oldskool

Fun and strong are subjective. I find Dual Pistol to be fun. It has become one of my favorite sets and as a labor of love, I wrote that incredibly long write-up in the collaborative guide. I'm still experimenting with it and finding out new things all the time. Can you steamroll on Dual Pistols? Yes. Yes you can*. It is all about how you build it and what IO sets you go with. The set over all is upper middle-level of the damage spectrum when considering the core attack chain that the other 3 ATs have available. Sentinels have more options than that by default that all do competitive damage with one another. When you build the attacks with damage procs, the output of the set shifts upward to becoming even more competitive. *Well, you can steamroll as well as most Sentinels can when considering AOE output. All Sentinels have limitations on AOE damage due to target caps and /Rad has a power with an exception. Still, I can constantly loop Empty Clips -> Bullet Rain over and over due to high recharge and relatively short animation times on both (1.848 seconds). Even though Empty Clips is a cone, it can fire it off frequently enough as to not matter that much. I'm pretty used to cones though. For single target, my attacks mulch enemies like a chainsaw but I have multiple attacks with damage procs. Sentinel DP has a nice home in the AT. DP has no snipe which is a complaint about it else where. Well, no Sentinel has a snipe so that's not a big deal. Sentinel has no Aim so it has no real burst damage option, but instead it has Swap Ammo. Incendiary Ammunition adds damage that helps make up for the lack of burst by making it more sustained overtime. Its not as nice as popping AIM -> T9 nuke, but it isn't bad either. It is just a very different style of play than most expect or wish it were. Bio Armor would take the damage further with Offensive Adaption like it does everything else in the game. So if you're looking for a "strong" pairing it is hard to go wrong with */Bio. Dual Pistols, and any set that can abuse a lot of damage procs, can perform far better than it appears on paper depending on how you build it.

There was a guide on the old forums: https://web.archive.org/web/20120906170011/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=274219 Its a good read and the philosophies on builds presented in it are still very sound.

PSA: I'm an idiot sometimes. In the Combat Attributes there is "inherent" in the tracker. You see can exactly how much Opportunity is gained per attack down to the rounded decimal. It looks like it reports after a minor delay, but it does report. I missed it when I looked before and didn't even think about it until leveling my Brute to monitor Fury. I didn't test too hard this week. I leveled a new Brute from 1 to 50 in a few hours then spent an hour unlocking incarnate slots up to Hybrid. That was the bulk of my normal time to tinker and the rest has been spent farming influence and incarnate materials.

@ParaBruce, I'd probably go Decimation due to the recharge plus whatever proc you wanted. You could go with Clouded Senses, Ghost Widow, or even something like Lockdown for the higher hold. If you can ever spare the funds for Apocalypse + Unbreakable Constraint procs, then the damage of the power goes up very nicely.

Yup. There used to be old advertisements for "Tashibishi: Ninja Caltrops" in things like Black Belt Magazine and other places. I've never heard of that term in my life. As I understand it, there are several words that mean "caltrop" but the terms are more descriptive than that. Makibishi would be more appropriate as the action of the character matches the intent of the term. BUUUT what do I know?

The time honored tradition of information vs knowledge. I would like to caveat that the term "good build" is a loaded one. I think I get what you mean, but the reality of City of Heroes is that what I find "good" vs what you find "good" are subjective. CoX isn't like World of Warcraft where cookie-cutter builds exist because the pool of options is incredibly narrow. The options are pretty far and wide. Even Elder Scrolls isn't truly cookie-cutter in its builds but there are more like best practices. City of Heroes is just broader in scope since you have far more design choices due to the Invention System. That is one of the things I have always loved about CoX. Also, CoX was never balanced around the Invention System so building to godhood was never curbed in favor of greater game balance. Some content in the post-50 realm is a little more thought engaged than just curbstomping farm maps, but having a truly min/maxed build is not necessary. So there is a LOT of wiggle room in what is actually "good". Good in CoX truly means "contributing to the team and completing content you enjoy". If a build can do that, its good. You may be able to improve, but never let anyone tell you how to play.

I can't take credit for Electric Armor. That's @Hopelingwho deserves all the credit for that one. Soft-capping for a variety of damage types isn't as important for all Sentinel combinations as it may feel for other archetypes. There is far more to unpack with that than I'd like to get into here, but you shouldn't feel you have to chase 45%. Do plan on gaining some defense via powers like Maneuvers and consider the Fighting pool for more options too. However most Sentinels can be pretty durable as they are and you're not playing this like a Tank. I'm quite fond of Energy Aura and if you are looking for something that is well rounded that can also hit the 45% soft cap to a wide variety of types then EA is what you're looking for. It also has some customization options in the power editor (before you finalize your costume) that look nice. I happen to prefer them over the default. Playing a defense-based set may be a good idea if you're on the fence and still feeling a bit intimidated by playstyle of something like Radiation Armor. Out of the blast sets you list, I'm partial to Electric, but building for a sapper is generally lack luster. I haven't tried to build one out of a Sentinel though, but just generally it feels like a waste of time. Radiation Blast has potential with using damage procs, but that requires some advanced understanding of builds. So I'd suggest sticking to something a bit easier, but really any of those combinations will work. No need to over think it. 😉

Unfortunately, no it doesn't work like that. The -20 res is only during the Offensive or Defensive Opportunity and it does not stack from the same player. Correct. In a broad general sense? No. However, some power sets have a tier 1 that is better than the tier 2 or vice versa. Some sets get to a point where they completely ignore either of them outside of opportunity. At that point the deciding factor is more about which version of opportunity meets the player's preference or build focus. At level 50 the benefits on either are so small that it really doesn't matter that much, but Defensive Opportunity tends to have better utility. Both modes grant the same -20 res which is ultimately all that matters.

