Dark is the most powerful MM secondary, no contest.
Can't say about poison, but dark is so active secondary that I'd suggest getting stamina, especially if you want to blast a bit as well.
I'm fairly new to MMs myself but so far it's clear to me that ninja's are very melee based and mercs at range. Both do smash (and lethal) damage exept for the oni henchman from the ninja set, he does fire damage. Dark miasma seems to fit both fairly well. It might be easier for you to heal the mercs with dark miasma because you don't have to get in melee range (PbAoE range of the heal is fairly poor, smaller then the corruptor version). I don't know much about poision, running a ninja/dark myself 
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Dark is the most powerful MM secondary, no contest.
Can't say about poison, but dark is so active secondary that I'd suggest getting stamina, especially if you want to blast a bit as well.
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Yes, I was going to get Stamina, and early on this time too. I learnt that the hard way with my Ice/Dark corruptor, going up to level 24 without it was quite hard work.
I was already leaning toward Dark Miasma secondary anyway, because it seems so prefect. You can stand back and area de-buff with Darkest Night and Tar Patch, and maybe even Fearsome Stare, and you can always run into the pack for a quick heal if they're taking a beating.
Chillblaze, if you don't mind me asking, what level is your Ninja/Dark MM? And how are you finding it going so far?
I love my ninja/dark MM... a lot. More than chunky munky ice cream, for example.
I have stamina but don't often get into blue trouble, because my boys do most of the fighting for me. If you don't already, I would strongly, strongly suggest getting an MM keybond set, (Master Zaps is supposed to be excellent), as the melee nature of ninja means you're going to have to have them on a good tight leash, control wise.
When you get up some levels it's just gorgeous. Invisible fire breath from Oni equals massive cone criticals and then just when the mobs are recovering from suddenly being on fire from nowhere, here are five other guys to lamp them till they stop twitching.
My other half is disturbed by how much I giggle at my ninja - I love this set.
I think you shoud ask Jacqueline about a detailed nina/dark build and experiences . Mine is only lvl 6 so far after getting a robotics/traps to lvl 12 and thinking I might like melee henchman more...
Thanks very much, Jacqueline. You've convinced me. Could you tell me which powers are essential for a Ninja/Dark build? I know what I want from Dark Miasma; Twilight Grasp, Darkest Night, Tar Patch, Fearsome Stare, Petrifying Gaze, Shadowfall, Dark Servant, and maybe Howling Twilight to res any fallen Ninjas. But I'm not too sure about the Ninja's set.Is Fistful of Arrows worth getting, or Smoke Flash? Are there any powers I should avoid?
Ok, it sounds like you know the dark secondary... I've been happy with everything I've taken from the primary so far, except that, if I ever respec, I'd drop an attack so that I only have Aimed Shot and not Snap Shot too - you only really need one attack, as your boys will be doing the fighting for you.
Take everything else - Smoke Bomb is priceless and you will learn to love it, especially when you get your Oni.
Basically, smoke bomb the Oni, move him to mid range and then have him attack a mob and he'll do a cone Breath of Fire which will critical everything it hits - he'll then usually back it up with another attack, while still concealed while will also be a critical hit.
Before you get your Oni you can use it to conceal your Jounin and they do this awesome double sword thrust which gives you a critical and, often, a knockdown too.
Basically, take everything from the primary, bar the attacks, as soon as it's available. All of it is good.
One last note though - fallen ninja cannot be res'd.
Take Howling Twilight anyway, for teammate resing and, the reason I use it most often, for a disorient power in solo mode. If you get jumped on by a huge mob you can fire it off and disorient all of them in one go and buy some time.
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Ok, it sounds like you know the dark secondary...
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Yep, my first toon is an Ice/Dark Corruptor, so I know Dark Miasma pretty well, up to level 26 anyway. But I also got alot of info about the higher level powers in the set from a thread in the Corruptor forum.
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I've been happy with everything I've taken from the primary so far, except that, if I ever respec, I'd drop an attack so that I only have Aimed Shot and not Snap Shot too - you only really need one attack, as your boys will be doing the fighting for you.
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I've noticed that, I've gotten up to level 7 so far, with the Ninjas slotted with 2 damage and an accuracy, and the same with Aimed Shot. I keep wanting to constantly use my bow and do some damage, I'm not used to having everything done for me. But when I do, I seem to run out of endurance awfully quick, so I try to stand back and use Darkest Night, then run in with Twilight Grasp if needed.
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Take everything else - Smoke Bomb is priceless and you will learn to love it, especially when you get your Oni.
Basically, smoke bomb the Oni, move him to mid range and then have him attack a mob and he'll do a cone Breath of Fire which will critical everything it hits - he'll then usually back it up with another attack, while still concealed while will also be a critical hit.
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Sounds great!
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Before you get your Oni you can use it to conceal your Jounin and they do this awesome double sword thrust which gives you a critical and, often, a knockdown too.
Basically, take everything from the primary, bar the attacks, as soon as it's available. All of it is good.
One last note though - fallen ninja cannot be res'd.
Take Howling Twilight anyway, for teammate resing and, the reason I use it most often, for a disorient power in solo mode. If you get jumped on by a huge mob you can fire it off and disorient all of them in one go and buy some time.
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Ok, sounds really handy, I usually tend to solo anyway, so it should be good. And thanks again for the advice.
I'm thinking of starting another toon to play, a Mastermind, but I can't make my mind up about the power sets, so any advice, opinions, or experiences would be really appreciated.
First off, I can't decide between Ninjas or Mercenaries. Can anyone give me the pros and cons of each, or suggest one?
Second, I'm looking at either Dark Miasma or Poision. I'm using Dark Miasma at the moment with Iceis, and I love the set so far. Twilight Grasp is nice for healing a group, which is probably a good idea for a MM. And using Tar Patch and Darkest Night together is pretty good to de-buff groups of Mobs.
I haven't got a clue about Poision though. I see it's got an ally heal, but obviously I can't use it on myself like I can with Twilight Grasp. It's got a hold too, like Dark. Are there any other good powers in the set anyone can give me the jist of?
Also, which other powers would compliment either set? Stamina? Group Fly? Etc.
Thanks for the input.