Best ranged tank build for a sentinel?

[KaizenSoze]

What do folks here consider the best ranged tank build?

 

For instance, a dark melee/invul tanker can tougher than a normal invul tanker because it has a healing attack and PBAOE debuff.

 

What combos would work best for a ranged tank? I know Sentinels do not have taunt.

[Menelruin]

Sentinel isn't really durable enough to be a tank, it's more in line with a scrapper.  If you really wanted to maximize durability, options for offense are ice (slows), psychic (slowed recharge), or dark blast (lower mob acc.).   The last would pair best with super reflexes, for further boosted dodging, assuming you aren't already capped.  Dual Pistols also has ammo options to slow enemies or lower their attack power.

 

Defensive, Bio is fun because you can toggle between an attack or defensive mode.  I hear good things about Rad, also.

[oldskool]

Perhaps some of these other threads can give you ideas.  These aren't the only threads about this topic, but these are probably the most relevant (and recent).

 

Threads discussing tanky Sentinels:

 

 

 

 

 

Different question, similar theme (durability):

 

 

Edited October 1, 2019 by oldskool

[KaizenSoze]

I understand that Sentinels cannot be like tankers, brutes, scrappers, and War Shades.

 

But I have seen hover Sentinels tank ITF speed runs very effectively on all ranged speed runs.

 

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to look at the player's power set.

 

Thank you for the links.

Edited October 1, 2019 by KaizenSoze

[nihilii]

15 hours ago, KaizenSoze said:

For instance, a dark melee/invul tanker can tougher than a normal invul tanker because it has a healing attack and PBAOE debuff.

Incidentally, I think you have the answer right here.

 

A dark blast/invulnerability Sentinel can be built to be incredibly tough, coupling invul's natural sturdiness with the heal in dark blast and a hefty PBAOE tohit debuff in Blackstar. Dark blast also gets a 100% KD cone attack with the KB-to-KD IO.

I have one such Sentinel, but built for damage. She still handles herself against the toughest +4/x8 groups with minimal insp use (if at all). I can only imagine if I built her for defense and took Melee Hybrid + Rebirth + Vigor instead of Assault Hybrid + Ageless + Musculature.

[Chalkarts]

4 hours ago, nihilii said:

I have one such Sentinel, but built for damage. She still handles herself against the toughest +4/x8 groups with minimal insp use (if at all). I can only imagine if I built her for defense and took Melee Hybrid + Rebirth + Vigor instead of Assault Hybrid + Ageless + Musculature.

I'm working on a Water/Willpower build tweaked for pure regen.

I'm going for truly ridiculous passive regen levels, I'd max it if I could.

It'll be a slow killer, but will never die.

[oldskool]

18 minutes ago, Chalkarts said:

I'm working on a Water/Willpower build tweaked for pure regen.

I'm going for truly ridiculous passive regen levels, I'd max it if I could.

It'll be a slow killer, but will never die.

You may want the Rebirth Destiny and/or the Melee Hybrid.  Willpower on Sentinels never gets anywhere near the max levels of regen possible since Up to the Challenge is a static regeneration number.  My Beam/WP has around 750% regeneration.  I built for hit points, defense, and recharge while taking on some regen bonuses as side perks.  That character regenerates health on par with a Scrapper in melee with some amount of saturation due to enemies.  It doesn't really touch my SS/WP Brute that can heal for the same amounts with 0 enemies in range. 

But that Melee Hybrid will juice your regen for a bit as well as Rebirth.  So if you want to have moments of max/near-max regeneration on your Sentinel it is possible with the Incarnate system. 

[Chalkarts]

6 hours ago, oldskool said:

You may want the Rebirth Destiny and/or the Melee Hybrid.  Willpower on Sentinels never gets anywhere near the max levels of regen possible since Up to the Challenge is a static regeneration number.  My Beam/WP has around 750% regeneration.  I built for hit points, defense, and recharge while taking on some regen bonuses as side perks.  That character regenerates health on par with a Scrapper in melee with some amount of saturation due to enemies.  It doesn't really touch my SS/WP Brute that can heal for the same amounts with 0 enemies in range. 

But that Melee Hybrid will juice your regen for a bit as well as Rebirth.  So if you want to have moments of max/near-max regeneration on your Sentinel it is possible with the Incarnate system. 

I'd also considered going with SR as my defense and slotting for refresh and rapid fire, but I wasn't sure if water had a decent enough rate of fire to begin with in order to put it into overdrive.   I'll have to look at the powersets and see which one has the fastest attacks, or if they're all equivalent. I want to go nuts with the nuke spam.

