oldskool

Go for it! More perspectives are what this is all about!

Primary Powerset: Psychic Blast Low to Medium Single-Target Damage, Medium Area of Effect (AoE) Damage (1 Cone, 1 Targeted, 1 PBAoE), Medium to High* Control (Soft - Slows/Knockdown, Hard - Stun/Sleep), No Debuff Potential Psychic Blast. It is time for a Psychic Blast write-up and it feels long overdue. Psychic Blast gets a lot of crap thrown at it and there is an awful lot of hyperbole that exists about psychic damage. In my opinion, Psychic Blast for Sentinels has a lot of potential. At first when I started this write-up, it was a unique one in that I wanted to discuss the use of the Sentinel Epic, specific Psychic Mastery, as a means of pushing damage higher. I've since decided to keep this to the format of the others I have created to reduce my own play style bias. I'll certainly discuss Psychic Mastery later on, but it is more important to keep the format of the above consistent across each entry. With that out of the way, let's chat about the set's strengths and weaknesses. As I noted above, I do believe Psychic Blast has potential. Over the course of 2019 I've seen a lot of nay-saying on this. The takeaway from those chats is that people have very different expectations on character performance. "People have very different expectations on character performance" <-- That right there is a hugely important statement to keep in the back of your mind while you read this write-up. My performance expectations when I play a character are often LOW (I admit I am easy to please as a COH player). Doesn't matter the AT or the set. I do not start-up characters based on flavor of the month concepts. Now, that does not mean that I will not try my best to squeeze every ounce of efficiency out of a specific build that I can. When I say Psychic Blast ranges low to medium that is build specific. However, it can be easier to find that low performance rating in Psychic Blast due to higher level resistance scale and power configuration. These things combined can make for a perception that Psychic Blast is crap. It doesn't have to be and that is considering its current state (which is better than it is given credit). The Sentinel version of this power set has changes to it that make it different from Blasters, Corruptors, and Defenders. You can build a moderately damaging Sentinel with Psychic Blast that will have bursts of high/low performance against very specific enemies that have low/high resistance to your attacks. In the previous paragraph I mentioned Resistance. Let's take a moment to talk about that 500lb gorilla. This topic is a part of the reason why Psychic Blast can have such a variable level of performance across ATs and it is a source of genuine frustration. I do not want to undersell the opinions and complaints about how demoralizing high resistance to psychic damage can be. However, let's also realize that psychic resistance is not immunity. You'd think that once you level up to 40 that all of your damage is just completely resisted due to some of the casual commentary that gets tossed around. I won't mince words. The hyperbole is bullshit. The frustration is legitimate, but the extent to which some of it gets expressed treads into the realm of fantasy. Just because the Carnival of Shadows enemy faction has a baseline 20% resistance to psychic damage on every member doesn't mean your world is coming to an end. Players of Lethal and Smashing sets had to deal with that for most of their existence in the leveling process. Resistances aren't the only issue that creates a perception of poor performance though. Another avenue of frustration on high resistance is that the default power structure on the other ATs includes some low damage attacks. Other ATs (Blaster, Corruptor, Defender) must choose between Psionic Dart and Mental Blast. May as well ask the player which eye they want poked. Then you have a weaker version of Will Domination in those sets, and a Scramble Thoughts that does no meaningful damage. The best attacks for the Blaster are Telekinetic Blast and Psionic Lance. The best attacks on the Sentinel are Will Domination and Scramble Thoughts/Telekinetic Blast (these two are close in DPA). Sentinels are not shackled to attack routines that need to really on the otherwise crappy default T1 and T2 powers. Last point on this horse. Sentinels have 3 Psychic Blast powers that do TRIPLE digit direct damage (Will Domination, Psionic Strike, Scramble Thoughts). The other ATs do not. Finally, the Sentinel has no bonus to hit shenanigans or hoops it needs to jump through in order to use its best attacks. Psychic Blast on the other ATs really does need a fully powered Psionic Lance in order for it to not be a mediocre set and the Sentinel doesn't need to bother with any of that. So on one hand there is truth in that psi damage is the most resisted damage type in the game. However, that comes with a LOT of caveats. First off, psychic resistance isn't that prolific in the early levels. The Clockwork for example are actually pretty great targets for a leveling psychic character. The Clockwork King... maybe not so much but his minions you will destroy. Not all Archvillains are heavily resistant to psi. Hell, there are several of them that use Moment of Glory or Unstoppable. You know what those offer 0 protection against? You guessed it. Psychic damage can do extremely well against specific enemies. Likewise, against specific enemies it can be frustrating. Most notable are enemies that are mechanical in nature (the Clockwork are not robots - they are psychic constructs of a single mind). Malta, Council, and Arachnos robots all have at least 60% resistance to psychic damage. Make no mistake, that SUCKS, but we have tools to lessen that impact. Finally, as I express in the paragraph above the Sentinel version of Psychic Blast incorporates an additional power into the mix capable of doing triple digit direct damage hits. You can make an attack routine out of just those powers due to their long animations and a high recharge mod build. Higher direct damage is better against higher resistance than their tickle attacks in T1/T2. The DPS won't win you a Pylon killing award for speed, but it is a lot less frustrating than it is elsewhere. At least, that's my experience over playing a multitude of Psychic characters. Psychic Blast is FAR from perfect but it is not in the same category of comparison as it is on the other archetypes. Since there are few ways to build in greater damage than adding recharge, Psychic Blast can legitimately be constructed in a manner that is roughly middle of the pack out of 13 primary sets. It is mediocre more often than it is poor, and with IO's and Epic powers it can be a lot better than you might think. Still interested? Have you spit out your coffee because someone has said this set isn't total crap? Then let's read on. Beginner's Overview Psychic Blast received some changes just like all of the Sentinel sets did. These changes are honestly pretty decent and the inclusion of Sentinel Epics, as they are, are HIGHLY advantageous to a certain kind of building. *Word of warning about Psychic Blast. The set has a lot of long-ish animations to the powers. This is a blessing (for procs - more on it later) and a curse. So caveat emptor and all that. You've been warned.* We all know by now that Sentinels have both an Offensive and Defensive mode tied to the T1 and T2 powers. I highly recommend forgetting about this and just stick with TK Blast. Defense Opportunity gives your enemies a -20% resistance debuff and quite frankly that's all that matters. The bonus energy damage from Offensive Opportunity is not strong enough to offset the total waste of a power slot that is Mental Blast. I'm being harsh with my criticism of Mental Blast here, but that is because it needs to underscore the point. Mental Blast blows and you really won't miss Offensive Opportunity because it isn't that great either. Besides my utter disdain for Mental Blast, what you take or skip is going to be entirely your preference. Psionic Lance, the snipe power of other ATs, was replaced by Psionic Strike. I'm not a big fan of Psionic Strike but its damage per hit is not horrible. Note, this is the damage that happens when you actually land the attack. The animation to this power is rather long and it severely effects it damage-per-activation. The DPA of Psionic Strike is pretty bad for its tier, but it will hit like a truck when it lands. So it's not efficient but Psychic Blast has a problem with that in a broader sense. Now, you may be rushing to open up a builder like Pine's to check out some of these traits. You may run over Scramble Thoughts and see its Arcanatime animation while thinking... "Oldskool, hold the phone that power SUCKS!". I'd then suggest, that no... it doesn't. Yes, Scramble Thoughts has a massive animation time. However, let's zero in on the story here for a moment. Scramble Thoughts any where else does pathetic damage. So now, look away. Now look again. Look away. Then look again. Scramble Thoughts on the Sentinel is the only other power that kept its crowd control effect while gaining a massive damage increase. The only other set that got to keep a similar power in the same tier was Sonic Blast. Scramble Thoughts is like a micro, single-target, nuke version of Psychic Wail. I didn't stutter. Scramble Thoughts is pretty powerful for another reason and that is how it works with procs. More on that in Advanced Slotting. Sentinels also get Psychic Scream which is a ranged cone. All in all its not a bad deal. This helps the Sentinel Psychic Blast player by adding in some AoE that the set historically lacks across the other ranged ATs (excluding VEATs). That said, Psychic Blast still has weak AoE options for damage dealing but its crowd control opportunity gets a bit of a boost in Psychic Wail's availability. Give and take and all of that. Before we move on. I also want to list out some damage-per-activations. The current version of Mid's Reborn is wrong on several powers. For starters, Scramble Thoughts only shows 13 damage. It's DPA shows a 4. That's horribly incorrect. Baseline at 50 this power does 188.07 damage. It's DPA is about 60. Psionic Strike shows a damage value of 193 and a DPA of 66. It's real damage is around 137 with a DPA around 50. Will Domination shows a damage of 87 with a DPA around 66. It's real damage is 103(!) and the DPA over 80. Telekinetic Blast is over inflated too. It's actual damage is slightly lower and its DPA is around 60. You have to take planners with a grain of salt. Telekinetic Blast, Will Domination, and Scramble Thoughts are the highest DPA powers in the set outside of Psychic Wail, the final power. These are not accurately reflected outside of the game. *Special Note: Fortunatas. In the introduction I refer back to the cousin set of Psychic Blast as it exists in the other ranged ATs. I didn't mention Fortunatas, nor did I mention full psychic Dominators (Mind/Psi), and I was a bit torn on doing so. I have a Fortunata, and I love the VEATS in general. Making a direct comparison here has a LOT of holes in it, BUT I cannot ignore that there are going to be play style similarities. You can make a fully ranged offensive Fortunata that has a ton of defense that mimics a Super Reflexes (albeit without the defense debuff resistance or scaling resistances) character. I tend to find that a fully ranged psi blasting Fort is about on par damage-wise (considering prolonged conflict) as a Psychic Blast Sentinel. The advantage of the Fortunata though is animation time and general attack rate. Fortunata's have much faster animation times in their favorable attack chains than the Sentinel does. This will absolutely create a sense that the Fort handles business swifter and more deadly than the Sentinel. Additionally, the Fortunata