An eye opener... Calystix?

[theDarkeOne]

10 hours ago, Ultimo said:

Ok, here's a first pass at a revised build.

I'll explain some of the reasoning.  ALL my characters are based on a concept.  Often (usually), they're meant as homages to existing characters in one way or another (eg. The Canadian Shield=Superman, Watch-Man=Batman, Ultimo=Iron Man (more or less)...).  Lord Dire is based on Doctor Doom.  One of my favourite things is to set the bots on Aggressive, turn on my PFF and then WALK malevolently into the enemy while the bots wipe things out around me.  So, the character is designed with Doctor Doom in mind.

 

Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10
https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Lord Dire: Level 50 Technology Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Force Field
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Field Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Battle Drones -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(33)
Level 1: Force Bolt -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(9)
Level 2: Pulse Rifle Burst -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(7), Dmg-I(7), Dmg-I(9), Dmg-I(37)
Level 4: Fly -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 6: Deflection Shield -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(34), DefBuff-I(34), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 8: Equip Robot -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 10: Insulation Shield -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(33), DefBuff-I(34), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 12: Protector Bots -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(13), DefBuff-I(13), Heal-I(17), Dsrnt-I(19), ToHitDeb-I(33)
Level 14: Maneuvers -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(15), DefBuff-I(15), DefBuff-I(17)
Level 16: Personal Force Field -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(37), DefBuff-I(43), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 18: Air Superiority -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(19), Dmg-I(50)
Level 20: Dispersion Bubble -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(21), DefBuff-I(21), DefBuff-I(23)
Level 22: Boxing -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(23), Dmg-I(50)
Level 24: Tough -- EndRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(25), ResDam-I(25), ResDam-I(31)
Level 26: Assault Bot -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(31)
Level 28: Weave -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(29), DefBuff-I(29), DefBuff-I(31)
Level 30: Group Fly -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(40), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 32: Upgrade Robot -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 35: Repulsion Bomb -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(36), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(37)
Level 38: Power Blast -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(40)
Level 41: Temp Invulnerability -- EndRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(42), ResDam-I(42), ResDam-I(42)
Level 44: Energy Torrent -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(45), Dmg-I(45), Dmg-I(45), Dmg-I(46)
Level 47: Explosive Blast -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(48), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(50)
Level 49: Force of Nature -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Jump-I(A)
Level 1: Supremacy
Level 2: Rest -- IntRdx-I(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(5), Heal-I(5)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(3), EndMod-I(3)
Level 1: Battle Drone
Level 12: Protector Bot
Level 26: Assault Bot
------------

 

Ok!  Here's the rationale.

The Battle Drones and Assault Bot only get 4 slotted because 1 accuracy is usually enough, and more than 3 damage will suffer from diminishing returns.  The Protector Bots are the only ones that get 6 slots, because they have all the support abilities.  I've one slotted each one for now, just to illustrate what CAN be slotted.  Usually, I'd slot 1 accuracy, 1 damage, 1 heal and 3 defense.

 

In the past, I've not bothered with the Deflection/Insulation Shields but now I understand casting on one target affects them ALL.  That is actually useful.  More, I dropped almost all the rifle attacks because they're essentially useless, so I had room for the shields.

 

I didn't take Hover, so I put 2 end reduction into Fly in case I need to leave it on.

 

I did slot PFF with 3 defense, because I find if I don't, I get slaughtered a LOT.  I put one more in recharge because I had a slot free, and often find myself waiting around to reapply the PFF.

 

I took Air Superiority, because I do find it very useful.  It almost single handedly won me a PvP match, back in live.  I don't use it much, Dire does not engage in petty fisticuffs.

 

Apart from that, the rest should be fairly self explanatory.  I'll have to wait for the epic pools to get access to the blasts for personal attacks, but such is life.  Early Doom relied more on his gadgets, too.

 

So, let me know what you think, what would you change?  I know, we've drifted away from worrying about Calystix, but that's ok.  He'll keep.

I put this together quickly and kept it mostly in line with what you had. Managed to up your defense significantly, get end reduction into all your bots, up your choice of damage on AS, and make several other miscellaneous changes.

