Robotics/Dark, what's the deal?

So, I've been working on a concept for a Robotics/Dark MM for about a month now (I like to have characters that i really love and find cool lol.) I've created a build in Mid's with regular IOs and i'm pretty happy with it. Now, being that there aren't any very current guides for this type of MM, I turn to all masterminds out there. So, is this a popular combo? what are some strengths/weaknesses? how do the sets play? I'm just looking for some input from experiences villains, MMs, and Robo/darks. Tell me a bit about what it's like to be a Robo/dark!

EDIT: I have a lvl 42 D3 blueside, so I know how dark miasma plays, but I meant more how do the 2 sets play together?

Robotics/Dark is indeed a very powerful combo, and arguably one of the best available. As a Robotics Mastermind you must realize 1 thing: AoE is your speciality. Yes, Bots excel at all things Area.

Now let me get down to some more deciding factors of the combo.

Dark: Ah, Dark! Possibly the most powerful secondary available to us and even more so since Robots get stacking Force Shields. From dark you'll basically want everything other than these skippable powers: Howling Twilight, Petrifying Gaze, Black Hole. Why would I say skip Howling Twilight you say? I don't mean it's a must drop, I mean it's an up-to-you kind of power, especially if you solo but not against Archvillains. As for Petrifying Gaze...that is entirely up to you. Why? Because you 'can' take Gaze and stack it with a Patron Hold. It's very useful for tricky bosses. Black Hole is probably what many people are instantly saying is skippable, but I will disagree. Black Hole is your ultimate panic button, and I'm willing to bet someone out there would love 30 seconds of safety in a very hot situation.

Example: The team is having an easy time of it against a single mob, but oh no, someone deliberately (or accidentally in this case) pulled another mob over to them! Death is happily jogging along to overrun your team. BUT! You have Black Hole at your disposal, so that group just became a non-existant (quite literally) threat for 30 whole seconds.

Example 2: You're having a field day with the Elite Boss/Objective at hand! Oh, wait, you seem to notice some ambush dialogue in your chat box (if you have NPC dialogue enabled that is). The ambush(es) arrive on the scene and you're suddenly in over your head on this one. Quickly, you deicded to whip out Black Hole completely phasing the ambushers allowing you to go on with your objective/Elite Boss undisturbed for 30 seconds (or it is allowing you to escape/re-setup and rest).

Pretty standard with Robotics. Take all the pets, upgrades, etc. Oh, wait, one more thing! Repair is absolutely optional, or in this case an absolute waste.With Dark's insane healing abilities, stacked Force Shields, and ToHit debuffs there's very little needed room for a heal on a 2minute timer.

On to how these two sets co-exist.

Robo/Dark and you: So you've decided to become a Robotics/Dark Miasma Mastermind, eh? Good choice! You've just picked a combo that can't go wrong! Now let me get a little more into the mechanics of proper synergy.

Proper Synergy: Now, Tar Patch is a power you cannot go wrong with, literally. 30% resistance debuff and a hefty amount of slowing power. Good, right? Exactly. This is another perma'd power in the set with enhancements alone,a dn it's great for your Assault Bot at level 32. I'm going to assume you know how Robotics works and just jump right in to the main point: The movement reduction in Tar Patch is absolutely delicious when combined with the Assault Bot's Incendiary Missile Swarm. So, you must be wondering 'Is that the only synergy you're gonna tell me'? No, it's not. Dark functions so well with Robotics it's almost creepy, and this can be seen with the added defense from Force Shield, and the added ToHit debuffs from Dark Miasma, which can get pretty nasty once enhanced. Another synergy tip to remember, is that spamming your heal on much more powerful enemies (I.E. Archvillains or Heroes) is HIGHLY advised. Why exactly? Archvillains do not resist damage debuffs...AT ALL. So, quite literally, making sure your Protector Bots are healthy over your other pets in a hefty fight is vital. The Protector Bots-once fully upgraded-will provide about a 40% damage debuff on their own. Wow, big, right? Oh yes it is. Combine that 40% to the near 100% you and the Dark Servant are chugging out and you've got a neutered enemy!

