Sunsette

imo most of the powers that are 30 degree cones are too narrow to be fun, but for me that just means 'not bothering with that power'. Best to advocate for specific powers rather than blanket saying 'melee cones' -- that'd be very powerful with, say, Spines.

If there's an MM set that lets us summon Knives of Vengeance, the first thing I'm gonna do is make Angel Summoner, and the second thing I'm gonna do is try to find BMX Bandit. I would adore copy MM sets that are mechanically identical to existing sets with different factions.

I only wanted to point this out because it's such a well written guide, and I honestly didn't see any other mistakes, but, I think you may have meant Invulnerability here, and not Invincibility. I did, thank you!

Unfortunately this change hasn't been proliferated to Sents yet, and I was under the impression the change was -only- for Control sets that had both KB and a hold in the same powersets?

I give a basic overview of them from my personal perspective here. The guide is nominally for Energy Blast but I intentionally tried to write generically.

reticle color is based on power color, afaik. the epic pools each want to do too many things while adhering to a similar structure. don't think it can be fixed now though.

/jranger is not helpful or funny, it's just rude and dismissive. I do think, however, that the burden of argument has to be on the people asking for the change for this one. It's a change that requires work and potentially makes a set much stronger. I don't know enough about kinetics to opine usefully about whether or not such a change would be broken. This is just my opinion, but: Enhancement sets were created to get around the problems of enhancement diversification; in return for no longer being able to boost single categories to absurd heights, you are now able to add more rider effects and overall improvement to the power. I think this means the standard for whether or not something needs an enhancement set is really about whether or not it needs the benefit of that additional breadth in function.

Hopefully this is helpful. This is an all-range build at 50 (she'll need more attacks than this leveling on the way up, probably focused power blast. I did not take the time to go through and inspect how these powers might exemplar b/c tbh that takes trial and error. So please do not look at this as gospel, and feel free to experiment. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Technology Sentinel Primary Power Set: Energy Blast Secondary Power Set: Radiation Armor Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Power Bolt -- SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprOppStr-Dmg/Rchg(3), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprOppStr-Rchg/+Opportunity(7) Level 1: Alpha Barrier -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(7), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(9), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9) Level 2: Power Blast -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(11), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(13), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(15) Level 4: Gamma Boost -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(15), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(17) Level 6: Proton Armor -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(19), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(19), RctArm-EndRdx/Rchg(21), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(39), GldArm-3defTpProc(40) Level 8: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(21) Level 10: Fallout Shelter -- RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctArm-ResDam(23), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(23), RctArm-EndRdx/Rchg(43) Level 12: Power Push -- Apc-Dmg/Rchg(A), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), Apc-Acc/Rchg(25), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Apc-Dam%(29) Level 14: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(29) Level 16: Proton Therapy -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(31), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(31), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(31), Pnc-Heal(33) Level 18: Explosive Blast -- SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg(A), SprSntWar-Dmg/Rchg(33), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprSntWar-Rchg/+Absorb(34) Level 20: Particle Acceleration -- Flight-I(A) Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36) Level 24: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-Travel(A) Level 26: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(36), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(36) Level 28: Particle Shielding -- Prv-Absorb%(A), Prv-Heal(37), Prv-Heal/Rchg(37), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(37), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(39) Level 30: Kick -- Empty(A) Level 32: Nova -- Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Arm-Acc/Rchg(40), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Arm-Dam%(42), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(42), FrcFdb-Rechg%(43) Level 35: Fire Cages -- EnfOpr-Acc/Rchg(A), EnfOpr-EndRdx/Immob(46), EnfOpr-Acc/EndRdx(46), EnfOpr-Immob/Rng(50), EnfOpr-Acc/Immob/Rchg(50), EnfOpr-Acc/Immob(50) Level 38: Meltdown -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(43), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(45) Level 41: Ground Zero -- AnlWkn-Acc/Rchg(A) Level 44: Tough -- RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctArm-ResDam(45), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46), RctArm-EndRdx/Rchg(48) Level 47: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(48), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(48) Level 49: Afterburner -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 1: Brawl -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(13), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(27), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40) Level 1: Opportunity 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 -- Flight-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon Level 50: Pyronic Core Final Judgement Level 50: Reactive Radial Flawless Interface Level 50: Barrier Core Epiphany Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment ------------ Add Electric Armor to that list (unless the Sentinel version doesn't do it? I don't know I've only gotten Ann Ionic up to 31, so I don't have Power Surge yet). At least on other ATs, its T9, Power Surge, has a HP and End crash, but when it crashes, it releases a nice wide Electromagnetic Pulse, to help you survive the crash. On my Brute, what I do with that is slot it as a Hold (like, I'll go a full set of Lockdown, for instance) instead of as a Resist set. Thanks again this is a great job! Electric does crash, you're right! The proofreading is appreciated. I really should have done another pass before I hit post but this was like 30 hours of work and I was getting antsy to put it up. Glad someone noticed, Shark Man. :)

Immobilize isn't a problem, we got an embarrassment of riches there.