[Darkir]

Ok, so based on my experience with corruptors and trying to make them as tanky as possible I'd say a resist set would be better than a defense set in terms of overall effectiveness if you have a billion inf to spend. So, not SR, then again the sentinel gets lower modifiers on the defensive pull powers so maybe it would be better, but I think I'll try a res set first with the mind link epic and see how it goes. You will also want a set with a heal. The slotting in fire/fire is very good with plenty of options and it gets extra dmg as a secondary, so I am going to try to make a tank build based on that. 

 

I managed to get softcapped Melee/Range def with 63% s/l, 46.7% E/N, Capped fire res, 31% cold, 22% toxic, and 17.6% toxic. Unfortunately, hasten is 8 seconds from perma, but you have a heal and an end heal also. I could probably improve this if I stared at it forever and hopefully get these values or better with perma hasten, but this is something to start with at least. This build was made from the mindset of trying to do damage while being able to also survive well enough. This could still take EBs in this game no problem and due to the fire resistance could fire farm decently if it had a partner to boost its damage a bit. If all I was trying to do was negate damage I might try ice/ice (for the slows because your resistances would be so high), but if I was to make a sentinel I think I'd start with this. 

 

Edit: In terms of fulfilling a true tank role and taking and holding aggro, its not possible. Even if you take provoke, your ability to hold aggro is so depressingly low that it isn't worth it. I tried to make a tank defender with provoke and it was so lackluster I've abandoned the toon. 

 

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.5
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Mutation Sentinel
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Flares -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7)
Level 1: Fire Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(7), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9), UnbGrd-Max HP%(9), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(11)
Level 2: Molten Embrace -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 4: Fire Ball -- SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg(A), SprSntWar-Dmg/Rchg(11), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), SprSntWar-Rchg/+Absorb(15)
Level 6: Blaze -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(17), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21)
Level 8: Healing Flames -- NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(A), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg(21), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(23), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(23), NmnCnv-Heal(25), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(25)
Level 10: Aim -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(27), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(29), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(29), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(31), GssSynFr--Build%(42)
Level 12: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 14: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(31), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(31), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33), GldArm-3defTpProc(33)
Level 16: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(33), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(34), Rct-ResDam%(45)
Level 18: Plasma Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(36), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(36), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 20: Blazing Blast -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(37), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39)
Level 22: Consume -- SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(42)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(45)
Level 26: Rain of Fire -- SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprOppStr-Dmg/Rchg(27), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), SprOppStr-Rchg/+Opportunity(50)
Level 28: Burn -- Obl-Dmg/Rchg(A), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 30: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(34)
Level 32: Inferno -- Arm-Dmg/Rchg(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Arm-Acc/Rchg(43), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Arm-Dam%(43)
Level 35: Cauterizing Blaze -- Heal-I(A)
Level 38: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 41: Mind Probe -- Empty(A)
Level 44: Dominate -- Empty(A)
Level 47: Link Minds -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(A), LucoftheG-EndRdx/Rchg(48), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(48), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 49: Super Speed -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
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 -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(46)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(45)
Level 50: Agility Core Paragon 
------------

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Edited October 9, 2019 by Darkir

[Haijinx]

On 10/1/2019 at 12:13 PM, KaizenSoze said:

What do folks here consider the best ranged tank build?

 

For instance, a dark melee/invul tanker can tougher than a normal invul tanker because it has a healing attack and PBAOE debuff.

 

You cannot build a Sent to be tougher than an Invul tanker.  

 

You could match a Invul Scrapper probably.  As far as toughness goes.

 

That should be enough to break alphas for most content even for a full team at +4.  

 

A lot of Sent secondaries could be built to handle that also.

[FUBARczar]

I have 4 lvl 50 Sentinels, Dark/Regen, Beam/Bio, Sonic/Bio and Water/Bio, all are great, and both Regen and Bio as a Sent are capable of amazing feats.  

But if you want the toughest, the Best Defense is a Good Offense, so take Dark Blast for the -tohit and the heal, and the hold stacks nicely with the holds you can pick up in the Epic Pools (Psionic Mastery pairs well with Dominate and Link Minds).  You can also add the Diamagnetic Interface so your Resist armors will feel like Defense Armors, haha.

As for defense I would say that Bio, and Regen are some of the best.  I would also consider playing Radiation, or Fiery Aura with Dark Blast.

 

The other way you could do it is play as a Sapper with - Electric Blast / Energy Aura / Electricity Mastery

[Chalkarts]

I know I want Water Blast for my attack.

the SR Quickness power,

does it boost your rate of fire significantly?

can it be improved with slotting?

I want to focus everything on attacking as rapidly as possible.

