[Sentinels. Are they underused?]

4 hours ago, Obitus said:

And part of it, I suspect, is that we're talking past each other to some degree based on differences of preference.

 

Everyone of these threads.  Every. F***ing. Time.

[Is Radiation dead?]

Radiation isn't dead but it does constantly experience half-life. 

[Sentinels. Are they underused?]

3 hours ago, underfyre said:

Yeah, I got yelled at in the Blaster forums for showing the DPS of a purely ranged builds. Apparently you have to play blapper style or you're doing it wrong.  So I fiddled around a bit and found myself staring at DPS numbers on blapper builds that were 100 DPS higher than pure ranged builds. The problem there is that a Blaster, though apparently designed to wade into melee range, wasn't really designed to survive the foray.

 

I sometimes consider the Blaster to be the Schrodinger's Cat of damage archetypes.  It is the AT that is simultaneously able to survive really well while fighting with hover out of range and does the highest damage while being in melee range.  

 

The Blaster is also both alive and dead at the same time depending on how the Tanker is observing them. 

[Advice for New Water/Regen Sentinel]

9 hours ago, JoJoMonkey said:

ok lol this took me a while and I was able to get "Water Jet" in and change my setup. I have remove the fighting pool change for concealment and also add the leadership pool. I focused on damage and range def. I use hover all the time so it should be in range almost all the time. input welcome

 

If the build is fun for you in actual play, then no one's advice matters.  That said, I think you are misunderstanding some fundamental mechanics and it is holding you back.  

1) "Focused on damage", Unfortunately, no, no you aren't.  You're focused on building % damage from sets, but this isn't as effective as it seems.  You have 16% bonus damage globally.  That's 16% base damage.  That's like 12 pts of damage added to Hydro Blast.  Whirlpool you have a full set of a slow set.  It is obvious you're fishing for the defense, but let's consider what you've lost.  That set modifies Whirlpool's damage by 21% (22-ish damage).  Your global bonus another 16% (17-ish damage).  If you actually enhanced that power with a damage set, then you'd have 90-100% boost.   You've literally specced that power to do 1/3 of its potential from a damage set that could double its base effort.  

2) When people talk about using Dominate for damage they are not talking about speccing it as a hold.  What they mean is using singular %-based procs from a range of different sets to push it's damage artificially.  By artificially, this means each proc is worth between 71 to 100+ damage for each slot.  Other factors like recharge and base damage change this evaluation.  Dominate's base damage isn't that high in the first place so each proc is likely going to be better than enhancing it.  This really simplifying the topic, but what you have isn't effective for the goal.  

3) You've enhanced regeneration rate with Luck of the Gambler's or you figured to add a +def slot.  Either way, this is inefficient in powers like Hover which have pretty low base defense.  Also, Regeneration the power set ironically works better off enhancing recharge.  The whole mechanic of regeneration rate ticks isn't as powerful as it sounds.  Those 10% boosts to regen rate in a set bonus are literally only giving you +0.5 hit points each second.  That's not going to save you when enemies are hitting in the hundreds.  

4) If you're going to slot Numina in Reconstruction, then be prepared to click that power every 120 seconds.  You probably will anyway, but if you don't that proc will drop off.  You could run that proc in a passive ability or a toggle and never ever have to worry about it.  The Preventative Medicine proc doesn't rely on you at all since its condition to trigger is when you take damage.  So you can have that set in a power like Reconstruction.  

5) You don't need to soft-cap any defenses with Sentinel Regeneration and especially not if you're intending to hover out of range.  You can ease off the defense if it will allow you to actually slot for damage vs chasing bonuses that aren't that effective.  32.5% is the defense number that makes any purple inspiration soft-cap that defense.  A small purple inspiration is +12.5%.  

6) If you're worried about alpha strikes, then Moment of Glory is better than it sounds.  However, the Barrier Destiny Incarnate will also work real well.  Speaking of Barrier, when you T4 that one you will have a minimum of 5% defense for the duration of that power.  

[First try at Nrg/Da/Elec Sentinel looking for some feedback to help improve this build]

If building for defense is your goal, then you're off to a reasonable good start.  Here are some things to consider for what I would consider improvement. 

 

1) Dump Power Blast. 

2) Use the slotting of Power Blast into Power Burst if you like. 

