Nightmare Shaman

To clarify, what I was stating was threefold: 1) I did not know bio added a toxic proc. 2) It's not unusual to NOT know this as anyone reading through the power descriptions on both mids and the character creator screen will NOT see any reference to the toxic proc. 3) Thus, I was suggesting maybe the dev's either did not update the power description from the melee sets (on the character creator) because it makes references to other powers that are not included in the sentinel set. OR, the power was never actually meant to possess a toxic proc and slipped through the cracks before the game shut down. (Of course this is all complete speculation just trying to understand the reasoning behind it.) Either way, as I said in earlier replies, bio is clearly the "winner" of the damage buffs with both a 25% increase in damage AND this mysterious toxic proc that only people who've played bio sentinels at least until they possess adaption know about. I have no dog in the fight. Just a curiosity because I read through all the descriptions and clearly remember while scrolling through the power selections that FA was the only one that mentions a proc component.

I don't think it's odd for someone to question what you said when nothing in game, aside from checking combat logs, indicates what you claim. I thought the same thing when I read what you wrote. Checked mids, checked the in game description and information, and found nothing. Maybe it wasn't intended and is technically a bug? A holdover from the melee sets they didn't have a chance to correct before the game shut down? Who knows.

I realized I forgot about the 3% def from steadfast protection IO. Added it to tough and now you have this. That bumps your melee and ranged defense to 18.1 and 19.3, so fire, cold, and PSI will take those values. Less than half of the soft-cap, but it's really not bad with the resistances where they are. S/L at 35% (39% with MA) Energy,NE 45%. With Your tools (hoarfrost, frost protection, and icy bastion), I think you could really have a solid build.

Repost of my original build. Sentinel - Ice Blast - Ice Armor.mxd

Yeah, after I posted the build I decided to make one just to see how it panned out. Figured out the bit about moisture absorption which is a real bummer. It's still a feasible build. Just not as good as I intended. For some reason MA is a 10 foot ranged aoe. I tested it quite a bit on low level mobs. I think you only get the 4ish defense from a single mob BUT you can get up to 4 additional targets for end drain. The additional targets require an accuracy check but there is no way to increase accuracy. It's a really strange power, especially compared to the tank version. However, the build is still decent. Just like with ice tanks, the hp is designed to fill in the holes in your defense. You can feasibly have higher hp than any other sentinel which is very useful. Add to that the T9 with 30 seconds of around 75% resists and it's pretty solid. It just seems like an active set which can be a plus or a minus depending on your preferences. If you really like that concept, just keep toying with it. You'll be amazed what you can do once you figure out what you want to prioritize. This is especially true once incarnates are in the mix.

Here is an old thread that includes Ice armor builds as well:

I just toyed around with a build in game and it appears moisture absorption only gets the defensive bonus from a single target. So much for my ideas. See below for a thread with useful information. I'm scrapping any plans to make one.

Give me some time and I will work on a build for you.

Netherworld Tentacles, Chain fences, Fire cages, Frostbite, School of sharks, Web Envelope, Electrifying fences, Tashibishi (caltrops), Soul Tentacles. (Someone mentioned getting taunt, but I've never tried this. I think it's a waste.) This is assuming you are solo. If you're on a team, there are endless situations to use it. (Stand right next to the tank, for one. Also, tank pulls entire room to doorway, drop right there. They will continue moving into the fire towards the tank if he taunts.) I found it to be more of a fun, occasional thing to use when I'm in close to mobs rather than some optimal damage power. It's also interesting to use when mobs are ganging up on you. They run into the fire towards you then either burn to death while you're shooting them or attempt to run away. I play on +8/+4 teams and push solo missions as high as I can. There are plenty of opportunities to pull mobs into the fire. Regardless of how you use it, it's still a part of FA's toolkit. Since the OP asked specifically about damage, it's relevant to the question.

It doesn't really function in a way that rewards active choice making. It just ends up being a debuff with some flair. I think had the game lasted on live, this would have been tweaked further. I'm glad it exists. I like putting the glowy ring around enemies. But, I never pick one or the other based on some kind of strategy. Just whatever is available, I click and don't even think about it further.

Oh I know. But, it's there. As well as burn. Just something to consider if the OP wants all the options.

