Maelwys

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!)