Bots/Traps Guide (I11)

Bots/Traps guide for I19.5, updated from the I11 guide

So you found a few left over parts from your failed robot wars attempts and decided you could build a robot to rob a bank or take a few hostages. Great news, you have a friend in the business that just so happens to have a few tips for an up and coming radio shack loving robot master.

A few reasons to use robots and why your traps will help you excel in your villainous lifestyle:
1. Robots are ranged pets. The amount of gotos and positioning of your bots you need to do in your average mission is anywhere between none and just enough to not block doors. This is very important because you should be spending your time …
2. Dropping traps at the feet of the unbelievers! Traps is a very active secondary if you want to get the most out of it without slowing down the team, but with all the work you do you will see the rewards
3. With the proper sets and slotting you can become the primary meat shield for an 8 man team if none of the brutes want to step up (or your unfortunate enough to have to team with an /EA brute!) This may not be for everybody but think about this word: tankmage. Yes you can become one this games tankmages, and you won’t have to wait till level 50. It could start as soon as level 32.
4. Robots love to flip out and kill people. Hrm… no wait that’s ninjas.

So now you are sitting there and saying…. “Wait a freakin second! Masterminds have the lowest HPs in the game and don’t get a damage shield until 41. How the heck am I gonna be a tankmage at level 32?” Bodyguard + positional defense + regen = high resists + high defense + regen = near tank defense if your pets don’t die, and near scrapper defense if they do.
As long as you have pets in defensive mode (and not defense targeted attack), and they are in range (same as supremacy, 60’), and they have line of sight every pet will share the damage you take. You get totalDamage/ (2 + #pets in bg) x 2. So with all 6 pets in BG mode and you get smacked with 400 damage you take 100 damage and your pets share the rest (75% resists to ALL damage types).

Positional defense comes from 4 different possible sources:
Force field generator = 15% def to all
Protector bots shield = 11% def to all
IO sets = variable but could get 10+% def in ranged, and AOE, less for melee (shoot for 5%)
Pool powers = maneuvers = 4% to all, combat jumping 2% to all
So add em all up and we are looking at
30+% melee, 45+% ranged, 45+% aoe. Looks close to a non IOed out SR scrapper to me!

Regen is a bit trickier, but think of it this way: You and your pets are sort of like 7 bags of hit points that all have the default regen rate (your toon may have more). But what happens when you drop a fully slotted triage beacon within range of 7 bags of hit points? You are increasing the healing power of that one beacon by 6. A five slotted (with doctored wounds) TB gives about 280% regen, close to a fully slotted integration on a regen scrapper. So you just turned you and your pets into mini regen scrappers while in the beacon. That + 75% resist all + SR scrapper level def + 7 mini regen scrappers = a whole lot o mitigation.

“Ok well yeah, but the damage part.. How are you going to damage things like a mage, MM attacks suck, and bots are weak on damage right?”
That is true, bots are pretty weak on damage until you hit the magic that is level 32. One power that your assault bot gets still makes me drool… Incendiary swarm missiles.
“Incendiary swarm missles?”
Incendiary swarm missles.
“Your just repeating the question!”
*drool*
Ah yes lets look at this wonderful power from City of Data
Notice the summons “Flames” 20 seconds? Remember this is an AOE power right? Guess what it summons for each mob in the AOE up to the aoe cap? Yup a burn patch. 16 burn patches that may be overlapping…. Roasting that sweet sweet meat! Err…. Yeah. (At this point some of the long time COH players may remember my fire/fire tank guide and how I loved burn). Imagine up to 16 fire tanks (or /fire brutes) all dropping burn patches at the feet of the UNBELIEVERS!? Yeah that’s a whole lot of running in fear right out of the burn patches….
Hrm… ohh yeah that burn nerf that I never thought they would do happened didn’t it?
Well you do have a few tricks to use that a fire tank doesn’t to keep em in the fire right? You got poison trap, caltrops, web nade.. and after level 40 a patron AOE immob. So it’s not as bad as you think.

So you can see tankmage within your sites right? Good. So let us examine all the bots/traps tools and see how they fit in with our tankmage.