I had a Bot/FF MM back in the day and played him to 50 but was a little to passive for my taste, however, I do remember not being able to die, like ever, on him. Maybe a couple fights i had to run away but I dont think I ever died until level 50 AVs came into it. 

Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Lord Dire: Level 49 Technology Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Force Field
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Battle Drones -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(5), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 1: Force Bolt -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(5)
Level 2: Pulse Rifle Burst -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(7), Dmg-I(7), Dmg-I(9), Dmg-I(9), Range-I(46)
Level 4: Fly -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(15)
Level 6: Deflection Shield -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(15), DefBuff-I(17), EndRdx-I(17)
Level 8: Equip Robot -- RechRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(48)
Level 10: Insulation Shield -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(19), DefBuff-I(19), EndRdx-I(21)
Level 12: Protector Bots -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(21), DefBuff-I(23), Heal-I(23), Dsrnt-I(25), ToHitDeb-I(25)
Level 14: Maneuvers -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(27), DefBuff-I(27), DefBuff-I(29)
Level 16: Personal Force Field -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(29), DefBuff-I(31), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 18: Air Superiority -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(31), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(45), Dmg-I(45), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 20: Dispersion Bubble -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(33), DefBuff-I(33), DefBuff-I(34)
Level 22: Boxing -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(34), Dmg-I(34)
Level 24: Tough -- EndRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(36), ResDam-I(36), ResDam-I(36)
Level 26: Assault Bot -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(37), Dmg-I(37), Dmg-I(37), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 28: Weave -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(39), DefBuff-I(39), DefBuff-I(39)
Level 30: Group Fly -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(40), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 32: Upgrade Robot -- RechRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 35: Tactics -- EndRdx-I(A), ToHit-I(40)
Level 38: Force Bubble -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(42)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(42), DefBuff-I(42), DefBuff-I(43)
Level 44: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 47: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Afterburner -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Jump-I(A)
Level 1: Supremacy 
Level 2: Rest -- IntRdx-I(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(11), Heal-I(11)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(13), EndMod-I(13)
Level 1: Battle Drone 
Level 12: Protector Bot 
Level 26: Assault Bot 
------------

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[Snarky]

10 minutes ago, theDarkeOne said:

I put this together quickly and kept it mostly in line with what you had. Managed to up your defense significantly, get end reduction into all your bots, up your choice of damage on AS, and make several other miscellaneous changes.

I had a Bot/FF MM back in the day and played him to 50 but was a little to passive for my taste, however, I do remember not being able to die, like ever, on him. Maybe a couple fights i had to run away but I dont think I ever died until level 50 AVs came into it. 

 

THis whole topic is seriously making me want to try an MM, and i have not done that since a couple lowbie outings way back in the day.

[Ultimo]

16 hours ago, Coyote said:

 

I would put more slots into the pets, and get the Defense and Resist IOs. Adding +10 Defense and +20 Resist to everything is nice. Even better if you can afford the more expensive MM ATOs with 10% AoE Defense and 10 more Resist. The non-ATO ones are usually obtainable for 2 million or less each, so for 8 million you can get a huge improvement in the character's abilities.

 

Also... I would be slotting IOs at level 27, as they are better than SOs, and it's cheaper to buy them once than to upgrade every few levels.

 

The pet upgrade powers need Endurance Reduction, not Recharge.

I would take out the End Reduction out of the FF ally shields, as they're not too expensive and you're not casting them that often.

I would take out some of the slots from PFF, it has a very high value base, so one Defense IO (or SO) is quite enough. Use those slots to 6-slot the pets so you can put the uniques into them.

Change the Fly slots to Flight Speed. You won't be leaving that on in missions, you'll be using Group Flight. Ironically, it has a lower End cost. But you'll want your Bots off the ground to keep them out of melee.

I don't think I'd slot Boxing up unless I were using IO sets for bonuses. Cross Punch might be worth slotting up, but not Boxing. I'd switch both slots to Air Superiority since it's an actually good power.

