1st bot/traps MM need some help from experienced players

so i've made my first bot/traps mastermind after reading through a few things i only now realised how powerful they can be and can solo AVs. i am terrible with IOs and even worse with mids so i was wondering if som 1 could design a mids build for me? i know its a big ask but ill take what i learn from it and apply it to any other masterminds i may make. a few things you should know is:

1. inf is a mild problem for me 500 mill+. builds may take a while to actually IO although i can do it if it is over that amount so dont feel too restricted.

2. I obviously wanna alpha slot him when he reaches 50 so i want to know what would be the most intellegent choice (now that all tiers are unlocked)
3. I wouldn't want too much of a squishy build, i wanna see if i can take on death surge or maybe ghost of scrap yarder if it is possible with this build.

if you do make me a mids build tyvm and if not you can leave some tips for MMs at the bottom and ill be satisfied.

Bots/Traps is a great choice for a low-cost AV soloist. Some people have soloed GMs on them using only SOs, though they tended to be the really good MM players. But you can certainly do a lot with a cheap (sub-100 mil) build.

There are a couple of basic strategies you can use. The first is to simply boost the bots' defense as high as possible... between the Protector Bot shields, Force Field Generator, Maneuvers, and a 5% defense aura IO you'll softcap the Drones and Assault Bot to almost everything (I think psi is the exception) and the Protectors will be close. Then just turn the bots loose and heal the occasional hit that gets through with Aid Other. That method works well for normal mobs but AVs can be trouble, which brings us to my preferred method: tankerminding. Build for defense in the bots, but also in yourself... ideally you will want softcapped Ranged and AoE plus decent Melee. You get a lot of defense from FFG and your Protector Bot bubble, so once you add Maneuvers it isn't hard to softcap or at least hit 40%. Then use Provoke (or Challenge if you only tank on AVs) to keep an AV attacking you and spam Web Grenades to immobilize him and keep him using ranged attacks (which will miss you most of the time). Stand on a Triage Beacon while you do this and keep the bots on it too... the beacon will keep you and the bots topped off from the occasional hit / Bodyguard damage. Just be sure to stand a bit away from the bots rather than in the middle of them so AoEs are less of a problem. (This method also reduces the problems from the borked ranged pet AI... bots running into melee with an AV that's taunted into only using ranged attacks don't get stomped on.)

As far as slotting the bots goes, I like a full set of Blood Mandate in the Battle Drones. They need the damage and accuracy and the defense is handy. For the Assault Bot, you need less accuracy but still plenty of damage, and if you can afford it a Soulbound Chance for Build Up proc is great. Four Acc/Dam Pet Damage IOs, a 5% defense aura IO, and a Soulbound proc if you can afford it is my preferred slotting. The Protectors are the tricky ones: they need some endurance reduction and good defense slotting to boost their shields, but they also do decent damage so it's not good to skimp on that and they need a fair bit of accuracy since they're -1 level to you. Oh, and some people like to enhance their heals too (though some don't because that tends to make them wait longer to use them). Ideally you'll use Hami-Os but failing that two Acc/Dam and two Acc/Dam/End pet damage IOs and two level 50 Defense Buff IOs works well.

The upgrades just need 1-2 endurance reduction, and the rest of Bots is pretty skippable. Repair is occasionally handy but Aid Other is a much better option for keeping the bots going... I'd either skip Repair or take it and just stick a recharge in the default slot and save it for emergencies. The personal attacks... well, they're MM attacks. They look cool (you get a laser gun) but they cost a lot of endurance for minimal damage. I might take Photon Grenade since at least it's AoE but only if you can spare the endurance because healing and trapping is a lot more important.

Speaking of traps, the big key here is recharge and lots of it. Slot everything you take (other than Web Grenade) with a ton of recharge, and if you can get global recharge do so. The more Acid Mortars and Poison Traps you can drop the better. I like a full set of Trap of the Hunter in Web Grenade, it gives good enhancement plus decent bonuses and you'll spam Web Grenade a lot if you solo AVs so the proc can help a bit. Triage Beacon is pretty much useless for normal fights since you move too fast, but it's great on AVs and decent to drop in a big room where you'll fight multiple spawns. Take Aid Self for normal healing though... I like 5-slotting it and Aid Other with Doctored Wounds for relatively cheap recharge bonuses. Acid mortar is one of your key powers... make sure it has ED capped recharge and some accuracy, plus drop an Achilles' proc in it for more -resist. Poison Trap is another great power... it can help mitigate damage with the hold but the real key is the massive -regen that ruins an AV / GM's day. Slot plenty of recharge and some accuracy, or drop a hold set in it (Basilisk's is good for recharge, but it's a pricey set.) Trip Mine is fun if you have high defense, since you can walk up to something and plant one right at its feet (which you'll also do with Poison Trap). I've not used Detonator but it could be amusing simply as a way to let badly damaged bots go out in a blaze of glory. And Caltrops can be handy to keep things off of you or to slot procs for more damage on AVs, but it's skippable if you need room.

Just remember that ever since Going Rogue came out the ranged pet AI has been a bit off. Your bots will often decide to run in to melee (even the Protectors, who have no melee attacks) so you'll need to make frequent use of Goto unless you want to just taunt the mobs and let the bots do what they like. Fortunately, Goto Defensive and Stay Defensive do still count as Bodyguard mode, so you can spam Goto commands to keep the silly buckets of bolts at range without losing protection.

StrykerX made a lot of good points about the basics so I'll expound on epics and alphas. Note I am doing this all from memory since I'm typing on my phone.

Alpha boosts and you:
Unlike set bonuses the alpha boosts do extend to your pets. As a bots traps you have a lot of choices here. If you feel that your bots aren't doing enough damage you should consider musculature.
If you are constantly running out of endurance try cardiac.
To get your traps up even faster you can go with spiritual. Note, several issues ago pets of all sorts were made immune to recharge so your bots won't get any benefit from spiritual's recharge boost.
Finally there is nerve which enhances accuracy. More interestingly one of its branches also enhances defense.
I'll admit I can't decide myself which alpha to use. My mm currently has both cardiac and spiritual crafted.

Epics
Mace mastery offers you an aoe immob and a smash/lethal/nrg shield.
Mu mastery offers an aoe immob with -kb and a resistance shield. Personally I use this.
>.< those are the only two I remember.

Much has been said so waste of time repeating. But I will say if you go back at most 4 or 5 pages or even do a search for threads I posted in these forums, you will without a doubt find builds your asking about.

One thing missing here, seeker drones do a serious accuracy debuff and 40% damage debuff if they both strike the same target.

I've got a bots/traps at 50 that has solo'd AV's and a Rikti Pylon (most boring 4 minutes of my life) and something that I've gotten a good deal of mileage out of is getting up to the softcap or near to the softcap in melee/ranged/aoe, but then jacking up my s/l resistance to almost the soft cap - the cardiac rare helps this out, since it buffs resistance. I think with Tough and Charged armor (or whatever is in the Scirocco APPs) I'm up 71% resistance to s/l and somewhere around 30% nrg. Having that under the softcap makes her plenty tough, especially since I'm always in bodyguard.
Anyway you chose a great combo. I hope you enjoy it!

Nitpick; there is no resistance softcap. That is-- there is no point at which more resistance has no effct before hitting the archetype's hardcap.

Gah, I meant hard cap. Good catch.