has team buffs the Sentinel lacks and it makes a hard contest. My personal Fortunata build runs a mix of melee and controls vs full ranged psi damage. My Sentinel build (Psi/Nin) was more like an homage to that concept as a work to test some ideas. I like it too but for very different reasons. There is no denying that Fortunatas are performance powerhouses and it can make for a very tough choice depending on what you're going for. If you're dead set on making a Sentinel, then do so. If you're not happy with the idea of long-ish animation times AND you wanted to build a defense-base ranged psychic, then strongly consider a Fortunata if it can fit your concept/goals. Slotting Basic Slotting Short and sweet version. I like 1 accuracy and 3 damage when considering the bare-bones basic kinds of enhancements (Single Origin, and non-set Invention Origin). That covers 4 slots for all attacks. If you want 5 or 6 slots then consider adding in some endurance and recharge to taste. Advanced Slotting As always, I look for powers that can leverage the special Invention Origin nuggets like procs. Psychic Blast has some better potential than one may think at a first glance and it gets even better with an Epic Power Pools (specifically when using Holds). Procs matter a lot for this set. Not just because they can add substantial damage, but also that they can diversify your damage. You don't have many attacks that deal anything beyond psi. So finding a way to bring in other things like Toxic, Smashing, or Lethal can help overcome the resistances that tend to be the most annoying (e.g., robots). Single-targets: *Note - See the Beginner's Overview towards the end on the DPA issue and builders like Mid's Reborn. The numbers are not accurate as they are in game! The opinions below are based on the in-game reading on the power tips. Telekinetic Blast - This power does both smashing and psionic. That smashing component is a reason WHY you should take this. Diversify your damage types and you'll have less frustration. This power helps add some diversity by itself but it can also take Explosive Strikes: Chance for Smashing Damage. There is the PvP ranged damage set that has a chance to add Toxic damage. Bite the bullet. Spend the cash. Add that Toxic proc to EVERYTHING. Will Domination - This power is quite solid. This is my favorite spot to put the rare set Apocalypse at 5 pieces for the recharge benefit, the negative damage proc, and a 6th slot for a Toxic proc. You could also go with Decimation for recharge plus its Build-Up effect proc (but there are better places for that) or Devastation which has a hold proc for more pseudo-control. Will Dom is a sleep power which means it can take on the Chance to Placate proc from the very rare sleep set if you are set on pissing PvPers off. Psionic Strike - This is pretty straight forward, and I generally skip it. If I didn't I would slot it with whatever I didn't put in Will Dom or Scramble. Its not a huge priority power. Scramble Thoughts - I know my bias here is that this power's potential is exciting to me. I wrote a thread months back trying to figure out more uses of the Sentinel ATOs and Opportunity mechanics in a general sense. This power was something I toyed around with. Scramble Thoughts has both a long animation and a long recharge time. It is one of, if not the only, single-target power out of all of the Sentinel primaries with a rather reasonable chance to proc the very low trigger rate in Opportunity Strikes: Chance for Opportunity. That chance is still under 50% but it isn't in the upper teens like it is in many others. As a refresher, the Opportunity Strikes unique has a small chance (PPM 1 - basic version, PPM 2 - purple version) to grant a burst of Opportunity. When your Opportunity meter fills up you can pick one lucky winner to be the recipient of a 20% damage resistance debuff. So again, remember how psychic damage is heavily resisted late game? This power has a fairly good chance at improving the up time of that 20% debuff by making your Opportunity available more frequently. I rarely say that a power should have X or Y IO set. However, this is one of those exceptions. Opportunity Strike's benefits more from this single-target power than any other across the entire AT. Will Domination has better DPA making it a better candidate for Apocalypse (and this will be more clear in Rotations below). So you may as well enhance this power with its one unique prospect. Alternatively you could put the Decimation set or the proc in here too. Again, slap a Toxic damage proc in here. Even with the recharge modifications the long animation will still give you pretty frequent activation of your procs. Multi-Target: Psychic Scream - Its a ranged cone with some recharge slow. Generally I go with a fairly boring Positron's Blast or some other set with bonuses I may want like Annihilation. Psionic Tornado - This can knockback which opens some options in Force Feedback, Sudden Acceleration, and Explosive Strikes. Its not a bad place to put Sentinel's Ward either. Psychic Wail - PBAoE means you can get another purple set with an actual damage proc (Armageddon's Fire damage). This is a great spot for PvP set's chance for resistance debuff and its got a very high likelihood of going off. More resistance debuffing the better. Honorable mentions: Force of Will's Weaken power has a resistance debuff and can take on Achilles' Heel's chance to reduce resistance further. It also fits a psychic theme as well as being a proc mule too. Dominate in the Psychic Mastery pool can take on 4 damage procs out of the Hold category turning it in to a monster of a power. It too can take on a Toxic damage proc as well as Decimation's chance for Build-Up. Rotations Here are some ideas: Scramble Thoughts -> Psionic Strike -> Will Domination -> Telekinetic Blast or Scramble Thoughts -> Will Domination -> Psionic Strike -> Telekinetic Blast (tacking on TK BLast at the end can make for easier Opportunity activation) or Will Domination -> Telekinetic Blast -> Psionic Strike or Telekinetic Blast -> Will Domination -> Psionic Strike -> Scramble Thoughts or Telekinetic Blast -> Will Domination -> Scramble Thoughts -> Will Domination or Telekinetic Blast -> Will Domination -> Scramble Thoughts -> Psionic Strike -> Will Domination (depending on how low your recharge is). Scramble Thoughts has a baseline 3 second animation. That's where you need target for recharge on Will Domination's modification. I have around 175% global recharge with 59.62% modified recharge in Will Domination (no Incarnates influencing it further). That brings its recharge down from 10 seconds to 2.99 seconds. So a heavy recharge build is necessary in order to sandwich Will Domination and Scramble Thoughts. If you're not going for high recharge then you will need to have a bit more filler like Psionic Strike. or with Psychic Mastery Dominate (ideally Build-Up proc here) -> TK Blast -> Will Domination -> Scramble Thoughts > Will Domination or Mind Probe (Only when in melee) -> Dominate -> Will Domination -> Scramble Thoughts -> Will Domination You could sub in Telekinetic Blast (ideally) or Psionic Strike as filler. Complementary Choices Secondary wise your options are pretty open. As always, I recommend pushing procs when running a secondary that can soft-cap defenses. My Psychic Sentinel was using Ninjutsu but Super Reflexes is also great. Psychic Blast pairs thematically and mechanically with Psychic Mastery. Psychic Shockwave is also a good AoE power to include if you dropped Psychic Scream and that can open up Link Minds which is also wonderful. Force of Will is thematically appropriate to Psychic Blast while also bringing some much appreciated debuffing in Weaken. Hasten is one of those powers that feels essential here. There are a lot of long animation times in these attacks, but also some long recharge too. High recharge is the backbone of squeezing out the most damage this set is capable of by pruning out the weakest attacks (Mental Blast, Psionic Strike). However, this really ONLY matters in pretty extreme content. While I am not a huge fan of Psionic Strike, it does hit hard just at the expense of an animation time that is too long for its tier. If Psychic Blast ever got a buff, a reduction in animation time would be a huge win for improving its overall damage. That said, I find pushing recharge here invaluable and that also pairs extremely well with Regeneration and Bio Armors where their reactive click heals also value high recharge. Dark Armor has disorienting in Oppressive Gloom which pairs very well with several of the powers. Even the Cloak of Fear offers some synergy with the recharge debuffing. See, feared enemies will only attack you once provoked. Even when they do attack they won't attack again for several seconds. So on top of that AI fiddling you can also impose another bit of recharge slow to go with it. Your ideal attack chain juggles a sleep and a stun while you have knockback potential too. Crowd control, even soft control like recharge manipulation, works wonders with passive heal sets like Willpower. Finally, any sets that provide extra damage (Bio, Fire, Rad) are welcome additions. Incarnate Abilities I'm hesitant to offer hard line prescriptions here. Incarnates are best used to either shore up weaknesses or expand on strengths. You're also not locked into how many Incarnate powers you pick up. You're only limited to what you can slot at any given time. I have multiple powers in the Destiny category that I can swap out as I see fit. That said, it is tough to make blanket recommendations for a primary only and not a character. I'll try though! For Alpha slots, this is going to vary based on what defensive power set you use. The Cardiac options can help resistances but also offer some endurance management. End management can be a welcome choice to manage end drain. The Vigor options may be a nice perk for regenerating sets. Agility and Spiritual both have good uses but also bring additional recharge reduction which does impact your chances to trigger procs. If you're not heavily invested in procs, then either of those may be for you. The Musculature options bring more damage, and Intuition Radial does too. I lean heavily towards Musculature but these options are matter of preference. There are several good judgments like Void, Pyronic or Ion. Pick one based on their secondary effects and/or if you like their targeting method (PBAoE, Cone, etc.). Interface is fairly generic across all damage dealers and Sentinels are no different. The Degenerative chance for reduced hit points is a very good option for tough targets like Archvillains and Giant Monsters. Reactive can be good for clearing out hordes of weaker enemies. Diamagnetic can be good to add some defense due to the to hit debuff it brings. Lore pets were all standardized and as such there is no specific category I recommend. Destiny is going to vary wildly based on a complete character. You can't go wrong with Barrier as a generic choice, but the others will have uses depending on your secondary choice. Ageless works like another form of Hasten but the value of the effect degrades over time. Ageless can be a good option for builds needing more recharge which is especially beneficial to ones heavily invested into procs. Hybrid options generally lead towards the Assault toggles. You have two options of Radial or Core. Radial adds a chance to do damage and Core adds a chance for a stacking damage buff. Which you decide on will depending on how much you team vs solo. For the soloer the Core stacking damage buff is OK for Psychic Blast. If gaining damage buffs from others isn't that reliable then Core is probably the better generic all around pick. Radial is going to matter more to players that gain consistent outside damage buffs and are frequenting hitting the damage cap.

