Poll Worst MM combo

[Dr Causality]

Inspired by @Scarlet Shocker's "The 105; the Worst of the Bunch" post.      I'm curious what people think the absolute worst performing MM combo is?

 

I will roll and level whatever combo is chosen as the worst combo in this thread, to see what can still be done with it.    🙂

 

To narrow things down into a manageable poll.  I'm working from the assumption that Trick Arrow is considered the most underperforming MM 2ndary.   And that Thugs, Bots and Demons are widely considered the top pet sets.   That leaves Beast, Necro, Ninja or Mercs paired with TA as the most likely suspects for worst performing MM pairings.    But just in case you disagree I included a none of the above option and you can reply in this thread with your write in vote....      

 

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**Update**

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Ninja/TA was voted as worst combo, and as promised I rolled one to see what I could do with it still.  Finally finished grinding all the T4's, so my first stupid test was a solo MoITF at +2/+8  with further restriction of nothing from email or outside mishes and only sm inpirations to start.   I was able to do it on Beta, but having completed this on Beta, but died once in final AV fight.    (Sadly the recent change to MM Goto controls for melee pets makes it nearly impossible to keep the T1 Ninjas alive in the final AV fight.)

 

Write up here:

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Dr Causality
Update of MoITF attempt

[Apparition]

Beast/FF.  A secondary with strong knockback and repel powers would not pair well with all melee pets.

[ShardWarrior]

I just leveled a Ninja/Dark MM to 50 and cannot say I am crazy about that combo.  The Genin are way, way, way too squishy for melee.

[Xandyr]

21 minutes ago, Apparition said:

Beast/FF.  A secondary with strong knockback and repel powers would not pair well with all melee pets.

However, the Beasts would be soft capped, and you should be able to slot KB->KD IOs . You'd have to pick up Medicine for Heal Other, and use an Epic pool to perhaps get some extra damage.

 I don't see this as the worst. I had one and leveled it to 24, then deleted it. Why? Bc I forgot how BORING FF is. 

 I'd be close between Ninja/TA and Mercs/TA as the "worst" performing combo. (However, with perseverance, determination, and smart slotting, every combo is playable).

[Dr Causality]

3 minutes ago, Xandyr said:

 (However, with perseverance, determination, and smart slotting, every combo is playable).

That's what I'm thinking too.   It makes me want to start a "Best of the Worst" SG that only accepts AT combos from the top of worst combo polls like this.   So the SG would be composed of the best that can be done with the worst power sets and combos in the game. 

[Scarlet Shocker]

11 minutes ago, Dr Causality said:

That's what I'm thinking too.   It makes me want to start a "Best of the Worst" SG that only accepts AT combos from the top of worst combo polls like this.   So the SG would be composed of the best that can be done with the worst power sets and combos in the game. 

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter!

[Seigmoraig]

This is pretty out dated, but back in september 2019 the least played combo to level 50 was Merc/TA

[Dr Causality]

13 minutes ago, Seigmoraig said:

This is pretty out dated, but back in september 2019 the least played combo to level 50 was Merc/TA

Thematically a terrible combo.   It will take a fairly inventive back story to make sense of how your Bow wielding MM is in command of a bunch of Mercenaries with guns and modern warfare gear.    Does make me wonder how much of the least played combos comes down to conflicting themes versus poor performance?

[biostem]

4 minutes ago, Dr Causality said:

Thematically a terrible combo.   It will take a fairly inventive back story to make sense of how your Bow wielding MM is in command of a bunch of Mercenaries with guns and modern warfare gear.    Does make me wonder how much of the least played combos comes down to conflicting themes versus poor performance?

You'd basically be Rambo, with a squad of mercs...

[Zeraphia]

I really don't think Ninjas/TA is the "worst" ninjas at least deal damage and with slowly soft controlling through TA it's not *thaaaaaaaaaaaat* bad to me. Mercs/TA though... yikes... 

 

You know what this poll needs that I just thought of?

 

PETLESS MM

Edited February 19, 2020 by 33053222

[Dr Causality]

16 minutes ago, 33053222 said:

You know what this poll needs that I just thought of?

 

PETLESS MM

 Lol.    Granted petless is the worst, but purposely omitted from the Poll:  

 

• Because a petless MM, is like a Cult leader with no cult. 
• But maybe more to the point because it's taking the worst combo thing to a whole other level, as it's basically expanding it into "What would be the worst combo, if you skipped the set defining best powers."  

 

 

 

[Dr Causality]

4 minutes ago, biostem said:

You'd basically be Rambo, with a squad of mercs...

Heh that's not how I see it.  Rambo has guns, bazookas....but a TA MM has....a debuffing bow.    Your T3 Commando is more like Rambo and the question as I see it is, 'Why would Rambo be following a squishy bow wielding trick arrow debuffer?'   I mean could Rambo trust anyone who doesn't use guns?   

 

But maybe sympathy could explain it:    Rambo:    "Pathetic!   This helpless MM doesn't even know how to use guns, they'd be dead without me..."      Still seems tough to explain how your MM can then be the strategic battle field leader of Mercs using guns, despite choosing to only use a bow.    But it would at least help explain pets ignoring our MM commands:      "Bow brain over there thinks we should leave that other spawn of enemies alone, but what they don't understand is I have this here Grenade launcher to provide cover for when I charge them head first..."

[biostem]

7 minutes ago, Dr Causality said:

Heh that's not how I see it.  Rambo has guns, bazookas....but a TA MM has....a debuffing bow.  

A mercs/TA MM would have access to a machine gun and a bow - both of which Rambo uses.  They may not be the specific attacks that Rambo would use, but it's there.  Realistically, now, when have you realistically seen a "debuffing bow" used by any mainline motion picture?  You gotta use a bit of imagination to extend what he game can provide...