Disclaimer: Write-ups are my opinion and you can feel free to play Dark Armor fully ranged if you wish. I just feel it is worth high lighting that much of the set's power is still tied to a melee legacy. My criticism of the set isn't that I wish it weren't so melee oriented, but more on the design decision to keep it melee oriented without Death Shroud. The regeneration passive at level 2 is nice but entirely unnecessary. There are also no sources of hit point boost in the kit to really take advantaged of so much regeneration. Regeneration as a defense mechanism isn't on the top of my list of things I'd want out of Dark Armor either. So the set almost feels copy and pasted (and it really is) because only two powers were changed. Obscure Sustenance is pretty nifty for what it is and offers a very different kind of game mechanic that is interesting. Yet, OS is still PBAoE. It still needs a target. So that design decision to change out the level 2 power comes back around to ...why? I have my suspicious on that answer but it is nothing more than speculation.

Sentinels haven't been around long enough to fully quantify everything, yet. The best statement I could make so far is a pretty broad one. Generally speaking, defense-based secondaries bring a lot to the table for Sentinels. Sentinels have lower starting hit points than other ATs running Tanker sets bringing the value of pure resistance down further. Furthermore, debuff oriented primaries can exploit the chance to build in damage procs since the secondary covers defense to the soft-cap. This is an advantage more similar to how certain Defender/Corruptor pairs can build vs how Blasters build. That opportunity to explore new build decisions is where Sentinels can close the damage dealing gap on single targets vs their Blaster cousins despite having a lower damage scalar. Obviously none of that matters at the damage cap, but realistically most people do not reliably play in such min/maxed environments. Damage additive secondaries like Bio Armor, Fire Armor, and Radiation Armor can take high performing primaries that have few proc options and make them even better. Then, there is everything else. Most of the remaining secondaries are layered defense sets. They can be very good when planned out well and will likely only require something like a single inspiration to cap out remaining defense/resistance. Those secondaries may require defense building through IO sets in the primary powers which puts in the realm of decision making like a Blaster. However, such a statement really doesn't do it justice because that's only looking at metrics on paper. In actual play some of those secondaries can push boundaries that may not seem possible. I feel the same can be said for Sentinel's version of Regeneration. There are no unplayable Sentinels but the AT has a sort of inverse curve of appeal. It has a very low entry floor where it may seem very powerful before SO quality enhancements. Then it may seem lack luster in the mid-range (30-early 50) as other ATs start to mature. Then the Sentinel becomes good again where the IO investment allows it build decisions Blasters can't or won't pursue as well as Alpha Incarnate options more in line with Scrappers/Stalkers.