[FUBARczar]

10 hours ago, Chalkarts said:

I know I want Water Blast for my attack.

the SR Quickness power,

does it boost your rate of fire significantly?

can it be improved with slotting?

I want to focus everything on attacking as rapidly as possible.

Yeah Water is cool too with Dehydrate, great AoE, etc. but I would take Radiation Armor and not SR.  Radiation gives the same +20% global recharge boost in Particle Acceleration, it also has a great Absorption Shield , and a T9 that is useful with a minute long damage boost (33%).

Edited October 12, 2019 by FUBARczar

[Frostweaver]

regen on sentinels is disgustingly tanky compared to regen on scrappers/brutes, for some weird reason.

I mean, you cannot cap ANYTHING without cutting into your recharge, but with mog up 25% of the time, 600% regen,  instant's disgusting absorption, and tanker-level HP, I almost never feel it.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Frostweaver

[Chalkarts]

On 10/12/2019 at 10:20 AM, FUBARczar said:

Yeah Water is cool too with Dehydrate, great AoE, etc. but I would take Radiation Armor and not SR.  Radiation gives the same +20% global recharge boost in Particle Acceleration, it also has a great Absorption Shield , and a T9 that is useful with a minute long damage boost (33%).

Thanks for the recommendation.

I've made a Water/Rad sentinel.

I'm really starting to enjoy him more than my main.

The sentinel playstyle of raining impervious doom from above really appeals to me.

Radiation Armor even looks awesome for my character concept once I played with the color scheme.

[FUBARczar]

4 hours ago, Chalkarts said:

Thanks for the recommendation.

I've made a Water/Rad sentinel.

I'm really starting to enjoy him more than my main.

The sentinel playstyle of raining impervious doom from above really appeals to me.

Radiation Armor even looks awesome for my character concept once I played with the color scheme.

Cheers!

[Kruunch]

From a "tanking" point of view, Super Reflexes is the most survivable set out of the Sentinel line up in my opinion. Easy to soft cap and beyond before hitting Incarnate (or even L50). Best defense debuff resist in the game ensures no cascade failure (and that's with achieving perma-hasten and +30% damage before Incarnate).

 

I wouldn't suggest resist based Sentinels if you want to try to tank a pack of mobs (much less +8/+4).

 

For a primary you can do well with a number of choices.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Kruunch

[Chalkarts]

10 hours ago, Kruunch said:

From a "tanking" point of view, Super Reflexes is the most survivable set out of the Sentinel line up in my opinion. Easy to soft cap and beyond before hitting Incarnate (or even L50). Best defense debuff resist in the game ensures no cascade failure (and that's with achieving perma-hasten and +30% damage before Incarnate).

 

I wouldn't suggest resist based Sentinels if you want to try to tank a pack of mobs (much less +8/+4).

 

For a primary you can do well with a number of choices.

I have decided that I'm going as general support, 

Take the healing and res from the pool path, teleport friend, and be a ranged nuker that helps try to support the party with emergency heals, debuffsd, and lots of AoE splash damage.

[Frostweaver]

Maybe it is anecdotal, but last night I teamed with my wife's db/ice scrapper to do the Cimerora Mot chain, AV's on.
I was breaking +3/8 alphas vs 12-16 Elite bosses at a time. as well as two AV's and 6 EB's at one time at the end, incarnate-level attacks. No deaths. About half an hour total.

I cannot think of a more... Challenging survival situation anywhere in the game. Not Hami, not LRSF or STF. It was BRUTAL.

I was using a rad/regen hover sentinel. And I did NOT have any incarnates except level 1 musculature. No level shift. My wife had a level shift with 3 agility, degenerate 2, and Ageless 1 (we were there collecting incarnate components and finishing out the storyline). some of the survival was undoubtedly the Wife's Chilling embrace, but I was constantly flying in and taking the alpha personally while I nuked to screw up their defense and res.

 

I don't know what people have decided as far as 'paper builds', but in play, Regen is... insanely durable. That content would have faceplanted and destroyed any of my tankers or Brutes.

 

 

Well, Here... I will show my build instead of just bragging about it's tankiness.
 

