Force Redux

Excellent post @Redlynne! Small correction, Dark Miasma's heal is centered on the caster, so it is easy to position to heal your pets (particularly with the new and improved AI). I still prefer /Dark with tougher pets than Ninjas, however. Will second the choice for /Time as the secondary of choice for Ninjas. It offers everything you need. But its so awesome that is the case for any Primary you pair it with.

Not a fan of /Sonic, but that said almost any MM pairing is serviceable. From a design perspective I like to see resist sets paired with an AoE heal, as damage WILL come in and spot healing with Aid Other is not going to cut it when the AoEs rain in. Defense sets typically can block almost all damage and can resort to spot healing as needed with Aid Other. Time breaks the bank here by offering both -ToHit, Defense (boostable with Power Boost if you like), AND AoE healing. For pet survival this is a huge advantage. Sonic falls behind Thermal and Pain as a resistance set because of its lack of a heal. I don't feel the status protection is a good exchange, either. It's nice, but managing pet health is your first priority for survival. That said, plenty of folks run and enjoy Sonic, so you're mileage may vary!

Here's my 0.2 INF based on my experiences with MMs, from their inception until now. Primaries: Robotics - tanky, most damage tied up in Assault Bot, blooms late, has good AoE, but low DPS. This is countered by regen debuffs in Assault Bot's plasma attacks, which is helpful with AVs, but not so much with clearing weaker mobs. Needs ways to mitigate knockback from AssBot's attacks, either with procs or things like Electric Fences. This is a ranged pet set, so with new pet AI they just sit and light up things from a distance. Works best with Secondaries that buff defense, although a solid resistance set will also perform well. It is still a top performer, overall, coming in just after Thugs and Demons. KEY WORDS: TANKY, AOE, CLANKY. Robotics Secondary Pairings: Recommend with Force Field, Cold, Time, Nature, Electrical Affinity or Dark. Thugs - top performer (tied with Demons) - also tanky due to Enforcer buffs, but these do not affect the MM (unlike Bots, which will buff the MM). High damage, both ST and AoE (much of the AoE is tied to Arsonist, so you have to keep him alive -easier with the improved pet AI. The damage is more spread out between all the pets, so easier to level up than Bots. Can take more procs in the Enforcers than some sets (-resist, damage procs). Bruiser gets fury as a mini-brute. Arsonist is a mini-Corruptor with scourge. Brute is melee, rest are ranged. Again, new pet AI makes this much more manageable as Brute doesn't wander off too far. Works best IMO with sets that boost defense, but again, they are so good they benefit from almost anything. Comes with Gang War, which is an excellent power as well as a MM proc mule. KEY WORDS: DAMAGE, AOE, COOL Thugs Secondary Pairings: Recommend with Time, Dark, Thermal, Pain or Cold. Demons - the other top performer - more resistance based defenses (some of which benefit the MM and team mates), a little bit of self-healing, and lots of -damageresistance to amp up damage. Mixed variety of damage types (fire, cold, toxic) but also makes them a bit tough to proc out their attacks. Like Thugs, damage is spread out a bit among the pets, making leveling easier. Demon Prince also has some decent controls, particularly his hold which he spams a lot. Mostly ranged, and they benefit from the improved pet AI. Demons are so good they just pair well with almost anything (except Trick Arrow...but then again... does anything?). Has Hell on Earth, which is not as good as Gang War, but is still serviceable and also a proc mule. KEY WORDS: DAMAGE, TOUGH, NOISY Demons Secondary Pairings: Recommend with Dark, Time, Cold, Thermal, Pain or Nature. Necromancy - an old, but still true set that allows you to blend damage with control. Lower on the damage scale, and more single target, it offers more control via the Grave Knight's knock up sword attacks and the LIch, who is a mini Dark Miasma controller. They also toss out lots of -ToHit. They damage is concentrated in the Grave Knights, who are excellent and can take the same procs as Enforcers in Thugs (-resist, damage procs). They pets have always been pretty well behaved, and are immune to slows. The Lich tends to hang back while the other pets go forth into melee. Also has a proc mule in Soul Extraction, which is arguably the least powerful of the three proc mule powers (the others being Hell on Earth and Gang War). But it saves you slots on the pets. Lich can also take Clouded Senses damage proc, which works on all his attacks. Th,e pets lack Lethal resists, but have some exotic resists, and with pet IOs you can get them 35% lethal resist or more anyway. KEY WORDS: CONTROL, DEBUFFS, VOMIT Necromancy Secondary Pairings: Recommend with Dark, Time, Cold, Nature. Beasts - a newer set that is pure melee, all the time. There have been debates over the efficiency of their attack chain, but I played them all the way to T3 incarnate and found them no better or worse with their pauses in attacks than any other set. They are the ONLY set that can self-buff their Defense to soft-cap with Pack Mentality, allowing you to choose other secondarys that you might not consider due to attempts to keep them alive. They also have decent S/L/Cold resists. They also have about 11-12% base Defense. Damage is concentrated more into Dire Wolf, though not as lopsided as Robots; they are also more single target, with Dire Wolf having some AoE. They come with -movement speed debuff attacks that help keep things near them and other than Ninjas, are the fastest pets on the ground that I've used. Still, you might want to get an Epic or Seconary with some immobilization or control to help the pets keep things close by. Beasts are a bit more prone to Knockback recovery time, so Clarion Destiny or a secondary with KB protection (Electrical Affinity) is helpful, if not mandatory. The nice thing about Beasts is they are always where you expect them to be, since they are all melee. They do not have a proc mule power in Pack Mentality, but if you don't need it to get Defense up there, due to a secondary like Force Field, then you can leave it unused to build +damage and +Crit, which turns beasts into chainsaws. Single Target chainsaws. KEY WORDS: DAMAGE, TOUGH, HOWLING Beast Secondary Pairings: Recommend Kinetics, Time, Cold, Nature, Thermal, Pain, Electric. Ninjas - my experiences with these are back in Live, as I haven't touched them since Homecoming. They have super high single-target DPS, but almost no real defense, and no resistances. Oni is a poor man's fire corruptor, and does not live up to his peers the Demon Prince or Lich. But they are cool looking. You just have to find a way to keep them alive. They deal mostly Lethal, some Smashing, and some Fire damage. Ninjas do not have a proc mule, their special power is somewhat lacking, in that it is supposed to help set up for criticals but is not as good as it sounds in practice. Ninjas do not do well with resistance Secondarys, they really require something to avoid being hit AT ALL. KEY WORDS: DAMAGE, QUICK, FRAIL Ninjas Secondary Pairings: Recommend Force Fields, Time, Cold. Mercenaries - my first MM on Live, and it was ultimately a disappointment. They are equipped with lots of narrow cone attacks on long recharges, a suicidal medic, a terrible special power in Serum, and poor defense and resistances. While serviceable, they fall behind other sets that have a more cohesive design. While Ninjas just needs a touch up in Defense, Mercs need a complete overhaul. I would not recommend then for anything but concept. KEY WORDS: DAMAGE, WEAK, BULLET CASINGS Mercenaries Secondary Pairing: Recommend: Force Field, Time, Traps. Disclaimer: These are my opinions. YMMV. I personally don't care for Storm (too much chaos) or Radiation (slow to activate toggles, grab bag of non-thematic powers) , Traps (generally slow on teams), Poison (no self-heal, slow recharges, small AoE), Trick Arrow (great on Illusion controllers with invulnerable PA, not so good for MM henchmen), Empathy (too much healing, I think Pain works better for MM) and Sonic (no heal, suffers in comparison to Pain/Thermal as a resistance set, plus very long recharge on T9). That isn't to say these can't work, or be fun, but I find them to be less than optimal in order to generally make them a recommendation. But for every one of me, there's some guy or gal loving their Demons/Storm MM. That's how beautiful CoH is.