Secondary Powerset: Dark Armor Medium Resistance to most damage, High Psychic resistance Medium Crowd Control, Low Defense but no defense debuff resistance, No +Resistance/Defense ultimate for proactive mitigation Low to Medium (for Tactical Play) clickyness, Resistance* to: Sleep, Holds, Disorients, Fear, Immobilize, and Endurance Drain, Low Direct Heal, Variable Regeneration and Endurance Restore, +Perception *These effects are spread across Obsidian Shield, Cloak of Darkness and Murky Cloud. Sentinel Dark Armor must be address with the following statement: "You must unlearn what you have learned." -Yoda Across the internet I see statements referring to Dark Armor through the lens of Scrappers of years gone by. Dark Armor was an original set in the game and initially exclusive to the Scrapper archetype (AT). It had a reputation then, and even now, of being an endurance hog. The truth to that statement was always simply "it can be". People often look at the endurance costs of the toggles in a vacuum and make the assumption, often incorrectly, that it is necessary to run all them all the time. That couldn't be further from reality. The toggles I am speaking to here are specifically Death Shroud and Cloak of Fear. Both of those toggles have massive endurance costs which compounds when running the multitude of other armor toggles. If you intended to run all the toggles at once, then yes the set is endurance heavy. That's not necessarily the best course of action. Death Shroud being run as often as practical is understandable as it delivers damage over time. Cloak of Fear is a tactical choice not a mandatory one. The above is not an issue for Sentinels for a few reasons. First off, Sentinel Dark Armor does not have Death Shroud in its kit. So that is one massive endurance cost completely gone. Second, running Cloak of Fear is going to be an individual build decision as well as a tactical one. So on a case-by-case basis you can decide if you want to toggle Cloak of Fear on or even bother taking it. With those two massive endurance drains out of the question, this set is no worse than any others. Third, Sentinel Dark Armor includes Endurance Recovery in its kit in the form of Obscure Sustenance. This is something its melee cousin set does not have. So let's get the idea that Sentinel Dark Armor is an endurance hog out of our heads. Beginner's Overview Building Dark Armor is only as complicated as you make it. For Sentinels the set can mature very early with all of your core power picks being complete as soon as level 20. That early maturity is both a blessing and a curse. Dark Armor, when all powers are taken, plays very differently than most other defensive sets. Dark Armor is aimed more at controlling minions and mitigating their damage than it is on protecting the user from Bosses. That sounds pretty terrible but it really isn't as horrible as it sounds in practice. Dark Armor is for those that like tactical more granular play. You can disable the threat of minions through crowd control tools (Cloak of Fear/Oppressive Gloom) to focus on more serious targets. Sentinel Dark Armor inherits this style of game play from its melee cousin. Its important to understand that Dark Armor is a legacy power set with a design decision in a world of Single Origin enhancements. So its baseline protections aren't very high as some sets, it is more evenly distributed to everything, and its crowd control is aimed at minions. Dark Armor won't immediately create a powerhouse build but with IOs and other power pools it can be competitive under some conditions. I'd like to focus in on that last bit on the final sentence for just a second. Dark Armor isn't nearly as endurance hungry for Sentinels so that stereotype isn't applicable. However, Dark Armor has a reputation for being very influence hungry. That is just an unfortunate reality of the set across every archetype. You can make a serviceable build on any budget but to really close some gaps you need to think a lot about just how much you want to spend. That's just how it is. The set has no Tier 9 of its own for proactive play nor does it naturally get close to capping any manner of resistance or defense. You can get very very close to resistance caps through IO bonuses but that's not cheap. You can't really soft cap defense without significant opportunity cost but you can get very high defense with a lot investment. I've tinkered with builds hitting 65% resistance (not counting the scaling resistance from Reactive Defenses IO - so it gets higher) to multiple types without Rune of Protection. I've hit multiple hard cap resistances with Rune of Protection. I've gotten more narrow focus resistance like Smashing/Lethal to 70%+ while having to live with lower resistances in other types. I've hit over 32.5% positional defenses with Link Minds and other powers. Never, at any point were those builds cheap or cost effective at all. The power choice and decisions to get there aren't going to appeal to everyone either nor do some of those options play well in exemplar content. Knockback/Down protection IO's aren't nearly as expensive as they were on the original live server but they aren't often dirt cheap either. Dark Armor for Sentinels pairs beautifully with the Gladiator's Armor (3 pc = KB protection) for using few slots and expanding your offense. That's 10s of millions of influence for each slot. So while building a Dark Armor Sentinel isn't overly complicated, it can get very very expensive to really maximize the set. A fair criticism of the set can be that if you are going to invest that much influence, then you could do the same on something else while getting more out of it. There is a lot of truth in that line of thinking, but Dark Armor still does very well when played to its strengths. That strength is crowd control. When paired with a set that also includes crowd control the play experience is pretty safe. Now, back to discussion... Dark Armor is a melee focused defense set intended to put you in the thick of things. If you wish to play a shadowy ranged brick house, then Dark Armor's most potent abilities will often be wasted. You can still gain benefit in semi-close range but that is going against the grain of the set. If you decide to take on this set, then understand you should be getting into the thick of things. You don't need to be afraid of that. There are tools in the set which allow you to thrive. Sentinel Dark Armor has no protection against Knockback/Down just like the melee version. Furthermore, most of the set is largely the same as the melee counterpart with two key exceptions. Death Shroud become Tenebrous Regeneration - This is a very large personal regeneration buff that is always active. It is like Health but several times stronger. Dark Regeneration becomes Obscure Sustenance - This is a massive change. Dark Regeneration is a Point-Blank Area of Effect (PBAoE) attack that heals the player based on number of enemies present. The heal is so powerful when in engaged in melee it can completely reverse the tide of battle. Obscure Sustenance is more like a hybridization of Dark Regeneration, Dark Consumption (the Dark Melee endurance restore), and the Incarnate System's cascading buff feature of the Destiny Slot. Obscure Sustenance is also a PBAoE but it only ever requires a single target. When this power is activated it will apply a small direct heal and then apply (after a slight delay) a series of cascading buffs. After the initial heal, Obscure Sustenance will apply 3 regeneration buffs and 3 endurance restoration buffs. Each version, or stage, of the buff has its own duration and all of these overlap. So as one effect fades the second and third stages continue on their own timers until all of them fade completely. The peak of all 3 buffs of each category lasts 10 seconds. The health regeneration buffs have the longest 3rd stage duration and will end after a minute. The endurance restoration's longest 3rd stage buff ends after 30 seconds. The baseline cooldown of Obscure Sustenance is 60 seconds and with some recharge reduction even the endurance boosts can be effectively permanent. Skippable Powers I see no reason skip any of the powers from level 2 to 20. On the way to level 20 you're picking up 2 powerful regeneration tools, several resistance buffs to multiple damage types, and a defense power. Cloak of Darkness is not just a defense power like Weave. Cloak of Darkness is your second crowd control protection power (Immobilize). It is also a bonus Perception power and it applies stealth to the player. Cloak of Darkness is a key power for letting you start battles on YOUR terms as you will lower the enemy range of aggression. This lets you potentially get a surprise attack on clusters of enemies to leverage whatever other tools you have decided to take. From level 28 on the powers all become situational. The final powers aren't necessarily bad but they do require some thought in how they fit into a build. Furthermore, players typically don't need both Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom. If you decided to take one of these, then consider if your primary power can add to the effects. Also, the decision can be purely one of preference for Fear vs Disorient (Stun). Cloak of Fear (level 28) is a PBAoE fear effect that also includes a to hit debuff. The magnitude is just high enough to effect minions but any targets hit will be effected by the to hit debuff. The endurance cost of this skill is very high and its innate accuracy is very low. If you decide to take this power, then I would highly recommend a plan to enhance it. Also, learn when to turn it off. The to hit debuff stacks with other sources of to hit debuff like what is offered in Dark Blast as well as the Diamagnetic Incarnate. The fear stacks with other sources to increase magnitude but unfortunately no blast sets include fear. This is not a power that works well on the default slot and doesn't really have synergy with many blast sets beyond Dark Blast for stacking to hit debuffs. With accuracy investment the fear can be useful though but