Bots/Devices Post Issue 5

[JulioThom33_2]

Hello all,

 

I've been away a while, and am just getting back to level up my new (to me) Bots/Traps MM. 

 

I'm at 49 1/2, and my experience with this build is based on ancient information. My understanding is that MM's need to use their attacks now to nerf regen on enemies and that the bots don't do Knockback anymore. 

 

My style is to jump in, fire off Poison Gas, jump back, drop Acid Mortar, tell bots to blast away.

 

I'd like a critique of my build, please. My main questions are:

 

1. Which should I drop between Triage Beacon, Seeker Drones, or Trip Mine? I have Trip Mine, but I'm thinking about swapping it out for Seeker Drones to catch the aggro and stun before I jump in. I'm usually OK now without it, but Trip Mine seems very situational and "meh". So does Triage Beacon, but it seems like the proc works on the Bots.

 

2. I went in on Recharge when I could, plus I took Hasten. I feel it when I'm shooting people. For you MM experts, is Hasten too much?

 

3. If any of you have better slotting ideas for the Bots, I'm up for it. I wanted to be sure to use all 6 Auras and 5 LOTG recharge IOs. 

 

4. Best ideas for Incarnate Powers.

 

5. MM's used to be "meh" in higher levels because the Pets levels didn't scale well. I think I read Incarnate Level Shifts now work on MM pets. Is that true?

 

Thanks in advance...

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.7
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Cyfighter: Level 50 Technology Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Battle Drones

• (A) Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage
• (3) Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (3) Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (5) Command of the Mastermind - Recharge/Pet +AoE Defense Aura
• (5) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (7) Mark of Supremacy - Endurance/Pet +Resist +Regen
  

Level 1: Caltrops

• (A) Ice Mistral's Torment - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (34) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
• (39) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
• (50) Ice Mistral's Torment - Chance for Cold Damage
  

Level 2: Pulse Rifle Burst

• (A) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback to Knockdown
• (9) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback/Damage/Recharge
• (9) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback/Damage/Endurance
• (43) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback/Recharge
• (46) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback/Accuracy/Damage
• (50) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback/Accuracy
  

Level 4: Fly

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
  

Level 6: Equip Robot

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
• (7) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
  

Level 8: Kick

• (A) Accuracy IO
  

Level 10: Acid Mortar

• (A) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff
• (11) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Defense Debuff
• (11) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
• (19) Shield Breaker - Chance for Lethal Damage
• (21) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage
• (21) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff
  

Level 12: Protector Bots

• (A) Mark of Supremacy - Damage/Endurance
• (13) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Endurance
• (13) Defense Buff IO
• (15) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (15) Call to Arms - Defense Bonus Aura for Pets
• (17) Expedient Reinforcement - Resist Bonus Aura for Pets
  

Level 14: Hover

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
  

Level 16: Force Field Generator

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (17) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (19) Defense Buff IO
  

Level 18: Maintenance Drone

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
• (39) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
• (40) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime
• (40) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime
• (40) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
• (43) Preventive Medicine - Heal
  

Level 20: Poison Trap

• (A) Gladiator's Net - Accuracy/Hold
• (27) Gladiator's Net - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
• (29) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
• (29) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
• (31) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
• (31) Neuronic Shutdown - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
  

Level 22: Assault Bot

• (A) Mark of Supremacy - Damage
• (23) Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage
• (23) Sovereign Right - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (25) Sovereign Right - Accuracy
• (25) Sovereign Right - Resistance Bonus
• (27) Edict of the Master - Defense Bonus
  

Level 24: Group Fly

• (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)
  

Level 26: Upgrade Robot

• (A) Healing IO
  

Level 28: Trip Mine

• (A) Obliteration - Damage
• (31) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
• (33) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
• (34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (37) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
  

Level 30: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (33) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 32: Tough

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/Endurance
• (33) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
• (42) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection
• (43) Resist Damage IO
  