I'm not sure what benefit there is in putting more slots in the pets, unless you're talking about getting set bonuses?  I can't afford any of those, certainly not for a L28 character, so I've been using just the SOs for now.  They can only benefit from 3 of a kind... so I put 3 damage and one accuracy.  One accuracy is more than enough, they're usually at 90%+ to hit, and barely use endurance at all, so I don't understand why you're suggesting endurance reduction.

 

The upgrades I use so rarely, slotting them at all is a bit irrelevant.  I slotted for recharge so it would be available when needed, the endurance cost isn't all that significant in my experience...

 

The end reduction in the ally shields were kind of an afterthought.  I don't usually use them, so I wasn't sure how often I'd need to use them or how much endurance they would use... so I threw some extra slots in there.  I could move them to the pets, but again, I don't see that being useful just yet.

 

People often say I need to take the slots from PFF, but when I've done that in the past, it makes it very unreliable, so I usually max it out, just to be safe.  I could reconsider.

 

The Fly powers are a curiosity, really.  I usually don't slot fly at all, and just put in one fly speed.  However, since I didn't put Hover in there, I thought I might end up using Fly in its place on occasion, so I put endurance reduction in it.  I'm not sure about Group Fly being lower cost, though... I found it was VERY endurance heavy, so I rarely used it.  I took it, more for flavour than any real utility.  Again, I may reconsider.  Perhaps I could drop Fly altogether, and put in Hover, and use Group Fly as my regular travel power...?

 

I put an extra slot in Boxing, just in case I did ever want to use it.  It should be useful, at least, so one endurance, one accuracy was kind of my minimum.  Still, I do use it very rarely.  Perhaps I could swap it for Kick, and throw a knockback into that...

[siolfir]

4 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

People often say I need to take the slots from PFF, but when I've done that in the past, it makes it very unreliable, so I usually max it out, just to be safe.  I could reconsider.

The reason they suggest that is because the base defense (67.5%) for it is well beyond the softcap for defense, and until you start getting into serious level differences, to-hit debuffs, or +to-hit bonuses there's no point in any extra slots. The mobs will already have the lowest possible chance they have to hit you based on their accuracy multipliers for rank and level difference. Simply put, out of the box it's already maxed out.

[Coyote]

3 hours ago, Ultimo said:

I'm not sure what benefit there is in putting more slots in the pets, unless you're talking about getting set bonuses?  I can't afford any of those, certainly not for a L28 character, so I've been using just the SOs for now.

 

Even if nothing else, putting more slots into the Protector Bots allows you to slot Defense enhancements into them, and the bubbles are the biggest source of defense for the other bots. Each ProtBot puts out a bubble on the other Bots worth 10% base defense.. the bubbles you put out are 11.25%, but the non-Protector Bots get double-bubbled, once from each Protector, so their base Defense from both shields is 20% (and the Prot Bots each get 10%). Increase that to about 14% with two Defense SOs, and it's a big increase to each henchman.

 

As for affording, if you're not using IOs, what are you doing with all of the recipes and salvage that you've gotten? If you create an IO with every recipe that you've gotten by 28, and used Converters that you gain from Reward Merits, you should easily have enough money by that level to afford the 4 base pet Resist/Defense IOs.

[theDarkeOne]

15 hours ago, Ultimo said:

I'm not sure what benefit there is in putting more slots in the pets, unless you're talking about getting set bonuses?  I can't afford any of those, certainly not for a L28 character, so I've been using just the SOs for now.  They can only benefit from 3 of a kind... so I put 3 damage and one accuracy.  One accuracy is more than enough, they're usually at 90%+ to hit, and barely use endurance at all, so I don't understand why you're suggesting endurance reduction.

 

The upgrades I use so rarely, slotting them at all is a bit irrelevant.  I slotted for recharge so it would be available when needed, the endurance cost isn't all that significant in my experience...

 

The end reduction in the ally shields were kind of an afterthought.  I don't usually use them, so I wasn't sure how often I'd need to use them or how much endurance they would use... so I threw some extra slots in there.  I could move them to the pets, but again, I don't see that being useful just yet.

