Show me your Mastermind tier list!

[Some Random User]

Show me your Mastermind tier list! What Powersets or combinations do you believe are unsurpassed, good but second tier, neutral, and unplayable?

[lobster]

I think one of the best things about CoH is how playable pretty much every combination is.  There is no MM combo you can't take to full incarnate, solo or teamed.  Nothing is unplayable (although I found merc/ff reeeally boring it was still playable).

 

However, raw power wise, I do think that, all things being equal, Bots=thugs > demons > ninja=beast=necro > merc.   With certain slotting or secondaries those can be flipped, or sub par sets made very good (I think /storm is one of the strongest pairings for /mercs imho), however in general a merc/dark is going to be "weaker" (slower at clearing, basically, but still fine!!) than bots/dark.

Ranking secondaries depends on the primary paired with and whether you are primarily a team or solo player.    However, I would put /dark, /time, /cold and /traps near the top of the power spectrum.

 

Personally, I can't stand playing anything /emp, /son or /ff.  Not a fain of /pain either, but it's more interesting than empathy (which I don't think MMs needed but no harm done for the sake of proliferation parity).  This is because I primarily solo and I find those really boring solo.

Edited August 21, 2019 by lobster

[Pale_Enchantress]

Unplayable: Ninja/Trick Arrow

The sets each have issues but also have good workable points too. When paired together though that's shot to hell. The two sets magnify each others weaknesses rather than playing strengths. This is unfortunate as I know people play this for thematics. 

 

Unstoppable: Pick Demons, Necromancy, Robots, or Thugs. Then pick Dark, Cold, or Time.  Congrats you are god. Three of these four also add some self healing to the pets fixing cold combinations sustain issues. 

 

Overrated: Bots/force field - For group play this is a very nice combo. You make your team very hard to kill and dont have to constantly resummon.  This is often considered a solo build though where it's very mediocre at best. The bots survive well and that's it. Other sets can keep your robots alive and provide huge benefits elsewhere. 

 

Anything with Empathy.  It's a badd support set but the things it does well our best paired with really high support modifiers which the mastermind doesn't have so it's even  Worse for master minds.

 

Also overated: Anything with kinetics.  This one is hard for me to explain because kinetics as a mastermind secondary is amazing there is no reason anyone should be shy about making what they are very powerful very useful. The only reason I have to mention them as overrated is because a lot of people seem to not understand math. To put it simply kinetics is not exponentially better for a master mind than it is for a corruptor or anyone else. If all the masterminds pets get a 25% damage increase then the masterminds damage goes up by 25%. The same that anyone's damage goes up. Kinetics is capable of much more than 25% increase but I'm just using the number as an example. 6 pets each with a 25% increase increased total damage by 25% not 150%.  But other than people thinking it works like that kinetics is great on any mm.

 

Some synergy:

Bots or thugs + Dark.  I think this one is so well known it doesn't need to be explained.

 

Ninja/storm:   Ninjas are fragile. Provoking enemies and acting as a pseudo tank will keep your ninjas alive. With storm the enemy's will focus you but have nearly no luck actually attacking you. Meanwhile they are D buffed and the ninjas are free to Act as expert assassins.

 

Mercs/Storm:  Amusingly another low powered set works very well with a poorly understood secondary. With this one you don't act as a tank you just create massive chaos well your entirely ranged pets Take heavy advantage of the situation From positions of relative safety. Some of your crowd control methods also stack with your pets. Storm can work this way for any ranged set but I mentioned mercenaries as it's one of the few secondaries that really helps mercenary shine. 

 

Thugs/Sonic  :   This combination brings out many of the strengths of the rare sonic support. Thugs shine many places but sonic shines bright with thugs. You your ranged stay safe, you have a great anchor for your rings. The T9 keeps things burning.  Demons also has very good synergy with sonic.

