Mercs/FF - Knock 'em down all day!

[Onlyasandwich]

I'm going manic on CoH this holiday season, and my last build (bots/traps) is all polished and running well. Great fun if you haven't tried it! The stunny bunny is a beast.

 

On my bots, I leaned into the stunny fun. Here I'm doubling down on knockback as a mitigation strategy. I haven't played FF in a while on any character, and I have a fun theme for this combo, so Mercs/FF it is! I know there are more meta/powerful combinations (Mercs/Marine looks amazing), but this has some good synergy, and FF got a nice facelift in the not to distant past.

 

Let's get into it! I'd love to hear from you all on how I might better achieve my goals, or about any part of this you feel is truly useless or misguided.

 

Goals:

• Ranged softcap for my pets. 
• Softcap for myself when Unleash Potential is up (I love this power - softcap across the board!).
• Proc out my attacks to the max, with liberal use of FFback to feed my attack chain and powerful clickies like Serum and Unleash.
• Whatever resists I can get along the way.
• Max hit chance against +3s.

 

What I really like here:

• Knockdown city! So much of it all over the place. I even went Energy epic on my original iteration and went ham with the aoe blasts there, but determined it was just eating too many of my slots for something that had dubious end sustain. 
• Procced out Weaken Resolve. I haven't gone for this in the past! Seems like MMs are made for it. Very respectable damage, and a way to really push the achilles on a hard target when I absolutely need it focused.
• Managed to squeeze my end sustain to reasonable levels with some expensive powers running! Unleash also cycles in an extra injection on a regular basis.
• I always enjoy getting FFBack into both my single target and aoe rotation - hooray!

 

What I'd like to improve:

• Not something to improve, but I really just wish they'd make M30 KD natively. Boo.
• Slow resist. Nice that I have some baseline, and I muled the Winter's gift, but didn't stack to my usual degree (80+). I'm not sure that it will be that big of a deal though. My mercs don't care about -recharge, after all.
• Pet slotting? I don't know. I have a tough time on combos that don't offer an alternate power to mule out the pet uniques. I'm pushed even further here by just how amazing it is to shove -def procs into the T1 especially, and I want soulbound buildup somewhere. This leaves commando ands spec ops a little short from ideal. In a perfect world, I'd be able to mule 2-3 of the uniques and bump my commando, as well as juice damage and more proc op in spec ops. It's a tricky balance with the major benefit of procs for mercs. Unless I go traps, that isn't happening though! I think the endredux here should be okay with ample serum usage.
• Repulsion Field. I think it's pretty good now? What is your experience? It seems like something tailor made for mercs with their 100% ranged focus.
• Do you feel Personal Force Field is a real miss here? I have never found myself really using it much, even as a proactive tool on my other characters. I can see where it may get more utility for a MM. My main complaint is the animation time. It's really more of a proactive tool than a "save me" button. If you are in love with it, what would you swap out?

 

I have a couple flex slots I could pop towards whatever. Right now the 4th in deflection, and 5th in Dispersion (less so the latter) could go wherever without changing too much. Would just have to be worth the trade for the resist bonuses and bit of endredux. 

 

Note: Due to bad mids behavior, procs are toggled off in most powers right now. Toggle on one at a time to see real damage totals (mids goes wonky on proc % with multiple FFback)

 

Build:

Mastermind (Mercenaries - Force Field) unleash version.mbd

Picture:

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Text:

Spoiler

Villain Mastermind
Build plan made with Mids' Reborn v3.7.5 rev. 21
──────────────────────────────

• Primary powerset: Mercenaries
• Secondary powerset: Force Field
• Pool powerset (#1): Leaping
• Pool powerset (#2): Speed
• Pool powerset (#3): Leadership
• Pool powerset (#4): Force of Will
• Ancillary powerset: Mu Mastery
  

──────────────────────────────

Powers taken:

