StrikerFox

I would frankenslot pets; regular slotting on the MM. This is probably how I would slot the pets with Musculature Alpha in mind. I don't know much about PD. I've never been able to create a build with it that I love. 2B - Mercenaries - Pain Domination.mbd I do think Hasten is pretty important for the build. Just to get Serum, Anguishing Cry and Painbringer up as often as possible. Gaussian's BU proc is pretty useless in Tactics since the MM has no attacks. Same with Kismet in Hover. It's only really helping Web Envelope and Anguishing Cry. But it could be slotted into Tactical Upgrade to improve all Merc pets +tohit. With Supremacy + Tactics + Serum + World of Pain + Kismet + pets/Anguishing Cry -def debuffs, they will probably have no problems hitting. Adding the Triage into Soothe seems odd. The build would get more recovery slotting a Performance Shifter proc into Stamina. @Xandyr pointed out that Panacea unique has a chance to proc on yourself, pets, teammates, leaguemates within range if slotted in Supress Pain. I tested it once and it's pretty awesome. All in all, it's a good build and can probably get through most content without much issue.

@Hedgefund2 taught me to untoggle Rest when stats turn to -999% on Mids'. The dude is a genius!

I would go Photon Grenade, the AoE. Just so the -regen debuff can apply to multiple targets at the same time. But if endurance is a factor, Pulse Rifle Blast.

I think Necro/Dark has the most versatility. Dark offers -tohit debuffs, -dam debuff, +def, -res debuff, +res to E/N/P, slow/stun/hold/fear mez, AoE +stealth, a rez, an AoE heal and an additional pet with similar powers that stack with your own. Necro is a powerhouse. Six pets, potentially 9 more. The Lich with similar debuff powers to your own that stack. MM attacks applies -tohit debuffs. A self heal. Necro pets are probably one of the more durable, with increased hp, heal and regen.

I'll join. Made a Ninja/Rad MM named FalloutGirl on Torchbearer. I can play Mon-Thurs evenings after 7pm PDT and maybe the odd Sat/Sun afternoon.

Mercs start with 0% res to everything. With the first upgrade, base amount is around +26% S/L res across all pets. The Commando also gets +6.5% res to F/C/T (See photo below). With some aggressive slotting (+55% res), Equip Merc would bump up to around +40% res S/L, and the Commando will get about +10% res to F/C/T. Serum base res is +30% to all damage types (Except Psionic which is 0%) with diminishing return over 60 seconds. It's final second will only provide about +0.55% res. With some aggressive slotting (+55% res), Serum would start with around +46.5% to and dwindle down to 0.85% res to S/L/F/C/E/N/T.

It's +90%. Pets get Tank/Brute level damage resistance.

Powers that require a tohit check to heal. Like Dark Regeneration (Dark Armor), Twilight Grasp/Dark Servant (Dark Miasma), Transfusion (Kinetics), Life Drain (Necromancy/Dark Blast) and Mastermind Necro pets. I don't believe there are many powers that can slot it.

I slot the ATOs in their order displayed in Mids/in-game. Zombies has the 3rd and 6th SMoS; the Lich has the 1st and 5th SMoS; Soul Extraction has the last 4 SCotMM. I'm not at home but pretty sure it's: Zombies - acc/dam and the +res aura Lich - dam and acc/dam/end Soul Ex - missing acc/dam and dam/end.

Pets are your AoE damage. Between 6-15 pets hitting different targets. MM damage modifiers are so low that it's not a much of a loss. The only shame is losing the immobilize from Soul Tentacles. Also MM endurance is so tight that it would be difficult to sustain when tossing around epic attacks. I like to frankenslot pets to give them a combination of stats, pet IOs and damage procs. This is currently how I have them slotted. Musculature Alpha to get their damage stat higher. Zombies with the KD proc to give them some mitigation. Grave Knights with acc/dam HOs. Lich with an acc/mez HO. Soul Extraction has the Unbreakable Constraint proc but it's not great slotted there. A 5th SCotMM ATO for the toxic/psionic/mez +res would probably be better. GK and Lich doesn't need much end to function so don't worry about slotting them for that. I run with around +35% def so that one Darkest Night will get me to equivalent softcap vs targets affected/within range. I think it will be trial and error, feel out your build. Make changes as problems arise. Scale back if anything seems excessive. It will come down to balancing the build to needs/wants that suits your play style. I think we get a free respec every 10 levels? Also the respec trials. So making changes won't be an issue.

