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I can speak a little to the "a boy and his robot" (both before and after MM revamp for Robotics). The current version of Robotics is better for MM+T3only, but it is still somewhat lacking... I blame the poor-ish ST damage more than the actual damage scale.

I no longer bother with KB->KD in the Robots. I think there is really only one attack from them that will still do KB (against even-level enemies, not counting clocks). It's not a big deal to me. My T1 have the %BuildUp piece, plus the Explosive Strike %damage. The first is very reliable (often multiple triggers simultaneously) and the latter does slightly speed up clear times for me. The protector bots get a pair of ATO pieces, 2 uniques, and then a Hami-O Centriole and a LotG Def/global recharge. The T3 gets 4xATO + 2xATO. When possible, I like to add a HamiO Endoplasm to Dark Servant for more control. I think when I have an extra slot I also will sometimes add a Trap of the Hunter %damage piece, but that is very optional. (4x Cloud Senses is also my default). 6-slot Tactics seems like overkill to me, but I smell what you are cooking. The Kismet piece in Weave is something I'd just drop, as it only helps the MM and often Weave isn't needed to be toggled on.

Anecdote: In the current game, the only open-world content I see Masterminds regularly having trouble zerging are Giant Monsters like nu-Eochai, Lusca (with Tentacles), and the Arachnos Flier (far less trouble IMO, but there are some subtleties with it relating to its shield, regeneration, and travel times). Every other GM (except for Rikti Dropship) is something I regularly see MM's fighting toe-to-toe. The first two GMs are problematic because of AoEs... nuEochai's has an auto-hit patch, and Lusca with even just one tentacle can muster multiple AoEs to grief and MM+henchmen. This is not to say those GMs are unbeatable, rather they are in a category where many MMs don't bother with them because of the extra effort required. No-cost auto-upgrades of henches certainly would make life even easier against those two GMs... because now those MMs that can't/won't/don't zerg those GMs would zerg them. Right now my Lusca solo times (all 22 merits) are rate-limited by the 2-minutes between Destiny Barrier modulated by the resummoned henches not having their upgrades. Lusca would become very easy for me if the henches didn't have to be upgraded. The next lower tier of annoying Giant Monsters is IMO nuJack-in-Irons and (a little bit) Kraken. nuJack because it can chain a bunch of AoE (including some controls) that "get lucky" and mess up an MM trying to zerg. Kraken has the Damage aura which isn't so much of a big deal, but with its AoEs it means that it (currently) it is smart not to resummon a hench too close to it. Most other GMs have some sort of AoE attack(s), but in practice I haven't observed them to be worried about (mostly because of ToHit checks). There are adjacent points to be made about MM secondaries.... whatever team buffs are in those are the same types of buffs that other ATs have. That is: no "for free for the henches at all times". Any "Aura buffs" from a secondary will still have to wait for the timing of a complete summons before affecting a newly summoned henchmen. FWIW: I'd probably rank /Marine as the best of the MM secondaries because of every tool it brings to a fight, plus a "patch", and then either /Time or /Traps. Traps is very busy (but powerful) while Time should be slightly more laid-back.

I see what the above Invulnerability slotting is trying for, but it is a different approach than my own. In particular, I approach Invincibility and Tough Hide somewhat differently to boost +ToHit. Tough Hide is IMO where the Kismet piece should go, waiting until a late Combat Jumping pick seems a poor choice to me. I agree that for a LOT of content, toggles (and even Dull Pain) aren't "necessary". I absolutely recommend that Tankers include at least one Power Transfer %Heal piece in an auto-power. The bag-o-HP makes that piece a better self-heal than the Panacea's +HP (of course, the Panacea also provides +End) MMV on how much of the Psi Resistance is actually needed. I also included a few other powers to see some other set choices I made.

The most common circumstance when I feel (no data, just feels!) like a Tanker is outperforming a Scrapper in DPS is either/both: lots and lots of scrubs for Tanker PBAoE to shine specific content where the enemies heavily resist the damage type that the Scrapper is dishing (because Tankers can rely more on mixed %damage from procs)

Here are a couple of power pool suggestions to channel "Magneto" Hover (with or without Fly) is IMO necessary to get that travel feels of Magneto. It's pretty much his flight pose from the first X-Men films. I like the Force of Will's Wall of Force animation (with knockdown!), and the predicate powers have those squiggly mind lines!

To echo @Uun... there are a LOT of enemies that use S/L "gun" attacks. Also: 13.5% is a pretty healthy bit of defense, enough that I find it somewhat worthwhile to boost (via enhancements) the Defense attribute, which isn't always the case for my pool/Epic/Patron +Defense choices.

Personally: I try to avoid using "thumbs down" on suggestions, because I also think of it (without some details of why I dislike teh suggestion) as a /jranger. I also see some users simply hit most replies in certain threads that don't agree with their favored opinion as a thumbs down, which seems to dilute whatever meaning it could have as some sort of childish akanbe response.

