oldskool

Its been a while, but at one point I had a comment that the true power of the Sentinel was to generate troll posts on how useless the AT vs X ATs. One can certainly make some valid complaints about one thing vs the other, but more often than not discussions around the Sentinel generally devolve into hyperbolic nonsense. Just take much of the criticism with a grain of salt (some of it is valid, but a lot of it is blown way out of proportion).

For a bit more context on why Beam is considered being where it is, that is mostly due to the Sentinel version having another area power. Beam is generally a high single target damage set in other ATs, but has lower AoE potential (which really may not even be an issue depending on AT). The Sentinel version is less of the single target powerhouse, and a bit more normalized in how it handles multiple targets. It is still a good set, but the comparisons of it don't fully work against other ATs. Just something to keep in mind.

Good or bad can get incredibly subjective in COX terms. This has a lot to do with granular specifics on how one choses to a slot specific powers and pair them with other specific effects. So, in order to help you out a bit better than just "this gud, that bad": Dark Armor may be a bit more complicated to get the most out of for a brand new player. If you're really brave, then go for it. If you're looking for easier things to play, then I'd recommend you stick with Willpower, Invulnerability, Energy Aura = Super Reflexes, and in that order. Willpower has almost no click powers across the majority of your leveling experience and relies almost solely on toggle powers. Invulnerability is very similar, but includes a click power, Dull Pain, early on. In both cases, their final powers could be considered optional (further lowering any clicks). Energy Aura and Super Reflexes are conceptually very similar and have a little bit more thought/interaction. The main reason I'd point you towards Willpower/Invul is both of these sets come with pretty robust resistance packages underneath everything else they offer. I feel they way these sets are constructed makes them pretty easy to build for since the outcome should be rather straight forward. Energy Aura and Super Reflexes aren't really complicated, but they rely a lot more on high defense values and less on other layering (Super Reflexes more so than Energy Aura). Invul, Super Reflex, Energy Aura are typically considered some of the strongest defense sets in the AT, *but* the catch is there is a bit of system mastery to really squeeze out the best performance. Of the three, Invul maybe a bit easier. Beyond that, most of the Sentinel primaries are pretty good. Just how good they are is going to depend an awful lot on a ton of minutiae you may not be ready for. Pick what you like.

@Grimm2 I had looked at the build a couple of weeks ago, but figured now is as good a time to say something as any. 😉 In the past, I used to weigh Pistols a bit heavier in my builds for a lot of nuanced reasons. One of those was in how I could make the use of old Opportunity as easy for me as possible while maximizing damage output in a scope of time (between 4 - 6 seconds; this helps when picking powers). Well, now that Opportunity is different, none of that older advice really matters anymore. So, this means when talking about heavy proc use Dual Wield can fit much, much, better into the discussion. DW was actually always a good alternative, and especially so with Homecoming's Ice Minstrel's Torment, but is basically even better now, in my opinion. That said, do you need a respec to change everything up to squeeze out maybe a bit more DPS? Probably not. I'm just bringing this up that there are other means to optimize Dual Pistols, within the context of keeping in the set itself, and other approaches are still pretty good. I don't play as much anymore, but I haven't seen a need to respec any of my Dual Wield characters since the last major patch. For the Sentinel, specifically, I run Dual Wield, Suppressive Fire, and Executioner's shot. I use two each of Gladiator's Javelin (Acc/Dmg, Toxic proc), a general damage IO +5, and then 3 more procs. The slotting of Executioner's shot is different as I leverage 2x Gladiator's, 2x Apocalypse (Damage +5, damage proc), and put Achilles' Heel here. All in all, each of these 3 powers has 4 procs and around 126%+ damage when Musculature Core Alpha can be used.

Seems like you discovered the root of your problem. Also, you may have started your Sentinel with incredibly unrealistic expectations.

