oldskool

A couple hundred million is definitely a good nest egg. My DP/Nin cost me something like 700-800 million at current prices. A couple things about the market though. First, you have a good amount of money to play the auction hall flipping mini-game. You could easily, with some time and effort, add several more hundred million over a week or so without heavy grinding. Take a peek at the Market and Guides sub forums to teach you how to maximize profits. In addition to that, you could join up some AE farms and just soak in money. The AH method is a more passive way to do it by spending up to 30 minutes to just make 20+ million over night. Also, shop smart... shop S-Mart. For the sets I list below, check to see if the enhancement is available on the market and what it costs. Then check the recipe and what it costs. Note that any orange recipe needs orange salvage that runs 500,000 million + creation fees + other materials. However, the yellow recipes often sell for 10,000 with materials costing far less as well as whatever the fee is for the level it was built. If you can build an IO for less than 1 million influence, then there is no reason to buy it off the auction hall for some of the prices people set. The "best" sets have recipes that are extremely expensive people know they are valuable, but sometimes you can catch a deal. So a build that may look like it is 500 million may come out lower than that!! The exception here is with purple sets. Those range between 15 - 25 million per piece. Always buy the standard version of the ATO (average price 8-10 million) + 1 catalyst (1+ million) and convert them after you've slotted it. The purple (Superior) versions of the ATOs often run the same price range as other very rares (15-25 mill). So for an expensive build, it is almost always the purple sets that drive these costs. Luck of the Gambler's aren't cheap either. Edit: Also, when browsing what is the cheapest to build you can go with the lowest level possible or whatever is the cheapest to obtain. The crafting fees are based on level. You can then attune the IO with a catalyst to make the bonus operate at all levels. The enhancement will adjust in value to whatever level is appropriate within its range. This only a good idea if you exemplar a lot. If you want to use enhancement boosts then you really want the highest level of the enhancement possible. If boosting right now isn't the plan, then save yourself some crafting fees and catalyze later. Do that on actual good sets though, not some of the dirt cheap options I suggest. 😉 I'm assuming you'd like to keep the powers and slots you have. That is what I am working with for my recommendations below. I'm also going to suggest very inexpensive sets. This should get you started, but it won't be "the best". You'd need a specific build strategy (like what do you want to be doing with this character?) to really make use of the sets I'd recommend for that. Regardless, these set ideas below are going to improve your performance past basic IOs. X-Ray Beam, Cosmic Burst, Proton Stream = Thunderstrike (Accuracy/Damage, Damage/Endurance, Accuracy/Damage/Endurance) + 1 Lady Grey (Chance for Negative damage) in all 3. Cosmic Burst and Proton Stream could take a Shieldbreaker (Chance for Lethal Damage). Low ball bid on the Shieldbreakers. They sometimes list for 2-3 million, but I see them sell for 1 million frequently. The Lady Grey is often times 1 million. Irradiate, Atomic Blast - you could get whatever you can afford really. For the budget conscience, Cleaving Blow 4 pc + Eradication (Chance for Energy Damage) isn't a bad start. Ideally you'd want at least 5pc Obliteration (2-3 million per piece) for the 5% global recharge. Electron Haze and Neutron Bomb - Detonation for the cheap, but Positron's Blast is going to be better. Get all the pieces except for the Damage/Recharge (skip that one). High Pain Tolerance - 4pc Aegis (all pieces with Resistance - except for the Psionic unique) Mind Over Body - 5pc Titanium Coating (all but the Endurance/Recharge) Strength of Will - 3pc Aegis (Aegis is often pricey - Go for the Resistance + the 1/2 pieces like Resist/End, Resist/Recharge) For defense set, Serendipity is often pretty cheap. Red Fortune is also a great one for 5 pieces but can get obnoxiously over priced. For Fast Healing and Health - Triage for the cheap. Heal + Heal/Recharge + Heal/End/Rec. Ideally, I prefer 3 Numina if I am underslotting these (I often do). Numina grants 12% regeneration + hit points which are both good bonuses to Willpower. Ideally those are Heal + Heal/End + Heal/Recharge. You could swap one of the Heal/* with the unique in Health but it is expensive. Quick Recovery/Stamina - Adrenal Adjustment for the cheap but ideally you want Performance Shifters here. The End Mod + the Endurance Proc are ideal. If you want to take advantage of the 3pc hit point boost, then add any of the Endurance/* pieces. Up to the Challenge - at 4 slots you want a set that grants a global healing bonus at slot 4. Harmonized Healing is good for budgets. Numinas is better for raw strength (Heal + Heal/End + Heal/Rec + Heal/End/Rec).