On that note, discovered a patron power that's listed as having a taunt in Mids Reborn. Haven't checked it in game yet. Re: Sent survivability. We'd need babysitting more than most for content that's actually hard but as long as there's a support that complements your weak survival stat, should be doable.

I don't remember the specific comic that the panel was in, but years and years ago, there was a Spider-Man comic where he'd wound up riding vehicles in a chase well out of the city, and he'd resolved everything, waved a farewell to the victim he'd rescued, and fired a webline to take him away... and the panel had him standing there in a suburban tract full of one-story buildings as his webline arches over and descends, with no tall buildings to attach to; you could almost hear the 'Wah-wah-wah-wah' sad trombone slide. Pointed up how location-dependent that type of mobility was. Found it. Spider-Man #267, page 10, panel 3. And the kid's comment is just rubbing salt into the wound: Hah! Nice. The swinging power in CO just doesn't bother looking for anything to attach to, if you look up high enough it's attached to an invisible anchor point. Fly, Acro, and Teleport were always the movements of choice for one type of gameplay or another, but as much as I stan flying conceptually, the swinging power was legit just fun to play. I got more fun out of swinging in CO than any combat gameplay I ever did there except maybe the final fight of Fatal Err0r: Cybermind. Maybe. Kind of a sad statement really.

I have no opinion on this one way or the other, but I don't think "you should spend slots on this but there's no set for it" is, in and of itself, a strong argument that something should receive a set. Many common powers have few good sets or no sets and need slotting. They're the exception, but they're not extraordinary. Is there a wider issue with kinetics (particularly at low levels, since that seems to be a concern) that this addresses?

That's correct. Rein seems to check for Experience Level, not Security Level. When I ran his missions I got to deal with level 35 mobs but without the benefit of level 35 abilities. Good times, good times.

Thanks for the kind words, all! I'll try to put something together for you soon but I have to tend to my students' graduation ceremonies today, so I'm unlikely to get to it before tomorrow, I'm afraid. Stay tuned for a later reorganization of the thread that more directly discusses endurance management, as that is an issue with Sentinels I forgot to address and two have asked me about it.

Whenever uncontrolled knockback gets brought up, it's usually Energy Blast that is the first to get mentioned, as in this thread. Storm Summoning and Force Fields (repel, etc.) are quick to get their defenders. That is in large part because Energy Blast's effects are random; for the most part, not made as a tactical choice, but something that happens along the way of the main thing you're doing. Sometimes. I know and love just about all the tricks for handling knockback; I literally wrote a guide on it, in the spirit of the guides I read on it when I was new. I don't think I've had a complaint about my KB since like issue 9 or 10. The last thing I want is for knockback to go away; its implementation in this game is one of the things that makes it stand out against every other MMO I've played. It is impactful here, it's not simply a PvP or herding ability. SWTOR is literally the only other game I've played where Knockback ever truly was impactful in a PvE context, and it is to my great disappointment how the effect has largely been forgotten about in post-launch content and launch content nerfed to no longer expect it. Some people are asking for things to just be straight up undifferentiated, yes. But I think there's a good reason that Energy Blast comes up the most. Two good reasons. One is that it is proliferated to so many archetypes, and the other is that there's a lot of unreliable rider effects. Storm offers other things for you to be doing when knockback isn't what you want. That's crucial. When we look at changes people ask for, yes, we have to be wary of unintended effects from their changes but we should also ask ourselves, with the principle of charity: why do they want these changes? If the only answer you can come up with is that people are flocking back to a very old, very flawed game solely because they want to make it easier and dumber, I don't think that's very respectful or constructive or true. Yes, some people want it easier; yes, some people are being pulled along to convenience culture. But heavy randomness is generally seen to be a design choice that reduces the effect of skill, not enhances it.

...? Gold Side vet? Talk back??? If I've ever given the impression I think I'm better than someone because I've got a different opinion and experience, then I straight-up apologize for that right now. Beyond that, though, my experience does not track with yours. By 50 I'll say that the Sentinel is unquestionably one the hardest characters to kill I've ever had in this game but struggles to bring much or clear much. I find that hard to kill status a lot more questionable below 50. I do agree with assessment that gold is harder for everyone, yes. That's part of why I prefer it. But some perform better there than others.