Level 1: Soldiers

• A: Superior Mark of Supremacy: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• 5: Superior Mark of Supremacy: Damage
• 36: Superior Mark of Supremacy: Accuracy/Endurance
• 48: Shield Breaker: Chance for Lethal Damage
• 50: Touch of Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Damage
• 50: Achilles' Heel: Chance for Res Debuff
  

Level 1: Deflection Shield

• A: Shield Wall: Defense/Endurance
• 37: Shield Wall: Defense
• 40: Shield Wall: Defense/Recharge
• 48: Shield Wall: +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
  

Level 2: Slug

• A: Gladiator's Javelin: Accuracy/Damage
• 3: Gladiator's Javelin: Chance of Damage(Toxic)
• 3: Apocalypse: Damage
• 43: Apocalypse: Chance of Damage(Negative)
• 43: Explosive Strike: Chance for Smashing Damage
• 46: Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge
  

Level 4: Insulation Shield

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 17: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Endurance
• 27: Luck of the Gambler: Defense
• 27: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Recharge
  

Level 6: Equip Mercenary

• A: Gladiator's Armor: End/Resist
• 7: Gladiator's Armor: Resistance
• 7: Gladiator's Armor: TP Protection +3% Def (All)
  

Level 8: M30 Grenade

• A: Positron's Blast: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• 9: Positron's Blast: Chance of Damage(Energy)
• 9: Javelin Volley: Chance of Damage(Lethal)
• 11: Bombardment: Chance for Fire Damage
• 11: Sudden Acceleration: Knockback to Knockdown
• 43: Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge
  

Level 10: Repulsion Bolt

• A: Thunderstrike: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
  

Level 12: Spec Ops

• A: Sovereign Right: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• 13: Sovereign Right: Resistance Bonus
• 13: Expedient Reinforcement: Accuracy/Damage
• 42: Expedient Reinforcement: Resist Bonus Aura for Pets
• 42: Edict of the Master: Defense Bonus
• 42: Touch of Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Damage
  

Level 14: Burst

• A: Gladiator's Javelin: Accuracy/Damage
• 15: Gladiator's Javelin: Chance of Damage(Toxic)
• 15: Apocalypse: Damage/Endurance
• 37: Shield Breaker: Chance for Lethal Damage
• 37: Touch of Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Damage
  

Level 16: Combat Jumping

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 17: Kismet: Accuracy +6%
  

Level 18: Serum

• A: Gladiator's Armor: Recharge/Resist
• 19: Gladiator's Armor: Resistance/Rech/End
• 19: Gladiator's Armor: Recharge/Endurance
• 36: Steadfast Protection: Resistance/+Def 3%
  

Level 20: Dispersion Bubble

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 21: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Endurance
• 21: Luck of the Gambler: Defense
• 31: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Endurance/Recharge
• 40: Luck of the Gambler: Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 22: Commando

• A: Superior Mark of Supremacy: Accuracy/Damage
• 23: Superior Mark of Supremacy: Endurance/Pet +Resist +Regen
• 23: Overwhelming Force: Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown
• 25: Soulbound Allegiance: Chance for Build Up
• 34: Call to Arms: Defense Bonus Aura for Pets
• 34: Explosive Strike: Chance for Smashing Damage
  

Level 24: Hasten

• A: Invention: Recharge Reduction
• 25: Invention: Recharge Reduction
  

Level 26: Tactical Upgrade

• A: Invention: Defense Buff
  

Level 28: Force Bomb

• A: Annihilation: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• 33: Annihilation: Chance for Res Debuff
• 29: Positron's Blast: Chance of Damage(Energy)
• 31: Bombardment: Chance for Fire Damage
• 51: Explosive Strike: Chance for Smashing Damage
• 51: Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge
  

Level 30: Damping Bubble

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 31: Reactive Defenses: Defense
• 33: Reactive Defenses: Scaling Resist Damage
  

Level 32: Maneuvers

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• 33: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Endurance
  

Level 35: Charged Armor

• A: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance
• 36: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance/Endurance
• 39: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime
  