Martial Arts used to be popular for this. There really isn't anything in the game acrobatic enough to do Spider-Man justice. Jump Kick from the Leaping pool is thematic visually, but I cannot recommend that crappy ass power to anyone with a straight face. Martial Arts can now have some kicks swap to punches so you can mix and match to have that flurry of attacks style of the old Webhead.

I find the question far too generic to give you a really good answer about Radiation. Radiation can take on some damage procs and how that interacts with powers + their slots is a bit more complex than just "this is the best". That said, I want to help. In a most generic sense, ALL offensive sets favor the very rare sets (e.g., Apocalypse). Any other offensive sets that offer global recharge are also good ideas (e.g., Positron's Blast for Ranged AoE). Willpower has a lot of options. What is "best" is really just a matter of opinion and how a given set IO fits your goals. I happen to be a fan of Unbreakable Guards in as many resistance powers I can get away with. At 4 slots this grants melee defense but also Smashing/Lethal which is relevant to Willpower. For the Healing category you have 5 good sets that will vary in value depending on your goals, your influence budget, and overall number of slots. For Defense sets, the most generic response is "Luck of the Gambler", but really there are other sets that may be of value. If you have a build or other character goals, I think we'll all be able to help you a lot better than just blanket statements about our own personal set preferences.

@drbuzzard SR is great, but really any set that can soft-cap on a Sentinel is really tough to take down. DDR be damned! On my Nin, enemies have to hit me first for this to be a big problem. I can both set the terms of the engagement (I'm practically invisible) and turn enemies into allies (Blinding Powder). If I feel there are other problematic melee, then they can dance in my Caltrops from Ninja Tools. DDR hasn't been a huge issue, and I have been debuffed more than a few times. I also don't sit there and slug it out. SR is absolutely better at that.

You're welcome.

Caltrops is just wonderful. Always has been. It is one of those powers that is so damn good that it works with the default slot or several. I use it with the default slot on my DP/Nin with the exact same mindset. Yeah, that ITF where those jerks want to brawl with you using Broadsword powers? Caltrops forces them away and makes the AI try to use their ranged attack (which has 0 debuffs attached). It's just great for pesky melee enemies. It's even more hilarious with Blinding Powder because they turn and try to shoot their friends too. Ever see a Malta Sapper fire on his friends (play a Controller and make that happen!). But for the DPS!!KAPOW!!OVER9000 -- this has been a not well kept secret for a long time, but this power takes damage procs. Put a Positron, PvP, and Impeded Swiftness damage procs in it. Watch numbers fly!