3) Get Power Push earlier, like when it unlocks at level 12, and use that Apocalypse set.  This is your bread & butter damage attack. 

4) Maybe replace Combat Jumping with Hover unless you just really like Combat Jumping.  You don't need the immobilize resistance, but it doesn't hurt. 

5) Non-tanks generally do not need 12 KB resistance.  4 is decent enough and Hover would also help mitigate that too (if you wanted). 

6) That Nova slotting... Think carefully if you want that KB proc in a KB power.  Maybe you do, but get ready to watch stuff go sailing out of range. (wheeeeeee!!!!) 

7) If you use generic IOs, then seriously consider some boosters.  Hasten with 2 level 50 IOs boosted to +4 each knocks another 5 seconds off the downtime.  Up to you if that expense is worth it. 

8 ) Consider boosting the Aim recharge to +5, when you can afford it, and using the Gaussian Build-Up proc as the second slot.  So what if you wait 2 more seconds to line it up with Nova.  It will boom so much bigger.  

9) In Cloak of Darkness consider just going 5 slot Luck of Gambler for slightly better S/L resistance.  

10) In Weave, move the resist global to Hover and put a LotG there. 

11) If you have an open power pick up Maneuvers which will get you closer to 45% melee defense and can hold another LotG.  

12) Maybe go with Obliteration in Lightning Field to get you to 145% recharge bonus with Hasten up.  Why is this power even here with all the knockback?  Just curious.

 

You'll lose about 6% fire/cold resistance which really don't need that much of.   You'll lose around 2% energy resistance which you weren't great at in the first place.  Probably lost some toxic resistance but I never track it as that whole category is just BS.  Dark Armor on Sentinels is not the universal tank that it is on melee, especially Tankers.  This is a set that is a little bit weaker than the melee version as Obscure Sustenance just isn't a strong replacement to Dark Regeneration.  Dark Regen is the key that lets Stalkers/Scrappers survive way longer than they should.  I guess Cloak of Fear helps too.  Sentinels can get really high regeneration rates which is still nice with high defenses.  Anyway, what I am getting at is chasing a lot of resistance on Sentinel DA is barking up the wrong tree.  The IO sets available to the AT just don't offer enough coverage to make it as powerful as the melee version.  Its unfortunate, but it is true.  All that said, I run Water/Dark that maintains about 32% to the 3 positions and less resistance than you have.  That character does just fine.  It isn't as tough as some of my other Sentinels, but it was never going to be due to limits in the AT.  I also opted to proc out some attacks so I gave up defense for more offense.  

Moral of that story is if you're comfortable not playing at maximum difficulty, then you can ease off the mitigation stacking to diversify the build a bit.  It can work. 

[Sentinels. Are they underused?]

9 hours ago, Innerwave said:

Are sentinels really looked down on this much?

 

Oh Hi! You're obviously new here. 

 

5 hours ago, MTeague said:

OMFG maybe you needed to fire off TWO attacks instead of one to wipe a mob. 

 

In other words, the Sentinel is literally unplayable. 

 

 

[Nrg/Nrg Speedster Advice or No its not a make me a build thread]

If you're playing to exemp a lot, then the Sentinel can be a really solid AT.  I do this pretty frequently myself and that is a big reason why I do not worry so much about the epic pools (which backload power post 41+).  

You also recognize that a Blaster will do more damage so that's good.  The Sentinel damage "issue" is an often glossed over range of possibility.  That range can include what appears to be Defender-quality damage but really the baseline should be higher.  A min/maxed Sentinel will exceed that too, but it just won't be crushing Pylons on the same level as Scrappers/Stalkers/Blaster etc...  

All that said, it sounds like the Sentinel is going to do what you want it to do.  When running Energy Aura, you do not need the second power in the Energy Blast kit (Power Blast).  You don't need Defensive Opportunity in the long run.  I would suggest you at least start with both Power Bolt and Power Blast with a plan to eventually drop P.Blast.  Opportunity is pretty underwhelming the more you stack IO set bonuses and Energy Aura's Energize power will cut your endurance costs significantly.  Between Energize and endurance procs you shouldn't be hurting on your blue bar unless you go out of your way to build for that.  

The other powers in Energy Blast; Power Burst, Push, and Focused Power Bolt are all pretty solid damage powers for what they are.  Power Push is the most important of the three as it has the highest base damage-per-activation.  The other two you can take both or leave one off depending on what you're doing.  