Robot powers:
Battle Drones: Get it at level 1, 6 slot it by 7.
IO set: All 6 of blood mandate for the awesome 3.75% def to ranged and AOE

Pulse rifle blast:
No room for a weak damage single shot ranged damage power. Skip.

Pulse rifle burst
No room for a weak damage single shot ranged damage power. Skip.

Equip robot: Get it at level 6, no slots
IO: 1 common end redux
Drones still are weak on damage, but constant. The protectors now heal and do a bit more damage. Nice

Photon grenade: Hrm… a 30% chance mag 2 aoe stun that does pathetic damage. Stun is the key because at 5 slots you can put the stupefy set in for pretty cheap
IOs: 6 of stupefy for 3.125% ranged, 6.25% recharge, recovery and +hps! Nice set. Or at level 50 stick in the purple stun set absolute amazement for even better recharge
The set bonus is all this power is really good for. Well it looks pretty cool to have a gun….
Get this power very late (say level 38 when you have the extra slots and money for the sets)

Protector bots: Get it at level 12, 6 slot it by 19
IO set: This one is actually more beneficial to stick in 2 IO defs and then fill the other 4 with a good combo of acc/dam/end. These guys will double bubble all your bots for 22% def all, and single bubble you for 11%. The Edict of the master +5% def to all pets is also a nice IO to stick in here to get your pets close to the soft cap. (Double bubbles for 22% + FFG for 15% + 5% def + 4% maneuvers = ~45%, NICE!)

Repair:
Let me get this straight…. It’s weaker (heal versus recharge) than aid other, and can only heal your bots…. Skip!

Assault bot: Get it at level 26, 6 slot by 31
This big boy is long lasting but out of the box pretty weak on damage.
IO set: same as battle drones

Upgrade robot: Get it at 32, no slots
IO: 1 common end redux
You can now add the mage suffix to your tank name.
Drones now have full auto (a nice energy cone)
Protectors now have photon grenade, and seeker drones! (you will see AOE stuns a lot)
Assault bot has… *DROOL*, and some other crappy missile swarm that knocks everything all over the place (but it does do a lot of damage AOE, so it’s not that bad).

Wow 5 good powers, 1 IO set bait, and 3 stinkers…. Let’s hope traps fills in the gaps!

First some definitions
A proc is an IO set enhancement that has a chance to fire when the power its slotted in does the effect the set is modifying. Got it?
Ok example time. The IO proc force feedback chance for +recharge slotted into the assault bot has a (20%?) chance of giving the assault bot +100% recharge for a few seconds every time he fires a power with knockback for each enemy he hits. An AOE knockback power that hits say 10 mobs will almost always make the proc work.
Procs that do damage do it on a special damage scale. This is important because the MM damage scale is crap. The proc damage scale is much better at high levels, and thus the more damage procs you can put in your powers the more damage you can do.

Traps:
Web grenade: Not a bad little power. Expensive in endurance though and easy to spam so watch your end bar.
IO sets: 1 slot. Trap of the hunter lethal proc when/if you have tactics or a lot of +acc set bonuses. Else stick an acc common in it.
This will help control knockback and running on bosses, EBs and sometimes AVs. Running is probably your biggest issues with bots.

Caltrops: Kind of a love hate with this power. It helps keep things in the same area via a nice slow, -jump, but it also makes mobs run from that area.
IO sets: an excellent IO set power. You can 5 slot it for posi, or you can 4 slot it with 4 different damage procs. With 4 damage procs, the aoe damage of this power really is amazing.

Triage beacon: So many people hate this power. I think it’s great (see regen math above), and it’s good in hard hitting situations, like EBs, AVs, many spawns that are close together.
IO sets: 5 slot this for Doctored wounds. Awesome heal values, recharge values, and +5% recharge to all powers.

Acid mortar: Get this at level 10; six slot this when you get all the procs
IO sets: This power is a proc monster. AOE that fires multiple times, that’s what you need for a proc monster.
Touch of lady grey negative energy damage, Positron’s energy damage, Achilles –res debuff. Sweet!
Other 3 slots should go towards recharge and endurance.

