Stand-Off MM for soloing

[tidge]

Robotics does have a heal: Maintenance Drone.

 

Also: I cannot recommend taking Provoke on a MM, as it has a target cap of 5, and requires a ToHit check. Just take an AoE attack!

[Force Redux]

1 hour ago, Dixa said:

i love mm's for solo but gotta say with the current gogo meta at endgame they just aren't a long term investment character atm. i spend more time dismissing and resummoning pets so we can stealth past packs than actually playing the game. 

 

Whether it's a Tinpex or Lambda for some of the other more mobile trials, I found a fairly easy to still participate as a mastermind.

 

If the pets are tough enough and I'm not worried about dragging aggro, then I just let them run along behind.

 

If I can't catch agro or my pets aren't tough enough on their own, then I do a dismiss all macro and resummond at the next phase.

 

Go to helps manage blue patches and other nastiness pretty well.

 

It just depends on what kind of gameplay you like, I recognize it's not always for everyone, but it is possible and enjoyable to use MMS even into endgame.

Edited August 3 by Force Redux

[Neiska]

On 7/29/2025 at 9:19 AM, evetsleep said:

I happen to LOVE both for this kind of playstyle:

• Robots/FF
• Merc/FF

You get softcapped defenses + repulsion field and the henchmen can heal themselves, which helps.  Bots is going to be a little more survivable thanks to the Maintenance Drone and the mercs will be more DPS.

 

Often with these I place them on the edge of a spawn and command them to stay (in aggressive posture) and then I hang out near them with repulsion field running to keep anything from getting too close.

 

I have a question - How far have you managed to push these? Are they +4/8 soloable and so on? I have one but only got to mid 20s i think, never pushed higher content or tried to solo harder things with /FF setup. Are they viable?

[Dixa]

On 8/3/2025 at 2:41 PM, Force Redux said:

 

Whether it's a Tinpex or Lambda for some of the other more mobile trials, I found a fairly easy to still participate as a mastermind.

 

If the pets are tough enough and I'm not worried about dragging aggro, then I just let them run along behind.

 

If I can't catch agro or my pets aren't tough enough on their own, then I do a dismiss all macro and resummond at the next phase.

 

Go to helps manage blue patches and other nastiness pretty well.

 

It just depends on what kind of gameplay you like, I recognize it's not always for everyone, but it is possible and enjoyable to use MMS even into endgame.

when they want to stealth past everything your pets dragging packs in can irritate some. 

[Dixa]

23 hours ago, Neiska said:

 

I have a question - How far have you managed to push these? Are they +4/8 soloable and so on? I have one but only got to mid 20s i think, never pushed higher content or tried to solo harder things with /FF setup. Are they viable?

they are but not until much, much later and it will depend on the enemy group. those with +tohit buffs or nemesis with vengeance going can be an issue. 

 

this however is not a unique situation for mm's. every build is hard countered by one or more villain/hero groups. 

[Force Redux]

1 hour ago, Dixa said:

when they want to stealth past everything your pets dragging packs in can irritate some. 

 

Very true. Hence I might use my Release Pets macro to avoid that and just resummon when we're at the next step. Again, whether this is irritating or not depends on the person, I'm okay with it, but I really really like pet classes, ever since my EQ1 Necromancer and Dark Age of Camelot Bone Dancer. I absolutely hate trying to keep up Domination on Dominators, even though its not that terrible, but others love it. You are certainly not wrong, though. 

[Neiska]

9 hours ago, Dixa said:

they are but not until much, much later and it will depend on the enemy group. those with +tohit buffs or nemesis with vengeance going can be an issue. 

 

this however is not a unique situation for mm's. every build is hard countered by one or more villain/hero groups. 

 

Mhm, kind of the same for everyone. I just really like being able to solo +4/8 difficulty once I am all incarnated up at 50. Not all builds can, even then. I am hoping Robots/FF is one of them. I have a few that can but its a bit of a slog because it takes so long to chew down the EBs. But I am tinkering with a demons/marine that looks promising damage-wise.

[Dixa]

14 hours ago, Neiska said:

 

Mhm, kind of the same for everyone. I just really like being able to solo +4/8 difficulty once I am all incarnated up at 50. Not all builds can, even then. I am hoping Robots/FF is one of them. I have a few that can but its a bit of a slog because it takes so long to chew down the EBs. But I am tinkering with a demons/marine that looks promising damage-wise.

marine is just obscenely strong but a very active secondary. lt and lower just can't fight back as they are too busy flopping about. it's also the best set for increasing your overall damage and for keeping your pets alive. 

[Neiska]

12 minutes ago, Dixa said:

marine is just obscenely strong but a very active secondary. lt and lower just can't fight back as they are too busy flopping about. it's also the best set for increasing your overall damage and for keeping your pets alive. 

 

Mhm. Recently made my first /Marine, a Robo/Marine. And yea, its stronk. Compared to some secondaries it might be "too" strong honestly. Been chill-mode leveling her, no exp boosters, no power leveling, mostly doing story/contact missions and doing ouros stuff when I hit a dry spell. Need to practice and learn the set and all that. But ya, its... very strong.