Oppressive Gloom may end up the better choice for several of the ranged attack sets. Oppressive Gloom (level 35) is a PBAoE stun effect. The magnitude is just high enough to stun minions. Oppressive Gloom has a very low endurance cost but will slowly drain health. Due to how the Sentinel Dark Armor kit was designed, this health drain is not a big issue. Unlike Cloak of Fear, Oppressive Gloom has the standard accuracy modifier! This makes this toggle far more reliable right out of the box as it will have the same default 75% chance to hit as most powers. The stun from this power stacks in magnitude with other sources of stun. It is worth noting that several ranged blast sets include disorient some where in their kit. Oppressive Gloom works very well on the default slot (accuracy can be nice) since it is so low maintenance but also has a lot of synergy with multiple Sentinel attacks [See the LIST below]. This also means that Oppressive Gloom + an attack with Stun can potentially stun Bosses. Some powers with AoE stun (e.g., Geyser, Overcharge) have the potential to disable enemies up to the target cap. Oppressive Gloom has a lot of potential and can be a really fantastic pick with certain primaries. Powers with at least a chance to Stun (Disorient): Archery - Stunning Shot Assault Rifle - Disorienting Shot, Slug Beam Rifle - Charged Shot, Overcharge Dual Pistols - Suppressive Fire (Standard Ammunition Only) Psychic Blast - Scramble Thoughts, Psychic Wail Sonic Attack - Screech, Dreadful Wail Water Blast - Geyser Beam Rifle, Psychic Blast, Sonic Attack, and Water Blast all have a disorient option in their T9 nuke. That's a nice bit of double duty for doing high AoE damage while also shutting down threats for several seconds. That is more than enough time to use Obscure Sustenance to regenerate any lost life or just maintain the effects. Soul Transfer (level 38) is a self revive. However, I don't wish for you the reader to look at "self revive" and think "I can do that with an Awaken Inspire". Soul Transfer is quite powerful for what it is. It is dependent on enemies to be in range for it to work (at least 1 is required). This is where the power of the ability resides. The more enemies present the greater the self heal. You could trigger Soul Transfer in a large cluster of enemies to revive at full health with no stun penalty on yourself like with an Awaken. Soul Transfer also makes you invulnerable, increases your damage, increases your recharge, and stuns the targets it effects. Falling in combat is never fun, but Soul Transfer can put you right back into the fight to punish your enemies. Its highly situational though and can be skipped. The invulnerability lasts long enough to toggle your defenses back on and many enemies will likely be disoriented while you do it. By the way, that stun? Its magnitude... 30. That's going to stun just about anything and the duration is fairly long. Advanced Slotting There are a number of ways to handle Dark Armor slotting. There really is no one sure fire approach that covers all the bases. One type of IO that is highly recommended is a global Knockback/Knockdown protection. These can be found in the Karma defense set, Steadfast resistance set, and the Travel power sets. You only need 1 for magnitude 4 protection which will cover most content. Some enemy factions, like Circle of Thorns, will use powers like Earthquake that can still knock you down. Usually it is more than 1 caster causing the magnitude increase. Knockback/down protection can also be found in the Gladiator's Armor 3 piece bonus. For slotting the resistance armors you want at least 3 slots for most set bonuses. Dark Armor won't cap Smashing/Lethal resistance on its own so more slots for greater set bonuses can be a consideration. The exact number is dependent on what other powers you are layering on for mitigation. Both Tenebrous Regeneration and Obscure Sustenance can be slotted with any of the healing sets. I'd gravitate towards only a few slots in Tenebrous Regeneration mostly to mule recovery-based procs like Numina or Miracle. Obscure Sustenance does so much for the set that I tend to devote 5-6 slots. Doctored Wounds and Panacea both offer recharge bonuses at 5 pieces and Preventative Medicine offers one at 6. Numina's set has a 6% global healing bonus at 4 pieces and Miracle has some recovery bonuses in the 2 piece set. You could also mix and match sets to improve the heal and recharge components. No matter what, try to bring the recharge down as low as practical to ensure the highest amount of uptime on the peak buffs. Cloak of Darkness can take on any defensive set and there are several. I typically recommend at least 3 slots for most toggle powers to cover at least 1 endurance and 2 defense. With sets, parts such as Defense, Defense/Endurance and Defense/Endurance/Recharge are recommend as places to start first. If the build has more slots to potentially allocate then 5 pieces of Red Fortune bring a 5% global recharge benefit. Cloak of Darkness enhances positional defenses. As such this power works best with other sets (e.g., Gaussian's) that improve specific tags like Melee/Range/AoE. Cloak of Fear - This power needs accuracy in order for it to reliably control targets. You could either enhance this with Fear duration or the to hit debuff. You could also mix and match to improve both. Note that the endurance cost is quite high and some endurance reduction is nice. The overall endurance management of Dark Armor gets easier with higher uptime on Obscure Sustenance so there is no reason to panic about the drain of this. I typically do not enhance this power with Fear sets and instead use the Accurate To Hit Debuff category. The fear, when it applies to a target, has a fairly long duration compared to the pulse. Feared targets will retaliate when attacked but they will not initiate that first hit. So I prefer to reduce accuracy as it pairs very well with Dark Blast or Diamagnetic Interface. There are very good Fear sets though making the slotting of this power flexible. Oppressive Gloom - This is fairly decent on the default slot or you could enhance it for sets. The true value of this shines when a primary power also includes a stun component allowing you to effect Lieutenants and Bosses quickly. There are several stun IO sets that offer global recharge and these are often relatively cheap on the Auction Hall. Soul Transfer - Typically there is no reason to invest slots here as the effect is too situational to invest into it. Complementary Choices Any Primary that also offers stun in the attacks (e.g., Sonic's Screech, Psychic Blast's Scramble Thoughts, etc) brings a welcome benefit to stacking the control from Oppressive Gloom. Dark Blast is a power set that was practically made to pair with Dark Armor (the melee version most certainly was). The to hit debuff in Dark Blast helps close some of the defensive gaps in the Dark Armor set as well as bringing another direct heal if one chooses to take it. Water Blast also brings another self heal in Dehydrate as well as several knockdown powers which are fantastic mitigation tools to combine with the high regeneration of Obscure Sustenance. Geyser also pairs well with Oppressive Gloom to create a stronger stun. Dual Pistols provides -7% damage with Chemical Ammunition which can help slow some of the incoming damage with the relatively middle of the road resistance of the set. Psychic Blast also has -recharge on top of other crowd controlling elements. Any other sets with a PBAoE ultimate power at level 32 may enjoy the combination of Cloak of Darkness and a Stealth IO to initiate combat without the enemy group noticing. Dark Armor may feel incomplete all by itself. Dark Armor makes great use of power pools like Fighting, Leadership, and Sorcery. With Tough (Fighting) and Rune of Protection (Sorcery) it is possible to achieve 70%+ resistance for 90 seconds to almost every damage type. That includes psionic damage. Since the final 3 powers of the set are potential skip options, this opens up a lot of build opportunity to add on multiple powers from the pools. For Epics, Dark and Soul Mastery are both appropriate bringing additional to hit debuffs in several powers as well as additional control. Psi Mastery also brings with it additional control and Link Minds as a means of further pushing defenses. Incarnate Abilities There are a number of options for Incarnates and there isn't truly a right or wrong answer. What you take will depend more on which blast set you are pairing it with as well as general character goals. Alpha: Agility doesn't offer Dark Armor much since the set has so little defense in the kit. Agility can get better the more +defense POWERS that are included in the build and the recharge is always welcome in any set up. Cardiac Core brings a very large endurance enhancement benefit which is welcome on builds running Cloak of Fear. Dark Armor also has several resistance powers which gain benefit as well. As with all of the enhancement modifying Alphas, the more powers you layer of a type, the better a specific Alpha will be. Intuition Radial has some side perks that also benefit Dark Armor as well as the offensive set. Spiritual's appeal will likely be the recharge boost but the healing component has synergy with Obscure Sustenance (as does Vigor). Interface: Typically the offensive choice is a better determining factor for Interface. Diamagnetic can introduce some more to hit debuff which will stack with Cloak of Fear. Destiny: Barrier closes defensive gaps and is quite valuable for that. Clarion can close the knockback hole but that is easily accomplished with IO's. Ageless, either version, brings value to Dark Armor through endurance and recharge. Rebirth brings another method of healing. The regeneration variant of Rebirth can add so much that you can exceed the cap on Sentinels when run along with the peak of the Obscure Sustenance buffs. Hybrid: The Melee Hybrid is geared towards melee engagement which brings nice synergy to Dark Armor. Either form can close gaps in your overall damage mitigation.

