1) Not very. You only have to do one of the two offered to you at 40 to actually unlock the patron powerset. Lengthwise it's comparable to a regular story arc.
2) I'm pretty sure they all have a fight against an EB (or AV depending on your difficulty settings) in the end. If you can handle one of those you're okay.
3) Each has its ups and downs. Water Spout from Mako's Leviathan Mastery is popular for PvP as far as Stalkers go. Same goes for Web Envelope from Scorpion's Mace Mastery. If you're not a PvP type of person, I don't think it makes much difference. Go for what fits thematically - red lightning, souls, a bane spider mace or freakin' sharks?
Try the one out you like the look of the most. Then keep £5.99 handy for an immediate respect. 
Other than that I am sure you will do fine, choose the patron that suits the character.
@Boy Wonder
Quantum Flash - Ill/Kin Controller
Leader of the Legion of Heroes
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Try the one out you like the look of the most. Then keep £5.99 handy for an immediate respect. Other than that I am sure you will do fine, choose the patron that suits the character.
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And hope that recent hints about Patron Pools being respeccable out of have been read correctly...
As of today, when you've picked a Pool that toon's stuck with it forever after.
Yeah i noticed that! Thanks for help guys - have battled to the last mission - just Numina to get at some point tomorrow hopefully
Golden-Phoenix - Lvl 50 Fire/Fire Tank
Oodja Nikabolokov - Lvl 50 SS/WP Brute
Baby-Phoenix - Lvl 50 Peacebringer
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could Chuck Norris?
When I asked this question I was told there's really not much of a difference. I went for Ghost Widow simply because I'd encountered her in arcs previously (never much encountered the others at all) and a night widow makes a nice pet.
Thelonious Monk
I opted for Ghost Widow too. I was so tempted to have a Mu pet but GW pool powers suited the stealthy ninja character and yeah I wanted a pet Night Widow too lol
Golden-Phoenix - Lvl 50 Fire/Fire Tank
Oodja Nikabolokov - Lvl 50 SS/WP Brute
Baby-Phoenix - Lvl 50 Peacebringer
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could Chuck Norris?
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When I asked this question I was told there's really not much of a difference.
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It really does depend on the archetype. Yes, the power choices are pretty much the same across all patrons for Brutes (ST attack, cone/AE immob, cone/AE attack, pet) and Masterminds (cone/AE immob, cone/AE attack, toggle armour, ST hold), the only major tactical difference being whether your multi-target immobilises/attacks are cones (GWidow, Mako) or targeted AEs (BScorp, Scirocco).
With Dominator, Corruptor and Stalker 3 of the powers are more-or-less the same across all 4 patrons, but one power in the pool can differ:
- Mako gives Stalkers a Water Spout when the other 3 patrons give snipes.
- Scirocco/GWidow gives Dominators an end-drain power while Mako again gives the Water Spout and BScorp gives a ranged single-target debuff (-res/-def debuff).
- Scirocco gives Corruptors an end-drain power, while Mako/BScorp give a mass immob and GWidow gives a +dmg/+ToHit drain power.
Even with the similar powers each patron has its own flavour, either from the damage type their attacks do, the secondary affects attached to them, the fact BScorp's shield gives defence instead of resist like the other 3 and that his immobilise/hold powers do no damage in exchange for -rchg/-spd/-fly/-jump debuffing - or even more min-maxing reasons such as Scirocco's powers tending to animate much faster or BScorp's tending to be slower because of redraw.
Sure patron pools don't have the variety of hero ancillary pools, but the differences are sufficient that I often make my choice based more on gameplay reasons than concept ones.
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With Dominator...
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And at this point it has to be noted that that the Dominator Mu Patron Pet has a single target Heal Other ability, which makes it a top-notch choice above anything else. Also, the Mu End Drain power is all-round superior to Soul one...
*ribbit*
[b][color=blue]Coldest War /[color=red]/ Omega Patient[/b]
[url="http://www.the-cow.net/"][color=red]The CoW Network (Blog) /[/url][url="http://www.collegeofwar.com/"][color=blue]/ College of War[/url]
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With Dominator...
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And at this point it has to be noted that that the Dominator Mu Patron Pet has a single target Heal Other ability, which makes it a top-notch choice above anything else. Also, the Mu End Drain power is all-round superior to Soul one...
*ribbit*
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I didn't want to drill down into too much detail, but yeah if both of those are things you need then Scirocco is a good choice for Dominators. But my Mind/Psi Dom has Drain Psyche, and Aid Self too, so healing and end recovery just isn't a problem - I went Black Scorpion for the single target -res debuff to help take down EBs/AVs faster as that helps to patch a weakness in the dominator archetype (and /psi in particular), plus as a bonus I also get the biggest and coolest pet any archetype in the game can take 
Honestly I could find reasons to justify any of the dominator patron pools for different powerset combos (planning to go Mu on my Plant/Elec for concept & the end drain, and Mako on my Earth/Fire for the Toxic cone), although Ghost Widow is by far the least attractive pool to me because of the long recharge you mention on that end-drain.
Quick sub question to the one in the OP. Where are the patron pool contacts? I expected someone to pass them onto me, but nope nothing. My MM is now at level 45 and no patron pool. Although I intend that state of affairs to continue. It would be nice to be able to tell other people where they are.
Arbiter Rein infront of the grandville building
Well, time has passed inexorably and with its passing Harlequin-Phoenix has reached the dizzy heights of 40.5. (The length of time it takes to get a bar of XP makes the .5 important
) As such thoughts turn to Patron Powers and how to obtain them. Thus far I know it is a mission/series of missions obtained from a contact in Grandville, however what I am after finding out is:
1. How long do they take to complete?
2. Are they soloable for a Stalker?
3. Is one patron power pool better than others or are they fairly equal? (i was considering the Mu pool.)
Any assistance would be gratefully received as always
Thanks
GP
Golden-Phoenix - Lvl 50 Fire/Fire Tank
Oodja Nikabolokov - Lvl 50 SS/WP Brute
Baby-Phoenix - Lvl 50 Peacebringer
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could Chuck Norris?