 

People often say I need to take the slots from PFF, but when I've done that in the past, it makes it very unreliable, so I usually max it out, just to be safe.  I could reconsider.

 

The Fly powers are a curiosity, really.  I usually don't slot fly at all, and just put in one fly speed.  However, since I didn't put Hover in there, I thought I might end up using Fly in its place on occasion, so I put endurance reduction in it.  I'm not sure about Group Fly being lower cost, though... I found it was VERY endurance heavy, so I rarely used it.  I took it, more for flavour than any real utility.  Again, I may reconsider.  Perhaps I could drop Fly altogether, and put in Hover, and use Group Fly as my regular travel power...?

 

I put an extra slot in Boxing, just in case I did ever want to use it.  It should be useful, at least, so one endurance, one accuracy was kind of my minimum.  Still, I do use it very rarely.  Perhaps I could swap it for Kick, and throw a knockback into that...

I rolled up a Bot/FF and PL'ed him to get to this mission. This is the build I ran with, settings at +0/1 and had no problem steamrolling. I did keep medium purple and green inspirations in my tray and popped one to keep my def at soft cap and even used one on the big guy but I didnt have any issues. See how this works for you:

Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 28 Technology Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Force Field
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Battle Drones -- Acc(A), Dmg(3), Dmg(3), Dmg(5), EndRdx(5)
Level 1: Force Bolt -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Deflection Shield -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(7), DefBuff(9)
Level 4: Insulation Shield -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(7)
Level 6: Equip Robot -- EndRdx(A)
Level 8: Assault -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(9)
Level 10: Maneuvers -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(11), DefBuff(11), DefBuff(25)
Level 12: Protector Bots -- Acc(A), Dmg(13), Dmg(13), Dmg(15), DefBuff(15), DefBuff(25)
Level 14: Tactics -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(17)
Level 16: Hover -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(17), EndRdx(19)
Level 18: Repair -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(19), RechRdx(23)
Level 20: Dispersion Bubble -- EndRdx(A), DefBuff(21), DefBuff(21), DefBuff(23)
Level 22: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 24: Tough -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Assault Bot -- Acc(A), Dmg(27), Dmg(27)
Level 28: [Empty] 
Level 30: [Empty] 
Level 32: [Empty] 
Level 35: [Empty] 
Level 38: [Empty] 
Level 41: [Empty] 
Level 44: [Empty] 
Level 47: [Empty] 
Level 49: [Empty] 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Supremacy 
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Battle Drone 
Level 12: Protector Bot 
Level 26: Assault Bot 
------------

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[Black Zot]

17 hours ago, Ultimo said:

I'm not sure what benefit there is in putting more slots in the pets, unless you're talking about getting set bonuses? 

 

Conventional wisdom is to put 5 or 6 slots in your most important powers, regardless of AT.  And NOTHING is more important to a MM than the pets.  Your pets are your main offense and defense, and need all the boosts they can get.  Even 1-2 +Acc and 2-3 +Dam SOs make a world of difference over the baseline strength of your bots.

[Ultimo]

1 hour ago, Black Zot said:

 

Conventional wisdom is to put 5 or 6 slots in your most important powers, regardless of AT.  And NOTHING is more important to a MM than the pets.  Your pets are your main offense and defense, and need all the boosts they can get.  Even 1-2 +Acc and 2-3 +Dam SOs make a world of difference over the baseline strength of your bots.

I'm still not seeing what the benefit is.

I mean, 1 accuracy means they're at 95% to hit already, so any more does nothing.  They use so little endurance (Protector Bots possibly excepted), and are summoned so infrequently, that giving them endurance reduction seems pointless.  Now, if I was giving them extra slots to get set bonuses, I could understand that... but using SOs or simple IOs... 4 is sufficient: 3 damage, 1 accuracy... which leaves me more slots for other things.

Not that I'm hard pressed for slots, I suppose.

 

To be clear, I'm not disagreeing with you all, I'm just not understanding the benefit of endurance reduction in things like Battle Bots.

[Black Zot]

2 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

I mean, 1 accuracy means they're at 95% to hit already, so any more does nothing. 