I don't think there are going to be a whole lot of options for you skip powers with that pairing. Stone Armor wants most of its powers. Geode is one you can skip if your durability is good enough without it. Psionic Blast is a pretty power hungry primary, and it really does want insane levels of recharge before we start talking about skipping powers. The T1 power, Mental Blast, is pretty much crap. You can skip it and not look back. Telekinetic Blast, Will Domination, and Scramble Thoughts are still the cornerstone single target powers. If your recharge gets extreme enough, then Psionic Strike may not have a place in your attack chain. Otherwise, Psionic Strike may be useful as filler. For AoE, Psychic Wall is your hardest hitter. Despite the low number of targets, Psychic Scream is still an attractive choice for AoE heavy lifting. The reason for that is due to Psionic Tornado having a 20 second cooldown as part of its base power. So, unless you're rocking some incredibly high recharge you're likely going to want Psychic Scream. Eventually, you could respec out of it if you have faster options. Psychic Focus is your Aim power, and it is a spike damage burst effect. I don't usually recommend skipping it, but you may push it off while leveling. So, yeah... that's not a lot of skip options without careful consideration of what the final product could be.

First things first, answering the question of the post itself. Just how powerful is dual pistols in the current update. Answer: Slightly better than it was, but just how effective that improvement is depends on a whole lot of factor. These factors can include: - Specific power slotting - Specific Archetype - Your total recharge - Specific Secondary choices (or for Defenders, their primary) - Whether you solo or group more - What your own goals are - And so on [Dual Pistols is a complex set, which I like, but that is a detriment to the set overall because you bend over backwards to make it tread water more often than not. It isn't like the knowledge that goes into the set pays off in some secret reward when one can pick Fire Blast instead and roll their face on the keyboard. lololololol...] RE: Suppressive Fire... Suppressive Fire was always good for procs. The change does reduce some of that damage, but you can fire the attack twice in the same time span vs the original's recharge. So, that is a nice buff. But how effective is it for damage? Well... that can get complicated. Let's take a back step and consider the following set of questions. What kind of Blaster do you plan to play? Do you plan to mix it up in melee? Do you plan to just sit back and pew pew? Do you care at all about set bonuses for the purposes of defense bonuses? You see, the new Suppressive Fire's significant impact on your single target damage cycle really only matters most in the context of using it with a mostly ranged routine (it is not a replacement to Executioner's Shot). On top of this, how you choose to slot Suppressive Fire is going to really make or break that power (full proc load out or not). So, the change to Suppressive Fire as a DPS add can become a 'meh' or even skip choice to certain Blaster builds. If you *really* want to explore proc damage without any care to defensive set bonuses, then the Sentinel is a pretty good choice for this. We're talking about a single target all ranged attack routine, and well... that's pretty much what the Sentinel does. If you're playing a Blaster, then there is a good chance you care a lot about AoE. On top of that you likely have better single target options in your secondary if all we care about is the most possible damage. Anyway, if one wanted to really push Suppressive Fire (at least with sets), then I would recommend using the 5pc Apocalypse set + Unbreakable