I should have pulled up the game before running my virtual mouth. Pulling up a T1 and scroll to the bottom there is nothing about the resistance debuff that says it is unresistable at all. So you're right, and we shouldn't assume it is applying its full value. My apologies.

I get that. I think what I am getting at is that the mechanics work as a play on semantics. *edit, Per Paragon Wiki, "It's also important to remember that stacked resistance debuffs always use the unbuffed resistance value when calculating resistance." So the -5% and 9.6% would be applied to the original value of 50 not the modified value of 30. In the case of resistable buffs the calculation was NewResistance = OriginalResistance + DebuffAmount - [(DebuffAmount x OriginalResistance) / 100%] From the perspective on semantics It is true that 17.3 is half of 34.6 (resisted argument). It is also true that 17.3 is just over 1/3rd of 50 (unresisted argument). So in the first statement saying that the target resists the effects is true. In the second statement saying that the result is "unresisted" is also true. I get that the code doesn't apply "remove % of target value" but since you cannot multiple by zero the effects are added as they are. The calculations on resistance gives me a headache because the use of terms "unresistable" is misleading as to how it works holistically (seeing as how you can go into negatives for full value). Anyway, that's how I always calculate it when I know that resistance is present and I know that the debuff says "unresistable". I handle it from the perspective of a ridiculous semantic argument that something like 17.3 is technically 34.6% of 50. ^ Me being stupid. 😉

I didn't think that resistance debuffs were subtractive like that. Like 50% - 20% - 5% -9.6% = 15.4%. But 17.3% is 34.6% of 50. So that seems right based on the original calculations on resistance. Or am I totally misunderstanding this?

I've tinkered with it a bit. I like it. I scrapped my build for it and kept my Fortunata. The Fortunata has sentimental value but damn the on paper potential of Psi Blast is real. I grouped with one the other day and it really made me want to revisit a plan for it. So is it decent? It can be. Psi resistant enemies and robots will make you curse your choice, but against everything else its got a lot of potential. I will give you the exact same advice I give everyone. This is going to be despite what I say about the quality of certain powers. Ok, that said, take Mental Blast and Telekinetic Blast. At the very least, experiment and explore the Sentinel inherent with these and make a determination on value once you've got a handle on things. All that said, Mental Blast sucks at 50 when we're talking about a fully IO'ed out build and even more so when you start spending loads of cash on it. Psionic Strike is also fairly lack luster for single target and its tier rank. Its a bit disappointing. For whatever reason, Hero Designer isn't showing the damage that Scramble Thoughts does. It has a long animation but hits incredibly hard. It got the same damage treatment as Sonic's Screech but keeps a long recharge*. Will Domination is phenomenal and TK Blast will be your filler until Epic Pools**. *Scramble Thoughts is one of the few powers in all of the Sentinel sets that I have found to make actual good reliable use of Opportunity Strikes. The power has both a 20 second base cool down and a 3 second animation. This sucker a rough 42% chance to trigger the ATO proc. No other primary is quite this good but Bitter Freeze Ray in Ice is close. This means this power can net you a 20% resistance debuff more frequently than other primaries. It's a big deal. **I love Psi Mastery in general but it is thematically appropriate. A perma-hasten style build can routinely cycle Dominate (with damage procs) -> Will Domination -> Scramble Thoughts -> Will Domination. Toss a TK Blast as needed for Opportunity. Psionic Scream is a cone and some people hate cones. If that is you, skip it. That's about it. Potentially 3 powers to skip, but that's assuming you're backing it up with a budgeted plan. Otherwise, take Mental Blast or Psionic Strike as your attack routine will have gaps.