The two biggest issues are content and the disaster that is freeform, imo. CO barely has any content and it's not engaging. I don't think COX has great content aside from a few parts -- it's more "fine" with a few standouts -- but in CO there are no engaging storylines, the world feels plastic, and CO didn't get anything mechanically difficult and meaningful until very recently. Cosmics are boring for everyone who's not a tank or CC, too, I'd say. Second, freeform just gives too much freedom. None of it is meaningful, and there are huge disparities in performance for making builds that fit to a single or handful of themes. I do miss CO's better character creator but a lot of it was locked behind a ridiculous amount of cash. I do like the block mechanic a lot, and the swinging travel power is a lot of fun. Combo powers are a great thing. Inspirations are more engaging as drops you have to tactically move around the battlefield for than as potions that sit in your inventory. But because freeform gives such ridiculous variance in powers, it's hard to make any content that is meaningful gameplay. The alerts are largely boring, and while I like the idea of the rampages and Teleios Ascendant, it's very hard for most players to get meaningfully involved with them. And I'd like to take a minute to just really hammer how bad a setting Millennium City is. They took Detroit... and it's nothing like Detroit. It's not even really a bad copy of NYC. It's just the vague idea of a big East Coast city. With the exception of Vibora Bay Apocalypse, almost nothing in the game seems to take itself seriously as anything more than a reference to better settings.

If you're claiming Sentinel kills anything fast, especially energy blast Sentinel, I'm going to shut that one down quick. If you are fine with casino slots on the other archetypes -- I disagree, but I don't have significant investment in those anymore, so I'll concede the point. As I said, I'm keeping my criticism to EB Sentinel.

Such an IO already exists. However, it's a huge enhancement tax to essentially reduce the randomness from potentially destructive to purely constructive. It doesn't make sense to have "disrupt all formations" as a 20 to 50% chance in every attack; when you make an attack, the important parts should be reliably happening, and random chance should be for pure bonus. I am fine with it on moves that are very powerful and reliably KB.

I'll keep my criticisms towards Sentinel Energy Blast in that case, because frankly it's extremely apparent in Sentinel. It's more of a hindrance than a help in virtually any scenario with the archetype.

I feel that Sentinel Energy Blast is somewhat underperforming and rather boring, as the attacks are nearly undifferentiated but for their activation time, and knockbacks don't play nicely with the Sentinel's short range. Furthermore, Power Burst and Focused Power Bolt really don't have any effects that make them differentiated. Were I able, I would make the following changes: - Power Bolt: Change chance to knockback to chance to knockdown - Power Blast: Change chance to knockback to chance to knockdown - Energy Torrent: Change chance to knockback to chance to knockdown - Explosive Blast: Change chance to knockback to chance to knockdown - Aim: Makes all primary attacks that normally have a chance to knockdown always knockdown. Rationale: When knockbacks happen, they should be purposeful rather than random. Requiring an IO to fix this is taxing the power, and these powers are not good enough to be taxed. Aim allows you to have on-demand soft control. - Power Burst: Drop this attack's range to 10 feet, make it always knockback with melee damage similar to that in the Epic Power Pools. Rationale: The power description literally says it has a short range. This is not true in any pool that I can find. Power Burst should be a high damage 'get out of my face' escape skill that also places the caster at risk for using it as part of a standard rotation. Power Push is meant to be the usual 'get out of my face' skill, to be fair, but if the set is going to be knockdown driven then you can get away with having two of them. - Focused Power Bolt: It can no longer knockback or down. However, it deals an additional 100% damage against a target who is recovering from a knockback or knockdown. Rationale: This gives energy some of the "set 'em up, knock 'em down" popular in newer sets. Since it's very rare for hard opponents to be subject to knockbacks and controls, this avoids giving a huge permanent DPS buff on hard targets, but it makes Energy swifter at clean up after making a bunch of guys explode all over the place. - Power Push: Unchanged. - Nova: Unchanged. Rationale: These are already good attacks that reliably do their functions. While the knockback can be inconvenient, they're good enough that if you want to use the attack without the knockback, it's reasonable to say 'okay, I need to slot KB to KD instead". For Sentinels, Power Push is a major part of their damage cycle; for non-Sentinels, this is a 'get out of my face' card. ----- Furthermore, I'd like to see the 'more choices in this pool increase the damage of attacks in this pool' mechanic proliferated to all Utility Power Pools. I would love to be able to use Flurry as a reasonable attack but it needs to have about twice the damage it currently does. Jump Kick and Air Superiority could get 50% boosts and I wouldn't flinch.

Should be, but are not. My -guess- is that what occurs is that sometimes the chance for additional knockdown procs on top of the natural converted knockdown, and on Nova and Power Push the base magnitude is so high that the converted KD stacks back into KB. But I haven't actually tested the rate. I've seen this for myself, and have had firsthand reports from three other Energy set users of different archetypes in-game. Whatever the precise cause, though, none of us have seen this issue occur with Sudden Acceleration's KB to KD or on powers besides Nova and Power Push. There's a few things wonky about KB. There are times that 100% KB moves don't KB for reasons I can't tell; there are times enemies in AoE immobs that provide KB protection get knocked anyway. I am not sure exactly why any of these things occur.

