oldskool

I feel I addressed that in the rest of the response where I cite some specific power interactions. I'll restate my position though. Sentinels have slightly lower defense values in their secondaries than Scrappers/Brutes/Stalkers. On top of that they also have more limitations in IO set selection. You can absolutely hit the defensive softcap with Sentinel Ninjitsu or Super Reflexes with some planning. However, for other sets building up defense can require more creativity. Dark Blast helps offset right from level 1. Sentinels have 0 options for primary power sets that offer +Defense (no Parry, no Defensive Sweep, no Guarded Spin, etc.). The only primary with somewhat direct defense additions is Dark Blast. Furthermore, all Sentinels have standardized cooldowns on their T9's. Blackstar's secondary effect was not adjusted for the reduction in cooldown. Blackstar imposes a -35% to hit debuff for 20 seconds. Sentinels can absolutely build to achieve cooldowns on their T9's in the 24-28 second range. This means a Dark Blast Sentinel can have a -35% to hit debuff against up to 10 targets (that also does a lot of damage) with a down time on said debuff in the 4-8 second range. That seems like a pretty big boon to me. Another factor on why I feel it is a big enough deal to mention. Blackstar is point-blank in range. Sentinels have an entire secondary devoted to letting them survive an alpha strike. This makes delivery of Blackstar a lot easier on a Sentinel than it can be on a Blaster. Blaster pros (as I see them): 1) Higher base damage plus Defiance 2) Possibility for more IO set diversity in the secondary (immobilize at level 1, crowd control powers earlier, melee powers earlier, PBAoE powers earlier) -- IO set diversity is something I see as a weak point in Sentinels. 3) Higher AoE target caps 4) --Dark Blast specific-- Moonbeam is more accessible with the sniper changes and deals good damage 5) --Dark Blast specific-- Tenebrous Tentacles is an AoE Immobilize which can be rare on Blasters 6) --Dark Blast specific-- Its a primary with a legacy of being a hybrid damage/control set (both a pro and a con) 7) High-risk, High-reward game play 8)Easy to play tough to master... low skill floor and high skill ceiling 9) Largely AoE focused as envisioned by the original design (Scrappers were the single-target kings) 10) Defiance and sniper changes improved single-target damage to the AT Blaster cons: 1) Lack of mezz protection in the earlier game 2) Lack of defensive powers in the earlier game (somewhat offset with Dark Blast) 3) --Dark Blast specific-- It's largely ranged cones and they aren't particularly strong 4) --Dark Blast specific -- No Aim for more control (Stuns, AoE Immobilize, etc..) 5) High-risk, High-reward game play can lead to a lot of hospital visits Sentinel Dark Blast is very different. I happen to like Sentinel Dark Blast better than the Blaster/Corruptor versions. I feel it is fine as is with Defender/Corruptors since I don't mind the level of control it has. Yeah, I mention Corruptor twice. If I am looking for a heavy AoE damage set on a Corruptor then I am not looking at Dark Blast. I don't tend to select heavy offensive sets on Defenders in the first place (I prefer the secondary effects) and that mindset also applies to more supporty Corruptors vs pew-pew Corruptors. Sentinel pros: 1) --Dark Blast specific-- Dark Pit traded out completely (*Edit: Blasters don't get Dark Pit, Defenders/Corruptors do... still this is win in a general sense). 3) --Dark Blast specific-- Tenebrous Tentacles traded out completely (this is a pro and a con... I like TT) 3) --Dark Blast specific-- Nightfall traded for a targeted AoE vs a cone (Dark Obliteration) (*Edit: again not a Blaster Power, BUT Blasters don't get Dark Obliteration either 😉 ) 4) --Dark Blast specific-- Torrent changed to Umbral Torrent - moved lower in the power order selection and still does good damage (*Edit: Blasters also get this) 5) --Dark Blast specific-- You actually gain Aim likely at the expense of Dark Pit (*Edit: Blasters gain Aim too.) 6) --Dark Blast specific-- You gain Abyssal Gaze which is a high damage hold (*Edit: Blasters also gain this.) 7) --Dark Blast specific-- You swap Moonbeam with Antumbral Beam. This isn't so bad in actual practice as AB decent. 8)Mezz protection/resistance in the secondary 9) Possibly easier leveling experience - this is completely subjective but a common statement in favor of Sentinels especially solo 10) Tier 9 powers recharge faster 11) Easy to play from level 1 12) --Dark Blast specific-- Different single target rotation available. Abyssal Gaze/Antumbral Beam + filler out of either Dark Blast or Gloom for a decent DPA attack sequence vs Moonbeam/Gloom/Dark Blast on Blasters (*Edit: Blasters could also use Abyssal Gaze.) 13) Single-target focus as an AT vs AoE focused (*Edit: The Blaster version can be very Single-target focused if it wants to be but the AoE of the set is subjectively pretty much garbage for a Blaster. This commentary is applicable to comparison of Defender/Corruptor versions though which is where my head was at.) Sentinel cons: 1) Lower base damage. 2) Lower target caps on AoE powers 3) Lower IO set diversity in general 4) Easy to play from level 1 through 50+. Low skill entry and arguably low skill ceiling too. I say arguably because it creative builds can do amazing things as well as players though this isn't as intuitive for most of the player base. 5) --Dark Blast specific-- Loss of legacy identity as a control/damage hybrid My bias here is that Blasters are very good at AoE damage. Dark Blast is subjectively not a great AoE set for damage. It is a subjectively good set for additional control. So if that is your bag then you can make a Blaster to fit that bill. It isn't how I view them but I am also not a big fan of Blasters period. So I'm probably not a great resource. 😉 The Sentinel version of Dark changes out the set so much and shifts it toward more offense. Sure, Abyssal Gaze can hold targets (for something like 2 seconds base duration) but its a reasonably hard hitting damage-over-time attack. Beyond that Sentinel Dark Blast doesn't pretend to be a Controller-lite like the original version of it was on Defenders. As a former D3 Defender player I can say I greatly appreciate the design changes on a more offensive AT vs the straight port over that Blasters got.

