oldskool

You're over capped on hit points. So you could back off several of the 3 set bonuses. 2pc Preventative Medicine gets you a minor smash/lethal resistance buff. May as well start looking at things like that for healing sets vs Numina everywhere. I think you over slot both Fast Healing and Health. You could pick either one for the unique procs, and then move on. All of the slots in Fast Healing could be better in Instant Healing to max out the absorb value. Despite the name, Regeneration is more about managing click powers like Reconstruction, Second Wind, and Moment of Glory. On top this, Instant Healing's absorb shield gives you buffer to let the passive regeneration effect work. Shaving off 20-25% regen rate in set bonuses from my own tinkering only dropped health per second by 2 hit points. Each of those 10% regen bonuses is like half of one hp per second. Not worth the slots or cash in the IOs in my opinion. You don't need a 3rd slot in Hasten, and especially not with that +5 boosted IO (you'd be spending quite a bit for very little benefit). Two level 50 IOs boosted to +4 each is about as far as I'd invest in that power. If you eventually take Ageless Destiny that will have some additional recharge to help smooth things out. I'd choose either Combat Jumping or Maneuvers. Maneuvers at least buffs your friends.

A simple solution is where my heart is. However, if given the chance to be creative I may as well give it a shot. 😅

Well the combo system on Scrappers, Brutes, and Tankers is identical. The Stalker has a different set of powers linked to starters, links, and finishers. The combo system of DB in general is really lackluster. However, if you want to explore some options thematically, then the Tanker is a thought. Weaken and Empower both require Nimble Slash which is mandatory. So at least you're making use out of that pick. Both of these effects link into Ablative Strike. The finisher is what is different. Typhoon's Edge or Blinding Feint. You should take both anyway. Attack Vitals is the DPS combo of merit on Scrappers/Brutes/Tankers. This means you could skip One Thousand Cuts which has a long animation anyway. Blinding Feint -> Attack Vitals is a achievable with reasonable levels of global recharge. You can do this without Hasten but you'll need some IO bonuses with recharge. Still, this is the most flexible option. The Stalker versions of the combos kinda suck. Sweep will probably just happen as you play, and there may be times where Empower tickles your fancy. Attack Vitals on Stalkers is worse than the other ATs, but hey it gets you a cone effect before you unlock Sweeping Strike at 26. So my vote on pretending that anything other than Attack Vitals holds any relevance would be the Tanker. You could pull it off on a Brute too.

So my initial thought is that the aura that the Sentinel provides doesn't impact the origin caster. However, other Sentinels could buff other Sentinels. There would need to be some reigning in of how much conversion could happen. It could be too easy to hit 100% with people purposefully building that way. If there was incentive to run the Leadership pool, then an individual Sentinel could easily build in their own 20%+ to-hit. If you're using a temp buff like Aim or Build-up, or inspirations, then things could get out of hand. So maybe a ratio of effect. I'm not sure if something like that is even possible really.

@Galaxy Brain after thinking on this a bit more. I have some other ideas. So what if the Sentinel had scaling damage based on to-hit? Let's assume we get to have an inherent that has multiple parts in a re-design. Let's assume some of the ideas presented in your Overwatch remain as unenhanced effects for teammates. Basically, the Sentinel buffs others around them as they "stand watch" in the group. They provide some minor perception, to-hit, and maybe very minor defensive perks. These effects do not boost the Sentinel. One thing the Sentinel's design *had* going for it was a both a rebalance of blast sets and snipe replacers. The latter there is mostly meaningless now that snipes are now rotational. The snipe powers gain scaling damage based on to-hit bonuses. Why not take that lesson learned and just apply it to the Sentinel? What if the Sentinel got stronger based on to-hit buffs? There would need to be limits on how much certain powers gained from this, but it is a thought. The effects could be whatever are possible in the engine. Maybe it is flat damage. Maybe the Sentinel has critical hits with a percentage equal to its to-hit buff. Also, what if the Sentinel kept all of its current buff/debuff values but had a special circumstance made for Leadership toggles? So in some ways the Sentinel gains some ideas from both HEATs and VEATs. The major difference is that Sentinels have individual power sets with variable abilities vs the HEAT/VEAT preset kits. The Sentinel benefits for teams shouldn't exceed the values of the HEAT/VEAT but just take inspiration off that. What if the Sentinel replaced Aim with Build-Up? All power sets except for Dual Pistols have Aim, even Assault Rifle. This change would further make the Sentinel a unique AT for ranged blast sets. Dual Pistols would likely need some kind of targeted redesign/buff within the AT for it to keep pace with that change. I think completely removing Swap Ammo for BU isn't possible without a full redesign. However, there could be other buffs done to the set. Also, if the Sentinel did have some relationship of critical hit to its current to-hit value, then Aim ends up have a better justification over BU. Ultimately, what I would like to see is that the gap between the Sentinel and other damage-focused ATs reduced downward. When looked at on paper, the Sentinel's base damage vs say the Blaster does reflect the AT damage scalar difference (not withstanding Fire or Ice Blast). However Defiance vs Opportunity isn't much of a contest. Defiance starts creating a much larger gap more consistently and earlier. Opportunity really only matters against AV+ enemies which diminishes the value. However, Blaster vs Sentinel is a poor comparison. The Sentinel has conceptual models similar to Scrappers but even there the damage differences are larger than they should be. So TL;DR: Role = Damage albeit with some trades made on risk vs reward due to the fundamental mechanics Playstyle = Ranged blast set plus defense Inherent = Minor team, but not the Sentinel, benefits plus perhaps some further ties with to-hit mechanics No matter what there will be those that never like this AT because it isn't the top damage dealing AT in the game. That's fine. However, the current incarnation can feel over penalized for what it actually has going for it.