Love the character name by the way! First round: I lean more into the melee brawler aspect of Dark Armor vs trying to chase after Range/AoE. AoE would be a bit nice since there are a lot of those attacks in the game, but this is more an illustration of just shifting some slots around. I think in the end it's not a big deal. You might want a Karma KB protection or Steadfast somewhere though. The second one is a bit more of a big budget thought experiment. 😉 Hero Plan by Hero Hero Designer 2.23 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Level 50 Mutation Sentinel Primary Power Set: Dark Blast Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery Hero Profile: ------------ Level 1: Dark Blast Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Dcm-Acc/Dmg(43), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(43), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(45) Level 1: Dark Embrace UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(40), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(40), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(46) Level 2: Gloom SprSntWar-Rchg/+Absorb(A), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg(3), SprSntWar-Dmg/Rchg(39), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45) Level 4: Umbral Torrent PstBls-Dam%(A), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), PstBls-Acc/Dmg(5), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(37), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(39), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(39) Level 6: Murky Cloud UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(7), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(7), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(48) Level 8: Abyssal Gaze Dcm-Acc/Dmg(A), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Dcm-Build%(37) Level 10: Tenebrous Regeneration Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(11), Prv-Absorb%(11) Level 12: Obsidian Shield UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(13), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(13), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(48) Level 14: Dark Obliteration PstBls-Dam%(A), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), PstBls-Acc/Dmg(15), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(36), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(36) Level 16: Obscure Sustenance DctWnd-EndRdx/Rchg(A), DctWnd-Heal(17), DctWnd-Rchg(17), DctWnd-Heal/Rchg(25), DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(34) Level 18: Antumbral Beam SprOppStr-Rchg/+Opportunity(A), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg(19), SprOppStr-Dmg/Rchg(19), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23) Level 20: Cloak of Darkness LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(21), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(21), Krm-ResKB(46) Level 22: Mystic Flight EndRdx-I(A), Flight-I(37) Level 24: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25) Level 26: Life Drain Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Dcm-Acc/Dmg(27), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(48) Level 28: Cloak of Fear CldSns-ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(29), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(29), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(31) Level 30: Maneuvers LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(31), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(31) Level 32: Blackstar Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Obl-%Dam(33), Obl-Dmg(33), Obl-Acc/Rchg(33), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(34), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34) Level 35: Soul Tentacles GrvAnc-Hold%(A) Level 38: Soul Transfer SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(A) Level 41: Darkest Night DmpSpr-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(A), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb(42), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb/Rchg(42), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(42), DmpSpr-Rchg/EndRdx(45) Level 44: Soul Storm Lck-%Hold(A) Level 47: Aim RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50) Level 49: Oppressive Gloom Dsrnt-I(A) Level 1: Brawl Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint Empty(A) Level 2: Rest Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift Empty(A) Level 2: Health NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(50) Level 2: Hurdle Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(50) ------------ Second verse, not so same as the first! This one is what I mean by recharge. With some recharge enhancers Hasten is near perma without Ageless Destiny. Rune of Protection makes a come back and get you you near hard cap Smashing/Lethal resistance at 74%. Negative/Fire/Cold aren't too far behind. That'll run at a 90 second duration but the downtime is still long. Overall slightly different from my D3 but it is a similar set of ideas that went into it. Abyssal Gaze with 2x purple damage procs and Umbral Torrent with a KD to KB. Knockback protection comes in the 3 pieces of the PvP armor in 2 powers + Rune of Protection. With Ageless + Obscure Sustenance you have enough recovery to run Darkest Night and Cloak of Fear. Hero Plan by Hero Hero Designer 2.23 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Level 50 Mutation Sentinel Primary Power Set: Dark Blast Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery Hero Profile: ------------ Level 1: Gloom SprSntWar-Rchg/+Absorb(A), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg(43), SprSntWar-Dmg/Rchg(43), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46) Level 1: Dark Embrace GldArm-ResDam(A), GldArm-RechEnd(40), GldArm-Res/Rech/End(40) Level 2: Tenebrous Regeneration Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(39), Prv-Absorb%(40) Level 4: Umbral Torrent PstBls-Dam%(A), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), PstBls-Acc/Dmg(5), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(37), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(39), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(39) Level 6: Murky Cloud GldArm-RechEnd(A), GldArm-ResDam(7), GldArm-Res/Rech/End(7) Level 8: Abyssal Gaze Apc-Dam%(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Apc-Dmg(9), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(37), UnbCns-Dam%(50) Level 10: Aim AdjTrg-Rchg(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/Rchg(11), GssSynFr--Build%(11) Level 12: Dark Obliteration PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), PstBls-Acc/Dmg(13), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(13), PstBls-Dam%(27), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(34) Level 14: Obsidian Shield StdPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(15), GldArm-3defTpProc(15) Level 16: Obscure Sustenance DctWnd-Heal(A), DctWnd-Rchg(17), DctWnd-EndRdx/Rchg(17), DctWnd-Heal/Rchg(25), DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(27) Level 18: Antumbral Beam SprOppStr-Rchg/+Opportunity(A), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg(19), SprOppStr-Dmg/Rchg(19), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23) Level 20: Cloak of Darkness LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(21), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(21), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(46), Rct-ResDam%(48) Level 22: Mystic Flight Flight-I(A) Level 24: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25) Level 26: Spirit Ward DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(A) Level 28: Cloak of Fear CldSns-ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(29), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(29), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(31) Level 30: Rune of Protection UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(31), UnbGrd-ResDam(31) Level 32: Blackstar Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Arm-Dmg(33), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(33), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34) Level 35: Soul Tentacles GrvAnc-Immob/EndRdx(A), GrvAnc-Hold%(36), GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg(36), GrvAnc-Acc/Immob/Rchg(36), GrvAnc-Acc/Rchg(37) Level 38: Kick Empty(A) Level 41: Darkest Night DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(A), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(42), DarWtcDsp-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(42), DarWtcDsp-Rchg/EndRdx(42) Level 44: Soul Storm BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(45), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(45), BslGaz-Slow%(45) Level 47: Tough UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(48), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48) Level 49: Weave LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(50), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(50) Level 1: Brawl Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint Clr-Stlth(A) Level 2: Rest Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift Empty(A) Level 2: Health NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(3) Level 2: Hurdle Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(3) Level 50: Intuition Radial Paragon Level 50: Spectral Radial Flawless Interface Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany Level 50: Control Radial Embodiment ------------

