StrikerFox

Agile, Dodge and Lucky provides scaling damage resistance to S/L/F/C/E/N. The more hp you drop, the better the resistance. They stack with one another but is unenhanceable. I think the resistance bonus only kicks in when below 70% hp. Max resistance is +20% per power, so +60% total. If you're using Mids', there's a slider to see how much resist they're providing. Need to slide each power separately.

Let's take BS, Slice for example. 10'/19 °. Including hit box, it would be 13'/21.5°?

Thanks! Updated the screenshot with Rad and EM. Not sure if I understand what you mean by hit box. How does a target's hit box affect a player's AoE range?

Tossed together an AoE chart for Stalker primaries. Power list, what type of AoE it is, range, area they effect in square ft. Also their recharge with about +235% in each power. Just so we can see how quickly the AoE's can string together. Looks like ElM, SM and Spines are the best. I like DB too because it's so fast and the Sweep Combo is part of it's best attack chain. Made this pretty quick so there's probably a few mistakes. EM has a cone now but I don't have the data on that. Not sure how RadM works, Mids' shows almost all it's powers are an 8' PBAoEs. I remember Chain Induction chaining all the time during live and is why I tossed it in. Good luck hitting max targets with Head Splitter and Golden Dragonfly. Hope this helps. Used this area calculator to figure out the square footage: https://www.calculator.net/area-calculator.html

This was posted in the latest Beta patch notes: Can read about it here:

Latest Beta Patch has this: Can read about it, and other future updates, here:

I just created an MM on Beta to see if the camera rotation could be made stationary. Just to stop the spinning/vertigo. I thought setting the camera to player/player to camera options might help, but it didn't really do much. Pet fly speed seems a lot faster than what I remember. The pets were at cap (58 mph) with a single IO in Group Fly. There's a lot less camera swiveling when clicking the next goto location before the pets reach the previous. This keeps the pets in constant flight movement so there's less chance of rear ending them (Which seems to cause the most spinning).

I think the Mercs themselves could use some tweaking. Wider cones, AoE with larger radius, shortened cooldowns for some powers. Maybe a +15% damage buff across most of their attacks. Players in the past suggested Serum to be an AoE so all Merc pets can get the buff. Some wanted Serum to be changed to a pet, maybe into Gun Drones (Mainly to help cram in all the pet unique IOs) I had an idea to turn Serum into a "Formation" power. Once picking Formation at level 18, it unlocks a set of military tactics with each providing a different benefit (Sort of like Staff Mastery or Swap Ammo). Fire Support (AoE +def to all positions), Guerilla Tactics (+stun/immob to pet attacks), Flanking Maneuver (+tohit/dam to pets), High Ground (-res debuff to pet attacks). I think it would be kind of unique setting different formations to different pets but I haven't put a lot of thought into it. There's probably a hundred different problems with it.

When using Group Fly, I used to set myself to follow a pet and direct the pets where to fly to (Goto command). It prevented pets from falling behind and dropping. Still slow though.

Obitus did a detailed comparison of MA vs StJ during live (For Scrappers). StJ was ahead a little. I'm not sure how much of it is still valid with changes implemented between 2012 to present. Addition of ATO2 and CAK being able to slot Achilles' Heel now. http://web.archive.org/web/20120905235041/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=276359

Mercs/Storm is my favorite MM on Homecoming so far. Not the strongest but definitely the most fun. That's comparing it to Thugs/Time, Necro/Dark, Beast/TA, Bots/Traps and Demons/Thermal. That's not necessarily saying Mercs is great, more of a testament to how good Storm is. Storm is godly vs enemies with little to no KB protection, which seems like 90% of the game. Gale with Sudden Acceleration/Force Feedback procs is the backbone of the build. Knockdown targets as quick as they can get up. Freezing Rain, Tornado and Lightning Storm to pile on the damage. Constant debuffs from Achilles' and Annihilation helps the Merc's proc damage.

My favorite hold is Spirit Shark Jaws. It can slot ranged/hold IOs so it's mag can stack to 7 with Devastation/Lockdown procs equipped. Able to slot damage procs from 2 purp sets, Apocalypse and Unbreakable Constraint. Definitely don't drop IO set bonuses (for procs) if it will mess up your build. But if your survival, end rec, recharge, stats etc, are at a level where the set bonus isn't really needed, proc it up. Below is Moonbeam's damage through one pylon run with a Stalker. Mb activated 9 times, 31 procs out of a maximum of 36. Around 85% proc rate.

I tested the three Epic/Ancillary snipes awhile ago on Stalkers. Bareboned, only slotted for accuracy. They did the exact same damage vs a pylon. Mace Beam would probably fall behind since smashing is resisted more often. Mace and Moon can slot one more damage proc over Zapp (Explosive Strike and Cloud Senses).

It's glitched by Thunder Kick and Crippling Axe Kick. Remove them entirely from the build, pick them again and reslot the IOs. That should fix it.

