modest

It's possible that your hostile tone is/was unintentional. The manner in which you write comes across as unnecessarily abrasive, and I responded poorly to that. I've already apologized for my tone. I'll apologize again. I would have to recreate my old build to test this damage chain again. Frankly, I think that you and others are correct that Flares --> Blaze --> Flares --> Fireball won't achieve 427 DPS without Aim or Build Up. That was the number that I arrived at when I tested it on Justin. It's 100% possible that I had Ionize (build up) or Aim on auto fire and didn't notice it, or some other dumb mistake that skewed my results. I misinterpreted what you wrote regarding the 1s activation time. That was my mistake. Would it help if I posted a build and then you tested it independently? I feel that this would allow you to check the DPS of my build. I have made some changes as recommended by @Sovera. Positron Cell and Electron Shackles are slotted for set bonuses, but I don't really use them. I use a second build for soloing that deals less DPS. I can post that build too if it would be helpful. Fireball is used at the end of the chain if/when things don't recharge in time and/or I don't need to take a moment to click Aim/Ionize. Try Blaze --> Blazing Bolt --> Char as an attack chain with Negatron Slam or Fireball used if no other attack and Aim/Ionize aren't recharged. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Modest Flame Atomic: Level 50 Natural Blaster Primary Power Set: Fire Blast Secondary Power Set: Atomic Manipulation Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Concealment Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery Hero Profile: ------------ Level 1: Flares (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage (43) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance (43) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge (45) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (45) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (45) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 1: Electron Shackles (A) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage (46) Superior Defiant Barrage - Damage/RechargeTime (48) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (48) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (48) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (50) Superior Defiant Barrage - RechargeTime/+Status Level 2: Fire Ball (A) Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage (3) Blaster's Wrath - Damage/Recharge (3) Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (5) Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (5) Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (7) Blaster's Wrath - Recharge/Chance for Fire Damage Level 4: Negatron Slam (A) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge (11) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (13) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Recharge (13) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance (15) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative) (15) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge Level 6: Positron Cell (A) Lockdown - Accuracy/Hold (7) Lockdown - Accuracy/Recharge (9) Lockdown - Recharge/Hold (9) Lockdown - Endurance/Recharge/Hold (11) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold (17) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold Level 8: Super Jump (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range (17) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 10: Ionize (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up Level 12: Aim (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge Level 14: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (23) Recharge Reduction IO Level 16: Combat Jumping (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (31) Luck of the Gambler - Defense (31) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) Level 18: Blaze (A) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge (19) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (19) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Recharge (21) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance (21) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative) (23) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic) Level 20: Metabolic Acceleration (A) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance (34) Numina's Convalesence - Endurance/Recharge (37) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge (37) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge (40) Numina's Convalesence - Heal (42) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery