Fedifensor

Well, that's a relief. Thanks for passing that along!

I’ve had groups of Malta or Nemesis (a half-dozen or so) attacking me repeatedly without my health bar going down. Granted, I also have capped S/L/F resists and Cauterizing Blaze is fully slotted, but the heal counters the damage that does get through. I consider that pretty much essential. A build not quite as tweaked out for resists and ranged defense wouldn’t have the same level of survivability, but we’re talking performance with a fully-developed build. Warmth will undoubtably help - it’s like a second Healing Flames with lower healing and better recharge, with the fringe bonus of healing teammates right next to you.

I have a set bonus from Gladiator's Armor that gives Mag 3 protection, and Hover is pseudo-protection. If that's not enough, I can swap out one of the Blessing of the Zephyr IOs for the one that gives knockback protection.

Planning a level 50 respec for the final build on my Sentinel. Here's my rough draft. It has +50% global range, which puts the build back into blaster territory. Capped Smash/Lethal/Fire resistance, +32% ranged defense, +30% energy/negative defense, and +14% defense versus everything else. Very endurance efficient despite the many toggles, and 3 healing powers to keep me up in tough situations. The only hole is Immobilize - if this becomes a serious issue, I can respec to remove Rise of the Phoenix and add Combat Jumping. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 2.22 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Blazing Corona: Level 50 Science Sentinel Primary Power Set: Fire Blast Secondary Power Set: Fiery Aura Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Flares -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(25), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(48) Level 1: Fire Shield -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), GldArm-RechEnd(17), GldArm-Res/Rech/End(39), GldArm-ResDam(39), GldArm-RechRes(50), GldArm-End/Res(50) Level 2: Fire Ball -- Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(3), Rgn-Dmg(3), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(5), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Rgn-Knock%(21) Level 4: Molten Embrace -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 6: Blaze -- SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), SprSntWar-Dmg/Rchg(7), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg(9), SprOppStr-Rchg/+Opportunity(9) Level 8: Healing Flames -- Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg(17) Level 10: Hover -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(11), Rct-ResDam%(37), Rct-Def/EndRdx(40), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(46), BlsoftheZ-Travel(46) Level 12: Fire Breath -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(13), PstBls-Dmg/Rchg(15), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Ann-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23) Level 14: Temperature Protection -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A) Level 16: Plasma Shield -- GldArm-End/Res(A) Level 18: Blazing Blast -- SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg(A), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), SprSntWar-Rchg/+Absorb(19), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23) Level 20: Super Speed -- Clr-Stlth(A) Level 22: Kick -- Acc-I(A) Level 24: Tough -- RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(31), RctArm-ResDam(50) Level 26: Rain of Fire -- SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), SprOppStr-Dmg/Rchg(27), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(27), OvrFrc-Dmg/End/Rech(29), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(29) Level 28: Weave -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(31), LucoftheG-Def(40), LucoftheG-EndRdx/Rchg(43), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45) Level 30: Consume -- EffAdp-Acc/Rchg(A), EffAdp-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(34) Level 32: Inferno -- Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(33), Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Erd-%Dam(34) Level 35: Fire Cages -- TraoftheH-Immob/Acc(A), TraoftheH-Acc/Immob/Rchg(36), TraoftheH-Acc/Rchg(36), TraoftheH-EndRdx/Immob(36), TraoftheH-Acc/EndRdx(37), TraoftheH-Dam%(37) Level 38: Cauterizing Blaze -- NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(A), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(39), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(40), NmnCnv-Heal(42), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg(42), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(42) Level 41: Fire Sword Circle -- Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Erd-Dmg/Rchg(43), ClvBlo-Acc/Dmg(45) Level 44: Warmth -- Prv-Heal/Rchg(A), Prv-Heal(45), Pnc-Heal/+End(46) Level 47: Aim -- AdjTrg-Rchg(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/Rchg(48) Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- Prv-Heal/Rchg(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(25) Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 0: Task Force Commander ------------