Force field generator: Get this at 16, 3 slot it at 17
15% def to all plus status resists all but sleeping knock back, tp, and repelling… WOW.
The FFG does get stuck behind your pets and is not fast enough to keep up with you so watch it. Don’t jump into a spawn unless you know your FFG is close.
IO sets: Just 3 common def IOs is good.

Poison trap: Get it at 20, 3 slot it right away, add other slots as you buy IOs.
We don’t talk about poison trap with damage procs. Well… looks like we can now. Seems they fixed the bug that fired many damage procs on each mob every second that poison trap fired. Damage procs are still a good idea in this power (just like any other AOE), but it’s no longer an “I kill the whole spawn with one power” button. Now it’s better to focus on hold time and recharge to make sure everybody gets locked down for as long as possible. It’s nice to stick the lockdown chance for +2 mag hold proc in there for some extra hold power! Frankenslot it with hold/recharge and damage procs.

Seeker drones: Get it at 28
Use these guys not as a pet, but as an alpha strike soaker and a Boss/EB/AV –40%dam for 40 seconds if both hit neutering device.
IO sets: 5/6 slot for that awesome stupefy set

Trip mine: Get it at 35, 5 slot when you got the slots
This is a power that you will use to take care of those hard to kill critters. As an example the EB at the end of the Vernon arc is a plant dom. This dom is a killer of MMs because of the massive amount AOEs, + confuse she has. After a few deaths I set up a poison trap, trip mine field, moved my bots out of view, put them on heel and made her run through the field. It knocked her down to about 25% life and she was stuck puking her guts out while my bots killed her off. Each mine can do some pretty impressive damage; a field of say 10 can almost kill an EB. But with the animation time and the interrupt (even with all the +def you can get) its VERY hard using this in a large team. But if you have stealth and super speed you could probably drop one on each mob before anybody agros them…. Almost like an AOE assassins strike.
IO sets: 5 slot for posi, and then switch to Armageddon when you got the cash.

Detonator: I have not tried this power.
I have enough stuff to do without casting this power (which is on a huge 600 second recharge timer), loosing a bot, and having to resummon the bot. If the timer was say 120 seconds so I could get more use out of the power… maybe. I still don’t like the idea of 1 power making me use up to 3 other powers just for some damage. Trip mine is much more usable.

Pool powers
We all need em, so this is what I recommend:

Fitness: It’s free now! YEAH DEVS!

Speed: Hasten, get it love it and 2/3 slot it. Super speed is also very nice and is a great way to get full invis when used with the +stealth IO.

Leaping: Combat jumping is a great way to stack some cheap +def to all, and it also is a great place to stick the no knockback IO Karma. Superjump is a great travel power.

Leadership: Maneuvers for some not so cheap +def to all, also a great place to stick the red fortune set for +5% recharge. Tactics for the +to hit for you and your bots, but it also can be 6 slotted with the Gaussian set for 2.5% def to melee, ranged, and AOE, but wait there’s more!... Confuse protection, and +perception all in one power. Nice.

Presence: Provoke. Ultimus’s bots/trap has been abusing this power to solo AVs and giant monsters. It’s a great way to become a true tank for the team, and it keeps the heat off of your bots so they do damage. Just be sure not to take it until your +def is high enough, and you are sure you can handle the incoming damage (bodyguard mode helps a lot). When you use this make sure your bots are close enough for body guard but far enough away so they don’t get nailed with AOE from an AV. Definitely some advanced tactics to use this to its fullest, but can help you take down some nasty things solo if you get the hang of it.


Patron pool:
A lot of people would think with all the +def Black scorpion is a perfect choice… and they would be wrong. Our build uses a lot of positional defense; the scorpion shield is Smash/lethal defense. It’s nice but it’s not what we want. The AOE web nade also lacks a –knockback that will help keep our foes cooking in the burn patches.

Sirocco (Mu mastery)
Charged armor being a res shield can take the unique +3% def all steadfast IO, and if you have 3B sitting around the PVP +3%, awesome! It also helps when in bodyguard mode to reduce some of the hardest hitting attacks so the share your bots take is greatly lessened.
Electrifying fences is also an awesome AOE immobilize with –kb to help keep the nasties in the burn patches when your Assault bot decides to fire the knockback missiles right after the Incendiary swarm missiles. It also has a really quick cast time (1.17s), compared to the horrendous (weapon draw + 2s) cast time of web envelop. But the range is shorter, and the AOE is only 10’ instead of 15’.

