Sapph's Bot/Dark Power and Tactics Guide v3 [I9]
By
Adam_Alpha,
Posted on: 2007-05-09 08:08 in Player Guides
Absolutely a great resource here! Thanks! Though, personally, I take Fitness, Leadership THEN Leaping in that order. I do still think this is a very stong build! 
Some good ideas, especially the IO stuff. I haven't played my Bots/Dark much since I9, but I have to mention the awesomeness that is Fearsome Stare. Maybe I missed it, but your build seems to do without. If that works for you, good deal, but everyone using this guide should at least try FS imho. : )
The Mastermind AT is completely unique in the CoH/CoV universe. No other AT gets pets so early, so many pets, or such nuanced control over their pets. In fact, the experience is so different; most people don't even call what Masterminds use pets. They are called minions or henchmen. We will be using henchmen here. Now to the specifics.
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Robotics: An Overview
In general, your bots will share a few characteristics. They will have a resistance to lethal/psionic/cold damage. They will have a resistance to sleep/fear/disorient effects. They prefer ranged, and will use energy based attacks. Like all other MMs, you have three henchmen classes, and two upgrade powers. The upgrade powers are called Equip Robot and Upgrade Robot. Your henchmen are as follows:
Henchmen
Battle Drone: Your basic expendable battle bot. They can be quite unintelligent, and will often run to melee for no apparent reason. They have Super Leap as an inherent power, but will not use it as a travel power, only as a means to scale otherwise impassable heights. You get your second bot at 6 and your third at 18. They start with two powers:
* Ranged Blast (Ranged, Energy)
* Smash (Melee, Smashing)
After the initial upgrade, they gain just one ability:
* Heavy Laser Burst (Ranged, Energy/Smashing) BI: 1.78 1.14
After the final upgrade, they gain:
* Full Auto Laser (Ranged, Energy)
Protector Bot: The little defender that could. Your protector bots are perfectly capable offensively, but their primary usefulness to you will be their defender style abilities. You get your second bot at 24. They start with two powers:
* Force Bubble (+DEF(All))
* Ranged Blast (Ranged, Energy)
After the initial upgrade they gain two abilities:
* Limited Repair (Heal Bot) This is not the full heal of Repair in the bot line, but a much more limited heal.
* Heavy Laser Burst (Ranged, Energy/Smashing)
After the final upgrade, they gain:
* Photon Grenade (Ranged AoE, Disorient, Smashing)
* Seeker Drones - These Seeker Drones will follow your bot until they detect an enemy and then they will zero in on their targets and detonate on impact. The small explosive flash of energy does only minor damage, but the concussion can weaken foes. Affected targets will have reduced Damage, Accuracy and Perception and may even be Disoriented for a short while. Your bot can only ever have Two Seeker Drones out at one time and they can be destroyed by its foes.
Assault Bot: This mammoth bot is literally a killing machine. 'Nuff said. It starts with one power:
* Plasma Blast (Ranged, Energy)
* Smash (Melee, Smashing)
The initial upgrade grants two new abilities:
* Flamethrower (Cone, Fire)
* Dual Plasma Blast (Ranged, Energy)
After the final upgrade, they gain:
* Swarm Missiles (Targeted AoE, Disorient)
* Incendiary Swarm Missiles (Targeted AoE - For ever target successfully hit, an ignite patch will be dropped)
Notes and Tactics
A note about bot control: It appears that bots have two separate path finding algorithms. One for "Attack My Target" and one for "Goto" or "Follow". The AMT pathfinding will cause you nothing but problems. You should always use Follow or Goto to place your bots before activating AMT.
A second note about bot control: Like a bunch of newbs, if you throw your bots in a room on Aggressive Mode, and don't tell them who to attack, they will all pick different targets, sometimes from multiple spawns, they will switch targets randomly, and they will take forever to finish. This is a good way to die. I suggest ALWAYS using AMT for target selection.
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
Initially, I had a specific order of doing things to efficiently manage upgrades. Since then, the second tier upgrade power has had its recharge considerably shortened. So my only advice is: Assault Bot always gets both upgrades, ProcBots always get first tier upgrades (for heals). After that, its merely a function of how much time you have available. I almost always give all 6 both upgrades before proceeding, buy YMMV.
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.
The exception to stance is Mayhem Missions. You can get a lot of destruction in with Bots on Agg. Just remember that it takes more attention to keep them in line.
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, 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
Recommended Build
Now to the build. My build is centered on one ideal: Let my bots do the fighting. All of it. I don't take a single attack. There are just too many good buffs and debuffs. Buffs and debuffs are what I like to call a Force Multiplier. A defender running Assault solo is great, and I'm sure he likes that 12% buff. But when a lvl26 MM runs it, she gets her Assault bonus times SIX. I am of the opinion that given a choice between an attack and a buff/debuff, there is NO choice. With that said, lets move on.