[Swap Ammo Question and IO's]

None of the ammo powers disable procs.

[Nrg/Nrg Speedster Advice or No its not a make me a build thread]

"Effective" is highly subjective.  What you're asking is the fundamental nature of how Energy Blast works.  You knock enemies back and you do damage.  That's going to translate into any other AT with access to this kit.  

You can build for ranged defense on any AT and so this doesn't make the Sentinel a unique choice.  The only real question is if any of this matters to you when exemplaring down for low level Task Forces.  That may be a key feature where the mez protection gives you an easy-mode perspective of the AT.  

I don't ever write this in the Sentinel forums, but why not just make a Blaster?

[I don't understand Sentinel, please help]

2 hours ago, Haijinx said:

I thought the other thread said melees are no good for teams, only ranged.  Now Sents aren't either?  

 

Sentinels are never good for teams, solo, logging into, looking at, cosplaying as, or recommending.  The only good thing about the Sentinel, and apparently its entire purpose, is to create shitposts.  That's the true power of the AT...  its to troll everyone.  🤣

[I don't understand Sentinel, please help]

3 hours ago, Crasical said:

If an inherent is the only thing it's bringing to the table, should the Sentinel be marketing itself with this team support gimmick?

 

Thankfully, for the poor Sentinel it does not market itself around its inherent.  It markets itself as a damage dealing AT that is more durable than a Blaster and can handle the aggro it gets.  That's the paraphrase of the AT's description.  At no point does it say that it assists its team to do more damage or any other fluff text like it.  The entire concept of the Sentinel being some kind of warped support AT is born from forum posters.  

Now, as to whether or not it brings enough to a team that is debatable.  It may not go as far as some like, and that is understandable.  

[I don't understand Sentinel, please help]

4 hours ago, Crasical said:

The comparison ain't flattering, sadly. 

 

Why would an inherent ability do anything for a team that is equal to an entire suite of powers? 

[Energy/Energy Sent Build Request]

On 4/20/2021 at 6:18 PM, Soupadelic said:

if I could get some help in slotting my sent so It fits my playstyle. 

 

Don't over think it.  There are a number of directions you can take which can all be valid choices.  Without knowing more, the best you can hope for is pretty generic advice. 

 

On 4/20/2021 at 6:18 PM, Soupadelic said:

I would like Flight and stealth abilities and not to worry about endurance shortages

 

No reason you can't have these two pools.  I'd highly recommend Fighting too for Tough and Weave, but you don't *need* them.  Same goes for Speed to get Hasten.  These are all just quality of life powers that can help support a goal, whatever yours is.  

Energy Aura and Energy Blast are both pretty straight forward sets.  So here goes with some really general advice on both: 

Energy Aura; find some set you can afford that appeals to you.  You really only need the Defense, Defense/End, and Defense/End/Recharge to get a good balance of cost reduction and coverage.  You could also use a Defense/Recharge for a slightly higher defensive boost if the minor end benefit of the triple IO isn't worth it to you.  Slot this way for all your defensive powers.  Add 4+ slots only if you are going for specific set bonuses beyond that range.  Some defensive sets have very good bonuses between 4-5 and very few are worth going all 6 slots.  

A key to managing endurance with Energy Aura is keeping Energize up as much as possible.  Energize has a 30 second duration and a 90 second downtime.  You can make this effect permanent with high enough global recharge.  However, for the sake of simplicity, using 2 slots with 2 generic level 50 IOs is a good start.  You could boost those IOs to +4 each and have 11 seconds of downtime.  Power Drain can could then fill the gap.  You may eventually feel that dumping Power Drain is comfortable, but I'd at least start a build with it.  It can be a nice effect to leverage. 

On top of the use of Energize/Power Drain, endurance-related procs are also great.  Panacea, Numina, Miracle, Performance Shifter, etc...  Your Accolades will also help.  You have to go out of your way to not be swimming in endurance with Energy Aura.  

Use 2 slots in your resistance passive or toggle (Kinetic Dampening or Power Armor) for the two +3% global defense IOs (Steadfast and Gladiator's Armor).  That's a nice +6% to everything that stacks with all your other powers and bonuses.  

