StrikerFox

Hi bellona100, Definitely skip endurance IOs if planning to run Serum frequently. On my beta test run, Soldiers/Medic had +26.5% recovery from IO slotting, Spec-Ops with +23.2% and Commando with +66.25%. Running Serum, their end barely moved during the 74 sec pylon run. +Tohit IOs is great if Tactics is skipped. But typically Tactics + Supremacy + 60% IO acc + -def debuffs help Mercs hit quite well. Damage resist is probably the best. Improve pet survivability which in turn, pets will require less babysitting. Looks like Serum provides a 30% diminishing return to all damage types (Except psychic). So if slotted aggressively, it will provide around +45%. And thank you! I totally didn't realize Serum improve damage resistance until I read your reply. For some reason, I thought it was just tohit, damage and end.

Just had to try it out on beta as I was thinking about respecing Burnout back into my Mercs/Storm build. Mainly for the multiple Tornados, Freezing Rain and Lightning Storms. Serum has a +75% diminishing dam buff over 60 seconds, Double-Serum bumps up to a +150% diminishing buff over the same amount of time.

Thugs and Demons are still top tier primaries. I don't think a lot needs to be done. I would like to see one of their upgrades include pet +movement speed. The second Thugs upgrade to be able to slot +def and +tohit IOs. Second Demon upgrade to be able to slot +damage res and heal IOs. Also a unique volume reducing IO to shut them up. Ha! I would like Hell on Earth to be able to spit out all Hellfire at the same time. I don't even really notice them until they poop out 6 or more after a minute of time has passed. Beasts upgrades to be able to slot +def IOs; second to be able to slot +heal IOs. I would like the Beast pets to get a pounce power similar to Savage Leap, to help make up for little/no range attacks. Get rid of Fortify Pack and create a new T7. Maybe like a Wolf Pack power where more wolves appear. But that's probably too similar to Gang War, HoE or Soul Extraction. Maybe the Beast T7 should apply a buff to all Beast pets, that max stacks Pack Mentality, and apply several mez and debuffs to all their attacks. Fear, immobilize, slow, stun, confuse, KD, -def, -tohit, -dam, and -dam res. It would make them the epitome of control-type pets. Which might be a bad thing. I don't know, I haven't put much thought into it.

For softcap, Bots would be the best choice. Protector Bot's Force Shield will provide around +14% def (Unenhanced) to all positions and damage types, except Toxic and Psychic.

I've been able to get decent dps out of KM but needed to take a snipe power from the Ancillary/Epic power pools. The attack chain was really long, 12 seconds to maximize CS chance to auto-BU. BU to maximize the snipe's damage. Couple AS with 2AF built. I would need to double check when i get home but the chain was something like: [BU]-AS-CS-SB-[BU]-AS-SB-Snipe-SB-repeat. BU's in between as the ATO2 recharges it. It felt clunky the odd time BU didn't recharge but still pretty good. Edit: Checked and that was the attack chain used.

Whaaat?! Can that door be used during the Positron TF? Discovered the /cleartray option. Used to repeatedly, right click-R, over all the tray slots during live.

When 50, boost the IO's in Hasten and Serum to +5, and upgrade the MoS to superior versions. Can lose CtA and the CotMM sets and still be perma. Is that how BU in Tactics work? I could have sworn it only increases the chance for your MM to get the buff, but pets/teammates around you does not get the chance to buff themselves at all. It will be a balancing act when hitting 50 to perfect this build. Supremacy + PB/FS + Tactics = +34% tohit for all your pets in range. Can increase that amount by slotting +tohit IOs in Farsight. Chrono Shift + Serum's endurance buffs. I'm not sure how much pet acc and end stats could be sacrifice to make room for procs and uniques. Explosive Strike in Soldiers is pretty useless. Only the Medic's Frag Grenade has a chance to activate it. Shield Breaker proc will be more effective. Explosive Strike is only good in Commando.

That's a pretty sweet build. I really like that you got Serum perma. Few things: -Hasten is still perma even with one slot. -Jam in the Shield Wall unique somewhere for +5% res to all damage types. -Equip Mercs will slot Steadfast, KB protection and Glad Armor? -MM endurance is worse than it appears on Mids'. The endurance buff from Chrono Shift lasts for 30 seconds. Only the +recharge portion lasts for 90s. -Don't worry about pet endurance too much. Chrono Shift providing a 30s buff, and perma-Serum providing a diminishing end buff throughout it's 60s duration. -Tactics probably doesn't need to be slotted so heavily. Farsight and Supremacy both add +tohit. Also all Merc pets apply -def debuffs. -Manage to squeeze Power Boost into the build, using it just before Farsight, will add an additional +6.15% def to all damage types/position for you and pets/teammates in range. Noticed a few of the MM powers are slotted with procs but the pets have none. Merc pets are sort of like proc monsters themselves. It will improve their dps significantly if that's something you're after. Unfortunately some of the pet uniques would need to be sacrificed. It's not ideal but did some testing with and without damage procs VS a pylon. Note Achilles' and Soulbound was still slotted in all the tests. Only Shield Breaker/Lady Grey/Explosive Strike were added/removed (Replaced with more acc/dam/end). MM personal attacks were not used. With procs 106secs/490dps Procless 158secs/371dps With procs/Tar Patch/Serum 74secs/646dps Procless/Tar Patch/Serum 118secs/453dps If pets can get to a comfortable level of survivability with Farsight, Maneuvers, Time's Juncture, pet upgrades etc, and still maintain perma Hasten, Chrono Shift and maybe Serum, it would be worth cramming in a few damage procs. Procs in Soldiers make the most impact, followed by Spec-Ops and lastly Commando. Prioritize Lady Grey first, then Shield Breaker just because of their damage types (NE VS lethal). Explosive Strike is dead last.