IX. Example Builds Energy/Energy/Fire Sentinel (Sunsette) High Durability Energy/Energy/Psi Sentinel (General Marshal) If you wish to add your build to this repository, please drop a DataLink or a URL where your build is hosted! X. A Note on Endurance A fully kitted out Sentinel often is bleeding endurance from the number of toggles that we run and the high expense cost of our epic pools. Some powersets include Endurance management abilities that high recharge is extremely beneficial for, but it requires maintaining that power as often as possible, which might take some getting used to. Defensive Opportunity is a big deal as well, and of course Ageless Destiny fixes most endurance problems. Some common IOs placed in Health and Stamina powers can greatly improve your endurance recovery; in rough order of importance (strongest to least strong), these IOs are: 1. Panacea: +HP/+End (Health) 2. Performance Shifter: Chance for +Endurance (Stamina) 3. Miracle: Recovery (Health) 4. Endurance Modification, Generic (Stamina) x2 5. Numina's Convalescence: Recovery and Regeneration (Health) The above is only true at level 50 and with +5 boosts to the Generics. In any other condition, Numina's is superior to the generic. Almost everything that refills your endurance -- like the above IOs -- does so on the basis of the size of your Endurance Bar, while all costs are based on raw Endurance Points. So if you can increase the size of your endurance bar, it's basically the same as a cost reduction on everything. Some IO set bonuses increase the size of your Endurance Bar, while others in fact do offer a cost reduction to everything. Both are worth looking into. But all of these are build choices -- decisions you have to make. There are a few badges that can straight-up improve your Endurance altogether. Which badges you want depend on your alignment, and you cannot get the endurance benefit from badges gained from the opposite alignment. [*]Heroes and Vigilantes should seek out the Atlas Medallion and Portal Jockey. [*]Rogues and Villains instead want the Marshal Badge and Born in Battle XI. Force Feedback One of the most interesting and unusual IO options is Force Feedback: Chance for Recharge, which looks dramatic and often is at low to mid-levels, but is often disappointing at high ones. It's so complicated that it deserves its own space. First, let me dispel some of the popular claims about it. CLAIM: It's good to put on all your attacks. Force Feedback: Chance for Recharge is a 2 PPM proc, which means that for single target abilities, its chance to activate is best on attacks that have an activation time + enhanced recharge time of 27 seconds or more. That is the activation time and recharge time displayed when you right-click the power's icon and look at its "detailed info". This ignores the effect of global recharge from IOs, Hasten, or outside player buffs or enemy attacks. (It's 27 seconds rather than 30 since the chance to activate is capped somewhere around the 90% range.) This makes it a very low chance to activate on most of your attacks. The area formula is a bit more complicated, but because there are multiple chances to activate per target, it's usually stronger on area attacks. CLAIM: It stacks when it activates multiple times off of a single area attack. I don't know the answer to this for sure, but I am suspicious of this claim; Nova has a very high chance to activate this per target and I don't recall ever seeing the effects last more than about 5 seconds, but I wasn't testing this specifically. Needs more data. Now, how much is Force Feedback actually worth to you? It depends heavily on how much recharge you already have. The formula to figure out how much time this proc actually saves you on an attack can be calculated like so: 5/(1+Enhancement Recharge+Global Recharge w/o Force Feedback) If your attack is enhanced to have 95% Enhancement Recharge and you have 105% global recharge, the formula looks like: 5(1+0.95+1.05), or 5/3. Each activation of Force Feedback thus saves you 1.667 seconds, approximately, assuming that there are more than 5 seconds left on the recharge when the proc activates. The value goes down significantly if there are less than 5 seconds left. This means that Force Feedback is effectively worthless on most of your single target rotation, exceptions made for a frankenslotted Focused Power Bolt or some frankenslotted epic pool attacks. Force Feedback's value rises the more very long cooldowns you have -- cooldowns measured in the minutes, not seconds. It also rises the less global recharge you have. With aggressive slotting of Force Feedback, you can build more cheaply, build for more defense, or skip Hasten, basically. Force Feedback is a great boon at the mid-levels. If Force Feedback is part of your strategy for an Energy Blast Sentinel, you may see the best results on a secondary powerset like Radiation, which grants a large amount of bonus damage and has important long cooldowns but doesn't offer defense powers that can slot Luck of the Gambler and may feel too squeezed for power choices to take Hasten. In summary, Force Feedback is actually a pretty strong choice but it is selectively useful. XII. Changelog Version 3 (20190723) - Added Section XI. Force Feedback - Renumbered Changelog to XII. Version 2 (20190713) - Some spelling and grammatical errors fixed - Added a chart previewing defensive stats of secondary powersets - Clarified crashing/non-crashing T9s - Added more information on Defensive Opportunity - No longer suggesting three attacks, but instead three attack cores with one to three aux. attacks - Split Power Burst and Focused Power Bolt up. - Re-evaluated every attack power based on PPM update. - Re-evaluated Super Speed - Re-evaluated Agility Alpha Slot based on PPM update. - Updated linked build - Added Sections X and XI, A Note on Endurance and Changelog Version 1 (20190703) - Initial Post