Primary Powerset: Assault Rifle Low to Medium Single-Target Damage*, Medium to High Area of Effect (AoE) Damage (3 Cones, 1 Targeted), Medium Control, Low Debuff Potential * Procs and proper planning can change this. It has been a busy year since the last time I had the opportunity to write one of these. For my first of these return write-ups, I'm going with Assault Rifle. So, casual reader you're noticing a lot of low and medium characteristics with nothing rated (as my opinion) high. There is a reason for that. It is my opinion that Assault Rifle is an underperforming set as it currently exists within the Sentinel AT. Assault Rifle (going forward let's just use "AR"), is not unplayable. Its just not as good as other options and nor is it as good as its reputation in other ATs (which isn't that great to begin with). Let's caveat though what I mean by reputation and walk through why I view this set the way I do. AR has a reputation as an AoE-centric set. For the other ATs, they get 3 cones, a targeted AoE, and a location AoE (Ignite). The other four powers are single target but only one of those does noteworthy damage (Sniper Rifle). Furthermore, the tier 9 (T9) power Full Auto has a shorter than normal cooldown which also pushes the AoE-centric concept. The Sentinel turns this all on it's head. While I admit I have a sour opinion of AR in its current state, please do not take that as me stating aversion to playing it. You can make an effective character here but it isn't the most effective character you can make. How effective that character can be is the entire point of this write-up, right? Anyway, enough complaining and let's do some pro/con talk. Update: I'm going to leave the original text above in this revision. I've decided to revisit Assault Rifle and my opinion has changed on it pretty dramatically. It really isn't as bad as I originally thought and that was due to my own stubbornness on not feeling like I could let an attack drop. None of this update is to say that Assault Rifle suddenly shifts to top tier, but more to say that you can make this work in a build without it being total garbage. I think if you come at this set as a former user from any of the other ATs you're going to be disappointed. Hell, you may be disappointed by other features of the Sentinel in general. My warning on that is; don't be narrow minded here. I did, and I was wrong. Well kinda. Assault Rifle does need some buffs, but it isn't a total loss as may look at first glance. Also, much of my new found opinion is 100% build related. Assault Rifle, just as baseline, does kinda suck. Again, this just circles back to the sentence with "you can make this work". In order for it to push higher damage there are some tough choices on dropping powers. More on that later. Pros - Sentinel AR takes steps towards improving its single-target damage. The four single-target attacks you get can create a competent attack chain (with or without Hasten!) while leveraging some crowd control too. Sentinel AR gets Aim which is something all the other ATs lack and can add to burst AoE or single-target. Sentinel AR Full Auto hits 10 targets and the cone is slightly wider. Cons- Sentinels as a whole have lower target caps on AoE powers and this cuts the target caps on cones by 40%. Its a significant AoE damage loss and it hurts an identity of this set (partially due to the loss of Ignite on top of the reduced caps). Sentinel AR Full Auto doesn't really gain much, if anything, from the Tier 9 normalization across all the primary sets. The high direct damage in Sniper Rifle may be preferable to the high damage-over-time in Incinerator. Beanbag is replaced by Disorienting Shot (not necessarily bad). Disorienting Shot, a T2 power, has the highest DPS out of the entire set (that is arguably bad design). While the options for single-target are a potential improvement the overall output isn't as high as it should be especially when combined with the severe gutting of AoE potential. Edit: Also, it shouldn't take a player abusing damage procs to make this single target shift something better than it is baseline. When just viewed at face value attacks like Incinerator look pretty good, and Slug looks fairly bad. IO procs can reverse this while also pushing the damage potential of the set. That's not a great place to be in. Assault Rifle isn't alone here but when we get into some advanced slotting/rotation ideas you may see what I'm talking about. Last point gets highlighted because I feel it deserves more weight. What the Sentinel version of AR gains in single-target it gives up in AoE. Unfortunately, I do not think what it gains is an even trade (especially not considering just basic SO's/IO's), but honestly it isn't all doom and gloom. AR is still a playable set with some flexible options. [Update - I still stand by this, but my view overall isn't extreme. This is more of a critic on the design in the most general sense I can think of.] Moving on... All Sentinel primaries were changed to match the concept of the AT. Assault Rifle was changed substantially from what it was and plays almost like a totally new power set. Let's now look at the changes themselves to further drill home my feelings. Tier level Other Archtypes Original Target Cap The Sentinel Sentinel Target Cap 1 Burst - Burst - 2 Slug - Disorienting Shot - 3 Buckshot 10 Buckshot 6 4 M30 Grenade 16 Aim - 5 Beanbag - Slug - 6 Sniper Rifle - M30 Grenade 10 7 Flamethrower 10 Flamethrower 6 8 Ignite* 16 Incinerator - 9 Full Auto 10 Full Auto 10 *Making Ignite here an exception since it does not have a direct transport into the Sentinel version. So tiers 1, 3, 7, and 9 have the same powers and placement. There are effect changes, like target cap reductions, within those tiers but otherwise they are familar selections. The other tiers either have new powers (Disorienting Shot, Aim, Incinerator) or a juggling of power selection (Slug, M30 Grenade). If you're still with me, then we'll explore how to make chicken salad out of chicken droppings. OK, may be it isn't that bad. Still, if you dip a turd in gold you'll still have a turd. Do I really hate this set? No, but if you put lipstick on a pig it is still a pig. OK, I'll stop. All kidding aside let's go over the basics, which I promise will be briefer than this introduction, and then into the meat/potatoes of everything else. Beginner's Overview Sentinel AR is NOT a complicated set. It is a bit power hungry though. Normally, I would include a section on what powers to skip right after all of the slotting opinions. I'm not going to do that here. I highly recommend you consider taking everything. You could potentially skip some combination of powers depending on your tastes, but if you do I'd really take a deep consideration as to why you're bother with this set at all. Also note, I generally do not make a big fuss over the T1 or T2 powers of the Sentinel. I know some players are dead set that you take both the T1 and T2 in order to fully maximize the Opportunity mechanic. Let me just state that the reason why I recommend taking both Burst and Disorienting Shot has absolutely NOTHING to do with the inherent. None, zero, zilch. Burst is a decent power in its own right with some properties we will explore in the slotting section. As noted elsewhere, Disorienting Shot is the highest DPA power in the entire set. The bulk of your actual DPS (that is damage over a period of time vs just the metric of each click) is built on a foundation set in Disorienting Shot. Remember, Sentinels do not have the AoE-godhood of their Blaster-ish parents but do have some of the single target focus of their Scrapper-ish ones. If you start skimping on the single-target in Sentinel AR, then what's the point? You'd be better of playing a Corruptor, Defender, Blaster, or even a rifle-focused Spider. Anyway, enough of that. Let's move on to what is under the hood. Slotting Basic Slotting Did you know that the Sentinel inherent, as it currently exists, always provides a debuff to enemy defense and resistance? Yes, its an all the time -5% resistance and about -3 to 5% defense. Right out of the gate all Sentinels have some innate accuracy benefits as long as one hit has landed already. That makes this section very short and sweet. You can focus in about one Single