Maelwys

If you're talking about the SoulBound Allegiance Proc rather than the Gaussian's; the way it functions is a 5.25s buff that kicks in 0.5 seconds into a power animation. (see https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=set_bonus.set_bonus.boost_up ) Consider the Spiderlings. They have two attacks - "Chain Gun" which animates in 1.848s and recharges in 3.8s; and "Claw" which animates in 0.924s and recharges in 2s. If the Build Up proc kicked in during "Chain Gun" then it wouldn't affect the damage of that first Chain Gun; but the effect would persist for 3.902s after it finished animating (5.75-1.848) so in theory the NEXT "Chain Gun" attack could benefit from it; even though there'd only be a window of overlap of 0.102s. However in practice that time window is usually a bit too narrow for the combat AI, so the buff ends up wasted unless the Spiderlings are in melee... If the Build Up proc kicked in during "Claw then it wouldn't affect the damage of that first Claw; but the effect would persist for 4.826s after it finished animating (5.75-0.924) and the next "Claw" attack could comfortably benefit from it; with a window of overlap of 2.826s. https://cod.uberguy.net./html/entity.html?entity=pets_patron_powers_arachnobot_spiderling The Disruptors have more powers to chain - Disruptor Bolt, Disruptor Blast and Disruptor Tesla (at range) and Claw (in melee). They're still limited by animation time, but they cycle faster. In theory they could get three of those powers into the buff time window ("Claw" plus any two of the ranged powers) but in practice it's much more likely to only affect two of them. https://cod.uberguy.net./html/entity.html?entity=pets_patron_powers_arachnobot_disrupter Finally, the Epic Pool Pet. The Blood Widow has by far the most attacks of all of the Patron pets. Best case the Proc could activate in Spin or Poison Dart and then affect three other powers (Swipe, Strike and one other) during the buff time window. However it could also activate in Slash or Eviscerate and only affect two other powers. https://cod.uberguy.net./html/entity.html?entity=pets_patron_powers_blood_widow So the Proc will be "useful" in all of the pets... but which is optimal to slot it in? One thing to consider here is the number of pets affected - you have three Spiderlings and two Disruptors but only one Blood Widow. The Spiderling's attacks aren't as frequent or damaging as the Blood Widow due to the level difference... but the proc will be firing off twice or three times as often. In my experience this is actually weighted towards the Widow; since on average the proc will affect 3 Spiderling Claw attacks in the same period of time as it'll affect 2-3 Widow melee attacks... but the Widow attacks are much more powerful. For the Disruptors, on average the proc will affect 4 Disruptor attacks in the same period of time as it'll affect 2-3 Widow attacks. The Widow attacks are still considerably more powerful, but the Disruptors do have two advantages. First, their damage is mainly *RANGED* - so they'll be merrilly shooting at everything whilst the Widow is still running from mob to mob. Secondly, they deal mainly energy damage to the Widow's lethal damage (which tends to be much more heavily resisted) So in terms of "raw damage output" it's very close between the Disruptors and the Widow. But there are two other things to consider: (i) Disruptors are less suicidal than the Blood Widow. (ii) Venom Grenade debuffs the damage resistance of Toxic damage twice as much as other types. And a good chunk of the Widow's damage is Toxic. So my advice is that if you find you're able to keep the Widow alive for its entire duration; then slot the Soulbound Allegiance proc into it. Otherwise, go with the Disruptors. Now personally, I lean towards the Blood Widow - but that's because my Crabber doesn't lack for ranged damage, and by using either Darkest Night or the Support Incarnate alongside its regular auras it can push the Widow to the defence softcap.

Quite right. Unfortunately that might not work quite as well in this particular case with such a melee-centric build - their attack chain is essentially Slice/ArmLash/Frenzy/Kick with the occasional usage of Gloom and Venom Grenade. However if they were rocking Channelgun/Longfang/Supression/FG/VG then 100% Hovercrabbermind of Doom all the way! A quick fix would be to swap one of the Unbreakable Guard 4-piece sets for a Gladiator Armor 3-piece; the unique could be moved out of CrabArmor to free up another IO slot... or just swap the extra LOTG Def in Combat Jumping to a Karma -KB.

