oldskool

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.

Yeah, Dual Pistols is unlike any other ranged set in the game. The only other one that has some similarities is Beam Rifle. It is worth noting that both of those sets came up later in the lifespan of COH before its shutdown. There were some lessons learned, some lessons ignored, and some ambitious ideas tossed into both sets. Nin is also a more active defense-based set with a bunch of different tools adding to its complexity (its even more busy on Stalkers). The combination of both power sets creates a bit more of a learning curve than the norm. Also, yeah... building characters is a bit of a puzzle that can be fun in its own way. Many different power sets have pretty straight forward options on powers to pick and avoid. Dual Pistols has much muddier waters on that subject because most of the set has value in certain context. For example, Pistols by default is a bit more damage efficient than Dual Wield. A lot of common forum knowledge is that T2 (Dual Wield here) powers are almost always better than their T1 (Pistols) powers. However, for Dual Pistols this mindset isn't always true. It can be, in certain builds, but isn't necessarily a default mindset one should operate with. The value of the two powers can also be AT dependent as there are some advantages to using one over the other by archetype. That's a lot of freaking nuance between two powers and we hadn't even gotten past the first level choice. Additionally, as much as I dislike Piercing Rounds, there is an interaction where its value can be better when you get its recharge down to 4.224 seconds. That is exactly the amount of time it takes to use Pistols -> Executioner's Shot -> Pistols and have Piercing Rounds be available again. This is not the best use of powers on the Sentinel but it can be a good option on Defenders and Corruptors in some set ups. The way it expresses value is using standard ammo for the debuffs in all three attacks. That's additional defense and resistance debuffing which can stack with support powers. Is it always the best option? Probably not, but it is a gameplay element worth thinking about on occasion. Stuff like this is why I enjoy the set so much.

Since I was summoned... My opinion is that Dual Pistols is a perfectly viable and suitable set for any of the ATs it has access to. The set neither overperforms or underperforms when built to its strengths and minimizing its weaknesses. The last bit there is emphasized because I often see builds and discussions of the set trying to describe or construct it in ways it isn't currently capable of supporting. Some of this is player stubbornness, some of it attributable to "common forum knowledge" (which generates incorrect assumptions on various power tiers in a vacuum), and finally on the development of the set itself (its complexity and nuance is not necessarily obvious). So, if you didn't like Dual Pistols on Blasters, then there is a *really* high chance you're not going to like it on the Sentinel. Of course, there could be any number of reasons why one feels that Dual Pistols is weak. I can make a whole bunch of assumptions that likely involve Piercing Rounds and Swap Ammo, but really only you can answer how you felt about it. That said, Dual Pistols on Sentinels can be a pretty good set when utilizing damage procs. Sentinels, unlike most other ranged ATs, have a FAR easier time closing up defense gaps which can open up different damage slotting. This can allow Sentinels to leverage the change to Suppressive Fire's recharge (it is much longer on other ATs) and create a whole new attack pattern other ATs can't easily replicate outside really high recharge. If that sounds interesting, then I have a very long write-up on the matter in the sticky at the top of this subforum. Also... I think the mindset of X set was weak on Blasters is the kind of trap logic that will make you hate playing the Sentinel.

Just for kicks (see spoiler tagged link below), I decided to just tweak what you had in line with what my rambling was in the above. The build below has slightly better end management on fewer slots spent using targeted bonuses and effects to help. The attacks are slotted as detailed above. The AOE powers are slotted a little different. The two ATO procs aren't really that good, but the sets themselves are nice. You could put either one in your choice of Empty Clips or Bullet Rain. I prefer Armageddon in Hail of Bullets since I put a higher value on the Chance for Fire vs either ATO proc. Change that if you like. There are still room for different powers and plenty more slots. The way I slotted Agility was just to raise ranged defense to cap (so both IOs have boosts if you look). You don't have to do it that way, but this is just to show getting to 45% with SR is possible. I happen to use Maneuvers from Leadership as well which raises my defense higher. You'd have room for that in the below and could dump Infiltration since you have Super Jump. I use Infiltration as my own travel power and I like it while understanding that Combat Jumping would be better. I don't mind that trade off since I understand what I am getting/losing and I am OK with it.