Origin quality accuracy enhancement or level 25+ Generic Invention Origin accuracy enhancement then call it a day (unless you want to push +4 level shifted enemies at which point you do need to think about more accuracy). You neither need nor want more than three damage enhancers when discussing these bare-bones style enhancements. Endurance cost reduction is nice to have about 1 of but Recharge reduction can be an even better investment. Why recharge reduction? Well, let's circle back to that note about attack sequencing and the number of powers. For a single tough target you're going to have gaps in your attacks. I don't recommend using AoE's as single-target fillers since they get costly on endurance drain (Buckshot can fill in the void though). So improving recharge in your heavier hitters like Slug/Incinerator is recommended to help punch past higher resistances. Advanced Slotting This is where the fun begins and also where the logic on why I say "take everything" makes a little more sense. Remember too when I said that you can put lipstick on a pig as a joke? Procs are kinda the lipstick that gets put on most Sentinels. Sentinel AR has a few opportunities for damage/utility procs and these greatly improve performance. Burst - This power imposes a defense debuff in addition to the default negative defense from the inherent. This also means this power accepts Invention Origin sets in the Defense Debuff and Accurate Defense Debuff categories. You'll find Achilles' Heel: Chance for Resistance Debuff, Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Damage, and Shieldbreaker: Chance for Lethal Damage here. Achilles' Heel is worth putting here even if the chance to proc isn't a guarantee. Disorienting Shot - This power is an honorable mention. Despite not having many proc options, it is still worth considering the Decimation: Build-Up proc here as well as the PvP toxic damage one. The reason being is this power is easy to reduce on its recharge making it available after every shot of Slug. You're effectively fishing for procs with this power so may as well use it in that realm. Slug - This is your other single-target power with proc options outside of just the damage category. This power can take Knockdown/Back sets which opens up Force Feedback: Chance for Recharge and Explosive Strikes: Chance for Smashing damage. This power is more effective at delivering damage procs than Burst and has more options than Disorienting Shot. If you're not using procs in your loadout, then I recommend skipping this power. If you are going to use procs, then take Slug. Make sure you give it the Explosive Strikes and Gladiator's Javelin proc for it to be worth using. Incinerator - Also an honorable mention. This power doesn't take sets outside of Damage, Archetype Origin, or Event. Archtype Origin (ATO) is the potential gem here. Opportunity Strikes has a proc that is "Chance for Opportunity". What this means is that every activation of the power has a chance (its small) to grant a burst of Opportunity meter which can potentially fill the bar completely. The superior (purple) version of this ATO has a proc-per-minute (PPM) rating of 2 (basic is PPM 1). PPM is one of those metrics where the lower the number goes the more certain characteristics like activation time and base recharge matter. Incinerator has a long-ish animation AND recharge which are both solid candidates for this type of proc. I'm not saying you have to put this ATO into this power. Instead, I am saying if you are looking for a spot to place it, then this isn't a bad one for it. Alternatively, I feel this is a much better place for Apocalypse than any of the others with some consideration being put towards Disorienting Shot (due to its spammability). Buckshot, M30 Grenade - Both of these can take Knockback/Down sets. Again these can take the same ones as Slug but I'd also consider Sudden Acceleration for the Knockback to Knockdown conversion especially in M30 Grenade. Alternative you could use the Summer Blockbuster set and benefit from that set bonus (which can be pretty good). Full Auto/Flamethrower - I don't have any special tricks for these. I typically favor pushing global recharge and these three are great places to do it. The Sentinel ATO set Sentinel's Ward functions nicely in AoE powers since each hit has a chance to trigger its proc (the effect is absorb). The proc's actual effect isn't that great but the full set bonus is pretty solid. Final note, since AR is very cone heavy the Sentinel ATO set offers a range improvement at about 3 pieces. You can split this up into multiple powers and the range increase also widens cone range. That will be in addition to direct IO enhancements like Positron's Blast +Damage/+Range. Something to think about. What to Skip? If you can get away with taking all of the powers in Sentinel AR, then I think you should. You gain 3 AoE powers, 4 single target, Aim, and a nuke. That's going to make power picks and slotting very tight. Still, you can skip some powers to make room, and it isn't the end of the world. Let's deep dive into this. Single Target: Burst or Disorienting Shot - Ideally you should strongly consider taking both. If I had to completely drop one, it would be Burst, but there are a number of caveats that come with that. If you're concerned that dropping Offensive Opportunity is going to be a big damage loss, then don't be. The bonus damage is unenhanceable and contributes very little in overall DPS with a fully fleshed out level 50 build. If you're still leveling... take it. Slug - This is the weakest single target attack out of the 4. If you play a build seeking mostly full sets then this power is likely going to fall to off to the side. At best it becomes a filler in an Hasten-less build or a set mule. It does have knockback which gives you a mitigation skill, but that is of variable use to Sentinels in general. What's nice about this power though is that it does take Explosive Strike: Smashing Damage giving it an extra 3.5 PPM damage proc. The recharge of this power (8 seconds) is low enough that a high global recharge build can make effective use of damage procs. They should trigger roughly 50% of the time. So the average damage and DPS of this power with procs actually makes it competitive for some builds. TL;DR - Skip if you're pushing lots of recharge + full sets. Take if not running Hasten OR you want extra mitigation. Consider taking if pushing procs. Incinerator - This is the second highest DPS power for single target. It, like Slug, is going to offer variable use depending on build. Incinerator certainly offers the widest range of use for all players, but this power isn't an automatic top pick. There are a lot of considerations for this power. 1) It works well with the Opportunity Strikes ATO set for whatever that may be worth to you. 2) It's base damage is quite high, but it is a Damage-Over-Time effect. 3) It has poor proc options like Disorienting Shot and frankly Disorienting Shot is a better place for the Apocalypse proc due to just how fast you can spam it. 4) For builds pushing high recharge + full sets this power has a home in your loadout. 