The one caveat is that fire is much less resisted than toxic by enemies. Aside from the 15% difference between FA and bio (10% molten embrace versus 25% offensive bio), fire procs are superior to toxic. Information on enemy resistance source:

Oh wow, you get 25% strength to damage while in offensive mode as bio. FA has only 10%. I guess it just boils down to whether you think the burn patch is worth it. I had no idea bio had such a high boost to damage. Back to the drawing board.

The resists you can achieve from FA are much more resilient than you would think at first glance. This is a build I'm considering for my almost lvl 50 AR/FA sentinel. Keep in mind, this includes a 20 second recharge 1/2 health heal, a constant heal over time, along with damage scaling at the upper end of the range. You will likely not be able to take an alpha strike. You can't tank. But, you can easily run right up to a group and blast at point blank range if you desire without having nearly the concerns of a blaster or any squishy TA. And, since you are ranged, you can get out of harm's way much easily if the team is heading towards a wipe. A really big issue I take with most quasi builds you find people posting is that most, if not all, ignore practical concerns at the expense of one very specific goal (Usually the over-emphasized soft-capped defense.) They almost always ignore endurance management and sustain. If you look at the end drain portion of the chart above, that end drain is very manageable. I tend to lean more towards survivability than damage but I'm trying to overlook it with this build. The only concerning hole is psi. But, it's still manageable. I want to point out also that molten embrace increases damage by 10% but also includes a chance to add a fire dot to all your attacks. 10% is maybe irrelevant on a low damage scale AT, but with high damage that is pretty significant. Especially on large numbers of AOE's or your high damage single target attacks. Add musculature to that (33% boost) from incarnates and you'll be hitting like a truck with mez protection and the resists listed above. Sentinels are way more effective then the running dialogue about them would have you believe. Good luck.

Sentinel power Molten Embrace from fire aura is named "molten_loop". Tested and it works. On a side note, it is one of the most obnoxious (and loud) sounds. Thank you so much for this.

Street sweeping was all people did in the early years of the game. And, there was good reason: it was the best way to get xp. A couple of issues in, the dev's changed the amount of xp you get from missions essentially making missions more xp profitable than street sweeping. So, it went away forever. Some of my street sweeping nostalgia: 1) Running through the sewers with another person as the CoH beta server shut down back in 2004. 2) Sewers teams. 3) Perez Park street sweeping. (The go to lowbie strategy originally.) 4) Being on that same bridge in IP with a female inv tank tanking like a boss for the entire team. (Back when you absolutely needed a tank.) 5) And of course, Boomtown. Another one of those essential places. It just went away. Missions are just so much more convenient, interesting, and fruitful now. Especially with the convenience of radio mission.

It appears you guys either willingly or unwillingly confuse survivability with "tanking". To someone unfamiliar with tanking and/or the game as the OP appears to be, you're woefully misinforming him and possibly overwhelming him with unnecessary delineation about possible builds versus practical builds. All of which was covered in #5 and somewhat in #4 of my list of advice to the OP. You essentially did exactly what I said people mistakenly do on these forums - give overblown explanations of theoretical or very specific, expensive builds used in very specific situations. Of all things, an actual tank should be able to withstand most damage types, in most situations, surviving alpha strikes continuously from one group to the next with little to no downtime, while both maintaining aggro, and having the ability to grab aggro when it is momentarily lost. (mostly with taunt) Saying an x,y,z build can survive this or that, either from seeing it happen once or twice, or throwing out some wacky, atypical build from some majorly IO'd, expensive powerset combination and concluding that anything and everything is equitable for one role or another is just moronic. Scrappers can sorta tank. So can brutes. But, can they tank as well as a tanker archetype? No. Not inherently. So keep your opinions. I know you will continue to believe your foolishness. But, please stop telling inexperienced people such inaccurate information. It makes the game less approachable and muddies the water with endless obfuscation.

So just to be clear - In the tank section of the forums, where a person asked specifically about which end game tank build he should pick, your recommendation is to play an empath defender? There are clearly superior tank builds to others. There are clearly some that require very little investment in influence. There are clearly some that are easier to play somewhat passively and effectively. There are clearly some that require more decision making and tactics.