Overall it looks grand 👍 Several of the IOs haven't been boosted up to +5 (when you're placing the IO, just tap the NumPad "+" symbol a few times in Mids) but there's nothing that leaps out at me as too out of place. It's a lot more melee-centric than my example build, but that's just a question of playstyle... 🙂 You've a little bit of leeway left with your Melee and Ranged Defences - I make those 43.87% and 43.64% respectively whenever everything is boosted to +5 (apart from the LOTG +rechs which you'll likely want to leave attuned). Remember that you'll be getting at least +5% from Barrier constantly, plus another +8% from Support when you need it (~50% uptime) so you'll end up a bit over the regular softcap point. (e.g. you could comfortably drop the Guassian set from Tactics or one of the Unbreakable Guard sets from Tough/Fortification) I'm actually a big fan of putting the Guassian Proc into Aim: its proc rate remains capped (90%) as long as you have less than 70.85% worth of slotted recharge; which means that you can cram a level 50 +5 Rech/End/ToHit IO plus a level 50 +1 Rech IO into Aim as well without any negative impact on its proc rate. The only real gap I can see is Knockback Protection. At present you're only sitting on Mag 4 which is "OK"... but might cause some issues if you're going to be in melee taking most of the hits instead of your pets. I mentioned the most useful breakpoints for KB protection in another thread fairly recently - I'd aim for Mag 7 or Mag 8 if at all possible.

There're a good few Crabberminds about; it's certainly a fun build. I like duoing a Crabber with my Bot/Kin MM for maximum carnage - all those pets sitting at Defence and Damage caps result in absolute glorious pet bedlam. Few things worth noting - firstly you only need ~185% Global recharge plus Hasten to make the pet durations permanent. Also, it's quite possible for VEATs to effectively cap Defence on their Pets (10% from the Globals + 20-21% from double maneuvers = 30-31%. Then +5% from Barrier and/or 8% from Support Radial and/or ~13-14% from Darkest Night and/or +5% from Lore Pets... and Blood Widow also gets another +5%!) whilst keeping the pets permanent and your own Defense, Resistance and Maximum HP sky high. Finally, there are a few IO sets that are "new" to HC that are worth looking into for Crabbers- "Bombardment" for Targeted AoE Damage being the main one that springs to mind. Example build below, it can trade Longfang for a different attack (such as Arm Lash, Frenzy, FG etc) by swapping its position with one of the power pool abilities. Personally I hate the redraw from the Soldier attacks, so I'd avoid Burst, but YMMV! | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1501;732;1464;HEX;| |78DA5D94594F135114C7EF6C400B95A5B46587D696B2B530263E138240C29260206| |87C69463A81499AB6B625D147BF831188269AF8E48B0FE206EA83895FC3047C1154| |0459128C113C9DFF29AD3699FCEE3DF7FCCF36773A75FB4AD5B3B1BB8342F20E278| |C6C36369431E61793A96C6C2695885B66A6626A2967E4AC545211F42BA727F4BF4B| |363A9C316EC666D256DCCC148CA1D98C6125ADE4426CCC882F98B97F9D0A87A26A3| |A954A44274D234D3B97BD19B5161673B4AB2E1C9120BB68A59DF67E266D9A71EF48| |DA9A8FCE8D0CCD52BAA5446CCAC8E6CCCC9D06AAAE9B9E3A51F89D6962991076087| |985B90A563C00EB1FE6A98AE0075908B72A9E57D25EB2B54234D0A25515AFC926C1| |26491E5AE8AAD0EBF3243D59159C694A42B5CFD424330596DD022BFA149B5ECEE52| |19506ADAC3D219BAE89B247B21DB7E7A90C5F1A7939D753CEB9D7A91E076C8AC383| |3A9CA30A380EB64D702EF2AAE45954FE51EDB3AA53A6D06CD648609DACD99A36AE2| |F3F4F17F7E6BA877817EE3397C19A15B06E15F47F0137286935D75DED17767C897A| |A9452DA2B609B6B7E4E7663FF7655C31851E0FF7E739423FDE63B0E304F4FF429E3| |5D2FBD8D7A7E3ACA19F79093E4D3EBCC75A8ADBC8BE8D3CCBA63D8E7BC0710FA179| |41719BB9F7E66D9CB5EC30BFF28CBF8191EFCC5D9E05E569E59E5AB9F700D9DAF90| |EB5F7C2D6C17C49B902FC8E027B78FF17F79907CC23DC87E01672048F85CDF7A40D| |B136C4DACE9F4CD6761E82E14D68C33BB8F3BF69DBC53D7645E0D31D65F63307F83| |EEAC8DFB32DDBB35C7309D18BBC4AEF2BF8F4BD61AE3337C053CA13E51AA39FF27A| |87E8DF646E313F23AE3E088D3E8C7CEFA8BF019EE54004F39A50CFBFD1B316F5FC5| |B1782EFD464A9CD8138D32A4BC82605E1B7EB2CF9D639F68F525B176C7B459B2CE6| |706FC2E3923DC3881F33DD2FFA48A203BA7AE6633701B9CFFAE80F43E7DAC77CC5F| |549897DC25D5C7F0C14B5D79C45FBF592F58D92F5D592F55F6CD7E84A| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