 

95% to hit against even level targets, which only the assault bot can claim.  The others are all -1 or -2 to your level, which comes with a significant to-hit penalty even before any enemy buffs or debuffs come into play.  Settling for 95% is a good way to get a lot of whiffs right when you really need to be hitting.

 

End consumption is less of an issue with the battle bots, but the assault bot will eventually run himself dry without an endredux and the protectors chug through their blue bars REALLY fast with both upgrades.

 

End-reduction also makes resummoning easier on your own end bar; you may not be resummoning often, but when you start taking losses and need your bots back in play, you need them NOW, not after your blue bar has had time to recharge naturally.  (I also recommend +recharge in any extra slots for this reason - especially the assault bot, as his summon takes forever to come back up).  The most common cause of defeat for a mastermind is a cascade failure - losing a pet or two, then having the remainder get overwhelmed by the extra damage that isn't being split as many ways anymore.

[siolfir]

31 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

To be clear, I'm not disagreeing with you all, I'm just not understanding the benefit of endurance reduction in things like Battle Bots.

There may not be one (with SOs) until after the second upgrade, if even then. As I said earlier, I don't remember how much endurance they go through from the last time I played Bots (which was a Bots/Traps over a decade ago); some pets are worse than others about constantly bottoming out their end.

 

The best use of the extra slots isn't endurance reduction anyway, it's IO procs - either the pet auras to provide more defense and resistance or extra damage on the attacks. If you want to avoid IOs, whether due to preference or simply due to having insufficient liquid infamy (if you don't use the market at all this is bound to happen until the mid to late 30s, although even a small amount of time on the market will alleviate it), then you can get away with 4-5 slotting. If you're monitoring the pet to-hit chance and it's still at 95% all the time (Supremacy gives them some +tohit when they're nearby) then you can ignore the extra; I hate missing and tend to go with overkill, so I'd still go with 2 accuracy because of tohit debuffs, mobs with defense, and the level difference in the lower tier pets causing a fast drop-off as the difficulty slider increases.

Edited February 8, 2021 by siolfir

[Ultimo]

So, quick update.  I respecced and added in the two Shields... and that made ALL the difference.  I'll carry on with this build for now, and respec again later once I can get the fancy IO sets.

 

Thanks for the tips, all!

[Coyote]

1 hour ago, Ultimo said:

To be clear, I'm not disagreeing with you all, I'm just not understanding the benefit of endurance reduction in things like Battle Bots.

 

I think this is more of a Level 32 issue... when you give them the 2nd upgrade, the Prot Bots and the Ass Bot get more AoEs that suck up Endurance more. This isn't really a problem in the 26-31 range.

[Hew]

3 hours ago, Ultimo said:

I'm still not seeing what the benefit is.

 

Cost to resummon pets is not inconsequential. There are _four_ procs to slot. 2 def, 2 resist. You REALLY should slot all 4 procs. As mentioned, pets are force multipliers. Even if you went 3 sets of 4 with 4 procs, thats 2 5slots and 1 6 slot, assuming slotting 4 for +rech or resist or whatever.

 

With straight level 25 generic ios, you STILL should find money for the 4 procs, and you really still should slot everything you can in them... Rech for pets that take a long time to recharge, acc for +diff mobs, damage, end for recast costs and for their cast costs... so on so forth.

[Snarky]

4 hours ago, Ultimo said:

I'm still not seeing what the benefit is.

I mean, 1 accuracy means they're at 95% to hit already, so any more does nothing.  They use so little endurance (Protector Bots possibly excepted), and are summoned so infrequently, that giving them endurance reduction seems pointless.  Now, if I was giving them extra slots to get set bonuses, I could understand that... but using SOs or simple IOs... 4 is sufficient: 3 damage, 1 accuracy... which leaves me more slots for other things.

Not that I'm hard pressed for slots, I suppose.

 

To be clear, I'm not disagreeing with you all, I'm just not understanding the benefit of endurance reduction in things like Battle Bots.

