DP/Nin Build Help

[Clearshot]

I'm nearing lvl 50 on my solo sentinel and unfortunately don't have access to mids because of Catalina on my mac. Would anyone be able to share their builds for me to take a look at so I have a better idea what sets I should be going for? 

 

I'm choosing psy for the epic pool because of thematic reasons, though the immob powers in the other sets are really tempting because enemies decide to run to the other side of the map when I use Hail of Bullets. Is this just a general sentinel problem?

[oldskool]

8 hours ago, Clearshot said:

Would anyone be able to share their builds for me to take a look at so I have a better idea what sets I should be going for? 

How is sharing the build going to help without Mids?  I'll just write out suggestions then. 

 

8 hours ago, Clearshot said:

I'm choosing psy for the epic pool because of thematic reasons, though the immob powers in the other sets are really tempting because enemies decide to run to the other side of the map when I use Hail of Bullets. Is this just a general sentinel problem?

It's anybody problem.  Tankers and Brutes can stick enemies due to taunt mechanics.  Enemies will flee when they take damage even as Scrappers, Stalkers, etc...  

I've use the Caltrops power from the Ninja Tools pool to actively encourage enemy running.  That power slows them though so it isn't as disruptive as it sounds.  There are a few advantages to that strategy.  1) Fleeing enemies aren't attacking which is damage reduction in its own right. 2) It keeps enemies out of melee range where they would do more damage anyway.  3) My range is a strength here.  Shooting them in the back isn't nearly as annoying as chasing them as a melee.  

Not encouraging you change from Psi.   Its a really powerful set.  Just noting that running enemies can be exploited if you plan for it.  You're Nin though.  You don't need to worry about enemies running from Hail of Bullets if you can get the drop on them.  And.... you can.   Shinobi-Iri + Stealth IO reduces aggro down to the point where you should be able to launch Hail of Bullets before Enemies notice you.  At the end of the animation the power will knockdown some of the targets if running an elemental ammo or all of them if you run just standard (all being all 10 targets successfully struck).  Even if they start running at the beginning of the animation as long as they were hit by it they will take damage.  

 

With Psi Mastery, especially Link Minds, you can soft-cap the positional defenses far easier than without.  You can do this on fairly minimal slotting too which is fantastic.  You may want to increase slots for other bonuses, but a bare minimum approach will still get you there.  I'll walk you through some ideas and you can ponder them.  

First off, let's talk powers you can skip.  You can't take everything and you don't need to.   

You can skip Dual Wield and Piercing Rounds.  You don't need Defensive Opportunity when you have both Seishin-teki Kyoyo and Kuji-in Sha.  With high recharge either of those clicky powers will keep you topped off.  Dual Wield, unless you're building it out with procs, is a damage loss when compared to your other options.  It's an OK power but you have far better choices.  Same goes for Piercing Rounds.  Piercing Rounds has been a DPS loss for me every time I've had it.  So I no longer take it unless I am building something very specific with it (as I do on my Defender).  

In Nin you can skip Blinding Powder and Kuji-In Retsu.  You don't need either.  Period. 

 

This means in Pistols you should take: 

Pistols 

Empty Clips

Suppressive Fire

Swap Ammo

Bullet Rain 

Executioner's Shot

Hail of Bullets

 

Swap Ammo cannot be enhanced.  Everything else should get 6 slots.  I tend to prefer trying to get Pistols, Executioner's Shot, and Suppressive Fire to run at least 3 procs each.  These can be 1 utility plus 2 damage or whatever combination you wish.  The two ATOs can go in Bullet Rain/Empty Clips.  Neither of these are dramatic improvements to Sentinels; which is unlike the ATOs in other ATs.  They are good for their bonuses, especially the 10% global recharge.  Hail of Bullets should get the Purple PBAoE set (5 slots of it at least) if you can afford it.  Slap the PvP -resistance proc as the 6th slot whenever you can.  Its a damage boost.  Alternatively, you could put Force Feedback Chance for Recharge there.  