Also a note on Stamina: I know there are those out there that say its not necessary, blah blah blah. When you are running Tactics, Assault, Shadow Fall, a patron Shield, Darkest Night, and constantly spamming Twilight Grasp and Tar Patch . . . well, you'll see.
A note on formatting. Typical slotting will be in standard type. Ideal slotting will be in bold, and will include liberal use of both HOs and common and set IOs. I would recommend initial builds slot with standard slotting, and only look at the idea slotting for post-50 respecs. I believe that any build plan for IO sets needs a plan - a preference for which buffs the player wants to maximize. Most set bonuses are too small to notice, unless they stack and stack and stack. For this build, the goal is Increased Regen and Recovery. This goal can be served with straight +Regen and +Recov buffs. It can also be served with +HP and +End buffs. One last note: 2 lvl50 IOs almost hit the same ED softcap as 3 SOs, so in many cases where set bonuses don't apply, I replace 3 SOs with 2 IOs.
LEVEL 1 POWER CHOICES:
Robotics: Battle Drone. This is obvious. Take it and use it. I slot as follows: 2 Accuracy 3 Damage and 1 Knockback. If you plan on teaming with a lot of melee types, you could easily drop the knockback slot and apply it elsewhere.
4 Slots: 3 Damage/Acc HOs and the Sovereign Right Proc (10% Rez All but Psi PBAoE)
Dark Miasma: Twilight Grasp. No choice here. But its a nice power. Twilight Grasp is a PBAoE heal that will have one of the primary debuffs of this set: Acc. It requires a target, but unlike the Kin set, if the target dies during casting, you still get your heal. If you are near your bots, as you should be with this build, they will all get a nice heal. I six slot this. 1 Acc, 2 Heal, 2 Recharge Reduction, and 1 End Reduction.
6 Slots: 1 Acc/Debuff HO and the following from Numina's Convalescence: Heal/End, End/Rech, Heal/Rech, Heal/End/Rech, Heal. Net Effects: Heal is doubled, End Cost is almost halved, Recharge is almost halved. Set bonuses: 12% Regen, 1.88% HP, 6% Heal, MezRes(Hold)
LEVEL 2 POWER CHOICE:
Dark Miasma: Tar Patch. Great power. Targeted AoE that is perma-able. +Slow, -Fly, -Jump, -Res. That -RES is a HUGE boost in long fights. Check the tactics section - this power can completely change your pulling strategy. I five slot this. 3 Recharge Reduction, 1 Endurance Reduction, and 1 Slow.
4 Slots: 2 Rech IOs, 2 Slow IOs
LEVEL 4 POWER CHOICE:
Dark Miasma: Darkest Night. This is also a big help in the big boss battles. -DMG and -ACC. Again, the ToHit Debuff. It happens a lot in this build, and if you slot for it, you will be able to consistently floor mob's ToHit. Its a toggle, and so my five slots here go: 3 End Reduction and 2 To Hit Debuffs.
3 Slots: 3 End/Debuff HOs
LEVEL 6 POWER CHOICES:
Robotics: Equip Robot. In a game of mandatory powers, this is high on the list. No need to slot it much, it stands on its own. I slot with a Recharge.
1 Slot: 1 Rech IO
LEVEL 8 POWER CHOICE:
Leaping: Combat Jumping. I hear a lot of MMs will be taking Teleport. Thats all well and fine; insert the lead in to the travel power of your choice. I picked this because I love Super Jump, and because the ability to get out of an immob is useful to me. I slot for End Red.
3 Slots: The following from Luck of the Gambler: Def/End, Def/End/Rech, Proc (7.5% Rech). Net Effects: Def and end cost are nearly negligible anyway, so the only important non-set effect is the global 7.5% recharge bonus. Set Bonuses: 10% Regen, 1.13% HP)
LEVEL 10 POWER CHOICE:
Leadership: Assault. And here it begins. Three slot with End Red, and love the 11% boost to damage it gives. Coupled with the boost from Supremacy, this is a 36% boost - better than an SO, and with none of that nasty ED business to bring it down. It is pricey, though. Three slot with EndRed.
2 Slots: 2 End Red
LEVEL 12 POWER CHOICE:
Robotics: Protector Bots. Since you already have Equip Robot, you can see them shine right from the get go. Their bubbles offer DEF to all types, and they will bubble all friendly henchmen and you. They will repair all friendly robot henchmen, and they have attacks too. Five slot these puppies. You have three real slotting options. If you are using Maneuvers, and are planning on slotting Shadow Fall for def, you can do the def slotting: 1 Accuracy, 2 Damage and 2 Defense Buffs. If you want to go wild with the soft control, you can slot 1 Accuracy, 2 Damage and 2 Disorient. Otherwise 1 Accuracy, 2 Damage and 2 Heal. Once you get Upgrade Robot, replace one of either the DefBuff, Disorient or Heal (whichever you went with) with 1 EndRed, because they WILL run out of end.