Hero epic pools:
None of the epics have an AOE immob, that’s sucks. Chill looks to be the most interesting with hoarfrost to increase your hp pool and give a nice big heal every once in a while. Pretty sure I would stick with the Mu patron though.

Incarnate powers:
Alpha: (I19)
For my build I went with Nerve Radial Paragon. Bots/Traps is able to benefit the most from the Nerve because we can use all of the bonuses. More ACC for our pets is good because they are almost always taking on mobs that are higher level then they are. The hold duration is nice for poison trap. As Bots/Traps we have 2 powers that have good sized +def, and a few pool powers. The net effect is about ~ 3% more def to all, more def the better to deal with –def debuffs. Taunt is useful making provoke task a little longer.

Judgment: (I20)
This from what we have seen will be a customizable long recharge AOE. Interesting, and may be a good way to add some nice personal damage to the mix. Will fill this in when we get more info.




Battle Tactics: Post level 20

The standard spawn of nasty critters:
If you have the assault bot set him to aggressive. All other bots on defensive follow.
Run into the center of the spawn and drop a poison trap. Most of the mobs will be held or puking.
If you have an AOE immob now is the time to use it.
Drop acid mortar.
Drop caltrops behind you to prevent runners into your bots.
Use web nade to lock down any bosses that are left.
Bots will clean up; use your photon grenades to look cool with your gun.

-or-
If poison trap is not up use summon seeker drones on top of the spawn, wait a second to be sure the alpha is on the seeker drones.
Follow all the other steps after the poison trap.

The standard spawn of easy critters (post level 44):
Set assault bot to aggressive.
Fire AOE immob at spawn.
Run in and drop poison trap.
If you can see another spawn drop acid mortar.
The spawn is probably all dead now.

An EB/AV spawn:
Set all bots to bodyguard.
Summon seeker drones on the EB/AV
Run in and drop poison trap at feet of EB/AV
Move back out of PBAOE range, drop acid mortar
Drop Triage.
Spam webnade, and if PBAOE area is safe (non autohit powers) drop trip mines.
If you have provoke use it to make sure they don’t run. (If they have AOEs make sure you are not close to your bots)

Note there are plenty of other tactics, and most of them involve you getting into melee range and sucking up the minimal hurt the critters can put out. You are a tank… be sure to act like one!

Builds:

This is my current build target:
(Remember to add +12% def to melee, ranged, and AOE from the protector bot, because MIDS does not include this in the totals)

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Nice guide but I find it lacking in a few areas.
I'll ramble them off as they come to mind while I look in mids at your 'perfect' build.

You didn't mention Medicine pool. If you have any plan of soloing AVs aid other and aid self are a huge help.
You didn't mention the pet uniques. I recommend putting both into your battle drones

You used the buildup proc in tactics.... all I can say is why??

Your 'perfect build' didn't use the recharge proc. How many times must I tell people, if you have the assault bot; use the recharge proc!

You slotted so much for recharge that your build is rather gimped.

You forgot the aegis unique in charged armor.
You didn't bother with any of the purple pet set in your assault bot either.

Its a decent build but its by no means perfect.

[ QUOTE ]
Nice guide but I find it lacking in a few areas.
I'll ramble them off as they come to mind while I look in mids at your 'perfect' build.

You didn't mention Medicine pool. If you have any plan of soloing AVs aid other and aid self are a huge help.
You didn't mention the pet uniques. I recommend putting both into your battle drones

You used the buildup proc in tactics.... all I can say is why??

Your 'perfect build' didn't use the recharge proc. How many times must I tell people, if you have the assault bot; use the recharge proc!

You slotted so much for recharge that your build is rather gimped.

You forgot the aegis unique in charged armor.
You didn't bother with any of the purple pet set in your assault bot either.

Its a decent build but its by no means perfect.

[/ QUOTE ]

Perfect is a strong word... maybe too strong but I dont think any of your ideas are better than the posted build.

