Returning player looking for information/help

Hello, I've recently started playing again, and am seeking information on how to properly play a necro/dark MM.

I've got a level 50 bots/ff MM, but he cannot seem to kill a fly.

So I started anew with my necro/dark MM, but I seem to have some trouble with keeping my pets alive or doing much damage.

What should I be slotting my pet powers with? And what /dark powers should I be getting?

My current tactic is setting up Tar Patch up, then putting Darkest Night on the highest level/damaging target, and then sending my pets in and then running around like my pants are on fire trying to heal them with Twilight Grasp.

Level 29 if that's of any help to you, and I'm grouping with two other MM's. One is necro/rad and the other is necro/dark (albeit they are level 6)

The IO sets, do the bonuses apply just to me or do they affect my pets as well? Are there any IO sets I should set my focus on acquiring?

Thanks a lot for reading this.

I"ll jump in a bit...I've got two level 50 MM, a Thugs/Poison and a Bots/Storm, and working on a Ninja/Trick Arrow (I know I deserve everything I get with this combo).

It appears that Bots/FF are/have been historically THE best combo for MM since the good old days, you could drop /Dark in place of FF and get similar results.

I slot all my pets with 2 ACC/3 DAM and then flavor to taste (except the tier 2 Bots which get 2 ACC/2 DAM/2 HEAL). Bots in the big bubble are kind of like AOE kings so when you say you can't kill a fly I scratch my head a bit. You could probably run 0/6 with SO's and not have any problems.

I use Bodyguard/Follow all the time and add the Attack my Target/Defensive command to my tray when I want to focus on a specific target first.

The only other command I add to my tray is GoTo Aggressive, which is great for melee oriented henchmen like Necro or Ninjas.

Normally MM are kind of easy mode assuming you take all your pets, your pet upgrades (skip your stupid crappy primary attacks, then plan on skipping all your stupid crappy patron attacks) and a heavy investment in your secondary of choice. Add a touch of leadership toggles for flavor and go to town.

There are a ton of great MM guides out there so do a bit of homework and find something you like. Don't worry about Expensive IO sets, you can roll with SO's and common IO's for a while.

Just some thoughts.