Level 22: Stealth (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 24: Kick (A) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge Level 26: Blazing Bolt (A) Sting of the Manticore - Accuracy/Damage (27) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Endurance (27) Sting of the Manticore - Chance of Damage(Toxic) (29) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (29) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Interrupt/Recharge (31) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic) Level 28: Tough (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% (42) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) (42) Gladiator's Armor - End/Resist Level 30: Weave (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (43) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance Level 32: Inferno (A) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge (33) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (33) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge (33) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance (34) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage (34) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage Level 35: Char (A) Unbreakable Constraint - Chance for Smashing Damage (36) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic) (36) Neuronic Shutdown - Chance of Damage(Psionic) (36) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal) (37) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic) Level 38: Radioactive Cloud (A) Lockdown - Accuracy/Hold (39) Lockdown - Accuracy/Recharge (39) Lockdown - Recharge/Hold (39) Lockdown - Endurance/Recharge/Hold (40) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold (40) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold Level 41: Fire Shield (A) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance (46) Aegis - Resistance (46) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance Level 44: Invisibility (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 47: Phase Shift (A) Recharge Reduction IO Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix (A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb Level 1: Brawl (A) Empty Level 1: Defiance Level 1: Prestige Power Dash (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Slide (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Quick (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Rush (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Surge (A) Empty Level 1: Sprint (A) Celerity - +Stealth Level 2: Rest (A) Empty Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift (A) Empty Level 2: Health (A) Miracle - +Recovery (25) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance Level 2: Hurdle (A) Empty Level 2: Stamina (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End (25) Performance Shifter - EndMod Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon Level 50: Pyronic Core Final Judgement Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface Level 50: Banished Pantheon Radial Superior Ally Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1527;702;1404;HEX;| |78DA65935B53126118C7DF854502255154344F800A02B2B265539A9D2C31531B03B| |54B67931DDA190406D6262FBBE80B74E355C79966B28BBE4A4D75D5F40D1AAB9B8E| |37F4B0FF0761861DE0F7EEFF39BE2FCFBBF6E07AC7DBA5879785E4B996D72A95ED0| |5FA35F5B2F39666EE95B5BCA0C7B756CCEA153390CA6BBB7AE0AA59DC35769CA40F| |B0EF765A2BE4F4AC9232CA3AE2C3754B66AF542A964D25AD650DCD348A85ED35AD6| |094F6F2D68BE8582F16F3CAAAAE958C42CE6DBD644ABA9EEDB296CB85FB46C5B86B| |E40D73DF6329292377CF24D7EEC592B1A358FD50C25AA5FD7E6A284EDF2BA2FE541| |DE209419545EC29F31938F59CF982F9123C176D8A15B2A5252470DAC6B433655075| |800B142571AC94B65B9A2DC3DC00E54DE616D876073C4F75ED1C6B8FD82CCD3D097| |6449931F0649CF9089CA55807C73A7E426BFB059EF8CDFCC339FF82DE7FA09FFE45| |276225E767B67D01E728AF0B36E13A84B6486FEDACB5BF8216A2041E09393CB53F4| |07589BE3AC9D6099BADB357B2FC477A982BD87B8AAC5DDC7F570239BB15E634D893| |64AA60DF1462E7A9471FF23B7CB791379806C733CC0D30B20946B7400FF5D6CB7BE| |9E5DE6CA4F959F3F3F92ED5069DFB1B78873939F59EF9091CFAC8FC008E707F76CA| |37C8FB1FF4D36298EA9F862DAAF22C90CF309FDF30F711F38237481DE5DAA3B3E82| |730C7BCC09C0783179902795F1342889543CBB08DED22EF98865EC616E13BCEFD5E| |A2F39CE07A133C4B619EA530CF52986729C2B314E1593AA41493BCD7C924EA24669| |867C14E27EE68ED7CE3BC572F690A6B4A1CE7F7867225594B1EA1B721F9F86ED287| |1E1194EB57AE5A8DB558932D8ADAA29C6951665A94D566C585BDAECBC7775D48969| |7CB7B7C83AB476EB24ACDD6EF0D45926ED222228BFEA0DDE2B716EF1FCDDE07A8D8| |FF185CF11178CFA19EC63A4563AB72FDAFE30DFDC0D7D00F438DF57FA73FF351| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