Also, while I thinking about it and to get real nerdy... A high recharge build that can constantly cycle the 3 higher DPA attacks (Gloom, Abyssal Gaze, Antumbral Beam) each produce 13 opportunity per hit. I'd try to build some muscle memory of tacking on Gloom at the end. Maybe lead with Abyssal Gaze since it will interrupt many targets from the hold and if the Build-Up proc is better there you want the buff on Antumbral Beam. Abyssal Gaze -> Antumbral Beam -> Gloom -> Abyssal Gaze -> Antumbral Beam -> Gloom -> Abyssal Gaze (91 opportunity meter -- ding ding!) -> Trigger Opportunity (Gloom/Dark Blast)* *According to my notes in the thread I started about Opportunity Strikes it looks like Antumbral Beam might generate 14 opportunity. You'd hit 93 after the 3rd Abyssal Gaze. Not that it matters, but I want to correct the error. 😉 Opportunity Strikes will add some randomness but ideally it will create bursts of shortened Opportunity windows where you lead with Abyssal Gaze ->Antumbral -> Opportunity/Gloom -> Opportunity (if bar didn't fill) Dark Blast -> repeat attack sequence. I've been playing around with trying to make Opportunity more predictable in my builds since the -20% resistance is quite nice. Makes the Sentinel a tank buster.

I'll plug it in when I get home to see the full numbers. Overall it looks like a step in the right direction, and I will keep those sets in mind when I build later (to limit expense). Actually, I quite like the direction its going. 🙂 I don't see Steadfast, Karma, or any Travel power Knockdown protection. Dark Armor has no protection or resistance to it and there is no Hover to help mitigate the recovery time. You might not need that endurance reduction in Mystic Flight. So maybe steal a slot and plug a KB protection somewhere. Opportunity Strikes is better in Antumbral Beam due to PPM rules. I'll agree with Gloom and the Ward set. I use it there myself. The Decimation proc maybe better in Abyssal Gaze than Life Drain. I'll calculate it later to confirm. Obscure Sustenance has high accuracy already. You don't need Theft of Essence there, but I get why because the proc *sounds* good. Obscure Sustenance applies 3 separate but stacking buffs on the player. Each version of the buff has its own duration. The first endurance buff drops after 10 seconds, the second one at 20 seconds, and the final at 30 seconds. That's why you want to get that sucker, quite literally, to recharge as often as possible and use it on cool down. It only needs 1 target as the buffs are not scaling per target like its cousin Dark Regeneration. The health regeneration has longer durations but it is irrelevant to our needs. We want that constant endurance stream. Intuition Radial's not a bad idea. I like Cardiac Core too which is a bit of a step outside how I usually build Sentinels. My D3's not pushing the same kind of damage goal as I do with my other builds and so I look for staying power. I normally don't care for Diamagnetic, but the additional to hit debuff is an idea for this pairing too. Control Radial is an interesting idea. I don't think I have considered it at all for any character I play, and I have several Controllers. 😄 I usually go with Support or Melee when not going for Assault. With this build, I'd maybe consider Assault Core for the stacking debuff. It is a static chance to add damage vs the PPM rule-based Radial. Since you're using sets that add recharge reduction, the Radial may not be as beneficial. I haven't calculated that so don't quote me on it, but my instinct is leaning towards Core (if you wanted it). Especially with duo/small teams. You'd be unlikely to hit the damage cap unless you're pairing with Kinetics a lot. I can count on 1 hand the last time I grouped with a Kinetic player or that I played at the damage cap in regular play. Rebirth will probably feel like overkill, but I do like Rebirth. Barrier's not bad if you have endurance under control. Ageless, either, will also be good for this build when you push the endurance hard. Turn off Cloak of Fear, its your big end drag, and lean on Oppressive Gloom which slowly drains health. Obscure Sustenance should be able to fuel those during its peak but there is nothing wrong with having a backup like Ageless. Clarion's probably a waste of your time.

And that's part of it. Once you level shift with T3 Alpha things will get a little easier. It will get faster once you start hitting T4 in the categories like @MunkiLordpoints out. Also, yes, even Brutes eats red skittles all day every day and twice on Sundays. Right, now keep on trucking but maybe think about lowering the difficulty a bit since the time efficiency just isn't there yet. Ease into it as you build up and it will get faster. A fresh 50 without Incarnates isn't going to be clearing maps like a fully Incarnated one. You'll get there though.

I had to make a double take on Blackstar. That one power inspired my Dark Blast/Regen build that I started. I eventually scrapped it and made it Dark/Dark because, why not? I still have that Dark Regen on Justin. Last Friday when I was toying around that was the build I was running to test. To stress test powers and all that. I hopped into a fire farm set to x4/x8 and turned off defenses I normally run to the teen's. I'd jump into spawns and unleash Blackstar + Judgment. Its pretty hilarious and a little, OK a lot, risky. Some spawns would annihilate the absorb shield and drop me before I could click a heal (as expected). Some spawns would be smooth sailing with the usual active play expected in Regen. My Dark Armor build plays similarly because I currently skip Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom.

It is a strong KB because it is based on Torrent. So yeah, I have 5pc Positron + Sudden Acceleration in my build I believe. I don't have Pine's at the moment, but KD is awesome control. It plays super nice with the regen of the set kinda like Willpower. Umbral Torrent and Dark Obliteration also hit decently hard as far as Sentinel AoE goes.