Ok, some more time to tinker with the concept, and the challenge is a little fun too. The changes below do not use any purple sets other than one 5 piece ATO. It does replace the Psi Epic with Fighting. The results are 49% melee, 48% range and AoE with 187% recharge. End per second is 3.86 before accolades. Significantly higher DPS with a chance to proc a Build-Up in Decimation every 3 seconds. Apologies for no easy data dump. I just don't have access to Pine's on my system right now. 😞 Just plug in my suggestions though and you'll see what I mean. Pistols & Dual Wield with Thunderstrike (Acc/Dmg, Acc/Dmg/End, Dmg/End) + 3 procs. Pistols (Achilles' Heel, Lady Grey, Shieldbreaker) and Dual Wield (Explosive Strikes, Impeded Swiftness [if it still accepts it on Sentinels, I need to confirm!] or Javelin's Toxic proc [sometimes pricey], Decimation). Executioner's Shot - 5pc Opportunity Strikes (for the recharge bonus) + Lady Grey Single target rotation would be Executioner's (hope for the Opportunity proc) -> Pistols (hope for Achilles' Heel) -> Dual Wield -> Repeat Suppressive Fire would yield a minor DPS increase here when running procs since its base recharge is longer than Dual Wield. Suppressive Fire pulls even further ahead if you use Unbreakable Constraint (purple Hold set with a damage proc, $18-25 million). The benefit of this rotation is you still have access to Defensive Opportunity for endurance management. The overall damage is OK, but that Decimation proc will give you spikes for 5 seconds. Focused Fighting, Focused Senses, Evasion = 5x Red Fortune + 1 LotG global Agile & Dodge 3x LotG (since these were already in the original) global, defense, and defen/recharg or defen/end Master Brawler - 6x preventative med Enduring 2-3 Performance Shifter. Stamina 2 Performance Shifter (end mod + proc). Health, slot as above in previous comment (3x procs). Manuevers 6x Reactive Defenses Combat Jumping 1 slot, common IO or for a slight hit on defense the Shield Wall Unique or the Kismet - you'll still be over the soft cap regardless. Hail of Bullets - Obliteration for the recharge and the melee def. Empty Clips & Bullet Rain 5x Positron's Blast. Drop Piercing Rounds. Boxing - nothing Tough - 2x Steadfast (Resist/End, Resist/3% global) + Gladiator 3% global. Weave 3x Defense set, I like Gift of the Ancients for the recovery, but whatever you like 2x Open powers but no more slots. You could easily run Assault here and your endurance can handle it (with Accolades for sure). That means you could open up to Vengeance on teams which is fun. You could also run Elude again to mule something. You could also squeeze in any other power that doesn't require much. I'd suggest taking a strong look at Tashibishi in Ninja Tools. Caltrops is one of the most flexible powers in this game. It is good with the default slot or several. You create a zone which enemies will run out of which makes for a nice buffer if you take too much heat. You can load that sucker up with damage procs too. It's extremely flexible.

I can confirm this from both my DP Sentinel and Corruptor. Empty Clips is a tough sell for Achilles' Heel on a Sentinel though. First off, you have the Area Factor lowering proc chance. The saving grace for that on the other DP ATs is the target cap. Sentinels will only hit 6 with EC. This means you have fewer rolls of the dice on an already limited chance of an event. Bullet Rain has a higher target cap (10) and it works nicely with these kinds of proc abuses. Force Feedback for triggering recharge is pretty great here. Hail of Bullets is similar but since it is a T9 it has an even higher chance to trigger procs from the long base recharge. Piercing Rounds gets special mention since its AF is lower than normal for an AoE, it isn't negatively impacted by range enhancements, and checks a lot of boxes for procs (long base recharge, long animation, etc).