 

8 minutes ago, Dr Causality said:

Still seems tough to explain how your MM can then be the strategic battle field leader of Mercs using guns, despite choosing to only use a bow.

As previously mentioned, a mercs/TA MM would have access to both a machine gun and a bow, which Rambo is known to use. 

[Dr Causality]

Just now, biostem said:

As previously mentioned, a mercs/TA MM would have access to both a machine gun and a bow, which Rambo is known to use. 

Doh.  You're right.  I'm forgetting about the very forgettable Merc MM attack powers.   Rambo it is.   Merc/TA is far more thematically congruent that I was imagining. 

[Scarlet Shocker]

2 hours ago, Dr Causality said:

Thematically a terrible combo.   It will take a fairly inventive back story to make sense of how your Bow wielding MM is in command of a bunch of Mercenaries with guns and modern warfare gear.    Does make me wonder how much of the least played combos comes down to conflicting themes versus poor performance?

I have one, The Angel of Mons, which is a very good support toon, but rubbish solo. I've created her as a spin on the legend of her name, see The Bowmen by Arthur Machin, which even now arouses many different emotions and stories in England.

 

Essentially it references the Battle of Agincourt and the English bowmen who scored such a famous victory - so in my interpretation she is an Angelic archer leading an elite squad of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to victory. Or she might just be the Goddess of War and ensuring that the war continued...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_of_Mons

 

 

[Redlynne]

For Mercs/TA ... stop thinking of the bow as a bow and start thinking of it as a QUIET GRENADE LAUNCHER(!).

 

Trick Arrow is all about delivering "payloads" to locations at range, and those payloads are extremely similar to what you'd potentially get out of a grenade (although Oil Slick is questionable on this point, but work with me here).  You're just using the bow (and arrow) as a way to "throw" those payloads rather than chucking them bare handed at whatever it is you're up against.

 

The Mercs "make the noise" while your Mastermind exploits their diversion(s) of attention to deliver debuffs and damage.

 

Also, Achilles' Heel procs combined with the -Resistance debuffs of Trick Arrow can start stacking to rather useful amounts ...

[Talionis]

Trick Arrow provides very little help keeping Ninjas alive.  Ninjas need more help being kept alive than any other primary 

[TheSpiritFox]

5 hours ago, Dr Causality said:

 Lol.    Granted petless is the worst, but purposely omitted from the Poll:  

 

• Because a petless MM, is like a Cult leader with no cult. 
• But maybe more to the point because it's taking the worst combo thing to a whole other level, as it's basically expanding it into "What would be the worst combo, if you skipped the set defining best powers."  

 

 

 

Agree. It's like making a blaster where you only take one attack from the primary and then fill out your power choices with every power pool you can fit into the build. 

[Dr Causality]

On 2/19/2020 at 12:34 PM, Scarlet Shocker said:

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter!

Careful what you wish for.   🙂

[Redlynne]

Just now, Dr Causality said:

On 2/19/2020 at 2:34 PM, Scarlet Shocker said:

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter!

Careful what you wish for.   🙂

I'm not real good on Cause & Effect ... why is that ...?

[Scarlet Shocker]

6 hours ago, Redlynne said:

I'm not real good on Cause & Effect ... why is that ...?

because sometimes wishes come true but not in an expected way. Human thinking is remarkably imprecise.

[Crysis]

What’s sad is that Trick Arrow is pretty much what makes the list THE list.

[Dr Causality]

10 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

because sometimes wishes come true but not in an expected way. Human thinking is remarkably imprecise.

Thanks for this.   It's exactly this unknown,  unexpected way I was missing. Without it I was struggling to articulate my joke attempt without a deep dive into the waters of self-deprecation.....and who knows maybe I could write an interesting newsletter.    

 

But what if....Emperor Marcus Cole declared everyone must read my new 1,000 page monthly newsletter before receiving their monthly food ration.

[Dr Causality]

1 hour ago, Crysis said:

What’s sad is that Trick Arrow is pretty much what makes the list THE list.

Haha.  Yeah the consensus on this is pretty damning so far.       

 

But I will say you can make an already bad situation notably worse by also doubling down by pairing it with an underperforming pets set, that doesn't fill in for any of Trick Arrow's shortcomings.    Protector Bots for instance Defensively shield themselves and your MM, filling in for TA's missing Def buff, so you can focus more on filling the other gaps.   Bots also fight from range which should further help mitigate damage since it synchronizes better with TA's ability to keep mobs at range with slows and immobilize.    Bots also have some built-in resistance and a heal from the Protector bots.   And then there are pet sets like Thugs, Demons, and Necro have a 4th power you can slot pet unique into.       

 

So you can make TA far worse by pairing it with a pet set that has

• no buff for your MM itself
• no heal or resistance
• a smaller def buff
• fights from melee where pets will take both ranged and melee damage.  
• and finally that doesn't offer a 4th pet power for extra room to slot all pet uniques while still getting good set bonuses and proc slotting.   

 

This makes me wonder excluding TA, what's the next worst combo?    And is TA so bad that even the best TA combo like Bots/Thugs/Demons would still be worse than the worst non-TA combo?

[Scarlet Shocker]

Sadly I think TA is getting a bit of a bum steer here. I think we need to consider where "the worst" is in context. I mean, are we asking "The worst MM to solo?" or "The worst MM in a team?" which I suspect would give different answers.

 

I would think TA doesn't fare well on a solo MM because it lacks proper synergy with any of the pets, but it does have some great bonuses, debuffs and control. The problem is, other stuff does the same thing only better.

 

you know what I'm thinking now though. I think we need to make the shittiest MM team we can and run them from 1-50 without PLing them and see how they fare against Incarnates!