Level 38: Mighty Leap

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

Level 41: Tactics

• A: Adjusted Targeting: To Hit Buff/Endurance
  

Level 44: Weaken Resolve

• A: Cloud Senses: Accuracy/ToHitDebuff
• 45: Cloud Senses: Chance for Negative Energy Damage
• 45: Shield Breaker: Chance for Lethal Damage
• 45: Touch of Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Damage
• 46: Achilles' Heel: Chance for Res Debuff
  

Level 47: Unleash Potential

• A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Recharge
• A: Red Fortune: Defense/Recharge
• A: Reactive Defenses: Defense/RechargeTime
  

Level 49: Repulsion Field

• A: Invention: Endurance Reduction
• A: Invention: Endurance Reduction
  

──────────────────────────────

Inherents:

Level 1: Supremacy

Level 1: Brawl

• (Empty)
  

Level 1: Sprint

• A: Celerity: +Stealth
  

Level 2: Rest

• (Empty)
  

Level 1: Swift

• (Empty)
  

Level 1: Hurdle

• (Empty)
  

Level 1: Health

• A: Panacea: +Hit Points/Endurance
• 5: Numina's Convalesence: +Regeneration/+Recovery
• 34: Miracle: +Recovery
  

Level 1: Stamina

• A: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End
• 48: Performance Shifter: EndMod
• 50: Invention: Endurance Modification
  

Level 38: Takeoff

 

Chunk:

Spoiler

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[Onlyasandwich]

I've run this build up to 31, and very happy so far!

 

I like the build, but honestly so much of it is just the combo. Mercs and FF are very satisfying together.

 

The mercenaries are just so very well behaved. I find myself using goto a lot more (aggressive stance) and microing their battlefield presence much more than my other MMs. They don't waste any time between targets, and just setup a strong and safe firing base wherever needed. Unlike Traps, I don't have to worry about FFgen lagging behind, and can keep them safe with very flexible positioning.

 

In all, it has a very clean, zen feel to it! Rattatatatatatatata go the guns, boosh boosh go the Forcefield powers.

 

As for the all in KD here, it's very effective so far. At 31 I'm not softcapping my minions quite yet, though close. However, I can still run +2X8 with relative ease depending on the enemy group. Chain knockdown is a beautiful thing, and the side dish of -res is the cherry on top!

Edited Thursday at 10:20 PM by Onlyasandwich

[Xandyr]

On my Mercs, I slot an Achilles': Chance for Resist Debuff in my Soldiers (T1 pets). Almost all their attacks have a -def debuff in them, so you'll constantly have that proc going off.

 

I see you already have that proc slotted....

 

Anyway, on my Mercs, I always slot the Kismet: Accuracy in Tactical Upgrade, and the Impervious Skin: Status Resist/Regen in Equip Mercenary. Your pets will get those benefits.

Edited Friday at 12:20 AM by Xandyr

[Onlyasandwich]

Kismet is only a 2 minute buff if used in a clicky. Do you just reapply the upgrade? I guess it would probably refresh on reapplication.

[Onlyasandwich]

For anyone who is curious, I tested and what @Xandyr said is correct - Kismet does affect your minions when slotted in Tactical Upgrade.

 

Note that it has a 2 minute duration after cast, so you'll need to recast Tactical Upgrade every couple minutes to continue to benefit from the effect. This is half the duration of your shields, so you'll need to be mindful of cycling it intentionally. 

 

Even so, I think it's worth it. 6% tohit across all your minions is very strong - basically like 2/3rds of tactics all by itself. The T1's especially will appreciate it.

Edited Sunday at 09:34 PM by Onlyasandwich

[Onlyasandwich]

Scratch that - it looks like it doesn't even need recast! I guess the minion powers refresh a little different than a normal clicky given their indefinite duration.

[Maelwys]

The upgrade powers grant henchmen a passive ability which also takes "Resistance" or "Defense" set enhancements, so Kismet and/or Achilles' will constantly reapply.

