Try this:
Code:
There's basic slotting and some simple IO slotting.| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1384;666;1332;HEX;| |78DA6593495313611086BF49822110202144C21296B0073290D2B356B95559128CC| |0C11B35453E8AD164929A2416B841E91FF0A047595C28D4A3DBD93FA0E2BF7001BC| |788E9D7E3F09D64C25F54CDEEEF4F776F74C6AE5825F88F5B3420B9CCF1AC5E242C| |A2896A49D33AD8C77C628956D235B7F3D316B9819697B8510D15A7C61AE9CCBE52D| |3D25ED456919B6298BE163D173E5A5257DDE360AC5E0656B59DAD22AE9FF6E5AD2F| |97C569F9606552D2E9B8506FE3D57903213E4DB9461998572D6289979AB098ACC98| |8BA6255B2F16CC45FD9229B319E5753542BE86E9BB5927D455A9133F0849E13A000| |E199E7DE027E3C427971021B1EA39FA974B3CD2AA919E27C063C66D4AD090E0D676| |596A7B05BC61445E33B6E878B7CA733FC5119B8CFA2DE019639BF2E0B422EAFA596| |AA5D17A21695E250177E9701F221EDF6757556AF8027C6504F618ADDF18CFA970A3| |1A4123DAF463127E8CA0192368FEC3087C278C88189DDDA446D034CE9181FF708F5| |CB4A884961077DBD70604199D5421A8CE0D2EB3953E93D17F03B80964190339C67D| |4F7501683B849306810DEA23AC6619C62C4F6E00DB8C086619A273DB95B1F6175C7| |47017D861BCA4421DCA580726D189B974FE62746320DD184F0F9E973532D6A58EEF| |5AE30E871F02EBC003C61DCA8BAAED44AFB0349202668034636C9AB143667AD5E67| |BB1DF75AA10531562B7581A5B015619F132603382D4EF90EA7728C045E3D8C704F6| |11A58451E57C148E26E068028E125719E98010E32A6F3CA255DB48B4036748F4B8C| |5A4E22C65EACAA1FE965D4CBE03DE33921F808F8C794A9F523B9DC232934077ED45| |A30F5D22EE50A61C4AD2A19C7228A71DCAB44349D5944ABAF6460B8DA3BEC0D1BB5| |BD96FA0A8763C7AE8500E1CCAEFE34A1F377C8D9EED24A4CA5FFFD2F8F0| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
I added Caltrops along with the rest of the Leadership toggles, and took out the control powers from Presence. Intimidate really isn't all that good, and Invoke Panic is only practical on a Dominator where the Duration and magnitude can be boosted by Domination. Assault adds a little more damage to your attacks as well as the Henchmen, which the Mercenaries really need, then Tactics gives an additional boost to ToHit chance, which can help in hitting enemies with lots of Defense or that are getting the Purple Patch. Caltrops is a great combination of control and damage; It can block off a doorway to cause a bottleneck, making your Henchmen AoEs much more effective, especially the Soldier's and their 5ft conical Full Auto. Caltrops can also do a great deal of damage over their entire lifespan, especially if you add a Damage proc to them. Their recharge and duration makes them easily stacked, making them ideal for adding more damage to larger targets.
There's a few tricks I've found that get more out of Mercs.
1.) Never Upgrade the Medic, only Equip him.
Basically a lot of the Medic's problems arise from his Medic Kit and Stimulant. What I've observed happening is he tries to use those powers on the enemy, which causes him to run into those power's range. This behavior can be reduced by not giving him Upgrade, which also has the added effect of him not spamming hand grenade and knocking the mob around. This also will increase his time spent shooting the enemy since he won't be attempting to Stimulant every henchmen.
2.) Don't Equip Spec Ops, only Upgrade them.
Spec Ops Equip really doesn't do much for their damage. It also gives them Rifle Butt: A power that should of been replaced with Beanbag a very long time ago, but hasn't been. Since their control effects are very anemic on their current cool-downs, you're not losing much as far as control goes, especially since if you still Upgrade them, they'll still Tear Gas enemies.
If you're going to put Achille's Heel in them, I'd recommend not Equipping or Upgrading them since they'll rotate the powers that will trigger the proc more regularly that way.
Incidentally: Ah'm baaaaaaack!
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Resist debuffs are the way to go, but there are other things to put procs into for that. I'm a big fan of six-slotting Blood Mandate: it's dirt cheap and it gives you a nice defense boost. If you are willing to give up one pet's BMx6, you could put an achilles heel in Spec Ops along with the Edict pet defense IO. Spec ops suck anyway so I could see making them do something useful this way.| 1.) Get Mercs to function well despite the problems with the set. My thinking on this was to use a combination of heals from medicine, tankerminding, and fears for damage mitigation. Sure, enemies get to attack through fears, but they still have a to hit debuff applied when they do so. Also, I'm considering putting Achille's Heel procs into at least the Tier 1 pets to add some resistance debuffs on top of Acid Mortar. |
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| 2.) Function well for teams. This includes both being able to provide good damage and being able to provide support from traps. |
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| 3.) Tank for my Mercs. This should help them stay alive a little better. Survivability may be difficult to build for, but shouldn't be too difficult. (I picked Force of Nature since it seems like a good power to have if one is attempting to tank stuff.) |
Good luck!