The sentence that you wrote literally does not exist in that post. Or I'm blind. Please quote the sentence exactly. There is nothing even remotely similar to what you wrote: Tsuko did not ask how I got less damage for a Corruptor than a Sentinel. Her only mention of Corruptors is when she talks about how /Storm Summoning is good "when stars align". And I agreed with her assessment. Please quote the exact sentence where you found that question. Again, 400 DPS on a Fire Blast/ blaster is not unbelievable. It's average. It's basically dead average for a 50+3 blaster with ATOs and some purple sets 5 slotted.

I did. I provided raw damage and DPA numbers from in game. Anyone can easily create a fire blast/ blaster on Justin and check them. Tsuko did not ask "how you got less damage for a Corruptor than a Sentinel". That question does not exist in any way in any of her posts. Is it possible that you read something incorrectly? Did you notice that I agreed with Tsuko regarding /Storm Summoning? Did you notice that I answered Tsuko's questions? You might share these same criticisms for anyone who shares DPS numbers in the Pylon thread or any other thread on the forums without providing video evidence.

It's completely possible that my calculations didn't make sense. I'm happy to admit that if shown that. But if someone simply tells me that I'm wrong without evidence, how can I formulate a positive response to that feedback? It's 100% possible that my calculations are incorrect. In the game, in actual gameplay, a Fire Blast/ blaster can easily achieve 400+ damage. My build, which is not especially remarkable, achieves that. It is helped by skills in /Atomic that provide a recharge boost: 20% from Metabolic Acceleration, 10% per enemy via Beta Decay.

You have a point. Fire Blast/ Blasters at incarnate routinely do over 400 DPS in actual game content. They are playing their characters. There's a reason that Fire Blast is so popular with Blasters. I honestly don't understand why this information is received so negatively. Is it because it somehow challenges Sentinels? This does not diminish the Sentinel archetype in any way. Looking through the Pylon thread, I see a Fire/Energy blaster with 458 DPS with a PvE build that is focused on defenses, not a specialized build built for raw damage. Here's a video. The same player achieved 589 DPS with an Ice/Fire Blaster. Another Fire/Atomic player achieved 500+ DPS. My build is not extraordinary, it's basically average for Fire Blasters. A 400 DPS chain is not in any way controversial or special for a Blaster.

Again, do you think that this is a constructive way to communicate? I did not "have to have the value of procs and fast snipes explained to me". I changed the 4 damage procs that I was using in Char to two procs + two acc/damage hamidon (nucleolus) enhancements at @Sovera's recommendation. Do you understand how the way that you write might come across as abrasive, at least partially because you misconstrue what others say? I mentioned above that I've changed my rotation to include Blaze, Char, and Blazing Bolt. I think I'll repeat that here for clarity. This is the third time that I've repeated that. If you ignore it this time, I'll have to conclude that you're trolling me. Blaze can slot Apocalypse: Chance of Negative damage (and Gladiator's Javelin) Char can slot Unbreakable Constraint (and Apocalypse if I decide to move it over) Gladiator's Javelin Blazing Bolt can slot Superior Blaster's Wrath. I might switch these around again because I'm not convinced that this is the best slotting. Actually, if I wanted to be as condescending as you seem to want to be, I could point out that Flares slots Apocalypse and Superior Blaster's Wrath. 😜 Fireball has Positron, so you're right that it doesn't have a purple. But again, it's not in my regular rotation thanks to the changes that @Sovera recommended. If I have to repeat this a fourth time, please donate $5 to the charity of your choice. This spreadsheet is private and can't be viewed, but if you made it public then I would find the information helpful. Where did you cover the DoT effects? As far as I can see, you haven't mentioned them once prior to this. You're right about this. That's what happens when I try to rush a reply without thinking in depth. This is why "napkin math" is unreliable. Again, do you find that this is an effective way to communicate? Absolutely no one has been disrespectful to you in any way. No one has called you a "noob". It really seems like you're trying to be edgy and offensive. What does that accomplish? Do you know why I added 53.5 damage for every one second? Because in your napkin math calculation, you calculated powers as if each one took one second to use. I was using your napkin math method. I agree that it's not an accurate representation which is why I specifically said that it was inaccurate. The whole process that you used to calculate that napkin math was inaccurate, and may (failed) attempt to point that out seems to have given you ammunition to criticize. You understand that multiple Fire/Atomic blasters have achieved 400+ DPS, right? And that a few of them have in fact used (gasp) Flares as a filler (the horror!). Do you acknowledge that? If not, I don't know how we can agree. We might have to simply agree to disagree. Is it your position that Fire/Atomic blasters simply cannot achieve 400+ DPS from a single target rotation? Again, if that's your argument, then we can agree to disagree. If I sound preachy, that is not my intention and I apologize. Maybe I was annoyed by your language and responded immaturely. That's my fault. The reason that I was annoyed was because of your dismissive, hostile language. It's not a successful way to conduct a dialogue. If it were that simple, then we would have a lot more Sentinels posting Pylon times that were ~85% of the times that Blasters can achieve. Instead, we have one player who has managed that. I've thanked people for their feedback starting from the first replies to my post. The only person that I've not thanked is @Obitus, and that's because the only information that he offered in his initial post was that I was wrong. Here are my flawed tools: I created a large number of toons on Justin and then recorded the damage and DPA of their skills. This is not theoretical crafting, it's in-game experience. Frankly, achieving 400+ DPS on a Fire/Atomic blaster is not exceptional. Plenty of other players are able to do far more damage than I am, and more consistently. If this is offensive to you, then what can I say? We have a difference of opinion.

