Well, you asked for it, so here it is. Sapph's Guide to Bot/Dark tactics. Some of this will be general to all MMs, or just Bot, or just Dark, but if you have a Bot/Dark, than it should all apply to you.
Pulling
What I do is set my bots to Passive/Stay. Its best if they are around a corner from the mob you are trying to pull. I then peel one bot off the group, and set him to AMT. As soon as he starts moving, I hit my Go To, and get ready to send him where the rest of the bots are. As soon as he begins the attack animation, I complete the goto command, so he will scamper off and hide. I follow, and drop a Tar Patch on my side of the corner, in case he pulled more than one. Often my trusty little drone will only pull one, however. He's a better puller than I am.
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
| * | | * | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | -> | D | -> | | | |
| | | | | * | -> | |
| | | | | | | |
-------- | -------- | -------- | -------- |
H | H P | P H T | P H T |
| | D | D |
| | | |
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
The prep. The setup. The wait. The gloat.
H is your henchmen. P is you. You're behind your The * is gone
* is the target. D is your drone. bots, you've pulled because he is dead.
the drone back and
laid the Tar Patch
(indicated by T)</pre><hr />
Avoiding Alpha Strikes
Now, there are a number of ways to do this, depending on the type and severity of the alpha. Here are a few methods.
<ul type="square">[*] Set one bot to Goto/Agg, and put him right in the middle.[*] Set them all to Goto/Agg, and put them right in the middle (I might only use this in a large group when my summons were all recharged)[*] Summon a fluffy right in the middle (assuming you have Shadow Fall to get close enough)[*] Howling Twilight. Auto-hit and disorient. The cavalry better come in fast, though, because in a few seconds, their heads will clear.[*] Fearsome Stare. You better have some Acc and Duration slotted, because anything you miss will be looking right at you.[*] Send in the Brute. What's one brute, more or less? [/list]
Upgrades
Assuming you have three recharges in your 2nd upgrade, this is my upgrade order, I find it to be the most effecient. YMMV.
Drop toggles
Cast Assault Bot, Protector Bots, Battle Drones (in that order)
Double upgrade Assault Bot
First upgrades on Battle Drones
Double upgrade first Protector Bot
First upgrade second Prot Bot
If you have Stamina, raise toggles. Otherwise Rest, then raise toggles.
By this point the second upgrade will likely be ready (or nearly ready) for the second Prot Bot. Proceed into mission, upgrading as available.
Pet Management
Avoid the Agg stance at all costs unless you have a specific objective in mind, and you really know what you are doing. I often run on Passive. However, be aware that your Prot Bots will not bubble or heal in Passive, so you may want to put them in Def. For bots, you almost always want to use AMT. You want to concentrate your fire, and minimize your aggro. It is a mathematical certainty that you will kill faster and take less damage by concentrating on single targets.
Be aware of your surroundings. If you have a large team in an indoor mission, don't block access to doorways. However, if you have ranged ATs on your team and they have LOS, you can use your bots to block access from the mobs to your mates. If you are not the meatsheild, consider staying in back of the group. If your pets close to melee, make sure they aren't keeping your melee teammates from being able to hit the mob.
Be liberal in your use of the goto command. Pathing can be funky, but goto can often clear it up. Be liberal in your use of the stay command. When pets act wild, and Follow isn't working, sometimes Stay/Pass is all you need.
Think about AoEs. If you know you are going to be encountering an AoE happy foe, consider deploying your bots in a horseshoe, and pulling the mob in.
Think about knockback. Your bots have it, and Tar Patch does you no good if your first attack knocks them out of it. Consider arrangements where knockback will knock them into a wall, and your Tar Patch extends to the wall. There is nowhere out. ;p
Well, you asked for it, so here it is. Sapph's Guide to Bot/Dark tactics. Some of this will be general to all MMs, or just Bot, or just Dark, but if you have a Bot/Dark, than it should all apply to you.
[/list]
Pulling
What I do is set my bots to Passive/Stay. Its best if they are around a corner from the mob you are trying to pull. I then peel one bot off the group, and set him to AMT. As soon as he starts moving, I hit my Go To, and get ready to send him where the rest of the bots are. As soon as he begins the attack animation, I complete the goto command, so he will scamper off and hide. I follow, and drop a Tar Patch on my side of the corner, in case he pulled more than one. Often my trusty little drone will only pull one, however. He's a better puller than I am.
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
| * | | * | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | -> | D | -> | | | |
| | | | | * | -> | |
| | | | | | | |
-------- | -------- | -------- | -------- |
H | H P | P H T | P H T |
| | D | D |
| | | |
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
The prep. The setup. The wait. The gloat.
H is your henchmen. P is you. You're behind your The * is gone
* is the target. D is your drone. bots, you've pulled because he is dead.
the drone back and
laid the Tar Patch
(indicated by T)</pre><hr />
Avoiding Alpha Strikes
Now, there are a number of ways to do this, depending on the type and severity of the alpha. Here are a few methods.
<ul type="square">[*] Set one bot to Goto/Agg, and put him right in the middle.[*] Set them all to Goto/Agg, and put them right in the middle (I might only use this in a large group when my summons were all recharged)[*] Summon a fluffy right in the middle (assuming you have Shadow Fall to get close enough)[*] Howling Twilight. Auto-hit and disorient. The cavalry better come in fast, though, because in a few seconds, their heads will clear.[*] Fearsome Stare. You better have some Acc and Duration slotted, because anything you miss will be looking right at you.[*] Send in the Brute. What's one brute, more or less?
Upgrades
Assuming you have three recharges in your 2nd upgrade, this is my upgrade order, I find it to be the most effecient. YMMV.
- Drop toggles
- Cast Assault Bot, Protector Bots, Battle Drones (in that order)
- Double upgrade Assault Bot
- First upgrades on Battle Drones
- Double upgrade first Protector Bot
- First upgrade second Prot Bot
- If you have Stamina, raise toggles. Otherwise Rest, then raise toggles.
By this point the second upgrade will likely be ready (or nearly ready) for the second Prot Bot. Proceed into mission, upgrading as available.Pet Management
Avoid the Agg stance at all costs unless you have a specific objective in mind, and you really know what you are doing. I often run on Passive. However, be aware that your Prot Bots will not bubble or heal in Passive, so you may want to put them in Def. For bots, you almost always want to use AMT. You want to concentrate your fire, and minimize your aggro. It is a mathematical certainty that you will kill faster and take less damage by concentrating on single targets.
Be aware of your surroundings. If you have a large team in an indoor mission, don't block access to doorways. However, if you have ranged ATs on your team and they have LOS, you can use your bots to block access from the mobs to your mates. If you are not the meatsheild, consider staying in back of the group. If your pets close to melee, make sure they aren't keeping your melee teammates from being able to hit the mob.
Be liberal in your use of the goto command. Pathing can be funky, but goto can often clear it up. Be liberal in your use of the stay command. When pets act wild, and Follow isn't working, sometimes Stay/Pass is all you need.
Think about AoEs. If you know you are going to be encountering an AoE happy foe, consider deploying your bots in a horseshoe, and pulling the mob in.
Think about knockback. Your bots have it, and Tar Patch does you no good if your first attack knocks them out of it. Consider arrangements where knockback will knock them into a wall, and your Tar Patch extends to the wall. There is nowhere out. ;p