Level 35: Scorpion Shield

• (A) Reactive Defenses - Defense
• (36) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance
• (36) Reactive Defenses - Endurance/RechargeTime
• (36) Reactive Defenses - Defense/RechargeTime
• (37) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (37) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage
  

Level 38: Weave

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (39) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 41: Power Boost

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 44: Triage Beacon

• (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance
• (45) Panacea - Heal/Endurance
• (45) Panacea - Endurance/Recharge
• (45) Panacea - Heal/Recharge
• (46) Panacea - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (46) Panacea - Heal
  

Level 47: Maneuvers

• Hamidon Origin:Cytoskeleton Exposure
  

Level 49: Tactics

• Hamidon Origin:Cytoskeleton Exposure
  

Level 1: Supremacy 

Level 1: Brawl

 

 

[Uun]

13 hours ago, JulioThom33_2 said:

I think I read Incarnate Level Shifts now work on MM pets. Is that true?

Yes, but only in Incarnate content. 

 

Mastermind Supremacy will grant 2 Incarnate Shifts to Minion Pets and 1 Incarnate Shifts to Lieutenant Pets while participating in Incarnate content. This means that Minion pets will be level 48(+2) and Lieutenant Pets will be level 49(+1) before any other Shifts are taken into account. These Shifts will stack with any granted by Incarnate Abilities.

 

During Incarnate Trials and within Dark Astoria, Supremacy grants +2 Incarnate Shifts to Minion Henchmen and +1 Incarnate Shift to Lieutenant Henchmen which can be stacked with other Incarnate Abilities which grant Incarnate Shifts.

 

[StrikerFox]

Something is wrong with the Mids' build. When opened, resistances are in the negatives, regen is capped and recovery is through the roof.

 

 

Pet defense should be at around +47.5% with the Protector Bot and FFG shields active. I think you can do without the SCotMM +AoE def since all pets will be softcap. 

 

With FFG and Protector Bot's shields active, your MM defense will be at about:

S/L     +71%

F/C     +49%

E         +62%

N/T/P      +48%

I think you can skip Scorpion Shield. You will still be at around +48% def to all damage types without it. Adding Charged Armor, Dark Embrace, Temp Invulnerability etc would help survive better in most cases. Or maybe Bonfire if knocking down targets is appealing to you.

I haven't tested it yet but all Bot pets has new KD powers added. It might be worth slotting Explosive Strike in all pet tiers. Slowly limping my way to 50, I'll try it out after IO'd.

 

As for incarnates:

 

Alpha - Musculature Core/Radial. Just for the extra damage it will provide pets. Radial if a little end bump is needed, and the -def debuff will help Mortar. There's also Intuition Radial which will improve damage, holds, def debuff and slow movement.

 

Judgement - Your own preference. 

 

Interface - Degenerative Radial to lower target's max HP which in turn, lowers their regen. I would have recommended Reactive Radial before but since the -regen debuff was removed from pets, Degen is likely the better choice now.

 

Lore - Your own preference. I like Core over Radial, more damage over misc buffs. I usually pick Lore pets according to my MM theme. Cimeroran with /Time, Phantoms with Necro, Storm Elementals with /Storm, Warworks with Bots, Rularuu with Demons, Tsoo with Ninjas etc. 

 

Destiny - I would say Clarion. Mez protection is pretty huge for pets. Rebirth Radial if you don't trust your pets/Drone/Triage to do the job.

 

Hybrid - Support Core overall is best for pets. Assault Radial is good when it works but often dismiss/resummoning pets is needed to make it reliable. For Assault to work on pets, it needs to be activated before pets are summoned. Each time entering/exiting a zone/mission, Assault's effects resets and often does not work unless reactivating Assault, dismissing and resummoning pets. It's pretty annoying.

 

 

[Hedgefund2]

Unclick "rest" to get actual resistance values.

