually all builds, but I have plenty of characters which simply cannot fit a Panacea, a Miracle and a Numina (for example) so you need to think and prioritise. After meeting your immediate essential build requirements/goals in the most efficient way possible, then by all means use any leftover enhancement slots on unnecessary "would be nice" perks (like additional Mez resistance and surplus regeneration/recovery/recharge/etc)

They also have seven times the Aggro Cap of a regular Tank/Brute/etc and the part of them that is dealing damage (the pets) can "die" with minimal repercussions. MMs generally can't hold aggro worth a damn (outside of Presence Pool shenanigans) but their pets can technically attract the majority of the map's attention whilst the rest of the team focus Single-Target attacks on one thing at a time (which is a horrible and outdated way to play and a Perma-PA Controller does it infinitely better). The thing that makes me personally believe that the Devs originally thought Brutes = Redside Scrapper and Mastermind = Redside Tank is that in those days Jack Emmert was in charge and there were much wackier ideas/notions than using a low-threat pet AT as a tank.