VIII. Incarnate Slots I will not try to explain the entire incarnate system here, but I can explain what abilities you may want to use for which slots! I will only explain the Tier 4s for each ability, as it is pretty straightforward to tell which lesser abilities to get on the way to that Tier 4. VIIIa. Alpha All alpha slots grant a global enhancement bonus to all enhanceable powers. They can even affect powers that do not normally accept that kind of enhancement as long as it is a power that can be enhanced and doesn't have a specific immunity to being raised (such as a power that says it cannot have its recharge improved by any means). At Tier 4, two-thirds of the Alpha Slot's effect bypasses Enhancement Diversification softcaps. Possibly relevant alpha slots for an Energy Blast sentinel include: - Cardiac Core Paragon (Reduces Endurance cost by 45%, Increases Range and Damage Resistance by 20%) - Agility Radial Paragon (Increases Endurance Modification, Recharge Rate, Move Speeds by 33%, Defense Buffs by 20%) - Musculature Core Paragon (Increases Damage by 45%, Immobilization Duration and Defense Debuff effects by 33%) - Intuition Radial Paragon (Increases Hold Duration, Damage, Slow Movement effects, and Defense Debuffs by 33%, To Hit Debuff effects and Range by 20%) - Resilient Core Paragon (Increases Damage Resistance and Immobilize by 33%, and To Hit Buffs by 20%) Resistance secondaries will like Cardiac and Resilient; Defense secondaries and anyone who needs Recharge will like Agility. Range is not what I would consider a strong priority as we already get +20% range from Superior Archetype IOs, but I understand that it's a powerful piece of quality of life, so I listed it up here. The most common question I see on the Alpha slot is "between Agility and Musculature, which is more useful?" Agility obviously does not contribute directly to damage, but it does contribute indirectly in two ways: it makes it possible to abbreviate attack chains (making a three-part attack chain instead of a four-part can be a big damage increase) and it makes it easier to get into position to maximize the effects of cones, PBAoEs, and all those melee attacks in the epic pools -- that's a really big deal for Hover users. When you also consider the frequent area hazards in Incarnate Trials, I think Agility is a better choice in some cases. Agility is also necessary for many powersets to make their softcaps on defense for soloing hard content. However, be warned that Agility reduces the chance for all procs to occur, as it gives powers enhancement recharge. Musculature translates to about a 12% increase in damage for a fully-slotted Sentinel on their own, before adding in any other incarnate powers. This relative value drops the more team buffs and enemy debuffs you can count on, but unless you hit the Sentinel's global damage cap (which is hard to do consistently) it never goes away. Thus, I would personally recommend Musculature Core (or Intuition Radial, if you have significant benefits from Hold, To-Hit Debuffs, or Defense Debuffs) if you make your Defense goals and you're looking for more damage. In brief, Musculature will always be a good choice for Sentinel and usually the best choice flat-out. Agility can be a reasonable choice depending on how important survivability, recharge, and making melee attacks is for you. VIIIb. Judgment Judgments are mostly about the same, but three stand out: - Ionic Core can hit the most targets (with a chance of hitting about 1 in 5 very hard) spread out over the widest area. It's popular with farmers. - Pyronic Core casts ultra-fast, is a damage type without a lot of resistance at high levels, and has a hard hitting DoT effect. I like it for Incarnate Trials. - Mighty Radial has a strong soft crowd control effect. It's good for tanks. VIIIc. Interface Again, about three choices here: - Diamagnetic (Core or Radial) increases your survival and reduces the regeneration that's such a huge problem for Sentinels in dealing with an Archvillain. However, it's relatively weak regen reduction. - Degenerative Radial reduces a target's maximum HP (and thus their regeneration) by up to -14% and adds a decent amount of toxic damage as a DoT. However, with Archvillains, Degenerative is reduced to only removing 4000 HP -- and Archvillains have -lots- of HP. Thus, it's best for Elite Bosses and Bosses. - Reactive Radial reduces a target's resistance by up to 10% and adds a decent amount of fire damage as a DoT. VIIId. Destiny - Ageless Core is basically a permanent solution to all Endurance problems you have forever. - Ageless Radial does not solve Endurance problems as hard, but gives a signfiicant amount of resistance to debuffs, which is very useful for Defense-based characters facing debuffing enemy groups like the Talons or Knives of Vengeance and the Arachnos. Remember that debuff resistance doesn't affect debuffs retroactively, so pop it right before or at the start of a pull that's giving trouble for best results. - Barrier just straight-up adds Defense and Resistance. If you are 5% or less below softcap on defense and endurance isn't an issue, Barrier is probably your best choice. - Clarion Core adds Mez protection; for the most part, Sentinel secondaries already offer this. - Clarion Radial adds a bit less Mez protection, and buffs a whole lot of things briefly. It's great to activate right before a click buff you're going to use. - Incandescence can provide group teleports every two minutes, which is strong utility. - Rebirth is for healing and doesn't offer Sentinels a lot. VIIIe. Lore - While the Cimeroran pet appears to have been nerfed according to private testing on the Homecoming server, virtually all pets are within 10% of the median DPS now. (Previously the Cimeroran was doing something like 90% more than the median.) - For Core pets, Longbow is one of the strongest choices, as their Cataphracts inflict a significant amount of -regeneration. Core pets are more useful in Incarnate Trials and Task Forces, as they benefit from group buffs and healing. - For Radial pets, Carnies and Talons of Vengeance grant really powerful buffs to damage and healing. These are useful soloing and in disorganized groups. VIIIf. Hybrid Assault Radial if you want to do damage. Core .... I don't know who would ever want to take Core. Doublehit seems to be slightly less damage solo if you never use red inspirations and much more damage in groups that give a lot of damage buffs. I've considered screwing around with Control Core Embodiment given the amount of immobilizes and holds that Sentinels have access to.