 

Necro/Cold :  One of the strongest support sets in the game One of the strongest support sets in the game this combination like the one above is about making cold domination shine brightest.  Necromancy has the best control of any primary it also has a lot of to hit buffs and can provide all pets and the master mind with self healing. Combine this with the defense increases of cold, As well as its good coverage of necromancies biggest elemental weakness, Some of the best debuffs in the game,  And lots of soft control You are like a reality warper that shapes the battlefield to whatever you desire. With all the pet auras, leadership, - to hit, and cold domination  You're normally squishy but powerful undead will be very difficult to kill and when they do take damage they will be able to heal themselves up Thanks to high resistance in nearly every non physical element.

 

Edit:  I consider necromancy to be behind in power from demons thugs or robots but definitely ahead of all the others.

Edited August 21, 2019 by Pale_Enchantress

[William Valence]

Play whatever you think is fun, but just ranking by power I'd say:

 

Bots S tier -> -regen for hard target killing and burn patch missiles for AoE. Defense buff affects the player, and energy damage while resisted by some isn't resisted to the same tier as S/L. Exceptional synergy with /time, but still fantastic with most secondaries.

 

Thugs A tier -> Lacks -regen, defense doesn't affect player, and uses the more resisted S/L damage type. Has Gang war, good AoE, and good ST damage. Survivability is there through Strong Lieutenant Maneuvers power.

 

Demons A tier -> Lacks -regen, compensates with -res. Has multiple damage types, and it's mitigation extends to player. Strong ST and AoE damage. Exceptional synergy with /Thermal

 

Necromancy B tier -> Lacking in AoE damage and T1 pets are just plain weak. Grave Knights Carry the set. Lich is the primary mitigation of the set which is very hot/cold. Affects player, though is at the mercy of the AI.

 

Mercs C tier -> The first set where stuff doesn't really work right. Pets have abilities on loooong Cooldowns and the AI gets wonky with the medic in particular. Survivability comes mostly in the form of Spec ops who are, even combined, an inferior Lich. With too few abilities at the mercy of their AI on long cooldowns.

 

Ninjas D tier -> This set is about ST damage. Mitigation? HAHA no. Has -regen, however it's implementation is poor finding itself in a power that's as likely to hit that minion as it is the AV. Oni AI takes the taco for being stumphumpingly useless. Has as much AoE damage as it does mitigation.

 

Never played beasts to a high enough level to comment.

[Some Random User]

There is a lot of good info here. I've only played two Masterminds over the years, a (Blue side) Robotics/Poison and a (Red side) Demons/Force Field. They're totally different in many ways. I've seen stable Primary Powerset lists, but the Secondary Powersets seem more debatable. I've heard players suggest you just choose by matching Defense/Resistance combinations of the pets to the buffs in the Secondary. I'd like more info from players with experience on this.

[tjknight]

Bots/Time.

 

I don't have one, but I've teamed with MMs running these builds. Time grants a good mix of healing, defense, and debuffs. While Bots do excellent ranged damage. The big Bot's AOEs are also a plus. Probably the most OP MM combo right now. 

[William Valence]

If you're looking for combos

 

Bots/Time -> Hits all the boxes for everything you could want. Sets complement each other well.

Thugs/Storm -> Quite possibly the most damage a MM combo can output.

DS/Therm -> Do you want henchmen with 90% resistance to everything, because that's how you get henchmen with 90% resistance to everything.

Necro/Dark -> Classic combo. Works. Can solo just about everything, but is just less consistent than the above three.

Ninja/Time -> Ninjas can live? Who'da thunk it?

Mercs/Trap -> About the only way I've been able to play mercs to a high level.

 

If you're looking for a breakdown on the secondaries and comparisons of them, I personally think that they're fairly well balanced. The above are more or less outliers due to combination rather than simply being better support sets.

Edited August 23, 2019 by William Valence

[Pale_Enchantress]

Primares are easy to judge because they all fill the same role in the same way.  We can just see what does that better. 

 

Secondaries are harder because they are vastly different. Even those that are easy to single out as being particularly weak like Empathy or Force Fields are still very good in a more narrow range. 

 

 Perhaps the better conversation is what secondaries  Have particularly good or bad synergy with master minds or certain mastermind pet sets.

