Robots for MM's is the most damaging primary due to it's AoE's. However, for best survivability (maybe not highers HP but that's not everything there is to it), Zombies are the best choice IMO.
And yes, there are very big differences with some primaries and secondaries.
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Robots for MM's is the most damaging primary due to it's AoE's.
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Yep, it's somewhat, erm, interesting to see all 3 Drones, both PB's and Mr. Stompy open up with their AoE's as their first attack on a spawn...
The opposition seems to just melt away, assuming it's not conning yellow, or a lieutenant or higher, or just resistant to energy damage (damn Crystal type DE 
)
But, to be brutally honest, I took Robotics for the look of it, nothing to do with min/maxing 
Warning:
The above post may contain Cynicism, sarcasm and/or pessimism. If you object to the quantities contained, then tough.
Personally I could never be bothered to bean count enough to figure out which might be more damaging than others.
I can say say with certainty that I can anihilate a whole spawn of mixed orange and yellow on ruthless with my opening gambit with the Oni's critical'd fire breath.
my SG has two zombie guys that play alongside me in missions sometimes, to be honest I find I lose less genin than they do, that may be because they are slightly lower level than me, play less well or simply just let their tier one pets die to use soul extraction.
I would summise that the primaries in the right hands with people whos play style fits them probably function within a very narrow band of capability.
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Yep, it's somewhat, erm, interesting to see all 3 Drones, both PB's and Mr. Stompy open up with their AoE's as their first attack on a spawn...
The opposition seems to just melt away, assuming it's not conning yellow, or a lieutenant or higher, or just resistant to energy damage (damn Crystal type DE )
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They melt away when they're conning purple too :P
IN MEMORIUM OF GAYBABY
CRUELY TAKEN FROM THIS WORLD WHILE SO YOUNG
Biggest differences IMO are the range of them...
Robots are primarily Ranged (long range at that)
Mercs Medium Range
Ninjas Short/Melee
Zombies Melee
That is of course not to say that they can't work outside those ranges but thats what the AI seems to prefer.
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Biggest differences IMO are the range of them...
Robots are primarily Ranged (long range at that)
Mercs Medium Range
Ninjas Short/Melee
Zombies Melee
That is of course not to say that they can't work outside those ranges but thats what the AI seems to prefer.
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I guess ninjas are supposed to be like you say, but as I often team with a ninja MM I have noticed that her ninjas often stay the same distance from the mobs as my mercs. But yes, they more often go into melee than my mercs.
And robots... the noise of their movement drives me crazy! 
The AI on my undead seems to prefer long range vomit. After that initial spew two out of my three zombies usually just stand there waiting for the power to recycle leaving the one brave zombie to go melee a bit. The skeleton just loves to blast. I wish they'd be more willing to charge in without being explicitly ordered and carefully positioned.
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The AI on my undead seems to prefer long range vomit. After that initial spew two out of my three zombies usually just stand there waiting for the power to recycle leaving the one brave zombie to go melee a bit. The skeleton just loves to blast. I wish they'd be more willing to charge in without being explicitly ordered and carefully positioned.
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Yeah same here. But once you've got Mr Grave Knight into melee with his sword out he'll stick to using it, even closing on other targets to finish them.
I always just force the 3 zombies and the knight into melee anyway. But they get eaten alive by AOEs then (boo to Scrapyarders).
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Biggest differences IMO are the range of them...
Robots are primarily Ranged (long range at that)
Mercs Medium Range
Ninjas Short/Melee
Zombies Melee
That is of course not to say that they can't work outside those ranges but thats what the AI seems to prefer.
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I'm affraid (on the Necro side at least) you are mistaken. Zombies / Grave Knights / Lich likes to use their range, alot... have to force them into Melee alot of the time.
I don't think you can say that one primary is better than the other, but you can look at their abilities and from that deduct who is the most potent!
I can say as much as this, Necromancer is GREAT at croud control, having the Lich and Ghost (Lich has AoE Imob, Hold, AoE Fear, AoE Knockback) (Ghost has a Hold) Zombies have a AoE vomit attack and Grave Knights are just insane in melee (at 34 they are doing crits for 117(234) on yellows) and on top, with the final upgrade, all your pets can recive LT ability (Lich and Ghost already having these)
So... It's basicaly a way of playstyle... Hitpoints of Pets are the same all over, but resistances vary.
Hope that helps
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Yep, it's somewhat, erm, interesting to see all 3 Drones, both PB's and Mr. Stompy open up with their AoE's as their first attack on a spawn...
The opposition seems to just melt away, assuming it's not conning yellow, or a lieutenant or higher, or just resistant to energy damage (damn Crystal type DE )
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I love that bit - that's when you realise that commanding an army of metallic morons is worth it and not an exercise in frustration
I play mercs and apart from longbow flamers who can incinerate my pets extremely quickly I don't tend to lose troops any faster than other types. In fact, I find that they survive a lot better than my mates ninja who all seem to have a death wish.
Visually I think that robots have the edge, those giant robots are awesome. I've not played with zombies at high enough levels to see all the pets but mercs are really drab and boring to look at.
All I can say is that with mastermind I can play on high difficulty levels much easier than with other alts. My blaster and empath rarely play on anything other than heroic as faceplanting while running away is a major problem.
General Deathbringer lvl 33 mastermind
Enforcer lvl 38 blaster
Lord Blue lvl 28 healer
Lady Thistle lvl 10 plant flinger
I think that different pets have different preferences to their attacks, Mercs and Robots prefer ranged attacks, whereas zombies and ninjas are better suited to being close range.
Thing is, different pet classes have different abilities too, my spec ops have AoE disorients. Makes for some fun gameplay!
Does Robots, for example, out class the others. I read somewhere it has the highest DPS and Hit Points. Is that true?