Medicine pool... not as good as any of the other mentioned pools. Provoke +hasten + stamina + tactics (AV busting powers) means no room for aid self. With BG, all the +def in the build and triage beacon you should not need aid self. Aid self for a MM is 1/6 as strong as it is for a tank or brute because you are only healing one of the 7 bags of hps that make up the total resistance value of the unit. You could sub aid other/self for the 2 leadership powers, but I think that gimps the build more than it helps.

Pet uniques... sacrifice damage/acc/or endurance for a weak boost in already soft capped defense or a minor increase in resistance? Save these overvalued IOs for ninjas all your bots have 45% def to all when double bubbled and near the FFG, and maneauvers. If you go with Aid other/Aid self the +def one could be used in place of maneauvers, but I still dont see that as a good value, the rest of your team does not get to share the leadership goodness.

Build up in tactics, for the +2.5% def to all 6 set bonus.

The recharge proc in bots, Its a very good option for assault bot, and once I get one I will post some info about it. If the bot is smart enought to use incindeary missile swarm more often that its a good trade off for 3.75% aoe def.

+recharge makes your build gimp... wow thats a new one! What power got sacrificed for +recharge? All the key powers have all the key edd limited enchancements. Is there another IO set power that works so well with the long recharge times on the most powerfull traps? Dropping a 3 damage proced poison trap every 28 seconds is probably the most powerful thing I can think of doing besides making sure your bots are always doing damage.

ageis unique is garbage. 1 slot for 3%res to psi, and -20% reduction in mezz time is weak. The only mez that should hit you is sleep, and with health and the way sleep works it should not hurt you at all, except for the time it takes to turn your toggles back on, which this IO wont help with.

The purple pet set was made for fire imps, blood mandate is a much better set for MMs. MM pets dont need +rech, but -end is very nice because the pets can run out of end without any -end.

[ QUOTE ]

The recharge proc in bots, Its a very good option for assault bot, and once I get one I will post some info about it. If the bot is smart enought to use incindeary missile swarm more often that its a good trade off for 3.75% aoe def.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is why you don't give him the first upgrade once you have the recharge proc

[ QUOTE ]
Assault bot: Get it at level 24, 6 slot by 31

[/ QUOTE ]

Were it only possible....

Assault Bot is available at level 26, no sooner.

[ QUOTE ]
Assault Bot is available at level 26, no sooner.

[/ QUOTE ]



Dohh!

Just to note -- you said "close to an un-IO'd SR scrapper at the start.. without IO's you are an un IO'd SR scrappers level ((my bot/traps has 30.25% with cj, manuevers, 1 slotted def prot bots, and 3 slotted FFG.)) -- a SR scrapper with 3 slotted passives and toggles comes out to about 31.5%.

Well here is my build it kinda like Mephe build but change few things. I Hope youl ike it.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.30
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php

