Sentinel BR/Invuln build critique

[Chazcon]

I based this build on Sunsette's Beam Rifle and Invulnerability builds from the collaborative post here. My build goals are survivability in a rifle-wielding ranged DPS character. My thematic goal is a tough, futuristic grunt soldier, think Starship Troopers.

 

My main is a tank (long time tank in many games) and I first tried a BR/Martial Blaster but he was so damn squishy (coming from a tank mentality) that I just couldn't stand it. Then I tried a Sentinel BR/Regen but that is an interesting secondary and was a bit squishy as well (to me). Invuln makes me very happy, this BR/Invuln Sent is very tanky. No problem there.

 

I recently hit 50 and have all my enhancements, and have them all boosted +5. I don't have my incarnates yet nor my 4 perm accolades.

 

I ran an ITF last night on 4/8 and I'm thoroughly disappointed in the low damage output of this build. My SD/War Mace tank does more damage. Will getting my incarnates to T4 make this come alive?

 

My main rotation is Piercing Beam, Disintegrate, Lancer Shot, repeat, with Refractor Beam/Cutting Beam/Overcharge mixed in. Trying to proc Disintegrate as much as possible. I don't like the slow windup on Piercing Beam and played with this rotation a bit: Disintegrate, Charged Shot, Lancer Shot. Playing in a group it is difficult to manage the Disintegrate mechanic and maybe that is a solo thing and I should be using Piercing Beam, Charged Shot, Lancer Shot or change my build slightly and do Single Shot, Charged Shot, Lancer Shot.

 

I have Mass Hypnosis in here because I thought it would be useful but I'm yet to use it, it doesn't fit the theme really and I think I'll replace it with Single Shot.

 

The whole purpose of this build was to have a fun alternative to tanking, a ranged DPS soldier who could take a beating while mowing down enemies. But the DPS is really lackluster. Any critique, ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1591&c=721&a=1442&f=HEX&dc=78DA6D94494F136118C7DFA153B165A76529D09DA52D65DA0AEACD85351A300D9C4D33C800636A69DA62E4E837700D5F412FC644044CBC78773DA86C9E3C787239685C2EF59979FE9439B449F37BE7FFBCCFFACE3B3337C6EB1F4DDD3C2BA4C6B1AC5A2C66E6B45C49CF69D9DA4B6A69B5A06685F1ABA57FD7A12533ABE696B405655453AF6566F5C5AC16A898C6B5452D57D4940BB9EBABD99C5650E7F5AC5E5A130DE99595AC32A92F2DD3BEA526F3695A5317B4427159CFD71F3EE7C9E8341FE6F29AB6E099C8EB57944AF07451CFCCA8C5925658EBA48212F47F1F15F895EDE2A52C44CA216A5E81AF99F21BF02DF3D83BE6B908B949A6AF2C7EDA4CADFF17F89B39F007FCCBFC10850BE5933610EF29B37513DC62BAB7999DCF98E7299F8DF3D96C215A0C50DC3033EA03FDCC51DA6BC75E7B4098FEE143F63213EB35263F46F9808C9A6A7738D7F15D708FE9DC070F98CD9F983BE4EB605FC931C871BB1E72DC5DB2D5216E5D9CB5FA2150613626C024B339C51CA3FA1B30DB062FCF2EEE63A6FC60000C321F53BE26F4DC84F388E13C62388F18CE638FF6B6982751B6B73CE1BADD1BCCF64D708BD9B98DBEBEB0EF04D5E6421E17E6DE8BB9C7712E4338178906DB8619B4DDE299F5DE670EDD06EF301377C17B4C1BF976701EA9C35878C9F704D72093CD039BC72D995AB08DB94FBD752367377AEB416F3DE8CD87DE7CE8CD87DE26A9372FE27A11378CB80714D78FB8FE613EA7C00878123CC50C9E065F105D0E314571431C578410AF857AE843AE3EE4EA87AD9D6C11D822B045610B916D10B641BC7371F033D5A8708D4251586BA5FD4968C920E62057EE3D7D9958BB6A7C0B24BBA19563567B84EDC92A5AAA8A365C451BA9A24DCB95EF075D569E575AAE7C1F84847BEA68A67BCF5AF9AB93ECF091C26CFF6ED52EF27BF7CDAA21DF0FAB86BB9F761A53E4D8972D6BD5B29EB7ACFFB5931BD61EF7D1FAB9EB687DC6A2AF1B3A6A7F103AD2FF03FBD5EAAC

Edited March 6, 2020 by Chazcon

[oldskool]

Edit: Re-thinking this... 