[tidge]

I would pass on Hasten: more recharge mean higher Endurance costs. The only advantages for a Bots/Traps will be:

• You can get a third Acid Mortar out
• You can faster cycle the Poison Trap
• You can faster recycle the Maintenance Drone

I don't think the first two are that important, they are less important than using MM attacks (IMO). With just two primary attacks a Robotics MM can do fine with the debuffs.

 

I don't think the cycle time on the Repair Pet is that important, but in some fights enemies will cause it to burn out faster than the recharge time (without Hasten). I like this much better than Triage Beacon.

[tidge]

Many of your choices look like ones I have made, I will just comment on a few:

 

Level 6: Equip Robot

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
• (7) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance

If the Build doesn't include the Unbreakable Guard +MaxHP, I would replace the Resistance/Endurance piece with the global piece.

 

Level 38: Weave

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (39) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge

Weave feels overslotted to me. You should be past non-incarnate softcaps (positionals) with just a the Defense/Global Recharge piece. I think the 3 other slots could be used to add Defense/Global Recharge to other powers. You should try to include the Gladiator's Armor +3% Global defense piece as well, it will add more defense than a 4th slot in Weave.

 

Level 1: Caltrops

• (A) Ice Mistral's Torment - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (34) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
• (39) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
• (50) Ice Mistral's Torment - Chance for Cold Damage

I encourage you to experiment with Caltrops slotting. Despite it taking lots of %damage procs, I ended up using it for set bonuses (without ignoring %damage). Somehow I convinced myself that the %proc rates were poor enough that I didn't include the %-Res piece from Annihilation (but left in the Javelin Volley).

 

Level     1:            Caltrops              

 (A) Annihilation - Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50

 (*) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

 (*) Ice Mistral’s Torment –Damage/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Ice Mistral’s Torment –Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Ice Mistral’s Torment - Chance for Damage(Cold): Level 50

 (*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

[Fira]

1. Trip Mine is very situational and hard to use especially in team content, so it's kind of an easy hard pass in my opinion

2. Hasten is good for Acid Mortars and Proc attack builds. Both are very strong. .... I still don't like it.

3. Fine by me

4. Unpopular opinion: Accuracy is underrated, Nerve/Support all the way

5. Pets don't scale against AoEs (and in Bots/Traps case, AoE -Def), more than levels proper

 

About the build:

 - If you commit on Pulse Rifle Burst like this for Rech, you should probably use Apocalypse

 - Proccing attacks is something to consider, it helps them do some damage up from MM innate value of effectively zero

 - From what i've seen these damage Procs on Acid Mortar essentially never proc, i'd drop them

 - I'd also consider the same for Poison Trap procs, but these might be workable. Entomb can also provide absorb when using it.

 - T2 Bots are starved on Accuracy. My take is you still want some for their debuffs (Photon Nade, Seekers) to be effective

 - I advocate usage of Photon Grenade for AoE -Regen post i27p5. It doesn't have the punch of Poison Trap, but it has actually reliable uptime and application whereas the Trap leaves you in the dirt most of the time

 - I don't believe the +Heal on Triage Beacon/Panacea set bonus will actually work with anything here, you can probably drop one enhance

 - As others said, extra resist like from Soul/Charge Mastery would be way more useful than Scorp Shield. I get you might want Power Boost, but since it applies to neither Bots nor FFG, its potential is effectively wasted

 - Microfilament in Swift

 - You're missing the +7.5% HP enhance from Unbreakable Guard, also Shield Wall

 - You can use Overwhelming Force KB2KD in Assault Bot to prevent knockback from the swarm missiles. It also adds extra Knock proc to the flame patches

 - Personal take but I invest more heavily in Health/Stamina, some more value/procs can be handy. Panacea in Triage Beacon (vs Health) is something i've been testing out in last months but honestly I'm not convinced

 

Probably more points to bring up, but it's 1 AM here. Hope this helps still!

[Hedgefund2]

The Panacea proc absolutely has a chance to fire on anyone within Triage Beacon.

 

Source:  Me, I've tested this myself.