"Jacked up" is loaded. I am not familiar with the build which was your source of inspiration and so it is possible you started with poor information. Let's try to fix that. If you are really interested with procs, then there are a few strategies you can use when it comes to slotting: Thunderstrike Acc/Dmg, Acc/Dmg/End, and Dmg/End is a 3pc set which adds some recovery (its minor) and a minor ranged def boost. All 3 can be bumped to +5 with boosters and net you the same total damage mod with Musculature Core Alpha. Its cheaper than Hami's but reduces a slot for procs by one. Additionally, you could also look at Gladiator's Javelin Acc/Dmg + the Toxic proc. This minor set bonus is also a recovery buff. In addition to this, it is very popular to add a common level 50 IO with a +5 boost. You can squeeze out very tiny bits of bonus damage (+2% enhanced) if you do that. That may, or may not, be worth while to you for the slot invested. This, my current preference though as it does at least get some benefit out of the scalar change. OK, so... what combos of IOs in their limited capacity can really push your three core single-target attacks? I'll tell you how I have mine slotted. The use of Gladiator's Javelin has been around the forums for years at this point. It is not my idea and so I don't claim credit. Dual wield = GJ Acc/Dmg + Toxic proc, L50 IO +5, Ice Minstrel's Chance for Cold, Impeded Swiftness Chance for Smash, Explosive Strike Chance for Smash. Suppressive Fire = Same Gladiator's Javelin combo + common IO as above. Unbreakable Constraint Chance for Smash, Neurotic Shutdown chance for Psionic, Ghost Widow's chance for Psionic Executioner's Shot = Gladiator's Jav 2pc, Apocalypse chance for negative + the single damage IO +5 in that set [This is a regen bonus I don't care about, but the IO itself is good; may as well get something out of it], Touch of Lady Grey Negative, and Achilles' Heel Resistance Debuff. So, my pattern of slotting is very similar to what you have (1 Acc/Dmg, and a Dmg, 4 procs). However, I am pairing that Acc/Dmg from a set with its proc in order to get a small bonus out if it. You'll notice in this set I described, that Dual Wield is capable of holding 4 damage procs. That is what you're missing in your build. And, Underfyre isn't wrong about the T1/T2 bit. Generally, these are the lowest damage options, but in some cases they still work out in your favor. This is where the function of time becomes relevant. Just for clarity here, your original build's Piercing Round's DPA (damage per activation) was a total of 203. My Dual Wield, using 4 damage procs as said above, is 201 DPA. So yeah, technically, DW is *worse* in this case by 2 DPA. However, in actual play the recharge/activation time for my entire routine allows constant cycling. Piercing Rounds, with its really long innate recharge, may just sit for 5-6 seconds doing nothing where DW will be fired every 4 seconds or less.

As the usual reminder, slotting the Gaussian's Build-Up proc in Tactics has a very low chance to go off when you solo. If you are in a group of people and proving the buff in range, then the changes work out a bit better. Is this worth doing? Well... probably not. However, it is the only way you can pseudo access Aim/Build-up-like buffs with Dual Pistols and this particular power combo. I currently do not run Tactics with my DP/SR build, and so I do not have any "Chance for Build-Up" effects (Decimation being the other option; it's not great either). I don't miss it, and don't feel I really need it. Dual Pistols, with damage procs, can slap pretty well. You don't need Pistols in your build. It looks like you're using it to mule that minor set. Look at HP and Regen with and without it. You'll notice you recover 11 hp in your current set up. If you dumped Pistols and that set you'd recover a bit over 9 hp. Are those slots worth investing in for less than 2 hp of health recovery? What else could you do with those slots? End management could feel a bit constrained in this build. Maybe in practice it won't be so bad since you have procs in Health and Stamina to help cover that. However, I dropped Nin because using Seishinteki Kyoyo kept eating into my damage routine vs just using blue inspirations. End management is one of the major drawbacks of slotting an attack sequence (Dual Wield, Suppressive Fire, Executioner's Shot) like this with the less than 3 end per second your build has. I speak from experience on this. My current version of my Sent, using SR for more end management, can still run out of gas and has more passive end then Nin. The more you have to interrupt attacking to fuel endurance, the less damage you do which then drags on combat, and so on and so on. You may want to consider backing off heavy proc use and mix in some minor set use. Thunderstrike Acc/Dmg, Acc/Dmg/End, and Dmg/End are 3 IOs that grant you a set boost to minor recovery, natively reduce end cost in your attack chain, and give you a minor ranged defense buff. This is for 3 slots, all of which can be boosted to +5, and lets you slap in procs for the remaining 3 slots. Yes, it is a bit less damage, but it is a considerable boost in quality of life. Not only that, it helps pad out your ranged defense. Obviously, if your end is good, and you like how things are, then don't worry about my advice. However, if you don't mind backing off procs a bit, then some frankenslotting can go a long way.