 

 

 

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Sentinel
Primary Power Set: Radiation Blast
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), EntChs-Heal%(50), EntChs-Acc/Dmg(50)
Level 1: Fast Healing -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(5)
Level 2: X-Ray Beam -- Dcm-Build%(A), Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(3), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(23), Dcm-Acc/Dmg(46), AchHee-ResDeb%(48)
Level 4: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Flight-I(5)
Level 6: Cosmic Burst -- SprSntWar-Rchg/+Absorb(A), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), SprSntWar-Dmg/Rchg(9), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg(11)
Level 8: Quick Recovery -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(48)
Level 10: Instant Regeneration -- Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(A), Prv-Absorb%(11), Prv-Heal/Rchg(13), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(13), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(46), Prv-Heal(46)
Level 12: Fly -- WntGif-RunSpd/Jump/Fly/Rng(A), WntGif-RunSpd/Jump/Fly/Rng/EndRdx(21)
Level 14: Reconstruction -- UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(15), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(15), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(17), Prv-Heal(17), Prv-Heal/Rchg(19)
Level 16: Dismiss Pain -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(19)
Level 18: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A)
Level 20: Proton Stream -- TchofLadG-%Dam(A), Apc-Dam%(21), Apc-Acc/Rchg(34), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(34), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 22: Integration -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(23)
Level 24: Tough -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(25), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(25), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(27), GldArm-3defTpProc(27), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(29)
Level 26: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(29), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(33)
Level 28: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(36), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(37), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(37), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(37), GssSynFr--ToHit(40)
Level 30: Resilience -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(31), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(31), RctArm-EndRdx/Rchg(33), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 32: Atomic Blast -- Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Arm-Acc/Rchg(42), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(43), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(43)
Level 35: Neutron Bomb -- SprOppStr-Rchg/+Opportunity(A), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), SprOppStr-Dmg/Rchg(45), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg(45)
Level 38: Moment of Glory -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(39), Ksm-ToHit+(39), ImpArm-ResPsi(39), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 41: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 44: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
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 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(31)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(48)
Level 50: Musculature Boost
Level 4: Ninja Run
------------

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, the only thing I am considering changing is swapping out neutron bomb for irradiate. I spend most of my time in the thick of things, and neutron bomb is so slow...

And I have an Ice/SR sentinel as well, who is considerably more.... developed. even with Ice -recharge, and SR's +recharge, the rad/regen was vastly more survivable, So I have to disagree strongly with Kruunch's assessment of SR based on personal experience. Sentinel's version of Instant Regeneration is just that good. It seems to refresh about 50 HP every 4 seconds, but the nearly 200 HP absorption soaks a huge amount of damage.

And, once I can, I will be getting the melee radial embodiment... which will dramatically increase my defense in melee as well as taunting 9 enemies. That is 'ranged tanking'

 

 

Edited October 22, 2019 by Frostweaver

[drbuzzard]

What am I missing that makes regen so tough on sents? I never noticed anything on a casual look.

[FUBARczar]

8 hours ago, drbuzzard said:

What am I missing that makes regen so tough on sents? I never noticed anything on a casual look.

It's called Instant Regeneration, which on the Sentinel version is a toggle, it is a continually regenerating absorption shield.  It's highly effective.  I run a Dark/Regen, and it is sturdy.  SR is an all or nothing proposition, an single layer cake, a one-trick pony: all def and only def, and when it folds, it collapses quick.  

[Radiaria]

Ice/Regen or Dark/Regen

 

Dark would enable you to continuously stay at range along with providing -to hit which helps you for the fact that capping defenses/resistances isn't going to happen very much without significant sacrifice on a Sentinel and also gives lifesteal which aids your regeneration.

 

Ice slows enemies and is purely ranged and heavily keeps enemies out of melee range whilst dealing good damage, blizzard also provides -to hit and knockdown, therefore, is also very stable. It also provides holds and -recharge. 

 

I'd say those are the top two contenders for ranged tank.

[Kruunch]

17 hours ago, Frostweaver said:

Maybe it is anecdotal, but last night I teamed with my wife's db/ice scrapper to do the Cimerora Mot chain, AV's on.
I was breaking +3/8 alphas vs 12-16 Elite bosses at a time. as well as two AV's and 6 EB's at one time at the end, incarnate-level attacks. No deaths. About half an hour total.

I cannot think of a more... Challenging survival situation anywhere in the game. Not Hami, not LRSF or STF. It was BRUTAL.

I was using a rad/regen hover sentinel. And I did NOT have any incarnates except level 1 musculature. No level shift. My wife had a level shift with 3 agility, degenerate 2, and Ageless 1 (we were there collecting incarnate components and finishing out the storyline). some of the survival was undoubtedly the Wife's Chilling embrace, but I was constantly flying in and taking the alpha personally while I nuked to screw up their defense and res.

 

I don't know what people have decided as far as 'paper builds', but in play, Regen is... insanely durable. That content would have faceplanted and destroyed any of my tankers or Brutes.