Even on a budget like this (no purples), I could pimp your ride up to 49% melee, 48% range, and 44.6% AoE defense. It would require some changes. You'd end up with 180% global recharge and 3.9 end gain before accolades. Again, no Incarnates are required for this. If you ever get more influence for the build, I'd reconsider this approach entirely and go for damage procs (Edit: I'll tinker with this still, and see if I can rebuild it with procs on a budget. I didn't have the time to do that earlier.). Super Reflexes is one of 3 defense sets that lets Dual Pistols push some very decent damage with just ranged attacks (no melee shenanigans at all). This is done with all the wonderful damage procs that the set can access. I'm not using your version of Mids so posting the data chunk isn't going to help. 😞 Things I'd keep the same: Your attack slotting... except for Bullet Rain. You don't need the Overwhelming Force there. The Knockback is turned off when using any ammo. For dealing damage you should run Incendiary. For this particular build, you'd likely get more defensive mileage out of Chemical ammo. Below, I include Tactics for some mechanics abuse in teams. With tactics you won't need to worry about the -defense for better hit rolls. Focused Fighting, Focused Senses, Agile, Quickness. Sure. Things I'd change: Enduring - enhance this for endurance, not defense. This can take another Performance Shifter proc. I recommend it! Master Brawler - 6x Preventative Medicine. I love this set, and it is cheaper than Panacea (keep the proc for Health). Dodge - 3x something else, maybe Gift of the Ancients for the recovery. Hasten - drop to 2 slots. With enhancers you'll lower this further. Superspeed - drop to 1 slot, keep the Stealth Combat Jumping - 1 slot - LotG you can shift this power to your final pick if you like. The defense value of CJ is so low that pushing enhancement is never worth it on any AT. Manuevers (level 30) - 3x LotG (or something if you cap your LotG's elsewhere). Evasion - 5x Red Fortune Elude - dump it Assault - dump it, it sucks on Sentinels Tactics - 6x Gausian's --- I normally HATE this, BUT I suggest this for the sake of shenanigans! First off this gets you 2.5% positional defense which your build lacks. Second the proc BLOWS for soloing, but it can be ABUSIVE in teams. Apparently, as the Defender forums is finding, the Proc has a chance to roll on everyone in your team. This has a 60ft radius and it counts pets as team mates too. In a group setting this can potentially bolster your damage. Your current build is sorely lacking on damage output and this could help. It's not a guarantee, but it is an idea. You still won't touch a build that includes damage procs, but you'll potentially improve what you currently have. Link Minds - 5x Red Fortune Mass Hypno/Psy Shock - default slots. You didn't really enhance them for much in the first place so I figure these are just entry players to Link Minds. Slap an accuracy in them and use them situationally. Health - use procs. The Numina heal isn't really doing much for you. You currently regenerate 13.54 hit points per second. Use the Numina Proc, Miracle Proc, and the Panacea proc. You'll regenerate 11 hit points per second, but the Panacea will constantly proc a heal on you. In addition to that Panacea will proc more endurance. Stamina - you could 3x slot this with Performance shifters just like Enduring and use the proc. I like the HP boost at 3pcs even if the endurance effect isn't necessary. Doing this will get you 1385 total HP vs 1326 as in your current build. 59 hit points won't make or break you, but I try for as much HP as I can to buffer on a Sentinel. This build will have a lot of absorb flying around when it does get hit which helps too. Fun fact, for 6 slots you can run 5x Red Fortune + 1 LotG for 12% global recharge. You could also include Reactive Defenses for another 8% with Preventative Medicine. That might influence some slotting elsewhere.

Don't sweat it. I was probably too cranky this afternoon. It just reminded me of being declined for grouping in content across several MMOs over the years due to playing "a solo class". I need to not jump down people's throats as it is. I probably needed a nap. I went through and updated the DP walk through from your feedback and some other recent discussions. My grammar checker says it's OK (probably not great) but definitely feel free to clean it up! I'm hoping it can fit for a wide range of players and not just me parroting the merits of my own build. I love my build, but I am willing to be some creative players can out do it. I don't want to limit that for anyone!

I appreciate you clearing that up. The words just struck a cord with me and it wasn't a good one. Sorry I took it the wrong way. 😞

I often reference this on Google Docs when I want to verify actual damage numbers vs what Pine's reports. You can easily cross reference sets across AT but it isn't set up as a direct comparison. The damage rankings are a little sketchy since the original approach had a lot of flaws, but there is some truth to the ordering. Archery on Sentinels for example is a set with some pretty good single target potential. You can easily tab over to the Blaster side and see the Blaster average on Archery is lower. This holds true in my own comparisons though the exact amounts are different due to my own person slotting preferences.

I have Dual Pistols on a Corruptor, and it's in the same boat. It's a mez power that can be converted into a monster power which is pretty cool. Sentinels have weird Frankenstein's monster blast sets. Suppressive Fire there is a reasonable DPA power with an 8 second cool down that gains very little out of Incendiary Ammunition but still accepts Hold sets. It can hit like a truck and can be spammed. I'm currently enjoying it.