Constraint damage proc. That'll set Suppressive Fire's damage reasonably high. Executioner's Shot then becomes a great place for Superior Blaster's Wrath. Both of these loadouts grant you set bonuses. This can enable Pistols + Suppressive Fire + Executioner's Shot as a fully ranged attack routine which does OK damage. And I really wanna stress... the above isn't the optimal way to slot Executioner's Shot. Hell, it isn't even the optimal way to play a Blaster (Blapping tends to do more damage, and more AoE is essentially the AT's niche). Its just the most bang (heh) for your buck when considering those three specific powers in the a total vacuum which just isn't a great way to plan out a Blaster. [And the difference of swapping the slotting between the two is likely going to be pretty low single digit loss in DPS; its peanuts] However, if you *really* wanna do it, then that is the slotting for those two powers I would recommend. If you can get away with proccing *any* power, then Executioner's shot is still better. That's even assuming all 6 slots devoted to nothing but procs. See where I am going with this? Suppressive Fire's change is nice, but it does not revolutionize Dual Pistols. Hell, if you have a better choice to replace it with from your secondary, then Suppressive Fire may not even be a consideration, at all. RE: Piercing Rounds... The change, in my opinion, is better in some ways for Corruptors and Defenders than it is for anyone else. You can run Chemical Ammo to debuff damage dealt and still impose the negative to resistance to support the team. Blasters could do that too, but when considering raw DPA powers there just better options. Piercings Rounds, in general, is still pretty meh for single target and for AoE its pretty much a waste of time. It can be effective as a team support power though. The changes to Suppressive Fire do toss a bit of a wrench into the mix which raises a question of do I use Piercing Rounds with it (i.e., Piercing Rounds -> Executioner's Shot -> Suppresive Fire -> filler) or keep to the classic routine at high recharge (i.e., Piercing Rounds -> Pistols -> Executioner's Shot -> Pistols). My thought is if you can have a high enough global recharge to have Executioner's Shot recharge in 2.9 seconds or less, then Piercing Rounds may end up being either a DPS loss or just break even. That recharge number is significant because Pistols + Suppressive Fire animates in that time frame. This also means the following: Executioner's Shot + Suppressive Fire + Pistols (its filler) + Executioner's Shot is not only possible, but spans 6.6 seconds of time. Contrast that with... Piercing Rounds + Pistols + Executioner's Shot + Pistols spanning 6.864 seconds, or even replacing a use of Pistols with Suppressive Fire going up to 7.392 seconds. If you can do more damage in 6.6 seconds using the faster animating skills, despite the existence of the resistance debuff, then Piercing Rounds is going to lose its value. This is especially noticeable on Sentinels because their version of the debuff is the worst, but it can be present on Blasters too. At the very least, there is the considerable opportunity cost of Piercing Rounds vs other options. On Corrs/Fenders, this is more a question of "Do I want to stack another 15% to 20% resistance debuff on top of my other resistance debuff options?". Anyway, that's what I had gathered when the changes were on test. There are going to be use cases with various personas that all of the above is absolutely meaningless. When looking at optimization (which is really what this entire question skirts around) things like extreme recharge matter. Your overall recharge is going to dictate what kinds of animation constraint yields the best results with various combinations of powers.