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=252688
Just switch Robot for Merc
Alpha slotted for Tier 3 I can run at 4/8
1. Why Soft Cap is Important : http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...important.html
2. Limits: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Limits
3. Attack Mechanics: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Attack_Mechanics
4. Rule of Five: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Rule_o...e_Law_of_Fives
For my Mercs/Traps I found slotting Lady Grey proc and Achilles Heel proc in both Soldiers and Spec Ops made a noticeable difference to kill speeds; if you're only putting them in one of the above, I'd go for Soldiers - they may get slightly reduced values due to their relative level, but they get more attacks that it can proc from, including a cone. I frankenslot the rest of their slots for accuracy, damage, and a bit of end reduction (at 50: 2 acc/dam, 1 acc/dam/end, 1 dam/end) - I think only the Commando really needs the end reduction, but that's my standard MM pet slotting.
Picking up the Medicine Pool and Provoke helped smooth things over in the survival department too.
Other than that I'm mostly just looking to get lots of recharge to throw out as much of the awesome that is Traps as possible.
Actually, I found the Soldier's cone detrimental to their ability to proc due to the length of the animation. In fact, my testing on the optimum "up-time" for Achille's Heel and Procs in general showed just Equip as the best choice for the Soldiers, which means Spec Ops and Soldiers have very little difference in Proc-chance, besides the fact that Soldiers also get the Medic.
Though even with all five slotted with Procs, I found the actual rate at which they proc is a -lot- lower than most people probably think it is, mostly due to animation times and the lacking number of attacks.
Before anyone says, yes I know Mercs is a set with a lot of problems. I've got a concept that I like and a desire to make Mercs work well despite those issues. I'd like to keep Burst and Slug if possible. I'd also like to avoid taking Patron Pools as I plan on being a hero and don't want to switch back to pick them up. I'm not really too attached to field mastery, it just seemed to fit. My goals are as follows:
1.) Get Mercs to function well despite the problems with the set. My thinking on this was to use a combination of heals from medicine, tankerminding, and fears for damage mitigation. Sure, enemies get to attack through fears, but they still have a to hit debuff applied when they do so. Also, I'm considering putting Achille's Heel procs into at least the Tier 1 pets to add some resistance debuffs on top of Acid Mortar.
2.) Function well for teams. This includes both being able to provide good damage and being able to provide support from traps.
3.) Tank for my Mercs. This should help them stay alive a little better. Survivability may be difficult to build for, but shouldn't be too difficult. (I picked Force of Nature since it seems like a good power to have if one is attempting to tank stuff.)
This will be the first MM I take far, as it is the first I have really cared about. Please give slotting suggestions and alpha slot suggestions as well. I was thinking Spiritual to get my traps up as often as possible. If there's a better idea, I'd love to hear it. Thanks for the help. Here's the power selection I was thinking of, feel free to tweak it:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.92
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
X-Raider: Level 50 Natural Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Mercenaries
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Presence
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Field Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Soldiers
- (A) Empty
Level 1: Web Grenade- (A) Empty
Level 2: Burst- (A) Empty
Level 4: Triage Beacon- (A) Empty
Level 6: Equip Mercenary- (A) Empty
Level 8: Aid Other- (A) Empty
Level 10: Acid Mortar- (A) Empty
Level 12: Spec Ops- (A) Empty
Level 14: Hasten- (A) Empty
Level 16: Force Field Generator- (A) Empty
Level 18: Provoke- (A) Empty
Level 20: Poison Trap- (A) Empty
Level 22: Maneuvers- (A) Empty
Level 24: Intimidate- (A) Empty
Level 26: Commando- (A) Empty
Level 28: Seeker Drones- (A) Empty
Level 30: Invoke Panic- (A) Empty
Level 32: Tactical Upgrade- (A) Empty
Level 35: Trip Mine- (A) Empty
Level 38: Slug- (A) Empty
Level 41: Temp Invulnerability- (A) Empty
Level 44: Power Blast- (A) Empty
Level 47: Energy Torrent- (A) Empty
Level 49: Force of Nature- (A) Empty
Level 50: Spiritual Radial Boost------------
Level 1: Brawl
- (A) Empty
Level 1: Sprint- (A) Empty
Level 1: SupremacyLevel 2: Rest
- (A) Empty
Level 4: Ninja RunLevel 2: Swift
- (A) Empty
Level 2: Health- (A) Empty
Level 2: Hurdle- (A) Empty
Level 2: Stamina@Rorn ---- Blue Baron ---- Guardian