There is a difference between constructive criticism and baseless denunciation. @Sovera provided constructive criticism, and that's why I listened and tried out his suggestions. It's why I incorporated Char and Blazing Bolt into my chain. It's why I changed which procs I have slotted on Char. @Obitus presented an opinion without any evidence. He essentially stated "You're wrong, and I'm correct, but I refuse to say why." This is not a constructive way of communicating. Blasters are significantly different than they were on the live servers. I suggest that you read about the many changes, including the powers available in the new sets such as /Atomic or /Temporal. Your old theory crafting is, to be frank, not relevant to Blasters as they exist in the current game. Do you believe that you'll receive a positive response when you use language such as "facially silly"? Is this meant to produce a constructive debate? You're wrong. ... Do you see how, if I ended my statement there, it would add nothing to the discussion? That is why I haven't taken your feedback seriously. Here is why you're incorrect. Your numbers would be correct if I had slotted my powers with SOs or workbench IOs. However, these days that's simply not done at the incarnate level and it is not useful to calculate DPS with that expectation. There are a number of aspects that you have not taken into account: I slot my powers with IO sets. Many of these give global damage bonuses. Each of my primary attacks have at least one purple damage proc. They fire off consistently. Even if they only trigger half of the time, that's an additional 53.5 damage that is not accounted for in each skill's listed DPA. Fire Blast has a significant DoT effect. This is one of the main draws of Fire Blast. Titan Network shows that this damage adds an additional 49.98% damage on Blaze, 49.98% on Fire Ball, 42.25% additional damage on Flares (I'm including this just to prove a point), and 32.6% on Blazing Bolt. You're ignoring, at best, 40% of a Fire Blast blaster's damage. Blasters' inherent skill, Defiance, gives Blasters a stacking damage bonus that averages to ~40%. This stacks on top of any global set bonuses, IO specific bonuses, etc. In short, you're incorrect because you're ignoring fundamental aspects of the current game. If we take your 211 DPS number as being accurate, which it isn't, and apply a 40% DoT we arrive at 295.4 DPS. If we add the bare minimum of 40% global DPS bonuses, we arrive at 413.56 DPS. If we further apply the 53.5 damage from procs (it is higher in reality) we arrive at 467.06 DPS. I compared a Fire Blast Sentinel to a Fire Blast Blaster because those are the two toons that I have built and tested. Can you elaborate on why that comparison is flawed? I do not feel the need to dunk on you. I'm open to feedback, as long as you can provide it in a constructive manner.

Thank you, I needed that laugh. 😁 I'm willing to laugh at myself and admit that I like Flares more than its practical value. But Flares has a great DPA!

Sure! This really varies depending on the AV that you're facing. AVs that rely heavily on mez, cc, etc. will fight differently than AVs that focus on straight damage. In general, I open by using Radiation Infection, Lingering Radiation, and Enervating Field. If the AV is a straight damage dealer, then I start an attack chain with Shriek --> Screech--> Scream. Stay at range when you fight. This involves jumping away from the AV and fighting at range. Kiting takes some practice, and if you have trouble with it then I would switch from the Soul Mastery epic to the Leviathan Mastery Epic and take School of Sharks and Shark Skin. School of Sharks slotted with Trap of the Hunter will hold AVs in place while you stay at range. Once the fight has started, then it's just a matter of ensuring that your buffs and debuffs stay up: Use Amplify every time it recharges. Use Accelerate Metabolism every time it recharges (it should be permanent). Use Lingering Radiation on the AV every time it recharges. This is the most important step, because the AV will outheal your damage if you don't keep it permanent or close to permanent. If the AV uses a mez or cc on you, immediately use Clarion. Unfortunately, your toggles will have been removed from the AV so you'll have to reapply them. If the AV debuffs your defense, use your Hybrid: Support. This also boosts your damage very slightly. Keep in mind that a Rad/Sonic fight is never going to be fast. Fights are slow but relatively safe. You'll chip away at the AV over the course of ~5 minutes until it dies. The AV will spend most of the time running towards you, or away from you, while you cycle through your attack chain. It's important to keep the chain flowing because the -res debuffs stack. If you're fighting two AVs at the same time, then I recommend focusing on a single AV using the strategy above. Always stay moving and keep your distance from the AVs. School of Sharks is helpful here too because it will usually immobilize both AVs if you can line the cone up properly. Good luck!

