oldskool
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Posts posted by oldskool
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On 3/13/2023 at 9:46 AM, r0adkill76 said:
How are DPs on Sents? I always found them weak on blasters.
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.-
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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.
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18 hours ago, JavaMonk said:
So what you're saying is...I jacked it up, lol. Seriously though, I really appreciate you taking the time to lay all that out. Learning as we go. I didn't mention it before but I believe I read that it's a good idea to be Def soft cap'd at 45% for Melee/Range/AOE so I've been trying to keep that in mind as well.
That being said, I took your nuggets of wisdom and applied them to the best of my understanding. Kicked Piercing Rounds to the curb and picked up Dual Wield. Though I couldn't slot it exactly the same, I tried to get it as close as possible. Put the slots into Enduring and slotted it with Perf. Shifter. Couldn't squeeze out any more slots for Stamina. Are there slots elsewhere I could take from to move over if necessary? No idea what my last two power picks should be? I grabbed Infiltration from the Concealment pool and threw a couple enh's that gave me a little more endurance but I'm really at a loss as to what I could pick up.
All that being said, here's the updated build. Thanks again all!
"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.-
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8 hours ago, Stormangel said:
Do you reccomend this setup over the proc setup or is this just a more budget friendly build?
Not necessarily.
8 hours ago, Stormangel said:I noticed no piercing shot here for instance, yet you mentioned back in 2020 of disintegrate, lancing shot and it as a holy trinity per se. Did beam change since then?
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.
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As stated before, your biggest challenge with endurance is coming from both the lack of endurance and accuracy.
Attacking is the largest drain on your endurance bar. Missing frequently means you need to keep spamming more attacks in order to land a hit which in turn drains more endurance.
In the early game while just leveling up naturally, you should prioritize accuracy because consistently landing attacks will shorten combat and thus reduce endurance spend. Once you have 1-2 accuracy (2 is ideal), go for a single endurance mod to help reduce how much you spend per attack. As you level up and have more slots, then you can start adding in more damage as you go.
Also, when you are starting out and loading up on attacks you should have something available. Hasten isn't going to help a whole lot in an early game set up like this except for maybe single hard encounters like at the end of a story arc. Still, Hasten is going to force you to spend more endurance for only slight improvements. Hasten is a great power, but it has considerable cost to it before you finish a build with set bonuses, etc. to really maximize it.
Going into level 30 I wouldn't really worry too much about IO sets. IO sets aren't going to help you as much as specific individual unique IOs.
I highly recommend:
1) The Performance Shifter Chance for Endurance proc. Park that in a Stamina slot. Even if you just leave the other two slots as SO's a good bit of your endurance challenges will start to fade.
2) Miracle and Numina Uniques with Endurance Recovery. Get both as you can afford them and put them into Health. These will change your life.
Eventually, save up for the PvP health unique which has a chance to proc healing and endurance. That too will help you out.
If you are doing a lot of Story Arcs, and the occasional Task Force you can stock up on Merits and use those to buy the recipes for the level 30 IOs above. That will save you some cash and set you up for the long-term.-
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2 hours ago, BazookaTwo said:
Here's my wacky build, resistance is floored, but def is definitely low. hasten barely needed, due to the FF procs. Would love feedback.
Have you tested this build yet? "Hasten barely needed, due to the FF procs" is a big claim. There are a number of very deceptive elements in how Mids reports effects that do not work in actual play:
1) FF procs don't stack. You're going to get only 110% global recharge when the effect procs. Your uptime is going to be gated by the number of targets you can leverage. You're not going to exceed any builds that go for perma-Hasten with your current strategy.
2) It looks like some of the slotting strategy is to go after +3 and 4% global damage buffs from various sets. Just know that global damage is only base damage and not your enhanced damage.
3) Gaussian's in Tactics is worthwhile for the defense boost on builds that need just that little bit of extra defense. However, that Build-Up proc will very rarely proc when you play solo. If you are granting the Tactics buff to a full party of 8, then it will check the procs off team members each interval. This means it can have a better chance to go off in teams, but it is near worthless solo (proc rate is so small as to not provide much damage benefit for the slots).
4) You could spare a slot in Molten Embrace and Assault by using a +5 IO instead of 2 individual IOs.
