Bot/FF is stupid powerful (Wall of text warning)
By
Bionic_Flea,
Posted on: 2009-06-22 10:17 in Masterminds
Bots/FF is the Stone Tanker of redside. You don't kill things fast, but you just don't die. Stone Tanks can stand there AFK with a PBAoE on auto and take out whole spawns, just like Bots/FF MMs can. Exxept the MM doesn't need a power on auto since the pets handle the damage.
Of course, the drawback to all that survivability is the slooooow trip to level 32 and the only average kill speed afterward. Again, kind of like a tank.
Cascade, level 50 Blaster (NRG/NRG since before it was cool)
Mechmeister, level 50 Bots / Traps MM
FAR too many non-50 alts to name
[u]Arcs[u]
The Scavenger Hunt: 187076
The Instant Lair Delivery Service: 206636
I quit playing my Bots/FF at 38. Strong to the point of being boring, and no exciting powers to look forward to.
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
[ QUOTE ]
I quit playing my Bots/FF at 38. Strong to the point of being boring, and no exciting powers to look forward to.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, I haven't hit 50 redside yet, so this is going to have to be the one to do it because he's closest.
Next in line is a 22 MM, a 16 MM, two 8 MMs and an 8 Dom.
What can I say? I like MM's... I have one of every (primary) flavor, and I won't duplicate a secondary.
Bot/FF
Necro/Pain
Thug/Poison
Ninja/Dark
Merc/Traps
Demon/Thermal (wishful thinking)
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
It does pay for that power in one thing... If you keep your pets in bodyguard mode they'll have a tendency to stop attacking after the enemy fails to hit them a few times. I keep noticing this on my ninja, and they don't have THAT great of defense. I also sometimes notice it on thugs.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
When you know the strength of them they are great... but they also can be very much tinfoil with the right conditions. I have a harder time taking out a few longbow chasers than I do certain AVs. Get some foes that do lots of KB, sleep, and stick in them as runners the set falls apart.
I also noticed the bodygaurd bug... I use provoke and sands of mu as much as possible to keep the aggro up.
ArchRex Dojhrom x ?
* Sidus Loricatus: B-NRG2, S-BS/Reg, T-Fire/Ice, MM-Bots/FF, St-NRG2, Dom-Psi/NRG, Cor-Son/Traps, Cor-Ice/Kin, Ctrl-Fire/Kin, PB-LB/LA
* Arachnos Loricatus: Soldier, Widow
* Praetoria Loricatus: B-DP/Dev, Cor-Elec/Elec
Demons/Thermal may NOT be wishful thinking eventually...
[ QUOTE ]
When you know the strength of them they are great... but they also can be very much tinfoil with the right conditions. I have a harder time taking out a few longbow chasers than I do certain AVs. Get some foes that do lots of KB, sleep, and stick in them as runners the set falls apart.
I also noticed the bodygaurd bug... I use provoke and sands of mu as much as possible to keep the aggro up.
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't think it's a bug so much as in defensive stance they only attack things that are posing a threat. If the enemy can't hit, the AI says "This isn't a threat" and stops attacking.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
[ QUOTE ]
I quit playing my Bots/FF at 38. Strong to the point of being boring, and no exciting powers to look forward to.
[/ QUOTE ]
lol
because you havent hit the real challenging red side content yet, which is all 40+
Right. The AI seems to "age out" or clear the aggro periodically. Just like Mobs will stop attacking you if you leave them alone, your pets will stop attacking if they don't get hit once in a while.
One thing, Bots/FF can be killed, especially if you lose LOS to your pets. Fighting +6 Bosses in a mish today, I had all my pets jump off a high ledge in pursuit of one Mob in one of those CoT Oranbega. That did kill me the very next hit I took.
Other than that one incident trying to fight up high on a narrow bridge, everything was quite smooth.
My Bots/FF has been sitting at level 25 for a couple of weeks now. I know the Assault Bot is only half a level away, but I'm used to Thugs/Poison, where if any target lasts more than 10 seconds you know it's an EB.
By comparison the time it takes my Bots to kill anything is just mind numbing.
[ QUOTE ]
My Bots/FF has been sitting at level 25 for a couple of weeks now. I know the Assault Bot is only half a level away, but I'm used to Thugs/Poison, where if any target lasts more than 10 seconds you know it's an EB.
By comparison the time it takes my Bots to kill anything is just mind numbing.
[/ QUOTE ]
When you get the assault bot, the speed at which you kill things quadruples, and when you get the final upgrade, it multiplies that by ten.
So you'll be able to kill a minion or two per minute!
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
bot/ff is one of my oldest toons and I can't get him past 18. :s
18 is tough on any MM, doubly so for Bots/FF. I teamed a lot and got mine to 32, it was all good from there.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I quit playing my Bots/FF at 38. Strong to the point of being boring, and no exciting powers to look forward to.
[/ QUOTE ]
lol
because you havent hit the real challenging red side content yet, which is all 40+
[/ QUOTE ]
I've run several villains to 50, pre-MA. So I believe I have indeed hit challenging red-side content.
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I quit playing my Bots/FF at 38. Strong to the point of being boring, and no exciting powers to look forward to.
[/ QUOTE ]
lol
because you havent hit the real challenging red side content yet, which is all 40+
[/ QUOTE ]
I've run several villains to 50, pre-MA. So I believe I have indeed hit challenging red-side content.