I was going to say you could probably dump that recharge IO in BU. Where you move it to is up to you. Also, the Assassin's Mark IO has some funky mechanics. I see BU refreshes even when I am not using the power that holds it. I decided to log in real quick to verify so I didn't just go off the cuff imagining things. I have that set in Smite on my DM/DA Stalker (the one tested). I use Smite in my attack chain BUT here were the following triggers: 1) Touch of Fear. 2) Shadow Maul. 3) Dark Regeneration. 4) Assassin's Eclipse. Some food for thought. [Not that it really matters given how you use ET, TF, and AS here]

Well if I don't run my toggles with Rad how are my Phantom Army minions going to get their damage buffs? I mean, I guess you can take advantage of that too. We're friends now, but you're not in my Phantom Army. Which is OK. I don't hold that against people. I hear non-Phantoms like Accelerate Metabolism. I like Accelerate Metabolism. I try not to make groups because I hate fast scrolling text and missing tells. I hate missing tells when I am distracted doing other things. So I just mostly hang out with the Phantom Army or other pets on whatever pet class I am playing. If I am not playing a pet class then I just try to make new friends by running into large spawns. This has not worked out so well yet. I don't know why. Still, if I played a Brute there would be a role there for making new friends. One my Brutes is really good at making new friends and does so with a lot efficiency. Large groups of various NPC love to meet her. Same with Tankers. Both of them are good at making friends (this is me trying to put this train back on course).

Geez, I feel like I'm looking at a mirror of my soul. I too also have an appreciation of Rhona Mitra. OK. Shot out of a cannon, Step Brothers style: Oprah, Barbara Walters, your wife... No I can't finish that, but I'd suspect... Did we just become best friends?

Well there is a thread that hasn't been updated in almost a year. I wouldn't be too surprised if the Brute numbers are still disproportionately high. I don't think many players immediately abandoned their farming Brutes (Fiery Aura is popular. It's good right? 😀) https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/16094-homecoming-statistics-march-2020/

Discussing survivability in a vacuum is pretty loaded. Depends on the difficulty you plan to play at and this is more of a concern for solo. For teaming, you're likely going to be fine. You may bite off more than you can chew on occasion but that happens with several ATs. Also, Barrier could be a good Destiny if you don't want Ageless all the time. Procs do help. Your approach is heavier on proc use than I personally care for, but that is just personal preference. I know I wouldn't notice a difference in the run speed, but that's just me.

Wow... just wow...

*Bio Armor has entered the chat*

This is the kind of words of wisdom statement that the "like" feature needs a red heart of "love". The build choices, especially for a Blaster, can create a very real question of "what's the point?". What I mean here is if the build is going to focus solely on doing ranged pew-pew, then there is a chance to look at other ranged ATs for their own merits. This could lead a player into discovering that playing a Defender within that conceptual space is actually a really freaking good choice. This also showcases something where some ATs genuinely have a better place with certain playstyles. Like Dual Pistols on Blasters can feel pretty 'meh' if your goal is to just sit back and pew-pew. However, if you break that comfort zone and Blap? ....Holy crap it can be an amazing set and even more so with a secondary that supports it. The lack of a snipe doesn't feel nearly as bad when you focus on sustained damage vs burst damage. However, on a Defender the Dual Pistols power set offers superior utility and a ton of synergy with debuff support sets. Corruptors also benefit from this but the numbers are slightly less. That just opens up a series of question about what is important to the user for their playstyle goals. There isn't a wrong answer here.