5) For a build really wanting to abuse procs you can skip it. AoE: If Assault Rifle has a history of being an AoE focused set, then why would one ever contemplate skipping these powers? Well, because they aren't that great in the first place on a Sentinel. Buckshot or M30 Grenade or Flamethrower - You could skip any one of these or perhaps even two if you plan to take an Epic/Patron AoE (e.g., Psychic Shockwave/Fire Sword Circle, etc). Buckshot's fairly high damage for a 6 target cone within the Sentinel AT. It's also got knockback focused into a cone. Personally, I find that easier to manage than M30 Grenade (without the KB/KD IO) and Buckshot is extremely exemplar friendly if you wanted to go really low in levels. That said, you can consider dropping it. M30 Grenade hits 10 targets but its damage is rather low. With a KB/KD IO its scattering effect becomes a less obnoxious mitigation tool. For regular damage dealing this power pretty much needs to hit all targets for it to be its most effective. Flamethrower's base damage is rather high but it is a damage-over-time effect. It's also a cone that hits 6 targets (like Buckshot). If Flamethrower hits all 6 of its targets it will slightly out damage M30 Grenade when it hits all 10. Flamethrower is deceptively good but you can skip it if you don't like cones. Also, Flamethrower has a 20 second base recharge. Both Buckshot and M30 Grenade can take the AoE PvP damage, Explosive Strikes, and Positron's Blast damage procs. Flamethrower really only has the PvP and Positron. Aim and Full Auto - There is no reason to skip Aim if you care about damage. There is no reason to skip Full Auto despite its shortcomings within the Sentinel AT. FA is still a T9 and it is still worth opening into a target rich environment before you use other AoE powers. Rotations This is going to vary a lot due to power recharge and slotting decisions. However, what I try to accomplish is the following: Burst -> Disorienting Shot -> Incinerator -> Disorienting Shot/Filler -> Slug/Filler I like to try to lead with Burst to both place the defense debuff and hope that Achilles' Heel goes off to make the other attacks stronger for 10 seconds. I'd shoot to get my recharge high enough, both within Disorienting Shot and globally, to be able to fire Disorienting Shot again after Incinerator. Slug, if taken, can be a filler afterwards if Burst has not come off cooldown (possible if it is a proc mule). Buckshot can also be a single-target filler but I don't recommend doing that with the other AoE powers. Edit Notes (The methods below work with Perma-Hasten levels of recharge or 175%+) Another method to go for is to drop Incinerator and proc out Slug. Burst -> Disorienting Shot -> Slug -> Disorienting Shot OR Burst -> Disorienting -> Burst -> Slug Burst: at least 2 dmg + 1 Achilles' Heel. Disoriening Shot: Apocalypse (proc only) + PvP damage + Decimation Build-Up OR just the PvP damage with Decimation. Slug: 2 dmg procs + KB/KD IO OR Apocalypse proc + PvP + Explosive Strikes. In a long duration fight (like an AV), Burst will trigger Achilles' Heel and that is a damage increase even if it is resisted partially. Disorienting Shot is spammed so frequently that Build-Up is going to go off, and the Apocalypse proc has just over a 40% chance to trigger per activation. Slug's just a reliable source of damage with 2 procs at this point. Furthermore, this combo builds Opportunity to just over 90% in around 11 seconds. In just 2 passes you should have enough meter to trigger Opportunity and your 3rd Burst will be an Offensive Opportunity activation. If that misses, the next shot will trigger Defensive Opportunity. Here is a proc theme with Incinerator, Slug, and Burst relying solely on global recharge while the powers hold a few procs (Purple proc + Decimation in Incinerator). Burst -> Incinerator -> Burst -> Slug At one point this seemed worse to me than it really is, but in some further testing (and shuffling of procs) its gotten better. At 185% global recharge Incinerator can cool down in 4.21-ish seconds. That works very well as Burst - Slug - Burst takes 4.224 seconds to animate. Disorienting Shot -> Incinerator -> Disorienting Shot -> Slug This combo requires Incinerator to recharge in 3.96 seconds. Disorienting Shot has surprisingly high DPA but its fast animation and cooldown make it poor for procs. Plus, it can't take that many. Still, this is a decent chain to pursue if you're pushing full sets in Disorienting Shot/Incinerator though Slug really should get procs to make it worthwhile. Burst can be an alternative to Slug and it will require Incinerator to recharge even faster. Just because: Burst - Incinerator - Disorienting Shot - Slug You can probably pull off the above with most build ideas because Burst/Disorienting Shot/Slug can all be available pretty frequently with either global recharge investment or directly in the power. Incinerator can also be lowered from 12 seconds down into the 2-3 second range. 180% Recharge+ Burst -> Disorienting Shot This is also possible at very high levels of recharge, but ultimately it isn't worth it. It looks good on paper but both attacks do lower upfront damage which can be regenerated. If you're in a realm of 180+ recharge, then strongly consider using Incinerator to apply procs as it can be a great carrier. Still, this two-shot chain works very much like a Soldier of Arcanos using Single Shot -> Burst. Complementary Choices AR has some damage faults but it does have a lot of knockback. Disorienting Shot is also a stun. So this set brings some control that plays very nicely with pretty much any secondary you'd want. Any secondaries that can softcap without too much hassle (Super Reflexes, Ninjutsu) open the door to advanced damage slotting (e.g., procs) with little loss on survivability. Disorienting Shot can stack magnitude with Oppressive Gloom in Dark Armor. The abundance of knockdown works very well with Regneration and Willpower. Bio, Fire, and Radiation armors all offer some additional damage boosting benefits which are very welcome inclusions to AR. You can find synergy in AR across most, if not all, of the secondaries making that decision pretty safe. Since AR has a lot of ranged cone attacks you may also find value in the Sentinel Epics/Patron pools that offer an area of effect Immobilize. The elemental nature of those may clash with some themes but Fire Mastery isn't too out of the ordinary with Flamethrower/Incinerator. As far as power pools go, Hasten is still a great choice as always. The additional global recharge can add flexibility to your attack sequencing as well as choice. You can drop some attacks with enough recharge or streamline which ones you activate. AR can be quite flexible in that regard. Incarnate Abilities I'm hesitant to offer hard line prescriptions here. Incarnates are best used to either shore up weaknesses or expand on strengths. You're also not locked into how many Incarnate powers you pick up. You're only limited to what you can slot at any given time. I have multiple powers in the Destiny category that I can swap out as I see fit. That said, it is tough to make blanket recommendations for a primary only and not a character. I'll try though! For Alpha slots, this is going to vary based on what defensive power set you use. The Cardiac options can help resistances but also offer some endurance management. End management can be a welcome choice to manage end drain. The Vigor options may be a nice perk for regenerating sets. Agility and Spiritual both have good uses but also bring additional recharge reduction which does impact your chances to trigger procs. If you're not heavily invested in procs, then either of those may be for you. The Musculature options bring more damage, and Intuition Radial does too. I lean heavily towards Musculature but these options are matter of preference. There are several good judgments like Void, Pyronic or Ion. Pick one based on their secondary effects and/or if you like their targeting method (PBAoE, Cone, etc.). Interface is fairly generic across all damage dealers and Sentinels are no different. The Degenerative chance for reduced hit points is a very good option for tough targets like Archvillains and Giant Monsters. Reactive can be good for clearing out hordes of weaker enemies. Diamagnetic can be good to add some defense due to the to hit debuff it brings. Lore pets were all standardized and as such there is no specific category I recommend. Destiny is going to vary wildly based on a complete character. You can't go wrong with Barrier as a generic choice, but the others will have uses depending on your secondary choice. Ageless works like another form of Hasten but the value of the effect degrades over time. Ageless can be a good option for builds needing more recharge which is especially beneficial to ones heavily invested into procs. Hybrid options generally lead towards the Assault toggles. You have two options of Radial or Core. Radial adds a chance to do damage and Core adds a chance for a stacking damage buff. Which you decide on will depending on how much you team vs solo. For the soloer the Core stacking damage buff is pretty good for AR. If gaining damage buffs from others isn't that reliable then Core is probably the better generic all around pick. Radial is going to matter more to players that gain consistent outside damage buffs and are frequenting hitting the damage cap.