Wow, that's some awesome findings about Tactics and teams. I hadn't tried that! :) I'll keep it in mind for my more team-focused builds and Masterminds! It is very interesting to see how Suppressive Fire's longer recharge plays out so differently on the other ATs. It's not a surprise given it's long base cool down, but the Sentinel version is very different (8 seconds!). It's a proc whore there too though. Just not nearly as good of a probability by itself. However... you get the Chuck Lots of Dice! effect since you can spam fast attacks on Sentinels all day erry day.

I think statements like this need to be made with some caution. The design of CoH didn't really account for X AT is a solo class. This is a team game and making statements about ATs being "solo" ATs isn't really helpful to the overall community. Please forgive me if I am taking this the wrong way, but that other part of the quote is an important one. Every AT seems to have a sub forum thread pointing out how little their own personal contribution brings to the table. It is like watching Rick and Morty where Rick has a little robot on the dining table. The cute little guy asks his maker "What is my purpose?" and is replied to with "To pass the butter". Then the little robot looks down and says in a depressed robot tone.... "Oh God...". That is the apparent state of CoH in 2019. Every AT is looking at Incarnate powers and IO builds saying "What's my purpose" with an entire community saying "To pass the butter". I think we agree with where the state of the Sentinel is, but it's not like it doesn't have a place in most content. Especially when most content isn't tuned to the absurdity of min/max IO builds that exist. I was on a x4/8 team the other night with my Sentinel. Each pull was an alternate of a Judgment power followed up by someone else's Lore Pet. Our ATs didn't matter at all.

What do you mean by "toughest" Sentinel? I don't want to be flippant here, but this could either be a productive thread or a "who is the prettiest pig with lipstick" contest.

Devastation's hold proc lasts 6 seconds. If you're constantly stacking magnitude it will eventually be high enough to hold a boss. Long time Controller/Dominator player. 😉

This is exactly where I view the strength of the Sentinel. I can't defend Sentinel AoE in any measure of good faith, but I do believe there are case arguments to be made for single-target.

Sentinel is objectively weaker on AoE mostly due to target caps. Some blast sets have other factors and variables that push that even further. Like Blaster/Defender/Corruptor Archery/Assault Rifle has a better uptime on Rain of Arrows/Full Auto vs Sentinels. Single-target damage between these ATs gets blurry and gets blurry real fast when talking complete builds. Blasters by default do the most damage but there are a lot of players that do not build on that strength. Instead, Blasters build to close the defensive weakness of the AT. This often results in a lot of attacks slotted with 6pc Thunderstrikes vs a slotting strategy with more damage procs. Some Defenders and Corruptors can get away with slotting less defense in their blasts and push more damage procs (sets like Time Manipulation are extremely good at allowing this). Sentinels don't need to try nearly so hard covering their defensive bases since it is baked into their secondary. Not all secondaries are created equal but even layered defense sets (e.g., Willpower, Energy Aura, etc.) can allow for better damage slotting in Sentinel primaries. You couple the opportunity for better damage slotting (i.e., more procs) with better single-target rotations and Sentinels get far more competitive than they appear to on paper. This gets better and better in the Incarnate realm where Sentinels don't need the Clarion/Agility/Spiritual/etc to close gaps. Sentinels won't beat a Blaster when playing at the damage cap but for any other times the Sentinel can be very competitive. Sentinels live in a weird in-between world. They have AoE target caps like a melee AT but can hit more surface area. Due to certain power changes, many Sentinels have better single-target potential than other blast sets but always lack the burst damage of a Blaster. Even though Sentinels can't burst like a Blaster their high consistency during self-buff downtime adds up to a lot of potential damage.