[/ QUOTE ]
you havent done it on your bots/ff. it's a different experience than levelling a brute or even a dom post 40.
[ QUOTE ]
I don't have my difficulty on five so I only fight EB's solo. When you can walk away from your computer in the middle of a fight with an elite boss, your character is stupid powerful. When you can aggro multiple bosses and walk away from your computer, your character is stupid powerful.
[/ QUOTE ]
How do you get elite bosses in a mission? I run on 5 solid, always, and never see them. Which missions?
Or are you talking about downgraded AVs?
Ok, that's probably what you're talking about. I just wish elite bosses were at the ends of level 5 paper missions. Right after elite bosses were invented, years ago, this was the case.
But I guess too many people wimped out that 5 was now too hard, because it quickly went away. Personally my scrappers loved it, and it was long before CoV.
"Hey! You knocked generic cola all over your precious D20 books!"
ED: Now I know how Nancy Kerrigan felt: "Why...?!? Why...?!?"
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I don't have my difficulty on five so I only fight EB's solo. When you can walk away from your computer in the middle of a fight with an elite boss, your character is stupid powerful. When you can aggro multiple bosses and walk away from your computer, your character is stupid powerful.
[/ QUOTE ]
How do you get elite bosses in a mission? I run on 5 solid, always, and never see them. Which missions?
Or are you talking about downgraded AVs?
Ok, that's probably what you're talking about. I just wish elite bosses were at the ends of level 5 paper missions. Right after elite bosses were invented, years ago, this was the case.
But I guess too many people wimped out that 5 was now too hard, because it quickly went away. Personally my scrappers loved it, and it was long before CoV.
[/ QUOTE ]
Uhm, there were elite bosses long before CoV. Frostfire is an elite boss. As is Hercules in one of the striga arcs. Atta too is an EB. And the final mission of the Positron Task Force has an EB in it. All those were around before CoV. In fact, I think Frostfire and Atta were added in issue 2.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
Frostfire and Atta were the first 2 Elite Bosses. But initially, they were only called Bosses.
50s: Inv/SS PB Emp/Dark Grav/FF DM/Regen TA/A Sonic/Elec MA/Regen Fire/Kin Sonic/Rad Ice/Kin Crab Fire/Cold NW Merc/Dark Emp/Sonic Rad/Psy Emp/Ice WP/DB FA/SM
Overlord of Dream Team and Nightmare Squad
It's not a wall of text if you use paragraphs.
[ QUOTE ]
It's not a wall of text if you use paragraphs.
[/ QUOTE ]
My humblest apologies, sir. I only mentioned wall of text to denote a long explanation and warn people who didn't feel like reading much.
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
It's stupid powerful within reason that it takes forever to do anything.
With great power comes great boredom, and that is its biggest draw back aside from nothing to help damage wise.
[ QUOTE ]
It's stupid powerful within reason that it takes forever to do anything.
With great power comes great boredom, and that is its biggest draw back aside from nothing to help damage wise.
[/ QUOTE ]
I would agree with this, except since I've picked up an AoE immobilize, damage has skyrocketed. (pardon the pun)
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
I believe I have experienced the worst case of 'slow kill'...
My Bots/FF, vs Widdershins... in a tree, unable to move or attack, helpless.
I could not overcome his regen enough to defeat him.
I remember it took me near an hour to take out the Super Arachnoid at the end of Dobbs arc. It conned purple, and my bots just couldn't keep up with his regen. It was literally the only time I actually NEEDED to use a Shivan to even things out.
Current Main: Thudd. 36 SS/Invul Brute on Justice
50's - Bitter Hatred Bots/FF/Mu MM - Rogue Wyvern Arch/Elec/Elec Blaster - Stonewerk Stone/Stone/Stone Brute - GB Nasty Thugs/Storm/Lev MM
Power and Chaos!
A little clarification before I start this thread: I'm not bragging about my mad skills, because let's face it, bot/ff requires none. I'm not bragging about my uberslotted build, because let's face it, bot/ff requires nothing of the sort. I have simply come to the realization that bot/ff is stupid powerful all on its own.
Ok, so it may not be able to solo an AV without a super expensive build, but just hear me out. I don't have my difficulty on five so I only fight EB's solo. When you can walk away from your computer in the middle of a fight with an elite boss, your character is stupid powerful. When you can aggro multiple bosses and walk away from your computer, your character is stupid powerful.
I found this out during the Hammer of the World arc (possible spoilers) from Scirocco. It pits you against quite a few heroes; in my case, they are only elite bosses.
Foreshadow? I don't remember the fight. I wasn't there. My cats were trying to kill each other and I had to separate them. I came back expecting to see myself faceplanted, but instead found an elite boss at my feet. Stupid powerful.
How about that room with Fathim the Kind and the four arch-mages? Pretty crazy stuff if you ask me since this was my first time to the shadow shard. I finally make my way to that final room and guess what? Game seven is about to start and I want to see my team take the Stanley Cup. Do I log out and come back to the shadow shard later, to jump astronomical distances praying that my bots keep up? I could also go AFK and leave the computer on for what could be two or more hours. I didn't like either option.
So I quickly aggro'd the archmages of agony and ruin and walked away. I came back between periods to aggro the other two. Pens win the cup, so I come back. Turns out that Fathim guy will help you if you get his attention. I wish I'd have known that, he has some nice buffs! Either way, I did little more than one force bolt to each of four bosses and still came out on top. Stupid powerful.
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.