5) The damage provided by Molten Embrace and Assault doesn't offset the higher base damage of Suppressive Fire and Executioner's Shot. Those two attacks are pushed off late in the build in order to boost weaker attack's base damage. I'd swap the order of the selection. You're better off with better attacks first, and then adding damage boosting elements later.
Hopefully that helps get some perspective on some potential changes you could make.-
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3 hours ago, pearbear said:
and I'm not seeing any survivability costs with the build I'll care more about that
I care a lot less about the survivability of my Sentinel builds. Therefore, whatever I did would have some tradeoffs involved. I'll think about it though if some inspiration hits me to explore the pairing.
The recharge bit is just an option. You don't have to do it. There are plenty of builds that don't push too hard for things like permanent Hasten uptime and they can complete content in this game just fine.-
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6 hours ago, pearbear said:
@oldskool:Also on Procs, I have only 4 abilities with them and only 2 have 2, but both are AoEs and one has a long recharge. I know Global Recharge and Proc'ing out will maximize DPS, but given what I *do* have, I'm not hearing that they are mislotted - is that assessment correct?
Ah, I was mostly looking at your original build and not the second one, sorry.
I wouldn't say what you have is "misslotted". That would be pretty arrogant of me if that were my approach. Instead, I wanted to just chime in on some of the underlying mechanics which involved the set bonuses themselves. However, since you seem to know this already my posts weren't really necessary. Also, since you revamped your build into something showing what you are deliberating choosing to chase for reduces a need to keep discussing it.
So no, not "misslotted", but definitely not how I would build or play this combo. However, that's an awesome thing in COH where you can make whatever you want within the confines of the game's framework. So, I really should just say good job you seemed to have made something you are happy with.-
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2 hours ago, drbuzzard said:
I like
my recharge andother set bonuses.Fixed for you. (Just teasing... 🙂)
Recharge and procs often go hand in hand. It isn't as much of a mutually exclusive situation as you state, but it is definitely mutually exclusive with set bonuses above 3 slots.
There can be benefit in building up with deeper sets, but it also helps to understand what sets are the most beneficial. That is fundamentally the point I was trying to get to for the OP. They are stacking a number of bonuses which may not glitter nearly as golden as they think. So maybe some different sets would be more appealing knowing that stacking 12% regen in multiple powers could be swapped for something else. OR... maybe regen is the way to go for their goals. I don't know their life.
There is no one way to skin a cat here. Sometimes what is optimal for one particular mode of play isn't as great at others (proc stacking doesn't contribute to mitigation strategies directly which have its own pitfalls too). The OP did note they don't intend to take alpha strikes so maybe worrying too much about mitigation and HP recovery can be reduced for other avenues. *shrug*-
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18 hours ago, pearbear said:
Thanks! I think the only place I could possibly swap out the enhancements for that is the 4 Overwhelming Force in Ground Zero. I'd be trading 1.5% HP, 12% Regen, and 3% Damage for 6% more Cold resistance (since I'm already near cap for Fire resistance). I'm thinking the HP, Regen, and Damage is more generally useful than taking my Cold resistance from 45.5% to 51.5% though.
TL;DR: You're not getting nearly as much bang for your buck chasing sets with % Regen or Damage as you may think. Hit points are always worth it, but the idea of "effective hit points" is also a thing. EHP can come from other mitigation strategies which Radiation Armor is already pretty good at with both absorb and Meltdown as possibilities. You may, or may not, want to completely reconsider your approach to how set bonuses interact with game mechanics. This may, or may not, completely change your entire build.
I don't quite know how I would build Rad/Rad here, but there are somethings you may benefit from knowing. You're looking at full set bonus percentages, but it also appears you're missing some contextual data around them.
For example, dropping out a set with 12% Regen changes your health return from 45hp down to 43hp. 2 hit points of regen. Increases your resistance is a more substantial mitigation tactic (as is defense).
3% damage is *base damage*. So, if you have a power doing a base of 50 then it is 3% of that, and not what you modify it to be with enhancements. This doesn't mean there isn't an impact. Given your current build, losing out on 3% global damage is roughly a 4 DPS loss.
Procs vs sets. Procs work better with less recharge slotted in the power but more global recharge from other sources. You could completely dump the concept of running Devastations and use procs. You could drop all the way to just 3% global damage, but with running 3 procs (Proton Stream could get 4 with Apocalypse) you'd increase your DPS by at least 30% more than what you have now. Endurance management can be a problem, but you're running Rad Armor so it shouldn't be a huge deal.