I don't have time to do a Mid's build. But I've been leveling my own Plant/Nature currently at 44th, and going strong. Plant generally plays at a distance with it's powers. Nature does have many powers that also work well at range (cone heal, spore cloud, etc) but its buffs are point blank, meaning the front line guys need you to come forward to get them. Also your toggle hold aura also may require you to get into the thick of things. Thus Nature may require you to skirmish a bit in the battlefield. That's not a bad thing, it does help keep me engaged. But it does add a bit of risk, especially at lower levels when your own personal defenses are meager. Thematically they are pleasing together. You bring lots of healing, some good debuffs, solid buffs (absorb and overgrowth in particular). Control is also good, decent AoE damage, a strong pet when solo (slot for -res and negative energy procs), and the nice openers of either seeds of confusion or carrion creepers. The pairing is strong, if not particularly synergistic, but you will never lack for some way to contribute on teams. Solo is decent. I just finished Mako's patron arc on +2/x3. Calistyx the Shaper gave me a bit more trouble than Mako, because Mako as an EB was easily neutered by immobilized. Not sure I'd try that arc yet with AVs as my ranged defense is still a bit low (21) and my single damage is not where I'd want it yet without more IO investment. Recharge is your friend. You want Creepers, Vines, and your three Nature buffs up often. So grab Hasten in your teens or twenties. I do recommend Entangling Aura. It's very helpful at locking down mobs and stacking hold magnitude.

But then we find out...it's not a mask! 🙃

Sounds like a fun time. Any way to merely observe in my PFF bubble? 😛😛

Very welcome. I had a really old build in Mid's and thus didn't post it. If you have any questions, just holler.