I think the opinion that Sentinels are underpowered is overblown. Yes, they have lower damage than Blasters - by necessity. Blasters need the higher damage, because they're glass cannons. That said, it's not like we're Defenders or Tankers - I team with both, and my damage output is a good bit higher, before taking Offensive Opportunities into account. Plus, we debuff defense and resistance on the targets hit, giving the entire team a benefit when everyone is focusing on an Elite Boss or Archvillain. Blazing Blast is my best tool against Malta Sappers. Knockback + Repel means I will send them flying, and I can finish them off with Blaze and Flares before they can get up. That's a welcome bit of control for Fire. A bit more damage would be nice, but I'm not expecting it to do just as much damage as Blaze, given the added effects. Solo, I can easily take on foes Blasters have a tough time defeating. I've sat in packs of even-level foes with my health steady, to the point where i could have walked away for a minute and been fine. We have slightly lower numbers than Scrappers, but both archetypes have a 75% resistance cap, and even blasters can hit the softcap for Defense with the right powers and slotting. Teaming up, I am a reliable source of damage, that doesn't have to be watched over by the Brute or Tanker. I can draw a good bit of aggro without getting into trouble. Not as much of concern on a good team...but not every team is a good team. When the tanker gets distracted in the middle of a fight, or the blaster pulls a Leeroy Jenkins, I can handle it, and have saved the team more than once in such situations by nuking and pulling aggro to give the rest of the team time to recover. Yes, a Scrapper can do this too...but I can do it at range, which gives me more flexibility. Is the archetype fully polished? No. Some fine-tuning needs to be done. The Offensive and Defensive Opportunity mechanic restricts builds and hinders options in play. More than once, I've held off from firing Flares because I didn't want to waste an Offensive Opportunity on a mostly-dead minion. That's not an efficient mechanic. The triggered opportunity should grant a benefit to the group instead of just the Sentinel, and it should be clear that is what is happening.

No, you're not gimped. Hasten's effectiveness depends on how much you focus on having a single power up as often as possible, versus having a consistent attack chain. If you're not relying on spamming a specific power to be effective, and you have an attack chain without gaps, then Hasten isn't needed. It's certainly helpful, but I've found that a moderate amount of global recharge from set bonuses works just as well for most things. The characters most likely to want perma-Hasten are ones trying to make a particularly potent power in their powersets permanent.

True. However, one of CoH's strengths is the ability to have basically unlimited alts. Once a character is leveled to 50 and gets fully slotted, that character doesn't need further enhancements. However, when the player starts leveling a different character, they are back on the market purchasing enhancements (funded with earnings from their previous character). That helps keep demand up, which keeps prices from falling too far.

Soloing Calvin Scott (something that my controller and mastermind couldn't do) tells me this is not a weak archetype.

Miracle's +Recovery seems to be the best of the lot for most characters. +Regeneration is nice, but it's not going to be enough to keep you alive in combat, and many characters have in-combat healing powers. Out of combat, everyone has Rest if they need to get back health faster. Especially for toggle-heavy builds, +Recovery is huge. Miracle's bonus is more than most characters will get from all of their +Recovery set bonuses, and it makes a dramatic difference on Endurance usage in combat. I would recommend Miracle's +Recovery over any of the other uniques, or a Health IO. After that first slot, you have to decide whether the benefit of the unique you're adding is worth taking a slot from one of your other powers.

My daughter's demon summoning mastermind has incorrect calculations on one of her powers. Summon Demons is six-slotted with the following attuned IOs (at level 27): * Command of the Mastermind - Acc/Dmg, Acc/Dmg/Rchg, Acc/Dmg/End/Rchg, Dmg/End * Mark of Supremacy - Dmg, +Resist/+Regen Aura Based on the bonuses, the character should be at or near the ED cap for damage, but instead is stuck at +63.1%. The +Dmg from Mark of Supremacy alone is worth half that amount, and there are four other IOs with a +Dmg component in the power.

Can you do attuned enhancements in the program?

Archery/Tactical Arrow is the most thematic, and Glue Arrow is a nice way of keeping your distance from foes. Others prefer secondaries with melee options, but I prefer to stay as far away as possible.

What you're advocating for is interesting...but it's not a sentinel. If you want something like that, you should be going on the Suggestions forum. Sentinels are set at this point - they're not going to mess with thousands of characters that are already in play to completely change their primary powerset.