This has been a fascinating read so far. So a lot AT debates do center around nuance arguments. Defenders vs Corrs... whom has the best value for the investment? Do you value more personal damage in solo or groups? Do you value the base numbers of having a support set as a primary vs secondary? Are the differences of some support sets great enough to matter for a given playstyle? Rinse and repeat that for any AT you want. I know for me personally, I prefer the Tanker post change. However, I don't abuse procs on the AT. So my Tankers do a bit less damage than the Brute version would, but it feels like it contributes more than it once did. This isn't to say the Brute has no role. I think that mindset is a bit of trap depending on how you view roles in a game like this. Then again I tend to feel that roles in this game are just meaningless constructs and holdovers from MMORPG designs that have little weight here. I can understand why they seem so important (roles that is), but in real play it just feels pointless. I say this as a point of strength for CoX and not as a point of fault. It makes me feel like I play anything in this game and contribute in some fashion. I love that. It keeps me playing. It keeps me talking about it here. There are few games that have managed to keep me this invested this long.

It looks like it is going to do what you've designed it to do. One thing to consider though... Musculature Radial vs Core. I'm not certain you're going to need Radial for the endurance benefit. This will also become a lot more apparent if you decide to take Ageless for both the end and recharge. That's all I've got.

Well, yes. In this case it is actually rather important to discern meaning in the words used. The response in question (your original one) used the word "good" in two different contexts suggesting different meaning of the same word applied in certain conditions. You made a statement that "Brutes and scrappers are good at what they do and have very few complaints from players". This is followed by "For the sake of semantics I'll say sentinels have good def/res and good attacks but don't succeed in anything that distinguishes them from the pack". My response to this was to breakdown the meaning, because frankly what you wrote makes no sense to me. Brutes, Scrappers, and Sentinels shouldn't be lump together with the word "good" if that word means the same thing. Your usage of it suggests good means something different for Brutes/Scrappers and something else for Sentinels. I'm not trying to be pedantic. I truly find the choice of words confusing. The latter part of the commentary about Sentinels not succeeding in anything that distinguishes them seems contradictory. If they have good attacks, and if Brutes/Scrappers are good, then why is it that Sentinels fail? This is the reason why I go into other details on what makes Brutes/Scrappers work. You know what? I happened to forget ATOs in my original list. Sentinel ATOs are poor contributors to the AT's output vs Brute/Scrapper/Stalker/Blaster options. Hell, even Corruptors have a damage contributing ATO and they are a true hybrid where the Sentinel is not. Also of note, I opened my response with a question on how the usage seemed to contradict the point. That was an open invitation for clarity not the following: This is passive-aggressive. This combined with the above is rather frustrating to read. Perhaps you found what I wrote condescending. I'll apologize for that. I didn't intend for that. In the first point, I note that the structure of your statement did not make sense to me. I tried to unpack that in order to both wrap my head around what is being stated and also examine an underlying problem statement. That problem statement wasn't necessarily yours but something I considered as I worked through the concept I was applying a critique to. However, your approach here is to educate me on the obvious. I'm well aware of the limitations of the mechanic in question (I've noted so numerous times). I also stated my opinions on all of the other issues that I see with the AT. This is of course is completely ignored by this statement and that is frankly, insulting when combined with passive-aggressive commentary. What makes this really infuriating is the suggestion here on bias and cognitive dissonance on my part. As if I somehow am not aware of the mechanics or how metrics work and that I am somehow championing something I clearly am not. I disagree with this entire concept. I stated why before. You are absolutely entitled to your opinion. Regardless of whatever you think my intent was, I still respect that. We can agree to disagree on this.