Yes, this is exactly what I found. However, I'm happy to be proven wrong. I would also be very happy if Sentinels got a buff to their damage output. I also came to this same conclusion in regards to blasters with procs. I took a dual pistols/atomic blaster to incarnate and found that I could not get anywhere near the damage of a Fire Blast/ blaster no matter how I slotted it. Flares will almost always raise your DPS simply because of its good DPA. However, if you have high enough recharge, then I suspect that incorporating Char and/or Blazing Bolt into your attack chain will raise DPS more than Flares. 😝 Okay, after looking through the Rikti Pylon thread I see one Sentinel that managed to reach a clear time that compares to a good blaster. That is an impressive accomplishment for the player, but less impressive for the archetype as a whole. I don't really buy the argument that a single skill in one of the epic pools somehow makes up for the low damage in a Sentinel's primary class. It's not a good sign when skills in an AT's primary class deal less DPS than skills in the epic pools. If you're going to make statements like this, then you're going to have to qualify them with numbers or my reaction is going to be to dismiss what you've written as opinion. I created these characters on Justin (two patches ago, before the instant snipes went live) so I can say that my DPA calculations are accurate because I have tested them in game. Have you done the same? I am willing to be proven incorrect if you can show some evidence that I am. No one in this thread has claimed that Blasters have "far and away the best offense in the game". That is a strawman argument. Please provide some evidence that it's completely wrong. For single target damage, Sentinels deal around half of the damage of a fire blast Blaster based on tests on the Justin test server, and based on simply calculating each skill's DPA with arcanatime and building attack chains. It is completely possible that you're able to build a Sentinel that has far better slotting than my build. It's also possible that you (and other Sentinels) use better attack chains than me. If that's the case, then please show your work.

I would vote for Fire Blast/ or Ice Blast/ primaries with /Temporal or /Tactical Arrow secondaries. In my opinion, the secondaries /Atomic Manipulation, /Plant Manipulation, and /Mental Manipulation are one step below but equally fun. That being said, I find all of these sets fun to play.

Thanks. I'll have to try that on Justin to get real numbers. The DPS calculator isn't great, but it's a good estimator. I've found that it calculates DPA correctly for all skills other than snipes, and skills that are slotted with more than one proc. PS: you can easily calculate the DPA of chains yourself by adding the DPA together and referencing it across a few arbitrary times: 30 seconds, 60 seconds, 90 seconds, etc. That's how I discovered that Fire Blast deals roughly 20% less sustained damage compared to Flares if the battle takes more than 60 seconds.

This is a viable attack chain, but it produces lower effective DPS than the attack chain that I posted. In theory, with the new instant snipes, Blaze --> Blazing Bolt --> Flares should deal more damage than either of our DPS chains. I can't substantiate that theory because I haven't tested it. I am assuming that you're using the following procs: Ghost Widow Chance of Damage (Psionic), Gladiator's Javelin Chance of Damage (Toxic), Gladiator's Net Chance of Damage (Lethal), Apocalypse Chance of Damage (Negative). This gives a DPA of 146 which makes it competitive with Flares. Flares still deals more effective DPA, as does Fireball. Negatron Slam also will deal more damage. If you're willing to repeat Flares once, that will result in a DPS chain of 470.6667 according to Pine's. If you add Fireball, it lowers the DPS but provides an uninterrupted chain. Negatron Slam also lowers the DPS, but reduces EPS significantly. Positron Cell (with the 4 procs that I mentioned) also lowers the DPS.

