Robotics "Equip" buffs are using different scalars to Mercs (Pet vs Mastermind)

[Maelwys]

[EDIT: It has been pointed out below that the Robotics Equip power may in fact be "correct" here, since the same behaviour is currently present in the other 'revamped' powersets Ninjas and Necro... however if this is true then the Mercs Equip power must be using the incorrect scalar...]

As per post title, the "Equip" upgrade ability in Robotics was reworked to grant the henchmen some enhanceable damage resistance... however it appears that this is currently using the scalar of the individual pet to determine the actual amount of damage resistance granted, rather than the scalar of the Mastermind themselves.

Each of the resistance figures is listed as +25% Damage Resistance (Lethal, Cold, Psionic) (self only) for 10.25s ... but the numbers you actually get in the game are different than expected (see example screenshot below) and only match up if it's actually using the "Minion Henchman/Lt Henchman/Boss Henchman" scalars for Resistance Buff rather than the "Mastermind" scalar.

https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=mastermind_pets.droid_2.resistance&at=minion_henchman
https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=mastermind_pets.protector_2.resistance&at=lt_henchman
https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=mastermind_pets.assault_2.resistance&at=boss_henchman



The upshot of this is that the Assbot is significantly tougher than it should be and the Drones significantly weaker versus vs Lethal/Cold/Psi damage. The Protector Bot is "correct" since the Lt Henchman scalars match that of the Mastermind.

Compare this with the same "Equip" ability from Mercs... which is using the Mastermind scalar and so each of the pets resistances only end up differing *very slightly* due to their level differences:

https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=mastermind_pets.soldier_2.equip&at=mastermind

https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=mastermind_pets.medic_2.equip&at=mastermind

https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=mastermind_pets.spec_ops_2.equip&at=mastermind

https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=mastermind_pets.commando_2.equip&at=mastermind
 

Edited March 18 by Maelwys

[Rudra]

That's because it is supposed to work off of the pets' resistance, not the MM's. (Edit: Which means Mercenaries needs to be fixed.)

Edited March 17 by Rudra

[Maelwys]

2 hours ago, Rudra said:

That's because it is supposed to work off of the pets' resistance, not the MM's. (Edit: Which means Mercenaries needs to be fixed.)

That.... seems a bit odd given the way other buff powers function and the original "static" resistances of the pets; however if that's the new design intent then fair enough!
(I was on a break from the game during the page 5 revamp; but just noticed the discrepancy between Bots and Mercs during some recent testing...) 🙂

And indeed, it appears that you're right - on Brainstorm at least  the other two "revamped" powersets (Ninjas and Necro) are similarly keying off the pet scalars.





Definitely looks like there's something out of whack here + a standardisation pass needs done.
E.g. either Mercs needs brought into line with the other three "revamped" primaries; or they need brought into line with Mercs (and the non-revamped legacy powersets).
 

Edited March 18 by Maelwys

[Lockely]

Considering folks have been begging for more survivability for MM pets, I'd prefer they match the other powersets to Mercs versus match Mercs to the other powersets (even if that means our T3 pet loses a little, we would overall gain on the other two)

[Maelwys]

5 minutes ago, Lockely said:

Considering folks have been begging for more survivability for MM pets, I'd prefer they match the other powersets to Mercs versus match Mercs to the other powersets (even if that means our T3 pet loses a little, we would overall gain on the other two)

Definitely, the T1s currently have the biggest survivability problem due to them being -2 in most content and Purple Patch shenanighans.
(Although it's a bit worse for Ninjas than the rest since they key off Defence and anything over +5 starts getting ToHit buffs...)
So if it comes to a choice; personally I'd also much rather see all three pet tiers standardised.

That said, dropping the T1 survivability would be particularly concerning for a set like Mercs where so much of the sustainability of the set comes from the T1 Medic; so perhaps they really did leave it different for a reason... who knows? 🙃

[Rudra]

14 minutes ago, Lockely said:

Considering folks have been begging for more survivability for MM pets, I'd prefer they match the other powersets to Mercs versus match Mercs to the other powersets (even if that means our T3 pet loses a little, we would overall gain on the other two)

If that is the route the devs decide to go, I won't complain. (I always did find it odd that MM henchmen pets had lower scalars than regular pets.) One did post in the Suggestions and Feedback forum that they were aware of MMs' plight and were looking at it.

[Maelwys]

34 minutes ago, Rudra said:

If that is the route the devs decide to go, I won't complain. (I always did find it odd that MM henchmen pets had lower scalars than regular pets.) One did post in the Suggestions and Feedback forum that they were aware of MMs' plight and were looking at it.

Ohh, I must have missed that one. Have you a link perchance?
(Closest I could find was this one from the Open Beta forum in 2022)

[Rudra]

The only one I can easily find is from Dev Unitas, but that is specifically about how some attacks are affecting pets in general. So, no, I can't. Sorry.

[Purrfekshawn]

Maybe it has something to do with this:

https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=mastermind_pets.soldier_2.equip

Look at modifier and it's written there:

Melee_SpeedJumping

While on other Mastermind powers, like https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=mastermind_pets.droid_2.resistance it's written:

Melee_Res_Dmg

Thus maybe the power tries to enhance its stength using Jumping Speed Modifier instead of Damage Resistance modifier, which is why either Robotics or Mercenary Version of +Resistance end ups using wrong modifier (multiplier).

 

Edited March 18 by Purrfekshawn

[Maelwys]

31 minutes ago, Purrfekshawn said:

Thus maybe the power tries to enhance its stength using Jumping Speed Modifier instead of Damage Resistance modifier, which is why Mercenary Version of +Resistance end ups using wrong modifier (multiplier).

 

That melee_speedjumping modifier is just another method of saying "don't scale this value based on the entity's rank"

 

The older non-revamped henchmen (like this) all use that modifier for their resistance figures, which is why I leapt to the initial conclusion that Robotics was "incorrectly" using a different one.

[Purrfekshawn]

30 minutes ago, Maelwys said:

 

That melee_speedjumping modifier is just another method of saying "don't scale this value based on the entity's rank"

 

The older non-revamped henchmen (like this) all use that modifier for their resistance figures, which is why I leapt to the initial conclusion that Robotics was "incorrectly" using a different one.

 

Yeah this is it! So conclusion is devs ought to be look @ this and decide if the correct behavior is TO scale off entity's rank (like Robots currently do) or NOT TO scale off entity's rank (like Mercenaries currently do). And yah for Me it looks like Mercenaries seem generally smoother (u wanna more RES for henchmen, so u resummon them less often).

 

P.S.: generally l think for Robotics it would make more sense if they were resisting not Lethal/Cold/Psi, but Lethal/Toxic/Psi, but that's my opinion. Maybe even Fire/Cold/Toxic but lesser degree than Lethal/Psi.