Slotting Healing Set IOs won't do much unfortunately aside from the Panacea proc (which has a chance to activate on every henchmen each time you cast the upgrade). I've toyed with the idea of slotting Panacea into the likes of Kuji-In Zen/Upgrade Robot/Dark Empowerment and using it as a ghetto heal; but it's decidedly unreliable. It might be viable on a /FF who really doesn't want to take the medicine pool though...

 

Edited Sunday at 09:21 PM by Maelwys

[Onlyasandwich]

As a final share - here is the iteration I landed on which incorporates Kismet into tactical upgrade. This did require moving slots around to maintain personal accuracy. I lost an E/N bonus (not a biggie), and the Achilles in Weaken Resolve. Honestly that probably wasn't doing much anyhow. I imagine any scenario where I'm popping Weaken Resolve (AV fights mostly), the T1s will have Achilles up most of the time.

 

As before, procs in FFback powers are disabled - toggle on one at a time to see average damage.

 

I welcome any other feedback you might have! I'm really happy with the impact @Xandyr's suggestion made. One big concern I had was tohit chances for the T1 and T3.

 

 

Mastermind (Mercenaries - Force Field) unleash version w kismet alt.mbd

Edited Sunday at 11:33 PM by Onlyasandwich

[Xandyr]

@Onlyasandwich glad I could help!

[StrikerFox]

18 hours ago, Maelwys said:

Slotting Healing Set IOs won't do much unfortunately aside from the Panacea proc (which has a chance to activate on every henchmen each time you cast the upgrade). I've toyed with the idea of slotting Panacea into the likes of Kuji-In Zen/Upgrade Robot/Dark Empowerment and using it as a ghetto heal; but it's decidedly unreliable. It might be viable on a /FF who really doesn't want to take the medicine pool though...

 

It's been awhile since playing, so maybe it's been changed, but the Panacea unique is great in Dark Empowerment. It has a chance to proc on each pet every 10 seconds.

[Maelwys]

43 minutes ago, StrikerFox said:

It's been awhile since playing, so maybe it's been changed, but the Panacea unique is great in Dark Empowerment. It has a chance to proc on each pet every 10 seconds.

It looks like the passive power that Necromancy's second Upgrade Ability grants to all your henchmen takes Healing Enhancements... and it also grants a few other powers (such as Siphon Life and Life Drain) which ALSO take Healing Enhancements. I wouldn't be surprised if all of those subpowers are getting independent chances to trigger Panacea procs + if so then it could indeed increase Necro pets' survivability by quite a bit.

Two of the other reworked primary sets (Bots and Ninjas) also have upgrade abilities that take Healing Enhancements, but unfortunately the passive powers that these abilities actually grant your henchmen do not take Healing Enhancements - instead they're empty. So you'll only get the Panacea proc kicking in on cast + not every X seconds thereafter.

[Maelwys]

Just checked - no obvious sign of Panacea kicking in on subpowers like Siphon Life etc... but it's definitely getting a chance to kick in every 10 seconds via the passive.

[TooManyButtons]

Wow, that's looks great. I wish there was more of an oversight on how some of these unusual passives and procs work for MMs. I don't see a reason why Kismet would work but Steadfast Protection loses its effect.

[Onlyasandwich]

1 hour ago, TooManyButtons said:

Kismet would work but Steadfast Protection loses its effect

Kismet is sort of like a "power" in that it affects you like a buff. Said buff lasts for 120 seconds, and is applied upon cast at 100% chance. In passive or toggle powers, it will be refreshing every 10 sec, so always on as long as that power is active. Because of this, it can be inherited by a minion. Not if you just cast a regular power on said minion (ie kismet in deflection shield), but if the minion has its own power that can benefit from it. When you use the minion upgrades, they grant the minions powers. These powers belong to the minions themselves, and are not coming from you when cast thereafter - they are coming from the minion. So Minion now has a passive defense power granted by your upgrade power, said passive defense power is able to trigger Kismet, minion benefits from Kismet.