You can make DA/TW work without Ageless like Nihilii points out. Same goes for Cardiac. You don't need them. Cardiac though is a huge boon to the pairing though. You get an improvement to endurance reduction which applies to your attacks as well as your toggles. That's the reason why I'd recommend it. You'll save endurance on offense in any content in the 45+ range (if you exemplar below 45 you lose your Incarnate perks). You don't need that much endurance management to play the pair in the lower levels but you do need to be mindful of your end drain. I don't think I slotted Taunt with my DA/TW. If I do slot Taunt it is often to just add a set there for a specific bonus I want. You should be able to hold enemy attention with the occasional taunt plus the damage pulse out of Death Shroud. Of course your AoE hits will also apply some taunting from the Tanker inherent. So in short, you should be good on taunt duration effects just by default. Nihilii's sequence works once you activate Momentum otherwise Follow Through wouldn't be available. Another is Rend Armor -> Follow Through -> Arc of Destruction -> Crushing Blow -> Follow Through. I can only pull that off during Ageless for a short window since I don't have a ton of Global Recharge (I forgot the exact amount). When I have those windows of lower recharge I use more Crushing Blows as filler or Defensive Sweep if the buff has dropped off. Keep in mind trying to squeeze in all of the best attacks on Titan Weapons can potentially sap your endurance quick. If you have to cast Dark Regeneration in there that's a huge hit to your blue bar. Titan Weapons already does pretty extreme damage as it is so there should be NO SHAME in slowing your attacks a bit to avoid draining your endurance. In lower level content I toss around the occasional Taunts to slow down endurance spend to let my end procs catch up. In Dark Regeneration I have a +endurance IO just to help it break even.

This works really well for Plant/Storm, Plant/Nature Controllers or Plant/* Dominators, or Beast Mastery/Nature or Beast Mastery/Storm Masterminds.

Props for combining a pre-teen concept with a power set that just yells at everyone. If door slamming was a power, then you should take that too. The behavior alone makes me sick IRL so mutant powers aren't even required! 😛

I don't know if anyone thinks Sentinels are broken. They do seem a little undertuned both on defensive powers and their offensive output. The mechanics of the inherent having two different modes tied to the T1/T2 powers creates a perception of removed player agency if one feels they have to have both effects in order to fully realize the AT. To sum up, there are arguments about the AT being clunky (T1/T2 issue) and a perception of weak damage. That perception of weakness is amplified when making cross AT comparisons as apples to apples view points on AoE powers. I do agree with some of the undertuned thought on the damage and defense. However a lot of the discussions like this one here conveniently ignore how Sentinels have different single target attack chains vs Blasters. AoE is pretty obvious on the difference there but the single target can be a lot more blurry. The issue with realizing that blurred line comes down to builds though. A Sentinel can be built to focus on its single-target strength and do some pretty competitive damage. However, I am willing to bet most people don't go for that. Instead I see talk in game, and the occasional build ideas, about almost doing carbon copy building on Sentinels as if they were Blasters. What I mean here is that a set like Thunderstrike is very valuable to Blasters for that defense bonus. However to Sentinels Thunderstrike is a good set but depending on your secondary you can probably do better. Sentinels can afford to build more damage into their sets up through procs than most Blasters can. There are some Sentinel primary sets with higher single target DPS than their Blaster counterparts prior to fully engaged Defiance. Archery is one example of that. Since Sentinels can have attack chains with better DPA their overall sustained damage has potential there. What I think needs to be fix though is that the Sentinel needs to be a bit more intuitive on this and evening out its performance would help a lot. You shouldn't have to write a dissertation on the exact number of damage procs to use into specific power combinations in order to get just get competitive with the other damaging ATs. Scrappers/Stalkers/Brutes/Blasters all perform well out of the box and investment in them just makes them better. Sentinels get better with investment too but that investment does seem to require a lot more advanced understanding of the IO system. That's just bullshit and it should be adjusted. So no, I don't think Sentinels are broken. Hell, I don't think they are all that weak either. Its been awhile since I leveled one from scratch though so it could be I have gotten so used to running 3 procs in the bulk of my attacks I've lost sight of why people say they are weak. I dunno. I see people claim Dual Pistols are weak too and I cut through 54's like a chainsaw. I have some Stalkers/Scrappers that can do it a bit faster but I don't find it so noticeable to be the issue that some claim it is. We're all different though so to each their own.