What "armored empath" can tank? There is an empath build that can take alpha strikes from +8/+4 missions consistently from one group to the next, and can hold aggro, and have the same or similar mez protection?

Here are a few things I forgot when I came back and re-rolled a tank: 1) Endurance draining enemies. 2) Psi damage. 3) The limitations of a purely defense based build. 4) The overwhelming noise and misinformation from farming builds as it compares to a tank for playing the game normally. 5) Almost every reply you get will have a build with hundreds of millions of influence (sometimes billions) and is an end game build assuming all incarnate powers and reaching a soft cap on some type of positional defense at the expense of everything else. 6) How some powers (and powersets) animate slowly and thus annoy me, effectively making an entire powerset unplayable for me. 7) Some builds are identical to what they were at launch and appear archaic compared to the new sets. For example, stone is one of the most iconic and recognizable sets for any comic book fan. Yet, the only way to play the build is to pick up teleport. (Or have someone with speed boost on the team.) Just think about that through the lens of a comic book fan. A melee tank, made of rock, who's only means of movement is teleporting? This really needs to be re-vamped with different stances similar to bio or something similar. Imagine if the hulk couldn't jump. Or if Colossus could only walk as fast as an elderly person. It's just strange and out of date. If you take these into consideration, I think it will reduce your concerns a bit.

It's easy to get caught up in the whole "smashing and lethal is the most resisted" blah, blah, blah, but the truth is...it really doesn't matter. You're either going to like the way it "feels" or not. Don't worry so much about the details. Just play it for a bit and see how you like it. Here's why I personally like it: 1) Fast firing, low endurance, fast recharge attacks. 2) 3 AOE attacks. (technically one is a cone) 3) The cone drops enemy defense. 4) As you gain blood frenzy, you gain a damage buff and an endurance reduction. Both are noticeable. After returning to the game two weeks ago, I tried A LOT of tank secondaries. Savage feels the fastest, least endurance heavy, and kills very quickly. Even at low levels. Just try to put the min/max, anti-smashing/lethal noise on the backburner. What matters is if you like how it "feels" to you. Good luck.

Okay, self-described noob. I had a grav/thorn dom during live. I made it mostly for zone pvp, but I still went through the leveling process to get there. Here's some basic facts for any dom: 1) The ultimate goal of any dominator is perma-dom. This will require you to both take hasten and slot just about all of your IO bonuses towards recharge. I know everyone wants a build nowadays, but it's really not that complicated. I believe you need 123% total recharge to get it. I just toyed around in the AE looking for cheap sets and was able to do it fairly simply. 2) Dominators are not like controllers who tend to sit back and drop debuffs and holds. You basically want to drop either a mass hold/confuse/stun then immediately get into melee range lighting up the enemies with your pbaoe's and hard hitting melee attacks. (This is especially true of /elec.) Seriously, don't play a dominator like a controller. You are there to MURDER enemies. Your damage scaling is in the top three of all archetypes. Pop aim and kill, kill, kill. Specific to Grav: 1) Gravity has a fairly weak amount of group options. You have Gravity Distortion on a 4 minute recharge and Wormhole. Wormhole is virtually useless except for as a novelty. At least that was my experience. You have no soft controls like many of the other sets do to fill the gap between grav distortion. (If you say you want to use Dimension shift, me and everyone else on Earth will metaphorically punch you in the face. Seriously, don't ever use this on a team.) 2) If all you want to do is solo, it's fine as a set. Especially if you don't up the difficulty of your missions. 3) Singularity has been buffed. I encountered one in a mission and the damn thing pulls you towards it hard. I was a tank with full mez protection and it still pulled me. I imagine this will make it a much more powerful pet. I say make the character, run a few teams in DFB and see how it feels to you. Remember, you deal really strong damage. Dom's are a very active set. Good luck!

POLITICS.

Hibernate is a power that comes into play if you like to push the edge with the game mechanics. i.e. Trying to solo 4/8 missions, or farm, or take on Taskforces solo, and especially pvp. In regular play, it's rarely useful. Just a nice thing to have. I think I used it more often when getting sapped of endurance than anything.

I just reroll. Time for another alt.