True. To fix that particular issue I'd probably swap Weave to a 6-piece Reactive Defences set and move the Shield Wall unique into one of the others (Grant Cover? Maneuvers?)... but to be honest that build has more holes in it than just "too many LoTGs". The biggest is that it's only softcapped providing you're never attacking or being attacked (see: attack supression on Hide); but its main attacks could also do with more procs, Chain Induction and Shield Charge's 6-piece set bonuses are both irrelevant; the slotting of One with the Shield, Lightning Rod, the Leadership toggles and Stamina are all a little bizzare; and it's extremely endurance hungry so Ageless will be 100% required. It's *playable*, but I'd not call it *optimised*.

Disclaimer: I've played the attached on an i24 test server, but I've not rolled it up on Homecoming yet. Defensively it's got softcapped Positionals (whilst Hide and Stealth are under attack supression and without Destiny or Hybrid Incarnates active) Capped S/L resists with One With the Shield running, or 40% without it. 1861 HP normally, 2088 HP (capped) with OOtS running. Aid Self, plus the Panacea and Absorb Procs. Decent endurance recovery: 2.82 End/Sec + Panacea (roughly another +0.4125) normally, or 3.37 End/Sec + Panacea with OOtS. Stealthcapped if you toggle Sprint on. Extremely Mobile: Combat Jumping, Superjump + Superspeed plus the Lightning Rod + Shield Charge teleports. Offensively it's tailored towards AoE and it hits like an exploding Freight Train. Most of the important attacks are procced, and the ATOs reliably kick in to rehide or recharge Build Up (which has Gaussian for extra Oomph). It has Ball Lightning for an extra AoE (to chain with Jacob's Ladder and Chain Induction between the Lightning Rods and Shield Charges!) Between Elec's built-in sleeps, the Knockdown proc in JL and the Immob proc in BL it actually also has a little bit of CC. Edit: Since this is an i24 build it doesn't take the "Zapp" Snipe, so to bring it up to i25+, swap Mu Bolts --> Zapp and slot 5x pieces of the Sting of the Manticore set into it (skipping the Dmg/Interrupt/Rech piece) plus an Apocalypse Proc. Then move the spare enhancement slot from Stealth into Super Speed and slot 2x Blessings of the Zephyr into it to keep your Ranged Defence softcapped. The optimum ST attack chain works out at AS -> CI -> JL -> Zapp -> AS -> CI -> JL -> BL/HC with Hasten running, but you'll need to take Ageless Core Epiphany to keep that up indefinitely on a Pylon. Stalker - Electric_SD IOed.mxd

The perception bonus stacks too actually. Admittedly it's only really noticible in specific niche situations, but if memory serves (and a check on https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Limits#Stealth_and_Perception backs me up here) a VEAT running 2x Tactics and a rectified reticle IO is the only toon that can spot a Stealth-Capped Stalker solo at a reasonable distance (The Stalker lights up when they're 117.6ft away, as opposed to 10ft away for regular mortals). I remember funning around with them in RV back on live.

https://archive.paragonwiki.com/wiki/Knockback/Enemies_with_Knockback_Powers Mag 4+ KB Protection is "good enough for most content" Mag 7 is the next notable breakpoint: "good enough for the vast majority of gameplay". It stops your Gales, Hurls, Lifts, Levitates, Energy Torrents, etc. Mag 8 closes the gap a little bit further. That stops Hamidon's Electrolite Blasts, the Clockwork TK Blast/Antimatter beams, and Devouring Earth Hurls/Footstomp/Thorn Blasts; and Hurricane/Psi Tornados. At this point you're essentially covered against nearly all encounters versus the major enemy groups. Mag 9 stops Longbow Warden's Force Bolts and Fake Nemesis' Staff Bolts, which is the last of the major enemy groups completely covered. Mag 10 stops some specific AV abilities and Shivan Slams/Strikes/Smashes. Mag 11 basically just stops another few specific AV abilites and Proximity Mines. Anything above that (with the notable exception of a few Elite Boss "Longbow Warden" abilities at Mag 16) is firmly in the realm of specific AVs/GM abilities only. ...so really it's only worth going above Mag 8 if you regularly fight Nemesis or Longbow Bosses.