Power Analyzer shows 5% resistance debuff from any attack. There is also a -3.75% defense debuff applied at all times. Offensive or Defensive mode only inflicts a -20% resistance debuff.

I appreciate the clarity on where you stand. I don't view Defenders as a DPS AT at all, but I really don't want to argue a difference of opinion there. I'm merely stating my position so my previous views have that context. I'm in agreement that if Sentinels were to get some form of change with a positive effect on damage that said damage should not eclipse the Blaster. I also don't think that's going to happen either. I don't think a scalar shift from 0.95 to 1.0 is so big that it steps on the Blaster's 1.125 + Defiance. Adding criticals might and if so then it shouldn't happen. If keeping the current inherent with a scalar shift also creates a problem, then that shouldn't happen either. For the sake of consistency, I'd like to Sentinels have their Secondary sets get a 75% scale vs the current 70% scale. No, Sentinels don't really need that for survival but it feels like an unnecessary implementation in its current state. Those are my very basic thoughts on what might be done to improve the AT. In actual play, I am very happy with the Sentinel. Really dramatic changes to the AT would potentially cause me to revisit multiple builds plus spend resources to adapt. I'm actually not that interested in having my builds so dramatically upended so I'd rather advocate for streamlining/simplicity. The longer they go without proposing changes the worse that feeling is going to get for me, and I doubt I'd be alone.

Well I stated potentially deceptive and not that is was for certain deceptive. Saying that Sentinels are a DPS class then citing how the character creator lumps all classes except Controllers/Masterminds into the ranged damage role is a bit disingenuous. Playing a character intended to be a primary damage dealer is different from playing a character that can contribute damage as a secondary or tertiary role. In short, the statement comes across as placing the Sentinel on the same ground as every other AT in the "Ranged Damage" category. Or in other words, since the Defender exists in the "Ranged Damage" category then it too is a DPS class. That may not have been the intent, but that is how the statement can come across. I most certainly don't feel some expectation of need on anything I play. Period, full stop. Doesn't matter if I am logging in to my Tanker or my Controller or my Scrapper. I don't seek out groups with those characters because I have some sense that a team needs me. I log in to those ATs because I like those characters and their power combinations. If a group lets me in, when I am feeling like teaming, then I plan to contribute as best I can. What I don't do is spend time staring at my navel as a Tanker when blasters start mowing down massive groups. If a group I am with gets to a point where I am not having fun then I can drop that group and do something else. In my experience that doesn't happen enough to really bother me, but I get it does to some others. Your other points about making a difference and meaning are fair.

For point #2, that's a potentially deceptive point to make. The game doesn't differentiate DPS like that. Instead you select broad power set ranges and the game returns to the player output of everything that can potentially do it. Brutes exist in the melee damage and tanking parameters. Tankers also exist in the melee damage realm but their rating is 7 vs a Scrapper at 10. Its pretty clear which one is the specialist in damage and which one is the specialist in defense even if they exist in the same category. Ranged damage works the same way. I can clearly see a difference that Defenders aren't going to do as much ranged damage as a Blaster since their ranks are quite different. The way the character creator lays out the information is more like here are all of your options with a sliding scale of optimal behavior in specific context. Controllers are in the "Pets" category because they can summon a persistent one... at level 32. For point #4, so should the Sentinel get a revamp to its inherent purely to appease low level content players in a game that is no longer in a retail status? That last bit seems pretty relevant because you can blow past the mid-levels in hours. There is no incentive to keep players slogging through a leveling treadmill since there are no monthly subscriptions to maintain. I mean, I don't disagree that the lower levels is where AT identity can potentially make a bigger difference, but it isn't like you can't curbstomp this game with totally random compositions from the start.