[tidge]

I can believe the bad %proc rate on Acid Mortar.

 

Poison Trap is relatively easy to test: I put a %+2 Mag Hold (Lockdown) to see the visible effect. I didn't like what I was seeing so I slotted it with an Entomb %Absorb instead.

[Fira]

7 hours ago, Hedgefund2 said:

The Panacea proc absolutely has a chance to fire on anyone within Triage Beacon.

 

Source:  Me, I've tested this myself.

It does, i'm just saying for using it in past months, I don't think it's actually worth it vs passive slotting in Health. It procs much more often vs spreading on pets rarely, and you get Endurance from it aswell.

[tidge]

Triage Beacon is a hard power to justify, but not an impossible one. The case in favor of it got harder in i27p5.... for Robotics/Traps, MMV for other combos. Because the Robots are pretty much "all range, all the time" Triage Beacon was best suited for the Robotic primary IMO. The main issue with Triage Beacon is that it is a power that was designed for a different era of the game, an era when combat moved slower and when everyone needed more Healing/Regeneration. I had Triage Beacon in my build for a LONG time.

 

The henchmen could be made to stay in the zone of the Beacon, but the real advantage of Triage Beacon is to use it on teams for which players aren't moving rapidly through spawns while taking damage. With the triviality of defense buffs (including those for Henchmen... even if only from FFG!), and fast-moving AoE murder squads, and the general reluctance of players to play low-level content with difficulties turned up high, pretty much the ONLY player who is likely to see repeated benefit from Triage Beacon is a solo Mastermind... IMO this is mostly because 5 of 6 henchmen are working with level shift penalties. A PUG playing the Positron TFs at +3 will appreciate the benefits of Triage Beacon (because even a PUG of exemplared 50s won't have all their set bonuses and self-preservation powers/effects). I suppose the same case can be made for some Incarnate/Hard Mode content but I'm not going there.

 

This brings me around to another point I want to make about Triage Beacon. In order to really make it work, it needs to:

• be taken early in the build, to help PUGs and/or Henchmen (possibly without all the upgrades) across as much content as possible
• be slotted, especially for Recharge and Health, and also for "useful" Enhancement pieces (or it simply won't be doing much)
• be used in content where the offense isn't moving (all that much)... so large spawn sizes that aren't melting or running away.

It is absolutely possible to build Robotics/Traps and pick content to play this way (including S/L AE farms, as well as certain Dark Astoria content). I did this, but ultimately I found that an alternate build (leveraging only the Maintenance Drone) allowed me to play a much more mobile Mastermind. The AI of the Maintenance Drone isn't as reliable as I'd like... but when I feel this way I almost always see it is because one or more of the henchman is out of position (from knockback, or path finding) such that a Triage Beacon would be unlikely to help them anyway.

 

I'll disclose: I've never taken Trip Mine since experimenting with it on Live. Even more so than Triage Beacon I felt it was cornering me into a particular style of play to try to maximize effects I could do better with alternate choices (of powers, of Enhancement choices).

[Arbegla]

For my bot/traps build I went full recharge and endurance reduction. I'm currently at work, so I can't post the build, but I can solo anything put in front of me. I do use both Web Grenade and Triage Beacon, which are the skippable powers in /traps, though I do not use Trip Mine or Detonator as those are just wasted powers entirely. I slotted to have maximum debuffs and survivability for myself and my bots with Mu Mastery (another immobilize helps lock down bosses and AVs) plus Charged armor helps bodyguard mode as your resistances are checked before the damage is split, allowing you to reduce the damage you take even more. 

 

I like triage beacon with the panacea proc because it spreads around and helps the bots, especially with the fact they have some endurance issues now. Giving them an occasional endurance boost helps keep them in the action longer especially against hard targets like AVs and GMs. I have over 50% defense to most things on my build, and the bots are well in to incarnate softcap due to getting the auras to boost their defense above what FFG and the protector bots shield give. This allows them to tank a decent amount, and I also run the rebirth +max hp for additional Bodyguard mode fuel, as it allows even the battle drones to take a solid hit before dying.