That's it for Energy Aura.  You don't need to slot Entropy Shield and in general your slot use can be around 3 for everything else.  Follow the advice above to get within mid 20% to low 30% to all damage types except for Psionic.  Weave with at least 3 slots, like the above, and a generic level 50 IO in Hover will get you into the 30% to low 40% range.  You can close the rest of the gaps with very specific build plans, but you're getting real close to near softcaps.  

Energy Blast;  If you slot two of your attacks with both of the Sentinel archetype origin sets at the purple quality (Superior is the title) then you're going to hit upper 30% on Smashing, Lethal, and Negative defenses (your weak points).  Turning on Stealth will push you just over 40%.  Minimal slotting on Stealth should get you low 40's on nearly every type but Psionic.  

Easy peasy.  

Attack wise, you can skip Power Blast.  You should keep Power Bolt due to its Opportunity effect.  If you're still in a lower recharge build, then take everything else.  

 

If you skip Power Blast in Energy Blast, and Overload in Energy Aura you will still have room to take the following: 

 

- Stealth 

- Fly

- Hover 

- The new Evasive Maneuvers

- Boxing or Kick 

- Tough

- Weave 

 

You'll have 1 free power pick left.  

Done.


 

[I don't understand Sentinel, please help]

20 hours ago, Grindingsucks said:

and make the bulk of the game community howl with outrage. 

 

Hooooooooooooowl 

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawrgh

 

Suddenly everyone in the community is using Sonic Blast. 😄

[I don't understand Sentinel, please help]

13 hours ago, DarknessEternal said:

If Sentinels had the kind of buff/debuff action VEATS have, I wouldn't have made this thread.  VEATS are great ATs.  They make a better comparison too.   Sentinels have less dps, less defenses, and less buff/debuffing than VEATS.

 

Edit note: I opted to reframe my thoughts. 

Would you not question the existence of the Sentinel if it were similar in some fashion to the VEAT?  If so, then what is the point of the VEAT?  What is the point of the Sentinel?  These also feel like rhetorical questions given how homogeneous ATs can get within the IO system and the degree of overlap that exists in powersets.

VEATs are great ATs in my opinion too.  However, the VEAT is also very different.  The VEAT can be a number of things depending on what it is you're looking to do.  It isn't all that fair to compare the VEAT to the Sentinel as the Nightwidow/Fortunata/Bane/Crab experience is vastly different.  The similarities that exists are the potential to do damage at range and have personal protections.  Beyond that, the ATs are like comparing apples and tofu.  

Whether or not a VEAT brings more to a group is a matter of perspective.  Certainly, they bring the capacity to provide team wide buffs due to their lower endurance cost Leadership options which also stack with the power pool version.  However, what debuff effects is the Nightwidow providing?  In some ways the use the term "debuff" seems to be looking solely at Venom Grenade.  Venom Grenade is a very potent power, but it is just one effect out of many others.  This pushes the Soldier side more towards a force multiplier but that isn't the only thing Soldiers (both Huntsman/Crab variants; even some Banes) bring to the table.  

Sentinels having less dps is also really ignoring how builds matter and what can be done with the AT.  If you only look at the Sentinel through the lens of using full sets and only ranged attacks, then sure.  However, the whole DPS argument is flimsy at best when using such generalized statements.  Sentinels can be made to do enough damage, even solely at range, to overcome AV regeneration.  That's a minimum of 150 dps.  Is it the same level of other ATs capable of 400+ dps?  Of course not, but it is still enough damage to participate, meaningfully, in all content of the game.  The Sentinel may struggle for those trying to speed run specific objectives, but those are also self-imposed limitations.  

Back to Venom Grenade for a second.  VG is a very big reason as to why the Huntsman is even a thing.  The first two powers in the kit aren't that great without having negative resistance.  The Crab's damage is also heavily linked to using its pets and even its melee attacks have better DPS than the ranged counterparts.  So saying that all Soldiers are by default doing more dps than all Sentinels is factually inaccurate and also rather absurd.  

Nightwidows are predominately melee and they are exceptional at it.  An expensive Nightwidow is a force to be reckoned with.  These can do more damage than several other options within the ATs.  So it isn't really fair to suggest that Sentinels should be compared to these.  Not much actually compares with a well built NW.  