Here's a screenie of my power selectxion (Fitness and Flight pools are not shown, but they aren't particularly noteworthy). With Farsight up, I'm about 42% Ranged, which has been tough enough that I'm in no danger of dying on anything, from an AE farm to a TinPex (except the sewer portion). Its not perfect, there are areas for minor tweaks (such as Charged Armor, where I could change some IOs to get a bit better END REC for example, or move OF % KD to Gang War etc), but its proven to be a solid and favorite build/character.

Thanks Sovera. So even with procs, it's just a middle of the road set, per the testing. I can live with that myself if I can live with the animations. Maybe. Greater Psi Sword is still calling my name... I'm trying to ignore her. But that damage ...

Parasitic is a very lackluster T9. When solo I find it sleeps the occasional minion, but it has no real impact, as those minions are usually of no threat anyway. Also, being spines, I tend to wake up sleeping minions in short order. I think it might be (marginally) more useful in a ST set. I wish it kept the -damage debuffcomponent. Then it would add value in many more scenarios. Even in group play. As it is, I'll likely drop it from the build next respec and grab another power with more use.

May I ask how does this compare to your other stalkers?

I have a Spines/Bio at 50+3, and it's solid. But as I'm already dealing with some long-ish animations on Lunge, etc, as well as Lethal damage, I was curious to try a Kin/Bio, or perhaps a Kin/NRG. Performance aside, Kin's animations are fun to look at (unlike spines, which I find rather uninspired). So I'm reading up and looking forward to your continued observations! If I have time today, I might get my own Kinetic stalker created today.

With the updated pet AI, use of GoTo or Stay means pets don't scatter like they used to. Much easier to support them with all secondaries, as they keep a closer formation. #happyMM I'll be on my laptop to post the build in a few hours. If you want to see my build in action, welcome to join me on Everlasting anytime. My global is in my sig!

@grussen69 Definitely, I'll put something up today. My build is very survivable without losing damage. Time is just that wonderful for MMs.

Necro/Dark/Soul, of course! You can debuff even AV accuracy! You are a grim minister of death, praying for war. Not only the dead, but even the shadows obey you.

My understanding with the PPM changes were that it no longer procs per teammate. With Enforcers in Thugs, however, I'm told it can proc per pet. This is off my memory, as I'm at work atm 😛

MM pets do inherit the proc from the interface powers. I've never liked the low mag or low duration of the confuse. Have you checked your combat log?

Nice suggestion. I keep forgetting about the new pool powers myself. Almost anything could work here. After all, I can farm at reasonable (for a non brute) rate on my Bots/FF/Mu at +2/x8. Not as quickly or at +4 like my Thugs/Time/Mu, but it's more relaxing and can get the job done. Plus I enjoy the visuals, concept and safety of the build. YMMV, but the beauty part of CoH is that it's highly idiomatic and much if it is what you make it it. After all, there's this high Veteran level Empathy/Fire defender on Everlasting who absolutely solo wipes TF mobs and blows away my expectations on the times I've been grouped up.

FF + Mace PB will keep your Mercs alive the best at the cost of being rather one dimensional. With pets' lower base hit points and Mercs' poor resists (unlike demons), they don't have much to build off of, so you might as well aim to boost Def to avoid them taking damage in the first place. FF does offer area denial as you mentioned. That can help the mostly ranged set. The further away the targets, the more likely the Mercs' cones will capture targets. For attacks, a procced out Force Bolt can be useful not just for KB, but can add some damage, too. If you don't go Mace, however, then I would recommend Cold (although it may be you have already used it and care not to repeat). You'd pick up defense of course, plus some resists, stealth, debuffs and some replacement soft control. And Infrigerate is also procable. Cold will keep you a bit more busy than FF if that helps in your gameplay Call them snow troopers for theme.

Looking forward to your thoughts on EAff. 🙂

Sounds fun @r0y, I'll have to put this in my future alt list!

Maneuvers is great for MMs for extra Def. It's a terrific power, in general, and I take it on all my characters regardless of AT. I don't take temporal selection usually, unless I'm swimming in power choices. Time can get a little clicky if you also add hasten and destiny (typically Clarion) to Farsight. But MMs can typically get away without hasten IMO.

Yes, you can easily move characters at the character select screen. Welcome back hero! 🙂

Gonna leave my thank you here, Veracor. You've helped quite a few of my characters get their Hami badges 🙂🙂

Any toggle has a low proc chance unfortunately. Focused accuracy is very end expensive. Always take tactics if you can, instead. Personally I take tactics not for the accuracy so much as for the debuff resistance (I e., Arachnos widows, etc).