Part 1... Addressing the core issue So if we ever do get to voice our concerns as a community on fixing the Sentinel it is kinda my dream that we get on a similar page about what to rant on. First thing to clear up on the ranting is how we address the inherent. I think Captain Powerhouse understands that people don't like it and that it feels clunky. I think we need to exercise some caution around saying hyperbolic things like "being pegged into taking" or "forced to take" when it comes to the T1 and T2. I do not feel forced to take either. I have builds that do take both the T1 and T2 or one or the other. That choice revolves around a lot of different factors. Some factors are just which one has the best DPA and are there other powers I feel are more important. Sometimes that factor is as simple as "do I feel this build can make use out of Defensive Opportunity at times?" and that gets paired with the idea of "I'd still like to have Offensive Opportunity too". If those two things mesh with the build, then I go for it. I tend to find more general value in Defensive Opportunity as the resource return works with AoE powers. Its a nice perk for some builds that are a little endurance heavy. Offensive Opportunity is there for those that wish to completely min-max their damage but let's be real... Offensive Opportunity isn't that good. So when we address the real issue with the inherent let's keep it simple to the fundamental problem. The problem isn't that you need the T1 and T2 because you don't. The problem is that neither of these are all that impactful in the first place. I can skip Offensive Opportunity and miss out on like what... 10% base damage when my build is fully fleshed out? Or I can skip Defensive Opportunity which for some builds can be made completely irrelevant due to endurance management from the secondary. We shouldn't kid ourselves that these attacks are "necessary" because the effects they lend are far from necessary. Hell, some primary power sets can have attack chains fully capable of ignoring the T1/T2 entirely (e.g., Beam Rifle, Archery, etc.). You'd only ever want to click your T1 at that point for the minor damage boost or the T2 for some resource return. Those attacks aren't really there because they matter in the grand scheme of things. I get that a feeling exists on needing to take both the T1 and T2 so that removes player agency. I totally get that, but its in our heads. Still, perception is reality so I ask that we exercise some caution here in order to strengthen the argument. Anyway, the impact of either of these modes sounds great on paper but falls short in actual game play. Additionally, the inclusion of a choice on which mode to pick is only an illusion of one because quite frankly neither mode matters that much. The only thing about Opportunity that is worth a damn is the -20% resistance debuff. That's it and for that reason I feel the inherent sucks. As stated at the start being on the same page is just a dream. I recognize that I am no more right in feeling the way I do about the inherent as anyone else. Though I do feel that we might miss the forest for the trees if we state things like the T1 and T2 powers are must haves in such universal tones. Part 2... Preparing for what may happen If we're going to try and push for more damage, then be prepared to see a removal of the debuff element. If the Tanker changes are kind of litmus test, then if our damage scalar goes up we're likely going to lose the resistance debuffs. In general our damage scalar change should be a net positive for personal damage output while reducing the group play dynamic. I can be fine with this as I think the application of resistance debuffing is a bit out of hand, but our inherent should do something meaning for the role. I'm totally speculating here, of course, but I get the impression that the resistance debuff will go away completely. So what's the role? Well, sturdy ranged damage. Sentinels are just another damage AT tossed onto the dog pile of damage ATs. You don't see Stalkers or Scrappers passing out large scale meaningful support so I don't expect that Sentinels will either. This is going to be a point of contention but I'd rather see the Sentinel lean more into being like a ranged Scrapper/Stalker than some Defender/Corruptor wannabe. Sentinel's just a name. So is Stalker. Stalkers don't really stalk squat unless we're talking PvP. Otherwise they start cloaked and then brawl just like Brutes, Tankers, and Scrappers. What's in a name? So I'd like to see Sentinels move more towards being a ranged damage alternative to Blasters that have more in common with Scrappers/Stalkers (they already do, just push them off the ledge and finish it). It may sound really really generic, but I'd be happy with a damage scalar increase, an increase to the defense values (75% vs 70%), and even adding criticals as the inherent. There is no ranged AT that has a critical hit modifier though Scourge is there sort of. Let Blasters keep their scaling damage in Defiance. Let Blasters, Corruptors, and Defenders keep their higher target caps on AOE. Push the Sentinel more towards being a ranged version of their melee cousins. Obviously a pass on the ATOs would need to happen to make them fall in line with any changes to the current inherent. I'd be happy with that. I'm really really apprehensive about trying to shoehorn in more "roles" to this AT. I don't want to dissuade anyone from speaking their mind about what they'd like to see happen with the AT. Hell, there are plenty of posters far more creative than I am. However, I just feel the more we try to move the needle from being a damage dealer the more disappointed we're all going to get with how the chips fall. I'd also be happy with a simple button being added like Domination that when you click it you gain the resource return of Defensive Opportunity and the damage boost of Offensive Opportunity at the same time. Simplify the inherent without completely reinventing the wheel and restore some player agency as to which power they keep between the T1 and T2. Ugh, I really didn't want too get cynical about this, but I feel that is going to be the reality. 😞

Doesn't the inherent already apply a very small non-stacking resistance and defense debuff all the time? I can't check at the moment to confirm, but I thought it did. The big -20% debuff is attached as a single target effect from the T1/T2 after filling the bar, but pretty sure there are is a mini-me version attached to all attacks on the AT.