I invite you to share a build that deals better DPS on a single target rotation. Flares on all archetypes has a great DPA. On a sentinel specifically, Blaze, Fire Ball, and Flares have the highest DPAs in that order. Mind Probe does have a great DPA, but it requires you to play in melee range. Substituting Fire Ball for Mind Probe raises the DPS of the attack chain by 12. Substituting Smite actually lowers DPS, but you can raise DPS using the chain Blaze --> Smite --> Fire Ball --> Flares --> Blaze. I agree with your assessment of Storm. Did you read what I wrote? We are in agreement. You seem to be arguing strenuously that we agree, so I will argue back that yes, we agree. Your DPA calculations are significantly off. Even if the only incarnate that I use is Musculature Core Paragon: Blaster Flares: Damage 177, DPA 149 Blaster Fire Ball: Damage 193, DPA 162 Blaster Negatron Slam Damage, 292 DPA 170 Blaster Blaze Damage 457, DPA 385 Sentinel with Offensive Adaptation and Musculature Core Paragon: Sentinel Flares: Damage 121, DPA 102 Sentinel Fire Blast: Damage 287, DPA 101 Sentinel Fire Ball: Damage 148, DPA 124 Sentinel Blaze: Damage 341, DPA 287 I agree that all Corruptor secondaries will not give as much theoretical dps. That's why I included numbers without the storm secondary skills, and with. They're measured numbers, not "out of your imagination". 😘 No need to be rude. Flares is a rather incredible skill on a Blaster. It has an exceptional DPA and almost always raises the DPS in a blaster's attack chain. I like Positron Cell and use it, but Positron Cell built for damage will have an effective DPA of 101. Flares will have a DPA of 155. There's no comparison. Adding Positron Cell actually lowers your DPS because of its high cast time: 1.85 seconds with Arcanatime factored. Edit: I take Blazing Bolt on my blaster and corruptor, but I haven't tried to add it to my regular damage rotation. It has a great DPA on my blaster (~250) but I'm entirely comfortable with the way that instant snipes work now. Based on the pylon damage formula, a 2 minute pylon run seems almost exactly right for the Fire/Atomic numbers that I posted... Are you agreeing with me? 🤯

