Best "front-line" MM powerset choices?

[biostem]

If I wanted to create a MM that gets up close and personal, fighting in melee along with their minions, what combination would you suggest?  I was thinking Necro/FF or maybe Necro/Elec could work well, but Demons has some close-range attacks already.  I'm pretty much open to any combination, so I'd love to hear the input from you more experienced MM players.  Cheers!

[EnjoyTheJourney]

I've played enough melee range necro feel comfortable saying it's a very good primary for fighting in melee range. The controls the lich has, the various sources of -to hit debuffs, knockdowns from minions, life drain, the sheer number of minions that can be out most of the time, and single target attacks that summon minions which have taunt all contribute to making a necro primary MM quite survivable while fighting in melee. It would be a solid choice as a primary for your intended playstyle. 

 

I don't have enough experience with playing multiple primaries in melee range to do well thought through comparisons between primaries.

 

A bunch of secondaries could work well with a melee playstyle for an MM. Storm, trick arrow, traps, and marine immediately come to mind, in addition to FF and EA.  

I played a necro / storm for a fair while a few years ago. Enemies went through a lot on their way to being defeated, so much so that I (for real) sometimes ended up feeling a bit sorry for them.  

[Maelwys]

100% Necro for Melee feeling. The Grave Knight sword attacks carry a lot of weight, and you can take the START vendor attacks (Sands of Mu, Ghost slayer Axe) and a few Patron wallops to pitch in.

For secondary, toebombing with a /Traps or just dashing in with a procbombed Whitecap in a /Marine will have a bit of synergy. You could also potentially swing /FF with a KB>KD IO in Repulsion Field.

 

Demons have Melee attacks and +Res buffs, but they're a bit more prone to blasting and the elemental effects can be offputting. Beasts is another option, but they're consistently last place in terms of performance.

[evetsleep]

 

I had to take a few of mine off the shelf  and take them for a spin or two to remind myself, but for some in-your-face MM combinations which have the MM themselves running amok I would recommend necro\ninja\beasts + ff\time\marine.  I have to say Marine feels a lot more flexible (and active) while running\jumping around in close range, but Time is a little safer with the debuffs, power boosted defense, and heals.  Force field is .... well force field and feels far less active play.  I have all the previously listed combinations and they're all super tanky and I feel pretty safe floating around close range.  Marine feels the most active.  I haven't played my necro/electric in a long time, but it was solid back then, but I prefer to layer on defense with necromancy for a more tankier feel.  Honorable mention of necro/ice here since once of the weaker parts of the zombies is fire resistance and ice helps with that.

 

I know that beasts is not seen as very strong compared to others after the recent MM pass, but they're pretty solid still and do respectable DPS.  After running Wet Fur (my beasts/marine MM) I was reminded at how nuts they can be at just straight up tearing things apart.  I went through a few door missions and rarely had to heal them at all thanks to Barrier Reef and the damage mitigation provided by Tide Pool.

 

Most of my marine melee oriented MM's play the same as I dip into the teleportation pool for fold space.  Getting everyone in the tide pool flopping around why the pets tear into them consistently works pretty good.  Also marine has tools to deal with harder targets (brine).  Overall that would be my recommendation for active melee oriented MM's.

[SeraphimKensai]

I have 4 lvl 50 necros: 2x /dark, 1x /elec, and 1x /marine.

 

Each secondary can be well built. The dark I liked so much I made two and considered a third as well for a true zombie horde (tribox shenanigans). The elec on is really tanky but does less damage then the dark or marine, due to it having less -res opportunities. Marine is really fun in your face, and with brine you can absolutely melt strong targets.

[Uun]

I've got a Beast/Traps that lives in melee. FFG follows you, so you want to be in the middle of the scrum to keep your henchmen protected. Poison Trap provides a ton of mitigation (and damage if you slot %dmg procs) and provides a window to lay Trip Mines. The revamped Detonator does A LOT of damage.

[TheSpiritFox]

Bots/traps, Thugs/Time, Demons or Necro or Mercs /elec. Dark and Time can take anything into melee but certain things go better with them than others. Matching defenses matters if you wanna be front line. 

My bots/traps and esp my mercs/elec laugh in the face of alot of GMs. 

 

[Xandyr]

I played a Necro/Pain and stayed in melee. The extra Resistance, the +Regen from Suppress Pain (with the Panacea proc slotted in it!), the -to hit, and the heals worked wonders.

[Neiska]

I have a necro/nature that’s up close and personal, and does quite well.

[biostem]

How important do you folks find the T1 zombies to be for necro?  I love the grave knights & lich, but have always found the zombies to be "meh"?  I guess they'd serve as more fodder and distractions...