Yes, Divine Avalanche +def stacks with itself. Open the Combat Attributes window, monitor L/M def and hit something twice in a row. DA's L/M def will double up. Hit three times and it will triple up.

You're right about placing it elsewhere. Did some BU testing slotted in GW a couple years ago. It was disappointing. The Posse doesn't attack fast/frequently enough to put it to use. One will attack, activate BU, 5+ seconds pass by, BU deactivates, posse member attacks again with no BU buff. It had an average of 2 buffed attacks total per GW cast. Soulbound proc is much better in any of the other pets.

Writing it in the backstory would probably be the best. That would be great to stumble upon. Pick a random person, read their bio. "Developing a time machine seemed like a good idea. It was fine at the start but each action altered the future bit by bit. Unnoticeable to you and everyone else, but me. Each small change compound into more changes, multiplying into bigger variations of what once was. The ripple effect seemingly going on until the end of time. In my world there was no Arachnos. The Carnival of Shadows was known as the Carnival of FUN (Friends of the United Nations). In my world, Statesman is alive, and a part-time DJ known as DJ States. Lord Recluse is a rival DJ known as DJ Lore Rider. The Go Hunt, Kill Skuls guy actually did the hunting and killing himself." -Respec - Double slot Hasten -Respec - skip T1 secondary for CJ -Logout Arena for badge -Loaf of bread, container of milk and a stick of butter.

Tested again, this time with Tar Patch and Serum. 74 secs/645 dps. Mercs are amazing damage-wise. https://youtu.be/CN_2jKEkOJw

I hopped on the Beta server and luckily my old Mercs test build is still there. So I didn't have to change anything, just login and straight into pylon destruction mode. I used to do a lot of MM pet dps tests and Mercs was always close to the bottom. Merc pets annihilated the pylon in 106 secs/490 dps. T4 Musculature Radial Alpha and T4 Reactive Radial Interface active. Previous kill time with the same build, almost 2 years ago, was 211 secs/310 dps with the same incarnates. It's crazy impressive. Serum was not used. The MM attacks or secondary powers were not used either. The pets are proc'd pretty hard. The dps is actually higher than my old Ninja testing, 119 secs/450 dps. I have Mercs paired with Storm in game and love the combo. A lot of mitigation with KD, extra damage with Storm powers. I'm using Mercs/Dark on test which would be a great combo as well.

Great question! Just tested and it looks like they do. Crit chance % does not appear in the Combat Attributes window, but we can see the Ninja MM's attack symbols in the pet's buff display, when the crit bonus is active. It appears even on misses. In the end, slot attacks for set bonuses your MM may need. Miscellaneous R/E/N +def, +res, +end, +recharge. Frankenslotting is an option. Example if endurance is needed, 2 slot Ragnarok, 2 Positron's Blast and 2 Annihilation into Fistful of Arrows. It would provide +6.5% recovery and +1.35% max end. Pick the IO that provide +acc, dam and end redux. Also a damage proc if devoting that many slots. Slots are pretty tight so I usually only use 3 max per MM attack. 3 slot Thunderstrike is my go to, just for the E/N +def.

SOs are fine but it's worthwhile if you have the influence/infamy or resources to IO the pets early. Most of the IOs that make Mercs better are available at lower levels. Soldiers: Achilles' - lvl 7 Shield Breaker - lvl 7 Overwhelming Force - lvl 10 Lady Grey - lvl 18 Spec-Ops: Achilles' - lvl 12 Shield Breaker - lvl 12 Lady Grey - lvl 18 Commando: Explosive Strike - lvl 22 Also the pet uniques: Call to Arms - lvl 7 Edict of the Master - lvl 12 Sovereign Right - lvl 22 Expedient Reinforcements - lvl 27 I think the ATOs are slottable at lvl 10, Command of the Mastermind and Mark of Supremacy. Procs have more impact at low levels. Say your MM is lvl 10 fighting a lvl 10 boss with 300hp. 70 pts of proc damage is about 23% of its hp. Now say your MM is lvl 38 fighting a lvl 38 boss with 1,700hp. 70 pts of proc damage is about 4% of it's total hp. Considerably less.