Depends on what you mean by "better". The two are so similar that a decision on which to use is going to boil down to personal preference. Things Nin has: Both a health and endurance clickable heal. These two powers can both be enhanced to be available frequently and each recover resource in bulk. At around level 28 you can pick up a power that grants minor resistance to all, and grants some knockback/down protection. This protection is not covered by your standard mezz resist power that unlocks early. Nin has a click mezz resist (it has no knockback/down protection) that also grants some psionic resistance. The heal clickable grants some resistance to toxic damage. Shinobi-Iri has a stealth component and a movement speed buff. It is also minor defense to all. This can be your travel power when combined with Ninja Run and the other default features (Sprint/Hurdle/Swift). Blinding Powder at level 35 is a source for gaining a Confuse power effect which can be fun. It's even better as an IO mule. Nin and SR have a similar T9 but the big takeaway for Nin is that their T9 is a source of Defense Debuff Resistance (DDR) that the set doesn't have a lot of. SR: Has an endurance recovery power that works over time like Stamina but is more potent. Has a choice between a clickable mezz resist OR a clickable health absorb shield that adds your mezz resist passively to powers you're already taking. There is no knockdown/back hole. SR has +20% recharge and movement speed buff with the power Quickness. SR has more DDR natively in the set. SR has scaling resistance values the lower your health gets, but it has no clickable heal of it's own (that absorb is handy to cover your butt though). SR has slightly higher defense numbers making it cheaper to soft-cap in terms of power selection, slots used, and/or IO bonuses needed. In short, Nin has components that more active and clicky vs SR which is more passive. SR can save you some influence on chasing global recharge since you get 20% off the bat. Nin has more IO set diversity which lets you squeeze out a small amount of damage, but only if you're using IO sets that make use of it. So if you want more passive performance, you value stronger DDR, and perhaps some less expense to your build, go SR. If you're planning to spend a dragon's horde of influence on the build, and you like having more control over the quality of life elements, then go Nin.

I wouldn't bother 4 slotting health. The Numina, Miracle, and Panacea are more than enough. Sentinel SR can also take on a second Performance Shifter in Enduring. Few builds ever *need* Regenerative Tissue, but if you can fit it in, go for it. [Edit, for clarity on why I feel this way. You need several things for Regenerative Tissue to be worth the cost, and the 4th slot. First, it is more efficient than a heal IO. However, you need quite a bit in the way of hit points to make use of the regeneration effect of Health in the first place. Second, you also need to have sources to boost your regeneration on top of the hit points. So that 4th slot might let you recover 13 hit points per second over 12. It can likely be better than that example, but for the most part it will not be a game changer. Your slot and influence may have better value elsewhere. If your damage/defenses are covered and you can spare it, then go for it.] The Preventive Medicine proc can go anywhere. I have had it go off even without using the self heal I have in Ninjutsu. Preventive Med is also a good one to consider for a full set. At 6 pcs it comes with a slightly over 8.x% recharge bonus. Reactive Defenses is similar too (same 6pc) and fits amazingly well in SR since it isn't slot starved. The two of these can get you 17% recharge and other goodies with some reasonable investment. These also have some slight endurance discount attached to them too. They aren't dirt cheap, but sometimes they can get close. I've seen Preventive Med parts going for 1-2 million and occasionally 3 million. If you're patient, then low ball the sales because I think people are sleeping on these sets.

I contemplated doing something like that with my Water Blast character. That mastery is very much in theme.