I like to build for recharge on almost everything because recharge inspirations don't exist. I take Maneuvers on almost all Sentinels so my view of how high I can push defenses is pretty skewed by that. The target cap question is a concern as not everything will be struck by Blackstar and it can also miss. So its not a guarantee. For those remaining enemies you can Darkest Night a target and pepper others with Dark Obliteration to start spreading the love. Cloak of Fear should make several enemies cower in fear as well as get hit by -to hit. You have no Death Shroud to pulse and create reactionary hits out of the fear effect. Though your AoE's may do that. When all else fails there are purple inspirations. Edit, also totally forgot about the Knockback in Umbral Torrent. That can help too. Scattering melee mobs can be helpful, especially while leveling, and placing a KB-to-KD is a good idea also. What kind of content are you hoping to push? I wouldn't expect to bunny hop around a farm map herding past the aggro cap with the above build. I do that occasionally on my DP/Nin, but that's real risky. I have to make sure I am on top of things with my click heal and inspires. I also don't do that when Judgment is on cooldown. For teaming, you shouldn't notice. For other soloing, you may need to scale back the difficulty until you level shift and flesh out some other Incarnates at 50. For soloing prior to 50, you'll need to pace yourself. Dark Armor can be good but realistically its not Super Reflexes level of throwing ones self into the fray without a care. Dark Armor is a tactical set and will play slower due to that. So if you are thinking of potentially jumping in to x4/x8 spawns solo, then yes you are probably overestimating what the set can do with the slotting you have. I'll tinker with this later and see what I can come up with so I can put my money where my mouth is. 😉 For my D3, I built for defense and recharge. I think I hit somewhere around 27% defenses. When I had planned on Psi Mastery Link Minds took the defenses over 32%.

As a Dark/Dark/Dark player, I disagree about the synergy statement here. Dark Blast is the little black dress of Sentinel offense. It synergizes with everything! Don't need it. You have Blackstar. You have Cloak of Shadows. You have Cloak of Fear and Darkest Night. See above for all the tools you have. Minions will have the most rolls against you to cascade what defenses you have. You can neuter the threat from minions with this combination. Plus, Incarnates can close the DDR gap. From one anonymous friend to another, you really don't need to worry too much about this unless you're looking to solo the ITF. Those magic groups and Carnies won't be cascading your defenses often unless they use sets with -defense. Most of the time its fire blast, ice blast, psi blast, dark melee, fire melee, and super strength. Council farms can cascade your defenses with rifle fire but they have to hit you first. They are no threat if they are blind. See Blackstar. Dark Armor is a viable secondary. Strong is subjective. I think you may be underestimating, not overestimating, what Dark Blast and Dark Armor can actually do once the build has matured. Cloak of Shadows is a stealth power and with a Stealth IO in Sprint you can start combat on your terms. Start those combats with Blackstar. I know I've mentioned Blackstar a couple of times now. Blackstar comes with a -35% to hit debuff. That's not a misprint in Pine's. That's how it really works. That duration is 20 seconds. That's also not a misprint. My Blackstar recharges every 26 seconds or so. That means the debuff has a 6 second down time. 6. Seconds. This looks like an oversight from the blast set proliferation where Blackstar's original base recharge was longer on the Blaster/Defender/Corruptor scale. For Sentinels, its open to abuse. Dark Armor can nullify minions with Oppressive Gloom or Cloak of Fear. Darknest Night may actually be overkill. Dark Obliteration and Umbral Torrent both add another 5% to debuff for 10 seconds each. Your normal attack chain is going to add 5% to debuffs for 10 seconds each. The only duration exception is Dark Blast (the T1) that has a paltry 6 second duration. Rune of Protection is the bee's knees if you want a Godmode T9 replacement. With a Dark/Dark combo, I'd say recharge is your friend. Recharge means you can bring up Rune of Protection a little more frequently, but it really is Obscure Sustenance that you want up as often as possible. Adding more recharge means you can drop the Tier 1 if you like, and maybe even Lifedrain. Lifedrain's heal was hit with the Sentinel defense proliferation. What that means is, where other archetypes have a 10% base heal (or higher) the Sentinel has a 6% heal. The damage on Lifedrain wasn't increased since its Tier status was not changed like Abyssal Gaze was. The DPA on Lifedrain is slightly less than that of Gloom but damage procs could potentially make it better. Lifedrain can take Touch of the Nictus: Negative Damage, Clouded Senses: Negative Damage, and Gladiator's Javelin: Toxic. For healing utility though, Gloom is going to over take it through Defensive Opportunity + 10 targets hit by Dark Obliteration. With Obscure Sustenance's regeneration rates backing it up, Lifedrain's heal is a joke. I'd probably change some slotting methodology to make it stronger but is what you have currently viable? Absolutely. My first level 50 ever was a Dark/Dark Scrapper. I made that character back when set-based armor toggles were mutually exclusive! I had to pick and choose which toggle to run and supplement my defenses with Tough and Weave. Even then, I used to solo things that many people on the old forums would say you couldn't because Dark Armor sucked. No, it was just more challenging and required a specific pairing in Dark Melee (for Dark Consumption) to make it work. When the change happened to allow toggle stacking (and the rejoincing of Invulnerability and Stone Tankers everywhere) I still ran everything and Acrobatics. That's also turning Cloak of Fear on and off when enemies used to run! So Sentinel Dark/Dark can work and with some recharge can get pretty good. It may not solo AV/GM's but hunting virtually any enemy group isn't off the table. Not by a long shot.

As mentioned above, I moved Opportunity Strikes around in a rebuild. I put that set into Piercing Rounds so I've come full circle with where I had that set initially. Napkin math says the proc chance isn't terrible in Piercing Rounds. Against level 50 targets it grants +38.5 opportunity. That's in addition to the base +18 it normally grants. That's kinda awesome. However, Piercing Rounds isn't in my normal single target rotation so that's lame.