 

If you're fresh 50 and you don't have your level shift then any +4 content is going to be bumpy.  If you do get into the melee mix in the ITF, then level 54 goons have a good chance to rip you up.  Sure, against 1 on 1 your defenses have a 5% chance of you getting hit.  Against multiple that chance starts to become more likely over time.  Also, the streak breaker can be a bitch.  Broadsword attacks have a 7.5% defense debuff.  Sentinel Invul's DDR isn't very high.  With the buffed accuracy on +4 enemies and a couple of unlucky hits your defenses will start to go down.  I'm sure you know that, but I feel it is worth pointing out.  A comparison of a fresh 50 vs 54's isn't exactly a fair comparison.  

I happen to like using Disintegrate - Lancer - Piercing Beam.  Lancer triggers the disintegrate effect 100% of the time now, and Piercing Beam will get bonus damage.  Piercing Beam does have a resistance debuff attached to it, but against +4's you're not going to be seeing the full -9.6% effect.  Also, you're damage in general is weakened against +4s.  Again, not really a fair place to compare.  

Single Shot, against a tougher target, will grant you up to 100% regeneration debuff.  Against AVs that can be significant DPS gains.  Offensive Opportunity's bonus damage effect will yield you something like 3~ DPS over time much like Assault.  Its not much, but Sentinels pick up a LOT of pennies.  

Adding 1 PvP toxic dmg proc to Disintegrate and Lancer Shot can net you more DPS too.  

I put 5x Decimation + 1 PvP toxic in Disintegrate.  One of those Decimation's is the build-up proc.  Over time you will trigger it and for 5 seconds you'll get bonus damage. Yay!  

I put 5x Apocalypse in Lancer with 1 PvP toxic.  Piercing Beam is largely fine as is.  You can put the Sentinel's Ward set in either Cutting Beam or Refractor.  You could put 5x Opportunity Strikes in Overcharge plus Achilles' Heel.  

If you're willing to come down on defense you can build up your damage by shifting set bonuses around.  Invulnerability is already very durable and you'll max health easily with Accolades.  

 

It shouldn't be a shock that SD/WM does more damage.  Tankers just got a boost to their damage scalar.  War Mace has been a very strong melee set for a long time.  Melee in general has higher base damage.  Plus Shield also pushes damage.  Tanker Changes + General Melee Superiority + War Mace Outlier + Shield Defense = not a fair comparison to much in the game. 

Incarnate wise, I think you're pushing way too much defense on an AT that doesn't need it.  Musculature Core and Reactive Radial are both solid all purpose damage boosts.  Degenerative Core is also good for tough targets but may be bugged right now.  Assault Radial is my preference over Core but that is kind of a toss up.  

Edited March 6, 2020 by oldskool

[Chazcon]

Thank you oldskool, much to think about here. It's fine-tuning time.

[Chazcon]

Did a bit of work on this today based on oldskool's comments and came up with this slightly modified build. Much better flow.

 

I will tell you Disintegrate - Lancer - Piercing Beam  is the dilly. Very nice. I have Single Shot and Charged Shot available for certain situations. I have no Epic powers - not needed. My endurance management is excellent and I don't think I'll need Ageless here. I'll reserve judgement until later but currently thinking I'll take Barrier or Rebirth maybe for the team components?

 

Thanks again oldskool!

 

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1591&c=727&a=1454&f=HEX&dc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

[oldskool]

12 minutes ago, Chazcon said:

Did a bit of work on this today based on oldskool's comments and came up with this slightly modified build. Much better flow.

