Psychic Blast / Super Reflexes

[Greenmantle]

Does anyone have a build they use for this set?  It seems like fun, but I'm new to it.

[oldskool]

Hmm... Yes.  I have one because it is a combo I have in my roster.  I'm not real sure how useful it would be to you since it is not intended to be a leveling plan.  My Psi/SR is one of the few characters I have where I don't wish to exemplar because it is so back loaded on strength.  I also don't run travel powers on any of Sentinels.  This makes replicating everything I do a bit difficult for those that want quality of life things like that.  

So let's look at discussing this combo in two phases.  The first phase is leveling, and the second would be end game.  Actually, I won't spend a lot of time on /SR.  I've talked about it before on this forum, and my approach is almost the same every time I run it.  So if you read anything I post elsewhere on the topic, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.  

Leveling phase... Psy Blast: 

 

Rule #1 of Sentinel Club.  Take everything.  I'm serious.  When you're new and leveling there is very little point in worrying about what sucks and what doesn't.  This isn't just being facetious.  The powers I will suggest you skip later on, may make leveling the character a snore fest on the way to 26+.  So just take everything as you go and use one of the many respecs you automatically get later to dump the crap powers.  

That said, you do not need to heavily invest in Mental Blast.  Its not that great a power and really doesn't need more than 2-3 total slots, tops.  You want some accuracy, and endurance in it while leveling.  If you feel you can spare slots for damage, then great.  It will feel like it hits as a wet noodle from start to finish and there is no set of magic beans to fix it.  Still, having it early on can help close gaps in your attack availability.  Take Psychic Scream to contribute to AoE damage early on.  You can consider skipping it later.  Give Psionic Strike a whirl.  Its overall DPA/DPS kinda sucks later on, but it does hit hard for its animation.  

Things to keep: 

 

TK Blast.  You have to pick one, and TK Blast is really quite good.  
Will Domination.  Its easily one of the best attacks in the set.  

Scramble Thoughts.  It is my opinion that this power is the whole point of why you play Sentinel Psy Blast at all.  It is the highest base damage attack in the entire AT.  My average expected damage per hit (partially due to the proc here) is 700 damage.  Psi resistance?  HAH, eat this... 
Psionic Tornado.  Its your best AoE beside the T9.  
Psychic Wail.  Its your capstone.  Take it.  
Psychic Focus is your temporary buff.  Few good reasons to really skip powers like this.  

For /SR, I've mapped out a basic plan to handle it elsewhere.  That won't change here.  There is no reason to skip powers in this set other than Elude.  Consider taking Elude until you softcap melee/range at least.  If you're tight on a budget you may still want that power.  /SR isn't that hungry for slots and it really is as straight forward as it looks.  Master Brawler is generally the better choice over Practiced Brawler (you can only pick one).  

Now, for the full build concept of phase 2 I went for the following: 

Dump Mental Blast, Psychic Scream, and Psionic Strike (I kept it for a while, but its gone now).  

Replace those conceptually with Mind Probe, Dominate, and Psychic Shockwave.  Psionic Mastery Epic Pool is just amazing.  Psy Blast + Mastery is like Peanut Butter and Jelly.  Those power picks also allow me to take Link Minds.  It is very much like a wannabe Fortunata but with the DDR that build wishes it had.  

My build does abuse procs in Dominate.  In fact, it has just one Accuracy/Endurance slot and everything else is a damage proc.  This helps add some diversity beyond just psionic damage against resistance late game enemies, but really it adds crunch.  Mind Probe is amazing in melee, but I don't always need to be there.  TK Blast, Will Dom, Scramble, and Dominate all contribute a lot of single target damage.  

[Greenmantle]

Very well thought out.  Would you mind sharing your build?

[kiramon]

Does scramble do base damage or is it a proc machine too

[oldskool]

20 minutes ago, kiramon said:

Does scramble do base damage or is it a proc machine too

Largely base damage, but I do run 2 damage procs.  The base cooldown on Scramble is 20 seconds with a 3 second animation.  Even with modified recharge there is still a very strong probability that the Gladiator's Javelin will trigger.  

Without any procs the damage is over 500 pts.  That's considering everything from set bonuses, Assault, Interface, and Alpha slot.

[Edit: Forgot to note, I'm also averaging in other effects like the minor contributions of Decimation and native Opportunity.    So technically without all bells and whistles rolling the damage is around 477 and the procs bring it to 634.  During Aim + Gausian's it's at 722/879.  When the stars align and absolutely everything is running the damage potential is pretty ridiculous.] 

Edited June 5, 2020 by oldskool

[nihilii]

1 hour ago, kiramon said:

Does scramble do base damage or is it a proc machine too

Scramble Thoughts is basically Total Focus at range. It works well with procs due to a long animation and long recharge, but doesn't need any to perform.