MU (speculative) Mu Mastery is the flipside of Electric or Fire Mastery; its entry level moves give good support in AoE damage to Sentinels, but there's virtually nothing to improve single target damage. I plan to pick this up in a build at a later date to seriously explore it. NAME: Electrifying Fences (T1; 35) TYPE: Ranged (Targeted AoE), Minor DoT(Energy), Foe Immobilize, -END DESCRIPTION: The Electrifying Fences attempts to immobilize a group of foes in an area. This power deals some energy damage over time as it slowly drains some Endurance. NOTES: The range and radius perfectly matches Explosive Blast and works well with Energy Torrent. The damage is reasonably high -- higher than Explosive Blast, in fact. This is a great 'single pick' for a ranged Energy Blast Sentinel. SEE ALSO: Almost any other pool's immobilize. HASTEN: 4. Duration and recharge are pretty close but the small radius means that you want it to be up a lot so you can shift targets comfortably. SLOTTING: Recommendations on slotting this power as... Minimal: Accuracy/Mez from Special Origin. Offensive: Positron's Blast and Javelin Volley. Defensive: Enfeebled Operation (Smashing, Lethal, Melee); Trap of the Hunter (Ranged, Energy, Negative); Overwhelming Force (HP, Ranged, Energy, Negative, Knockback); Frozen Blast (AoE, Fire, Cold). Recharge: Ragnarok (10%); Gravitational Anchor (10%); Positron's Blast (6.25%); Enfeebled Operation (3.75%) Unique: Damage procs will have a decent chance of activating since the radius is so small and the recharge is not especially quick. NAME: Thunder Strike (T1; 35) TYPE: Melee (AoE), High DMG (Smash, Energy), Foe Disorient, Knockback DESCRIPTION: A massive attack. You smash your foes with all the power of a lightning bolt. The pummeled victim takes tremendous damage and may be Disoriented. Any nearby foes may be knocked down and take some damage from the shockwave. NOTES: Providing a wide variety of side effects, you have a lot of things you can possibly slot here. The radius is very small but the damage is fairly effective and while Thunder Strike does not reduce endurance much on its own, it does block recovery for several seconds. SEE ALSO: Fire Sword Circle (Fire Mastery), Lightning Field (Electricity Mastery), Frozen Aura (Ice Mastery), Engulfing Darkness (Dark Mastery), Psychic Shockwave (Psionic Mastery), The Lotus Drops (Ninja Tool Mastery), Arctic Breath (Leviathan Mastery), Static Discharge (Mu Mastery). HASTEN: 4. You need to bring this recharge down as low as possible for more AoE damage and control. SLOTTING: Recommendations on slotting this power as... Minimal: Accuracy/Damage from Special Origin Offensive: Scirocco's Dervish, Obliteration, and Armageddon. Defensive: Overwhelming Force (HP, Ranged, Energy, Negative, Knockback); Scirocco's Dervish (Fire, Cold, AoE, Psionic); Obliteration (Melee, Smashing, Lethal); Frozen Blast (AoE, Fire, Cold) Recharge: Armageddon (10%); Obliteration (5%) Unique: This can knockdown, so you know what that means: Force Feedback: Chance to Recharge! It has a good chance to proc given the small size of the AoE. NAME: Electric Shackles (T2; 41) TYPE: Ranged, Minor DMG(Energy), Foe Hold, -End DESCRIPTION: Electric Shackles bind a foes limbs, leaving the target held and helpless. The target is drained of some Endurance and some of that Endurance may be transferred back to you. NOTES: It's certainly a different hold. The amount of Endurance drained is not very high, and the hold duration is pretty short on its own. It's hard for me to pass judgment on it without actually trying it since it seems like it could almost work... but I don't think I'd get that much use out of it. SEE ALSO: Paralyzing Jolt (Electricity Mastery), Netherworld Grasp (Dark Mastery), Dominate (Psionic Mastery), Block of Ice (Ice Mastery), Paralyzing Dart (Ninja Tool Mastery), Web Cocoon (Mace Mastery), Spirit Shark Jaws (Leviathan Mastery), Char (Fire Mastery), Soul Storm (Soul Mastery). HASTEN: 4. The recharge is pretty long, which at least makes it good for using procs. SLOTTING: Recommendations on slotting this power as... Minimal: Accuracy/Mez from Special Origin Offensive: Lockdown Defensive: Lockdown (Energy, Negative, Fire, Cold, Ranged, AoE); Gladiator's Net (AoE, Fire, Cold), Entomb (Energy, Negative, Fire, Cold, Ranged, AoE) Recharge: Unbreakable Constraint (10%); Gladiator's Net (7.5%) Unique: The slow recharge makes Lockdown a clear winner, since its +2 Mag Hold will always proc; this is strong enough to have it always hold bosses for 8 seconds (not including their mez resistance, if any). This is a big deal when dealing with annoying groups like