So I want to try Mercs ... Storm or Cold?

[Demagogue]

It might propably not be good but I am not to worried since I rarely reach endgame.

 

Which secondary would you recommend? I do not want to pick time again since I already have a bots / time going.

 

How do colds buffs and debuffs compare to storm summoning?

 

Thank you 🙂

[Scarlet Shocker]

I love both but I think in terms of keeping your pets alive Cold has the better shields. Storm is great but when your pets are attacking, it has less to offer than Cold.

 

The caveat is what suits your play style best so why not try both?

 

[Coyote]

Storm may play better if you're willing to charge ahead with Hurricane and draw aggro while the Mercs stay behind and shoot from safety. As SS has said, if your worry is letting the pets take aggro and survive it, then Cold is clearly stronger. Storm sucks a lot of aggro, and that can be beneficial for a Tankermind who is trying to keep shots off the pets... but a focus on keeping aggro on the pets and keeping them alive is not its strong point. I like the idea of a Stormy ahead of ranged pets, but if that's not how you want to play it, then Cold will do better.

[Demagogue]

I will try cold first thanks - it will be a welcome change from the time masterminds who are also pretty active up front.

 

Thank you :D

[Meknomancer]

Storm may actually keep your pets alive longer than cold if your prepared to slot gale with lots of recharge, kb/kd, ff proc, simply because its a spammable soft control keeping the mob knocked down and its available right away. 

[krj12]

I've also been thinking of making a Merc MM,  but not sure which secondary.  OP narrowed it to just two, but out of all secondaries

which would you say is best overall for keeping self and pets survivable?

 

[Redlynne]

4 hours ago, krj12 said:

which would you say is best overall for keeping self and pets survivable?

Depends on your engagement strategy preference.

Do you pull $Targets to you ... or do you want to dive into the middle of them?

Do you want to be able to change position at a moment's notice ... or do you want to Plant The Flag™ and defend a (locked) position?

Do you want to Tankermind ... or do you want to Scrappermind?  Blastermind?

 

Different sets have different strengths and weaknesses when synergized together.

 

For Mercs though, I'd argue your choices come down to Nature, Time and Traps as being your best options, with each bringing different strengths and weaknesses to bear simply due to each secondary favoring different engagement strategies for "how to fight" with your Mercs in tow, in part because those three secondaries can AoE Heal to keep your Mercs topped up on HP without being "dedicated h34l0r" powersets (meaning they bring something else to the table besides JUST healing).

 

I myself find Temporal Mending in Time Manipulation to be almost something of a cheat mode while soloing early on since I can use it both DURING and AFTER every fight in order to keep my Pets (Ninjas in my case) topped up before engaging the next spawn group.  This works wonders for not needing to resummon due to defeated Pets, and Temporal Mending also includes an increased Regeneration for a duration after the Heal, meaning the best time to use Temporal Mending is AFTER taking some damage rather than preemptively BEFORE damage is taken.  All you have to do is be near your Pets (within Time's Juncture FX range is often good enough) to heal and regeneration buff them all.

 

For Mercs, I'd argue that Nature would make for the best blending (also the best thematic synergy).