Fortunatas can play a similar role to a Psychic Blast/Super Reflexes Sentinel.  I get the appeal to make the comparison.  I did this during my write up of the Psychic Blast set in the sticky of this subforum.  Sentinels can be designed using this combination to perform FAR better than you may think.  However, the fundamental designs are also very different.  Fortunatas can also dabble in melee while taking advantage of both Follow-up *and* Aim.  A hybrid Fortunata plays a bit more like a Frankstein's Monster of a Dominator than it does in any sensible comparison of the Sentinel.  

VEATs are, by their very nature, capable of being jacks-of-all-trades.  Sentinels aren't.  Furthermore, the VEATs (and HEATs) have increased resistance caps which further enables their ability to play a number of roles.  The Sentinel is just a damage AT with a poorly implemented mechanic.  

TL;DR:  The Sentinel isn't that complicated.  The Sentinel is a damage-oriented AT with some fundamental design flaws.  Comparing it in its currently known flawed state to other ATs with very different roles is not a great method of argument.  

The purpose, which was the original question, can be answered rather simply.  The purpose is to have fun and this is universal.  The objective of the AT is to do damage.  A perspective that criticizes this effectiveness is valid, but searching for some hidden meaning here is a path to disappointment. 

[I don't understand Sentinel, please help]

55 minutes ago, DarknessEternal said:

Sentinels don't get Hover for free though, so remaining at range can't be their purpose.

 

As soon as you shoot something, you're in melee seconds later.

 

If they came with Hover or the first power in every secondary was an AoE root, it would help define them, but Sentinels are still a melee AT without such things.

 

This seems like a really narrow-minded way to look at the Sentinel and all other ATs in the game.  Khelds in Nova are the only characters with innate hover to enable pew-pew at range without leveraging other abilities.  By this logic all other ATs in the game are melee because enemies will try to rush into range.  Even Controllers would be melee because they do not innately root on attack and require a power selection for such control as well as hover. 

You may be looking for deeper roles/design than CoH is going to provide and that won't exist in the Sentinel regardless of what the devs do. 

[I don't understand Sentinel, please help]

8 hours ago, DarknessEternal said:

Why do they have such bad damage and defenses?

 

This is more the crux of your original statement and the answer is probably the same.  Though I think that defense really isn't an issue with Sentinels.  In practice, Sentinels are actually quite durable.  Furthermore, they have improvements to their secondary power sets that melee doesn't get.  These changes can be really good in actual play.  Sure, not all of the secondary sets are great, but several of them are considered superior versions of the original (e.g., Invulnerability, Super Reflexes, Regeneration).  

What is the purpose?  Why is the damage low?  Design flaws is the short answer.  The dev team has already noted the lacking performance of Sentinels and mentioned that the AT will change at some point.  The purpose was to make a damage-oriented AT like a Scrapper but one that uses ranged attacks instead.  The issues with this design are documented in multiple places across this subforum, the suggestions forum, and other areas where this topic turns into a flame-war. 

Another aspect of threads like this devolves into Sentinel vs Blaster.  This is an innately flawed comparison and will ultimately come down to individual preference.  This horse has been beaten to the point of being a grease stain on a cement floor.  Let's not rehash this again if we can help it.  

 

[Broad Sword / Dark Armor build]

On 4/14/2021 at 4:19 PM, Croax said:

I do not think that you should make a proc bomb out of Dark Regeneration because it is very endurance hungry but maybe it can be worth it. Also You should play with the other ATO that you are missing. Everything else looks ok. You can see the incarnates and other choices and adjust what you see fit.

Theft of Essence works wonders in Dark Regeneration.  Most of the time I am endurance neutral when I use that power against multiple targets.  Sometimes I am even endurance positive.  There are some instances where Theft doesn't fuel the end enough, but it isn't the end of the world.  

I run minimal sets in Dark Regen and mostly have it proc mule.  I do not suggest thinking of it as an extra AoE damage attack.  Instead, look at it more like if you have to use the power you're going to retaliate a bit while gaining health back.  Also, when hitting multiple targets Dark Regeneration can take you from near death to full health.  The more healing % you have the fewer targets are required, but in a target rich environment the risk of death is pretty minimal.  

[Fire/Energy Sent]

19 minutes ago, jk421 said:

Do you have any experience with that secondary?  If so, could I trouble you for advice on it?

 

The easy advice on Radiation Armor is this; don't set unrealistic expectations.  What I mean there is don't go expecting to soft-cap your defenses working from zero on a budget.  Even with a really expensive heavy Winter Set invested build you may not pull that off while also getting everything else one can imagine.  