[Arbegla]

On 3/22/2023 at 12:01 AM, StrikerFox said:

As for incarnates:

 

Alpha - Musculature Core/Radial. Just for the extra damage it will provide pets. Radial if a little end bump is needed, and the -def debuff will help Mortar. There's also Intuition Radial which will improve damage, holds, def debuff and slow movement.

 

Judgement - Your own preference. 

 

Interface - Degenerative Radial to lower target's max HP which in turn, lowers their regen. I would have recommended Reactive Radial before but since the -regen debuff was removed from pets, Degen is likely the better choice now.

 

Lore - Your own preference. I like Core over Radial, more damage over misc buffs. I usually pick Lore pets according to my MM theme. Cimeroran with /Time, Phantoms with Necro, Storm Elementals with /Storm, Warworks with Bots, Rularuu with Demons, Tsoo with Ninjas etc. 

 

Destiny - I would say Clarion. Mez protection is pretty huge for pets. Rebirth Radial if you don't trust your pets/Drone/Triage to do the job.

 

Hybrid - Support Core overall is best for pets. Assault Radial is good when it works but often dismiss/resummoning pets is needed to make it reliable. For Assault to work on pets, it needs to be activated before pets are summoned. Each time entering/exiting a zone/mission, Assault's effects resets and often does not work unless reactivating Assault, dismissing and resummoning pets. It's pretty annoying.

 

I'm going to comment on this for a bit, because it has some information that doesn't really apply to Bot/traps.

 

Alpha -> If going for a recharge heavy build, i would go with Spiritual or Agility as the extra recharge can let you get away with a single slot in Hasten, and still have perma Hasten. Musculature is nice, but the Damage boost from Page 5 already gives you some pretty nice DPS with the robots, so you don't really need extra damage. Especially if you can get near the ED cap with Damage/Acc already.

Judgement -> I would go for any of the range Judgement powers, Ion being my personal favorite. The melee Judgement powers, while having some nice benefits, wont really suit a bot/traps, as you're going to focus on range the most.

Interface -> I'll agree with Degenerative here, as the -maxhp is such a high effective DPS increase its not even comparable to other interfaces.

Lore -> The best lore pet combination is the Banished Pantheon Defiler/Ravager. This is because the debuff from the defiler also does damage, AND the buff he gives is +recovery/+def, which stacks really nicely with bot/traps going for max recharge. It also allows you to hit the incarnate softcap while buffed with the defiler which can be amazing mitigation even in normal non-incarnate content.

 

Destiny -> Clarion is a waste on a bot/traps. Simply put, the FFG gives you enough mez protection that you don't need to worry about granting it to your pets. I would go for Rebirth for a massive heal (+maxhp if you really want to take triage beacon, as it boosts the regeneration rate as well) OR go with Barrier to really make yourself into a tanker-mind. Either options are good, and I rotate between Rebirth and Barrier depending on what content i'm doing. Barrier is nice for Hard Mode content, as it helps your pets, and your teammates get close to the cap on defense and resistance. Keep in mind that pet resistance cap is actually 90%, not 75% like what the MMs resistance cap is, so you can really get some value out of having extra resistances on the bots.

Hybrid -> Support Core is really the only option here. This is another way to hit the incarnate softcap and allow you to not have to worry about resummoning your pets. Also, the global endurance reduction helps a lot to offset the extra endurance costs that MMs have to deal with on their secondary powers.

[StrikerFox]

1 hour ago, Arbegla said:

Destiny -> Clarion is a waste on a bot/traps. Simply put, the FFG gives you enough mez protection that you don't need to worry about granting it to your pets. 

 

Doesn't FFG just provide some status resistance to hold, immob and stun? Status protection is more important than resistance. Resistance will just reduce the duration of the mez effect; protection can negate the mez effect all together unless enough is stacked to overcome the player/pet's protection stats.

