Tried a new mm (for me) Thugs/Electrical Affinity (currently 16)

[Diantane]

I got over 1500 hours playing mm's. Was playing the Lockhart arc in Steel @ 2/8 on a team. The thugs died within 6 seconds after summoning them and kept on dieing just as fast. My other thugs mm is combined with thermal which made the thugs tougher (that mm is currently 32). Heck, I thought "Ninjas" were squishy (have a 32 Ninjas/Thermal too). The Ninja mm had to re-summon them countless times even with thermal, but not nearly as bad as this thug/elec build.

[Hedgefund]

Not sure if there's a question intended or just venting.  16 is part of "the dark days" of any MM.  You just got Faraday Cage which is a big big help.  I haven't paired Thugs with EA but I would make an effort to place the FC so it covers Bruiser in melee (not a concern for you at 16) and the others at range.  At this point you've got FC + a very fast recharging heal, a heal you'll be relying on greatly for a while to come.  Eventually you'll get Insulating Circuit (lvl 35) which will increase survivability even further.  The 6 unique IOs for res/def/regen all make a huge difference and Thugs has plenty of spots to slot them.

 

I've put a lot of time into MMs too and I think EA is a very solid support set.

[TygerDarkstorm]

Yeah, EA works with almost every MM primary, including thugs. I have a Thugs/EA that's around level 37 and it's been pretty solid, granted, I did quite a few MSR raids on her for levels and she's done an ITF or two now. I haven't done much soloing with her. But like @Hedgefund said, you're at a level range that's tough for a lot of MM's, on top of which, you were playing at +2, which put your henchmen at a pretty severe disadvantage for those levels (for frame of reference, your T1's at this point are now 2 levels below you, which meant they were trying to fight +4's with minimal, if any, slotting; of course they were dying quickly). It'll get better with a few more levels at once you start slotting either attuned IO's or the basic IO's.

[SeraphimKensai]

Aside from nothing the level difference in your henchmen, positioning them in a means to keep them within your faraday cage while cycling heal/absorb will keep them up longer, but they are likely just getting overwhelmed due to slotting.

[Six-Six]

Also, (I just found this out myself) you can spam EA's heal without selecting your units. you can select an enemy targeting your units and heal your units through them. much like how you would target through the tank when you're in a league.

If you're into IO sets (as some people are not), there are 3 IO from Pet Damage that help your henchmen stay on their feet. 2 give def, one gives res. Be sure to only slot one of each in a henchman as last time I checked the +5 def only works once if you slot both of them in a single henchman. That and I make sure to get leadership Maneuvres and Assault as early as I can (even just slotting 2x end redux in them in the early levels).

My dark days are usually around 20-30 when XP seems to slow down and beginners luck ends. But I don't mind, it gives me more time to learn the AT/powerset before getting into more serious missions that involve EBs and AVs.

I haven't tried thugs yet, but Elec Affinity is one of the strongest secondaries in my opinion. Make sure to use the Villain Custom Colour for EA to make it stronger 😃

[Xandyr]

9 hours ago, Six-Six said:

Also, (I just found this out myself) you can spam EA's heal without selecting your units. you can select an enemy targeting your units and heal your units through them. much like how you would target through the tank when you're in a league.

If you're into IO sets (as some people are not), there are 3 IO from Pet Damage that help your henchmen stay on their feet. 2 give def, one gives res. Be sure to only slot one of each in a henchman as last time I checked the +5 def only works once if you slot both of them in a single henchman. That and I make sure to get leadership Maneuvres and Assault as early as I can (even just slotting 2x end redux in them in the early levels).

My dark days are usually around 20-30 when XP seems to slow down and beginners luck ends. But I don't mind, it gives me more time to learn the AT/powerset before getting into more serious missions that involve EBs and AVs.

I haven't tried thugs yet, but Elec Affinity is one of the strongest secondaries in my opinion. Make sure to use the Villain Custom Colour for EA to make it stronger 😃

Not counting the ATOs, there are 4 IOs...2 give +5% Defense and the other 2 give +10% resistance. 

 

[Six-Six]

Yes, yes there are. but one is available at 27 or something. OP said he's only level 16

[Xandyr]

On 6/18/2022 at 6:44 AM, Six-Six said:

Yes, yes there are. but one is available at 27 or something. OP said he's only level 16

 

Oh yeah. Sovereign Right is a level 25-50 IO, and Expedient Reinforcement is level 30-50.