Nope. That game play interaction is gone.

Sentinel AR's Ignite appears to be slightly stronger than the Blaster version. Sentinel has 243.72 vs Blaster's 241.61 Not complaining, but that seems a bit off given their placement in each set's kit. I will of course caveat this that the Blaster has Sniper Rifle (281 dmg) which the Sentinel has nothing equivalent to. Has anyone double checked these (am I missing something??)? Fire Blast's new changes to the T2 power of the same name made me take a double take on the new DPA. Holy crap. Not gonna lie, kinda glad to see Scramble Thoughts back on the Sentinel. So far, I like the idea of the new hold changes on Suppressive Fire. I don't really use Cryo a whole lot, but adding the longer hold duration on Chem plays right into what I wanted from my Corruptor and Defender (both lean more on support than LOLWTFBBQDPS). I'm not that concerned about the Chemical Ammo damage loss on either of the two support ATs since Piercing Rounds is the cornerstone of both builds. This change at least lets me use Suppressive Fire on my Corruptor in the way I use it on live while also leveraging Chemical Ammo for its debuff while also benefiting from the Piercing Rounds change (which I like). Obviously, not everyone is going to be happy about the implementation, but I think it goes a long way into a better direction than the last beta build in actual practice (so thank you for that change!).

You need to find something that looks like a spray and color it green if you want to lean into her current heel angle. 😉

RE: Psy Blast --- Sentinel (fairly short, largely positive run down) Pros: Psionic Strike shifts to being more of the cornerstone single-target power it really should have been from the start. On Live, there could be situations in builds (i.e., extreme recharge and optimization effort) where Scramble Thoughts overshadows Psionic Strike. Additionally, this priority conflict could muck with lower level builds or exemplar for older content. Removing Scramble Thoughts from the equation helps Psionic Strike. Multiple AoE options *and* their cast time is reduced. I know it is very popular to beat down Sentinels on per-activation damage of their AoE. They just don't have the spike potential. However, this particular kit now has 3 AoE options which goes a long way towards its team contribution and smooths out some rough edges even soloing. Nice! Cons: Elevating Psionic Strike by nerfing Scramble Thoughts is a double edge sword. However, the number of players this negatively impacts is probably incredibly tiny as ST's largest impact involves the extreme end of the optimization spectrum. Still, this change is going to force some folks to change up how they approach Psy Blast for better and for worse. Mental Blast still feels like a terrible power choice.

RE: Dual Pistols Feedback Suppressive Fire Pros: Offers another viable damage option to all ATs. The animation reduction is a nice DPA increase, and overall DPS increase for Sentinels in particular. Still works well with damage procs although in a diminished capacity (the base damage helps offset the reduction even with the new animation). Cons: My Corruptor's Hold Duration when from just over 16 seconds of time down to 4 seconds of time for no meaningful increase in my overall DPS. What I mean here is the power is slotted as a hold. Its damage was irrelevant to my use of it. Using it on beta means I lose a bit less of my overall DPS, but this also was never a concern in using the power in the first place. The basic DPA of the power is slightly better than Dual Wield making this power sit in a position of "Why do I need another T2-like power when I already have Dual Wield?". [Edit: Suppressive Fire is being undersold a bit too much in this comment. I was looking at some wrong numbers in my notes and didn't click in my head what I was looking at. SF is a good bit better than Dual Wield even when considering that SF doesn't get DoT ticks with Incendiary Ammo. So, whoops; but this is also largely a moot point. SF has plenty of value for a variety of builds with the most recent update to all the ammo hold options.] Some ATs, like the Blaster, don't really need another attack when better choices exist. The changes to Piercing Rounds depreciates the damage for all ATs but the Sentinel (Sentinel really get a short end of the stick here). Piercing Rounds Pros: Using Piercing Rounds with Incendiary Ammo, and the Pistols - Executioner's Shot sandwich, is better than it ever was. Piercing Rounds is a viable option for Blasters using ammo, and potentially even an optimal choice for Defender and Corruptor builds. Cons: For point #2, it was already optimal for certain builds, but it is also arguably better to play with when using ammo. So PRO/CON here. Piercing Rounds creates a standard in which the resistance debuff can hold back the rest of the entire Dual Pistols kit from better damage. What I mean here is a lot of folks, rightfully, skip Piercing Rounds because its animation is pretty long. It takes serious consideration to make this work and some specific use for viability. The resistance debuff makes all subsequent attacks better and even force multiplies other ATs on your team. In turn, the rest of the DP kit is stuck with subpar DPA powers where the highest option for single target is, absurdly, Pistols and the best single target damage attack is Executioner's Shot which pales in comparison with other primaries. Sentinel is still stuck with the 9.6% version and isn't as worth it in respect to Suppressive Fire, still.

Truth... I don't want to have to go and re-write everything in the sticky post. I know there are now outdated entries in there, but its a lot more now (soon even more!!). 😭 Anyway, we've had it too quiet in this forum for too long. These changes may hopefully bring back the "OMG YOU ALL SUCK" posts that people that wanted spout their Blaster supremacy used to do. I for one, welcome our new overlords (not really; I don't advocate people being douchebags on the Internet, unless it is funny).

