Really liking /EA, what pairs with it?

[Xandyr]

I enjoyed playing Electrical Affinity, especially on my demons MM. It got me wondering,  what else would /EA pair with well?

 

 I think Necro would because of the -To Hit and soft controls.

 

Bots mainly for theme?

 

Thugs...any synergy?

 

Beasts...good defense, couple with resists/absorb shield looks decent.

 

Mercs...not much synergy?

 

Ninja... little defense...no much synergy?

 

 Anyone have any input on how the primaries can benefit the greatest with /EA?

 I really like my Demons/EA, and am in the process of trying out Necro. Just wondering what the other gurus out there think would be good pairings.

 

Appreciate it.

- X 

[TygerDarkstorm]

IMO, it can pair with all of the MM primaries, lol. Bots/EA is low damage, but extremely tanky like Demons/EA. 

 

EA is one of my favorite support sets and for MM's, I have a Thugs/EA, Beasts/EA, Mercs/EA, Necro/EA. I've been away from the game for months now, so I don't really have any opinions on which primary it pairs best with, but I've enjoyed it on everything I have tried so far. Granted, the Mercs/EA is still a baby sitting in Praetoria.

[tjknight]

Necro/EA... look at the resistance numbers your pets end up with.. especially with the resistance unique IO's added. 

[The_Warpact]

Second the Necro, I love my electrified zombies. He's my Babbage killer!

[SeraphimKensai]

I have a demons/EA and robots/EA at this point and both are really strong. I've been meaning to getting around to another mm at some point so I might give Necro a whirl (as I have 4 IO'd robots, 1 IO'd Demon, and 1 IO'd Thugs.

 

Probably won't pair my next one with electric affinity, but I swear that set was designed for MM's in supremacy mode.

[Xandyr]

2 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

I have a demons/EA and robots/EA at this point and both are really strong. I've been meaning to getting around to another mm at some point so I might give Necro a whirl (as I have 4 IO'd robots, 1 IO'd Demon, and 1 IO'd Thugs.

 

Probably won't pair my next one with electric affinity, but I swear that set was designed for MM's in supremacy mode.

You should give Beasts a try. They're durable, good damage, and fun. I have a beast/time that's awesome. 

 Of course, this comes from someone that has like 5 Mercs (just because I like em and think they're cool).

[Lazarillo]

I've played Necro/EA to 32 and it's been a blast so far.  And though I haven't gotten to that point yet, Amp Up feels like it'll have great synergy with the Lich because it has so many potential effects to buff.

[desarix]

11 hours ago, Xandyr said:

You should give Beasts a try. They're durable, good damage, and fun. I have a beast/time that's awesome. 

 Of course, this comes from someone that has like 5 Mercs (just because I like em and think they're cool).

 You have 5 Merc MMs wow I do love them too. I have a cold merc. Cannot kill fast but they don't die easily thanks to the cold buffs. Every time I play the other MMs like demons or thugs I notice that Mercs don't kill fast lol. I wish they would fix them.

 

I have  a confession I have 17 MMs. I think I might have a problem.

Edited April 12, 2022 by desarix

[Xandyr]

8 hours ago, desarix said:

 You have 5 Merc MMs wow I do love them too. I have a cold merc. Cannot kill fast but they don't die easily thanks to the cold buffs. Every time I play the other MMs like demons or thugs I notice that Mercs don't kill fast lol. I wish they would fix them.

 

I have  a confession I have 17 MMs. I think I might have a problem.

Only problem I see is that you don't have 20 MMs 😜 

 

I've ran Mercs with Nature,  Pain,  FF, EA, Storm, and TA Debating if I wanna try it with Traps and Dark.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Xandyr
Forgot my mercs/ta

[pblue]

2 hours ago, desarix said:

I have  a confession I have 17 MMs. I think I might have a problem.

 

I've got a dozen Masterminds at 50, including a Merc/Force Fields who is way passed Vet 100.

 

What can I say, some of us get it.

[TygerDarkstorm]

2 hours ago, Xandyr said:

Only problem I see is that you don't have 20 MMs 😜 

 

I've ran Mercs with Nature,  Pain,  FF, EA, and Storm. Debating if I wanna try it with Traps and Dark.

