Nightmare Shaman

I just wanted to point out that you do not lose aggro when you activate hibernate. They will continue to attack you, especially if you built considerable aggro prior to using it. I use it on ITF and any time I'm being mauled. You normally use it after some time has passed and you have drawn so much attention b/c of icicles and chilling embrace along with your AOE's. It's actually quite effective. Also, your build has mostly disregarded resistance. This is a mistake. You WILL come across high acc enemies, and even more importantly, you need resistance for the attacks that get through. I've made a ton of non-conventional survivable builds. Even SR with perfect DDR needs resistance built in. Also, your endurance consumption is a problem. You might think "well that's what energy absorb is for", but there will be situations where you can't reliably pull enough end. e.g. Fighting an AV or a small number of mobs. The longer the fights last, the more you will notice this. I just started on my current Ice tank but here is how it looks so far. I will no doubt move a few things around. This is w/o energy absorption clicked in mids. (Also w/o hoarfrost which would bump toxic res to 56%.)

lol I've tried to make them work so many times... Rolled one right after CoV launched. Over the years kept coming back hoping maybe, maybe this time they have been improved, buffed, something. But no.

I meant once you get to 50.

I'll go the opposite of Snarky and say don't look at any builds and just start playing it. It's a very strong build once you get your IO bonuses and incarnates.

Yes, blasters do more damage then sentinels. Blasters do more damage then almost everything. That is never the point of contention. The point is really "what difference does that make". They still do damn good damage and have mez protection and better mitigation than what is available to blasters at any level. The simple truth is that a blaster doing "more damage" than a sentinel or any AT does not make a sentinel ineffective, obsolete, unfun, or unnecessary. They are an option. I personally hate blasters. And, I imagine there are others who feel the same. My sentinel can take an alpha from most mobs at max level and survive. Most mobs he can sustain survivability while still doing damage. He also does quite good, constant damage without the need to get into melee range. All this with mez protection, max resistance to virtually all damage types, with high regen, a good heal every 45 seconds, an endurance sapper every 20 seconds, and a nuke on a 45 second timer. It's a different playstyle with a different purpose but a similar result. Stop trying to make sentinels blasters. We are better and worse than blasters and the same can be said in the other direction.

It's always the same - People who either have never played or just don't play Sentinels complaining about Sentinels. They're fine. They are a niche and offer a different playstyle. The complainers ALWAYS say "why play Sentinel when I can be a Blaster" or just complain about the damage OR the target caps. (Target caps are annoying, I admit.) Essentially, the answer is simple. You play a Sentinel if you want ranged damage plus full mez protection AND damage mitigation that you cannot achieve on the other ranged AT's. No, they're not perfectly designed. What AT is? No, they're not over-powered. But, nothing should be overpowered. They have enough unique elements to make them stand out and what they have works just fine. My AR/Elec Sentinel has 75% resists to S/L/E/F/C/Psi and around 61% NE and 30% toxic. That's without any incarnate powers, just IO bonuses. It hits hard with 4 inherent AOE's plus two from Mu Patron all with full mez protection, high resists to the main problem damage types, from range. (Not to mention very high regen and a heal up around every 45 seconds - although I almost never use the heal anymore.) I can solo +8/+2 without blinking. I can do +4, but it's just more annoying and takes longer. There are many builds that cannot do that. There are several individual sentinel builds that could use some work. Some elements of certain builds are counter-productive. e.g. Builds were most of your damage comes from being in melee. But, they are fun and effective to those who enjoy them. If you haven't played one, you should take a look. You have to really go through each and every primary and secondary because most have been altered in significant ways. For example, AR has aim on Sentinels along with Full Auto having a 90 degree cone versus the 20 degree on blasters. This makes a huge difference in how it's used. Also, bean bag is gone and there is a new power called incinerator that is a high damage single target attack. If you don't like them, it's probably because you either are hung up on the design or just don't like the mechanics. I don't like playing controllers anymore. So, I don't play them anymore. Simple.

My current tank on Homecoming is a lvl 50 WP/Spines. I think what I'm dealing with a psychological one. I had played nothing but squishies up until I built that original WP tank back on live years ago, so it felt really strong at the time. Now, after years of playing and having a decent understanding of IO's and whatnot, it doesn't feel quite as strong. I think mainly because now you can change difficulty levels. I don't think you could back then. Either way, thanks a bunch for the information.

I haven't created a WP tank since the early days of CoH. I'm not even sure IO's were in the game at the time. Recently had some fun cutting my teeth on a very strong AR/Elec Sentinal and am curious what I can do with a WP tank set with bonuses. I'm just not sure which direction to take it in since it's a blend of different goals. I always lean towards high resistance builds, since I've found the bonuses easier to manage. But, being on a lot of late game content has started to make me loathe debuffs. Just wondering what others do. I Enjoy making nigh indestructible builds that either can resist or avoid debuffs. (If another armor set is more viable, I'm open to it.) Any advice would be helpful.

The BIGGEST problem, like many things in CoH, is the irrational and seemingly erratic way in which the target caps are spread among the different powersets. Some weak powers with a small cone, long animation, and low damage have a max of six targets. While some high damage, true AOE, fast animated powers, have a max of ten. The T9 powers are all unequal, everything is a mess. You add the target caps and it just makes some things much less enjoyable to play. That being said, I am in the "Sentinels are awesome" school of thought versus the other opinions. They can be made very strong, don't have the nuisance of chasing targets that melee sets have, and overall are an interesting approach to a ranged "tank" type character.

No worries.

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.