Can't post my build at the moment, and I generally tend not too, so I'll just toss around some pennies for you to think about. I skipped Titan Sweep but took Crushing Blow. AoE attacks are very expensive endurance wise so relying on Defensive Sweep, Titan Sweep and Death Shroud is going to strain your endurance early on. Crushing Blow is a reasonable filler attack later on but a bit of a work horse in the earlier game. You can take or leave Crushing Blow, totally, but I took it over Titan Sweep. Dropping Titan Sweep was a tough choice (I didn't want to let it go) but in the end it didn't make the cut. In actual practice Arc of Destruction and Whirling Smash are just fine. Oh, you skipped Whirling Smash... I'd reconsider that. Titan Sweep is a cone but Whirling Smashing is PBAoE (so 360 degrees). Dark Regeneration is very very expensive to cast. You'd want more than just 2 slots to cover accuracy, endurance, and recharge needs. Cloak of Fear has pretty crappy base accuracy (60%) and it is an expensive toggle to run. I skipped it on my DA/TW but if I did take it then I would make sure it had some more slots. I'd probably have to choose between Cloak of Fear vs Death Shroud since I run a lot of toggles. Anyway, if you want to keep Cloak of Fear consider slots for accuracy, endurance, and to hit debuff. Oppressive Gloom can get away with fewer slots unless you're looking for a specific set to go in there. It has a normal base accuracy of 75% and it is fairly inexpensive on endurance drain (it takes some health instead). I also skipped that, but there are good reasons to take it + Cloak of Fear. Focused Accuracy is a massive endurance sink. If you really think you need a toggle with to hit buffs, then take Tactics. You can build your accuracy up though through sets and a Kismet +6 to hit can cap off all you need. I do have Maneuvers and Assault in my build. I don't always run Assault though. You may actually want 3 slots in Health if nothing more than being able to hold all 3 unique IOs that increase endurance or proc % of your endurance (Numina, Miracle, Panacea). Panacea can be kinda pricey but the other two are fairly reasonable most of the time. Same deal with Performance Shifter. Endurance won't be as big an issue once you get those procs in there, but running just basic SO's or common IO's it will be a drag. You'll need to pace yourself when pushing offensive. Not sure what kind of budget you have for this but a final build that looks to really invest in it can be pretty freaking powerful. Without a big budget you're going to want a lot of endurance reduction in your toggles and attacks just so you don't run out of gas. With some IOs (notably the unique endurance procs) this will get better but will still take some pacing of yourself until you finish sets in your attacks/toggles. There are a lot of ways to skin this cat and there are some great Dark Armor posts within the Tanker forum to get you some ideas.

That's awesome to see! My DA/TW can hit 90% Energy resistance if the ATO proc stacks twice and Toxic is either similar or close. So with some ATO proc love all resistances hit 90%. Even without the proc Smashing, Lethal, Negative, and Psi are still hard capped. My defenses landed around 31~ish % which is fine since Defensive Sweep gets me over 45% to melee. DA/TW has turned into something that I never thought would be nearly as fun to play as I imagined. Endurance isn't nearly the issue I thought it would be either but I pace myself so there is that. If I want to go all out in higher level content I can totally do that with Conserve Power/Hasten/Ageless. My own "made from the buffs" concept was remaking my first ever hero... an Invulnerability/Energy Melee tanker. This was partially inspired by using procs but also that Whirling Hands will have a bigger area of effect. That too has been just been a surprisingly fun character revisit in the realm of ATOs (that work so well in Energy Transfer/Total Focus). Even without the buffs I haven't been happier playing Tankers in a long long time. Goes to show what some fresh build ideas can do to make the AT more enjoyable.

Obviously I'm not the person you're responding to but you are fishing for information. I decided to keep both the T1 and T2 powers but this had nothing to do with the Sentinel inherent. I kept Aqua Bolt as a filler for my attack routine since I am running my Water/Dark Sent without Hasten. If I had bothered to build for high recharge (and include Hasten on top of it), then I would have tried for Hydro Blast -> Dehydrate -> Hydro Blast or something along those lines. Instead I run either Aqua Bolt -> Hydro Blast -> Aqua Bolt -> Water Jet -> [slight pause for the Tidal mechanic] ->Water Jet or some variation placing Dehydrate as either a Tidal builder or spender. Water Jet's cooldown reset isn't really "instant", there is a slight delay, and it has a slight downtime of 8 seconds. I happen to like Dehydrate's heal over time but I don't often bother with maximizing it through the Tidal system. Instead I prefer gaining the increased benefits to Water Jet for single target or Water Burst for AoE. My Dehydrate has the proc with a chance for endurance so I don't often open with it, and instead use it either before or after my Water Jet. I squeeze in other powers like Whirlpool/Geyser depending on their cool downs or Water Burst for groups. I tend to follow a floating priority system when using Water Blast powers vs anything really hard set. I'm tossing ideas your way more for something to think about than any real hard/fast rules. I put 5 pieces of the Sentinel ATO Superior Opportunity Strikes into Whirlpool (all but the Accuracy/Endurance/Damage/Recharge mod) with the Achilles' Heel chance for resistance debuff. The Sentinel ATO proc "Chance for Opportunity" has a reasonable chance to trigger in Whirlpool even against 1 target and it will check that chance to trigger against all 10 enemies it can hit. So by opening with Whirlpool in this manner I can often get a substantial boost to Opportunity and quickly gain that benefit. Additionally, Whirlpool has a good chance to inflict the -20% resistance debuff in that Achilles' Heel proc against every enemy it hits. So it can provide some significant resistance debuff. Slotting in a chance for recharge slow from some of the sets that can do that isn't a terrible way to go either, but I am biased towards enhancing powers intended for damage with damage perks/sets.

Good job capping S/L resistance in offensive mode. Bio Armor is an interesting set. You can go in a number of ways with the IO sets and make a very durable character. I prefer going for recharge to make Parasitic Leech available more often, but to each their own. Your build should be pretty durable.

Have you read the link below? In that guide there are formulas which answer the final question you propose and also correct all of the misinformation you have on how PPM works.