 

 

So I'll offer one up: Empathy is a fairly poor support set in general, though far from useless. It's worse on masterminds though as its biggest strengths, great single target buffs and sustain, are not that useful to us. 

 

 When solo we can't keep the good empathy buffs on all our minions and things like regeneration  Work better the larger the target's health pool is. Our minions have very low health. When on a team it's foolish to give your minions any of the buffs at all.  Empathy's secondary  Focus of healing Won't keep your pets alive and will have ever diminishing value after you hit 50.

[Justisaur]

39 minutes ago, William Valence said:

If you're looking for combos

Thugs/Storm -> Quite possibly the most damage a MM combo can output.

 

 

Ninja/Storm should be more... If you can keep the ninjas alive.  It should clear equal level mobs faster... at least on paper.  I haven't tried it though, so I'd can't say for sure, I'd be curious to try it as a farmer, but I'd want to do a tunnel farm with no ambushes.

 

Bots/Cold is the sturdiest while leveling/before sets that I've tried (I've tried a lot, way more than any other AT) also has great debuffs, a bit boring in general like FF though.  So I'd put that #1 toughness.

 

Bots/Dark is very sturdy and an excellent combo, one of my favorites. 

 

Doing a tier list, I'd put those three secondaries on top, with /time since it's great with everything, and possibly the only one that's great with everything, perhaps making it the best. 

 

I'd also add /nature as the regen, absorb, and HoTs work really well with pets, probably best with Demons though.

 

I'm not convinced on any of the other newly proliferated sets like /kin or /rad though.

 

And I'd put poison on the very bottom.

[kelly Rocket]

1 hour ago, Justisaur said:

 

Ninja/Storm should be more... If you can keep the ninjas alive.  It should clear equal level mobs faster... at least on paper.  I haven't tried it though, so I'd can't say for sure, I'd be curious to try it as a farmer, but I'd want to do a tunnel farm with no ambushes.

 

Bots/Cold is the sturdiest while leveling/before sets that I've tried (I've tried a lot, way more than any other AT) also has great debuffs, a bit boring in general like FF though.  So I'd put that #1 toughness.

 

Bots/Dark is very sturdy and an excellent combo, one of my favorites. 

 

Doing a tier list, I'd put those three secondaries on top, with /time since it's great with everything, and possibly the only one that's great with everything, perhaps making it the best. 

 

I'd also add /nature as the regen, absorb, and HoTs work really well with pets, probably best with Demons though.

 

I'm not convinced on any of the other newly proliferated sets like /kin or /rad though.

 

And I'd put poison on the very bottom.

Ninja/Storm is more damage against single targets. Thugs massively outpaces Ninjas for damage against large groups. We're talking exponential differences. Ninjas are just plain shit for AoE.

 

If you're doing a Pylon, or fighting an AV that doesn't continuously summon minions, Ninjas will do more damage, but Thugs will have vastly better clear times on regular missions, and even against AVs if the AV summons minions (The Arsonist's burn patch powers work like the Assault Bot's, where having multiple targets in a confined area multiplies the damage each target takes).

 

Additionally, Storm can soft-cap Thugs, where it can't come *close* to soft-capping Ninjas, so that's a consideration.

 

Bots/Time is sturdier than Bots/Cold, at least once you get Farsight, which comes at a reasonable level (28). And Time can heal (Quite well in fact) where Cold cannot. So Time wins there. Especially given it also packs -ToHit, -Damage, and utterly ludicrous levels of -recharge to further increase survivability.

 

Agree that Nature is actually quite good, but it seems to be a bit "love it or hate it" for people. It's undeniably strong, with -ToHit and -Damage debuffs, and a solid +Resist team buff, on top of being one of the absolute best healing power sets in the game. But some people have trouble aiming the cone because they're not used to powers you can actually aim instead of targeting on a mob or friendly, and some people really dislike Lifegiving Spores because of it's location-based nature. Also lots of people hate anchor toggle powers. And honestly I would like to see the radius of Spore Cloud increased.