Perhaps you should read my current work-in-progress write-up on DP (page 3, scroll a bit). There are only 5 attacks that are essential for damage. Executioner's Shot, Suppressive Fire, and Pistols for single-target. Bullet Rain and Hail of Bullets for AoE. Empty Clips is an honorable mention. You can potentially skip Piercing Rounds and/or Dual Wield. I find the ammo powers are all or nothing. Make a decision to run one based on what you feel is necessary and do that. Incendiary Ammo adds over 30% damage to Piercing Rounds which is delivered in less than 3 seconds. It's significant enough that it overpowers what that -9.6% resistance debuff does for the next 10 seconds. I've run the math on doing the toggle dance, and you'll get more DPS not messing with that non-sense. You can get higher DPS not using Piercing Rounds at all, but this has caveats. As I stated, run an ammo as all or nothing. Why? Well you can potentially be a force multiplier running standard ammo. Piercing Rounds imposes -9.6% resistance which *can* be a benefit on some team make-ups. While you're at it, you may as well keep ammo off since Pistols, Empty Clips and Executioner's Shot will debuff defense too. That's an increase on your team's accuracy which can be beneficial on lower level content, and with some groups later. At higher levels you can toss this idea out the window and brute force your way through things depending on how much you abuse damage procs or not. If you don't do that, well then carry on with being a Defender-lite. That flexibility is something I really enjoy. Standard ammo has knock back tied to Dual Wield, Empty Clips, Bullet Rain, Executioner's Shot, and a 100% chance in Hail of Bullets to knock down. Cryo Ammo* replaces all that KB/KD with attack speed and movement slows. That's got a lot of potential for builds relying on a lot of regeneration or looking to help a slow heavy team (Time Manipulation, Ice sets, Tar Patch, Lingering Radiation, whatever). Chemical Ammo* reduces enemy damage which can also be a boon for resistance and regen-based sets. It can also be a nice added perk when paired with other debuffers that have bigger numbers. *Just to note though, not running Incendiary Ammo is a significant DPS loss. It's not tiny on Sentinels as the damage modifier of the AT exceeds the modifier to whatever debuffs it has. So know that by running anything heavily defensive in nature like Cryo/Chemical is going to cost you damage. If that loss of damage prolongs combat vs just taking enemies down fast in the first place, then it's not worth it. Standard ammo is different though since you're potentially contributing team damage by a minor resistance debuff, but more importantly... 3 sources of -defense. You can, at least... I DO, run into situations where Incendiary Ammo is better almost always. Again, all of that depends on how you slot ultimately, and what kind of group your with as well as the content. The only power I don't have on my DP/Nin is Dual Wield. I have Pistols and Suppressive Fire with 3x procs and Executioner's Shot with 2. Even if you don't get that extreme, those 3 powers are still the best single-target options in the set. Piercing Rounds gets an honorable mention that since it can hit 3 targets, it's damage contribution is increased for every enemy past the first. However, against a single tough target (AV/GM) Piercing Rounds is a DPS loss.

I played with it on Justin along with Gaussian's in Tactics. I used Decimation in Pistols and found that the observed results matched the expectations. Gaussian's rarely, if ever, triggered in Tactics and one time, after 12 minutes of nothing, the proc goes off after a Pylon exploded (LOL). I'm on board with the idea that if you're using 5pc Decimation already then the proc may as well be there. You'll gain some benefit but there is little reason to go out of your way for it. My opinion on the proc is different for powers with longer base cool downs like Epic/Patron holds though.

I'll make that more clear. I was drafting that and almost lost all of it. So I'll go through and edit. The -res can potentially be a force multiple on certain teams, and I'll bring that up. However, that may not always be the case (depends on who you're with). However, it is not DPS neutral for solo damage. It is a potential DPS loss to flip off Incendiary Ammunition for a -9,6% resistance debuff. Incendiary Ammunition adds substantial damage to Piercing Rounds and the DoT is only 3 seconds. The -resistance is 10 seconds long. In order to squeeze your hardest hitting powers within 10 seconds you'll open with Piercing, then Executioner - Suppressive - Pistols - Executioner - Piercing Rounds. Finishing that is 12.012 seconds but lets the next Piercing Rounds take advantage of the buff (it'll start at 9.73s mark). Keeping Incendiary on all the time is a 12 DPS gain for me. On the flip side, you can run Pistols -> [Executioner's Shot -> Pistols -> Suppressive Fire]*2 -> Pistols in 12.144 seconds. The DPS difference for my set is 32 pts in favor of not using Piercing Rounds by toggle flipping and a 21 DPS difference vs using Piercing Rounds with Incendiary Ammo.