Ya know, for a long time Sentinels have had some advantages in their versions of the Blast Sets, and now all of the ATs are going to be eating at our table. Folks may look at the new Assault Rifle and say "HOLY CRAP THAT IS AWESOME", and we're here in this dusty subforum just nodding our heads. Yeah... Those were good changes in 2019. 😉

I'll try to get some time on all my Dual Pistol characters, but I did try out the changes on the Sentinel. Overall, this was a damage increase, but I may have gotten lucky on my Pylon not slapping me around as much as usual. For context, on Live my Suppressive Fire has a DPA of just over 135. On Brainstorm the same character with the change to SF has a new DPA in that power of 150. Slotting includes Acc/Dmg from the PvP set and a +5 common level 50 IO. One of the procs is the Unbreakable Constraint. The others include Toxic and Psionic standard PPM. My solo attempt recorded time just leveraging Ageless for Endurance (the recharge is inconsequential to my build as my routine is gapless before using it) and not using Assault Hybrid was 3 Minutes 15 Seconds. This was one of the fastest times I have recorded and it was on a first attempt which is rare for me. This is still too small a sample to really conclude the total breadth of the damage increase (at least for my build), but it does match napkin modeling. By this, I assume at least a +5 DPS increase due to the changes, and even in despite of the prod chance reduction, and in testing it was greater than that on a first go. Of course, I expect that because modeling Opportunity, Achilles' Heel, etc. isn't something I am bothering with in a quick calculation. I have both a Defender and Corruptor that I'll check out when I have more time. Both builds use Piercing Rounds, particularly with no ammo, in order to create synergy with their debuff kits which also include -resistance. I *never* modeled performance for either based off stacking debuffs from PR, and likely won't notice a performance drop. What I am more interested in is performance with allowance of an ammo power in the routine with the change (which to me is a welcome addition). My Corruptor has Suppressive Fire 4 slotted with Basilisk. I do not build for procs on that character (same goes for the Defender) as I have moved away from that on these characters a while ago. Anyway, more later. So far, the Sentinel felt pretty smooth in a quick test and I wanted to share that feedback.

If budget isn't a problem, then I'd significantly change many of the things in the build. I'll have to re-think things as I haven't played Regen in a while or even Electric. My bias, is to build more for damage because taking out enemies faster than they take you out is often a better strategy in this game than trying to win attrition. So, I'd likely leverage a LOT more recharge and then completely change slotting the attacks in order to squeeze out more optimal damage; defenses be damned (to an extent). Recharge can also be your defense with Regeneration because having your heals active more frequently works well. Leveraging Moment of Glory for alpha strikes, and later on taking up Barrier Destiny are also sound ways to just say "screw it" with defense stacking. If I have some time to tinker with an idea on it, I'll get around to it in a bit.

I'm going to kick this off then with a build in the spoiler block below. It is not the perfect build, and it isn't going to do the maximum amount of damage (that isn't realistic with a small budget). However, it will accomplish a few goals: 1) It pushes Ranged Defense to 46% which pairs really nicely with Hover to keep out of melee hits when practical to do so. 2) The Accolades are active which add more to hit points and endurance. However, even without those the overall sustain is pretty good. 3) You have all of the Regeneration powers. 4) It illustrates where tradeoffs may need to be made in your parameters. Accolades are active which show the full potential on hit points and endurance sustain. Even without that, you'd have very respectable health recovery even without fully focusing on enhancing regeneration. The set as it is, ironically, is more about active click powers like Reconstruction than it is passive healing like Wolverine. Though, Instant Regeneration goes a long way to help with that with its absorb effect.