Mine's sitting in the 20's I think, but Mercs/Traps is a pretty fun combo. Traps has such a unique playstyle that it's probably more of a solo character. /Dark seems to pair well with everything, so I imagine it would be effective with Mercs too; especially since you can park em somewhere and sit among them using Twilight Grasp to keep their health topped up.

[laudwic]

I've got a 50 Demon/EA that I've enjoyed taking to 50 and beyond. 

 

I haven't seen it mentioned here, but you might want to consider Ninjas.  I'm running a set with Trick Arrow that I've gotten to 45 so far and they do a good job going through mobs. 

 

Healing, absorb and 'thunder dome' will help mitigate their lack of defense.  The only real negative is the lack of a mule to take all the MM unique pet IOs.

 

Also, Discharge will give you some good AoE Debuf on Damage.

 

Plus, you could do a pretty good 'Big Trouble in Little China' theme.  

Edited April 12, 2022 by laudwic

[Neiska]

Demon/EA is quite possibly not just the most durable MM but can rival Tankers for durability.

 

My personal favorite (and main character) is Robot/EA. They complement each other quite well.

[Force Redux]

21 hours ago, laudwic said:

I've got a 50 Demon/EA that I've enjoyed taking to 50 and beyond. 

 

I haven't seen it mentioned here, but you might want to consider Ninjas.  I'm running a set with Trick Arrow that I've gotten to 45 so far and they do a good job going through mobs. 

 

Healing, absorb and 'thunder dome' will help mitigate their lack of defense.  The only real negative is the lack of a mule to take all the MM unique pet IOs.

 

Also, Discharge will give you some good AoE Debuf on Damage.

 

Plus, you could do a pretty good 'Big Trouble in Little China' theme.  

 

Thankfully at 50 with enough Hamis and frankensloting you can fit in all six IOs and a couple of KB reducers and sitll have pets at damage/accuracy cap and about 42% end reduction. But yeah, that's end game 😕

[Force Redux]

21 hours ago, Neiska said:

Demon/EA is quite possibly not just the most durable MM but can rival Tankers for durability.

 

My personal favorite (and main character) is Robot/EA. They complement each other quite well.

 

You are giving me the itch to roll a Bots/EA...  must resist... 

[The_Warpact]

22 hours ago, Neiska said:

Demon/EA is quite possibly not just the most durable MM but can rival Tankers for durability.

 

My personal favorite (and main character) is Robot/EA. They complement each other quite well.

Really? I much rather prefer EA on melee centric pets than ranged ones. Strong resists compliment melee pets better, I like defense sets better on ranged.

[Neiska]

23 minutes ago, The_Warpact said:

Really? I much rather prefer EA on melee centric pets than ranged ones. Strong resists compliment melee pets better, I like defense sets better on ranged.

 

Fair! But nothing says you "have" to stay ranged with robots either. What I do and what works very well for me, is I watch for where my assault robot puts its fire patches down, (or tell him to target X enemy), and once his fire patches are there I move to it and stand in it, forcing enemies to come to it in order to fight me. Considering that single attack is around 70% of my total DPS, its in my best interest to make sure it hits as many enemies as much as possible. While standing in my assault bots fire, I then drop a bonfire for additional damage, but more for the CC as it forces them to get knocked down and remain in it for several long moments. Then on top of that, I use fold space to pull things to me.

 

But if I want to go ranged I can do that as well. Group fly or abilities like web grenade help with this. Anyway, the important part with EA is that you remain close to your pets, the distance to the enemies is largely irrelevant. There are other methods and tactics to be sure, but this is just what's worked fantastically for me!

[The_Warpact]

24 minutes ago, Neiska said:

 

Fair! But nothing says you "have" to stay ranged with robots either. What I do and what works very well for me, is I watch for where my assault robot puts its fire patches down, (or tell him to target X enemy), and once his fire patches are there I move to it and stand in it, forcing enemies to come to it in order to fight me. Considering that single attack is around 70% of my total DPS, its in my best interest to make sure it hits as many enemies as much as possible. While standing in my assault bots fire, I then drop a bonfire for additional damage, but more for the CC as it forces them to get knocked down and remain in it for several long moments. Then on top of that, I use fold space to pull things to me.