I'm just going to point out a bunch of basic stuff in no particular order of importance BUT I may rant about Piercing Rounds because it isn't good. As usual, if you aren't aware MIDs defaults to show several effects as active. Like that near useless Force Feedback in kick isn't actually going to grant you 273% global recharge in a consistent manner. *If* you remember to use kick *and* it goes off, then Bob's your uncle. However, most of the time I never, ever, put a IO in that power. Hell, most of the time I take Boxing, and it never finds its way to my bar. Save your money. I have yet to find a need for Aid Self in my build, and definitely not at 49. I'd think this may be more useful earlier, but Master Brawler is an MVP power. It is REAL good. Especially with passive regen and dodging attacks. Aid Self isn't useless by any stretch and it may feel clutch in some cases. It just isn't mandatory. *Edit: It is worth noting that 9 times out of 10 when I solo in level 45+ content I have Rebirth Destiny on my bar. It is a huge source of passive healing and it is a severely underrated Incarnate. Ageless is great too, but I don't often need it. Barrier is a good runner up. I can see why your inspiration source has end issues. The build isn't invested into much sustain while dumping end management in powers, especially Piercing Rounds; Jesus F Crispers. Aid Self, when used, should give you the +Recovery buff after activation for its duration (you'd need to refresh on each cast; this may not be a big deal). However, if you never click it, then you won't get that buff if I am remembering it right. I slap that in Health in all my builds and just let it run passively 24/7 so I don't strain myself thinking about it. You could use a bit more than just the Performance Shifter in Stamina, especially with the attack routine in this build set up. Enduring can be slotted for endurance management. Yeah, it can take defense sets, and that is quaint. However, if you slot it like an end power you'll find it works wonders. Its like having Stamina slotted again in your set up. Its not Quick Recovery, but it ain't nothing. With some more end management you could add an additional +1 end gain per second over what you currently have. That also isn't even considering the PVP health/end IO. You can be swimming in blue outside some really intense shooty shoot situations vs gassing out. Piercing Rounds looks good on paper but that 2.64s animation (arcana time) kicks the wind out its sails. Compound that with the long recharge, and this is not going to be as effective as it looks. In an ideal world, one would love to be able to just use Piercing Rounds -> Suppressive Fire -> Executioner's Shot repeat. However, that isn't going to happen at your recharge (and not truly gapless even with the fictious Force Feedback add-on here). In reality, you'll have a gap of time after Piercing Rounds which could be filled with 2 uses of Pistols. This drags out your attack cycle when basing it around Piercing Rounds to be over 8 seconds long (almost 9 seconds). You can instead invest a similar slotting strategy into Dual Wield and condense that long ass 9~ second damage window into a 5.544s window doing *more* damage. Sometimes folks look at the total damage in a vacuum and forget that time is a constraint. Some lower damage powers enable constant and consistent use. Sure, resistances will hinder some of that, but really long animating powers with crap efficiency (like Piercing Rounds) can drag down performance. If min-max isn't your goal, and you just love you some Piercing Rounds, then by all means use it. For Blasters and Sentinels I think Piercing Rounds is a waste of space. For my Defender, I use it only if I am not wanting to run ammo in order to gain the large resistance debuff to stack with all of my other resistance debuffs. I do something similar on my Corruptor and in both cases the -resist is overkill, but I enjoy it for that.

Not necessarily. You may be reading too much into this thread. My goal here was to craft a skeleton build to start with as an idea point. I didn't go into minutiae of various powers and attack routines with a focus on optimizing. The open power selections and unassigned power slots allow the posted build to be finished however someone wanted. If that means taking Piercing Shot, then go for it. If that means using an Epic Power instead, then that's on the table as well.