Pistols vs Dual Wield may come down to a few factors (and forgive me if I gloss over minor bits): 1) Your recharge of powers in respect to Executioner's Shot's cooldown. 2) Your decision to use procs or not. 3) Your Archetype; for Sentinels this is easier but for other ATs there are different possibilities. 4) Other goals. So, what do I mean by the above? Well, when you start getting into the weeds on optimizing how damage works you want to find your big heavy hitting attack you plan to use. That power will have an animation time and a recharge time. Both of these things are important to optimization. You're hard pressed to ever build a character that can recharge its heaviest hitting power within its own animation window. In other words, you can't spam Executioner's Shot infinitely as there are limits to recharge and constraints in animation. In general, you don't have enough reduction of time to just spam Executioner's Shot + Suppressive Fire (which is a solid secondary heavy hitter). So, you're stuck with filling time with another power. Your time fillers are Pistols, Dual Wield, your AoE powers, and/or any of the Epic Pool powers (e.g. Havoc Punch). *This* is where understanding how attack sequence building comes into play. Pistols has a real animation time just over 1 second (1.188s). Suppressive Fire has an animation time just under 2 seconds (1.848s). That animation time is also identical to Executioner's Shot. What does this mean? Well, in order to make Pistols super bad ass you want to use it as little as possible (WHAT????). What this means is you want to have a time frame on the recharge of Executioner's Shot that is so low that it comes back up after Pistols + Suppressive Fire (or 3.036 seconds). That recharge time is HARD to pull off without slotting recharge reducers in ES which would devalue proc potential. If procs aren't a concern, then who cares? However, you're not optimizing the damage potential of ES at that point either. So, its moot. Getting ES to a recharge range just over 3 seconds without any slotted recharge (i.e., stuffing it full of procs) requires way more recharge focus than I think is worth it. Furthermore, sets with built in recharge reduction (i.e., Super Reflexes, Energy Armor, Rad Armor, etc.) are the sets to help try to do this. That said, if you want to go proc heavy, realize that Pistols kinda sucks at that. However, Dual Wield is actually pretty good at it for what it is (it being a T2 power). Dual Wield has an animation time of 1.848 (same as many of the other powers). This now means that Dual Wield + Suppressive Fire (assuming both use a bunch of procs) has a total animation time of 3.696 seconds. <----- That number is possible around the same realm when you can get Hasten uptime to be 100%. My Dual Pistols/Super Reflexes Sentinel has 182.5% global recharge without having to bend over backwards for Destiny: Ageless. Executioner's Shot has a recharge of 3.54 seconds while Hasten is on (its on all the time 😛). So, in one situation the most common thing you'll end up coming across (assuming procs) is: Executioner's Shot -> Pistols (its filler) -> Suppressive Fire -> Pistols (its filler) -> Executioner's Shot..... No procs with the above: Executioner's Shot -> Suppressive Fire -> Pistols -> Executioner's Shot.... In the above, the proc build will do more damage. I guarantee you this. I have tested it and so have a lot of other folks. However, know what does more damage (assuming procs???): Executioner's Shot -> Suppressive Fire -> Dual Wield -> Executioner's Shot... Without procs, Dual Wield becomes less valuable than Pistols. With Procs Dual Wield becomes better. In fact, it also lets you not try to get really absurd recharge numbers (190-205%) which lets you have set bonuses elsewhere. All of the above, especially with damage procs can enable Dual Pistol Sentinels to make some significant dents into AV health. This isn't the highest possible damage across all ATs, or even in the Sentinel, but it is DAMN respectable. I've clocked over 300 DPS with just the native Dual Pistols single target powers ever since the big patch. Saying Dual Pistols sucks is true only if you don't build for it. However, even without doing all that build juryrigging, the core base of Sentinel Dual Pistols is still capable of exceeding AV health regen (this requires around 150 DPS) and can tread water around 170-180 range. By the original Live Server accounts, that would be awesome. It isn't on Homecoming due to power creep, but it isn't nearly this realm of hot garbage people have said before. Anyway, Dual Pistols is one of those few sets where the T1 power (Pistols) and T2 power (Dual Wield) have context driven reasons why one is good over the other. It isn't nearly as straight forward as it looks unless all you wanna do is run basic IO sets (then take Pistols). And... that said: Don't put Apocalypse in Pistols. Swap your slotting between Pistols and Executioner's Shot. That would be a raw damage upgrade. 😉

Build making is a puzzle. Some of the parts of that puzzle are what makes you happy. If certain powers, attributes, and combos are what tickles your fancy, then those of us on these boards can go F off. So, always keep that in your back pocket. 😉 Anyway, tinkering with characters is always a process. Some folks do like to make something as close to optimized as possible, and then never go back to it. I STILL find things I could change here and there in my characters to make them marginally better. Then I ask if the respec is worth the work (sometimes no). Then there are times where I look at a build I made before and wonder what I was thinking when I did it.