If i walked into a mission with a Brute at 95% accuracy I would just go sit in a corner.  Because being a doorstop at least is honest.  On my characters I want 100% bare minimum to hit  on the power THEN add Kismet and global accuracy bonuses.  A LOT of bonuses.  Modern team love to run at +2/+4 or run Incarnate Trials which are tough.  Then the CoT debuffers and Succubi and about 20 other debuffers.  sure, on a nice clear day with even mobs and no debuffers 95-100% is great.  That does not exist in most of where I go.

Edited February 8, 2021 by Snarky

[Ultimo]

4 hours ago, Snarky said:

If i walked into a mission with a Brute at 95% accuracy I would just go sit in a corner.  Because being a doorstop at least is honest.  On my characters I want 100% bare minimum to hit  on the power THEN add Kismet and global accuracy bonuses.  A LOT of bonuses.  Modern team love to run at +2/+4 or run Incarnate Trials which are tough.  Then the CoT debuffers and Succubi and about 20 other debuffers.  sure, on a nice clear day with even mobs and no debuffers 95-100% is great.  That does not exist in most of where I go.

Perhaps I need to clarify what I mean by 95% accuracy.  My terminology might not be correct.  What I mean is, when I look in the combat log, it says the bots have 95% chance to hit (occasionally a bit lower, but never less than 90%).

 

I'm also not sure what procs people are talking about.

[Doomguide2005]

@Ultimo The procs they're talking about, I assume, are a pair in Pet Damage sets and a pair in Recharge Intensive Pets.  Two provide a defense bonus to your pets and two provide a damage resistance bonus to your pets.

 

  Call to Arms -> Defense bonus aura

  Edict of the Master -> Defense bonus aura

  Expedient Reinforcement -> Damage resistance bonus aura

  Sovereign Right -> Damage resistance bonus aura

 

And yes if you're seeing 95% chance to hit in your combat logs you're good to go.  They're just concerned that without further To Hit and/or Accuracy you're one good (nasty) debuff (from, for example, a bunch of CoT spectrals) away from dropping seriously below 95% and becoming a pet whiff-fest.

 

Edit:  IO's like the Kismet +6% proc are an easy way to give your MM a To Hit buff to counter a debuff ... but won't, I believe, help your pets.  Tactics, while adding to your endurance consumption, are a very good way to boost your pets (and other teammates or companions) To Hit and offset any debuffs they might get.

 

Edited February 9, 2021 by Doomguide2005

[ForeverLaxx]

2 hours ago, Ultimo said:

Perhaps I need to clarify what I mean by 95% accuracy.  My terminology might not be correct.  What I mean is, when I look in the combat log, it says the bots have 95% chance to hit (occasionally a bit lower, but never less than 90%).

Eventually, your Tier 1 pets will be -2 to your level and your Tier 2 pets will be -1. This will impact their chance to hit things, even stuff that is +0 to you. It's generally a good idea to budget your slots in the Tier 1 and 2 pets for at least two accuracy to offset this. Tactics will also be a huge help in offsetting this drawback.

[Scientist]

Sounds like you beat her after a respec, but yes, Calystix is a beast.  I'd been rolling through content on my Bots/Traps till I got to her too.  One key I found on her and some other hard hitting mobs was to hit "stay" on my pets as I ran in, and run past her so she would be facing me, not them, for the cones.  Then I had to keep the aggro of her and her adds.  Make sure the pets are close enough to provide bodyguard damage reduction for you, and fortunately bots are ranged so they will still contribute full damage parked back 10' or so.  This is a classic tanking strategy, of course, face the really nasty mobs away from your pets, um, teammates. . . 🙂 

[Ultimo]

On 2/8/2021 at 11:11 PM, Doomguide2005 said:

@Ultimo The procs they're talking about, I assume, are a pair in Pet Damage sets and a pair in Recharge Intensive Pets.  Two provide a defense bonus to your pets and two provide a damage resistance bonus to your pets.