I'm not 100% sure if hami-Os can be slotted into the upgrade powers or not... but I wouldn't be surprised if they could. However, it's important to note that whilst the level 6 and level 32 powers "unlock" extra abilities on your pets - they don't actually contain those abilities. They give your pets a passive power that functions like a boolean variable. If it's TRUE, then your summoned pet pets can use their extra abilities. If it's FALSE then they can't. In other words... if you want to increase the effectiveness of your Ember Demon's shields or heals (for example) then you should slot Ribosome or Golgi HOs into your Summon Demons power, not into the Enchant Demon or Abyssal Empowerment powers.

Agree with the above posters that your Primary makes a big difference. For +Defence, Thugs (Enforcer Maneuvers) and Robots (Protector Bot bubbles) are also worth looking at. Regarding supplemental abilities that can assist with general survivability, your Incarnate slot choices are going to grant the biggest boosts, however there are a few others that are available earlier (such as Bonfire at level 35+ from the Epic pool, slotted with a KB->KD IO) I posted my Bot/Kin build recently here with a breakdown of the Incarnate slots etc that I found helpful. It regularly farms +4/8 maps solo, so it's definitely possible to get there. AVs/GMs can get a little trickier but they're mostly doable if you leverage your siphons.

That's a common misconception about pseudopets such as Bonfire. Procs tend to either apply to either the owner of a power (e.g. buff procs), or to the "target" of a power (e.g. damage procs). And unfortunately after a psuedopet is summoned, its ongoing affects are produced by powers belonging to the psuedopet, rather than by powers belonging to the player. This means that any "owner affecting" procs (such as the Force Feedback +Rech proc) will only affect you on the initial summoning of Bonfire. (The way the powers within Bonfire are coded is visible here - note that there's an entity called bonfire that in turn uses an autohit damaging power called bonfire - this "sub power" is what actually deals damage to mobs!) However target-affecting procs definitely still apply - the problem is that they won't show up in your combat log, because they don't affect YOUR powers but those of the pseudoet... so it's difficult to tell when they activate. The jury's still out on exactly how often these are able to kick in (some say it's every 2 second tick, others claim there's a lockout period of 10 seconds). However I did a quick + dirty test this evening in a PVP Zone (Warburg). I had my Bot/Kin MM repeatedly spam bonfire on another toon (my second account's EM/Rad Scrapper) whilst the target toon had their "Real Numbers" display showing their current Smashing Resistance value, so that I could see in realtime whenever the -Res proc kicked in. I only activated Bonfire 20 times to get a very rough feel for it; but out of those 20 casts I observed 11 instances where the proc kicked in; and only 2 of those were at the very start of the casting of bonfire. On one of those tests I even observed the -res proc kicking in twice in a row back-to-back during the same casting of Bonfire (first at the very start, and then again immediately after the first effect expired, so about 10 seconds in!). Another time when the proc kicked in it was at the very end of bonfire's duration, and the -res effect remained for 5-6 seconds after bonfire expired. If we assume that Psuedopets allow a Proc check every 10 seconds, then that works out roughly on par with what I'd expect from my Kin's ~13.11% chance of the proc activating in their Bonfire. (e.g. 20x casts of Bonfire with 5x chances to proc over their duration, so 100 chances to proc total. 11 Procs observed = 11/100 = 11% Proc activation) I imagine that's why Photon Grenade is performing better for you - I had a Bot/Dark and a Bot/Traps back on live, and Bot/Traps was my main for rather a long time. To the extent that back when I first rolled my Bot/Kin I really expected that I'd miss Trip Mine and Poison Trap so much that I'd give up and reroll it... I know that /Traps has a ridiculous amount of Crowd Control and survivability compared to a /Kin; so I suspect that aspect of Bonfire is probably wasted for you? On my Bot/Kin, I'll sometimes take a while to kill an AV, but large mobs just melt - so my problem is never "killing things faster" but "trying to keep my henchmen alive" (mainly the protector bots) whilst they're standing in the middle of an immense crowd of mobs that are all +4 to me. Bonfire is the main thing that allows that toon to pull half the map and keep its 'bots alive long enough for everything to start burning. At least between Incarnate Buffs. If I'm being perfectly honest, I'd not miss the -res much (if at all) if I dropped Bonfire, but that 25ft radius constant guaranteed knockdown is a total lifesaver.