6 Slots: 2 Def IOs. The following from Edict of the Master: Acc/Dmg, Dmg/End, Dmg, Proc(5% Def All PBAoE). Net effects: Bubbles increase to 10%. Acc is a bit over 1 SO, and Dmg is almost doubled. Set effects: 4% Jump, 1.5% HP, 2.5% Res(Lethal)
LEVEL 14 POWER CHOICE:
Leaping: Super Jump. Or whatever travel power you chose. I like SJ.
1 Slot: 1 Jump IO
LEVEL 16 POWER CHOICE:
Fitness: Hurdle.
3 Slots: The following from Unbounded Leap: End, Jump, Proc(+Stealth). Net effects: Obviously the end is meaningless, and the Jump is obvious. The Proc stacks well with Shadow Fall. Set bonuses: 4% Jump, 1.5% HP
LEVEL 18 POWER CHOICE:
Fitness: Health.
5 Slots: The following from Numina's Convalescence: Heal/End, Heal, Proc(20% Regen, 10 Recov) and the Procs from both Miracle(15% Recov) and Regenerative Tissue(25% Regen). Net effects: We go from a blank Health doing 40% Regen to this Health doing 112.6% Regen. That's not bad. Not to mention 25% Recovery which will stack well below. Set bonuses: 12% Regen (above the 112.6%), 1.88% HP
LEVEL 20 POWER CHOICE:
Fitness: Stamina. We are running some heavy toggles, and respawning and upgrading bots in mid battle can be end intensive. Per ED dogma, this gets just three slots.
2 Slots: 2 End IOs
LEVEL 22 POWER CHOICE:
Dark Miasma: Shadow Fall. Lets face it, as a Mastermind we are the squishiest of the squishy. A little stealth never hurt, ESPECIALLY if you plan on doing some PvP. The DEF and RES are minimal at best, but every little bit helps. I three slot this for End Red.
6 Slots: The following from Luck of the Gambler: Def/End, Def, Proc(7.5% Rech). The following from Steadfast Protection: Res/End, Res/Proc(3% Def All), Res(KB). Net effects: Def(All) increases to 5.3%. End cost is down by a third. Res(Energy, Neg, Psi) is up to 20%. Set bonuses: 10% Regen, 1.13% HP, 1.5% Recov, 1.5% HP
LEVEL 24 POWER CHOICE:
Leadership: Tactics. You might skip this power, and slot Acc in your bots instead. But remember that most of your bots are going to spawn at a lower level than you. If you are fighting +2, they are +3 or +4 to your bots. This gets six slots: 3 Endurance Reduction, and 3 To Hit Buffs. This combined with Supremacy should be enough to make your bots hit. Remember that ToHit is more powerful than Acc - this makes up for a LOT of Acc slotting.
3 Slots: 3 End/Buff HOs
LEVEL 26 POWER CHOICE:
Robotics: Assault Bot. What else? This gets just four slots. 1 Accuracy and 3 Damage.
5 Slots: The following from Commanding Presence: Acc/Dmg, Dmg/End, Acc/End. The following from Brilliant Leadership: Acc/Dmg, Dmg. Net effects: Double damage, Double Acc. Set bonuses: 1.5 Recov, 1.13% HP, 4% Regen
LEVEL 28 POWER CHOICE:
Dark Miasma: Howling Twilight. This is NOT only useful for teams. If you are a pure solo machine, it is an auto-hit high mag AoE disorient. And nothing is better on a team than being able to rez 5 people at once. I three slot for recharge.
2 Slots: 2 Rech
LEVEL 30 POWER CHOICE:
Dark Miasma: Petrifying Gaze. This is a departure from the previous guide. I never needed Repair, but oh what a difference a hold can make. When you come across spawns with two nasties (Spec Ops with the Sapper Grenade, or Flamethrowers), you can sic your minions on one, and hold the other. Throw as many Hold and Rech on this as you can manage.
6 Slots: The following from Neuronic Shutdown: Acc/Rech, End/Hold, Hold/Range. The following from Ghost Widow's Embrace: Hold/Range, Acc/Hold/Range, Acc/Rech. Net effects: Double Acc, Double Duration, almost halved Recharge, and 20 extra feet of range. Set bonuses: Res(Immob), 1.5% HP, 5% Run, 1.88% HP.
LEVEL 32 POWER CHOICE:
Robotics: Upgrade Robot. Nothing needs to be said here. The recharge on this is a little longer, so I slot 2 Recharge Reductions.