Adding my data for Bots, in case it helps: Tier 1 - 4 slotted Kinetic Crash (A/K, A/D/K, D/K, D/E/K), Expedient Reinforcement (A/D 30+5, Resist Aura) Tier 2 - Mark of Supremacy (A/D. A/D/E), Sovereign Right (A/D, Resist Aura), Edict of the Master (D, Defense Aura) Tier 3 - Command of the Mastermind (A/D/E/R, A/D, A/D/R, D/E/R), Mark of Supremacy (D, +Regen/Resist Aura)

Let's be honest - Chain Fences is the result of a bad port of a controller power, and it will eventually be nerfed. Outside of that, I find the functionality of Warmth as a PBAoE better than the chain heal of Rehabilitating Circult, and the PBAoE of Fire Sword Circle a better choice of attack than the attacks under Electricity Control. So, chances are that I'll still go with fire.

IOs give a lot of leeway with endurance for toggle-heavy builds, but it’s not cheap. Using my Sentinel as an example, she has Stamina 2-slotted (would be 3, but I didn’t want to blow the respec later when I approach 50 and hit the ED cap), a Miracle +Recovery unique IO in Health, Def/End or Res/End in all of her Defense and Resist Damage toggles, a few set bonuses that give +Rec or +End, and I’ve considered adding a second slot to Health so I could slot Numina’s +Regen/+Recovery unique IO. My Mastermind, even with the Leadership pool, is much more reasonable on Endurance use, and always has spare endurance for attacks or other powers...but I’m running one of the better sets for that (Bots/Traps), and I keep an eye on what IOs I need to add to reduce costs.

I would leave Gale’s knockback alone. It’s a great way to get a large number of people moved in the direction you want when you get a bad pull.

Not sure how this turned into a thread about issues with the class, but okay... The #1 problem Sentinels have is the way Opportunities are triggered. It’s the primary part of our inherent, and it basically has a power tax attached to it. You don’t take your Tier 1 primary, and you don’t get Offensive Opportunities. You don’t take your Tier 2 Primary, and you don’t get Defensive Opportunities. I think there are only two viable solutions - either combine the two so activating either your Tier 1 or Tier 2 gives an Opportunity that combines the effects of Offensive and Defensive, or give a separate button (similar to what Dominators get) to trigger Defensive Opportunity, and let either of the first two primary powers trigger an Offensive Opportunity. The other issue is that target caps seem to be a bit small, given that we have a defensive powerset to survive enemy aggro. It’s strange that a blaster can not just hit more foes, but a LOT more foes...but can’t survive the aggro unless they can wipe out the majority of foes with their alpha strike. Damage seems quite acceptable to me...but I also run with Fire/Fire, which has Molten Embrace giving a constant boost to damage. Survivability also seems fine...but I run a heavily-IOd build that may not be the experience of the average player.

I don't think Fire is just for melee Sentinels, especially if your primary is also Fire. I play about as ranged of a Sentinel as you can get, and Fire looks appealing both for the AoE Immobilize (great in combination with Rain of Fire) and the PBAoE Heal. I can stay back with the blasters and controllers while the melee types run in, lock foes in place, and heal should the squishy characters get in trouble. Plus, should something get into range, Fire Sword Circle in combination with the PBAoE can decimate most foes. Or, I can skip Fire Sword Circle and get a Hold to lock down a troublesome foe (like Sappers). Fire also has the advantage of benefiting from all the bonuses of Molten Embrace, for those going Fire/Fire/Fire.

I’ll look at that when I hit 50, but I think losing the Accuracy from Annhiliation will be too hard of a hit.

I'm trying out a theme build, as my wife and daughter are playing all-electric builds (a brute and a sentinel). However, it seems that multiple powers between these two sets actively conflict with each other (such as Conductive Aura and Hurricane) or overlap (Snow Storm and Freezing Rain). Does anyone has a build that overcomes these conflicts and works well?

