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Question about this....does bodyguard mode ever suppress? I was in a bank mission yesterday and got held/stunned; it seemed like when I was I was taking the brunt of the damage, even though I thought I was in Def/Follow mode. My minions still seemed relatively healthy. Or was it just that my share of the burst damage was that large?
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If a pet is in defensive follow, it's in body guard. No that doesn't suppress. However if it's in attack, goto, or stay mode it's no longer a bodyguard.
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Think this is wrong, pretty sure BG mode is activee as long as pets are in defrnsive and within range. The GOTO that comes free with MM is GOTO AGGRESSIVE.. simply make your own GOTO DEFENSIVE, do not send them to far and they will still split your damage.
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They would have had to change it to be other then just defensive follow. Here, I'll log into Poison Bloom and test once again
The test will be done in four parts. I'll use a custom tab with damage taken being shown, and erase it after each test. The top item will be the test number. I'll try getting the same enemy type hitting me first each time. This will be on challenge level 1 at level 50
Step One: take damage with pets in passive mode for a control number.
Result: 68.02 damage
Step Two: take damage with pet in defensive goto
Result: 25.09 damage
Step Three: take damage in defensive stay
Results: Haven't done this one yet, the mission threw an EB at me, not a good way to test these things...
Step Four: take damage in defensive follow
Result: 16.73 damage
Ok, I'm big enough to admit being wrong. It use to be just defensive follow, and I'm not sure when they changed it. I try keeping up on the patch notes, and never saw anything about it.
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It's alway been defensive anything.. tested BG mode before it went live.. made many macros... honest I used GOTO DFENSIVE macro several times in every mission, both pre-live and in live after release.
I think the wrong assumption that follow (and other commands) were not covered by BG comes from the supplied follow button with MMs.. IT's new as was not around in MMs beginning unless you made your own or clicked and drug them from the hench tab advanced. It's also misleading as it is named "Follow" so you assume that your pets in Def told to follow are still def. However when next on your MM right click it and choose edit. You will see the command line contains the word AGGRESSIVE.. simply overwrite this word with DEFENSIVE and your FOLLOW button is now set to BG mode.
No, it comes from the fact devs have stated over and over it's just defensive+follow. Unless it was patched specificly to allow any defensive except attack, goto and stay giving bodyguard isn't intended. The patch notes for Bodyguard specified it had to be defensive+follow, and at the time my accidental testing verified that. If I had pets in defensive goto, and they were in range I was still taking full damage.
And you do bring up a good point about the default simple commands. That's why I dragged the advanced commands into my power tray. More control over what my pets do.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
Courtesy of Lord_Regulus's guide Pet command mastery 101 quote
Lesson 3:Basic Petcom
Petcom stands for Pet Commands. These are the orders you give for your pets to attack and defend you. You will usually never type these commands so I suggest setting up a macro power tray specifically for these commands. Now, why would you want a power tray full of orders? Well for one thing, most players don't use all their power trays. Also, it saves time from having to manually issue orders to all the pets which makes if a life or debt situation.
Petcom's basic formula:
/petcom stance order
Example of this is:
/petcom passive attack
The three stances and the four orders are:
Stances:Aggresive, Defensive, and Passive
Orders: Attack, goto, follow, and stay
unquote
and a link to his guide
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...=0#Post7894889
I hate all this terrorist business. I used to love the days when you could look at an unattended bag on a train or bus and think to yourself.... I'm going to take that.
I missed the Dev posts that said that. But that's not surprising.. I miss alot 
I am possitive however the MM I first tested BG mode with on test and the ninja/dark I played regularly on live both PvE and PvP used a macro I had made for the tray.. I know most prefer keybinds but I'm a clicker 
The macro I used most often to set myself as bait in PvP was:
/macro stayD Petcom_all STAY DEFENSIVE
and in pve would like to set walls with my guys using same petcom_all but "goto Defensive" to haave them block doors or halls etc.
also when in First few months of BG live played a merc to maybe 22-23 before I got tired of him. Often used a macro I named 911 that was PETCOM_NAME medic goto defensive, that kept him BG but would also force him to heal who you wanted healed.