So the idea is to have a "go" and "no-go" for say.... Archery compared against 14 separate Blaster secondary sets. Then that process repeated again for Assault Rifle, Beam Rifle, and so on? That's an awful lot of combinations and seems like a pretty big ask. There are likely FAR easier ways to handle this. 1) Does this combo even sound fun? "That's a go" 2) Does this combo not fit my interests? "That's a no-go" 3) Has anyone played? -- Search for each power primary and secondary *individually* vs as pairs. 4) Make comparisons of generalization from other searches. (I.e., how often do certain sets come up as "Blapper-friendly" vs "ranged only"). In the case of #3, it can be real frustrating when search-fu doesn't give you results when you look for a Sentinel build for Archery/Ice Armor or Assault Rifle/Fiery Aura. This would be because there are likely less than 5 people in all of HC that play that combo. A rather small subset of players actually post here. However, if you search for just X primary and then Y secondary you're far more likely to get actual answers. The initial posting makes a call back how Archery/Devices was... on Live. Devices here isn't Devices from live. Archery too has experienced a change even if it was only having a more reliable Ranged Shot. If the idea is that the combo is "gimp" because of its lethal damage type, then this too starts giving out some answers. Look at elemental damage sets. What isn't resisted that much? Fire? What are people's opinion on Fire? What are people's opinions on Devices? Hmm.. I think these two can work. I think the decision paralysis (and you aren't alone there) is a self-inflicted monster. Plenty of folks aren't interested in investing heavily into a character that will "suck". Unfortunately, this metric is near impossible to make work in CoH due to sliding difficulty as well as solo vs grouping. What is gimp? Is it a character that only performs well at +4/x8? Is it a character that can't group? What is the parameter that defines this metric for which "go" and "no-go" has any value outside those with decision paralysis? Those are important things to consider because you may get responses like X primary and Y secondary are fantastic from players that love to solo on +2/x5. However, if you're not being clear on your expectations you may end up disappointed. I'd love to see more guides myself, but after a point I think they become irrelevant. I much prefer to talk pairings on case-by-case basis because guides often have a degree of bias. A bias that may not create a truly helpful answer. Some guides have been incredibly thorough and well written. Those are often few and far between.

I've always wanted to like Claws, but that animation for Follow-up just ruins my enjoyment. It lacks the "punch" of all of the other attacks. It is like you take a moment to just poke them but there is little force behind it. Yet, the other attacks can feel so much more aggressive. The Night Widow has a different animation for Follow-up and gives the "I point at you" attack to Lunge instead. Which is also a shame since Lunge is such a strong attack there. Ugh... The idea behind Follow-up is one of the biggest reasons why I was so interested in Dual Blades when it was first released. Blinding Feint has an animation I can tolerate. Spines also inherits a lot of Claws animations and I greatly enjoy that set too. If all I wanted was functionality, then I'd be happy. Well, Stalker's version of Claws is interesting but the lack of Spin hurts. Anyway, I'm glad another person has found enjoyment here. @Bill Z Bubbashould be proud.

I didn't mention durability because I personally do not have an issue with Sentinel durability. I find the AT ridiculously survivable and I don't have hover on a single Sentinel. Hell, I don't hover-blast on my Blaster builds either. Those debt badges don't collect themselves!

Variety is the spice of life.

"Good attacks" seems a bit counter to the point though. If the Sentinel was good enough at what it is designed to do (damage), then I'm not sure we'd all be having this conversation. Brutes and Scrappers have an offensive primary and defensive secondary. However, they can be considered to "excel" for a number of reasons. The Sentinel is rather balanced when viewed only in its AT sandbox. However, compared to other ATs in the same role (damage) it is under tuned. They aren't "vanilla". They are under performing in their function and do so when viewed at a macro-level of the game. Now, I know I have hammered the point that damage is often overstated. It is. CoX isn't that difficult. However, for a damage AT in this game the Sentinel is behind in most builds that aren't designed in one singular way. That's a design that needs to be corrected. When two powers out of the epic sets can either meet or exceed the damage potential of an entire primary there is a problem. The Opportunity mechanic is something that needs to be addressed, but I'm not certain it is the *only* thing that needs to be addressed. What features make all of the perceptions of the Sentinel turn into a compounding problem? - Base damage scalar is the lowest of all damage oriented ATs which is also now the standard on Tankers (FFS...). - Legacy challenges with balancing of damage in ranged sets vs melee sets. - Current HC power creep of all other ATs using ranged sets and fast snipes. The Sentinel snipe replacers don't really keep pace. - Lack of meaningful damage contribution out of the inherent outside of specific conditions. Blasters and Brutes gain global damage modifiers. Scrappers and Stalkers gain critical modifiers. Sentinels have 1 damage boosting effect linked to their T1 power that doesn't scale in addition to resistance debuffs that are likely to go the way of the dinosaur. - Undertuning on secondary effects on some powers. Piercing Rounds, Life Drain, and the like all have *worse* modifiers than any other AT with the same power. Why? - Lack of power diversity (late game melee options) has legacy issues with the IO system. Willpower, the secondary, is a glaring issue here. Willpower seems designed with the IO system in mind and a heavy abundance of melee sets capable of closing its S/L defense gap. Sentinels largely rely on ranged sets which heavily leans on range/elec/nega defenses. Sentinels may appear like they have no role or place next to other ATs due to fundamental breakdowns in the core design.