@Save-vs-DM, great job and thanks for reminding me there are a few powersets that I have not addressed as write-ups (that I said I would!). So this is a nice kick in the pants reminder that I need to get around to Assault Rifle, Archery, and Psychic Blast as promised. Life's been busy and maybe can I devote some of my vacation time this month to knocking that out. The idea for the write-ups are there but I just haven't published them. There are a few minor errors here and there (spelling/grammar) that could use a second pass. Still good stuff! I do have one other quibble though. Both Charged Bolt and Lightening Bolt apply the same 20% resistance debuff as a part of the overall Opportunity mechanic (as it currently exists - subject to change at some point apparently). Charged Bolt and Lightening Bolt have separate secondary effects related to Offensive and Defensive mode which hold value to each player/build. Your statement about not being a min/max player is fine, but I'd reconsider stating that both of these attacks are necessary. At least in such a blanket way. It is true that Charged Bolt is necessary to use Offensive Opportunity but the merits of that plus the power itself should be individual choices. If a player can formulate a competent attack chain without either Charged or Lightening Bolt then these powers aren't really mandatory outside of their link to the inherent. The inherent as of right now isn't so powerful that having both the T1 and T2 are build makers or breakers. Just something to think about.

There are a few discussions of builds for Dark Blast and Regeneration separately. Though you're right that there isn't really a specific thread already about Dark AND Regen. Anyway, you can steal ideas from those threads and just mash them together. There really isn't anything so special about Dark Blast that it requires specific mentions with Regeneration. Same can be said for Regeneration. Suggestions on how I built mine: Go for recharge. Add some defense as you can, and consider hit point bonuses as you go along. Don't get too hung up on trying to hit 75% resistances or 45% defenses. For Dark Blast you can make a coherent attack chain out of just Gloom, Abyssal Gaze and Antumbral Beam when you're pushing perma-Hasten level recharge. Prior to that level of optimization, you can take the Tier 1 attack (Dark Blast) or you can wait out for Life Drain at 26. I am not that fond of Life Drain as a vanilla power personally, but to each their own. Now, if you want to shove some procs into Life Drain, then we're talking. No procs = meh, procs = a consideration. The heal is too small to worry about. Take Umbral Torrent and Dark Obliteration. Take Blackstar. Obviously, take Aim. For Regeneration, I'd suggest taking everything since it all has value. So you'd potentially only skip 1 to 2 powers out of the primary and virtually nothing from the secondary. Power picks will be tight and so will slots. Other powers like Combat Jumping/Hover (doesn't require much slotting), Tough (more resistance to Smashing/Lethal), Weave (+defense), Maneuvers (more +defense), and Hasten (+recharge) will likely round out your pool picks. If you want an Ancillary/Patron pool you'll need to consider cutting some of the other powers. Things of note: Sentinel Regeneration can be very durable with about 16% defense which is pretty easy to achieve through powers and IO bonuses. You can push a bit more with some planning but you likely won't exceed the 20%+ range on a consistent basis. Not saying it isn't possible but there are too many ways to skin this cat to say for certain what you're going to get. Nor do I know what kinda of expectations you even have. Dark Blast as a primary includes a lot of -to hit. Blackstar is a point-blank range AoE that imposes a -35% to hit debuff for 20 seconds. Recharge is your friend and if you can get Blackstar down to 25 seconds or lower this is huge. Consider investing in a +Stealth IO and slapping it into either Sprint or add a slot to Combat Jumping/Hover to hold it. This will cut down on the aggro radius of enemies to let you drop that Blackstar. The Concealment Pool can also help there. You could swap Maneuvers for the Stealth power if you like.

I've yet to try Cognitive or Control on any character I have. That includes the Controllers, Defenders, and Masterminds I have. I generally find more value in Intuition Radial since it offers a lot of things I want. I've not heard good things about Control Hybrid, but I've never bothered with it. I either go for Assault, Support, Melee, or Clarion depending on the archetype. You can have more than one of a given Incarnate category. The only drawback is investing time into getting the salvage necessary to craft it, and you can circumvent a lot of that time by running the Dark Astoria missions repeatedly though flashbacks. So you won't necessarily lose anything but time for experimenting.

I definitely want all the aggro. How is Bio/Spines on Tankers?

I mentioned my rationale in this thread. I acknowledge that Psionic Strike can hit hard, but it has a damage-per-activation (DPA) that is rather poor in conjunction with the rest of the set. If you're building towards using an Epic Pool like Psionic Mastery then Psionic Strike becomes a superfluous power choice in the build. Psionic Strike may hit fairly hard when it lands but you can get more damage over a period of time by not using it. So its a matter of burst damage vs sustained damage. Psionic Strike is good for one but not both. As always, I will state that a high level of min/max isn't necessary in CoH, but it is a form of thought exercise that some people do enjoy. Whatever you heard about Sentinel Dark Armor is only partially accurate. Dark Armor can be endurance heavy as it includes an extra defensive toggle over all of the other sets. Dark Armor comes with 3 resistance and 1 defense toggles as the backbone mitigation set up where most secondaries only have 3 toggles at most. So right off the bat Dark Armor has one more toggle that costs 0.26 endurance no other set has. No one is forced to take Cloak of Fear or Oppressive Gloom. No one is forced to run both of them at the same time. Though to be fair to Oppressive Gloom its cost is pretty low. Sentinel Dark Armor has a brand new power with some unique mechanics called Obscure Sustenance. In some ways it works very similarly to Drain Psyche vs Dark Regeneration (melee Dark Armor). On activation Obscure Sustenance will heal the player if it hits a target (the amount is minor) and then it will grant 3 buffs to both regeneration and recovery. The duration for each regeneration and recovery buff is different but the effects stack. So for 10 seconds all 3 regeneration and recovery buffs will run at the same time. Once the first set of buffs fall off the other ones will continue for another 10 seconds and then drop off too. For 10 seconds after that there is a minor recovery buff that persists then fades and the minor regeneration buff continues for 30 more seconds. So in summary, Obscure Sustenance has a 60 second cool down that grants series of regeneration effects that run its course over 60 seconds and it grants a series of recovery buffs that run their course over 30 seconds. Sentinel Dark Armor can easily support all of its toggles and then some but it really needs to manage the up time of Obscure Sustenance in order to do it. Sentinel Dark Armor doesn't have a passive endurance buff but it most certainly has an active one.