First part is rational. The last bit is well... its going to happen regardless.

These discussions always get circular. Like this statement for example. Then someone may chime in to say how a damage increase across the board doesn't address the DPA disparity between ranged and melee sets. Then we'll go back to talking about stances. Not trashing this comment, but just pointing out an observation. Its good to talk things out even if the proposed solutions are complicated or ones that I don't care for personally. May as well hash this out now and then when the time comes people can have some relatively developed view points on what they would like to see happen.

Hate to burst your bubble, but Sentinel Opportunity is resistable. The tool tip doesn't state it is unresistable and you can confirm it with a Power Analyzer.

Ok, below is a thought experiment. I'm trying to keep as much of the identity of your build as I can, and hopefully that's accomplished. A couple things I noticed after I actually got to messing with your build (now that I am home). 1) No Maneuvers? -- Replace Elude from the build plan with this unless you REALLY like Elude. 2) Agility won't just hit the Incarnate soft-cap on your Range defense. It can exceed it to the point where you may wish to reconsider investing in that many Thunderstrikes. 3) I kept the Thunderstrikes just to illustrate that you can hit 58% Incarnate range defense (isn't 59% the softcap there?) without Agility. With Agility it would jump to 63% which is more than enough buffer with DDR. As a side effect you'll have over 50% to melee and AoE too. 4) Some Thunderstrikes could be swapped for 5x Decimation for moar recharge or Devastation if you like. 5) Annihilation is better in Piercing Rounds, imo. Opportunity Strikes is 'meh' and works just fine in Empty Clips. Don't rely on the proc. You could swap that back. Up to you. 6) I know the 10% regen cap was hit. I wanted to add a slot to Dodge and Agile though to get them a +Defense enhance out of the LoTG set. You could shift things around. 7) I'm probably giving up a bit of resistance for you, but I've added in the other +resistance IO 8)Recharge in this build is around 156% giving Hasten a 12 second downtime. With +5 boosters that's a 7 second downtime. Agility converts basic no booster Hasten into a 1 second down time. Agility with boosters turns Hasten perma as long as you're slowed enough for it to matter. 9) With just bare booster Hasten you can run Executioner's Shot -> Suppressive Fire -> Pistols with a very slight gap (0.05 seconds). With Agility, you could run Piercing Rounds -> Pistols -> Executioner's Shot -> Pistols/Suppressive Fire with only a slight (0.01 second) gap. 3 passes of the first (ES -> SF -> Pistol) rotation (roughly every 13 seconds) will get you over 90% Opportunity and the 3rd Pistols will trigger Offensive Mode without you needing to guess when to use it. Not pulling that out my ass, its something I've tested repeatedly and incorporate into real play. You can turn Offensive Opportunity into an auto pilot decision if you want. For realz. 10) No purples other than the two Superior ATOs. 11) You'd have enough endurance recovery to run Executioner - Suppressive - Pistols on repeat without noticing the end bar dropping BEFORE accolades. 4.59 end per second (not counting procs) is enough to sustain that and your toggles without much fuss. Using a chain with Piercing Rounds will cause drag on your endurance but after accolades you likely won't notice. You may not notice before that either if you get lucky on the procs. 12) Expanded Enduring to 6 slots to include Performance Shifter which has an AoE defense bonus at 6 pieces. 13) Hover's set is purely for the defense 14) Hail of Bullets... also more AoE defense 15) Numina's full set was wasted in Master Brawler in my opinion. I swapped it for Preventative Medicine. That proc in particular doesn't care about activations. It will go off when a condition is met. So there ya go. Another way to go about this, and there are others too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Level 50 Magic Sentinel Primary Power Set: Dual Pistols Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Hero Profile: ------------ Level 1: Pistols (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (5) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge: Level 50 (9) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50 Level 1: Focused Fighting (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed: Level 50 (3) Luck of the Gambler - Defense: Level 50 (3) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance: Level 50 Level 2: Empty Clips (A) Superior Opportunity Strikes - RechargeTime/Chance for Opportunity: Level 50 (9) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50 (11) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (11) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50 (13) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50 (13) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50 Level 4: Focused Senses (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed: Level 50 (15) Luck of the Gambler - Defense: Level 50 (15) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance: Level 50 Level 6: Suppressive Fire (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (17) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (17) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (19) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (19) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge: Level 50 (21) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50 Level 8: Swap Ammo Level 10: Master Brawler (A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb: Level 50 (21) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance: Level 50 (23) Preventive Medicine - Heal: Level 50 (48) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance: Level 50 (50) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50 (50) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime: Level 50 Level 12: Bullet Rain (A) Superior Sentinel's Ward - RechargeTime/Chance for +Absorb: Level 50 (23) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50 (25) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (25) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50 (27) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50 (27) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50 Level 14: Fly (A) Flight Speed IO: Level 50 Level 16: Enduring (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End: Level 50 (39) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy: Level 50 (39) Performance Shifter - EndMod: Level 50 (40) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge: Level 50 (40) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50 (40) Performance Shifter - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50 Level 18: Executioner's Shot (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (36) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (37) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (37) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (37) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge: Level 50 (39) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50 Level 20: Kick (A) Empty Level 22: Tough (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%: Level 30 (36) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/Endurance: Level 30 (36) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All): Level 50 Level 24: Weave (A) Reactive Defenses - Defense: Level 50 (34) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance: Level 50 (34) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50 (50) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage: Level 50 Level 26: Piercing Rounds (A) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 50 (31) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50 (33) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (33) Annihilation - Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50 (33) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50 (34) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50 Level 28: Quickness (A) Flight Speed IO: Level 50 Level 30: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50 (42) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50 Level 32: Hail of Bullets (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50 (42) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (42) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (43) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance: Level 50 (43) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge: Level 50 (43) Fury of the Gladiator - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 50 Level 35: Evasion (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed: Level 50 (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense: Level 50 (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance: Level 50 Level 38: Maneuvers (A) Shield Wall - Defense: Level 50 (45) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance: Level 50 (46) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All): Level 50 Level 41: Dodge (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed: Level 50 (46) Luck of the Gambler - Defense: Level 50 Level 44: Agile (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed: Level 50 (46) Luck of the Gambler - Defense: Level 50 Level 47: Hover (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range: Level 50 (48) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance: Level 50 (48) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points): Level 50 Level 49: Afterburner (A) Flight Speed IO: Level 50 Level 1: Brawl (A) Empty Level 1: Opportunity Level 1: Prestige Power Dash (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Slide (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Quick (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Rush (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Surge (A) Empty Level 1: Sprint (A) Empty Level 2: Rest (A) Empty Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift (A) Empty Level 2: Health (A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery: Level 50 (29) Miracle - +Recovery: Level 40 (29) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance: Level 50 Level 2: Hurdle (A) Empty Level 2: Stamina (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod: Level 50 (31) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End: Level 50 (31) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50 Level 8: Chemical Ammunition Level 8: Cryo Ammunition Level 8: Incendiary Ammunition Level 50: Agility Core Paragon ------------ http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1488&c=679&a=1358&f=HEX&dc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