I actually tested a bunch of the Bot/ Personal Attacks (including Photon Grenade) a few months ago on my Bot/Kin - PG's not bad, but it's fairly low-radius (15ft compared to Bonfire's 25ft) and the most it'll be firing off is about once every 7 seconds. The inherent stun is only a few seconds long and a paltry Mag 2; and the KD->KB proc by itself doesn't guarantee a bounce, so it'll never be a particularly reliable means of negating a mob's incoming damage (which is honestly the main point of Bonfire for me as a /Kin - even SoftCapped I definitely find that I need some extra damage mitigation when I'm running at +4/8. The fact that it keeps the foes nicely bunched up for Fulcrums and Burn Missile Spam is icing...) Admittedly when I tried PG it was whilst I was trying to pick a personal attack power, rather than as a contest between it and bonfire. I slotted it up as "-res debuff" with 5x Stupefy plus the -res proc... but I eventually gave up and reverted to Pulse Rifle Blast instead, since I found I lacked ST damage more than AoE damage. That said, OFFENSIVELY it's a miles better option than Bonfire - so it'd probably raise your clear speed a bit if your choice is between those two abilities? That -res proc will be doing most of the work though, since the damage by itself is rather pants (a quick glance at MIDs suggests it's the region of ~120 fully Fulcrum-Shifted...) ((Perhaps worth pointing out that my PPM Calculator says Photon Grenade + 5x Annihilation and the OF KD->KB IO has a 20.66% chance to proc for the KB->KD IO, and a 24.79% chance for the -res to kick in. Compare that with Bonfire's pretty-much-100% chance of KD, and a ~13.11% chance for -res!)) 😃

I happened across this thread whilst hunting for opinions on VEAT slotting, and kudos are definitely due! Lots of good ideas to be had! 🙂 I've been working on trying to push the Single-target DPS of my Widow as high as possible recently - so far the below is the best I've managed to come up with. It does make use of Procs, but I've noticed that the following attack chain pulls slightly ahead of just using 'Followup -> Lunge -> Slash/Swipe -> Strike' all the time: FollowUp -> Lunge -> Slash -> Strike >>> FollowUp -> Lunge -> Swipe -> Slash >>> FollowUp -> Lunge -> Strike -> Swipe Total chain time = 14.256s. Total damage = 6797.2 = 476.80 DPS. Endurance used = 66.24 = 4.65 End/Sec. That endurance consumption is obviously severe enough to drain the build normally (+3.01 End/Sec surplus) but it's different story with Ageless Core Epiphany running (minimum of +4.97 End/Sec surplus) I was a bit torn on whether to go for Mu or Soul Mastery - but the Blood Widow has a full melee attack chain (gaining greater benefit from the Soulbound Allegiance "Build Up" Proc) and sits at 33.58% Defence to all before Incarnate Abilities (so it can effectively hit softcap via Darkest Night and/or Lore pet buffs and/or taking Leadership Pool 'Maneuvers'). Unenhanced, a Blood Widow's attack chain tops out at around 5.310 DPS (Ranged) and 38.075 DPS (Melee); whereas the Mu Striker is much better behaved but only clocks in at around 19.021 DPS (Ranged). Between the above attack chain and the Pet, this build can push ~560 DPS in ideal conditions without any Assault or Lore Incarnate powers active; which makes it substantially better at pure single-target damage output when "soloing" than my next-best toon (an Energy Melee Scrapper that sits at ~460 DPS under the same conditions). Defencewise it's rather less optimal, but 1606HP plus 62% Positional Melee Defence and softcapped Ranged/AoE Defence appears to be enough for most content; and between the Reactive Defences IO and Foresight its damage resistance still climbs fairly high whenever its health drops; buying it time to use an Aid Self or just wait for the Panacea and Preventative Medicine procs to kick in whilst it slowly regenerates 19.6HP/second. Elude's crash is always a PITA, but it makes a handy dumping ground for set bonuses and I've found it rather decent vs the odd roomful of Nemesis etc. Note that "Confront" at Lv49 can be swapped out for Leadership Pool "Assault" during regular content (the build will still squeak in at just enough endurance recovery to keep the above attack chain going indefinitely with Ageless Core Epiphany running: 4.73 End/Sec surplus!)