 

Steadfast is a set bonus. Set bonuses only ever effect you. It is not a buff, but treated the same as any other set bonus. Minions don't even get our accuracy set bonuses! Boo, but there you go.

 

I'm not 100% certain why some powers are treated in this way (Not counted as set bonuses but effectively as buffs). I might venture that it's due to the fact that tohit is not an option for set bonuses, so they had to implement it as a special sort of buff instead.

 

Other IOs that operate in a similar way include Miracle and Numina uniques, as well as Regen tissue and impervious skin regen. Their trigger conditions are basically the same as Kismet. If you were to put Miracle in a clicky, it would buff you for 120 seconds after casting the clicky.

 

Procs that benefit you (Panacea, Perf Shifter) are a bit different. They are not set bonuses either, but are instead basically little powers (procs = processes) that run when you fire a power. If a minion has a valid power that could take that category of enhancement, said power would benefit from these procs if slotted in the upgrade power that grants the power to the minion. For clicky powers like drain life from a minion, it would have a %chance to proc with every click. For passives or auras, it would have a %chance every 10 seconds to fire.

 

 

 

 

Edited 15 hours ago by Onlyasandwich

[TooManyButtons]

13 minutes ago, Onlyasandwich said:

Procs that benefit you (Panacea, Perf Shifter) are a bit different. They are not set bonuses either, but are instead basically little powers (procs = processes) that run when you fire a power. If a minion has a valid power that could take that category of enhancement, said power would benefit from these procs if slotted in the upgrade power that grants the power to the minion. For clicky powers like drain life from a minion, it would have a %chance to proc with every click. For passives or auras, it would have a %chance every 10 seconds to fire.

 

 

 

Ah, that makes more sense. So Panacea works in Dark Empowerment not because it raises the hp of minions directly, but because it gives them a passive power which gives them bonus hp.

[Maelwys]

If you look here: https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Set_Enhancements_with_Special_Effects
Then you'll see some IOs that are listed as "Globals" and others that are "Proc120s" and others that are simply "Proc"

The ones that are listed as "Globals" function as a Set Bonus.
They start applying as soon as you slot the enhancement into a power.
Their effects will only ever apply to YOU. They will not apply to your target(s) or to your pets/pseudopets.
A good example of this is the Preventive Medicine unique

The ones that are listed as "Proc120s" or "Proc" apply an effect (NOT as a set Bonus).
"Proc120s" have a guaranteed activate chance and last for a set duration of 120 seconds.
"Proc" is essentially the same, except that they have a chance to activate (which caps at 90%) rather than being guaranteed and their duration varies from proc to proc.
They all start applying after the power you slot them in gets activated (which can be nearly instant in the case of toggles or auto powers).
Their effects will kick in on the caster of the power that they're slotted in, as well as on any additional entities targeted by that power... providing that they're one of the valid targets listed within the enhancement itself - e.g. Panacea is "(all affected targets)" but Regenerative Tissue is "(self only)".

So it's that second category - "Proc120s" or "Proc" that can kick in on other targets such as Pets... however there is a particularly interesting interaction with the Mastermind Upgrade Powers. Normally there are very few "Set IO Procs" that are usable on other targets (an example is Panacea, which works just fine in AoE heals like Empathy's Healing Aura) but the Mastermind Upgrades are not regular AoE powers; instead they function by granting new auto/passive powers to the henchmen... which means that technically it ends up being each henchman's own passive powers affecting them rather than the MM's powers. And a LOT of nice procs have a valid target of "(self only)".

((Also I did find this testing writeup after hoking through some old forum/discord detritus...))
 

Edited 14 hours ago by Maelwys

[Onlyasandwich]

1 hour ago, Maelwys said:

So it's that second category

Thank you - much clearer than my off the cuff explanation 😄