Stnce then order? See, told ya I miss alot.
Huh, well formula works backwards too as I never read any MM forums just made mine by copying the ones in the henchcommands supplied and they are/were flipped from that formula.
Ya, the /petcom passive (follow or attack) is the BGMode. you can actualy just right click your normal commands and rewrite them into these wonderful toys...My Thug/Pain had a tray of nothing but commands. Oddly enough, There used to be people who asked for me by name to join ITF and some of the lower lvl SF's because of the way I had complete comtrol of my pets, unlike most AE MM's. There are times in a team when your better off just using 1 pet, or no pets or all pets. But, it also depends n your secondary.
I hate all this terrorist business. I used to love the days when you could look at an unattended bag on a train or bus and think to yourself.... I'm going to take that.
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Do you have any idea how hard it is to actually do those tests while doing missions in the distant past? Things kept throwing greek fire at me, or my pets would draw ALL the agro the instant I try getting stuff to hit me.
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Well, that's why when I mentioned to the OP about practicing, I said to practice on the street with lower level mobs. Greys and greens pose little threat to any MM, and you can concentrate on the results of the fight rather than worry about dieing.
Also, I mentioned the battle spam window. It's great for new MMs. You don't have to look at damage and guess, bodyguard mode is printed right in the window every time it happens.
Just to be crystal clear, here's an old pic. Look in the lower left corner in the chat pane. See where it says "Your henchmen protect you from 141 points of damage. You take 47 points of damage?" That's bodyguard mode.
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m.../bodyguard.jpg
So if you're are ever not sure, open that chat pane and watch it, because it's right there.
Lastly, bodyguard mode comes from Supremacy. Supremacy has an 80ft range (iirc) and is Line of Sight. Lose Supremacy and lose bodyguard mode. So you only have to glance at the icons in your pet window to see who has supremacy and who doesn't. You have to click on the little arrow on the side of your pet window to display those icons.
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Do you have any idea how hard it is to actually do those tests while doing missions in the distant past? Things kept throwing greek fire at me, or my pets would draw ALL the agro the instant I try getting stuff to hit me.
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Well, that's why when I mentioned to the OP about practicing, I said to practice on the street with lower level mobs. Greys and greens pose little threat to any MM, and you can concentrate on the results of the fight rather than worry about dieing.
Also, I mentioned the battle spam window. It's great for new MMs. You don't have to look at damage and guess, bodyguard mode is printed right in the window every time it happens.
Just to be crystal clear, here's an old pic. Look in the lower left corner in the chat pane. See where it says "Your henchmen protect you from 141 points of damage. You take 47 points of damage?" That's bodyguard mode.
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m.../bodyguard.jpg
So if you're are ever not sure, open that chat pane and watch it, because it's right there.
Lastly, bodyguard mode comes from Supremacy. Supremacy has an 80ft range (iirc) and is Line of Sight. Lose Supremacy and lose bodyguard mode. So you only have to glance at the icons in your pet window to see who has supremacy and who doesn't. You have to click on the little arrow on the side of your pet window to display those icons.
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I know about those. I was testing by crating a new tab just for "damage received". This way I could erase the history for a clean slate with each test. I had to use things close or at my level so they could hit (naturally). The problem is those romans kept opening up with burn patches, or I'd put my pets into the desired mode for testing and launch a def/res debuff to draw agro... Then they charge 100 feet and attack before I get hit.
Rather annoying when your trying to test bodyguard in stay or goto mode, and they charge 100 or more feet into combat the second you launch a debuff.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
A lot of people view Bodyguard mode as a resistance.
I see it more as communal hit points. My minions and I share a combined hitpoint pool. As long as they are in range and in Body Guard mode, I effectively have more hitpoints than a capped tanker. As my minions died and I resummon them, I am effectively casting Dull Pain.
If you picture your minions as extensions of your hitpoints and damage, I think it really gives you a better picture of how to use them most effectively.
I will not rest until we have in-game throwable pies!
Do you have any idea how hard it is to actually do those tests while doing missions in the distant past? Things kept throwing greek fire at me, or my pets would draw ALL the agro the instant I try getting stuff to hit me.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History