 

All of the mob anchored debuff powers in the game have rather anemic radii, I'd quite like to see all of them get their radii increased to 20 or 25 to compensate for how difficult it is to keep the anchor target in a useful spot.

 

It seems unfair that PBAoE toggle debuffs which are MUCH easier to use and get the maximum number of enemies in since you control the positioning of the field, get much higher radii than the mob-anchored debuff fields, which you only really control the initial placement of, and then have to cross your fingers and pray. It was probably a decision made on a faulty assumption--that powers that don't require you to be up close to the melee were more desirable and should therefore be weaker than PBAoE powers that force you up close.

That may have been true once, but it doesn't really bear out in the current meta, so I'd like to see anchor toggles (Which are quite unpopular with most players, though some still like them due to their auto-hit nature... Which also isn't a significant advantage because PBAoE toggle debuffs also tend to be auto-hit.

Edited August 23, 2019 by kelly Rocket

[William Valence]

2 hours ago, Justisaur said:

Ninja/Storm should be more... If you can keep the ninjas alive.  It should clear equal level mobs faster... at least on paper.  I haven't tried it though, so I'd can't say for sure, I'd be curious to try it as a farmer, but I'd want to do a tunnel farm with no ambushes.

 

33 minutes ago, kelly Rocket said:

Ninja/Storm is more damage against single targets. Thugs massively outpaces Ninjas for damage against large groups. We're talking exponential differences. Ninjas are just plain shit for AoE.

Unless something changed from live to now that I'm unaware of, between the Bruiser doing more damage than Oni, Enforcers being absurd, and Gang War, Thugs should do more damage in pretty much any situation.

 

ST or otherwise.

[SmalltalkJava]

1 hour ago, kelly Rocket said:

Nature is actually quite good, but it seems to be a bit "love it or hate it" for people. It's undeniably strong, with -ToHit and -Damage debuffs, and a solid +Resist team buff, on top of being one of the absolute best healing power sets in the game

I certainly don't see much conversation on the boards regarding MM's and /Nature.

[Justisaur]

2 hours ago, kelly Rocket said:

Ninja/Storm is more damage against single targets. Thugs massively outpaces Ninjas for damage against large groups. We're talking exponential differences. Ninjas are just plain shit for AoE.

1 hour ago, William Valence said:

 

Unless something changed from live to now that I'm unaware of, between the Bruiser doing more damage than Oni, Enforcers being absurd, and Gang War, Thugs should do more damage in pretty much any situation.

 

ST or otherwise.

Ninjas at end game put out absurd amounts of damage.  They seriously outpace all other MM pets in damage.  They seemed to do pretty well at ripping apart mid sized groups, I never ran them against x8, just x4 and against rikti spawn in RWZ though, so I don't have actual experience with AoE beyond that and I only tried them with /Time and /Cold without sets at 50 on justin solo, but they still did better than Thugs on the damage.  You get all the AoE you need with /storm anyway.  

 

But yes keeping them alive is a real problem, especially if you run them at higher notariaty, I wouldn't even want to consider trying to run iTrials with them.  I'd assume you'd have to go Tankermind with /Storm, pick up provoke, and keep a real close eye on them.   They're probably considerably more trouble than they're worth, but they're a sight to behold.

[tjknight]

3 hours ago, SmalltalkJava said:

I certainly don't see much conversation on the boards regarding MM's and /Nature.

I've seen a few mentions about Demons/Nature as a very powerful build.  But nobody ever gives details. 

[Force Redux]

Just from my own experience and based on my opinion. Does not include all permutations, only included what I've played through myself enough to offer a ranking.

 

I've colored my favorites in GOLD. Which shows that despite 'tier ratings' things can be fun without being most 'optimal'. Which is a great thing to learn about CoX. Fun and concept are king.

 

TOP TIER - excels in almost all areas, performs well from early on all the way to end game, solo or in groups.  Generally, you will want for nothing (other than stealth). 