I'd swap the slots of Tenebrous Regeneration with Obscure Sustenance. Putting that Preventative Medicine set into OS reduces the cooldown from 22 seconds to 17 seconds. Portions of Obscure Sustenance can be enhanced. Moving the set there not only improves your regeneration (from over 800% to over 1,000%) it improves the uptime on the strongest part of the endurance benefit. With a 17 second cooldown you can refresh the power, as long as a single target is in range, on the tail end of the second part of buff's cycle. That will give you more endurance over the long run. With the current recharge you'd refresh it at the beginning of when the buff is at its weakest point. 5 seconds won't make or break this build, but it is what I would do.

Definitely props for set choices using some cheaper sets. Slotting is pretty sound since it is tough to get a lot of defense on Dark Armor. Couple notes: You don't really have 193% recharge. You have 193% for a few seconds during Ageless. The peak of the buff drops off pretty quickly before the duration completes. You'll more often than not run around at 133~ish% recharge (during the bulk of Ageless) and 123% for all content under level 45. Your defenses are really good but Support Hybrid will have periods of downtime. Still, the combination of your regeneration, resistance and defense are going to serve you well. Good job! You can go with Dominate - Will Domination - Scramble Thoughts - [slight gap] - Will Domination - TK Blast most of the time. You could lose the gap and drop TK Blast during the height of the Ageless buff. Without Hasten active you'll resort to using AoE attacks as fillers. Not a big deal since most of time a single-target chain only matters against Elite Bosses+. Generally you'd just hammer out Psychic Scream and Shockwave to clean up after Wail. Word of caution... That attack chain will drain your endurance extremely fast. You're looking at a rough 5 endurance per second for all of that plus your toggles (1.46). Obscure Sustenance will grant you around 5 endurance per second (that's including Stamina + Accolades) for 10 seconds before that buff drops off. I'm working on my 5th Dark Armor character (I've made 2 sentinels, a tanker, a scrapper, and a stalker). Every time I tend to weigh in heavily on Cardiac Core as my Alpha of choice. I do love Musculature and Radial is a decent idea. However Cardiac is going to dramatically cut down on the costs to your attacks and Psychic's can be pretty expensive. In messing around with your build Cardiac shaves off enough endurance drain to put your consumption just under 5 endurance per second. So for 10 seconds you shouldn't notice your blue bar move too much. After that you'll notice and your Obscure Sustenance will have 16 more seconds left to recharge putting you into the 3rd phase of the buff. I'm totally spit balling this since I don't play Psychic Blast with Dark Armor, but I have played a lot of Dark Armor now so just leveraging that experience here. You don't have perma Mind Link. The non-Ageless recharge would have around a 16 second or so downtime. Still, you have a lot of various defenses in the low 20's or into the 30's. So you're doing pretty good there. 2 Membrane Exposures (which aren't cheap) would help shave more off that downtime. Another option is to try and frankenslot it with Defense/Recharge from sets with +5 boosters. Membranes would be the most dramatic path to take and +3 versions would be a big drop in recharge reduction. You could also push more global recharge with more rare sets elsewhere, but that'd be a longer term project.

You're not going to softcap defenses on Sentinel Dark Armor and you really don't need to. With Link Minds it is possible to get around 30-32% to Melee/Range/AoE. I'm not convinced it is entirely worth chasing beyond 30% personally. 75% resistance ain't gonna happen beyond Smashing/Lethal and in order to do that you're going to need to focus a lot of sets to make it happen. Reactive Defense has a Smashing/Lethal bonus, Preventative Medicine has a Smashing/Lethal bonus, and so on. Those are some sets I stacked on my Water/Dark and she has 71% Smashing/Lethal. However, she also has the Reactive scaling resistance so that does pad that out as her health goes lower. Her Melee defense is 30% and 28% to the others. My Water/Dark had a similar plan to what you're going for. Just soft controls (in her case more Knockdown) and use that to help pad out the defenses. Take it all as a layered approach. 71% Smashing/Lethal resist, 30% melee defense, and a whopping 1100% regeneration during the height of Obscure Sustenance (75 hit points per second!) on top of mass knockdown and/or Stuns (Geyser + Oppressive Gloom) is more durable than it should be. You can push some pretty silly levels of resistance for a short duration with Sorcery's Rune of Protection (effectively hard capping almost all resistances!) but that takes out a lot of other powers. Anyway, good luck! Toss out the build here if you still feel you need some help. There are plenty of folks that don't mind tossing out their 2 cents.