[Scarlet Shocker]

My guy is now at 32, and is a boatload of fun. He's weak soloing, not because he's not surviving but because his DPS is a bit low, to be expected really.

 

I also haven't taken any of the primary weapons... I've got most of the repelling stuff from FF and all the good shields I can so far and that seems to be working ok

 

I have questions about Pool Powers and A/PPP sets:

 

I took combat teleport because I enjoy the effect but I'm thinking that's a waste. I also have Spirit Ward - I was thinking that provides some useful boosts for pets but not sure how good it actually does. Do I need Hasten? Seems to me that there's no significant requirement for it here. What pools (other than flight, which I'm taking) should I use and wha'ts a good Patron/APP?

[Force Redux]

Leadership is great. 

Correct, on this build hasten it's not needed.

 

Nothing else is really mandatory.

 

Go with a resist shield because your defense will already be over the soft cap. This helps soften damage from anything that make it through, recommend Electric or mu

Edited Wednesday at 03:20 PM by Force Redux

[Scarlet Shocker]

would Tough from the fighting pool be worth taking to boost resist?

[tidge]

As for Power Pools:

 

I don't take Hasten on MMs: The Endurance tax plus the final sepnd on Hasten is problematic. MMs typically have enough to do without trying to reduce cast times of longish powers.

 

Tough and Weave are good as mule powers. I usually don't toggle them on. They will often be end-build picks

 

Leadership is pretty important.

 

I typically take a Patron pool for a toggle (that may or may not be used) and an AoE.

[Scarlet Shocker]

First attempt at build for critique purposes:

 

Not bad but a bit End heavy

 

 

Data Chunk:

 

https://api.midsreborn.com/legacy/download?uc=1660&c=738&a=1476&f=HEX&dc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

 

[Force Redux]

6 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

would Tough from the fighting pool be worth taking to boost resist?

 

Personally I don't think it's worth it. I've never taken tough on any of my masterminds.

 

Electric shield with lethal smashing and energy is great for anything that gets through defense, those are the most common damage types. So I guess electricity or mu for epics. Plus the AoE imobilize will help if you want to stop runners.

 

 

 

[Force Redux]

Don't forget to pick up at least two of the Beam rifle attacks to stack regeneration debuff. Plus the damage does add up over time.

Edited Wednesday at 03:19 PM by Force Redux

[TooManyButtons]

I've made some minor alterations to your build. Less regen for more endurance. Repulsion Bolt and Force Bomb are terrible attacks, use them for utility. Added Weave so you can softcap defense. Less overall stats for the minions in exchange for an extra pet enhancement and better set bonuses overall. You also didn't have any knockback resistance, so I added some to be safe. It's still very end heavy though, but you should have enough juice for for either some attacks or activating group fly.

 

Personally I would drop repulsion field and take a second attack.

Marionette Maestro.mbd

Edited Thursday at 07:30 AM by TooManyButtons

[Scarlet Shocker]

Thanks. I'm struggling to open this. Could you please post the data chunk?

[Scarlet Shocker]

 

Thanks for your guidance, chaps. It's been useful

 

I've come up with this which is a lot better I feel. Still some pressure on End but some blues and purples and I should be right as rain. 

 

Datachunk for those who wish:

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[Neiska]

11 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

Thanks for your guidance, chaps. It's been useful

 

I've come up with this which is a lot better I feel. Still some pressure on End but some blues and purples and I should be right as rain. 

 

Datachunk for those who wish:

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Uh, you are missing some of the Pet Aura IOs there hon, they are in the recharge pet section. (Yes they work on pets!) You can also add some damage procs to your t1 and t3 robo pets, the smashing one. It doesn't look like much but they add up! 

[tidge]

6-slotting the Gaussian's set in Tactics is IMO a huge waste. %BuildUp on a MM is "good money after bad". Tactiucs can by 1-slotted with an HO (or a 50+5) for Endurance/ToHit and similarly Maneuvers could take the same HO (or a  50+5 End/Def) plus a LotG.

 

Upgrade Robot should not have those pieces IMO, and Maintenance Drone really deserves 6-slots.

 

I'd slot the henchmen to have Accuracy and Damage, not the Sudden Acceleration set.

[Force Redux]

I personally would never get rid of repulsion field especially with robots, it makes a safe zone that keeps everything nicely at range.

[Scarlet Shocker]

22 hours ago, Force Redux said:

I personally would never get rid of repulsion field especially with robots, it makes a safe zone that keeps everything nicely at range.

 

Does it use up End when pushing enemies back in PVE? I think it used to

[Force Redux]

It was adjusted a while back to be much less harsh on the blue bar. It's now just a static cost per second. Very reasonable for what it does for ranged pets (keeps melees away). 

[Maelwys]

8 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

Does it use up End when pushing enemies back in PVE? I think it used to

 

The Forcefield variant doesn't anymore.

The Sonic Resonance and Kinetics variants both still do.