tidge

I was going to use each of them as a mule, but the mule options for Hibernate are mediocre.

Revisiting a not-too-old thread.... I'm noodling around with a Force Field / Beam Rifle Defender. This is not a primary I've used since some early days on Live; I've only played with Beam Rifle on Blasters. Here's the Power picks I think I'm going with (spoilers for shrinkage): Force Field Beam Rifle Sorcery Leadership Leviathan Mastery There are more attacks than a Defender needs, but I found myself wanting to leverage: -Resistance in Repulsion Bolt %-Resistance in a few Beam Rifle attacks more Beam Rifle attacks to spread Disintegration multiple quick-fire attacks (again Disintegration) I wanted the Stun from Lancer Shot (it felt weird not having any sort of mezz) I am juggling the ATOs and %damage I felt like it fit the concept to be spamming the Beam Rifle attacks. I'm running Dispersion Bubble as my Kismet +ToHit Mule (plus 3xShield Wall and a LotG), and Maneuvers with 6xReactive Defenses. I'm not sure where I'll land with Epic/Patron. I won't have an extra slots once the Resistance toggle is 4-slotted... so the leading candidates were Leviathan or Soul Mastery. I like Power Boost (Soul Mastery) but aside from the Defense buffs I don't really have anything worth boosting, and I know if the short-duration boost is something I could pull off reliably for teammates. I think with some juggling of slots (by swapping out Victory Rush for another LotG mule) I could get the recharge time down to about 42 seconds on Power Boost.... but I am never sure if I want to make those compromises for a high-level power pick... with those kind of returns.... since I'm selfish, I wonder if Mu Mastery's Power Sink (at 42 second recharge) isn't a better option? I'm not sold on the order of the final 4 powers.

Thanks for the correction. I remembered the 50+5 and 53 being close.

It's been a while since I've seen this bit of advices offered regarding how to (relatively easily) get attuned enhancements: The market house (/AH) buckets/auto-converts an enhancement at a specific level with enhancements that are attuned. It is possible to "convert" a non-attuned enhancement to an attuned one by putting a non-attuned piece on the market and buying an attuned one in its place. You do have to pay the price of the auction house's "vig", and any buy-it-now inefficiency of course. Once a character is level 50, Enhancement Catalysts will drop one-per-24 hours, assuming the player is actually defeating enemies to get drops (it doesn't take many defeats, maybe 50). If there are set bonuses to be had, I almost always go attuned (or use sets that don't need to be attuned). The times when I don't attune but use boosted (max level)+5 pieces instead are: There is no set bonus I want, and I simply want as much enhancement as possible. Common examples from my builds include Healing/Recharge, Accuracy/Endurance reduction. Every once in a while there is a power that only takes a certain type of enhancement, and the set bonus simply isn't something I care that much about (as much as I want the actual enhancement values). Examples include the Adjusted Targeting Recharge piece (a ToHit Buff set) in Link Minds (also falls into previous category) or when using only a couple of pieces from a set like Analyze Weakness (Accurate Defense Debuff) I don't feel like spending Inf on the market for something like a Hami-O or D-Sync for the equivalent set of enhancements. I don't object to shelling out Inf for Hami-O's or D-Syncs, but in order to get the maximum boosts from those, it typically becomes necessary to buy multiples and combine them. A Merit Vendor can be used to buy boosters. IIRC the enhancement values of a boosted 50+5 piece are just above the enhancement values of an "equivalent" level 50 Hami-O. The gap widens of course for higher-level HO/DS.

A quick comment on using Perfect Zinger %damage: The Tanker's Taunt is not an ideal place for this piece, as %damage requires a ToHit check, even when slotting in powers that otherwise do not require a ToHit check (like Taunt). IIRC, there are a couple of Accuracy/Recharge options in Threat enhancements... but slotting Recharge is working against the %proc rate for the already quick-cycling Taunt powers. This sort of calculus is one of the reasons I prefer the Mocking Beratement set over Perfect Zinger... I'm either single-slotting or 6-slotting Taunt. Perfect Zinger's %damage is a perfectly good piece to add to actual attacks, as described by @Spaghetti Betty, if the attack is going to also have Accuracy slotted. For Tanker Melee slotting, I am more likely to slot Accuracy/Endurance Reduction (at 50+5) than I am Accuracy/Damage (at either 50+5 or 53 via Hami-O or Superior Winter or whatever). This is because the %proc attacker benefits from spamming those AoE attacks (via as much global +Recharge as possible, since global recharge does not hurt %proc chances) so the Endurance cost is often a limiting factor. There also exist Accuracy/Damage/Endurance Reduction pieces as a compromise.