Crippling Axe Kick is one of MA's better attacks. Maybe take it over Cobra Strike or Crane Kick. Imo, Crane Kick is still one of the best looking attacks in the game, but that KB can become a nuisance. A Sudden Acceleration or Overwhelming Force IO can fix that. Hide and Combat Jump has several slots devoted to Luck of the Gambler IOs, but the +def they provide is really low. For example, with Agility Core Alpha active, Hide and CJ combined provide +4.5% def with no IOs slotted. With the 6 LotG IOs you have slotted, combined Hide and CJ provides +6.23% def. It's only a +1.73% def gain. Mule them for LotG +7.5% recharge. The spare slots saved could be used for...: -Add Steadfast Protection res/def IO will provide +3% def to all positional/type attacks. -Add another slot in Focus Chi, for the 6th Gaussian's IO, will provide +2.5% def to all positional def, M/R/A. -Add another slot in Blinding Power for the 6th Coercive Persuasion will provide +5% ranged def. -Add an IO to Hasten to get it close to perma. -Add Panacea in Health to help with endurance. -Add Preventive Medicine +absorb to help with a bit of survival. -Add to Stamina to help with Recovery. Maybe try to make the build work with one less toggle by eliminating Maneuvers. If you plan to use Cross Punch for a bit of AoE, toss in Boxing. Fighting PP's damage bonuses are supposed to stack. Only one Power Transfer, chance to heal IO, can activate at a time. Having two will give a better chance to get one heal, but two heals will not occur simultaneously. It makes multiples PT IOs less useful. Adding a second Numina's IO into Health will provide more +regen than Regenerative Tissue. Or adding Impervious Skin unique in Tough/Kuji-In Sha will provide the same +regen as Regenerative Tissue, and also add a bit of +status resistance. Overall it's a good build, just a few tweaks here and there.

I'm kind of surprised nobody takes Detonator. Back during live, slotting for acc and dam on Detonator didn't matter as it used the acc/dam slotting from the pet being destroyed. It was pretty decent with a single end redux IO slotted. More of an "oh crap" power, if a pet is being pummelled. An Assault Bot with Sudden Acceleration equipped, the targets will likely just be knocked up (Not back). A few months ago we discovered Hell on Earth could be activated on any target under the MM's pet list. Including Dark Servant, Vanguard Heavy, Lore pets etc. I wonder if powers like Detonator, Serum, Soul Extraction, Smoke Flash, Repair etc could do the same. I would detonate Lore pets every time near the 5 min mark and then Soul Extract them. Can Recall Friend be used on Acid Mortar and Triage Beacon? Can't remember if it worked on them or if it was Gun Drone on devices (When it was stationary).

I think FF would have a chance to proc for the MM, everytime the Bruiser is summoned. Each other time FF procs, it would go onto the Bruiser. Since +recharge does not affect pets, it would be useless.

No, pretty sure it doesn't. No pet can equip a +range SO/IOs so incarnate +range abilities shouldn't affect them.

I jammed in as much recharge as possible on a Thugs/Thermal, and Gang War is pretty darn close to perma. 2.3 secs off. Ageless would easily cover that. Unfortunately the build looks unplayable and far from being optimal. | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1473;652;1304;HEX;| |78DA6593D94E1361188667E88CD8D2955201E9420BB4385D6C053D35110D4268828| |2DB5133B6433B49B7743172E80D78EA760F5E805B8C1A963B51A080DEC0F839DF9B| |B67126993ED3F79F6F7BFF7FF2CF6F3BDFAFBEB82988DE95AADA6E17F26ABBA3B56| |A7ABD24E7D5B25EB409748DD23D3958296C756BB5463DB35DE996DBD121FD567767| |8754FAA7560BF7D592AE76F4465D706C361AD5CC5653D34A2EF331AF95F4A25ED77| |CE6BFB5FA33BDAD3FD5AB7A67D7632A1B9A5AD25AED8ADEF4DF69EAC5CC4A456D95| |35F4B63B45DD28747F97055C862C6C4B829093849107E0D98849E91CFCCDBCF087F| |9C13514FBD3C66BBF98178FC063A6E304EC313F52ACC8B18268D0257C22C5C68A64| |0BF25B132130CCBC1401679931325516398B6C66D993D9E97F5946AF719F534BE03| |2F3F275F006F33355B6A317BB99659FB28C61B2B187EC46F0110857C270250C57C2| |70E51BC5BAD081EB15212109B3AFC137E05B66F41DF30B057810E3C1EC51CC1EC5E| |C73987D0EB31F501D1F7AF4ED616D9F397F001E3273497A2D67EF334416F951CF8F| |7AF3A81747BD38EAC5512F423101C4041093404C023109C45C418C69E6A4F97B48E| |D4E9B5B6EC8D38FD94AE509084B15589A82A52958FA95EC99C106CD98D95CD44C08| |4A28209A6FB9498B408B40F39116831683F6833A59C0200BD8A01436288D0D4A638| |3D2D8203FE559449E45B3030F29492849647E496933C89C39E2D9AE1E8327608F99| |3B654E509E2CF264912728F53F2C813D542C4AD6A2E42CCA924559B6281B16253F5| |08C4DE9FFCFD4EEED7FA646CF41ABE2F0EAD94091441C12270E891387C48D43E2C6| |2139B564391FCE021FBDF0D10B1FC7E1E3387C5C55065DDF1D7A5E53FA9FB2B1AEF| |4CFA0718FCE7F8E6B187F01A00F0EFE| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

This is pretty hilarious. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. My original post states, "As for what procs to slot," and proceeds to list the most frequently activated proc per pet. It then recommends to slot a list of other unique IOs/procs (Including Overwhelming Force) Then you responded with the above. My post was misunderstood, and that's fine. Nobody minds. But please don't pretend like other people are wrong when clearly they're not.