Arachnos. NAME: Static Discharge (T2; 41) TYPE: Ranged (Cone), Moderate DMG(Energy), -END DESCRIPTION: Hurls multiple bolts of Mu Electricity in an arc that deals damage and drains Endurance from all affected foes in the area. NOTES: Yes mediocre damage, decent cone, standard amount of endurance drain. There's nothing to make this stand out in Mid's Reborn except that it's listed as having a Mag 4 Taunt. I'm going to have to investigate that in-game to see if that's true. I note Mid's Reborn does not list it as being compatible with Taunt sets, so take it with a grain of salt. Anyway, if the Taunt's not real, it's more mediocre damage to give you a full AoE attack chain with soft control. And just as Electrifying Fences perfectly matches Explosive Blast, Static DIscharge perfectly matches Energy Torrent. If the taunt is real, Tankinel is a real thing suddenly. SEE ALSO: Electrifying Fences. HASTEN: 3; it's easy to get this thing's recharge down and if you're this deep, at this point you have like four AoE attack powers. SLOTTING: Recommendations on slotting this power as... Minimal: Accuracy/Damage from Special Origin Offensive: Positron's Blast and Javelin Volley. Defensive: Overwhelming Force (HP, Ranged, Energy, Negative, Knockback); Frozen Blast (AoE, Fire, Cold). Recharge: Ragnarok (10%); Positron's Blast (6.25%). Unique: Nothing notable here. NAME: Summon Adept (T3; 44) TYPE: Summon Adept: Ranged Moderate DMG(Energy) DESCRIPTION: Scirocco has shown you how to call upon a mystical Mu Adept to assist you. The Mu pulse with the blood of their slaughtered ancestors in their veins, and are well practiced in the dark arts. Your access to this Adept is very limited. You can only summon him once every 15 minutes and he will leave after 4 minutes, or if you exit a zone or mission. NOTES: I haven't used these myself, but I do have lore pets, and one of the things that strikes me most about the lore pets is how easily they take damage that I can't fix. It's unfortunate that the epic pools with healing powers do not get pets. SEE ALSO: There's one of these in every patron pool. HASTEN: 5. If you have a pet you want them out as much as possible. SLOTTING: Recommendations on slotting this power as... Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. I do have some experience with Masterminds, but not enough to give any real insight here. SOUL (speculative) Soul Mastery is Dark Mastery with a little less -to-hit and different target/damage priorities, and a pet that can possibly be made permanent. NAME: Midnight Grasp (T1; 35) TYPE: Melee, Superior DMG(Negative), Foe Immobilize, -To Hit DESCRIPTION: Mastery over the forces of the Netherworld allows you to create dark tentacles that can immobilize a foe, reduce their chance to hit and continuously drain their life force. NOTES: Long recharge, great but not amazing damage, long cast time, no KB protection; this is not a very synergistic choice with Energy Blast and I'd recommend skipping this power except that only two attacks in this pool give -To Hit, and -To Hit is more powerful the more of it that there is. SEE ALSO: Cremate (Fire Mastery), Havoc Punch (Electricity Mastery), Mind Probe (Psionic Mastery), Ice Sword (Ice Mastery), Sting of the Wasp (Ninja Tool Mastery), Pulverize (Mace Mastery), Knockout Blow (Leviathan Mastery), Smite (Dark Mastery). HASTEN: 5. Duration is 3/5 of recharge initially, and you want -to hit on as many targets as possible. SLOTTING: Recommendations on slotting this power as... Minimal: Don't get this power to be minimal. Offensive: Positron's Blast and Javelin Volley. Defensive: Enfeebled Operation (Smashing, Lethal, Melee); Trap of the Hunter (Ranged, Energy, Negative); Overwhelming Force (HP, Ranged, Energy, Negative, Knockback); Frozen Blast (AoE, Fire, Cold). Recharge: Ragnarok (10%); Gravitational Anchor (10%); Positron's Blast (6.25%); Enfeebled Operation (3.75%) Unique: Damage procs will have a decent chance of activating since the the recharge is slow. NAME: Soul Tentacles (T1; 35) TYPE: Ranged (Cone), Moderate DMG(Negative), Foe Immobilize DESCRIPTION: You can create a cone shaped rift to the Netherworld that allows the souls of the damned to slip into our reality. These Soul Tentacles will snare all foes within range, immobilizing them while they drain their life. NOTES: This is the narrowest cone in the entire set and I hate it. It's the highest damaging cone so far as well, on par with Explosive Blast, but Explosive Blast is the lowest damaging of the three AoEs from the primary set and one of the main reasons we use it is because it is very positioning flexible. Soul Tentacles neither imposes