Proc Question

[Mutant X-7]

Working on a Dark/SR and have a build put together, but it sounds like adding procs to your attacks is key to upping DPS, how many procs per attack should I be looking to slot. Is 1 enough with 4-5 slots from a Damage set, or should I be looking to slot 2-3 per attack and 3 slotting from a damage set?

[Bopper]

2 minutes ago, Mutant X-7 said:

Working on a Dark/SR and have a build put together, but it sounds like adding procs to your attacks is key to upping DPS, how many procs per attack should I be looking to slot. Is 1 enough with 4-5 slots from a Damage set, or should I be looking to slot 2-3 per attack and 3 slotting from a damage set?

That question greatly depends on the base damage of your attacks. The thing I always look at is what is the expected damage of adding a proc as opposed to slotting damage enhancement. The other thing I consider is if I can afford the extra endurance it might cost me and the lost accuracy. Until you are comfortable enough with understanding how procs work, I recommend keep it simple with just 1 or 2 procs per attack while still slotting as you normally would intend.

[oldskool]

Nice to see you here @Bopper.  

Just to add some more thoughts.  

SR's got you covered on defense.  Enduring can be slotted to stack endurance recovery as if you were running Willpower.  What you don't get out of the box is accuracy.  

When you start playing with procs you reduce overall global set bonuses.  Some of the most available bonuses around are +accuracy.  The Kismet +6% to-hit unique helps offset losses and only costs 1 slot within all of the ample defense powers you can have.  I'd considered it.  

When attacking enemies that are +4 levels over you the accuracy you have will drop considerably.  You can set this in the configurations in Mids vs the default 75%.  Drop it 39% to see if you're still in the 95% range against +4 enemies.  That accuracy is relevant if you plan to exemplar below level 45.  Your Incarnates can make you into a 50+1 therefore changing endgame enemies into level 53's.  To hit them reliably, change the settings to show 48% as the base accuracy of your powers vs 75%.  

That will help you start to map out what the build is going to look like when you start gutting set bonuses for procs and will tell you if you need to add in Tactics on top of the 6% Kismet.  This is all about just how far you want to go too.  You can run lower accuracy but you will miss hits against higher leveled enemies more often.  

Dark Blast as a set has two gems when it comes to proc slot opportunities.  Abyssal Gaze and Life Drain.  Abyssal Gaze can take on all of the normal ranged damage set options, accurate to-hit debuff option (Cloud Senses), and holds.  The Hold category lets Abyssal Gaze use the Unbreakable Constraint proc which is a substantial damage gain.  An Epic Hold (like Dominate) can have a longer cooldown allowing for a more reliable proc chance for the same proc.  So that is something to consider.  If you're not using an Epic hold for that purpose, then by all means consider Unbreakable Constraint in Abyssal Gaze.  

Life Drain, in my opinion, is a rather lack luster power on Sentinels but it has multiple proc options (ranged damage, accurate to-hit, healing).  If you take this power, then it should have as many procs as practical in order to make it worth casting.  The heal isn't that great and its overall damage isn't either.  

Overcoming to-hit/accuracy/endurance/ED damage... 

You can get decent accuracy in your powers and some endurance reduction in just 3 slots.  You can get fairly high to ED-range damage in those 3 slots too.  The Alpha slots can push your enhanced damage well over 100%.  

There are a number of ways to handle this.  One way to go is use 3x Thunderstrikes.  Use only the Acc/Dmg, Acc/Dmg/End, and Dmg/End.  Use boosters to increase these by +5. That will get you to 59.62% Accuracy, 89.92% Damage, and 59.62% Endurance.  Musculature Core Alpha pushes my damage modification to 126.16%.  Alternatively you could slot a +3 Hamidon Nucleolus Exposure, a generic level 50 damage IO, and a Dmg/End of your choice.  That will get you 38.30% Accuracy (which in one of my builds is 92% accuracy vs 95% --- against +4's), 98.66% damage, and 33.13% endurance modification.  With Musculature Core Alpha the damage enhancement becomes 130.91%.  Another ways is to use some of the Winter IO sets.  Specifically the Accuracy/Damage and Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (i.e., Winter's Bite).  Some of the other sets in the AoE categories (i.e., Frozen Blast) also have a Dmg/End too.  Finally, you could eschew worrying about endurance entirely and just use 2 slots to push enough accuracy to hit whatever level range you intent to play in plus a bit of damage.  Then you can cram in 4-6 procs if you really wanted (you'd likely need Tactics for the ability to hit). 

If you seek to ED cap damage (prior to Alpha slots) then you will eek out a slight DPS gain.  You may sacrifice some endurance but you may be able to handle that depending on your build.  You can certainly handle it if you're planning to run Ageless.  Again, exemplar content can be considered to determine if your endurance drain will be impacted much (if at all).  

I happen to use 3x Thunderstrikes in a lot of my builds due to the minor bonuses within that set (some end recovery and ranged defense).  Any of the other methods can be good choices if you weigh the consequences.  For me, a loss of -4% over-ED damage modification isn't that much of a worry.  

I've spent a lot of time writing about the ability to hit, but attack sequence is also important.  That will be designed by your global recharge.  If you intend to mostly use Abyssal Gaze, Antumbral Beam, and Life Drain, then you won't need to worry too much about the slotting of either Dark Blast/Gloom.  You're forced to pick one, but you're not forced to devote a lot of slots to it.  So if neither are integral to your attack chain, then you don't need to worry about damage procs there.  Instead decide if you want to slot it to mule a set or not bother with it beyond a single accuracy enhancement (it needs to successfully hit in order for the inherent to work). 

Finally, when trying to push damage the highest it can go for Sentinels the strongest power set isn't a primary set.  Its Psychic Mastery for the combination of Dominate and Mind Probe.  Other epic choices with a relatively quick recharging hold + melee attack are also good (i.e., Fire Mastery or Darkness Mastery).