Bots/Necromancy/Demons with Nature

[Mindrivet]

Normally I run mercenaries but honestly I am really tired of Serum and managing that. Plus, they don't have much "pizzazz" with their attacks. So here I am branching out... I want to be able to solo AVs or +4/8 relatively easily. With the AI changes and enemies running around like crazy its less appealing to do bots but Entangling Aura might solve that from nature. I don't know of course which is why I am here.

Can an expert give me a run down on how each of these performs solo AND how they perform in groups? Merc was great for groups with abundant AoE and I did enjoy that.

What experience can I expect in all aspects of the game with these three combined with Nature?

[TygerDarkstorm]

Bots/Nature is a super fun pairing, but Entangling Aura is not going to hold an AV, I don't think. You mostly needs slows/immobs to keep AV's from running away as I'm not sure how hard it is to stack a hold high enough to hold an AV. I also am not sure that Nature, as great as it is, is a good enough secondary for soloing AVs.

 

AV solo secondaries tend to lean more towards /Traps, /Marine, /Dark (I think but am not 100% on that one), /Cold. Maaaaaayyybe /Storm, but that's probably more to just straight out-damaging the AV's regen.

[Mindrivet]

10 minutes ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

Bots/Nature is a super fun pairing, but Entangling Aura is not going to hold an AV, I don't think. You mostly needs slows/immobs to keep AV's from running away as I'm not sure how hard it is to stack a hold high enough to hold an AV. I also am not sure that Nature, as great as it is, is a good enough secondary for soloing AVs.

 

AV solo secondaries tend to lean more towards /Traps, /Marine, /Dark (I think but am not 100% on that one), /Cold. Maaaaaayyybe /Storm, but that's probably more to just straight out-damaging the AV's regen.

Good to know but what about +4/8 or group content?

[TygerDarkstorm]

13 minutes ago, Mindrivet said:

Good to know but what about +4/8 or group content?

I am not a builder, so I'm sure someone more knowledged than me in those areas can answer. I haven't soloed +4/x8 content yet on any of my MMs. I do have a Bots/Nature at 50 that I play casually with groups. Depending on what kind of group content you're looking to do depends on the answer. Just casual play? Any combo will work. The harder the content the more MM's suffer because of the way henchmen levels work.

 

I enjoy the bots/nature a lot; I wasn't sure if the combo would mesh well together, but it does. I like to turn my bots into a sort of death zone by throwing down the fairie patch thing that gives health/end and putting the bots on go-to and stationing them in the patch--though I only do this method if we're at a point where we'll be fighting enemies long enough to make it worth it, otherwise I run in standard bodyguard mode. This method will often allow you to throw them in aggressive if you're in a group, so long as you're aware of your surroundings. I run Entangling Aura near them to try and catch and hold baddies before they can hurt the bots too badly. I imagine you'd play this combo similarly to a mercs/nature.

 

One of these days I want to make a necro/nature as I like the whole idea behind the life and death theme.

[Mindrivet]

1 hour ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

 

Behold, Ophiocordyeceps the zombie fungus mastermind. Thought you might appreciate.

[TheSpiritFox]

Bots/nature is the weakest of the three pairings. Decent AOE damage, fairly weak single target, and weaker on higher level content due to the mishmash of defensive types that don't excel super well in any one area. 

Necro/Nature comes next. Sturdier than bots/nature overall it still has the weakness of being a melee set. Being able to slot all the pet uniques in the build helps alot, lifedrain from the pets helps alot, and soul extraction helps a good bit too. Good damage overall, strong contender, can handle +4 content but expect alot of pet resummons and for killing time to be slow. Patchy resistances mean patchy defensive performance against different enemy types. 

Demons/Nature is the best (alongside Mercs/Nature). Solid AOE and single target, natural resistances+ all pet uniques make this set combo tough as hell with all the nature buffs added on top of it. Have soloed the ITF at +2 with this build. It has the flexibility to be an absolute monster. 

All do decently well solo as noted above. All do well in groups with the exception that zombies definitely feel slow following teams even compared to the rest of MM pets and demons continue to be too goddamn fat. 

Edited December 13 by TheSpiritFox

[Maelwys]

Robotics has the benefit of being able to grant ~21% Defence to all the pets and the MM themselves via Protector Bot Bubbles; so if you leverage Maneuvers (~4%) and both Pet Auras (10%) then you can get them well within Incarnate-clicky distance of the Softcap (Barrier Core Destiny and/or Talons Radial Lore and/or Support Core Hybrid) regardless of your secondary powerset. Their inherent damage resistances are alright (with Lethal and Psychic are both being pretty common in Lv50 content; Cold less so) so Wild Growth adding another ~18% doesn't hurt, but Maintenance Drone isn't needed if you have Regrowth. Their AI is generally very well behaved.
Decent AoE damage output, but since Nature doesn't inflict -movement or much AoE CC you're going to need an AoE immobilize from your Patron/Epic pools to keep things inside the Assbot's Missile Burn Patches. For AV-soloing the -Regen from the personal MM attacks will come in handy given Spore Cloud is a little anemic in that Dept.

Necro are vastly better at single-target damage than Bots/; but behind in AoE. A Necro/Nature will struggle more than a Bot/Nature at AV soloing due to less -Regen. Resistance spread is a smidge better than Bots, with Smashing/Psionic/Toxic all being prevalent at Lv50; and Cold/Negative less so. Necro output substantial -ToHit debuffs which will be more impactful if you're fighting even-level mooks than higher-level enemies or AVs due to purple patch and AV Resistance. Their AI is crazy and they take a lot of leashing.

Demons are decent all-rounders and their inherent resistances and the Ember Demon Bubble buff meshes very nicely with Wild Growth. Unfortunately as a powerset Demons hasn't experienced the same revamp as Mercs, Necro and Bots so it's a little behind mechanically. But the personal attacks inflicting -resistance is always going to be useful. If you don't care about +Defence or -ToHit (or have other means of granting it) then they're probably the best of the three. Their AI is not quite as mad as Necro, but they'll sometimes still need a little bit of micromanaging to get them to do what you want.

In Short:

+ Robots = #1 for AoE damage, #3 for ST. Highest +Defense. -Regen debuffs for AVs.
+ Necro = #1 for ST damage, #3 for AoE. High -ToHit (less impactful vs higher level enemies and AVs). Decent CC.
+ Demons = #2 for ST damage, #2 for AoE. Highest +Resistance. -Res buffs for AVs.

Personally I'd go Robots or Demons. Robots if you're mainly solo; Demons if you're intending to team regularly.
 

Edited December 13 by Maelwys