And with more global recharge you could get away with just 1 recharge IO (+5) in Aim and end up with potentially the same recharge time. This can spare you a slot.
If you're going to use 2 level 50 IOs, then you can stop at +4 and save yourself some cash. The additional +1 on both isn't significant.
With Meltdown, you shouldn't need a Rec/Resist pairing. Just recharge. With 160% Global recharge (Hasten + Ageless Destiny) you'd have 131 recharge on Meltdown (two +4 lvl 50 IOs) vs your current 189. I'm using Ageless here to simulate what could potentially be possible with more +10% global recharge sets (can only use 5 for 50% and you may not be able to fit all of them in) placed strategically in the build. The final recharge with more optimization in Ageless would be higher which also comes with its own benefits.-
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1 hour ago, Rhumor said:
Do you use Invulnerability or do you use Bio Armor? I've shied away from Bio Armor because I've read it can be clicky? Not sure what that means when referring do a defensive set but I didn't want to add more "clicking" on top of what I do for my offensive set.
I run Super Reflexes.
Bio Armor has a few reactive powers which are clickable. That is where the "clicky" can come into play. Invulnerability has Dull Pain and Unstoppable as click powers. Unstoppable, in its current state, can be skipped but who knows what the Homecoming team will do with T9 defense powers in the future. -
2 hours ago, Rhumor said:
Does Dual Pistols / Willpower make a good pairing? Thematically it seems great. I haven't found any talk of it on these forums. I'm curious of how well it would play when teaming up.
Good is pretty subjective.
In my opinion, Sentinel Willpower isn't as competitive with some alternatives like Energy Aura or Invulnerability. That doesn't mean the build can't or won't work. It just means that Willpower on Sentinels isn't as strong as it can be on Tankers or Brutes (where higher health caps is more significant with regeneration).
Sentinel Invulnerability comes with its own endurance management (unique to the AT), a passive small absorb shield, and all of the current buffs to psi-resists. In essence, Sentinel Invulnerability does everything Willpower does, but does it better. (Or, you can't regenerate like WIllpower can, BUT Dull Pain can work as an on demand heal which is just better than passive regeneration any day of the week). Energy Aura is just amazing on any AT that has it.
If you want more damage while still having the mixed resist/defense feel plus healing, then Bio Armor is Willpower's final form.
Dual Pistols is a great set though, and I enjoy it FAR more on Sentinels than I do on Blasters. The only competition for fun with Dual Pistols is Defenders and Corruptors (of which I happen to have with the set as well). -
2 hours ago, SwankyBuld said:
Any recommendations to have an all around good sentinel for everything? A jack of all trades that might include ice blast?
You could essentially pick anything out of your list and meet the parameters you set.
Almost every AT has combinations of power sets with some weakness to some aspect of the game. Its pretty hard to get around that and Sentinels aren't any different.
If you really like Ice Blast, then go for it. If you want to push its single target damage further, then several of the powers can use damage procs to do that. Any of the highly recommended secondaries like Energy Aura, Super Reflexes, Invulnerability, and so on help enable proc builds a bit easier. However, any of the Sentinel pairings can pull it off if you're willing to give up some defense in the process.
So yeah.. the answer is potentially anything. There isn't an easy fix to your altitis. You'll just have to work on the 1,000 character slots you are granted like the rest of us junkies.-
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The most recent version of Mids does have Seismic Blast and Stone Armor. Its not a combo I play, but the powers are most definitely there.
If your current version of Mids isn't updating, then you may just need to try a clean install of the latest version.-
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22 hours ago, SwankyBuld said:
Got it thank you! I mean i love the idea of ice but is there a better pairing for dark? I really want the dark for thematic purposes. Iv done fire in the past but I see fire everywhere so I wanted something a little different. What other primary pairs well with dark?
There is no inherent synergy between Ice and Dark. Due to this, you can completely skip Cloak of Fear, Oppressive Gloom, and Soul Transfer from Dark Armor. You could focus on just what resists you can build up and some ranged defense and almost completely ignore the melee-centric elements. Obscure Sustenance has a 35ft range, and you will need this power for sustaining endurance, but otherwise you don't really need to be that much closer.
Now, if you want synergy there are a few sets that come to mind.
