What other AT would be he perfect duo boxer for a Crabbermind?

[KaizenSoze]

I consider from time to time creating a Crabbermind, but when I try it out on beta. It's too much management.

 

But I have been duo boxing a lot recently for badgers and the thought occurred to me. What if I duo boxed the Crabbermind?

 

Another build that would help keep the pets alive. Or take aggro. Or debuff the mobs so hard that the pets would be mostly safe.

 

But also be low maintenance.  So, I could focus on crab offensive.

 

One thought was Ill/Rad controller. Phantom army to hold aggro. Rad debuffs to protect the pets and provide offensive.

 

Thoughts? 

[mcdoogss]

The canonical example is Force Field defender. The same reasons that make it boring to play makes it perfect for your use case

[Omega-202]

Thermal/ or Sonic/ Defender would probably be the best low maintenance dual box character for the resistance shields.  

 

You can nearly defense softcap the pets with just the Crabbermind, so going FF is overkill.  Resistance shields would fill the gaps and would provide more benefit than overkilling defense.  Manuevers on the dualbox character should be plenty.  

 

Thermal would give you Warmth on auto cast for constant healing.  Sonic would give you a mez protection toggle, a repulsion toggle you can put on a pet (perfect for a Mu Striker), a -res toggle you can put on a pet or the Crab, and an attack or Sonic Siphon on auto attack.  

 

Personally, I think a Sonic/Fire might be best, put on follow on the Crab, manually refreshing both shields every 4 minutes, Manuevers+Assault+Tactics+Dispersion toggled on, and Disruption Field and Sonic Repulsion running, with Fireball on AutoCast.

 

Edit: you can also add Enflame on the support character for more damage.  Endurance may end up being an issue, but you can always spec for heavy end redux and recovery.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Omega-202

[Nemu]

I think electric affinity support will work well.  It's the premier set for survival and covers all the holes, especially that pesky kb hole for pets. You might as well make it a mastermind so you have ALL the pets. Demons is probably the best bet for the primary. But if you want to stay on the natural/tech theme mercs or bots should be fine as well.

 

Isn't the guassian's proc rate affected by the number of pets if it's placed in TT leadership or tactics? I think I read somewhere it scales based on teammates/pets so that's an extra bonus if that's still true.

 

I read the post again, nevermind, EA is an active set and won't fit your need., maybe Cold, give your pets some more defense and exotic resistance, and benumb the occasional hard target.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Nemu

[Omega-202]

1 minute ago, Nemu said:

I think electric affinity support will work well.  It's the premier set for survival and covers all the holes, especially that pesky kb hole for pets. You might as well make it a mastermind so you have ALL the pets. Demons is probably the best bet for the primary. But if you want to stay on the natural/tech theme mercs or bots should be fine as well.

 

Isn't the guassian's proc rate affected by the number of pets if it's placed in TT leadership or tactics? I think I read somewhere it scales based on teammates/pets so that's an extra bonus if that's still true.

Electric is pretty active though.  You'd essentially need to play two characters at once.  

 

I do actually like the idea of an MM though.  Lower support values, but more passive damage.  Thugs or Demons/Sonic seems like a decent choice for a set you only need to pay attention to once every 4 minutes.  

[Nemu]

Ya I read the post more closer! And edited my response. EA is not a good fit for a passive dual box support.

[Nemu]

Here's a thought, what if you played the EA MM and had the crabbermind as passive support???

 

Mind... Blown...

 

Do eet Do eet Do eeet!

[Omega-202]

4 hours ago, Nemu said:

Here's a thought, what if you played the EA MM and had the crabbermind as passive support???

 

Mind... Blown...

 

Do eet Do eet Do eeet!

Might as well dual box MMs at that point.  Main reason to use the Crabbermind over an MM is for the massively higher personal damage and the Venom Grenades.  If you're dead sticking the Crab, then the benefit of running Crab over a second MM disappears.  

[KaizenSoze]

Thanks for the great suggestions.

 

Let me elaborate on my thinking about Ill/Rad.

 

In my mind there are two phases to a fight. In reality this might not work at all. 🙂

 

Absorbing the alpha, aggro phase.

Illusionist drop Phantom Army which takes care of the alpha and collapses the mobs into an "angry clump". *trademark pending*

Then fire toggle debuffs on boss/eb/av.

Controller then can go passive

 

Second phase is mob clean up.

Crabbermind handles this phase.

 

That might turn out to be much management. The idea of a very passive defender following along is definitely less management.

 

Maybe */ice for the slows. Runners are what get me in trouble, because the pets aggro other groups.

 

Once, I get my badger far enough along. I'll try things out of the beta server.

Edited September 29, 2021 by KaizenSoze

[mcdoogss]

On 9/28/2021 at 10:02 PM, Omega-202 said:

Might as well dual box MMs at that point.  Main reason to use the Crabbermind over an MM is for the massively higher personal damage and the Venom Grenades.  If you're dead sticking the Crab, then the benefit of running Crab over a second MM disappears.  

 

Or go the other way, and dual box with a second crabbermind.  12 DEF softcapped pets sounds pretty dope, even if you cant really control them

[Omega-202]

2 hours ago, mcdoogss said:

 

Or go the other way, and dual box with a second crabbermind.  12 DEF softcapped pets sounds pretty dope, even if you cant really control them

Could totally do that.  Put on follow, autocast Venom Grenade, switch back to the deadstick Crab every 4 minutes to recast pets.  The only issue is getting perma pets without being able to perma Hasten.  Or, perma hasten on auto, but no auto grenades.  

[kelika2]

whatever/ff mastermind on follow/bodyguard/an attack on auto?  stacking defense and all that

 

merc for more bullets

bots for reasons

thugs to be a reformation officer

beasts to take the wolf spider part a little too seriously

ninjas because why not

dont recommend zombies because of their lack of speed

demons i cant even think of a thematic reason

[Maelwys]

A Demon/Thermal Mastermind is probably one of the most optimal choices. It'd bring an AoE heal, +Resistance shields and a very decent +Damage buff... plus pets which are resilient and good at both melee and ranged damage output. Also since both those powersets are resistance based they will benefit greatly from the Crab's +Defense aura buffs.

 

Thermal doesn't need much in the way of babysitting, and neither do Demons (providing you're not spamming the whip attacks). So you could just stick Warmth on autofire and then manually recast the bubbles + Forge every few mins.

 

The end result will be Softcapped Defence, high Resistance, spammable AoE healing and on-demand damage buffs and -regen debuffs.