I think FF is generally better with ranged Primaries tbh, the rest certainly won't get much use out of the level 38 Repel bubble.
Poison's meant to be one of the better melee Secondaries (and great for pvp) but I've not tried it yet.
I have tried a ninja/poison, think I still got him on Defias. But I find poison realy lacking what the other secondary can bring. The heal is realy a minimal and mostly not enough to keep your pet alive. Twilight grasp is a lot better at that. However the def debuff looked nice on first sight, but think it wouldn't be that great later on. So in my eyes poison is realy a weak secondary, and hasn't anything that the other can do, and even the others do it better 
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Mira Mayhem LvL 10 Thugs/Dark Magic Mastermind *U
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Nice one. Good choice. ENJOY!
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Nonono! Whatever you do, DON'T go Bot/Dark.
You won't be able to play another toon without thinking "Bah, my MM could clear these mobs twice as fast".
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Indeed - I know that feeling
It's not too bad, though - all of my other characters can do things my MM can't - its just bot/dark happens to be the safest and probably fastest soloist I have (although my EM brute and Fire/Rad corr have killed some EBs faster solo, with less hassle, than my MM did).
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Bots/Dark is pretty hard to rationalise too other than to say "I picked the strongest combo"
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Not really. I played Bot/FF for a bit in beta, because it thematically fitted, but I grew tired of having to re-buff with mini-bubbles, even with just 2-3 pets, so I knew it would be worse with 6. So in first week of release I made Bot/Dark instead, with no prior experience of Dark Miasma (I only played CoH for 6 weeks before CoV beta and never played that set). Actually it was quite easy to rationalise in terms of game lore - I don't think there are many powerset combos in the game that are hard to rationalise, if you have imagination.
Basically I didn't know it was going to be (arguably) the most powerful combo - but I'm not upset it turned out to be - better that than all the combos I've deleted because the powersets didn't synergise.
I don't really see much wrong with picking strong combos - some people like an easier game, or a less frustrating one. Also more powerful combos let you play on the highest difficulty reputation where, if you make a mistake, you'll die a lot faster than people plinking away on Villainous/Heroic. "Power-builds" can be more challenging sometimes if they let you step up to a higher difficulty setting without it becoming an exercise in frustration (like it would with some so-called "weak" builds... like my Mind/Psi dom...).
I like my Merc/poison MM, but after seeing other mms in action I do have to say go for anything else but Mercs.
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I like my Merc/poison MM, but after seeing other mms in action I do have to say go for anything else but Mercs.
[/ QUOTE ]And that to know I had the same feeling when I started with bots
Id of thought once a Merc got to 32 and equipped Full Auto and LRM he'd absolutely destroy mobs.
That not so?
Well im enjoying my Thugs. At level 20 atm, so eagerly awaiting my next Enforcer at 24 to get triple stacked Tactics. Yum.
Oh and a Vengeance'd Gangwar is hilarious
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Oh and a Vengeance'd Gangwar is hilarious
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Seconded. Thugs rule.
Thugs might rule, but the sound.. the pee shooting sound. I just cant stand it. But i am jalours, since they quite often fire damage with is lovely for my oil slick.
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
No where near as bad as Robots's lasers sounds. Especially after prolonged exposure to it. Desert Eagles, Pistols, Machine Guns and AK47's get bigger and better.
I don't have anything against laserfire, especialy the powerblast of the protector drone
Can't wait to get to lvl 32, and then the whooooooossssss of those swarm missiles 
Never noticed any particular difference in any MM sets to be honest. They all have their strengths / weaknesses.
Robots: Good all round, excel at nothing. Energy damage less resisted.
Zombies: Stupid, high damage, but melee. Slightly less control. Some dark / toxic damage less resisted.
Thugs: High damage but nearly all smash/lethal. A bit squishier (no resistance). Gang War arguably most useful of that level power in all MM sets. Worst control powers (afaik).
Ninjas: Mobile. Less clever. Fairly good damage and defence, but mainly smash/lethal. Poorish control options.
Mercs: Highest intellect. Good control options. Fairly resilient. Damage ok but mainly smash/lethal.
You takes your pick really. I think thugs slightly overpowered, and ninjas slightly underpowered but thats just me. Personally I think thugs has a bullseye painted on it for a nerf - particularly enforcers stacked leadership buffs.
Ninja's just need a little more thought. A good ninja team can shred Granite far faster than the others. Especially with Dark/Traps.
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Personally I think thugs has a bullseye painted on it for a nerf - particularly enforcers stacked leadership buffs.
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OBJECTION!
Yikes! 
My Thug / Dark mm rules, i run from mission to mission on relentless slaughtering everything in sight, i run with all toggles from leadership and jus stick with my thugs, through a tar pitch here and there and thats about all :P
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Ninjas: Mobile. Less clever. Fairly good damage and defence, but mainly smash/lethal. Poorish control options.
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lol Its funny because its true, I just didnt like ninja's cuz they annoy me when it comes bank mission instead of attacking the vaults with there feet and punches (which I find hilariously phsically impossible) they attack the vault with their crappy shuriken 
besides what the hell are these vault doors made of? tin foil? 
/e dives in through tin foiled vault bank door and steals the money
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Mercs: Highest intellect. Good control options. Fairly resilient. Damage ok but mainly smash/lethal
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Minor tip on the medic once you have the 2nd upgrade, dont give him. Although he gets the mez-resist buff, he will use it a bit too much instead of using his healing. Noticed quite a few times instead of healing he did the mez-resist thing, results in a dead commando.
As for the intellect, any (really) any nontarget debuff that is put down by a mob (disruption arrow, CoT crystals, earthquack etc), they go stand next to and keep redrawing their weapon. Highly annoying.
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
I don't know but I always return to my robotic/FF MM, I also have a ninja/dark wich is quite fun to play but frustrating with those ninjas running of chassing a runner and aggroing the other lot, and damn they can run fast I tell you! And mostly don't listen to the first follow command.
Other then that I also enjoy my newly created merc/TA MM, seems decent and quite fun to play. Don't have gotten him to lvl 12 yet. And well thugs and zombies I mostly don't even get to 6. Zombies are [censored] slow moving for getting into melee. And well thugs lack the range robots got for me.