 

As for the Alpha slot, saving a slot from Hasten doesn't amount to much. Dropping a trap here and there, a few seconds sooner is seldom needed. Extra damage is always welcome. It's useful in pretty much every scenario in the game. Musculature or Intuition will always yield the best overall results on an MM... Unless running a petless one.

[Uun]

1 hour ago, StrikerFox said:

Doesn't FFG just provide some status resistance to hold, immob and stun? Status protection is more important than resistance. Resistance will just reduce the duration of the mez effect; protection can negate the mez effect all together unless enough is stacked to overcome the player/pet's protection stats.

No, it's protection (although there's a sleep hole). 

Mag -6.92 Mez Protection (Held, Immobilized, Stunned)

[Hedgefund2]

You can always check City of Data if you're unsure about what a power does.

 

In this link you'll see that FFG gives 6.92 mag protection to hold, stuns and immobs.

 

https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=villain_pets.traps_ff_generator.dispersion_bubble&at=minion_pets

[Fira]

18 hours ago, Arbegla said:

 

I'm going to comment on this for a bit, because it has some information that doesn't really apply to Bot/traps.

 

Alpha -> If going for a recharge heavy build, i would go with Spiritual or Agility as the extra recharge can let you get away with a single slot in Hasten, and still have perma Hasten. Musculature is nice, but the Damage boost from Page 5 already gives you some pretty nice DPS with the robots, so you don't really need extra damage. Especially if you can get near the ED cap with Damage/Acc already.

Judgement -> I would go for any of the range Judgement powers, Ion being my personal favorite. The melee Judgement powers, while having some nice benefits, wont really suit a bot/traps, as you're going to focus on range the most.

Interface -> I'll agree with Degenerative here, as the -maxhp is such a high effective DPS increase its not even comparable to other interfaces.

Lore -> The best lore pet combination is the Banished Pantheon Defiler/Ravager. This is because the debuff from the defiler also does damage, AND the buff he gives is +recovery/+def, which stacks really nicely with bot/traps going for max recharge. It also allows you to hit the incarnate softcap while buffed with the defiler which can be amazing mitigation even in normal non-incarnate content.

 

Destiny -> Clarion is a waste on a bot/traps. Simply put, the FFG gives you enough mez protection that you don't need to worry about granting it to your pets. I would go for Rebirth for a massive heal (+maxhp if you really want to take triage beacon, as it boosts the regeneration rate as well) OR go with Barrier to really make yourself into a tanker-mind. Either options are good, and I rotate between Rebirth and Barrier depending on what content i'm doing. Barrier is nice for Hard Mode content, as it helps your pets, and your teammates get close to the cap on defense and resistance. Keep in mind that pet resistance cap is actually 90%, not 75% like what the MMs resistance cap is, so you can really get some value out of having extra resistances on the bots.

Hybrid -> Support Core is really the only option here. This is another way to hit the incarnate softcap and allow you to not have to worry about resummoning your pets. Also, the global endurance reduction helps a lot to offset the extra endurance costs that MMs have to deal with on their secondary powers.

 

Problem with a Rech Alpha like Agility is that it murders your proc rate. And that's kinda why you'd be using Hasten to begin with i guess unless you just want the Mortars

 

Mind that you can also snapshot Prot Bot shield on Clarion and squeeze a lot extra defense. Still this is rarely as useful/straightforward as a well placed Barrier i guess..

 

Assault Hybrid is technically also an option, but it comes with caveats, explained in some posts further up.

[Arbegla]

On 3/23/2023 at 2:28 PM, StrikerFox said:

As for the Alpha slot, saving a slot from Hasten doesn't amount to much. Dropping a trap here and there, a few seconds sooner is seldom needed. Extra damage is always welcome. It's useful in pretty much every scenario in the game. Musculature or Intuition will always yield the best overall results on an MM... Unless running a petless one.