Um yeh. My post was totally misunderstood.

That's a lot of LotG IOs to chase the +3.75% S/L resist. I would look into Shield Wall and Reactive Defense uniques to help free up some of that slotting. Maybe Celerity IOs into the prestige sprints for easy +2.25% S/L resist. Or pick an armor in the Ancillary Power Pool. I think the Miracle unique needs to be in an auto power to be effective. Otherwise it will only have a chance to activate when the click power is used. Swap it with Preventive Medicine in Health. Impeded Swiftness damage proc would be more effective in the Dire Wolf. Almost all it's attacks have a slow effect so it will trigger more frequently. I have no experience with NA and minimal with BM so I won't comment on those power picks/IOs. Except for the Lions. The two Superior Command of the Mastermind ATOs provide a +4% damage bonus but you have no attacks. So the bonus is doing nothing for your build. Maybe change up the slotting to fit in the Soulbound Allegiance proc.

I like the first build better. Advice specific for one build won't always work with another. This second build might have end issues. Superior Conditioning and Physical Perfection were removed for two toggles, Maneuvers and Tactics. Also two attacks were added in, Zapp and Ball Lightning, and may be used frequently. Second build is no longer softcap to anything. Stats in individual powers are all over the place. Reactive Defense unique is gone. Superior Assassin's Mark IOs are gone. Key powers like Assassin's Frenzy and Hemorrhage have a longer recharge time on the new build. Haven't punched in the numbers but I don't really see a usable ST attack chain with Savage Strike removed. The chain for the first build would have been AS-Hem-SS-MS-SS-repeat. You want procs. I totally get it, but I feel like this second build is a step backwards.

Some of the IO slotting just seems off. For example the Reactive Defense set in Weave, the build is already capped to S/L resist so RD's set bonuses aren't really doing anything. Three slotting Shield Wall would provide more benefit. Same thing with Obliteration in Shred. Or single slot Impervious Skin into Resist Physical Damage and the build would still be at +75%. S/L. Slots saved could be used to fully IO Savage Leap. Environmental Resistance is an auto power but there's an Reactive Armor end redux IO in it. Kismet is slotted late in Combat Jump when it can be slotted in the T1, Hide. S/L defense can be scaled back a bit since S/L resist is capped. That will save the fourth slot in a couple Reactive Armor sets. Can probably split that Superior Stalker Guile set better to improve the overall stats of Maiming Slash and Assassin's Frenzy. Double slotting Superior Conditioning and Physical Perfection provides less end gain than four slotting Stamina (With Performance Shifter). Blood Frenzy is supposed to provide an end discount to all clicks/toggles. Is Body Mastery even needed? Maybe just Physical Perfection in Weapon Mastery or take a snipe or Water Spout. Free up a power pick for Unstoppable and slot the Gladiator's Armor unique so there's an extra slot to use elsewhere. Overall it's a solid build, it just needs some fine tuning.

DB isn't bad. If you run one of the top DB attack chains, the Sweep Combo occurs naturally within the chain itself. [BU]-AS-Ab-SS-Ab/NS/PS-repeat, with the BU-AS-Ab portion activating the Combo. Also the chain is fast, about 5 seconds long. SS cone is used often. Even though the Sweep Combo is BU dependent, the Stalker ATO2 unique may recharge it instantly. And with the attack chain being so fast, BU may insta-charge more frequent than other primaries. But at the same time, StJ's Spinning Strike KD's targets naturally. Melee cones are not great. Throwing the Mid's data for those powers into an area calculator: DB's Sweeping Strike has a 7' range, 90° arc and will cover about 38.5 feet² DB's 1k Cuts has a range of 10', 90° arc and will cover about 78.5 feet² DB's Sweep Combo has a 10' radius and will cover about 314.2 feet² StJ's Spinning Strike has a radius of 6' and will cover about 113.0 feet² StJ's Sweeping Cross has a range of 7', a 50° arc and will cover about 21.4 feet² NB's Flashing Steel has a 7' range, 130° arc and will cover about 55.6 feet² NB's Golden Dragonfly has a 10' range, 19° arc and will cover about 16.6 feet² The chance of any of those cones hitting max targets is pretty slim. https://www.calculator.net/area-calculator.html?circleradius=30&circleradiusunit=meters&calctype=circle&x=55&y=9#circle