 

  Call to Arms -> Defense bonus aura

  Edict of the Master -> Defense bonus aura

  Expedient Reinforcement -> Damage resistance bonus aura

  Sovereign Right -> Damage resistance bonus aura

 

And yes if you're seeing 95% chance to hit in your combat logs you're good to go.  They're just concerned that without further To Hit and/or Accuracy you're one good (nasty) debuff (from, for example, a bunch of CoT spectrals) away from dropping seriously below 95% and becoming a pet whiff-fest.

 

Edit:  IO's like the Kismet +6% proc are an easy way to give your MM a To Hit buff to counter a debuff ... but won't, I believe, help your pets.  Tactics, while adding to your endurance consumption, are a very good way to boost your pets (and other teammates or companions) To Hit and offset any debuffs they might get.

 

So, a kind sould sent me those four enhancements... but I'm not certain where to put them.  They say the can't go in MM pets, but that seems to be the only place it will let me put them... and I'm uncertain what KIND of enhancements they are... they're red, so are they damage enhancements?

[Yomo Kimyata]

I haven't read the whole thread, so apologies if it's been mentioned.

 

When I'm a little ahead of my skis when I'm fighting an unexpected EB/AV, I pop out of the mission and *gulp* open up /AH and buy some large purples.  Maybe fill up on Good Luck Imbuements before trying him again?  They can't one shot your bots if they can't hit them!  Also, I've fought him a number of times, but always on melee characters.  If I'm able to focus on him, killing him disbands his pets.  And of course, make sure you clean out the random enemies so that you don't accidentally aggro anyone other than Calystix and his buddies.

 

 

[Doomguide2005]

2 hours ago, Ultimo said:

So, a kind sould sent me those four enhancements... but I'm not certain where to put them.  They say the can't go in MM pets, but that seems to be the only place it will let me put them... and I'm uncertain what KIND of enhancements they are... they're red, so are they damage enhancements?

The sets those are part of are Pet Damage and Recharge Intensive Pets and are Invention Origin Enhancements (i.e. IO set enhancements).  As for putting them in your powers I unfortunately haven't run a Mastermind in a long long time.  The HCwiki does say the Pet Damage ones should be able to slot into your Bots but doesn't mention the Recharge Intensive Pets.  The Pet Damage ones are Edict of the Master and Sovereign Right sets (and the other two are from the Recharge Intensive Pets sets).  I would think the other two could be slotted and the Wiki is in error (out of date) but given I've no functional computer atm I can't verify in game.

    So no they aren't "Damage Enhancements" per se.  But the sets as a whole will enhance damage as well as accuracy and endurance reduction in the case of the Pet Damage sets and damage, accuracy, endurance reduction and recharge in the case of Recharge Intensive Pets sets.

[Coyote]

13 hours ago, Ultimo said:

They say the can't go in MM pets, but that seems to be the only place it will let me put them... and I'm uncertain what KIND of enhancements they are... they're red, so are they damage enhancements?

 

They get slotted into the MM pet summons powers:

 

The last two IOs for the Demon Prince are Edict of the Master and Call to Arms unique IOs. They can be similarly slotted into all MM summons including temporary ones like Gang War.

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Coyote

[Hew]

3 hours ago, Coyote said:

 

They get slotted into the MM pet summons powers:

 

The last two IOs for the Demon Prince are Edict of the Master and Call to Arms unique IOs. They can be similarly slotted into all MM summons including temporary ones like Gang War.

 

They are the proc/global/whatevers for def/res (all 4).

 

[Ultimo]

Do they all go on one pet, or can I spread them over all three (ie. I would still like to be able to slot some damage/defense/healing enhancers, as appropriate)?  I gather I'd need them all on one pet for any set bonus, but each one is a different set... so I should be able to spread them out?

[Doomguide2005]

52 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

Do they all go on one pet, or can I spread them over all three (ie. I would still like to be able to slot some damage/defense/healing enhancers, as appropriate)?  I gather I'd need them all on one pet for any set bonus, but each one is a different set... so I should be able to spread them out?

They are global procs so slot them in any power that accepts them and they should effect all your pets and yes since they are all from different sets so whether they're all in one power or spread over 4 will make no difference unless or until you start slotting any of the rest of a given set.