Engine of Pain: Level 50 Natural Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Battle Drones -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg:53(A), BldM'dt-Dmg:53(3), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx:53(3), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:53(5), BldM'dt-Acc:53(23)
Level 1: Web Grenade -- TotHntr-Dam%:53(A)
Level 2: Caltrops -- Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(9), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg:50(40), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(43), Armgdn-Dam%:50(46)
Level 4: Triage Beacon -- Dct'dW-Rchg:53(A), Dct'dW-Heal:53(7), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:53(7), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:53(9), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg:53(39)
Level 6: Equip Robot -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 8: Combat Jumping -- Krma-ResKB:30(A)
Level 10: Acid Mortar -- LdyGrey-Rchg/EndRdx:50(A), Posi-Dam%:53(11), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg:50(11), RechRdx-I:50(19), LdyGrey-%Dam:50(34)
Level 12: Protector Bots -- HO:Nucle(A), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:53(13), DefBuff-I:50(13), S'bndAl-Dmg/EndRdx:50(15), BldM'dt-Acc/EndRdx:53(15)
Level 14: Teleport Foe -- TSM'n-EndRdx:39(A), TSM'n-Rng:39(23), EndRdx(37)
Level 16: Force Field Generator -- GftotA-Def:40(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:40(17), LkGmblr-Def:53(17)
Level 18: Super Jump -- SprngFt-EndRdx:50(A), SprngFt-Jump:39(19), SprngFt-EndRdx/Jump:39(31), EndRdx(33)
Level 20: Poison Trap -- G'Wdw-Dam%:53(A), RechRdx-I:50(21), NrncSD-Dam%:30(21), RechRdx-I:50(33), UbrkCons-Dam%:50(37)
Level 22: Swift -- Run-I:50(A), Run-I:40(29), Run-I:40(43)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(25), RechRdx-I:50(25)
Level 26: Assault Bot -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg:53(A), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:53(27), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx:53(27), BldM'dt-Dmg:53(29), BldM'dt-Acc:53(31)
Level 28: Seeker Drones -- Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx:53(A), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg:53(31), Stpfy-Stun/Rng:53(33), Stpfy-Acc/Rchg:53(34), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun:53(34)
Level 30: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:53(A), Numna-Heal:39(48), Numna-Heal/EndRdx:39(48)
Level 32: Upgrade Robot -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 35: Trip Mine -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx:39(36), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg:39(36), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg:39(36), Sciroc-Dam%:39(37)
Level 38: Photon Grenade -- Amaze-ToHitDeb%:50(A), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun:50(39), Amaze-Acc/Rchg:50(39), Amaze-Acc/Stun/Rchg:50(40), Amaze-Stun:50(40)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- RedFtn-EndRdx:53(A), RedFtn-Def:53(42), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:53(42), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:53(42), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg:53(43), LkGmblr-Rchg+:53(46)
Level 44: Detonator -- Posi-Acc/Dmg:39(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:39(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:39(45), Posi-Dmg/Rng:39(45), Posi-Dam%:39(46)
Level 47: Teleport -- Jnt-Rng:39(A), Jnt-EndRdx:39(48), Jnt-EndRdx/Rng:39(50)
Level 49: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%:39(A), P'Shift-EndMod:39(50), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg:39(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth:53(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Supremacy



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</pre><hr />

-QR
[ QUOTE ]

1. Robots are ranged pets. The amount of gotos and positioning of your bots you need to do in your average mission is anywhere between none and just enough to not block doors. This is very important because you should be spending your time …

[/ QUOTE ]
Sure, if you want to get half of the relative effectiveness out of your bots. If you want to be an effective damage-dealer, however, you need to take an active role in making sure that your bots are in effective positions to use their knockback without hosing your teammates AOE's, are concentrating on taking targets out in concert, and are not standing too close to melee-heavy mobs. acid mortars are not too effective when your bots run around a corner to engage a mob, and caltrops are useless when stupid AI makes the bots rush right past them.

I was going to say a lot more nasty things about this guide, especially after the jerktastic potshot at brutes for not being tankers, but i don't want to get banned.


Caveat Emptor

NovaThunder,

Is your char currently 50? Have you tried the AOE mace immob power? I think it works really well with the build, and I would suggest you try it out if you havent already. I use it almost every spawn, perhaps you would get more use out of it than you do detonator?

Now if only the mace aoe immob had -kb..... (like the MU one does)

[ QUOTE ]
I was going to say a lot more nasty things about this guide, especially after the jerktastic potshot at brutes for not being tankers, but i don't want to get banned.


[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like sombodies a bit grumpy that my MM has higher %defense numbers than their /EA brute!

Ill make you a deal you read these websites Wiki page on comedy and Wiki on Tongue-in-cheek I will buy a dummies book for stand up comedy so maybe my jokes are better understood by a wider range of people.

(Note the grumpy comment was also a stab at comedy just incase you dont accept my deal, I have a level 32 /EA brute and thus my point of view).

But please if you can see past my (poor?!) attempts at humor, can you list the objections you have to the information posted. I do think guides work better if people get more than one side of the story. On the other hand bots/traps seems to be such a powerfull combo I dont know that anybody could really mess it up.

