Pet defense/resistance and Bodyguard

[BastionWalls]

Ok, how does our pets defense/restistance work with Bodyguard mode? I would assume they apply their resistances to their individual share of incoming damage, but what about defense? Do they get a chance to avoid the share completely? If not, would it be better for defense focused builds (I'm looking at Ninja/FF specifically) to not use Bodyguard and focus on keeping aggro of the character?

[Warlawk]

Your defense and resistances are applied to the incoming damage, any damage you take is then divided up per the rules for bodyguard damage sharing and applied to your pets. The pets do not get to apply their own defense or resistances in addition to yours.

 

Personally, I don't tend to build heavily for defenses on my MMs so I tend to try and stay in bodyguard mode. With specific sets (my Ninja/Time for instance) that are defensive in nature I will often use the goto command to have my pets take the alpha vs certain enemy factions though. So the answer is... it depends and different circumstances will have different answers!

[bellona100]

On 10/15/2023 at 7:40 AM, BastionWalls said:

Ok, how does our pets defense/restistance work with Bodyguard mode? I would assume they apply their resistances to their individual share of incoming damage, but what about defense? Do they get a chance to avoid the share completely? If not, would it be better for defense focused builds (I'm looking at Ninja/FF specifically) to not use Bodyguard and focus on keeping aggro of the character?

Quote:

Core Powers: Bodyguard
This is accessed by setting any henchman to Follow/Stay/Goto and Defensive.   When set to Bodyguard mode, the Mastermind and his Henchmen share damage from any attack that the Mastermind takes damage from, after the MM's personal resistances are applied.

Each Henchman takes one “Share” of the damage, and the Mastermind himself takes 2 “Shares”.   This is in addition to any damage that the Henchmen themselves might incur from Area attacks.   The resistance/defense of the henchmen is not applied to this damage and instead goes straight against their hitpoint total.

Example 1:   If a Mastermind has 3 Henchmen set to Def/Fol, and he gets hit with (after resistance is factored) a 100 point attack, each Henchman will take 20 points of damage, and he himself will take 40 points. (total of 100 points of damage).

Example 2:   If a Mastermind has 3 Henchmen set to Def/Fol, and he gets hit with (after resistance is factored) an Area Effect attack for 10 points of damage, then each Henchman will take 2 points of damage, and he himself will take 4 points.   Henchmen that were also in the Area of Effect will take an additional 10 points each.

Bodyguard will work as long as a Henchman is in Defensive Follow or Defensive Stay/Goto.   This means that they will attack back when you or they are attacked.   Issuing an order of “Attack my target” will take them out of bodyguard mode, as will issuing any other stance.   You can set as many of your Henchmen to bodyguard that you want.

As long as the Henchman is in Defensive Follow/Stay/Goto and within Supremacy range, he is in Bodyguard mode.   Status effects will not turn off bodyguard mode.   Bodyguard does not function with Lore Incarnate henchmen.

 

- Taken from MZ's Guide to the Modern Mastermind v4.5(@Master Zaprobo)

[bellona100]

I'd like to add that with the Ninjas primary, you're going to want to use your 3 attacks.   This will increase the ninjas chance to crit against the enemy.  These attacks will draw some aggro to the actual MM.

 

You also have the option of sending in some of your henchmen to attack while keeping some back in bodyguard mode to protect the actual MM.  This would be done via a macro command.

Edited October 17, 2023 by bellona100
Grammer

[BastionWalls]

Thank you @bellona100, I've read the Wiki many times and finally caught the throwaway sentence fragment in the first paragraph. The question I had was how effective is it to build towards high def/res if you spend the majority of time in Bodyguard mode. Yes, you can split your henchmen and regardless of how much aggro you can pull there will be times where your pets get targeted and those def/res will help, but how cost effective is Force Field for example when the majority(ish) of the time it does not come into play?

[Ringo]

In Bodyguard mode the only things that matters are:

1) Your Defense.  Don't get hit and your henchmen don't take damage

 

2) Your Resistance.  Take less damage so your henchmen have less damage in the "shares" they take.