1) Dark Blast has negative effects on to hit which really only has synergy with Cloak of Fear. Is that worth doing? Well, you can decide that one.
2) Psychic Blast has some synergy with Disorient stacking in Scramble Thoughts and Oppressive Gloom.
3) Psychic Mastery also has some synergy in the above using Psychic Shockwave.
4) Any sets with knockback/up can buy you some time to regenerate during Obscure Sustenance. This can include Water, Energy, and potentially Dual Pistols (only with non-elemental ammo though).
That's about it. Sentinel Dark armor isn't a particularly good set. Overall, it has far more weaknesses than it has benefits. Slotting ideas which can boost damage (i.e., procs) conflicts with how demanding Dark Armor can be to shore up its weaknesses. You can have a functional character with whatever you chose, but optimizing it for maximum performance is difficult to say the least.
I played a Water/Dark/Psy Mastery character for a while. It is an effective pairing but it isn't especially powerful. It was fun to stack disorients (Geyser, Psy Shockwave, Oppressive Gloom, etc.) and have even bosses do the drunk walk while I pew pew in peace.-
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You may want to swap the sets in Scream and Dreadful Wail.
It looks like you did yourself a disservice in saying you can't build your way out of a paper bag. The build seems fine; good job! -
4 hours ago, CFIndustries said:
In fact, I roughed out a Sonic/Elec sentinel last night based on power choice recommendations from the Sentintel Review thread. It'll do barring anything posted here soon.
"Soon" may not be that soon.
If you want, you could post your build and others could help you navigate your way out of the paper bag. 😉
I think helping you with what your concept is, as it would be in MIDS, is going to be FAR faster than praying on one of the 5~ posters in this subforum actually playing your combo. -
14 hours ago, CFIndustries said:
Feel like I'm going to have to frankenbuild something based on two other builds; not ideal but wouldn't be the first time.
Why wouldn't that be ideal? Hell, I do this quite a bit when I am looking for inspiration on how an individual set works.
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3 hours ago, lokiie1984 said:
The more I play around with Beam/SR leveling the more I am wondering about some of the choices in the build. I didn't even realize they didn't tank Lancer Shot until I read your post. I played a beam a long time ago and don't remember a whole lot, and I've never done SR past say level 30. I did read something a while back about it being a set that didn't require a lot of slots though.
Do you by chance have a better build that would work for a Beam/SR Sent?
Better is subjective, but in the spoiler tag below is a build that can show you some idea on what can be done.
I only used 47 of the total slots in order to get to 160% global recharge, 45% to the 3 positional defenses, and a reasonable selection of powers for a coherent attack sequence.
So no, SR doesn't necessarily demand much in the way of slots, BUT that also depends on how many pool powers you are willing to take. The build below uses Tough to mule the two +3% global defense IOs (a significant 6% defense boost across the board) and Weave which is also a solid power of +all defense. Combined, these two powers will get you at least 11% more defense to everything.
I like taking Maneuvers for another defense to all as well. If I have room, then I will grab Assault too for additional global damage BUT its only 10% of base damage so it isn't that important.
There are 4 power slots open in the build below to flex in whatever travel power you want and/or explore some Epic pool choices if you wished. Since the total slots spent are under the maximum, you could even build out the Epic powers more if you wanted. Given that the general defense, recharge, and recovery is already handled with half the build you could do whatever else you wanted with this. It can only get better. 😉
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I wouldn't sleep on Lancer Shot, and proccing out Single shot to the gills isn't nearly as worth doing as it looks on paper. That power will activate those damage procs about 30% of the time. It isn't really that consistent on the way the slotting is allocated and it hinders other aspects of the build because of it.
Tactics will not be providing you that Gaussian's damage buff very often if you solo and still only seldomly if you are in a full group. Its a good place to mule a nice set, but uh... SR doesn't need those bonuses with more thoughtful slotting elsewhere.
Anyway, you can get by with either Single Shot or Charged Shot. Both have their value. If you want to keep the proc-based approach, then maybe keep Charged Shot but change the slotting. You could get more out of Apocalypse in Lancer Shot. -
4 hours ago, Meknomancer said:
Mids lets you slot zephyrs in shinobi but not in game . Or am i looking at your older build.
You're looking at an older build.
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Dual Pistols/Ninjitsu - What do you think?
in Sentinel
Posted · Edited by oldskool
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.