"Synergy" is pretty loose. Electrical Blast can perform some end drain. If you're looking for more of that in secondary powers, then Elec Armor or Energy Aura may be what you're looking for. However, you don't have to push the endurance sap gimmick. You can though and if you did those two secondary sets would help. You could also tap into the Electricity Mastery epic for the toggle Lightning Field power. Sentinel armor sets do not have the PBAoE damage fields that exist in the melee versions, but that particular epic power brings it back into the kit. In fact, you can get pretty creative with several epic powers beyond pushing m0Ar damage. Dark Blast is the little black dress (yuk yuk) of Sentinel sets. It goes with everything. This is due to having to-hit debuffing in each attack which can contribute as a minor mitigation benefit. This isn't nearly as good as having a Parry-like melee attack, but this is as close as Sentinels get. Dark Blast's T9 power is PBAoE and so there is some synergy there with stealth mechanics. Ninjutsu grants you some stealth in one of the powers and this stacks with the stealth IOs. This makes jumping into melee and dumping Blackstar pretty safe. Targets struck by this suffer a massive debuff which can have a noticeable effect even against +4 enemies. Beyond those basics, there could be room to go into the weeds about how you may wish to slot the final build. That too may influence what kind of secondary you want to play and which primary to pair it with. If you're wanting to use a lot of damage procs, then you're not going to gain a lot of set bonuses. This makes a great case to run more self-contained secondaries that don't need that kind of IO slotting. Or, if you don't care that much about pushing extreme mitigation layers you can take the hit on sets and run any secondary. Or, or, you can stack a ton of set bonuses and go really extreme with it. That advice has the underlying decision question of what is more important to your gameplay goals. Is it squeezing out highly optimized damage or just making the tankiest Sentinel you can? Does that even matter to you? Last note, Sentinels can be a little bit bumpy as they cut their teeth leveling up. Their inherent seems fickle and nearly useless to some players. Unfortunately, the design goal of the inherent doesn't start to realize its potential until you start piling a lot of recharge. By the time you do that, the feature that matters more is the -20% resistance shred and not the Offensive or Defense feature. Those two features have diminishing value for a range of reasons. The nice thing about this you don't *have* to take both. However, in Electrical Blast both Charged Bolts and Lightning Bolt *are* good powers. Dark Blast and Gloom can also have a place in your build but Gloom isn't critical.

I can't imagine you'd notice a huge difference in single-target performance if you already have StJ/SR. You would gain a new AoE power though which could be fun.

Good points, and yeah Durability is a strong selling point for Sent Invul it is the reason I recommend that set. I don't necessarily agree or truly disagree with the quote. However, I'd like to add some additional thoughts to it. "Main damage dealer" is a concept in people's heads. CoH has scaling difficulty. There is no need to have a "main damage dealer" on 8 person teams in CoH. Having players running some damage capable character speeds things up. It certainly makes TF easier and especially so at lower levels. However, there is no "main DPS" here. This isn't an MMO with only 4 team slots devoted to tank, heal, damage, control. Whelp, only one spot for DPS that's GOTTA be me. Then, if I am the only DPS the pressure is higher to make sure I'm the best there is at what I do. Yeah, none of that exists in CoX where a lot of play time is spent crushing radio missions or engaging in other team content. The only true damage-focused AT at the expense of all else is the Blaster. Are they main damage dealers? Scrappers are, and have always been, self-sufficient attackers. Same goes for Brutes. Stalker can do it now too. What makes them main damage dealers? Is it having a high Pylon take down metric? If that is the only gauge, then what about Masterminds or Controllers that can pound a Pylon with 700 DPS? Does this make them main damage dealers? The argument can get pretty absurd. As always, I have to note how I recognize faults in the AT but "damage" is just overstated for its importance. That said, it can be pretty easy to make a crappy Sentinel which ends up disappointing some players and very difficult to make a unique Sentinel that is bleeding edge.