I did quite a bit of testing of Sentinel Damage, Blaster Damage, and Corruptor damage at the incarnate 50+3 level. Here is what I found: The highest single target DPS Sentinel that I was able to build was a Fire Blast/Bio Armor sentinel. My attack chain for this sentinel was Blaze --> Fire Ball --> Flares --> Fire Blast. In absolutely perfect conditions this resulted in 197 DPS at a cost of 5 EPS (endurance per second). This was with the following: Offensive Adaptation, Muscular Core Paragon, Degenerative Core Flawless, Assault Radial. Aim was available relatively often, ~33% of the time. When Aim was up, my DPS reached 269 DPS with the same attack chain. I experimented with adding Char to the DPS chain and this increases the average dps by about 5, but then I sacrificed the ability to trigger opportunity. My Fire Blast/Storm Summoning Corruptor deals 270 DPS at 5 EPS without considering any of the storm summoning skills. That doesn't factor in scourge. The attack chain here is Blaze --> Fire Ball --> Flares. (Blaze --> Fire Ball --> Fire Blast works as well for 267 DPS and 5 EPS). Incarnates are Musculature Core Paragon, Degenerative Core Flawless, Ageless Core Epiphany, Assault Radial. With Scourge included, the same attack chain of Blaze --> Fire Ball --> Flares deals 296 DPS. When Aim is added, the DPS climbs to 331 DPS with the same attack chain. Again, this is without any of the storm summoning skills. If I include the storm summoning skills, then lightning storm adds roughly 109 DPS and it can be stacked three times per minute. Tornado's DPS is trickier to calculate. I estimate that it adds an average of 40 DPS. The total DPS with storm summoning skills added to fire blast is roughly 663 under optimal conditions (not factoring in Aim). Practically, I rarely find that much sustained damage to be useful. I also find it difficult to sustain an optimal attack chain because there are so many skills to juggle: I have to interrupt my fire blast chain to stack tornados and lightning storms every time they are available. I am currently working on a Fire Blast/Atomic blaster. The optimal attack chain on this blaster is Flares --> Blaze --> Flares --> Fireball. This results in an average of 427 DPS for 5 EPS. Incarnates are Musculature Core Paragon, Degenerative Core Flawless, Ageless Core Epiphany, Assault Radial Embodiment. This build has Aim every 24 seconds and Ionize every 26 seconds. With these factored in, I reach 527 DPS with the same attack chain. These numbers do not include a Blaster's stacking damage bonus from Defiance. In summary, here's a comparison of three end-game builds: Fire Blast/Bio Armor Sentinel: 197 DPS. Blaze --> Fire Ball --> Flares --> Fire Blast. (Offensive Adaptation, Muscular Core Paragon, Degenerative Core Flawless, Assault Radial) Fire Blast/Storm Summoning Corruptor (no storm skills): 296 DPS. Blaze --> Fire Ball --> Flares. (Musculature Core Paragon, Degenerative Core Flawless, Ageless Core Epiphany, Assault Radial.) Fire Blast/Storm Summoning Corruptor (with storms): 663 DPS. Tornado --> Lightning Storm --> Blaze --> Fire Ball --> Flares. Fire Blast/Atomic Blaster (without aim, without ionize): 427 DPS. Flares --> Blaze --> Flares --> Fireball. (Musculature Core Paragon, Degenerative Core Flawless, Ageless Core Epiphany, Assault Radial Embodiment.) Fire Blast/Atomic Blaster (with aim, with ionize): 527 DPS. From this I can conclude that Sentinels at Incarnate 50+3 deal roughly 67% of the damage of a Corruptor without factoring in the Corruptor's secondary. Sentinels deal roughly 46% of the damage of a blaster without factoring in the blaster's Build Up or Defiance.

Hi @Golden Azrael, I'm glad that you're enjoying your Rad/Sonic defender! I recommend that you take powers that you enjoy using and drop ones that you don't. Don't take my build as the only way to build a Rad/Sonic defender. As long as you have the core debuffs and Accelerate Metabolism, you will be useful in end-game content. The build completely changes when you reach 50 and have slotted all of your IOs. You'll suddenly have capped range defense, capped resists, resists to status effects, and no endurance problems whatsoever. At 50, your build becomes capable of soloing without worrying about much of anything. Enervating Field should be a relatively quick 0.73 second cast time. Lingering Radiation should also be quick to cast. The animations may make it seem as if the debuffs haven't spread to the entire group of enemies, but they spread as soon as the debuff hits the anchor enemy. Shout does decent damage under 50, but post-50 it actually slows you down. You can fire off two of your other attacks in the same time as Shout.

In my opinion, every player with powers that are slotted for knockback instead of knockdown should be branded with a scarlet K. Let their sin be on display for all to see. This is a joke.

If you have the time and inclination, I would be interested in how pylon clear times compare for the Radial pets. Banished Pantheon Radial and the Talons/Knives Radial in particular seem to be quite good.

I'm going to address the powersets that you specified rather than make a general comparison of blaster and corruptor damage. The quick version is that a dark blast/plant manipulation blaster will do more damage than a dark blast/nature affinity corruptor. The difference in damage will likely be more than 50% once you reach T4 incarnates and/or have +3 level shifts. I play with a friend who runs a very high end /nature affinity corruptor. I enjoy playing with him because he adds a lot to the team, but damage is not his primary contribution. Overgrowth gives the team a permanent damage and tohit boost, and a huge endurance discount for all of our skills. The endurance discount is the greater asset because on a full team we can hit the damage cap without his buffs. Wild Bastion gives the entire team an absorb shield that is quite significant. With his slotting, the absorb shield is for over 50% of our health. Lifegiving spores restores our endurance and stacks with overgrowth. Wild growth helps keeps our resistances capped. We can safely tackle any 50+4 +4/8 content with his /nature affinity corruptor on the team. In comparison, it's my perception that my defender does about the same amount of damage as his corruptor. My blaster does significantly more damage than his /nature affinity corruptor. However, my blaster does not contribute to the team in any way other than damage. There are strike forces such as the B.A.F. where this damage is helpful and almost necessary to achieve a perfect run. However, in most content the nature affinity corruptor contributes more to the team.