Mental Blast is currently a trash power. It sucks. It sucks a lot. Offensive Opportunity really won't add that much damage once you start building in quality enhancements for damage. I'm talking even 3 Single Origins (so level 22+). The resistance debuff from Opportunity is triggered from either of those powers. Telekinetic Blast also has far better slotting options since it can take on enhancements from the Knockdown/Back category which allows for some build creativity. Psionic Tornado is a targeted AoE. It animates in 2.5 seconds or so with Arcanatime. While Psi Tornado does a little less base damage than Psi Scream, 'Nado hits twice the number of enemies. Tornado has an enemy cap of 10. Like Telekinetic Blast, this too can take on the KB/D sets which opens some options. Psi Scream has a target cap of 6 with an Arcanatime animation of 2.9. Scream has some value for the -recharge, and it does slightly more damage. However it isn't as efficient as Tornado can be against larger groups. If you can take both, then I'd encourage it. If you want to skip one and take Shockwave from the epics, then I'd actually skip Scream here not Tornado. I often try to take both. You didn't bring up Psionic Strike. I'd encourage you to tinker with it and see if you like it. It can do considerable damage per hit, but its actual damage-per-activation ratio is pretty poor. You've mentioned long animation and I sense (with my own Psychic powers) that is kind of an issue for you. So you may be inclined to look at Scramble Thoughts as a toss away power. It's not. Scramble Thoughts has two important features going for it that make it unique for Sentinels. First, this power has a base recharge of 20 seconds. Second, it has an animation around 3 seconds. I know that animation sounds gross, but hear me out... This power has one of the highest chances to trigger the Superior Opportunity Strikes ATO proc. That proc, the purple version, has a PPM of 2 and Scramble Thoughts is the only single-target skill in the whole AT where this ATO is work a damn. I state this with importance because the current implementation of Opportunity includes a 20% resistance debuff. That debuff is VERY important to your high level play since Psionic damage is the most resisted damage type against high end enemy factions. So in summary, the important powers: TK Blast (you have to take one) Will Domination (This power is honestly broken AF with a base DPA just under Psychic Wail... that wasn't a mistype. Its your second most damaging power next to the T9.) Psychic Focus (your AIM) Psychic Tornado (your most efficient AoE - 10 target cap) Scramble Thoughts (special slotting attention) Psychic Wail (T9 - 10 target cap) That's it. You can feel free to skip Mental Blast, Psychic Scream, and Psionic Strike (if you like). You can potentially run an attack chain of Mind Probe (if in Melee) -> Dominate (because it is amazing with procs) -> Will Domination -> Scramble Thoughts -> Will Domination. You won't be exemplar friendly with this attack chain but you can easily sub in TK Blast -> Will Dom... etc. May need Psionic Strike if you do that. I'd have to play with a build to find out. Also, may I introduce you to Force of Will? Weaken Resolve grants you another source of negative resistance and it can take the Achilles' Heel proc for more -resist. This power doesn't do damage on its own, but it can take on the Lady Grey and/or Shield Breaker procs. The base animation and recharge makes those fairly reliable sources of additional damage while making all your other hits matter more. Wall of Force is a cone with a lot better slotting potential than Psychic Scream. Unleash Potential has its merits too. These may be too much to squeeze in to your build, but they are thematic as well as being decent substitutes. Tenebrous Regeneration is 100% regeneration without enhancement. Health is only 40%. Put your endurance management procs into Health and consider actually enhancing Tenebrous Regeneration. Skip Obscure Sustenance at your own peril. The +recovery only lasts 30 seconds. However, the effect has a cascading feature (not reflected in Pine's/Mids) where the strongest version of it only lasts 10 seconds. So for 10 seconds the power is at its maximum, for 10 seconds after that it is a bit less powerful, and for the final 10 seconds it is far weaker. The health regeneration aspect runs for a total of 60 seconds but its maximum potential is around 20-30 seconds (I forget exactly, but I detail in the write-up in the stickied thread). Anyway, aim to get enough recharge to refresh this power at least every 30 seconds for the endurance benefit. If you can get this down to 16 seconds or so, I can promise you that your endurance drain will be an after thought. Also, unlike other powers such as Dark Regeneration this one only ever needs 1 target in range. Already mentioned Dominate. If you put damage procs in to it, then it is amazing for you. Mind Probe is also amazing. Mass Hypnosis isn't worth it in my opinion. You can stack stun between Psychic Wail, Shockwave (if taken), and Oppressive Gloom. You'll neuter the threat of minions with just Oppressive Gloom. Sleep is cute for solo, but even then this is probably overkill. Link Minds can be made perma. It cannot take normal recharge enhancements but it can take IO sets with recharge in the enhancement. Like it can Defense/Recharge, Defense/Endurance/Recharge, or Endurance/Recharge.