Robots/Time - the self-heals and self-DEF buff place it over Robots/Cold. Has everything you could want except stealth and resists. 

Thugs/Time - a bit less Defense for the mastermind, but far more for the pets, plus variation in pets (melee bruiser, ranged Lts, suicidal Arsonist). Robots are a bit tougher innately than the Thugs, though. 

 

GOOD TIER - meets or exceeds expectations on damage and pet survivability as well as utility for grouping. Many synergies.  Checks most of the boxes I have (MM surivability, stealth, heals, defense, resists, pet damage, debuffs, AoE vs ST, group utility)

Robots/Cold - rates just under combo with Time because of no innate self-heal and less Defense buffing for the MM, but solid, with great debuffs and buffs. Has stealth. 

Thugs/Dark - old school classic combo. Like anything /Dark, however the lack of buffs means you have to have situational awareness to debuff enemies and keep your pets protected.  

Thugs/Thermal - with Enforcer's defense auras, plus IOs and Thermal's resists and heals, it is comparable to Demons / Thermal in survivability, and I find the theme is easy to pair up. 

Necro/Dark - less damage than Thugs (unless you proc out Lich and Grave Knights), but more consistent controls and debuffs mean the pets do half your job for you. 

Demons/Thermal - the only set I think can get away with a resist build due to the native high resists in Demons and Thermal's buffs and heals. I had to put in all 6 procs to buff resists and Defense to really shore them up, as they work really well with that extra Defense (otherwise without IOs, i might drop them down a tier). 

Ninja/Time - Time tends (in my book) to be top-tier, but Ninjas contribute less to their own surivability than any other set, so while its still a solid performer, it doesn't quite rate Top Tier in my book. 

 

DECENT TIER - meets most expectations, may be lacking in some areas, or just not be that challenging to play. Can complete all content adequately. No true glaring deficits. 

Robots/Force Field - the old standby, a classic, and my first Incarnate MM. Its the set I compare everything else to, and I believe its the best entry-level MM build for those new to the AT. Does what it says on the tin - keeps you and the pets alive and lets them deal damage and kil skuls.  I still love it, but FF can be a bit one-dimensional and you'd better take a few Pulse Rifle attacks to occupy your time, because you won't need to do much more than Aid Other and rebubble with your very passive secondary. It actually performs as a GOOD TIER set, but I rated it down at Decent because its very safe and hands-off..too much so if you want to keep active. However, if you are distracted often IRL, or multi-task, this is a GOOD TIER combo for that play style, as it runs itself. 

Ninja/Force Field - survivable ninjas! More ST focused than Bots, and has the same quirks. Fun, easy. Does the job.  If I had a Ninja/Cold I suspect that would be similar, possibly even better).  FF does offer status protection to MM and pets, which helps keep everyone alive. Can't Aid Other if you are held or slept. 

 

POOR TIER - generally found to do a poor job of keeping the MM or pets alive to do their job - deal damage. While it is still servicable (hey, its a MM), I found that it underperforms in comparison - as with all things, however, I do not expect this rating to apply to everyone else's opinions. 

Anything/Trick Arrow - I love TA on my Illusion Controller. But here it offers very little to keep your pets alive, although the debuffs are nice, they are in need of a revamp compared to newer sets, both in what they do and how well they do it (radius, debuff amount, splash, recharge, whatever). TA I find has me resummoning pets more often than any other set. 

Ninja/Anything else not Time/FF/Cold - Ninjas really need help. Heal sets cannot keep them on their feet (ie, Empathy/Rad); resist sets can't keep them from not taking enough damage routinely (thermal). Defense Sets work best with them, otherwise they suffer greatly. 

 

Edited August 24, 2019 by Force Redux

[DMW45]

One that I'd like to see more explored is Bots/Kinetics.  While Kinetics is something of an issue on the survival front--I've had some people crunch the numbers, it is possible with the proper slotting and incarnate abilities to get Bots to softcap their positional defenses without anything from the secondary.