More Synergy Tips: The Dark Servant is a great pet, right? Correct. The Dark Servant, or Fluffy as he is affectionately called, is a very powerful source of ToHit debuffing, able to keep an entire group in melee whiffing all day long, and all night strong. Fortunately your little friend is nearly perma out-of-the-box with hasten alone, and enhancements make sure your little friend is always prepared. Now this next synergy tip isn't just general information, it's actual executable information you can apply in-game.

Herding with Fluffy and Friends: Sometimes Dark works best when the enemies are bunched up together, and this is highly noticeable once you get Darkest Night, Fearsome Stare, and Tar Patch. Set your pets on Go To Passive (defensive is not advised as stray fire from an enemy while doing this will obviously ruin the synergy of this technique) behind a a corner, or in a small. With your choice of travel power available head up to the enemy mob and place Darkest Night on your target, perferably at a safe distance that will allow you time to retreat to your pets, and begin the run/jump/walk/teleport/flight back to your little mob of buddies. Now, it is highly imperative that you have not summoned Fluffy yet, as he will become useful once the mob reaches the pets. Once you see the reticle of the target approach your corner or small room you can either do A: Place Tar Patch, use Fearsome Stare, then summon Fluffy, or B: Drop Fluffy, use Fearsome Stare, and Drop Tar Patch (Note: Fearsome Stare is not necessary if you drop fluffy directly on the mob as he'll happily keep them blinded). This technique will allow you to, quite easily, mow down mobs that otherwise would have given you some problems had you rushed them.

That's all the information I'm likely to be providing currently, and I apologize if I treated you as if you knew nothing about either of the two sets if you already had.

So get out there and be the Master of the Mind I know you can be!

Edit: Ignore any idiotic statements I may have made obviously not reading the fact you are a D3, thank you.

Hmmm, the only weakness this combo even has would probably be...I can't really think of any weaknesses, actually. ToHit resistant enemies might be a problem, but the debuffing amount you can do with Dark combined with Robo shields will basically allow for enough protection not to notice much else.

Against Developer content you will have no weaknesses (other than the usual issues MMs have: Scatter powers, Mass AoE, etc.), but in the MA you will encounter some enemies that will give your build a shaking, and good. Oh, but you know it's slightly endurance heavy from the Dark Miasma side of things.

I agree with pretty much everything Bookkeeper_Jay shared EXCEPT: I could never imagine skipping a power that AUTOHITs for STUN, -REGEN, SLOW all at the same time while coincidentally rezzing any non-pet teammate in close proximity. I take Howling Twilight, get maximum recharge so that it's available every other group. My Robots/Dark MM also took photon grenades to stack with the protobots to stack with Howling Twilight's stun. You can stun nullifiers and some bosses with nice sized AoE stuns from three stackable sources.

Saying that you have to have -regen to beat the tough bosses isn't exclusively true, but it does indeed help! Howling twilight takes a big bite out of enemy alpha strikes as well. It's indispensible.

I said it's optional, I never said skip it or else.

Edit: I also said AV/Hero, not Boss. Just for calrification.

Thanks for the great response, bookkeeper jay! This build seems like a powerhouse! Those are some crazy synergies. Glad to hear from some people who are experienced with the build. I don't usually see it a lot, that's why i was surprised when it looked so perfect on paper. So is this a popular MM powerset combo?

The one real weakness it has is the tendency of your Bots to knock things out of Tar Patch and the Assault Bot's burning patches. Scirocco's AoE Immobilization will help with that since it has -KB ( although it's also smaller than the other Immobilizes ). And it's a mixed "weakness" since knockback also protects you somewhat from incoming attacks.