I think the new build you posted is a significant downgrade in damage from what you had after your post on March 8th. In the new build above, you are chasing a lot of full sets but these are in powers that now make no real sense. Due to the way you slotted Dual Wield, you depreciated value in Suppressive Fire. The way you have things set up, Pistols, Dual Wield, and Executioner's Shot will yield some better results when running Incendiary Ammo. This is because Incendiary Ammo provides a different effect to those 3 powers vs Suppressive Fire. However, when enemies would be weaker to Fire Suppressive Fire then has some value as it gets a 50/50 damage split unlike others in the set. Also, you do not need to slot a recharge reducer in Pistols as you do. It looks like you're using a Dmg/Rch from Thunderstike and then the Acc/Dmg from the PvP set. This will diminish the value of those procs a good bit. If you used the Thunderstrike combos I mentioned before (March 9th) post, then you could just run those 3 of the set. If you use boosters to push them to +5 you'll go from 73% enhanced damage to 89%. With Musculature Core Alpha you'll still hit 124% enhancement which is well into the diminishing returns for levels 45+. In trade of having slightly less than 90% enhanced damage you could slot in another damage proc which should average out to being an upgrade. However, you also don't have a high global recharge to really make that worth your slots. Instead, you could just keep Dual Wield, Suppressive Fire, and Executioner's Shot with 3 Thunderstrike + 3 damage procs. The animation time of each of those is just under 2 seconds (literally the same time for each). This reduces the burden of trying to get perma-Hasten while still allowing for solid damage when leveraging procs. I would suggest getting familiar with Damage-Per-Activation (DPA). This is a metric in the Windows (top bar of MIDs) -> DPS Calculator (Beta). You'll get an easy to read display of all your powers and various metrics. You can see in the list how the DPA of each attack has a result. In order for this to be the most helpful for Dual Pistols, look at results with Incendiary Ammo on and off. You'll see Suppressive Fire doesn't go up (because it doesn't have the Fire damage over time). Your other powers do go up. This can show you how each of these powers works with the ammo types and help you plan out what you want to do. For the most part, Incendiary Ammo is beneficial for Sentinels for damage consistency. The other ammo types have versatility components at the cost of damage dealt. Suppressive Fire is a unique power in the set and has its own interaction with the ammo mechanic. Combat Jumping is overslotted for the value it grants. I don't think Kick is worth slotting, and well there are a lot of choices that don't make a lot of sense in this. Edit Note: Maybe giving you something to compare to may help. Below is a data link of a possibility. I'm not trying to mirror your powers 100% and so swap stuff around. The most important thing I wanted to do was to illustrate getting the defenses up while balancing the damage slotting. One could certainly tweak this a few ways to tailor various outcomes of performance. Some enhancements have boosters applied which is going to make a difference when looking at a default version. I often plan for these when making characters. I don't always boost everything, but do try to prioritize some of the damage IOs in important attacks plus taking both recharge enhancers in Hasten to +4 (+5 isn't really worth it for both lvl 50 IOs).

Hmm... I don't know if I would say "useless". It would require some testing. My initial reaction to it would be that it probably doesn't contribute as well as one would hope. Besides, Executioner's Shot is a fine place for Achilles' Heel. It can trigger pretty reliably in that power. Not as good as Surveillance, but at least you get a strong damage power vs just a debuff action. I could be wrong though.