anti-fly nor stops knockback. It's just an awkward pain to use for some very mediocre damage. SEE ALSO: Netherworld Tentacles, which is actually good. HASTEN: 2. There's no compelling reason for an Energy Blast Sentinel to use this power, or use it more, save more damage in an area which it doesn't do that well. SLOTTING: Recommendations on slotting this power as... Minimal: Accuracy/Damage from Special Origin Offensive: Positron's Blast and Javelin Volley. Defensive: Overwhelming Force (HP, Ranged, Energy, Negative, Knockback); Frozen Blast (AoE, Fire, Cold). Recharge: Ragnarok (10%); Positron's Blast (6.25%). Unique: Narrow size of the cone means there will be an OK chance for damage procs to activate. NAME: Darkest Night (T2; 41) TYPE: Toggle: Ranged (Targeted AoE), Foe -DMG -To Hit While active, you channel Negative Energy onto a targeted foe. Darkest Night decreaes the damage potential and chance to hit of the target, and all foes nearby, as long as you keep the power active. NOTES: This is the main reason to go Soul Mastery -- to get Darkest Night in only two powers rather than spending three to reach it. This is a REALLY pricey toggle, but it's worth it. Both the damage debuff and To-Hit penalty can be mitigated somewhat, but with a whopping 25 foot radius, it will definitely reduce the hurt your team receives from any source. SEE ALSO: Link Minds (Psionic Mastery), Darkest Night (Dark Mastery) and Snow Storm (Ice Mastery) for other powerful AoE team support abilities, or Kemuridama (Ninja Tool Mastery) for another -to hit, -dmg effect. HASTEN: 1. This version has low recharge to begin with. Thank goodness, given the Endurance cost. SLOTTING: Recommendations on slotting this power as... Minimal: Endurance/-ToHit Debuffs from Special Origin, two or three of them Offensive: Dark Watcher's Despair is the only real option. Defensive: Discouraging Words (Smashing, Lethal, Melee). Probably not a good option. Recharge: Dark Watcher's Despair (5%), Dampened Spirits (5%) Unique: Dark Watcher's Despair: Chance for Recharge Slow will not occur much, so don't feel bad about not having room to slot it. This probably doesn't need five or six slots. But if you have slots left over, go for it. NAME: Soul Storm (T2; 41) TYPE: Ranged, Moderate DoT(Negative), Foe Hold DESCRIPTION: Like Ghost Widow, you can summon the souls of your victims to do your bidding. Soul Storm enraptures a single target Holding them while their life-force is drained from their body. NOTES: It's a hold. It's a good hold. I'm just not sure how much you really need a hold, especially one as low damage as this. SEE ALSO: Char (Fire Mastery), Paralyzing Jolt (Electricity Mastery), Netherworld Grasp (Dark Mastery), Dominate (Psionic Mastery), Block of Ice (Ice Mastery), Paralyzing Dart (Ninja Tool Mastery), Web Cocoon (Mace Mastery), Spirit Shark Jaws (Leviathan Mastery), Electric Shackles (Mu Mastery). HASTEN: 4. The recharge is pretty long, which at least makes it good for using procs. SLOTTING: Recommendations on slotting this power as... Minimal: Accuracy/Mez from Special Origin Offensive: Lockdown Defensive: Lockdown (Energy, Negative, Fire, Cold, Ranged, AoE); Gladiator's Net (AoE, Fire, Cold), Entomb (Energy, Negative, Fire, Cold, Ranged, AoE) Recharge: Unbreakable Constraint (10%); Gladiator's Net (7.5%) Unique: The slow recharge makes Lockdown a clear winner, since its +2 Mag Hold will always proc; this is strong enough to have it always hold bosses for 8 seconds (not including their mez resistance, if any). This is a big deal when dealing with annoying groups like Arachnos. NAME: Summon Mistress (T3; 44) TYPE: Summon Mistress: Ranged Moderate DMG(Psionic) DESCRIPTION: Ghost Widow has assigned a Fortunata Mistress for you to command. Arguable, the most powerful of the Fortunatas, these rare few have mastered numerous psychic abilities and risen to the top of Lord Recluse's beautiful Black Widows. Your access to this Fortunata is very limited. You can only summon her once every 15 minutes and she will leave after 4 minutes, or if you exit a zone or mission. NOTES: I haven't used these myself, but I do have lore pets, and one of the things that strikes me most about the lore pets is how easily they take damage that I can't fix. It's unfortunate that the epic pools with healing powers do not get pets. SEE ALSO: There's one of these in every patron pool. HASTEN: 5. If you have a pet you want them out as much as possible. SLOTTING: Recommendations on slotting this power as... Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. I do have some experience with Masterminds, but not enough to give any real insight here.