The +2.5% end bonus is alright but recovery would improve more by slotting powers/toggles with end redux. Here's a screenshot of a few powers from your Mids' build. The small change doesn't effect the MM's res but provides the pets with a bit more +res and MM with improved end gain. Dark is really good at keeping Necro pets alive... Unalive. Undead. Unundead. Including Soul Extraction. One of the reasons I like Dark is because of Darkest Night and Fearsome Stare. They're typically the first powers I use. Apply the -tohit, -dam and fear debuffs. Use Soul Extraction and the 6 new pets have instant survivability because the enemies are debuffed already. DK and FS both recharge quickly and up for every fight. Your pets will be good with moderate/high +res and heals, but how much better would they be with moderate/high +res, heals and equivalent softcap def? I don't think Soulbound and Gaussian's BU procs work that way. Soulbound has a chance to proc on each soul extracted pet, individually. Gaussian's can only proc on the MM when slotted in Tactics. It has a better chance to proc when there are more pets/teammates within range. The pets/teammates do not get the BU buff. And yes, I meant procs that inflict damage. Grave Knights do well with Achilles', Shield Breaker and Lady Grey. Lich and Soul Extraction do well with Cloud Senses. Soulbound is actually really good on Grave Knights as well since their damage aura can trigger BU.

Pets have their own endurance meter that decreases with power use. Slotting end redux decreases their end cost, and will allow them to fight for a longer period of time without running out of gas. Test it by attacking the Rikti dummies in RWZ. Compare how long they last with no end redux slotted and then slot a couple end SOs. I would slot 2 acc, 2-3 dam and 1-2 end redux until ready to fully IO'd. It sort of depends on the pet, some are more end hungry than others. Slot one end redux, attack a Rikti dummy and if satisfied, slot 3 damage. If the pets peter out early, slot 2 dam and 2 end redux. Here's a screenshot of Genin's starting powers. No end redux and +95.7% redux slotted.

I think your build is really good. More survivable than my Necro/Dark MM. I'm just going to offer some fine tuning/general comments and advice: Is Tactics 6 slot for the Gaussian's +def set bonus? Would gain more type defense by putting those slots in Maneuvers. Improved Maneuvers will also help pets, team and league. Shadow Fall adds +res to E/N/P. Three damage types the build is weaker to. Maybe split the slotting between +def and +res. Twilight Grasp has a tohit check so +acc will help it. If willing to use IO Boosters, S/L can still be at +75% with Dark Embrace only 2 slotted. Spare slots could be added to Enchant Undead to help pet resistance or to whatever else you may feel is needed. A lot of powers to help Necro pets thrive are omitted. Darkest Knight (-tohit/-dam), Fearsome Stare (-tohit/fear), Howling Twilight (AoE stun/-regen) and Tar Patch powers (-res). But I know a lot of players treat pets as expendable, and feel that resummoning is part of the AT. Which isn't bad, just different build/play styles. Damage procs. Grave Knights, Lich and Soul Extraction damage is boosted significantly with procs. Would get more recovery slotting Performance Shifter into Stamina instead of Efficiency Adaptor. The PS proc adds approximately 0.2 end rec that is not displayed on Mids'. Adding a Numina Heal IO to Health will provide more regeneration than Regenerative Tissue. Numina's +12% set bonus plus higher Health stat provides slightly more +regen. Overall great build. Are you sure you're a new player? You Mids' like a vet.

Stick with the 40/45 basic IOs until you get your hands on the IO sets you want. The difference between levels 40/45 to 50 is around +3% each IO, which becomes less if enhancement diversification comes into play. I've ran with lvl 20-30 basic IOs all the way to 50. I usually play TFs to get to 50. DFBx2 to 10, Posi 1+2 to 15, Synapse to 20, Yin/Moon to 25, Citadel/Hess to 30, Manti/Sutter to 35, Numi/ITF to 45 and MLTF/Grey/Kahn/MC to 50. At the end of it all, use the reward merits to trade for rare purple IOs, and sell them on AH. Use the influence made to buy the other sets needed. But I don't think we can trade for purples until we hit 50. Get them 3 bubbles! I have a couple Stalkers that speed run TFs. MLTF, ITF, Kahn and Tinpex. When they're the weekly, usually run them a few times for some quick and easy merits. There's a daily Hami Raid (x3) in the Hive that takes around 45 minutes. We get 160 merits (Or 120 merits + one HO) in the end. Use these merits to trade for purples and email them to the character in need. When ready to swap IOs, don't delete/sell the low level basic IOs. Respec or unslot and email them to yourself. Save them for your next character that may need them. Make a character, create a SG, build a basic base with storage tables, and put them in there to help organize. When you have more characters, emailing resources from one to the next will go a long way. And I encourage you to just team. I find most players to be patient and understanding. Maybe just say at the start you're new to HC and rusty. Avoid joining a speed team, they will want you to keep up where MM pets usually fall behind. Join KM (Kill most) teams since they will give the most drops and influence. Look me up, I'll team with ya! My global is the same as my user name here. We'll do an all MM KM ITF or similar.