 

I will tell you Disintegrate - Lancer - Piercing Beam  is the dilly. Very nice. I have Single Shot and Charged Shot available for certain situations. I have no Epic powers - not needed. My endurance management is excellent and I don't think I'll need Ageless here. I'll reserve judgement until later but currently thinking I'll take Barrier or Rebirth maybe for the team components?

 

Thanks again oldskool!

You're welcome! 

Glad I could help.  

You can build up both Agility Core and Musculature Core.  That just really costs time.  You can then swap between the two for when you feel like you need Agility for the defense/recharge or Musculature for more damage.  With Musculature your Hasten will have 3 seconds of downtime and Piercing Beam will have a gap after your next Lancer/Disintegrate.  Though Musculature is a pretty big damage gain and Charged Shot isn't that bad on DPA as a filler (given how you've slotted everything).  

You may still want Ageless, but consider Ageless Radial for the DDR.  Ageless Radial should shorten the gap on your second and third Piercing Beams enough that using a filler won't be worth it.  If you were intent on keeping Agility, then yeah swap to Barrier for total utility plus silly levels of durability.  Rebirth is also well worth it.  I have Rebirth on my squishier Ninjutsu character and it is pretty awesome.  

[Generator]

I want to thank the both of you for this stuff.  My rampant altitis has me going to my Beam/Inv Sentinel next, and I didn't really have a build set for him yet, so this was an enormous help.

 

Much appreciated.  @oldskool, that's two now.  I think I owe you a beer!  🍻

[Chazcon]

23 hours ago, Generator said:

I want to thank the both of you for this stuff.  My rampant altitis has me going to my Beam/Inv Sentinel next, and I didn't really have a build set for him yet, so this was an enormous help.

 

Much appreciated.  @oldskool, that's two now.  I think I owe you a beer!  🍻

Don't forget to thank Sunsette, this is where it all started - and before I forget my manners - THANK YOU SUNSETTE!

 

With Sunsette's builds as a basis and oldskool's guidance (raises Scotch) this has become a really, really fun character to play.

 

I'm continuing to tweak the build a bit, I have SO much endurance recovery (without Ageless) that I think I can unwind some of that and increase either damage or possibly recharge, I'd like to achieve perma-Hasten with Musculature without decreasing damage output, but that is a lofty goal and we shall see. I'll post it here if I'm successful.

[oldskool]

47 minutes ago, Chazcon said:

I'd like to achieve perma-Hasten with Musculature without decreasing damage output

Where your build is at Agility is a DPS loss compared to Musculature with or without perma-Hasten.  Being a few seconds from perma will be corrected by Ageless. 

So technically you've got the foundation already without tweaking further.  Even without Ageless weaving in the occasional Charged (or Single) Shot isn't that horrible. 

Edited March 11, 2020 by oldskool

[Chazcon]

Agreed and using Musculature currently. Not using Ageless as I haven't had any endurance issues but will take it later to play around with it. You are right the short gap in Hasten is a small matter and I feel that Rebirth is a better choice to give me another heal.

 

Anything I do to try to increase recharge has a significant negative impact on my defenses and/or damage output, so I'm abandoning that idea. Very fun to play as-is.

 

You know, I noticed my build has (6) instances of 7.5% recharge, (5 LotG and 1 Panacea) this violates the Rule of 5 correct? But when I pull one out it drops my Hasten recharge time. Mids is not giving me the usual red text error notification, must be a bug in Mids perhaps?

 

I'll test in-game tonight.

 

 

Edited March 11, 2020 by Chazcon

[Generator]

Of course, all props to Sunsette.  /raises glass

 

@Chazcon, do the LOTG's count as their own thing, or are they the same as every other 7.5% bonus?  The answer to that might be the answer to your quandary.

[oldskool]

The LOTGs are special and they stack with actual set bonuses.  So the 5x LOTG + Panacea is working as intended. 

[Chazcon]

Oh good to know. So this is where I am now (not much different from above):

 

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1605&c=732&a=1464&f=HEX&dc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