[Maxzero]

6 hours ago, Justisaur said:

Ninjas at end game put out absurd amounts of damage.  They seriously outpace all other MM pets in damage.  They seemed to do pretty well at ripping apart mid sized groups, I never ran them against x8, just x4 and against rikti spawn in RWZ though, so I don't have actual experience with AoE beyond that and I only tried them with /Time and /Cold without sets at 50 on justin solo, but they still did better than Thugs on the damage.  You get all the AoE you need with /storm anyway.  

 

But yes keeping them alive is a real problem, especially if you run them at higher notariaty, I wouldn't even want to consider trying to run iTrials with them.  I'd assume you'd have to go Tankermind with /Storm, pick up provoke, and keep a real close eye on them.   They're probably considerably more trouble than they're worth, but they're a sight to behold.

 

The problem is dead pets do no damage. Ninja's have no resistances and Thugs have better +def values (Enforcers) then them. Throw in Gang War for burst damage and Pet unique slotting and its a no brainer.

[Maxzero]

11 minutes ago, DMW45 said:

One that I'd like to see more explored is Bots/Kinetics.  While Kinetics is something of an issue on the survival front--I've had some people crunch the numbers, it is possible with the proper slotting and incarnate abilities to get Bots to softcap their positional defenses without anything from the secondary.

 

You sure about that?

 

Bot shields are 7.5% def all. x2 with 55% from slotting is 23.75% def all.

Uniques are 2 x +5% defence.

Manuevours is 2.93% def with 55% slotting is roughly 4%.

 

23.75+10+4 = 37.75% where is the last 7% coming from?

 

Incarnate is 5%. Unless you are running Alpha with +def too. But that's such a big investment for some pretty iffy gains since Agility or Nerve are only average for MMs.

 

I know these numbers well because Thugs are 2 x 8.47% base def all and I can't softcap them without Steamy Mist.

Edited August 24, 2019 by Maxzero

[Hedgefund]

I've basically got 3 tiers for the primary

The top tier - no surprises here, Bots, Thugs and Demons

The middle - Necro and Beasts

The rock bottom tier - Ninjas and Mercs

 

With that said, the secondary can move someone up a tier or down.  In general, I try to pair a primary that needs TLC with a care bear secondary.  Similarly, minions that can sustain themselves I'll go with something that offers less support.  An example of the latter is a Bots/TA I had.  I know TA doesn't get much love from the MM community, but this particular pairing was noteworthy to me for how surprisingly effective it was.  Whenever OSA was up (about every other spawn) mobs died FAST.  I don't think I've played a MM that could clear a spawn faster than when OSA was used and lit (bots light it immediately without direction to do so).  The next spawn without OSA though... a little more of a slog.  

 

My own vote for #1 combo is Bots/Cold.  Benumb is the difference maker.  I know for sure other combos can take out x/8 spawns faster, but when you get to the AV/GM... nasty.

 

I also want to give a defense of Empathy.  With high recharge and even higher attention to detail, all pets can have Fort with half of those Forts boosted, AB perma.  It's very effective, at least for the Thugs/Emp I made but, for me, the attention to detail required keeps it from being a "go-to" character.  Every 20 seconds (or less) you have to Fort the right minion.  I 100% recommend it for the "I want to be a h34lz0r" crowd, so even if they just want to sit in the back playing HP whack-a-mole with teammates, they can at least put pets on aggressive so they're contributing something to team dps.

 

I haven't tried Kin yet.  I can't get over my initial skepticism about its effectiveness for MMs.  Nor have I tried Rad, just because I've done enough Rad and it's not hard to imagine it for MMs.  Basically, I expect it's very good with any and everything.  

[William Valence]

15 hours ago, Justisaur said:

Ninjas at end game put out absurd amounts of damage.  They seriously outpace all other MM pets in damage. 

I'm curious. What change did they make between the shutdown and now that brought Ninjas past Thugs for damage?

 

They never used to do more damage.

[kelly Rocket]

No changes, Ninjas do incredibly high single target damage, and always have. Smoke Flash makes one pet crit with every attack for ten seconds, and the recharge is low enough that you can conceivably get it perma on two pets at a time, if you build for maximum global recharge bonus.