My favorite pets are currently Necro. The most recent patch made them super fun and way more effective than they were before. Previously, fave was Thugs. Worst pets for me is Beast. I tried but it was nauseating watching them chase fleeing enemies, not able to catch up enough to attack. But I want to try again as @Galaxy Brain tested MM pet dps in a standard environment, and Beast were at the top of the list. I always take the pet available to the AT. Pets are usually the reason why I play the AT/primary/secondary. Lore pets are usually chosen based on character theme. Bots MM with Warworks. Mercs/Storm with Storm Elemental. Thugs/Time with Cimeroran, Necro with Phantoms, AR/Devices with Robotic Drones etc. I think I've tried them all split between live and HC. It would be nice if the level shift for pets was removed but it's always been there. I just live with it. If it was gone, it wouldn't affect my builds or gameplay. MMs are awesome. To me, their biggest appeal is being able to control pets while other powers are animating. Other ATs, click one power, queue up the next power, wait, next power starts to animate, queue up another and repeat. MMs on the other hand... During the 3 sec cast time to set an Acid Mortar... queue up another power, command T1 pets to focus fire on a boss, call back the T3 pet as it's getting low on HP, set the T2 pets on def/stay for my own protection. I feel busier playing an MM.

I think Martial Arts does since it has no AoE on the Stalker version. Probably NB/Nin fits the Stalker image the most.

Pretty sure only Head Splitter can crit and it is RNG. It should have a 15% chance. Something about it being a port from the Scrapper version being the reason why. After playing Necro for awhile, open the Combat Log and press ctrl+f and search for "critical." I'm sure you will find some but don't expect a lot.

Just tested FS + PB on my Thugs/Time MM, and the boost still lasts 2 minutes, the duration of FS.

I would try to make the build so that the MM can function effectively without Numina's and Panacea, and then slot them in Dark Empowerment. Only slotting RT (In DE) if there's a spare slot. If the build has endurance issue, MM takes priority.

I think Sonic would be a really solid combo. Aggressively slotting Sonic Barrier/Haven/Dispersion would provide around +41% res to S/L/F/C/E/N/T. Pet gets resistances to S/C/N/T/P that are buffed with the first upgrade. Tack on +35% res from Sovereign/Expedient/ATO2. Pet resistances would look something like this if Enchant Undead is slotted up as well: Zo GK Li Sm 107% 118% 128% Le 76% 76% 76% Fi 76% 76% 76% Co 107% 118% 128% En 76% 76% 76% NE 107% 118% 128% To 107% 118% 128% Ps 66% 77% 87% Sonic doesn't have a heal but Necro pets are pretty self-reliant now. Self-heal and can slot Numina, Regenerative Tissue and the Panacea proc. Enemies will have a lot of alternate targets with other pets to attack keeping the main pets safer. Also Sonic's mez protection will buy pets time to heal themselves/kill things more efficiently. The best thing about Sonic is the -res debuffs are not helping 6 pets kill faster, it's helping up to 15 pets kill faster.

I don't have an FM Stalker but usually slot the ATO2 proc in an AoE attack. Just so it will get used early in a mission. Typically on the first spawn encountered. If not an AoE, slot it in the weakest power in your attack chain.

Ninja pet IO slotting would stay the same as before. The pet upgrades, MM attacks and Smoke Flash is where the changes occurred. Slot the upgrades for better pet survival. Attacks and Smoke Flash for more crits if that's what you're after. I checked the pet +def percentages when the patch went live. Genin has a base def of around +11.5%. Jounin +15%. Oni +18.5% def. With heavily slotted Train Ninja + heavily slotted Maneuvers + Edict + CtA, Genin would be at around +32% def, Jounin +37.5% and Oni about +43% def. Imo a +def or -tohit secondary would still be best for Ninjas. Just to get closer/above to softcap or equivalent. Defense: Time, Traps, Empathy (If diligent cycling Fortitude) etc. -Tohit debuffs: Dark, Rad, TA etc. Though with the changes, any secondary can probably be made to work.

Eagles Claw has a higher chance to crit (I believe +33%) and also provides the attack immediately following a bonus crit chance. Pretty sure EC's disorient is not an AoE. I'm not a fan of Cross Punch. More because of the extra power picks to make it effective but if you can spare the picks and slots, go for it. Taking Boxing and Kick will make CP pretty equal to StJ's Sweeping Cross. 7' range, 50⁰ arc, 170ish base damage. My main gripe with MA is it's all ST attacks but still does not produce a top ST attack chain. Other primaries with AoE does better ST damage. But MA still has some of the best attack animations imo. I could Crane Kick and EC all day.

Welcome home!