The update today caused Island Rum to completely stop working on Mac OS X Mojave. I was able to play last night without an issue. This evening, when I opened Island Rum I received the same error message that other users have reported: "Creating Holding Area: 100%". I attempted to solve this by downloading a fresh copy of Island Rum from https://telstar.eekstudio.com/islandrum-mac.zip I removed my old copy of Island Rum, and placed the new copy of Island Rum in my Applications/coh/ directory. I then received an error: "Game Client Not Detected" when I opened the new version of Island Rum. I used the "Reset Path" option to set the path to the Applications/coh/ directory. This did not do anything. I then used the "Re-scan files" option. This causes Island Rum to present an error and crash. Opening Island Rum again resulted in a second error and a crash. Island Rum subsequently crashed each time I opened it. I then deleted my entire Applications/coh directory and created a new one. I placed a new copy of Island Rum in the new directory. I then clicked "Install" when the "Game Client Not Detected" error popped up. This meant that I had to download all of Homecoming/CoX's files again. Once this process finished, an error message popped up to say that my Wine configuration was out of date. (It was not out of date.) I deleted the .privatewine directory in my home folder and allowed Island Rum to create a new one. After all of this, Homecoming finally launched. I have to say, this is not a smooth update process.

@ParaBruce I tested this myself tonight and got it working. Here is the simplest way to get it working: Create a binds directory at /Applications/coh/binds Place all of your binds .txt files in the /Applications/coh/binds directory. Next, you can use /bind_load_file to load them in game using: /bind_load_file Z:/Applications/coh/binds/filename.txt For example, if you wanted to load your abinding.txt file, you would use: /bind_load_file Z:/Applications/coh/binds/abinding.txt You can also save and load binds to the universal default keybinds.txt file using /bind_save and /bind_load. The game will indicate that the keybinds.txt file is located at Z:/Applications/coh/keybinds.txt I have attached a screenshot of both of these functions working in game.

Hi @ParaBruce, Please try the following: Move the abinding.txt file from the /Applications/coh/binds directory that you created to the "piggs" directory located at /Applications/coh/piggs. The full path of this file should be /Applications/coh/piggs/abinding.txt Next, try to use the following /bind_load_file command: /bind_load_file abinding.txt Notice that there is no path specified. If the above solution works, then you can move on to a more advanced method of organizing your bind files: Create a new directory in the piggs directory called binds. The full path of this directory should be /Applications/coh/piggs/binds Place all of your binds .txt files in this folder. Now, when you use /bindloadfile, specify the location as .\binds\filename. For example, to load your "abinding.txt" file you would use: /bind_load_file .\binds\abinding.txt Notice that there is a period before the path. Do not forget this period.

Storm is the most powerful support set in the game in terms of raw DPS. I would like it if O2 Boost became a self heal or an AOE (including self) heal. In newer sets (Nature Affinity, Time Manipulation), ally heals also heal the player. Temporal Mending and Regrowth are two examples of this. I actually like Gale the way that it is. Hurricane is also good as is, but I wish that it had a lower end cost.

Assuming that you are logged in as an administrator account, then this sounds like a permissions problem. Please open Terminal and copy and paste this: diskutil resetUserPermissions / `id -u` Once the disk utility process has run, copy and paste the following into Terminal: /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)" Let this script run. It may take a while. Once it is finished, copy and paste this into Terminal: brew install wine Let this finish, then copy the following into Terminal: rm -fr .wine Finally, copy this into Terminal: wine start After this has finished, you can close Terminal and open Island Rum. It should run as expected.

Open Terminal Type the following: brew reinstall wine Type the following: wine start This will reinstall Wine and force Wine to create a new .wine config folder located in your home folder.