Because we're talking about my favorite set, I'll keep chiming in. (hah!) Obligatory warning on Tactics and Gaussian's: The Build-Up proc technically has a chance to trigger in the realm of 2%(?) but since all procs have a minimum chance of 5% that's as low as it will go. That's just for you personally. In a group that chance will swell because each member increases the odds the event will happen. The set bonus itself is understandable due to its positional bonus and all that. However, I just want to toss out the info here just in case other new players see this and think that their damage will be as it is reflected in Mid's (spoiler, it won't be). Dual Pistols has inherently high accuracy in its attacks and it shouldn't be that tough to get to 95% to-hit vs 54's through brute force of inflated accuracy. Things like the Kismet and Tactics are nice to have but they can also be replaced for those lesser mortals running the pauperish 75% baseline.

Real talk... My DP/Nin does this. I do in fact have Caltrops (I have Swap Ammo - I can't live without it) and I combine it as my opener with Hail of Bullets out of Stealth. You can either open with 'Trops or use it as a follow-up after Hail of Bullets. Keep in mind, part of the "bonus" of standard ammo on Hail of Bullets is guaranteed knockdown. Swapping away from standard removes a portion of that chance (it doesn't completely go away). Opening from stealth with Hail of Bullets is about as safe of game play as it gets. Opening with Dark Blast's Blackstar from stealth and a Tidal Forces backed Geyser is also equally hilarious stuff.

Its a fair point, @drbuzzard.

I won't be able to get to a copy of Pines until Friday. Then I will probably post one way of skinning this cat. For my DP/Nin, I literally made a "blank" for the secondary. That is that I applied the exact same slotting and enhancement logic to several other primaries. It worked for that experiment. I did the same with SR too. As @Lockpick notes, yes, I do encourage those playing any defensive oriented set (Nin, SR, even Energy Aura to an extent) to try to get to the soft-cap within the secondary plus pool powers (sub in the Epics if you like Link Minds). That will free up the primary to include procs which are a damage increase. BUT some people don't like random chances at damage which is totally fair. I'll disagree with @drbuzzard about what is optimal or not. I know that my own preference is towards the Musculature Alpha, but (and its a big but) I recognize the value of other Alpha slots options. The reason why I tend to favor Musculature is because it offers a direct damage increase with generally no downside. Agility/Spiritual do have an impact on PPM calculations but this only matters if you are running procs (as in multiple in a single power). This is an important factor for PPM calculations with Dual Pistols because the set does have multiple powers with Arcanatime activations of 1.848 (or less) and a recharge of no more than 12 seconds for the last single-target attack available (Piercing Rounds is a bit special and requires its own discussion). So for my purposes I want 0 recharge in my attacks. I built enough global recharge to run the attack chain I wanted, and enough defense to softcap the positionals. So in my case Agility offers me very little as I don't even need the endurance management. Spiritual doesn't offer me enough either for similar reasons. Cardiac doesn't boost my resistance enough to make it worth it, and endurance isn't a problem. I could keep on going on the other Alpha slots, but by now you probably get the point. Musculature just makes the most sense in my case. The OP's build isn't really focused on procs (which is fine - whatever sets your sails) so something like Agility/Spiritual may be beneficial for whatever attack chain they are shooting for. So in the case of the OP's build, as it currently stands, then perhaps Agility would be a more optimal suggestion. Maybe.

It should only get better when you can add the purple set procs and Incarnates. I run 3x Thunderstrikes all +5 in Pistols, Executioner's Shot, and Suppressive Fire. Each of those also have 3 procs. Two of those are utility (Decimation's Build-Up, and Achilles' Heel). With Hasten I have enough recharge to just use those 3 attacks. The lack of Aim does make it struggle on burst so you won't get super amazing Pylon times (if you cared), but you can still get enough DPS for a 5-6 minute drop on that kind of testing. I'm happy with it.

Sentinel is the AT that I never knew I wanted. My first character ever was an Invul/EM Tanker followed by an AR/DEV Blaster. I scrapped both and made a Dark/Dark Scrapper and then a Dark/Dark Defender. When CoV came out I went with a Necro/Dark MM and never looked back. Then when Willpower was released I made an SS/WP Brute, a Sonic/Sonic Corruptor and finally a Huntsman build SOA. I dabbled in Widow but that Huntsman was a character that I played almost as much as my Brute. So I guess that VEATS were a basis for the ranged attack + defensive power combo that attracted me to the Sentinel. I tried Dual Pistols multiple times but never really found anything that clicked for me due to redraw. With the Sentinel it was finally time to try out some weapon sets with less active secondaries to give these power sets some play. After trying out Dual Pistols with Regen and Willpower I finally settled into Nin as a secondary. I played that almost exclusively to 50 on HC. That character has its Incarnates and IOs all done. I still brush the dust off and play it because its a fun character. After tinkering with other power combos, I finally settled into Beam/Bio Armor and Water Blast/Dark Armor as the only other Sentinels I actively care about. I've been slowly revisiting old power pairs that I played a long time ago, but most of them have become new takes on those characters. I have 2 characters that are the same in name only but their power combos now are more in line with what I wished they were when the game went live. One of those concepts dabbled as a Sentinel.

