Thugs or Bots, to be honest.
The Ninjas are just too delicate, and all bar Oni mitigate damage through defense, which unless it's in large quantities, does not help them at all in PvP (let alone Pve!)
Merc's AI has been b0rked since time immemorial.
Thugs will stick at range, and the Bruiser is a perfect recipient for Painbringer. The enforcers have Manuevers, which stacks with yours. A friend's Thugs/Traps has all the pets softcapped to all 3 positional defenses.
Bots are the staple. Sturdy, powerful, NRG and Fire damage.
Give them both a go, I'd say, as it may come down to personal preference.
Oh, and anyone who *actually* PvPs on an MM is welcome to step on my toes and correct me
I'd say Thugs too. Bots just annoy me, horrid big clanky things, always getting in the way.
Thugs give a nice spread of single-target and cones & AOE all the way through the game (well from level 12 on), the Bruiser would really benefit from Painbringer and Gang War & World of Pain sounds pretty entertaining (assuming the buff is applied to them, haven't tried it myself).
Actually I think you may have something there with bots.
With bringer of pain giving 17% res and bodyguard reducing damage mace mastery seems an ok ppp. The bot shield should stack with the defence in mace mastery and power boost may mean you are sitting on almost 30% res to all and 50% defence for 15 seconds when you need it.
Add to this double healing and it seems an ideal ppp. Fully slotted and with hasten 4secs on both web envelope and cocoon should be enough to keep folk from getting away.
Painbringer on assault bot and hopefully damage should be enough to kill folk especially with -regen on attacks.
Well thats the theory I'll be going with, if anyone sees a big fault in it please say.
Thanks again for the help.
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Mercenaries: Ranged, -perception on flash bang, stuns and web granades on 2nd pets must be useful and good synergy with serum/pain/commando. Lethal damage damage though and maybe too much DoT, no -regen.
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The recharge on all these powers is soo freaking long, it aint worth it to rely on their control abilities.
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(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
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Mercenaries: Ranged, -perception on flash bang, stuns and web granades on 2nd pets must be useful and good synergy with serum/pain/commando. Lethal damage damage though and maybe too much DoT, no -regen.
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The recharge on all these powers is soo freaking long, it aint worth it to rely on their control abilities.
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Yup the webs are 30secs which is longer then ppp ones. Thing is with yet further thought Ive decided mace mastery is rubbish for pvp as defence is useless, blasters can hit easily through 100%.
Way I see it mercs can get that 1st web out then I can follow up with air superiority.
Problem is that only real damage would come from the commando and me. So can the commando with serum and painbringer do enough damage to take down a tank or scrapper?
Other choice would be Nec/Pain and air superiority to control my opponent. As pain one should be able to be out of BG mode for a while without too much hassle.
Whatever I do Ill be getting speed,leaping,fitness and flighting pools.
That would be a no. The rotation of commando's attacks are serious gimped and since the majority of his attacks are SL he wont be doing much dmg. Then eventualy serum runs out and its end of the line for him (his base resist aint that great).
Personaly for PvP? Necro or bots. Necro for their huge -acc dark attacks and the toxic element, bots for their extra def, nrg dmg, -regen and survivability.
(do note, my opinion about mercs is really really bad, i have all MM sets now and they perform way below the others).
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Bots/Traps with scorpion shield and assault/tactics. Nigh on unkillable 
The Combo: Poison Trap and Trip Mine. With Protectorbot shields, FF generator and the Scorpion shield, only the most ungodly slotted personage will hit you, and even then the damage is spread over bodyguard mode. Couple with Triage beacon, caltrops and Acid Mortar, Bots/traps is arguably more survivable than Bots/Pain. I may well be wrong on that, but I know I've had good results with Bots/Traps =]
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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Thanks SinergyX. I already swapped to necro as I thought that would be the answer. MM guides seem a little lacking other then stuff saying "this teir 3 pet is so awesome".
Sadly air superiority doesnt have -jump though so do you know if any of the patron powers do?
Traps is an idea and probably way more fun to play. Reason I personally am shying away from bots/traps is the lack of self heal.
Also I dont know how bots shield and traps defence is with power boost but couldnt a blaster with slotted aim and build up hit you through it? I remember I used to have little difficulty killing FF defenders through personal forcefield with my stalker so thought relying on defence alone wouldnt be enough. Any idea what % defence you are reaching and if there is a cap on it? -acc on dark would also work maybe with traps. But isnt traps a little more stationary? I would like to have reasonable mobility though I know as an MM it will be limited.
Ah so many questions, thanks again for your help though, Ill get there eventually. 
FF defenders don't have 6 minions wailing on the oposition, nor do they have an AoE Hold/vomit trap, caltrops, acid mortar and other nasty gubbins
Oh, and if you use hover and group fly, bots are even more of a nightmare to fight for melee types.
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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Oh, and if you use hover and group fly, bots are even more of a nightmare to fight for melee types.
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Bots are indeed, traps are without captrops, mortar, trap, mine, a lot less usefull while in air.
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I remember I used to have little difficulty killing FF defenders through personal forcefield with my stalker so thought relying on defence alone wouldnt be enough.
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Probably not slotted for defence, afaik PFF is base 45% defence wich is just softcap. Players can overcome that very easy, scrappers with FA/drone can hit also insane high accuracy.
Bots have a 'headstart' on defence, while necro needs to build it up (stacking -acc). Hm, maybe even bots/dark or necro/dark might be a great choice, all boils down to personal preferences.
Necro tier 3 also has fear, wich is a nice to have power. And if the 2 graveknights stay ranged and slotted for -acc, they spam 2 dark powers pretty nonstop, would compensate the protector bubble me thinks.
I say both are pretty nice to have, my nerco/trap (pve) is my alltime favorite from all the MM's i have. Bots is plain mayhem, but only if u have the big bot out.
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Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
It is nice to get some indepth feedback as most guides seem a little sparce on detailed info.
We havnt mentioned necro/storm combo which is being used in the US but again I dont really want a targeted self heal.
On necro though Ive been thinking of a tactic that may work, in thoery at least. The zombies seem to have very good burst damage with double puke and brawl. If you only use the first upgrade and set them on passive for BG mode then it may be possible to time them all to puke up on an opponent once you get his health low.
Even if he gets away he will have a DoT on that will prevent aid self and give you some time to finnish him off.
Only an idea but may work.
Hi guys Ive decided to have a */pain MM for pvp and would like to know what you would advise for the primary set.
The way I see it I want a primary that allows me to stick to my target as pain has nothing but a pbaoe res/def debuff.
I dont know if I am right but my thoughts so far is that:
Necromancy: Only control seems to come from lich so no stacking, zombies move slow and are more aoe then single target, knights however would be good for burst damage but probably not enough to nuke kill anything but squishies.
Ninjas: Fast, caltrops could work well after web from ppp, possible control from oni, -regen from darts. Seems ok but is it enough?
Robotics: Ranged, big bot/pain bringer, +7.5% defence on self (possible to get 15%?), how effective are drones for pvp control? -regen on some attacks and -perception attack which would be very good combined with stealth to make opponent lose target (deadly I think vs MM). Good but Ive heard folk think drones have little effect.
Thugs: Good synergy with bringer of pain on brute and -fly on hurl but very little else in the form of control.
Mercenaries: Ranged, -perception on flash bang, stuns and web granades on 2nd pets must be useful and good synergy with serum/pain/commando. Lethal damage damage though and maybe too much DoT, no -regen.
I think I am tempted to go merc, based on this but maybe someone can tell me if I am getting it right ans how good merc is at locking down a target in pvp?