I vaguely remember someone tested or did the calculation, and Staff's best attack chain on a Stalker is AS-SR-PS-MB-repeat. Maintaining the Body Perfection stacks made it better than burning them and rebuilding. But I hear you, SS and EotS are pretty awesome looking attacks. I like using them, usually SS/EotS right after AS. My attack chain is typically AS-SS-PS-SR-MB-repeat for single target. AS-EotS-SR-MB-GS-repeat for AoE. But I run without Hasten. You could probably go: ST: AS-SS-SR-MB-repeat AoE: AS-EotS-GS-MB-repeat

Since when? Is this on Beta because Fluffy has never been able to slot pet IOs. The only MM secondary power that can is Storm Summoning's Tornado. I tried Rad a long time ago but found it kind of boring. The start of the fight is setting up the 3 or 4 toggles. I believe the toggles' radius were small but I could be wrong or it may have been changed. I didn't like Fallout and Mutation were useless while soloing since they do not work on pets. But maybe it might be worth checking out just for fast pets. Every time a Rad or Kin is on the team, "Omg, it's Christmas," comes to mind as I marvel at my pets zipping around.

I just tried it with Soulbound, double BU on the Assault Bot and the detonation damage was the same as without. Soulbound does nothing for Detonator damage. Neither does Leadership Assault or the +10% passive from Assault Hybrid. I would assume no +dam buffs will (Like Fulcrum Shift, Forge, World of Pain etc). It's probably straight slotting. Tried slotting damage procs into Assault Bot (Explosive Strike) and into Detonator (Explosive Strike, Positron's Blast and Bombardment). None of the procs triggered with 5 tries, Slotted some D-Sync Efficiency (dam/end) into FFG and MD. They get the extra damage. Also timed detonator on Seekers, as they move in for impact. They can apply their debuff, flashpulse damage and Detonator damage if the stars align.

Really? The photo I posted above shows minimal damage difference between Protector Bots, FFG, MD and Mortar. It's on Beta and slotted with zero IOs except for +recharge. Mortar did +20% more damage because it launched a nade.

Played around with it on a Bots/Traps, and Detonator works on FFG, Mortar, Seekers and Maintenance Drone as well as the regular Bot pets. I'm guessing it would work on Soul Extraction pets but not 100% sure. I noticed when Bots/Maintenance Drone pets are blown up, the color of the explosion is orange and white. When pets from the MM secondary are detonated, it's blue and white. I also tested a Lore, Vanguard Heavy, Signature Summon (Back Alley Brawler), Backup Radio, Red Wisp and a vanity pet but none of them blew up. The Maintenance Drone does a PBAoE explosion after healing 4 times. They still do that damage if detonated. But I feel bad blowing up the Maintenance Drone. After it's done, the only thing left is their smiling face laying in flames.

Swap the slotting between Health and Physical Perfection. Health has a higher base regen (+40% vs +20%), a Panacea set will give your character more regen. If you do keep the slotting in Health/PP the way it is, swap Regenerative Tissue with a lvl 50 Numina's heal IO. The +12% regen set bonus plus higher Health stat will provide more +regen then RT. Somehow the build has two Reactive Defense +res uniques in Agile and Dodge. Will only be able to slot one. I would take Guarded Spin even if the +def portion isn't needed. AoE on any Stalker is welcome. Also I believe AoE, hitting more targets, gives a better chance for BU insta-charge. With Superior Mark of Supremacy BU recharge, I wonder if it's worth fully slotting Gaussian's. The build is still softcap without it. Well regardless, I'm sure your build will perform well. It has more +dam res and +regen than what I have on my StJ/SR, and I think my build is pretty good. I went for more +dam and procs than anything else.

I can't seem to open the build for some reason. Using Mids' 2023.9.605. Try to copy/paste or drag/drop the Mids' file into the forum. By the way, you going to form an MM or a Stalker supergroup like back in live? I'm in if you are.

Pretty sure only MM primary pets and Lore pets are controllable. Here's a screenshot of my Necro/Dark with agressive/goto commands input. Necro pets went to the specified location; Fluffy did not. Also the command icons have an exclamation mark meaning not all pets in the list have a command. Same with Bots/Traps. Bots and Lore pets took a dip in the pool; FFG continued to stand by me.

A bunch of players talked about it a fair amount awhile ago. Adding a movement speed buff to Supremacy, giving pets an inherent Sprint/Swift power, create a +movement IO specifically for pets and allowing all pets to slot run IOs (Not just Beasts and Ninjas) were a few of the ideas. I think the Swift/Sprint route would be the easiest and most effective.

There's a Bug Reports and a Suggestions/Feedback threads in these forums. I think there's also something on the Homecoming Discord server. I'm not sure which is the best one to post to.

Pretty sure the icons in the buff display are just your summoned Spectral Minions. The icons will disappear when the SM duration ends. Can monitor Combat Attributes to see if you receive any -tohit debuffs.