 

oldskool listed some good numbers, and that's just solo. Once you throw in team buffs/debuffs... Yum. I see my friend's Psy/SR hit 4 digits left and right against level 54s whenever I bring my heavy -res debuffers.

I like to run WillDom -> Dominate -> Mind Probe -> WillDom -> Scramble Thoughts for an attack chain. If melee is impossible, replace Mind Probe with TK Blast (which you need every now and then for Opportunity anyway).

[oldskool]

On 6/5/2020 at 3:44 PM, Greenmantle said:

Would you mind sharing your build?

I've thought about it, and I'm leaning against it.  Builds can be personal things.  I make decisions based on my preferences, and these aren't really considerations I make for broader consumption.  

I do post builds on occasion, but I generally try to keep these as tailor made ones where I am looking to help someone think about something.  

I'm the kind of person that believes that if you give a person a fish they will eat for a night, but if you teach a person to fish they will eat for the rest of their life.  Posting builds without context is equal to just giving out fish. 

[kiramon]

I didn’t notice it was changed for sentinel 

[oldskool]

3 hours ago, kiramon said:

I didn’t notice it was changed for sentinel 

Every single set experienced some kind of change.  The obvious stuff is all T9 powers being fairly normalized on recharge.  

Water Blast had the least amount of change next to Dual Pistols and probably Sonic Blast (I guess Rad too).  Those three sets basically keep all the same powers.  Water Blast has two powers that switch places (Dehydrate and Whirlpool) but that's about it.  Dual Pistols gained damage on Suppressive Fire (which swaps with Bullet Rain for selection) but is otherwise fairly the same.  Sonic Blast gained a damage increase on Screech but generally is the same.  Being able to dump Shout though is a pretty nice change.  

All others lost a snipe and gain a replacement.  Any other CC powers were changed too.  

Assault Rifle is almost an entirely different set.  

[kiramon]

28 minutes ago, oldskool said:

Every single set experienced some kind of change.  The obvious stuff is all T9 powers being fairly normalized on recharge.  

Water Blast had the least amount of change next to Dual Pistols and probably Sonic Blast (I guess Rad too).  Those three sets basically keep all the same powers.  Water Blast has two powers that switch places (Dehydrate and Whirlpool) but that's about it.  Dual Pistols gained damage on Suppressive Fire (which swaps with Bullet Rain for selection) but is otherwise fairly the same.  Sonic Blast gained a damage increase on Screech but generally is the same.  Being able to dump Shout though is a pretty nice change.  

All others lost a snipe and gain a replacement.  Any other CC powers were changed too.  

Assault Rifle is almost an entirely different set.  

I didn’t notice much difference on AR so I’d love to know in details besides the initial power movement / replacement. 

[oldskool]

1 hour ago, kiramon said:

I didn’t notice much difference on AR so I’d love to know in details besides the initial power movement / replacement. 

Really?  

The T2 spot was changed.  Slug moved out and replaced with Disorienting Shot.  Disorienting Shot is a new power that is a spiritual successor to Beanbag.  Disorienting Shot, like Burst, is a fast animating and recharging attack.  So the Sentinel AR has a very quick 1, 2, punch attack sequence early on.  Disorienting Shot can be a pretty good T2 all on its own.  

Slug moves into the spot of M30 Grenade and doesn't really gain anything with this change which is a shame.  Sentinel slug is just a lower base scalar version of the Blaster power just bumped up a few tiers.  Slug is somewhat underwhelming compared to Disorienting Shot.  This means the Sentinel can potentially value Burst, Disorienting Shot, and the snipe replacement.  That's not how I run it.  I use damage procs in Slug and devalue Disorienting Shot, but Sentinel AR is actually a complex beast to really understand.  I've gotten to a point where it has grown on me because I like how my build turned out, but I've tried multiple combos to get to a place I am happy with.  It could use some love for sure. 

Beanbag is gone.  Beanbag is effectively converted to Disorienting Shot and the selection slot is replaced by Aim.  Sentinel AR actually gets Aim! 

Sniper Rifle is gone and replaced with M30 Grenade.  The single-target nature of Sniper Rifle isn't entirely removed but it becomes something else.  

Ignite is replaced.  Incinerator is a new power that is a single-target heavy damage-over-time effect.  It is like a Frankenstein's monster of a heavy ST attack (Sniper Rifle) and the conceptual idea of Ignite (FIRE!!!!).  

Burst, Buckshot, Flamethrower, and Full Auto are all in the same positions.  Buckshot and Flamethrower have lower target caps, but don't let that fool you.  Flamethrower is pretty damn good on Sentinel AR.  M30 Grenade is actually a power I skipped and I don't miss it at all.  I generally take the sphere attacks on Sentinels, but in this case I felt it wasn't necessary.  