[ QUOTE ]
-QR
[ QUOTE ]

1. Robots are ranged pets. The amount of gotos and positioning of your bots you need to do in your average mission is anywhere between none and just enough to not block doors. This is very important because you should be spending your time …

[/ QUOTE ]
Sure, if you want to get half of the relative effectiveness out of your bots. If you want to be an effective damage-dealer, however, you need to take an active role in making sure that your bots are in effective positions to use their knockback without hosing your teammates AOE's

[/ QUOTE ]

Is this a concern? At best, they're all attacking one thing -- a minion or lieutenant, who cares, AOEs are about mass damage to many of them, not one. At worst, they're on auto and might knock a couple out here and there once in awhile, again no big deal.

Bosses and higher? Again, who cares, since AOEs are about mass damage to many small things, not a handful of high ones, and a knockback on 'em is good if you ask me. People should be using their single-target, etc. stuff against boss+.

Maybe there are a handful of ground-target AOE debuffs, etc. that it would be good not to knock a boss+ out, but in that case the AOE is probably centered on the boss to begin with, and would thus need more than 1 knockback to get him out of range, and one is rare on a boss+. Does not require a goto except in some cases, maybe, and even then you can run-lead them to the start spot almost as well.


[ QUOTE ]
are concentrating on taking targets out in concert, and are not standing too close to melee-heavy mobs

[/ QUOTE ]

You target and push your key bound to /petcom_all attack is pretty fast. And for the latter issue (which also happens when a bot goes dumb and runs up to punch something) just push your key bound to /petcom_all passive follow me (whatever it is), push it, wait a few seconds, and do the all attack one. Neither requires a goto per se.

[ QUOTE ]
acid mortars are not too effective when your bots run around a corner to engage a mob, and caltrops are useless when stupid AI makes the bots rush right past them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hence the passive follow me button.


I don't deny a goto wouldn't be useful on a battlefield when you are trying to manage robots while thinking where to place the triage or stand with your huge bubble near the melee, but I wouldn't exaggerate the dire necessity of it.

The really funny thing i find here, is that this build looks extremely like Ultimus's, which is a known AVs soloer that really didnt mess with IOs until post 40s. That being said, there are many different means to get a good bot/traps, and depends on how much cash you have you can really make a powerhouse.

Heres an example.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.4006
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Arbegla 2.0: Level 50 Magic Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Presence
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
------------
Level 1: Battle Drones CmdPres-Acc/Dmg:30(A), CmdPres-Dmg/EndRdx:30(3), CmdPres-Acc/EndRdx:30(3), CmdPres-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:30(5), EdctM'r-PetDef:35(5)
Level 1: Web Grenade TotHntr-EndRdx/Immob:40(A), TotHntr-Acc/Rchg:37(7), TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg:38(9), TotHntr-Acc/EndRdx:28(9)
Level 2: Pulse Rifle Burst Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(11), Apoc-Dam%:50(11)
Level 4: Triage Beacon Dct'dW-Rchg:50(A), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(13), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:50(13), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg:27(15), Mrcl-Rcvry+:25(15)
Level 6: Equip Robot RechRdx-I:50(A), EndRdx-I:50(7)
Level 8: Swift Run-I:50(A)
Level 10: Hover LkGmblr-Rchg+:43(A)
Level 12: Protector Bots CmdPres-Acc/Dmg:30(A), CmdPres-Dmg/EndRdx:30(19), CmdPres-Acc/EndRdx:30(19), CmdPres-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:30(21), DefBuff-I:50(21), HO:Enzym(23)
Level 14: Fly Frbd-EndRdx:50(A), Frbd-Fly:50(23), Frbd-Stlth:50(25)
Level 16: Force Field Generator LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), LkGmblr-Def:50(17), Krma-ResKB:12(17)
Level 18: Health RgnTis-Regen+:26(A), Numna-Heal:50(27), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(29)
Level 20: Poison Trap UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg:50(A), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg:50(29), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg:50(31), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold:50(33), UbrkCons-Dam%:50(33), NrncSD-Dam%:28(33)
Level 22: Stamina P'Shift-EndMod:50(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc:50(31), P'Shift-End%:49(31)
Level 24: Acid Mortar Achilles-ResDeb%:19(A), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg/EndRdx:50(25), LdyGrey-%Dam:50(34), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg:50(34)
Level 26: Assault Bot S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), S'bndAl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(27), S'bndAl-Acc/Rchg:50(36), S'bndAl-Build%:50(36), SvgnRt-PetResDam:30(36), FrcFbk-Rechg%:50(37)
Level 28: Seeker Drones DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg:50(A), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx:50(37), DarkWD-Slow%:50(39), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx:50(39), Amaze-ToHitDeb%:50(39)
Level 30: Caltrops Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(40), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg:50(40), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(40), Armgdn-Dam%:50(42)
Level 32: Upgrade Robot RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(34), EndRdx-I:50(42)
Level 35: Maneuvers LkGmblr-Def:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(37), LkGmblr-Rchg+:49(43)
Level 38: Tactics GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx:40(A), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx:46(43), GSFC-ToHit:50(45)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield GftotA-Def:40(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:40(42), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(43), LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(45)
Level 44: Web Envelope GravAnch-Immob:50(A), GravAnch-Hold%:50(45), GravAnch-Immob/Rchg:50(46), GravAnch-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(46), GravAnch-Acc/Rchg:50(46)
Level 47: Web Cocoon G'Wdw-EndRdx/Hold:50(A), G'Wdw-Acc/EndRdx:50(48), G'Wdw-Acc/Hold/Rchg:50(48), G'Wdw-Acc/Rchg:50(48)
Level 49: Provoke Zinger-Taunt/Rchg:50(A), Zinger-Taunt/Rchg/Rng:50(50), Zinger-Acc/Rchg:40(50), Zinger-Dam%:44(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 2: Rest RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 1: Supremacy