2 Slots: 2 Rech IOs. I know the recharge on this got shortened, but I find it best to make it as close to the Equip Robot time as possible
LEVEL 35 POWER CHOICE:
Teleportation: Recall Friend. To be honest, I couldn't think of anything else to take. And it WILL be helpful when your bots get stuck on some doodad sticking out of the wall. This gets one Endurance Reduction enhancement.
2 Slots: The following from Time/Space Manipulation: End, Range. Net effects: Obvious. Set bonus: 8% Regen.
LEVEL 38 POWER CHOICE:
Dark Miasma: Dark Servant. I imagine after 37 levels of obedient pets, the Dark Servant will seem obtuse, but it can do helpful things. Besides, who would pass up another pet? I six slot. You can focus on one specific area, or you can go wild. Useful enhancements include Heal, Hold, Immob, To Hit Debuff, Recharge and Taunt. I slot 1 Acc, 3 Recharge and 2 Hold.
6 Slots: 2 Acc/Debuff HOs, 2 Rech IOs, 1 Hold IO, 1 Heal IO
PATRON POWERS:
I chose Mu Mastery as my Patron Pool. If you chose a different pool with a Res-based shield, you can use the same slotting. If you choose a Def-based shield, I'd recommend Luck of the Gambler.
LEVEL 41 POWER CHOICE:
Mu Mastery: Charged Armor. I just prefer resistance to defense. Slotting is 3 Res, 3 End.
6 Slots: The following from Impervium Armor: Res/End, Res, End/Rech. The following from Steadfast Protection: Res/End, Res(KB). The Proc from Aegis(3% Res(Psi) and Res(Mez)). Net effects: End cost is almost halved, res(Smash, Lethal, Energy) is up to 28.8%. Set bonuses: 2.5% Recov, 1.88% Res(Psi), 1.5% Recov)
LEVEL 44 POWER CHOICE:
Mu Mastery: Electrifying Fences. AoE Immob is great when put over Tar Patch with a healthy dose of Incendiary Missiles. 1 Acc, 2 Rech, 3 Immob.
6 Slots: The following from Trap of the Hunter: Acc/Rech, Acc/Immob, Acc/Immob/Rech, End/Immob. The following from Debilitative Action: Rech/Immob, Proc(20% chance to Stun). Net effects: Double Acc, Double Immob, halved Recharge. Set bonuses: 9% Immob, 1.88% HP, 3.13% Acc
LEVEL 47 POWER CHOICE:
Mu Mastery: Electric Shackles. Having a second hold is just great, whether it be for stacking, or holding 2 mobs. 1 Acc, 2 Rech, 3 Hold.
6 Slots: The following from Neuronic Shutdown: Acc/Rech, End/Hold, Hold/Range, Proc(20% chance of Psi damage). The following from Ghost Widow's Embrace: Acc/Rech, Proc(20% chance of Psi damage). Net effects: 2 SOs worth of Acc, 2 SOs worth of Hold Duration, almost halved Recharge, 40% chance of 51.2 Psi damage, 4% chance of 102 Psi damage. Set bonuses: Res(Immob), 1.5% HP, 2.5% Acc, 5% Run
LEVEL 49 POWER CHOICE
Leadership: Vengeance. It's a nice level 50 power - great for LRSFs. Slot with 1 ToHit and 1 Def.
2 Slots: 1 ToHit and 1 Def
Final Stats and Set Bonuses
Note: Some of these values are based on Procs that may be in clicks. Depending on the frequency the power is cast, the max value may not always be available.
ToHit: 11.8%
Damage: 11.3%
Acc: 5.63%
Resistance:
Smashing: 38.8%
Lethal: 41.3%
Fire: 10%
Cold: 12.5%
Energy: 58.9%
Negative: 30.1%
Psionic: 23.1%
Defense:
Smashing: 23.8%
Lethal: 23.8%
Fire: 23.8%
Cold: 23.8%
Energy: 23.8%
Negative: 23.8%
Psionic: 25.68%
AoE: 23.8%
Ranged: 23.8%
Melee: 23.8%
Mez Res:
Confused: 20%
Hold: 23.3
Immob: 24.4
Sleep: 20%
Stun: 20%
Terror: 20%
Regen: 269%
Recovery: 178%
Global Recharge Reduction: 15%
Run Speed: 23 f/s
Jump Speed: 60 f/s
Jump Height: 485 ft
Finally, I have found Khaiba's Mastermind Numeric Keypad Pet Controls to be invaluable in my quest for world domination. Acaos greatly helped me vet some of the typos and other errors. Aenix gave me a good common sense tip about power orders. And Hart for clueing me in to the worderful world of Howling Twilight, which I had never used before. AmazingRando gave me some dark news about ProtBot bubbles. Mid's Hero Designer was invaluable in determining an I9 build, which was no doubt founded on Iokona's brilliant work. RedTomax's City of Data was essential as well, as was Burnin Up for working out the kinks in this build.