Psiphon

I don’t really use mids so can’t comment on the specifics but would advise: Take Hover and stay just out of melee. Take Combat Jumping and Acrobats, this will give you some resistance to mez. Take the Dark or Psy Mastery forOP or WoC, this will give some additional survivabilty in melee. Build for ranged defence. Slot a Stealth IO in sprint and run it constantly, this will reduce ranged damage and your threat level.

Agree with this completely. If you want true range, then no it can’t really be done but if you’re prepared to be in melee but have attacks with a reasonable range then spines is a good option, even the PBAoEs have decent range. Spine with FA or DA would be my choices.

Gravity Control could be made to work for this, the powers are all about lifting, immobilising and crushing.

The Sentinel version loses mud pots so no DoT damage toggle.

I've got a personal preference for SR but I've got a Seismic Blast / Stone Armour that works well and thematically fits. You could go with both and see which you prefer, levelling is so quick these days.

I agree with this. As you're going to be ground based you'll need some defence debuff resistance, SR is best for this but Ninjitsu is also an option, has some DDR plus some other utility tools too. Either will work.

It shows how we're all different, your views on TT are the complete opposite to mine. I find TT to be the defining power in Dark Blast as it differentiates it from other blast sets - relatively safely immobilising large mobs due to the -to hit. The Sentinel Dark Blast I can't stand due to its removal. You can pick up TT in Dark Mastery but I prefer a more damaging blast set to compliment this.

I tend to slot a full set of Lockdown for the ranged defence and +1 mag hold.

Same with my crab, nothing seemed to fit themetically or add anything that was worth dropping other powers for. As it is, it's survivable and does nice damage.

Just realised this part of the post was old.

I'd go SR Sentinel, the benefits of a Scrapper without having to chase the mobs down.

IMO this depends on the team makeup and the skill of the controller. If the team can survive with just buffs/debuffs then theoretically the controls are wasted, if survival is an issue then the controller is best. Also is there a tank to group the mobs, a bad controller could be a hindrance. Personally I look at the number of Corrupters as a guide for how good a team will be - nice balance of damage, control and buff/debuffs.

I guess it depends on your playstyle. I've got some Sentinels that are ground based, depends on the powersets and concept, the hover blasters are more survivable though.

Yes it can be done, mainly using Thunderstrike and Artilary. As it's a defence set, it's got DDR too which is useful.

That's not strictly true. You can build it as a hover blaster and cap ranged defence. As psi attacks are positionally ranged you can close the hole. Obviously you won't get the full benefit of stacking typed defence but will still get all of the other goodies such as DDR, heal, + recharge, some resistance and +HP. I've got a rad/ea at 50 that doesn't need to worry about psi.

Not sure why anyone would skip Steam Spray, good AoE damage in a game where AoE is king. Personally, I always take it and slot it with either Artillery for the ranged defence or if capped ranged defence allows, Ragnaroks for the extra control that the 'chance for KD' provides.

Pretty certain Sentinels have a shorter recharge on their T9s and a smaller AoE and max targets.

Personally I think that Sentinels get the worst versions of both dark blast and dark armor. Dark blast hasn't got TT and DA has a poor version of the heal. I took mine to 50 but rarely play it anymore.

They're ancillary powers. The pools give you access to types of powers not available in your primary or secondary. I usually take two or three, the AoE immobilise, the hold and sometimes the buff/debuff. I find them very useful and certainly better than standard power pool powers - most of the time.

For me, I try to keep it in especially as I exemp a lot. If you team and play mainly end game, it’s bit of a waste. In your case probably worth keeping.

I guess it's horses for courses because I absolutely love Storm. As you said the nuke isn't instant damage but it does bring control, chaos and damage mitigation. I think of it as a blastroller very good damage while helping others through debuffs and control. I'd like to see the devs thinking outside of standard nukes more often. Maybe a Plant blast set where the nuke is a root/creepers hybrid that bursts from the ground grabbing/immobilising/damaging mobs that move into the area.

Go Storm/Plant and don't look back.

Why would you skip OG?, good damage mitigation for virtually no endurance. IMO it's a must have and a cornerstone of the set.

Would Earth/Sonic work? Crystals resonating at different frequencies to create effects.

If theme trumps all, just don't click domination. Build for defence etc instead.