 

But they suck for AoE. The Genin have explosive shuriken that barely even count as AoE, and the Oni has Rain of Fire and a couple other things, but the Oni is overall kind of garbage.

 

Thugs and Bots outpace them massively if there are multiple targets.

[DMW45]

On 8/24/2019 at 2:17 AM, Maxzero said:

 

You sure about that?

 

Bot shields are 7.5% def all. x2 with 55% from slotting is 23.75% def all.

Uniques are 2 x +5% defence.

Manuevours is 2.93% def with 55% slotting is roughly 4%.

 

23.75+10+4 = 37.75% where is the last 7% coming from?

 

Incarnate is 5%. Unless you are running Alpha with +def too. But that's such a big investment for some pretty iffy gains since Agility or Nerve are only average for MMs.

 

I know these numbers well because Thugs are 2 x 8.47% base def all and I can't softcap them without Steamy Mist.

It was with Nerve,

 

 

Still, I think needing Nerve to push them to be effectively softcapped is a small price to pay to be able to Fulcrum Shift survivable pets.

[Maxzero]

54 minutes ago, DMW45 said:

It was with Nerve,

 

 

Still, I think needing Nerve to push them to be effectively softcapped is a small price to pay to be able to Fulcrum Shift survivable pets.

 

Kinetics is terribly overrated for MMs. Much of pet damage comes from procs which is unaffected by damage boosts. Add to that Speed Boost recharge bonus does not affect pets.

 

All you get is the damage bonus. Running Muscle Alpha my pets are already at +220% damage (100 base + slotting + Alpha). 10% from Hybrid puts you to 230%. Your Soulbound pet (typically slotted in your most damaging pet) will be getting +100% from the proc to put it 330%.

 

The cap for pets 400%. So you most damaging pet will be getting a limited boost.

 

Edited August 25, 2019 by Maxzero

[tjknight]

I can only really rate MM's I've tried but here we go

 

#1 Bots/Traps 

Seriously underrated and very effective. Traps is loaded with buffs and debuffs. The Force Field Generator is mobile and stacks with the bots bubbles. Triage Beacon, needs to be slotted to be effective, but the regeneration aura it gives is nice.  This build melts tough targets including AV's. It's also not expensive to slot up.  TP Foe is a nice addition to this combo.  Overall, a nice thematic build that's capable of soloing AV's right out the box. 

 

#2 Necro/Dark

There's not much to say. Enemy to-hit is floored by this build, you get an extra pet 'fluffy' who also heals. The Zombies self-heal after the level 32 upgrade. Howling Twilight isn't only a rez, it also applies a strong stun and a regen debuff. Which makes it great for AV fights. Between the Lich, The Dark Servant, and Dark's control powers entire mobs get locked down. A very safe and tanky build. 

 

#3 Necro/Thermal

I'm playing this build right now.  Thermals shields stack very well the Zombies inate resistances while also covering the Zombies greatest weakness - aoe Fire patches. I currently have this build at 40  with the Pet Resistance unique's slotted. My zombies wade through Longbow fire patches like they are nothing. And for the most part are a small army of Pocket Tanks. Forge is very nice on the Grave Knights. The Lich tosses out enough control keep mobs bunched up. Warmth is an extremely powerful heal when fully slotted.   However, it is easy to get overconfident and overwhelmed.  I waded into a instance of +2 Malta and got ripped to shreds. But still I'm quite happy with how Necro/Thermal plays. 

 

#4 Ninja/Dark 

Ninja's work very well with Dark Miasma. I know, in general poor Ninjas get beat up on the forums. And I agree that they have issues. But Dark Miasma can help quite a bit. Tar Patch is great for the Oni's fire powers,, most notably his Rain of Fire and Fire Breath. Tar Patch's slow and -damage resist soften up enemies quite nicely.  Fearsome Stare + Shadow Fall + Darkest Night + the unique Pet Defense IO's = Ninja Survival. Just spam Twilight Grasp and watch them tear mobs to pieces.  I will more than likely recreate this build now that the game is back. It soloed quite nicely from what I remember. 