The 'Tanker Buff' was that the area of their Melee AoE attacks increased, so they will have more possible targets near them as compared to a Brute using the same attack. It's not that their %proc rates are different, it's just that they have more potential targets. This buff was IMO a pretty fair one, as Tankers used to commonly take a long time to clean up all the scrubs in a spawn. Of course: most of the mobs in a typical spawn are scrubs, so hitting more of them with %damage whittles the size of the spawn even faster than it used to (for Tankers). It used to be embarrassingly slow for (some) Tankers to clear large numbers of scrubs, let alone a couple of bosses being in the mix (at least for the ones I played). For me: Tanking play-style hasn't changed, except that I'm far less worried about quick-changing targets (for Punchvoke) when a Tanker is completely surrounded. The only circumstances when I do anything like 'herding' with a Tanker for my own benefit are: The spawn is down to a small number of hard targets; I'll drag these to the next spawn if it is close by There is another spawn in range that I want to get the attention of; this is essentially dragging the next spawn to me

As mentioned above: If the MM attacks are now doing something they didn't used to do (e.g. -Regeneration in Robotics), perhaps they should be examined. Even before those recent changes; I always found the AoE MM attacks to be better at drawing aggro than Provoke (Concealment pool). Also: the AoE attacks can be slotted with a soft control (like Knockdown) or a %-Resistance piece.

There is also a spectrum of 'the meta' favoring something, versus punishing something. Without %damage the spectrum for rewards is significantly wider between AT and play styles. without %damage, it's not as if a non-damage-dealing class can finish a -1x8 'defeat all' mission in anything like the time it take a Blaster to complete the same mission at +1x8.

No disagreement; I want to point out that Rewards (Inf, XP, Drops, Merits) come from defeating mobs, not surviving mobs.

Just so I understand... is the proposal that Homecoming has to have radical changes to %procs (and seemingly most everything else about game mechanics) because somebody imagines that in this wonderfully fun game (for all players and playstyle choices) some hypothetical person is maybe having (exponentially) more fun than somebody else?

I'm doubling down: Every proposed change to %procs appears to me to be either: An overhaul to address some marginal part of the game, or A solution in search of a problem Furthermore: any attempt to build a complete overhaul to %procs that has its origin in a single perceived problem with %procs (e.g. "IMO, that Tanker cleared a x8 spawn too fast!") is NOT approaching this issue in a holistic manner. The Homecoming game is at a VERY good place: pretty much every AT can solo play a HUGE amount of the game's content at roughly an equivalent pace (i.e. order of magnitude completion times) for a commensurate level of rewards. The current %procs make this possible.

Absolutely not: %proc damage is pretty much the ONLY thing that allows solo ATs with relatively poor damage scales (e.g. Controllers) to get clearing-defeat-all-mission-times within the an order of magnitude of the DPS-oriented ATs. The game's rewards... Influence, Drops (not counting Prismatics or Brainstorms), and Merits... fundamentally come from defeating as many enemies as possible in as short amount of time. My perspective is that some folks often want to tweak %proc based on some second-order consideration of a couple of ATs (or even more narrowly: a couple of different primary/secondaries in the same AT) while ignore the zeroth-order effects of just how poorly entire ATs perform without a potential boost from %damage... should the player of such an AT choose to make slotting compromises. AFAIK: Damage scales already come into play for Temporary (attack) powers... if you want to experience a difference in mission complete times run a level 5 (or 10) Blaster and a level 5 (or 10) Controller through content using only P2W temporary attacks.

To resurrect both a thread and an old Usenet meme: It must be September when the Yellow Salvage prices go above 20 Kinf.

I like the Time Secondary (on other AT, haven't played on a MM). I'll repeat my comments that while Temporal Mending is valuable (moreso for allied players than henchmen) I think for a Robotics MM I'd rely on the Maintenance Drone to heal the henchmen. I'm not saying skip Temporal mending, but maybe don't slot it. It's a real toss up who you want to be more valuable for: henchmen or PUGmates. Hitting Defenses for the -2, -1, 0 level henchmen is more important than trying to heal them IMO. Masterminds have damage scales of 0.55; their attacks have a rather large Endurance cost. IMO it isn't practical to chase all of the following to try to improve damage output of the MM's personal attacks: %proc damage set bonuses, including (global) Recharge (needed for %procs) Accuracy (needed for %procs) Endurance reduction (needed if spamming attacks) My 'one robot build' attempts to put more damage in the MM via %procs, so it isn't as if I can't imagine how to do such a thing. IMO there is no reason to try to go overboard with %damage in MM attacks, which is why I leverage set bonuses. I deeply appreciate the %-resistance from Annihilation.... keep in mind that -Resistance is a 'force multiplier' for teams, and that an MM has brought their own team with them. The only weirdo compromise to 'conventional netdeck wisdom' is that I have the Gaussian's %Build Up in Tactics... this will frequently boost the MM attacks, but ultimately I don't think it is really contributing that much to performance; see below about how 'extra' ToHit from the %BuildUp can help with Aggro attraction. The end result of my personal calculation is that if I can get Accuracy and Endurance Reduction in attacks, plus valuable set bonuses... I got three of the four things I wanted in a %damage build anyway, with the alternate being I could chase getting only one of those four things (multiple %damage). Note that my build doesn't chase (global) +Recharge because of the endurance tax. The Time Secondary has some VERY good powers in the higher tiers (Farsight! Slowed Response! Chronoshift!) that may demand more global recharge, mileage varies. Keeping Slowed Response in play at all times (with Accuracy slotting) should improve performance significantly. Aggro management - I play Bots/Traps such that the MM is using attacks (mostly AoE) to attract aggro. AoE works best, Accuracy/ToHit is important. Once I've gotten the attention of enemy mob(ile)s and drawn them to the henchmen and (pseudo)pets, I don't worry about keeping aggro. I don't care if the enemies target things like Acid Mortars. This strategy (with Bodyguard mode) really only begins to fall short when both of the following occur: (a) there is a small number of enemies AND (b) another player is keeping all of the aggro on themselves. This just means I have to pay attention and switch modes. Almost all of the damage comes from the henchmen; the best a MM can do is to buff the Henchmen and debuff enemies.