[EnjoyTheJourney]

This is a bit of a thread necro, but still hopefully interesting for those who read this forum.

 

This thread was very helpful for fleshing out how to put together a concept build. It is a very backloaded build that is quite expensive to put together. Plus, the defense totals don't support soloing incarnate content, at least not without some tweaks. But, some testing on the beta server suggests that it should play quite well in endgame content while on a team. 

 

Feedback on how to improve the build is, of course, highly welcome. 

 

Here is what I've put together in Mids (data chunk is further down, in case some prefer that):

 

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!

Psyence: Level 50 Mutation Sentinel
Primary Power Set: Psychic Blast
Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Telekinetic Blast -- Apc-Dam%(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Apc-Dmg(29), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(31), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(31)
Level 1: Focused Fighting -- ShlWal-Def(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(3), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(3), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(7)
Level 2: Focused Senses -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(9), Rct-EndRdx/Rchg(9), Rct-Def/Rchg(11), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Rct-ResDam%(13)
Level 4: Agile -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(17)
Level 6: Will Domination -- SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg(A), SprSntWar-Dmg/Rchg(15), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), SprSntWar-Rchg/+Absorb(21)
Level 8: Psychic Focus -- HO:Cyto(A)
Level 10: Master Brawler -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Absorb%(13), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(21), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(23), Prv-Heal/Rchg(25), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(25)
Level 12: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), WntGif-ResSlow(15)
Level 14: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Enduring -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 18: Psionic Tornado -- PstBls-Dam%(A), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(27), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(34), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), PstBls-Acc/Dmg(39), FrcFdb-Rechg%(42)
Level 20: Dodge -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 22: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(23), UnbGrd-Max HP%(33)
Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(31), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(33)
Level 26: Scramble Thoughts -- SprOppStr-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), SprOppStr-Rchg/+Opportunity(42), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg(43), GldJvl-Dam%(43)
Level 28: Quickness -- Flight-I(A)
Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 32: Psychic Wail -- Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(33), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Arm-Dmg(37), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(40), ScrDrv-Dam%(40)
Level 35: Evasion -- RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFrt-Def/Rchg(36), RedFrt-EndRdx/Rchg(36), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36), RedFrt-Def(37), RedFrt-EndRdx(39)
Level 38: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 41: Mind Probe -- Hct-Dam%(A), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Hct-Dmg(43), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(46), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 44: Psychic Shockwave -- ScrDrv-Acc/Dmg(A), ScrDrv-Dam%(45), Erd-%Dam(45), Obl-%Dam(45), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(46)
Level 47: Dominate -- GldJvl-Acc/Dmg(A), GldJvl-Dam%(48), UnbCns-Dam%(48), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(48), GldNet-Dam%(50), NrnSht-Dam%(50)
Level 49: Link Minds -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(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 -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(5), Mrc-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(5)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(7)
Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon 
Level 50: Reactive Radial Flawless Interface 
Level 50: Assault Core Embodiment 
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve 
Level 0: Portal Jockey 
Level 0: Task Force Commander 
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion 
Level 50: Rebirth Total Radial Invocation 
Level 50: Longbow Core Superior Ally 
Level 50: Pyronic Core Final Judgement 
------------

 

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Edited January 20, 2021 by EnjoyTheJourney

[CaptTastic]

I have to say my Psy/SR is right up there for me as far as Sentinels go. 
 

I’m no @oldskoolwhen it comes to Sentinels but I have quite a few now who have been played all the way to T4 incarnate, and there is something I really like about Psy/SR. 

 

Obviously a thematic synergy with Psi Mastery helps, as I’m a slave to the thematic in general, but that is far from the whole story. 
 

Properly slotted (procced), Domination and Scramble Thoughts give you two huge ST attacks, and both have just a 5-6 second recharge, so there’s that.
 

Then you also have the Psychic Shockwave and Psychic Wail PBAOE double quick punch with a Psionic Tornado chucked in as well. Fire has better AOE, without a doubt, but I think if you compare anything to fire in terms of damage you’re on a hiding to nothing. 
 

For me, it’s a particularly good set to pair with SR. You already have soft-capped defences and the only way to enhance the 5% rule is reduce the amount of incoming attacks, which Psychic blast’s soft controls (slows and stuns) do. 
 

Psychic blast isn’t perfect, of course. The slow speeds the blasts travel is a frustration. On big teams things can be dead between the time I attack something at full health and those blasts actually arriving at their target. 
 

But you know what? There is something about the combination that is just really good fun. For me personally, it has that little x-factor that doesn’t show up on Mids.