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this build can fully set up and start rocking in under 15 seconds. Its lethal/smash def is 51% with a 44% energy, everything else is around 30%. Acid mortar, Caltrops, Triage can all be double stacked. It can hold AVs with just the few hold powers it does have. Poison trap is like a blaster nuke that ticks three times and can destroy entire spawns (and its up every 35 seconds, the cloud lasts for 30.. you do the math on how deadly that is the 'weak' rifle attacks hits for over 200 damage, which is excellent for killing mobs that are running away. Seeker drones slotted for -tohit are much better then slotting for stun. the stun is only a percent chance to go off.

I notice the data blocks for the export are busted with the new boards.

Here is the latest and greatest build for my Bots/Traps at 50.

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I know Arbegla's build is over 2 years old now, but I want to point out a trap for young Bots/Traps players. The build they posted is very very expensive. It has 4 Luck of the gamblers +Recharge which last time I looked run about 200+ mil a pop. It has the miracle +recovery and numinia's +recovery, and regenative tissue all around 100 to 200 mil a pop. It has 17 purples that go from 10 mil to 200 mil a pop (crafting a purple aint cheap because of the 3 rares it requires even if the recipie is).

On the other hand the build I have posted has better +def all around, (+36% for melee, and +45% ranged and AOE vs +50% def for smash/lethal and energy), much better resistance (40% smash/lethal/energy versus 0%), better average recharge (45%/115% (103% average) versus 60%) and costs much less to put together. Better AOE personal damage (trip mine versus nothing, 3 damage proc poison trap versus 2 proc). I use ZERO Luck of the gambler recharges and only have 5 purples, and 2 expensive IOs with a Numinia and a Gausian +build up (both are very optional and included because I have em in my build). And the five purples I do have are some of the cheapest purples you can buy. Most of the cost for my build come from the positron sets.

So the point I am trying to make is a level 50 IO build doesnt need to cost INF CAP money to play just as well as somebody else that spent INF CAP on their build.

The guide has been edited and updated for I19.5. This is a marker for comments for the latest version. All comments prior to this may not make any sense.

Thank you.

You recommend a Force Feedback +Recharge proc, indicating that it will allow your Assault Bot to fire its missles more often. You may want to check that, as several issues ago, Pets were made immune to Recharge buffs. I know it does NOT provide any recharge buff to Controller pets, but I haven't tried it on my Masterminds.

Looks like a great guide, thanks. I've been really frustrated with my Bots/Traps lately because in groups, it seems like things are dead before she's done even setting up. I think I was focusing on the wrong things, like using GW's disorient aura. I don't think she even has an AoE immob. >.>