 

3) The AoE Defense of your henchmen so they don't take double damage from the same attack that hits you and them.  Typed defenses can also help here, but AoE is the most direct mitigation.

 

So in building with an aim for Bodyguard mode (especially if you use Taunt), and assuming you can't simply not get hit, your personal resistances are going to make the biggest difference in keeping your henchmen alive.

 

So with Forcefields as an example - no, it's not an effective help with Bodyguard mode because the bubbles really only help with the "double dipping" problem.  Sonic is even worse for Bodyguard mode because the bubbles don't matter for damage shares.  Sets with personal +resist, -dmg to enemies, or AoE healing are going to get the most out of the shared damage mechanic.  Dark and Pain are strong contenders.  EleAffinity might also be?  Radiation has the correct tools as well.

[tidge]

20 hours ago, BastionWalls said:

The question I had was how effective is it to build towards high def/res if you spend the majority of time in Bodyguard mode. Yes, you can split your henchmen and regardless of how much aggro you can pull there will be times where your pets get targeted and those def/res will help, but how cost effective is Force Field for example when the majority(ish) of the time it does not come into play?

 

I have a LOT of experience with Robotics/Traps; this informs my comments:

 

I have all the MM Def/Res pieces slotted. I have a FFG, and the Protector Bots also provide Bubbles. With Supremacy, my squad is sitting with pretty high defenses (I think even the T1 are soft-capped against even-to-MM-con enemies, but it has been a while since I've checked). The MM is IIRC above the Incarnate softcap without using Incarnate powers. There is also a Maintenance Drone. Relevant henchman slotting is shown in spoilers (imagine the other powers and mules for the MM):

 

Spoiler

Level      1:            Battle Drones   

 (A) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Damage: Level 50

 (*) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50

 (*) Soulbound Allegiance - Chance for Build Up: Level 50

 (*) Expedient Reinforcement - Resist Bonus Aura for Pets

 (*) Sovereign Right – Accuracy/Damage

 (*) Sovereign Right - Resistance Bonus

 

Level  6:                Equip Robot      

 (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance

 (*) Unbreakable Guard - +7.5% MaxHP

 

Level 12:               Protector Bots  

 (A) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Damage/Endurance: Level 50

 (*) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Accuracy/Endurance: Level 50

 (*) Defense Buff IO: Level 50+5

 (*) Edict of the Master: Defense Bonus

 (*) Call to Arms: Defense Aura for Pets

 (*) Call to Arms: Accuracy/Damage

 

Level 16:               Force Field Generator   

 (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed

 (*) Luck of the Gambler - Defense

 (*) Defense Buff IO: Level 50+5

 

Level 22:               Assault Bot         

 (A) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50

 (*) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Damage/Endurance: Level 50

 (*) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

 (*) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Recharge/Pet +AoE Defense Aura: Level 50

 (*) Superior Mark of Supremacy: Accuracy/Damage: Level 50

 (*) Superior Mark of Supremacy: Endurance, +Resist (All) +Regen(Pets): Level 50

 

 

Level 26:               Upgrade Robot

 

 (A) Healing IO: Level 50+5

 

 

Prior to the recent Homecoming Robotics revamp, the biggest gap in this slotting approach was that I pretty much had to rely on the secondary's Triage Beacon to 'repair' the henchmen, as I had a very active MM.... and positioning relative to the Beacon was one more thing to worry about. Even then, it was rare that I really had to worry about the henchmen.

 

The biggest problems (now and then) are Enemy AoE that hit everybody at the same time. Think the Foot Stomps from Eochai when it rolls a 0.002. There is a subtle point about Robotics in that the preponderance of range attacks can mean that the henchmen end up far enough away from the MM that some of the aurae may not reach them.

 

I do NOT recommend the Presence pool for MMs. The Provoke requires a ToHit check and has a small target cap. Better IMO is to pick and slot an actual AoE attack (preferably damage+debuff) for the MM to grab (initial) aggro. With all the henchmen attacks Provoke really won't be doing very much IMO.