I've played a Robot/Kin MM rather extensively now - the below build is obviously rather expensive, but it gives some idea of the sort of higher-end numbers and performance you can hit at endgame. Some notable features include: (i) "All positional defences for the MM at 40% or higher" (easily pushing beyond the 45%+ softcap permanently with a Barrier Incarnate). Personal Maximum HP also sits just over 1100, which means you're more likely to survive a lucky hit or three. (ii) The build manages to fit in all the Resistance and Defence pet uniques, so as long as you're using Increase density (and you should be) the 'bots willl end up with 61.14% L/C/P, 65.04% S/E, 35% F/N/T Res, plus a fair amount of defence. All positional defences for the Battle Drones and Assault Bot are at 40% or higher. The Protector Bots are more difficult to Softcap since they each only get a single bubble, but they can push past 27%... so layering Hybrid Slot's Support Core Embodiment (+12%) with either Destiny Slot's Barrier Core Epiphany (+5%) or one of the Lore pet's buffs will softcap it. (iii) Assault Bot, Protector Bot and Bonfire with the Knockback->Knockdown Procs. (You don't need one in the Battle Drones, since their only ability with Knockback is granted by "Equip Robot", which you should never be applying on them or the Assault Bot after you reach level 32). Fulcrum Shift + Bonfire + the Assault Bot's Missile Burn Patches is absolute devastation. (iv) Perma-Hasten. Important for Bonfire. (v) Personal attacks: Pulse Rifle Blast (Because you'll be at the damage cap most of the time, and you'll want something to chain with the Blackwand and/or Nemesis Staff for Single-Target damage). Fireball. (Just add Fulcrum shift. 'nuff said!) (vi) Group Fly, because there are times when you don't want your henchmen to have to walk on the caltrops or wade through rikti gas... and because they have built-in Rocket boots and it's fun to use them occasionally. The main weakness (as with most defence-heavy toons) is enemies with a lot of Defence and ToHit such as Nemesis... but it'll happily plow its way through a fire farm at +4/8, melting 2-3 groups of mobs at a time through a combination of Fulcrum Shift + Bonfire + Swarm Missiles Burn Patches; Fireball and the Void Radial Final Judgement explosion. It clears maps solo faster than most teams, even if you wait for your bots to get their bubbles up at the start instead of dropping a Barrier Incarnate buff on them. Typical playstyle is "Let your bots buff up, then switch them to aggressive, chuck a Speed Boost and an Increase Density on them and run into melee range of a huge mob (you can GOTO your 'bots to the mob before you charge in if you're not feeling suicidal). Drop a Fulcrum Shift on yourself and your Assault Bot (followed by a Transfusion if needed) and then drop a Bonfire right as the Swarm missiles are going off. As everything starts bouncing up and down on the bonfire whilst burning to death; start pulling more mobs with fireballs until you and all of your bots are sitting at the aggro cap." It's shedloads of fun, and a very active (but rewarding) configuration for a Mastermind. Bot AI has improved dramatically in the past few patches - they're much better at staying where you put them these days and using their AoE laser spam instead of charging around meleeing random minions, which makes Fulcrum Shifting them absolutely wonderful. I should probably also point out that my view is it's much better to avoid damage entirely via Defence instead of reducing it via Damage Resistance - so I'd never bother taking "Tough" on a MM. Between Fulcrum Shift, Siphon Speed and Siphon Power my enemies' damage output should be getting severely reduced anyway; but if I really need to reduce incoming damage for some reason then I can always switch a few pets (Battle Drones for preference) to bodyguard mode and start spamming Transfusion; and on occasions where I really get in over my head I can superspeed away... ...or use Rise of the Phoenix and THEN superspeed away... 😉 For Incarnates: Alpha Slot = Agility Core Paragon. Defence, Recharge and EndMod --> all of these are useful for you. You will never need Musculature - in regular content you will constantly be at the damage cap via twin-stacked Fulcrum Shifts; and against powerful single-targets you should be spamming Siphon Power. I would however still recommend slotting powers for damage, because you rarely lose anything by doing so; and it's useful against AVs. Destiny Slot = Clarion Core is useful for mezzing enemies, otherwise Barrier Core (it's an invincibility button. Use it right before diving into the middle of a huge mob for optimum Fulcrums!) Judgement = Void Radial. PBAoEs are lovely with you being in melee range for Fulcrum Shifts anyway; plus the 30s damage debuff can be very useful combined with Siphon Power + Fulcrum against AVs/GMs. Hybrid = Support Core Embodiment. +12% to pets? Complete no-brainer. Interface = Degenerative. Radial Flawless gives slightly better performance than the Core Flawless for most content. -MaxHP is by far the best debuff available. Lore = pick whatever you like. My personal favourite is the Warworks Radial Superior Ally - the Battle Orb gives a constant +5% Defence and has a heal that doesn't rely on accuracy, and the Victoria brings very nice Single Target damage, which Robots/ normally lacks. Plus they're mechanical; so it's both useful and thematic. This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.5.9 https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Mastermind Primary Power Set: Robotics Secondary Power Set: Kinetics Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Heat Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Battle Drones (A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage (3) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (3) Blood Mandate - Damage (7) Call to Arms - Defense Bonus Aura for Pets (9) Expedient Reinforcement - Resist Bonus Aura for Pets (21) Edict of the Master - Defense Bonus Level 1: Transfusion (A) Touch of the Nictus - Healing/Absorb/Recharge (7) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Healing/Absorb (11) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Healing/Absorb (11) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge (17) Miracle - Heal (21) Miracle - +Recovery Level 2: Siphon Power (A) Accuracy IO (19) Recharge Reduction IO Level 4: Pulse Rifle Burst (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage (5) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance (5) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge (9) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (23) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (25) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 6: Equip Robot (A) Endurance Reduction IO Level 8: Combat Jumping (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (46) Luck of the Gambler - Defense Level 10: Siphon Speed (A) Accuracy IO (19) Recharge Reduction IO Level 12: Protector Bots (A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage (13) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (13) Blood Mandate - Damage (15) Defense Buff IO (15) Defense Buff IO (17) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback to Knockdown Level 14: Fly (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance (46) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 16: Increase Density (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance (33) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (33) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance (37) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP (37) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% (43) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) Level 18: Hover (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed Level 20: Speed Boost (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%) Level 22: Maneuvers (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (23) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance (31) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge Level 24: Tactics (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff (25) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance (33) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance (34) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance (34) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up Level 26: Assault Bot (A) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Damage (27) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage (27) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (29) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Endurance/Pet +Resist +Regen (31) Sovereign Right - Resistance Bonus (34) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback to Knockdown Level 28: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (29) Recharge Reduction IO Level 30: Super Speed (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance (46) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 32: Upgrade Robot (A) Endurance Reduction IO Level 35: Bonfire (A) Overwhelming Force - Endurance/Recharge (36) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (36) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (36) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown (37) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge (45) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff Level 38: Fulcrum Shift (A) Accuracy IO (39) Accuracy IO Level 41: Fire Ball (A) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage (42) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance (42) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (42) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (43) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime (43) Superior Frozen Blast - Recharge/Chance for Immobilize Level 44: Transference (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge (45) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge (45) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix (A) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage (48) Superior Avalanche - Damage/Endurance (48) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (48) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (50) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (50) Superior Avalanche - Recharge/Chance for Knockdown Level 49: Group Fly (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance (50) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 1: Supremacy Level 1: Brawl