Here's my current build, at level 31. It focuses on range (+37.5% global range from the sentinel sets, and a bit in the Positron's Blast sets) while still having an effective attack chain and survivability. I didn't see an option in the planner to show attuned enhancements or enhancement boosters, but the Tempest IOs in Place, Preventative Medicine IOs in Healing Flames, and the Annihilation IOs in Fire Ball and Fire Breath are all level 30 crafted IOs with 5 enhancement boosters each. Everything else except for Stamina and the powers that don't take sets have attuned IOs. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Blazing Corona: Level 49 Science Sentinel Primary Power Set: Fire Blast Secondary Power Set: Fiery Aura Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Hero Profile: Level 1: Flares (A) Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 30 (11) Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 30 (17) Sentinel's Ward - RechargeTime/Chance for +Absorb: Level 30 Level 1: Fire Shield (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance: Level 30 (25) Reactive Armor - Resistance: Level 30 Level 2: Fire Ball (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 30 (3) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 30 (3) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 30 (5) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range: Level 30 (5) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance: Level 30 (9) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime: Level 30 Level 4: Molten Embrace (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 30 Level 6: Blaze (A) Tempest - Accuracy/Damage: Level 30 (7) Tempest - Damage/Recharge: Level 30 (7) Tempest - Damage/Endurance: Level 30 (9) Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage: Level 30 (23) Opportunity Strikes - RechargeTime/Chance for Opportunity: Level 30 Level 8: Hover (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 30 (11) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All): Level 30 (31) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage: Level 30 Level 10: Temperature Protection (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%: Level 10 Level 12: Fire Breath (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 30 (13) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 30 (13) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 30 (15) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range: Level 30 (15) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance: Level 30 (23) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime: Level 30 Level 14: Super Speed (A) Celerity - +Stealth: Level 30 Level 16: Plasma Shield (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance: Level 30 Level 18: Blazing Blast (A) Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage: Level 30 (19) Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime: Level 30 (19) Sentinel's Ward - Damage/RechargeTime: Level 30 (21) Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 30 (21) Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 30 Level 20: Kick (A) Accuracy IO: Level 30 Level 22: Tough (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance: Level 30 Level 24: Healing Flames (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime: Level 30 (25) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance: Level 30 Level 26: Rain of Fire (A) Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime: Level 30 (27) Opportunity Strikes - Damage/RechargeTime: Level 30 (27) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 30 (29) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 30 (29) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown: Level 30 Level 28: Weave (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 30 (31) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance: Level 30 Level 30: Consume (A) Efficacy Adaptor - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 30 (31) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge: Level 30 Level 2: Swift (A) Flight Speed IO: Level 30 Level 2: Health (A) Miracle - +Recovery: Level 30 Level 2: Hurdle (A) Jumping IO: Level 30 Level 2: Stamina (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 30 (17) Endurance Modification IO: Level 30 ------------

This one seems to be fairly straightforward. It’s not a matter of interpretation - the game text does not match the game effect. The question is how long will it take to go through the spaghetti code and fix it.

My take is that you should be doing *something* useful. It can be an attack, or a debuff, or a heal, but you should never just be sitting there waiting for your minions to defeat the enemy. You don’t even have to take a mastermind attack power to contribute by attacking. There are prestige powers like the Nemesis Staff and the Blackwand that have decent accuracy - especially if you’re running a fully-slotted Tactics and have some accuracy set bonuses. It may not be a LOT of damage, but attacking the lieutenant or boss in a group helps reduce the overall time to kill that group, especially if your minions are using a lot of AoE attacks. If your pets are at full health, and you’re placed buffs and debuffs to the extent you can manage, you should definitely be attacking. Taking a mastermind attack power can help with this. If your pets are on defensive, you can also draw aggro and spread incoming damage across the group instead of letting your foes focus-fire one of your minions.

Positron's Blast has a Damage/Range in the set, which I always slot as one of the 5 I use for Targeted AoE powers (I skip the proc). However, I don't want to use less than 5 from the set because of the recharge time set bonus, and the set only has one IO with Accuracy (Acc/Dmg). So, my 6th is usually an Acc/Dmg from Annihilation. I'd prefer to slot a Damage/Range from Detonation, or even a straight Range IO, but range doesn't matter if I can't hit reliably. Both attacks (Fire Breath and Fire Ball) are range 60 with the current setup, so I'm fairly happy with the range as it stands. My single-target attacks are normally frankenslotted to get the +37.5% global range, and I have a slot free for range on each of them (once they're all 6-slotted), but unless I want to go with a range IO and forgo other bonuses, the only option I can recall in the Ranged Damage category is Salvo's Acc/Dmg/End/Range, and that maxes out at level 25. About the best I can do is purchase the Salvo IO at level 25 and use 5 enhancement boosters on it.