Equip Thugs?

[Call Me Awesome]

Ok, after all these years since CoV launched I've finally decided to make a try at a MM, the only AT I've never taken to 50.

 

So far my Thugs/Cold MM has just reached 11 and I've noticed that Equip Thugs has to be tossed on each individual pet... I'd thought that the pet upgrades had been changed to an AOE so it hit all the pets but it doesn't seem so.  Is this correct, or is something wrong?  I seem to recall that some MM's I've teamed with didn't need to upgrade each pet individually but I'm not sure.

[TungstenShark]

I would like to know as well. Just started my first MM ever.

 

And a follow-up...do you have to use Equip Thugs AND Upgrade Equipment? In other words, do they stack, or does UE just overwrite ET?

[TheSpiritFox]

First, pet upgrades only activate an animation on the pet you use them on, but the buff is indeed AOE so long as your other pets are in a certain range from the one you equipped. Upgrades persist through level loads until the pets death or dismissal. 

 

Second, upgrades stack. A little lesson on pets. Every pet has a set of powers and the upgrades enable different additional powers each. So like, if you don't use the first upgrade and only use the second, your pets will not have access to the attacks enabled by the first upgrade and vice versa. 

 

Third, Macros. 

 

 

 

[Call Me Awesome]

9 hours ago, TheSpiritFox said:

First, pet upgrades only activate an animation on the pet you use them on, but the buff is indeed AOE so long as your other pets are in a certain range from the one you equipped. Upgrades persist through level loads until the pets death or dismissal. 

 

Second, upgrades stack. A little lesson on pets. Every pet has a set of powers and the upgrades enable different additional powers each. So like, if you don't use the first upgrade and only use the second, your pets will not have access to the attacks enabled by the first upgrade and vice versa. 

 

Third, Macros. 

 

 

 

Thanks for the clarification, I'd wondered since at 11 I only have the two pets and only one of them shows the upgrade when they were standing next to each other when I tossed it to one of them.

 

We'll see if this time a MM manages to click with me, I've tried 3 or 4 times on Live and never made it past level 20 with one.  On the other hand back on Live my first character rolled up was a Fire/EM blaster who got deleted at 20 because he died all the time... it wasn't until 6 years later that I finally tried again (Ironically with the same combo) and that time in more skilled hands I had a lot of fun and the character remained a favorite up until shutdown.

 

I guess I should ask for opinions of those of you with experience on the AT, I think I'm running a decent combo with Thugs/Cold; do you guys agree or should I try another?  At this point I only have 3 DFB's on the character.

[TheSpiritFox]

Thugs cold is a solid set. /Cold is one of the higher tier secondaries for MMs, from what I know (I haven't tried it as of  yet) the thing it lack is healing, and you might want the aid pool to help make up that lack. 

[Call Me Awesome]

I was starting to plan my build and notice that Gang War has a recharge of 600 seconds and says that they will "wander off after a while" but I can't find any information on their duration.  From the description I understand they don't stick around like the other minions... are they a 60 second duration like Phantom Army?  120 seconds?

[TheSpiritFox]

1 hour ago, Call Me Awesome said:

I was starting to plan my build and notice that Gang War has a recharge of 600 seconds and says that they will "wander off after a while" but I can't find any information on their duration.  From the description I understand they don't stick around like the other minions... are they a 60 second duration like Phantom Army?  120 seconds?

I honestly don't know, but I'd say it feels like a 2 minute duration. 

[plainguy]

Credit to another poster on these boards, sorry don't know the thread to point you at it.

 

There is a sort of "FEATURE"  that is specific to Traps and upgrades for pets..

 

You have the ability to use the 2 upgrades against Force Field Generator ( FFG ), and you will see the FFG spark on the bottom of it as you upgrade it. 

Doing this WILL UPGRADE THE PETS as well. 

 

The benefit. 

 

Some big bad AV comes along and wipes out some or all your pets BUT YOUR FFG SURVIVES. 

 

If you re-summon all your pets AND THEN resummon FFG all your pets will be instantly upgraded. You will see the action of them getting upgraded but it will be both upgrades. 

 

I tested and verified this. 

 

You just have to remember to resummon FFG before it times out or you lost the ability to do this. 

Edited November 18, 2019 by plainguy

[Hedgefund]

On 11/16/2019 at 1:56 AM, Call Me Awesome said:

Thanks for the clarification, I'd wondered since at 11 I only have the two pets and only one of them shows the upgrade when they were standing next to each other when I tossed it to one of them.

 

We'll see if this time a MM manages to click with me, I've tried 3 or 4 times on Live and never made it past level 20 with one.  On the other hand back on Live my first character rolled up was a Fire/EM blaster who got deleted at 20 because he died all the time... it wasn't until 6 years later that I finally tried again (Ironically with the same combo) and that time in more skilled hands I had a lot of fun and the character remained a favorite up until shutdown.

 

I guess I should ask for opinions of those of you with experience on the AT, I think I'm running a decent combo with Thugs/Cold; do you guys agree or should I try another?  At this point I only have 3 DFB's on the character.

Re: the bolded, Thugs/Cold will be GREAT.  Not good, not pretty good, great.  With Fog + Shields + your Maneuvers + Enforcer Maneuvers your minions will be soft-capped early on.  The ride with Cold tends to be safe and slow for a long time, then Sleet, then Heat Loss.  At that point, it's game on.

 

My caveat is that I personally haven't paired Thugs with Cold, but I do have many hours in-game with each seperately  (including 2 fully incarnated /Cold MMs (Bots and Demons)).  If I made a Thugs, I'd do as the suggestion upthread says to find a place for Aid Other.  Or be a pro at insp combine and use on pet macros.

Edited November 19, 2019 by Hedgefund

[Call Me Awesome]

29 minutes ago, Hedgefund said:

Re: the bolded, Thugs/Cold will be GREAT.  Not good, not pretty good, great.  With Fog + Shields + your Maneuvers + Enforcer Maneuvers your minions will be soft-capped early on.  The ride with Cold tends to be safe and slow for a long time, then Sleet, then Heat Loss.  At that point, it's game on.

 

My caveat is that I personally haven't paired Thugs with Cold, but I do have many hours in-game with each seperately  (including 2 fully incarnated /Cold MMs (Bots and Demons)).  If I made a Thugs, I'd do as the suggestion upthread says to find a place for Aid Other.  Or be a pro at insp combine and use on pet macros.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'd thought it should work well.  I'm just playing an AT and sets I've never played before and know that sometimes "looks good on paper" doesn't translate to "works well in game"

 

I'd considered Cold, FF, Thermal and Dark as possibilities and settled on Cold mainly since I'd never played it before but it looked like a good pairing.

[Xandyr]

I have a thugs/cold. Pets' defenses will be softcapped. I don't have aid other, but may respec and try to fit it in. It's a fun set, and safe. The teams I've been on have loved the shields,sleet, and heat loss.

[MTeague]

I'm quite happy with my Ninja/Cold.  Ice Shields and the Pet Aura IO's help keep them standing long enough to unleash their damage.