I'm not trying to argue with people, I am arguing against the proposal. I find the proposal "I want henches without having to upgrade them" to be something of a rookie-level request that doesn't consider a lot of other things that are happening under-the-hood about how MMs work, nor does it consider certain elements of how the game balances content for ATs. As a player that has taken MMs through a very wide variety of content and difficulty levels... a "no-effort henchmen upgrade" would make an AT that is already pretty easy to play even easier. I don't think this is necessary, because on HC MMs already have it pretty good! Off the top of my head: Resummon timeouts are faster than ever, with no map-changing issues (except at the 1% level I noted above). One-cast-to-buff-them-all. Lower levels at which the T3 hench is available. Easy access to all enhancements and sets. New slotting choices for Primary powers. New secondaries. IMO, MMs are probably the AT with the least need for radical changes to mechanics. I'd put Kheldians at the top of that list, and they would almost certainly require under-the-hood game changes to 'adjust' their performance across all content. For real creativity in suggestions, I'd like to read about ideas for new epic powersets for MMs; just my opinion but I think the choices we have for MMs are fine, but a little stagnant.

So why make a suggestion that *is* pretty much the thing the devs aren't going to do? ...and... Why make it such a complicated suggestion? It isn't as if the suggestion is going to "trick" the devs into revamping the entire AT by having to rework game mechanics under-the-hood and visible to players (who would have to respec). As I posted in my first reply in this thread... I don't think it makes any sense (especially in terms of "game balance") that the first upgrade isn't baked in to all the tiers. I've come to accept that the (current) devs feel that their is some deep, underlying reason to have each MM take a level 6 power to unlock certain potential in a level 12 and level 22 power(*1).... so whatever mechanism anyone can imagine about how that potential could be unlocked without taking or casting that level 6 power isn't going to happen. I legit don't know why the HC devs stuck to this philosophy! I suspect part of it is because they simply don't know what else to put as a T4 MM primary power that would be "as balanced" (across primaries) as the current "first upgrade". There really isn't a strong argument (any more) for wanting to not cast that upgrade on one tier of henchmen. I'm not advocating that they reverse course or pick a different path, since we got a wider choice in how to slot those T4 powers and the one-cast-to-buff-them-all approach is perfectly workable. EDIT: (*1) I always felt that on Live, with CoV launch, the rationale for the first upgrade was meant to implement a "scale up" of powers for T1 henchmen that doesn't really exist for HEATs Nova and Dwarf Forms... and that the T2 and T3 just sort of seen as "bigger" versions of the T1, so they got the exact same treatment. What I mean is that after a certain level, the Nova form really drops off in utility... so the first and second upgrades for MM henchmen exist to make the henchmen scale up to typical at-level threats. My personal beef is that the first MM power-up comes so early in the game content that it might as well be "baked in" to each tier, especially now that there is no debt below level 10. There is practically very little content that will be experienced by a MM with only a single T1 henchmen that hasn't been upgraded, except by player choice.

Again: There is no power that I am aware of that works this way in the game. I can't think of any MM that actually wants a new (endurance consuming toggle). Just ask for the henchmen to have all their upgrades upon summoning, as that is a more honest ask and stop trying to invent potential mechanics (which don't exist in game) to satisfy that request without asking for it. A couple things that it isn't clear are understood here... The one "aura power" that affects everyone is Group Fly. We already have plenty of evidence that this sort of aura power doesn't discriminate what it works on. It is pretty easy for me to imagine that some rando MM walking by with this nu-Upgrade power is going to end up upgrading more that just her henchmen. The Henchmen upgrades are already subtle and prone to "issues". In my own experience, having the upgrade(s) available as "cast" powers is the mechanism by which I can overcome subtleties like: Occasionally, henchmen don't get the upgrade (or "lose" part of an upgrade). This is weird, but I've seen examples where one T1 robot lost the "Super Leap" ability when zoning. When zoning between maps, generally as long as one henchmen has the upgrades applied... all the henchmen get the upgrades upon entering the new map. I mention this because this is an implementation that may defy logic, but it offers clues as to how this aspect of henchmen works. Henchmen don't get the effects of auras "instantly", either when summoned or when moving close back to the MM. I mention this because often the request to "have MM upgrades be free-ish" is predicated on an argument like "My MM is in the heat of battle and the henchmen die before I can upgrade them"... but if a MM player has played enough different content with different strategies they will come to understand this and how to mitigate it. This "magic aura" as is a request to mess with a pretty well-understood set of game and play mechanics that we've been using on Homecoming for 6 years.... and mess with it by adding under-the-hood systems that the players will have no reason to believe would actually work. This proposed solution is convoluted, and the problem it addresses is a trivial one based on some mental model of being annoyed at having to cast an upgrade. The devs already revisited MM primaries and this was explicitly NOT something that was going away. I'm trying to offer explanations as to why it would probably be a bad idea, even if the devs were inclined to make this change.

It means that the kids are having Ronco-levels of fun!

And you are asking that they turn into auras. This isn't a "straw man" argument by me against the idea. A straw man argmuent is bringing up Sentinels... because the game did have characters with ranged attacks and armors. You are literally asking for a power that I don't think exists in the game. EDIT: The only power I can think of that comes close to what is being described is... wait for it... Group Fly. And as soon as the henchmen were out of range of this new "pseudopet", they'd lose their upgrades, which would stink. Also... have you seen how closely pseudopets stick to Masterminds?

To my point: if the henchmen is positioned outside of the toggle radius, it would lose the benefit. There are no infinite-duration clicky powers nor are there infinite range aura powers.