Sometimes I want this: but I must make do with this:

Have you looked at their in-game base attributes?

I want to say that perma-Domination requires something like 122.5%; I always shoot for 123%. This is of course assuming that enemies aren't hitting the character with -Recharge. Mileage varies on what follows. I have built Dominators using different methods (and combinations) of hitting Perma-Dom: Purely via global +Recharge from Enhancement slotting Relying on Hasten Relying on Force Feedback %+Recharge I have enjoyed playing Dominators the most when I didn't need either (2) or (3). A side effect of Hasten (beyond the simple practical consideration of trying to juggle multiple 'perma' powers) that I dislike is its extra Endurance cost... both upon expiry and because of MOAR button-mashing... as my Dominators walk on the knife's edge of spending blue and getting blue bar refills via Domination. In almost all cases where (1) is all I need, I will still usually add Hasten to the build for (a) Emergencies and/or (b) really long recharge-time powers. Nobody likes finding their Domination expired because of a bunch of slows, only to become vulnerable to mezzes they have been shrugging off... with an empty blue bar.

Present! I won't argue against a Bonfire with Knockdown, but for me it's all about Rise of the Phoenix getting my Blapper back in the fight.

Some things to consider: I pretty much only use Group Fly to travel and while sweeping on my way to somewhere else. Robotics are ranged-attack henchmen. Flying doesn't really hurt them. I almost always turn off Group Fly during fights, but it doesn't hurt traps any more than Hover. This is a non-consideration. It's trivial to 'x' on most maps to get to 'ground level' if that is what is bothering you. This is NOT a stay at range build. The MM is always toe-to-toe with enemies. I usually don't bother toggling on Tough. I spent quite some time experimenting with different options for that last slot in Poison Trap, including Lockdown %+2 Mag(*1). I would go into large spawns of even-con mobs to see just how often the %proc would fire, and with what radius. I came to the conclusion that neither the radius (and this is a 'set bomb', and not a 'target AoE') nor the %damage was really worth it when compared to getting 100+ HP of Absorb... as I always try to keep the bots on Bodyguard. The recharge time on the Poison Trap simply doesn't make sense (for me) to try to eek an extra 70 HP of damage against (some) enemies. Keep in mind: it's really the -Regen I want against hard targets. The hold is nice but the Henchmen are faster at cleaning up than the little bit of extra damage I could try to eek out. Not to mention, the Entomb piece is also contributing to the Recharge time of the power. (*1) This %proc makes it trivial to see which enemies are actually hit by the %proc, which is easier IMO to estimate relative performance than pouring over the combat logs. I have no performance issues with this build. I typically run into other Robotics/Traps MMs while sweeping GMs, and from my PoV it is faster at solo defeating GMs (including Caleb, who it can fly after) than the other MMs.. It also appears to be faster at defeating GMs than other (primary/secondary) MM builds I regularly see, with the potential exception of Jurassik... because resistances... (and maybe the Goliath War Walker... but I have to bring out the Lores to finish that one off solo). It 'farms' just fine, I never worry about what enemies I'll be facing. IMO: The only thing that the 3-bot build is missing from a tactical PoV is Web Grenade to immobilize single targets. I hated that (for most of the game's history) I had to take it, it's a power that is nigh-useless in +95% of the content. There are times when it could be useful, but frankly all the other powers play a more important role in the build. I have toyed around with the idea of replacing Mace Beam Volley with Web Envelope, but I dislike the smaller number of targets, shorter range, and slotting options. The (AoE) attacks are one of the ways I grab aggro with the MM itself. The Knockdown as a soft control suits me just fine. Defensively, the only thing aspect of the build that annoys me is that it is susceptible to (long) mezzes. In PvE content, the capped defenses (and henchmen getting some aggro) generally mean that this is not an all-the-time problem... but every once in a while a long-duration Stun (Malta) will land, or a Fear (Jack in Irons)... and it is a little embarrassing when something like a Paladin or Babbage lands a Sleep but can't land another attack to break it.

IMO these are the key consideration for almost all short-duration non-damage-dealing %procs in attacks. Examples include %-Resistance, %BuildUp as well as %+Recharge *gasp*. It's one thing for me to add a %proc piece as part of a set that was otherwise going to be slotted, but if that franken-slot isn't contributing as a %proc in any meaningful way... I'm sure I have some other power that can use the slot.