Radiation Armor is actually really straight forward.  It is resistance-based and allows for you to raise Smashing, Lethal, Energy, and Toxic to moderate levels *without Meltdown*.  When Meltdown is active you'll likely cap your resistance on those 4 categories unless you're going out of your way to avoid it.  There are multiple healing powers in the kit to help keep you running strong.  

So, keep it simple.  Focus on the resistances first.  If you can build up some defenses to about 15%-20%, then great because every bit can help.  Rad's intimidating because it is new, but it isn't that complicated in actual practice.  

[Fire/Energy Sent]

8 hours ago, jk421 said:

I just have no idea how to slot the defensive secondary sets.

 

Energy Aura by itself will not get you soft-cap defenses, but you can achieve that with additional powers.  

The specific slotting of Energy Aura is going to vary wildly depending on more factors than any single build share could provide.  Instead, I'm going to give you the powers that you can use to easily soft-cap with using anything more expensive than the two 3% defense globals.  

Let's just assume you take everything except for Overload.  Energize and Power Drain aren't contributing to defenses in this example though they could with certain sets.  

OK.  So Weave, Maneuvers, Hover or Combat Jumping, and Link Minds.  Those pool powers, Link Minds comes from Psychic Mastery, will all stack with Kinetic Shield, Power Shield, and Repelling Force.  

Slotting... 

 

At least 3 slots with a Defense, Defense/Endurance, and Defense/Endurance/Recharge (Or Defense/Recharge) in all of the mentioned defense powers except for Hover/Combat Jumping (a common IO is fine).  That will soft-cap you on all damage types except for Negative and Psionic.   Negative will softcap the moment you use a full Sentinel ATO or some Thunderstrikes in your attacks.  You could easily go into 50% Smashing/Lethal defense with the other Sentinel ATO.  

Psionic isn't worth stressing over.  

Your resistance to S/L can be 45% or higher but who is to say exactly where this lands without specifically building for that (you shouldn't need to).  

OK, so there you go.  Slotting of Energy Aura made simple.  If you skip Link Minds, then your Fire/Cold/Negative defenses will be areas that set bonuses catch you up (S/L/En is easy).  You can easily cap those with Aegis in resistance powers or various offensive sets for AoE/Ranged.  Your S/L defense may dip a bit below 45% but it isn't a big deal.  

My personal Fire/EA uses expensive sets so it wouldn't be as useful for someone looking for a cheaper alternative. 

[Is sonic a moot set?]

1 hour ago, CaptTastic said:

I have a Sonic/Regen Sentinel that has solo’d AVs (not all of them, but some) so certainly wouldn’t say Sonic Blast was a moot set. It’s not the best, obviously, but it can work. 

^ I think stuff like this is really helpful.  Soloing enemies like AVs is a pretty common bar for a lot of players.  Sentinels can do this.  Maybe it isn't as fast as other ATs but they are certainly capable of it.  

I solo plenty of things that seem challenging.  I do not bend over backwards to build characters to handle all enemy groups like Malta or Carnies.  I do just fine on my Sentinels.  Most of my Sents aren't even min-maxed on damage.  They are just balanced around doing damage that I feel is adequate while having high survivability without hover (though I do gravitate towards specific secondaries).  The game isn't that hard even on +4/x8 for most of the content.  More enemies on a map just makes progress slower for me due to target limits.  That isn't a challenge so much as it is tediousness. 

[Collaborative Project: A Guide to Sentinel Sets]

15 hours ago, Mack008 said:

I might have missed it, but is there a review of the Epic Pools?

Not in this sticky, and not in a sense that I *think* you may be asking.  However, there are a number of older threads about the value of the Epic/Patron pools in this sub forum.  
 

I'll summarize as best I can and just reduce that clutter into this thread through... 

1) Most of the pool choices allow for some kind of movement control (e.g., AoE Immobilize, slows, etc.) with the exception of Psi Mastery which has Mass Hypnosis (useful on some Task Forces). 

2) Not all melee attacks are created equal, but they generally are good to have if you can fit them into your build.  

3) Not all of the holds are created equal either, but they too can be good depending on build.  