I won't say its not possible, but I will say I don't think it is worth it. Willpower does not easily get close to 40% defense to Smashing/Lethal. You need some slotting investment and specific IOs to pull that off. You can easily get into the upper 20's low 30's on the damage types on Willpower. WP is typed, not positional, and positional options on Sentinels are pretty much a dumpster fire without melee attacks or really heavy slotting on secondary powers. If you rely on the Incarnate system to cap you off, then that's a bit more forgiving but only applies in level 45+ content. Dual Pistols isn't really that special on softcapping. Hail of Bullets has a roughly 10% positional defense buff that lasts for 5 seconds on a 24-30+ cool down. Not reliable enough to make it a cornerstone of a build. Still, I won't say its impossible because some people are pretty damn creative.

I agree with the other stuff, but this is a great comment here. Just to add to it, when viewing what that 75% vs 70% secondary value translates to is really quite small. Its not insignificant, but its small. Super Reflexes between the two ATs on purely SO's have a difference of roughly 2% on the positional values. So shifting the Sentinel up by 5% in its defenses isn't actually an additive 5%. Furthermore, Sentinels do have lower values on EVERYTHING related to defense. Everything. That includes Defense Debuff Resistance (which is slightly lower than the Scrapper/Stalker/Brute version) as well as the mezz protection. Ninjutsu Bo Ryaku's KB/KD protection is lower on Sentinels than it is on Scrappers. Does a shift of 2% on defenses or +1.X KB/KD protection matter in the grand scheme of things? Not really. However, the design of it being that way speaks to something a bit broader than that. The Sentinels have lower defensive effects in their secondaries for what reason? Because they are ranged? As the post above, and several others constantly point out, there isn't a really good reason to do this. So for the sake of consistency across AT, let's have Sentinels with the same 75% values in their secondary. Damage balance is a complicated issue that would require a large realignment across AT if all of the DPA potential of range sets were to shift. That may happen at some point after enemy resistance values and melee set review happens. One thing I don't want to see is Sentinel getting some ad hoc +acc/to hit/perception buffs. There isn't that much use for that in this game, and Sentinel AT doesn't need it at all. We'd gain an inherent that helps everyone else with a snipe make use of faster sniper changes. God, what a kick in the crotch that would for an AT that designed snipes OUT of the power set! For the melee classes and *EATS it doesn't do that much either. I said this once, and I'll say it again. What's in a name? A bouncer at a club is a sentinel. Most of the time they stand watch and only take action when necessary. That isn't what I consider grounds for compelling game play. Sentinel means to stand and keep watch often by a soldier or a guard. Stand and do nothing and only intervene when necessary. Sounds like fun! Want something that moves ahead of a team and does something more frontlinish? Call it.. Vanguard. Stalkers already can scout. Trying to define balance by tripping over a name definition feels asinine. For the sake of the game if the Sentinel is going to be a DPS role, then make it a damn DPS role.

In general I prefer to focus on the -to hit and that extends to every AT I can get away with doing it on. I will consider the Fear IO set category because the bonuses are often pretty good but the duration of the CC isn't the reason. I think most of the fear powers in the game have access to more than just the fear sets so you can usually find something more worthwhile to invest in.

So what's decent? General advice: Dark Armor plays nicely with IOs and the more expensive you go the better it gets. Dark Armor gets a little weak on Energy and Toxic resistance once you start piling on IO sets. You can make up for that with 4x Shield Wall in defensive powers and Toxic is often paired with the rare IO sets as well as Psychic resist. There are the two resistance unique powers too that help a bit. Since DM has limited AoE options you're not in a great spot to add Eradication mules. That's OK though. Its really not that important. Dark Armor should be capping Smashing/Lethal/Negative/Psy by accident and possibly getting close to Fire/Cold too (if not capping it). The Rune of Protection in Sorcery is also a possible path to take for temporary increases to all resistances. Dark Melee on Stalkers is very limited on AoE damage having only Shadow Maul. The single-target damage however is quite good so lean into it. Soft-capping all defenses is going to be a challenge but Stalker DA can get into the upper 20's to low 30's with some planning. My Staff/DA has around 32% defense to melee/range/AoE (though AoE is a lot higher due to Hide). If you really want more defense you can go for Shadow Meld. The to-hit debuffs in your primary will give you stacking effects of miss chance on a target. Touch of Fear being a pretty large debuff to a single enemy. You can run both Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom at the same time to generate more coverage of CC effects. You can also run neither of them if you like or just one. Cloak of Fear inherently has synergy with Dark Melee and Touch of Fear. Oppressive Gloom, not so much.

I loved my DM/DA back on live. It was my first 50. I started it up because it was such a black sheep back when toggles didn't stack and you could 6 slot recharge in Hasten. I just couldn't get back into that combination with Homecoming. The magic just isn't there for me. I've been pretty preoccupied with Sentinels, Controllers, Defenders, and Stalkers since the game has come back. If Stalkers count, then Street Justice/Super Reflexes is probably my favorite of the ones I have made. I've leveled several Tankers but now some of my interest has been coming back around to Scrappers. So I made a Dual Blades/Dark Armor that just works for what I want. It's been 50 for a while but I've been slowly working in the sets I want. I've tried playing DB on every melee AT. I've always loved the animations but never had a pairing that clicked until now. DB/DA maybe that inspirational magic I wanted. Its a character without Hasten (which is rare for me) but still has enough recharge to pull off Blinding Feint -> Attack Vitals. BF -> AV is really all I want out of him anyway. Maybe one day I'll rebuild him for some extreme recharge to push something more deadly, but right now the simplicity of it all makes me happy.

I opted to keep using the gun versions of the attacks for my Crab. The only crab attacks I have are the melee which mostly mule things but the cone attack isn't too shabby when hitting multiple enemies.

It can stack up to 3 times. I often have that buff at 2 stacks but it can occasionally spike a 3rd.

"Screwing them out of their set bonus" - Don't you think that depends on specific builds vs generally? I have multiple Sentinel builds now and skipping some set bonuses to include procs hasn't been a detriment at all. Hell, its the reverse! I feel more that if I don't use procs that I fall behind my own goals. I haven't had much trouble in covering my recharge, defense/resistance, or self sustain needs by skipping some set bonuses for procs in the slightest. I'm in agreement with most of your points, but just not there yet on this one.

I have Beam/Bio too! I do not believe that the issue has been fixed yet. I tried searching the patch notes thread and nothing returned on the topic. Genomic Evo is still a good power to put some resistance IO sets in or the uniques or both. The Sentinel ATOs have some range modifier increases that can be a pseudo replacement effect and you can split the set to stack more of that modifier. Not sure you can get a lot of range built into the Sentinel, but then again I haven't tried either. I don't mind if enemies run up to me.

Outside of expensive sets (which is what I did) you could evaluate Sorcery's Rune of Protection as a pseudo-T9. That can potentially cap all your resistances depending on where you are at. Also, those resistance inspires are good skittles to have.