 

But if I want to go ranged I can do that as well. Group fly or abilities like web grenade help with this. Anyway, the important part with EA is that you remain close to your pets, the distance to the enemies is largely irrelevant. There are other methods and tactics to be sure, but this is just what's worked fantastically for me!

Oh for sure there is a literal ton of different tactics you can do to make an effective toon.

One of the big things I constantly forget it PPP/EPP such as Bonfire and how very effective it can be.

Thanks for taking the time to explain your tactics.

[desarix]

Has anyone tried Ninja/EA. I tried to create one but I was not happy with how it looked in the builder, it was bad and as you @The_Warpact pointed out little synergy in it. I have a Demons/EA I recently created that is level 20 and it is quite good. I can see the synergy there what with the natural resistance the demons have and the Faraday Cage. I also noticed how fast everything recharges in EA. You know as a secondary Trick Arrow could use some reduction in the recharge time.

 

I am always lobbying for some Merc changes so throw in Trick Arrow too.

[Xandyr]

3 hours ago, desarix said:

 

 

I am always lobbying for some Merc changes so throw in Trick Arrow too.

 I would LOVE for Serum to be replaced with Swap Ammo (from Dual Pistols). Imagine being able to have your mercs use 3 different types of ammo!!!

 I've also heard someone suggest "Air Strike", as the Meteor power (from Seismic Blast, but obviouslya lot less damage). Call Air Strike, then a few moments later comes down a bomb or 2.

[desarix]

8 hours ago, Xandyr said:

 I would LOVE for Serum to be replaced with Swap Ammo (from Dual Pistols). Imagine being able to have your mercs use 3 different types of ammo!!!

 I've also heard someone suggest "Air Strike", as the Meteor power (from Seismic Blast, but obviouslya lot less damage). Call Air Strike, then a few moments later comes down a bomb or 2.

 Oh yes real nice dream skills that.

 

Seriously though what is good with Ninja. I have a ninja/storm but I am dead afraid of grouping with her for fear of using one of those skills group mates frown upon. I am a horrid player so unless I am healing I used to play healers in most MMORPGs I do badly as DPS. Don't know Jack about DPS I control my pets well when I solo and I can in group too using my pet attack macro and BG mode when we move around or heel if they try to run when in a group, solo I let loose. I use a 19 button mouse so everything is at my fingertips so I tend to mess up and forget I'm in a group and use one of those skills.

 

I love Ninjas like I love Mercs too. I play Mercs because inside me I enjoy playing the class combinations others have rejected no matter how good those reasons for rejection are. I know Ninja/Time works but I have a Beast/Time and Thug /Time so no more time. I did consider Forcefield but I think they say it underperforms. May be nature or may be just keep the storm and put the two skills on my bottom bar haha or learn to play as they say.

 

Nevermind I think I will persevere with the storm for now.

Edited April 14, 2022 by desarix

[TygerDarkstorm]

Ninjas are great for high single target damage if you can keep them alive long enough. Ninja/Cold has been interesting, though I've gotten kind of stuck with it in the 20's. I'm debating about trying out Ninja/Nature though and wondering if there might be any synergy there.

[desarix]

I am debating a Ninja/Dark as my next addition. Wow I have Heel on an easy to reach button next to my RMB on mouse because yeah they take off like a hare in a race even when I solo. God they are insanely fast.

 

I have a Merc/Cold that I enjoy. They cannot kill fast but they don't die fast while they rattle off their guns. Adorable .

[TygerDarkstorm]

Ninja/Dark is a classic and good combo. 🙂

[plainguy]

On 4/12/2022 at 12:02 PM, Xandyr said:

Only problem I see is that you don't have 20 MMs 😜 

 

I've ran Mercs with Nature,  Pain,  FF, EA, Storm, and TA Debating if I wanna try it with Traps and Dark.

I have about 10 Petless masterminds.. lol