Now all I can think about is oceans of multicoloured dots, a huge pile of corpses and Back Alley Brawler wondering why the Dark Miasma guys are asking for someone to shoot an Oil Slick Arrow at them.

Which is why you only use Siphon Speed or Speed Boost on your pets if you're a masochist. Transfusion is plenty to keep their Endurance topped up, should you not manage to make their slotting self-sufficient. Also, Ranged MM Primaries (e.g. Robots) become remarkably well behaved if you take Group Fly and float *above* the mob. Takes a little getting used to for positioning purposes with Fulcrum Shift, but it tends to prevent your little blighters from flying into a panic should a few caltrops or a dead rikti monkey suddenly appear anywhere on the same map.

It's not that bad. Sure, Kin likes Melee and Bots like Ranged. But you'd only need the bots to run into the middle of each mob once every 45 seconds; and it's not the end of the world if you don't like micromanaging pet positioning. The way Fulcrum Shift works is that it applies two PBAoE damage buffs- one centred on YOU (+30% damage for 45s) and the other centered on YOUR TARGET. (One stack of +15% damage for 45s is applied for every enemy that is within the effect radius). So if you stay back beside your bots and use Fulcrum Shift on a big group of foes, then the bots will get +30% damage and any melee teammates near the foes will get the multiple stacks of +15% damage. The good thing about ranged pets is that they annoy allies much less and don't care as much about enemy runners. Bots are also easy to softcap due to the Protector Bot's bubbles (7.5-12% Defence per bubble depending on slotting. 1x goes on you and each Protector Bots, 2x goes on the Drones and the AssBot) and their main damage type (energy) is relatively rarely resisted. Their animations are LONG though, and you'll typically want to slot KB->KD IOs in them and get some kind of AoE CC (Patron immobilises or Bonfire with KB->KD works a treat) to counteract things fleeing from AssBot's Missile Burn Patches. In optimised endgame teamups you'll be relying on your primary much less than your secondary during "everyone charge to the next mob ASAP" map clears, so don't worry overly if the pets get left behind to mop up stragglers. Against AVs or GMs, they'll work a bit better. And it's always worth at least using a non-upgraded AssBot for its "Plasma Blast" -regen debuffs if nothing else. I will say that when you IO it up, any /kin MM is a total soloing MONSTER. Absolutely ploughs through entire mapfuls of purples. The main prerequisite is getting your defences up first though - bot/ is easy to Softcap, and its pet inherent resistances mesh extremely well with "Increase Density". A typical IO build brings your pets to North of 60-65% Resistance to S/L/C/P and 35% to F/N/T, and 50%+ defence; with Transfusion recovering over 850HP to everything every few seconds.