 

 

I've also tried both Rad and Kin and I'm not sure how feel about those sets on MM's. They weren't as powerful as you'd think they be.  Kin on a MM is a lot of work for very little return. However, it is fun watch you pets zip around the map like lunatics. Rad has great debuffs and a solid heal, AM is amazing on pets, but there's no damage mitigation in the set really. So pets are pretty much defenseless.  

 

 

Edited August 27, 2019 by tjknight

[Palladiamors]

For single target,  Ninja's are far and away the best for damage.  They do decent in groups due to how the AI responds to caltrops,  too.  They are a bit on the endurance heavy side though,  and obviously the suckers are squishy but their low cooldown,  constant damage ((With Jonin dealing high damage to boot,  second only to Skeletons but without Skeletons flaws)) and the Oni's damage is non-physical and decent stacks up real quick.   If you can keep them alive they'll murder anything in a hurry.  Even if you just meatbag them they'll still do a good job in making things dead.

For multi-target its between Bots and Demons.  From Bots it primarily comes from the fairly short cooldown on the Assault Bots missiles,  with some help being tossed in from Protectors Photon Grenade.  Little bots technically have a conal attack but the chances of it hitting more then one or  two enemies is meh at best.   Demons are in a similar position,  but with the breath attacks from the demonlings being a bit better in AoE situations.  Hellfire Gargoyle and his constant AoE damage coupled with his AoE abilities make him the star of that show,  with the demon Prince's AoE focusing more on crowd control and debuffs.

Pure survivability,  that's going to the Bots obviously.  Don't even think I need to explain this one.  I will say that Bots/Kinetics is weird.  Bots is knockback heavy and Kinetics heal focuses on the target,  which is usually flying across the room so that makes keeping them alive via those means ((In cases where something manages to damage them)) unreliable.  The damage increases are nice but Bot's low overall damage is still a bit of a factor.  Also,  personal note,  Bots being primarily energy damage is over-rated and heavily countered by their long cooldowns.

Best jack of all trades?  Friggin' demons.  They aren't really the best at any one thing but they can do everything.  Buffs,  heals,  crowd control,  -recharge,  primarily non-physical, demons can do it all and do it decently.  Only real downside is that constant noise.|

Special mention goes to Beasts.  They start off slow but once you get the Dire Wolf and your second upgrade,  they skyrocket.  The only reason they don't place higher on the damage list ((They're behind Ninja's and around Thugs/Necro)) is because their damage comes in bursts which are dependent on their self buffs.  Their survivability is dependent on the same,  on buffs with longish cooldowns so they aren't always hard to kill,  and when those buffs are down they die kinda easy.

Necro's are an oddity.  High damage,  decent AoE,  decent CC,  but some issues with their skeletons knock them down a bit.  You can overcome said issues a bit by putting them right on top of enemies so that they are less likely to go ranged first but its not a perfect fix.  And holy mother of god,  Necro henchmen are squishy.

Last and least,  my favorite MM,  the Mercs.  I love Mercenaries,  I really do,  but these poor suckers got the short end of the stick.   For some reason they decided rocket needed to be on a four minute cooldown,  snipe is on a minute cooldown and deals less damage than even moderate Jonin or Skeleton abilities which have far shorter cooldowns,  the medic doesn't get the Assault Rifle Upgrade,  gets a weaker grenade attack,  a long cooldown heal,  and a meh mez resistance,  and your spec ops love to waste their CC's on targets that are already suffering from CC affects.  All of that coupled with lowish damage and almost entirely physical damage.  I love them dearly,  I do,  but boy howdy do they need help.

Finally,  /nature doesn't get enough love.  -resist,  +resist,  shields,  AoE heals/endurance restore,  AoE root passive,  long duration +damage and +to-hit,  and one of the best AoE heals of any support.  The set really needs more credit.