4) All of the Epics have some utility power baked in late into the selection.  These include Darkest Night, Warmth, and Link Minds to name a few.  The value of these varies wildly by pool and by build.  

 

A running theme here is you should not look at these optional powers (and they really are optional) in a vacuum.  The only exception to this is Psychic Mastery.  Psychic Mastery is the undisputed king of Sentinel Epic choices due to proc abuse and innate design of two powers (Mind Probe and Dominate).  Those two powers slotted for aggressive play (i.e., procs in Dominate) can eclipse an entire primary's selection of powers.  They are that good when slotted in a very specific way.  Then, on top of this, you gain access to Link Minds which is another +defense (and +to-hit) source which can be made permanent with enough recharge.  The other two powers offered in this pool do not matter in the Min-Max realm though procs in Psychic Shockwave are another option.  

Dark Mastery, Fire Mastery, and Electrical Mastery offer some competitive options on damage too.  Powers like Smite, Cremate, and Havoc Punch are really solid melee attacks.  The AoE options of Dark and Fire can be rather strong too (Electric is a bit of a gimmick without the Immobilize).  

Ninja Tool Mastery is a quirky.  The Caltrops variant (Tashibishi) can be fantastic if you like that power.  It forces movement from the enemy and when they run (slowly... while taking minor damage) they aren't attacking you.  It can be a useful tool to relieve pressure if you get swarmed in melee.  This is effective if you're not going for the hover-blaster style of play and it creates space.  The range you have as a Sentinel isn't a hinderance when being in close quarters.  This actually utilizes that to your advantage as you shoot enemies in the back.  

There are a lot of AoE immobilize options that unlock at level 35.  That's a really nice advantage that Sentinels have that no other ranged AT gets.  These are Controller-style powers that can stop movement of multiple targets at once as long as the power hits (these have accuracy penalties - keep that in mind).  This can work really well with rain-style powers which also force movement (Rain of Fire, pretty much all of Ice Blast, Whirlpool, etc.).  

 

You do not need to go deep into these choices to find value.  On almost every Sentinel I make I pick 1 forced movement power.  That is either Caltrops or an immobilize that meets the theme of my character (so Ice Blast gets Ice Mastery for that immobilize).  I only go really deep into Psychic Mastery on one character and it is to min-max that Sentinel.  However, the abuse used in slotting here will likely get fixed at some point (the Homecoming devs are going to do something about procs).  So I'd keep that in mind to enjoy whatever you come up with now and understand this is likely to change. 

[Is Range overrated?]

27 minutes ago, Ankhammon said:

ISonic Howl will bring up your inherent bar in one shot against a full group, so right now i'm using with Scream it to start the Defensive opportunity and with the cones i'm getting a huge amount of healing once it's in place. I get back to full health very fast.

 

Definitely enjoy this for as long as it lasts.  You may know this, but this isn't how Opportunity bar building functions on all primaries.  Sonic Blast cones do this and Assault Rifle's Flamethrower does this (Buckshot *does not*).  

Some primaries can exploit a glitch and stack Opportunity (i.e., running both Offensive and Defensive simultaneously).  

Whenever the team gets around to "fixing" Sentinels I wouldn't be surprised to see all of this go the way of the dinosaur. 

[A reason to not use Fiery Aura for a damage focused sent?]

I'm not a fan of Fiery Aura on Sentinels.  The mitigation is low, the damage pay off isn't worth it, and Consume isn't as strong as other end powers.  

That said, if this is something *you* think would be fun, then go for it.  There are some folks that have posted about Fiery Aura and actually enjoy it.  They may also like getting punched in their crotch, but we don't kink shame here.  

With Fire, if you're using Burn and Whirlpool get ready to be in melee a lot.  Then watch as enemies run from it (even if slowly).  By 35 you may want to give consideration to an AoE Immobilize to stop that annoyance.  Unlike Brutes/Tankers, Sentinels don't have aggro magnet abilities to keep enemies in the ground patches.  

[Is Range overrated?]

11 hours ago, Ankhammon said:

So Here's what I came up with for an unusual build working cones/range/regen. If they never get into range, they can't really hurt you.

 

What do you guys think?

 

1) Range and building for it is overrated on Sentinels, in my opinion.  The default range with hover is more than enough to avoid melee damage.   

2) Building for regen rate is a waste of resources.  Build for hit points and recharge (you want those clicky powers in Bio available often).