First thing is this... Hail of Bullets is helping you hit 45% defense. That buff has a short duration. In other words, you're still a good bit off defense caps if that is something you were going for. The damage buff from Guassian's in Adrenal Boost will only last a few seconds. So any damage values you see with that active aren't going to be reflected in game except in very small burst windows. Decimation's Chance for Build-Up looks better on paper than it actually functions in play. You may be better off using the Apocalypse proc in Executioner's Shot, but that could be worth testing. Also, you put some recharge reducers into the power. This is also going to negatively effect the uptime of Decimation which further lowers its value. I say this a lot for Dual Pistols builds, but I do not think chasing after Build-Up procs is worth the effort, in my opinion. Martial Arts can potentially get you some pretty decent Defiance stacking when your recharge is rolling so you will have some reasonable sustained damage while Blapping. Some things to consider also may be placement of PvP global IOs for powers later in your build vs the general IOs. You may want to swap the 3% globals in the power order. If you ever Exemplar low enough where your Tactics becomes unavailable your accuracy is going to take a hit. Slotting for Regeneration % bonuses (like what is in Surveillance) can always use a second look. Maybe this is worth while to you and maybe it isn't. However, the effects are usually very tiny. Hell, the bonus even tells you it is a 0.5/hp per second buff. With the current 229% regen rate this would drop you from just over 13/hps to a bit over 12/hps. Is that really important? Is the set bonus more a side piece so you can use the +Hit buff? Do you *really* need that with Tactics? I don't play this combo anymore, but I had gone for Scorpion Shield in order to bump of S/L defense given the melee heavy nature of it. This would depreciate the value of Munitions Mastery, but I don't think that pool adds a whole lot to the build. You could just as well move Achilles' Heel into Executioner's Shot if you really want to run that proc somewhere.

Is Hail of Bullets turned off in MIDs? Even your original build didn't actually have capped ranged defense. It would show 45% if you load it up, but if you turn off Hail of Bullets it goes down to 35%.

This is an interesting build. 🙂 My own DP/Traps is a bit of the opposite, and I leverage the Hold aspect in Suppressive Fire when soloing in coordination with Poison Trap. Yeah, I have to pick a target I wanna hold in the field. I don't always have to do this, but I enjoy the option. Anyway, I have a few suggestions you may want to think over. I dunno how it would work out for you, but they are just ideas: 1) Bullet Rain with 5 pc Positron's Blast + Force Feedback Chance for Recharge. The only native recharge in the Posi set is Damage/Recharge, and you don't want it slotted in this power. You could still keep the same slotting in Hail of Bullets if you like and use that as another means to refresh the proc. Bullet Rain is pretty decent at triggering this too given its target cap and size. 2) Other than using Pistols as a mule, it doesn't look like it does much for the build. Is that power choice and 1 slot worth the HP gain? What else could be done with that? The 5pc Superior Malice set in Dual Wield would get you a +5% ranged boost which could be nice since you're not really soft capped (Hail of Bullets is active and its effect isn't perma). [Side note: At a global recharge of 56% there would be a lot of gaps in time where Pistols is useful. However, if you can raise the global recharge a bit more I doubt you'd need the power at all; unless you like the debuff with standard ammo.] That's really it without fundamentally changing a bunch of set choices to my own preference. The way I went with my build was to go for high recharge (180%) in order to double up on Acid Mortars and other goodies. Force Feedback in Bullet Rain is just icing on that cake which pushes my recharge even higher which gets kinda silly.

And this is a very effective combo and plan. Dual Pistols is a pretty solid Blapper set when mixed and matched with melee powers. I've also played that pairing, and it can be pretty damn fun while also highly effective. However, it isn't really the shooting parts which carry the build. Its the MA parts. 😉 Still, this is what I am talking about when I say building to the strengths. DP has a melee range T9 and Bullet Rain for another sphere attack. This pairs nicely with the MA melee sphere and so on. The problem, as I see it, with DP and Blaster builds is trying to use it as a pure ranged set while ignoring the melee in the secondary. There are better primaries to do that with than DP. Obviously, the Sentinel has very little choice and so it being largely ranged is the default. At least on the Sentinel, their is some very minor difference in how that pure range build works that feels a bit smoother. As stated before, for Corrs and 'Fenders the utility elements in Swap Ammo are far more important to me than the DPS or actions per minute impact of the set itself.