Yes, I think I noticed that in Mid's. I hear the Mu Mastery powers are pretty cool looking, too! Lots of KB in bots, I think I will need the Immobilize for Tar Patch, like you said. I wouldn't want to sacrifice all that -Res. I think it's stupid that you can even get knocked out of tar patch, isn't it -Fly and -Jump? Why would getting knocked back be any different?
It should be like smashing a bunch of flies on a sheet of flypaper lol!

Also, to respond to another part of your post, bookkeeper: How sure are you that I won't be needing Repair here? It does have a +End component to it for my bots, too, it's a 100% heal no matter what, and it has no to-hit check like Twilight Grasp.

Any other synergies or caveats about Robotics/Dark anyone can think of?

Not that I am Bookkeeper...

About tar patch, with some experience and skill, a /dark MM can 'predict' where the foes will land and place the tar patch behind where the fight is going to start. It takes practice and it isn't intuitive by any means.

In regard to Repair, it does indeed have an endurance component. Most robot users are now putting around 35% endurance reduction in the protector bots and maybe the assault bot. Usually the pet sets have some endurance reduction in the combinations. 35% endurance reduction enhancement buffing in most cases will be enough for your robotic minions.

Meeting your robots needs for endurance cost reduction with slotting generally means you can skip Repair or delay it as Twilight Grasp from the mastermind and the dark servant is capable of filling the healing needs.

there was a guy that solo'd ITF with Robot/Dark.

I'm sure somebody will be kind enough to find that thread and link it. As it has pictures and everything.

Robot/Dark = unstoppable.

Twilight Grasp is a better heal in most circumstances; and if you really need a single target heal ( rare with /Dark ) you can drag and drop an Inspiration onto the name of your Bot in the pet window ( if you didn't know ).

Hmmm...thinking about it, maybe I will skip Repair. How reliable are the pets on healing? I have Fluffy on my D3 and he heals a bit, but I have no experience with the Protectors. I kind of wanted a slot to fit either Vengeance or Hasten, and I think Repair would be the power to drop.

Do you all recommend Hasten for Robo/Darks? I like Hasten, but I've never really felt necessity for it on many other toons before. Plus, I don't like the pinkish hand poofs lol, but I've taken it before on toons with Recharge problems.

I personally find Hasten very good on my Bots/Dark. Those /Dark powers really benefit from spamming them faster.

Take Aid Other over Repair.

Something else to consider in the protector bot healing AI is that the protobots will heal for which portion they are slotted up for heal with. If they are slotted to heal 100% of a battle drone's health, they will wait until the first tier bot is nearly dead before they will heal. If they are lightly slotted say 60% heal of an attack bot, they will tend to heal on a quicker schedule. I find the latter situation preferable as with too much heal slotting, your minions are more likely to die in heavy fighting due to the protector bot's priorities.

To the OP,

Out of the 5 level 50 MM's I have , I find Bots/dark to be the most Powerful after level 32. Not the most damaging MM I have, but the sheer survivability of the set is insane compared to other archtypes. Also don't underestimate the + Regen you, your fluffy and your Assault bot can dish out. I don't have the exact numbers, But I believe you and fluffy's heal will each do -50% regen, and one of the Assault bots attacks reduces it by 1000% when it hits. You can look around the forums and find a few videos of Bot/dak's soloing GM's.

I slotted my MM with sets that would boost def, took no travel power or hasten. off the top of my head, with Protector bots bubble I have 60% S/L def, 42% Range 39% melee/AoE def, and with all the -tohit you have at your disposal..... This was about a 200-225 mil build.

The only drawback is it can be very boring to play, even on test with 8 man spawns of Malta set to +2 my level /yawn.

As the player of my beloved iMaid, Bots/Dark, I have one thing to day:

Howling Twilight. Slot it up, USE IT. Drop it in the middle of a mob and set yer bots on aggressive. Things just don't survive it for very long.

Rezzing is an afterthought for this lovely, lovely power on MMs.

I've never had a need for Black Hole when I have a cone fear that comes up a lot and a hold for when you just don't want to deal with spawn X or mob Y. Heck, two holds after I took GW....