 

I'll argue that triple Acid Mortars will provide better damage boost then Musculature would, and thus the extra recharge you get from Agility (and the extra defense boost) is more useful overall. Also consider being able to double stack Poison Trap, quad stack Seeker Drones, and double stack Triage beacon, you can get a lot of value out of recharge that actually has little to no effect on your pets themselves.

YMMV of course, but stacking more buffs/debuffs is more of a force multiplier, especially on teams then the extra Damage Enhancement Value you get from Musculature. Especially because your pets should be close to the ED cap on damage from normal slotting anyways.

Edited March 27, 2023 by Arbegla
FFG was already covered.

[Arbegla]

On 3/24/2023 at 7:03 AM, Fira said:

 

Problem with a Rech Alpha like Agility is that it murders your proc rate. And that's kinda why you'd be using Hasten to begin with i guess unless you just want the Mortars

 

Mind that you can also snapshot Prot Bot shield on Clarion and squeeze a lot extra defense. Still this is rarely as useful/straightforward as a well placed Barrier i guess..

 

Assault Hybrid is technically also an option, but it comes with caveats, explained in some posts further up.

 

Like I mention above, triple stacking mortars, double stacking triage beacon and poison trap, and quad stacking seeker drones allows for some nice buff/debuff values. Bot/traps isn't really a huge proc monster to begin with, as most of the powers are long recharge, so even if you shorten them down, you're not going to murder your proc rate that much.

 

Plus, procs are going to be looked at eventually, so I wouldn't place all your eggs in that basket right now.

[Arbegla]

On 3/23/2023 at 3:35 PM, Uun said:

No, it's protection (although there's a sleep hole). 

Mag -6.92 Mez Protection (Held, Immobilized, Stunned)

 

The sleep hole can be mitigated by the +hp procs a little bit, as any heal (or damage) will wake you up from being slept. I like to put the +hp/+end panacea proc in Triage Beacon so it affects my pets too, and helps mitigate some of the heavy endurance use they have.

[StrikerFox]

52 minutes ago, Arbegla said:

I'll argue that triple Acid Mortars will provide better damage boost then Musculature would, and thus the extra recharge you get from Agility (and the extra defense boost) is more useful overall. 

 

Not really. My build for example, Acid Mortar recharges in 24s with Musculature slotted. With Agility slotted, it recharges in 22s. Double and triple Mortars would overlap 2-4 seconds longer with Agility slotted. A 2-4 seconds longer Mortar overlap VS a permanent +35% damage bonus. While teamed, enemies would likely be defeated before the 3rd (Often even the 2nd) Mortar is needed. While solo, I would want the consistent +damage over 2-4s longer overlap because that 2-4s will likely equate to 1 or 2 attacks for each pet.

 

 

[JulioThom33_2]

Thanks!

 

After the advice, I made these changes:

 

1. Dropped Hasten, Scorpion Shield, and Power Boost

2. Added Proton Grenade and Temporary Invulnerability

3. Dropped the AoE Pet IO and swapped the Pet IOs around to improve accuracy.

4. Kept Triage and moved it earlier in case I exemp down.

 

Thanks!

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.7
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Cyfighter: Level 50 Technology Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Field Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Battle Drones

• (A) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Damage/Endurance
• (3) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (3) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (5) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage
• (5) Sovereign Right - Resistance Bonus
• (7) Expedient Reinforcement - Resist Bonus Aura for Pets
  

Level 1: Caltrops

• (A) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (21) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (21) Ice Mistral's Torment - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (31) Ice Mistral's Torment - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (34) Ice Mistral's Torment - Chance for Cold Damage
  

Level 2: Pulse Rifle Burst

• (A) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback to Knockdown
• (9) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback/Damage/Recharge
• (9) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback/Damage/Endurance
• (43) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback/Recharge
• (46) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback/Accuracy/Damage
• (50) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback/Accuracy
  

Level 4: Fly

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
  

Level 6: Equip Robot

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
• (7) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP
  