 

 

Well, Here... I will show my build instead of just bragging about it's tankiness.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Sentinel
Primary Power Set: Radiation Blast
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), EntChs-Heal%(50), EntChs-Acc/Dmg(50)
Level 1: Fast Healing -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(5)
Level 2: X-Ray Beam -- Dcm-Build%(A), Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(3), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(23), Dcm-Acc/Dmg(46), AchHee-ResDeb%(48)
Level 4: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Flight-I(5)
Level 6: Cosmic Burst -- SprSntWar-Rchg/+Absorb(A), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), SprSntWar-Dmg/Rchg(9), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg(11)
Level 8: Quick Recovery -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(48)
Level 10: Instant Regeneration -- Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(A), Prv-Absorb%(11), Prv-Heal/Rchg(13), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(13), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(46), Prv-Heal(46)
Level 12: Fly -- WntGif-RunSpd/Jump/Fly/Rng(A), WntGif-RunSpd/Jump/Fly/Rng/EndRdx(21)
Level 14: Reconstruction -- UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(15), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(15), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(17), Prv-Heal(17), Prv-Heal/Rchg(19)
Level 16: Dismiss Pain -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(19)
Level 18: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A)
Level 20: Proton Stream -- TchofLadG-%Dam(A), Apc-Dam%(21), Apc-Acc/Rchg(34), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(34), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 22: Integration -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(23)
Level 24: Tough -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(25), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(25), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(27), GldArm-3defTpProc(27), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(29)
Level 26: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(29), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(33)
Level 28: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(36), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(37), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(37), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(37), GssSynFr--ToHit(40)
Level 30: Resilience -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(31), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(31), RctArm-EndRdx/Rchg(33), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 32: Atomic Blast -- Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Arm-Acc/Rchg(42), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(43), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(43)
Level 35: Neutron Bomb -- SprOppStr-Rchg/+Opportunity(A), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), SprOppStr-Dmg/Rchg(45), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg(45)
Level 38: Moment of Glory -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(39), Ksm-ToHit+(39), ImpArm-ResPsi(39), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 41: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 44: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
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 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(31)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(48)
Level 50: Musculature Boost
Level 4: Ninja Run
------------

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, the only thing I am considering changing is swapping out neutron bomb for irradiate. I spend most of my time in the thick of things, and neutron bomb is so slow...

And I have an Ice/SR sentinel as well, who is considerably more.... developed. even with Ice -recharge, and SR's +recharge, the rad/regen was vastly more survivable, So I have to disagree strongly with Kruunch's assessment of SR based on personal experience. Sentinel's version of Instant Regeneration is just that good. It seems to refresh about 50 HP every 4 seconds, but the nearly 200 HP absorption soaks a huge amount of damage.

And, once I can, I will be getting the melee radial embodiment... which will dramatically increase my defense in melee as well as taunting 9 enemies. That is 'ranged tanking'

 

 

So a few of things to unpack here;

 

1) Cimerora is not the hardest chain by any stretch.  You're literally talking about the easiest EBs and AV in the game. 

 

2) You're describing how tough your sentinel is while flying against melee based mobs and having another toon soak the alphas.

 

3) while regen is great when in that type of role, so are most of the sentinel secondaries (i.e. tough enough to survive overflow but not main agro)

 

If you really want to test your survivability, try soloing a Cimerora dark crystal door mission on 8/*. That's more of a litmus test for other content you might find a tad tougher (defense debuffs and neg energy in a cave).

 

Note: this is not to denigrate your regen sentinel, just a reality check on your experience. 

 

Yes SR (and all defense based sets) are a one trick pony. SR (and SD for other ATs) offers an insurance plan in defense debuff resistance. After that it's a basic statistics class which inspirations will see you through the most extreme moments of. 

 

I'd be happy to show you the difference one night on Excelsior (currently working through incarnate stuff on my sentinel).

[FUBARczar]

3 hours ago, Kruunch said:

 

Yes SR (and all defense based sets) are a one trick pony. SR (and SD for other ATs) offers an insurance plan in defense debuff resistance. After that it's a basic statistics class which inspirations will see you through the most extreme moments of. 

 

I'd be happy to show you the difference one night on Excelsior (currently working through incarnate stuff on my sentinel).

let's do it, I have a great Sonic/Bio on Excelsior!

 

and TBH I am happy that there is variety in the game and that different folks find different strokes that suit them.  It's good that there is SR and that you like it.  Personally I choose shield and even Ninjitsu over SR every time, as I do have several such 50s: SD Stalker, Scrapper and Tank and a Nin Scrapper.

[FUBARczar]

and BTW I just have to say that I dislike that Freeze Ray was replaced by Chilling Ray for Sentinels in Ice Blast.  C'mon they could have at least kept the same animation.