Bot/Kin can work pretty well, but getting it to that point requires a bit of an odd playstyle and power selection compared to other Bot/ MMs. Firstly, Kinetic's Heal is centred around a targeted foe. This means that you really need to make use of "Goto" for healing - and your ridiculously squishy drones aren't likely to survive for very long until you can increase their survivability. Softcapping defence is the normal method of doing this, and it's perfectly possible (with a Support Incarnate slot) to softcap yourself, your Drones and your Assault Bot. However Kin's "Increase Density" is a brilliant Resistance buff (assuming you can be bothered to cast it every 60 seconds); and the damage types it gives resistance to are all different from your Robot's inherent resistances - when combined with the +35% you can get from IOs, your Bots can actually get rather tanky. Secondly, Fulcrum Shift works best when the things you want to buff are in melee range of multiple foes; and it has a somewhat longish cast time. This means that you really need to keep a large number of foes in one spot with your Assault Bot in the middle of them, and you need to keep those foes from being knocked back with Swarm Missiles. The traditional method of stopping things from flying around is to take Mu Mastery and Electrifying Fences; but that's only a 10ft radius which is a bit small for Fulcrum Shift. Bonfire with a Knockback-to-Knockdown IO in it works much better, although you'll need to stick a Knockback-to-Knockdown IO in both Assault Bot and Protector Bots as well (Drones doesn't need one; they only inflict Knockback with the ability granted by Equip Robot, which you should never be using after level 32 on anything other than your Protector Bots) Optimum Pet Slotting is: [Drones] HO Acc/Dam Lv50+3, HO Acc/Dam Lv50+3, Sovereign Right Acc/Dam Lv50+5, Sovereign Right Resistance Bonus, Expedient Reinforcement Resistance Bonus, Call to Arms Defensive Bonus [Protector Bots] Blood Mandate Acc/Dam Lv50+5, Blood Mandate Acc/Dam/End Lv50+5, Sovereign Right Acc/Dam/End Lv50+5, Overwhelming Force Dam/Knockback-to-Knockdown, Common Defence Lv50+5, Common Defence Lv50+5. [Assault Bot] Superior Mark of Supremacy Dam, Superior Mark of Supremacy Acc/Dam, Superior Mark of Supremacy Acc/Dam/End, Superior Mark of Supremacy Endurance +Resist/+Regen, Edict of the Master Defensive Bonus, Sudden Acceleration Knockback-to-Knockdown. Solo Playstyle is: 1. Summon Protector Bots (or dismiss Drones and Assault Bot), use 'Equip Robot'. 2. Summon Drones and Assault Bot, use 'Upgrade Robot'. 3. Defensive/Follow all except the Assault Bot - use Passive/Follow on the Assault Bot. Don't cast Speed Boost on any of them just yet. 4. Find a big mob of foes, run into the middle of them and cast Bonfire. 5. As soon as Bonfire lands; cast Fulcrum Shift. Then switch your Assault Bot from Passive to Aggressive mode. 6. 45 seconds later, swap your Assault Bot back to Passive/Follow mode and Bonfire + Fulcrum Shift on another Mob. Your pets will catch up to you whilst you're casting Bonfire; and should start firing by the time it lands and you've cast Fulcrum Shift. Your Assault Bot is your main source of damage, and you want it to be standing in the middle of the group when you use Fulcrum and not start firing until Fulcrum is applied. You can also use Bonfire/Fulcrum from range, but this requires ending your Robots into the middle of a mob using Passive/Goto; then switching them to Aggressive afterwards. This is a bit faster with a slightly higher damage output; but requires more micromanaging and leaves you open to getting whacked/sniped since you never get the benefit of Bodyguard mode. (in teams it's much easier: just let the Tank herd stuff; then Goto your Assault Bot after them and cast Fulcrum Shift. Although Points 1 and 2 still stand- your team will be much more effective if your pets never deal any Knockback and your Assault Bot doesn't waste its time using Flamethrower!)