Level 8: Triage Beacon

• (A) Panacea - Heal/Endurance
• (31) Panacea - Endurance/Recharge
• (45) Panacea - Heal/Recharge
• (45) Panacea - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (45) Panacea - Heal
• (46) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance
  

Level 10: Acid Mortar

• (A) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff
• (11) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Defense Debuff
• (11) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
• (19) Shield Breaker - Chance for Lethal Damage
  

Level 12: Protector Bots

• (A) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage
• (13) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Endurance
• (13) Defense Buff IO
• (15) Sovereign Right - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (15) Edict of the Master - Defense Bonus
• (17) Call to Arms - Defense Bonus Aura for Pets
  

Level 14: Hover

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
  

Level 16: Force Field Generator

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (17) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (19) Defense Buff IO
  

Level 18: Maintenance Drone

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
• (39) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
• (40) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime
• (40) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime
• (40) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
• (43) Preventive Medicine - Heal
  

Level 20: Poison Trap

• (A) Gladiator's Net - Accuracy/Hold
• (27) Gladiator's Net - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
• (29) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
• (29) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
• (31) Entomb - Recharge/Chance for +Absorb
  

Level 22: Assault Bot

• (A) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage
• (23) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (23) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (25) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (25) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Endurance/Pet +Resist +Regen
• (27) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Damage
  

Level 24: Seeker Drones

• (A) Absolute Amazement - Stun
• (33) Absolute Amazement - Stun/Recharge
• (33) Absolute Amazement - Stun/Recharge/Accuracy
• (34) Absolute Amazement - Stun/Endurance
• (34) Absolute Amazement - Chance for ToHit Debuff
• (37) Cloud Senses - Chance for Negative Energy Damage
  

Level 26: Upgrade Robot

• (A) Healing IO
  

Level 28: Group Fly

• (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)
  

Level 30: Kick

• (A) Accuracy IO
  

Level 32: Tough

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/Endurance
• (33) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
• (37) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection
• (37) Resist Damage IO
  

Level 35: Temp Invulnerability

• (A) Gladiator's Armor - End/Resist
• (36) Gladiator's Armor - Resistance
• (36) Gladiator's Armor - Resistance/Rech/End
• (36) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
  

Level 38: Weave

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (39) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (39) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
  

Level 41: Photon Grenade

• (A) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff
• (42) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage
• (42) Annihilation - Damage/RechargeTime
• (43) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (46) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (50) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
  

Level 44: Evasive Maneuvers

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
  

Level 47: Maneuvers

• Hamidon Origin:Cytoskeleton Exposure
  

Level 49: Tactics

• Hamidon Origin:Cytoskeleton Exposure
  

Level 1: Supremacy 

Level 1: Brawl

 

[tidge]

IIRC, the Seeker drones don't proc %damage.

[Uun]

12 hours ago, tidge said:

IIRC, the Seeker drones don't proc %damage.

They do not. Also, Acid Mortar only has a chance to proc every 10 seconds.

Slotting Seeker Drones for stun isn't productive. Each drone has a 25% chance of a mag 2 stun. You're better off slotting for -tohit.

[Arbegla]

On 3/27/2023 at 12:01 PM, StrikerFox said:

 

Not really. My build for example, Acid Mortar recharges in 24s with Musculature slotted. With Agility slotted, it recharges in 22s. Double and triple Mortars would overlap 2-4 seconds longer with Agility slotted. A 2-4 seconds longer Mortar overlap VS a permanent +35% damage bonus. While teamed, enemies would likely be defeated before the 3rd (Often even the 2nd) Mortar is needed. While solo, I would want the consistent +damage over 2-4s longer overlap because that 2-4s will likely equate to 1 or 2 attacks for each pet.

 

 

 

This is a little late to the party, but the other thing that Agility gives you is +defense, which can help push you over the edge into the Incarnate Softcap. Especially with all of the powers a bot/traps has that can slot defense (Protector bots, FFG, Maneuvers, Combat jumping, etc)