 

For Nin you should take:

Ninja Reflexes 

Danger Sense

Shinobi-Iri

Kuji-In Rin

Seishin-teki Kyoyo

Kuji-In Sha

Bo Ryaku

 

Kuji-In Rin doesn't need additional slots.  Bo Ryaku doesn't "need" extra slots either.  You may find yourself running out of slots so putting that as a low priority isn't that big a deal.  

Any of the +plus defense powers only need a total of 3 slots to be effective when you have Link Minds in the build.  I'd recommend adding a 4th slot to one of them for the Kismet +accuracy.  That's fairly important if you're pushing procs in the attack powers and a little less important if you're stacking +accuracy (still try to make room for it anyway as an anti-debuff measure).  

Kuji-In Sha can work on a few slots or all 6.  All 6 means you should be planning to use Preventative Medicine for the full bonus.  Otherwise some other sets like Doctored Wounds or Panacea can work at 5 slots for their recharge bonuses.  

Seishin-Teki Kyoyo doesn't need more than a few slots either.  6 slot Performance Shifter can be a thought if you need AoE defense, but otherwise you just want to drive the recharge down a bit.  You can easily get this power into a 17-20 second recharge range with some minimal slotting and global recharge.  If you're burning endurance faster than this power can keep up, then something is wrong.  Dual Pistols isn't that heavy on endurance. 

 

That's about it.  Luck of the Gambler is one of your best bets for sets since you can get additional 7.5% global recharge out of it 5 times.  It stacks with other 7.5% set bonuses (the LotG effect is not consider a set bonus at all).  

You should consider taking Boxing or Kick to unlock Tough and Weave.  You don't need more than 2-3 slots here.  Tough and Bo Ryaku can both take one of, or both, of the 3% global defense IOs.  That's an easy 6% defense to everything.  Weave can be another LotG carrier.  

Consider taking Maneuvers and 2-3 slot it.  Put something like Reactive Defense (defense, def/end, scaling resistance) in there.  Consider taking Assault too.  Its minor damage but it will buff allies too.  Combat Jumping is also nice to have and grants a spot to put either a generic defense IO or the PvP 5% resistance or whatever you want.  

 

Strongly consider Hasten. 

 

In Psi - 

Mind Probe 

Dominate 

Link Minds

 

Mind Probe and Dominate can add a lot of damage.  Mind Probe with at least 5 slots can hold the purple melee set or some other beneficial global recharge set like Crushing Impact.  You don't need that power for defense sets but those can be options too.  

 

Dominate can be made into a damage monster with 6 lots using mostly damage procs.  You can also just use it as a hold and go minimal slots for global recharge with Basilisk's Gaze.  

 

Link Minds - slot it with some defense sets.  Ideally you want some def/rch or def/rch/end in that power to get it closer to a 90 second recharge.  

 

 

If you're following along, every single power mentioned here adds up to the 24 power picks you're limited to.  It also accounts for most of the slots.  The remaining slots can be put into Health and Stamina.  Health using the 4 unique procs is a good way to handle those slots.  Stamina should get a Performance Shifter +end if nothing else.  

The above also gets you at least 45% defense to Melee/Range/AoE during Link Minds and at least 150% global recharge to get you started.  

With those metrics you're Alpha Slot for the Incarnates has no real need to get Agility at all.  You can go for Musculature and buff your damage further.  Your Interface and Hybrid slots can also be damage oriented as much of your defense is already taken care of.  Your Destiny slot can be whatever you want to fill in your gaps.  You don't need Ageless but it can be nice.  Ageless does have a path which adds Defense Debuff Resistance (Radial Epiphany path) which is really handy for Nin.  You're not going to hard cap resistances on Nin so Barrier also becomes attractive.  Rebirth's healing can have a noticeable impact on high defense builds.  I think it is an underrated Destiny.

 

P.S. You don't need a travel power with Shinobi-Iri + Ninja Run + Sprint.  It's about as fast as default Flight with more than enough vertical mobility to leap over obstacles.  You can dump Assault for a travel power or even for a 1 slot wonder with Mass Hypnosis.  Nothing above is locked in stone but merely one way of putting it all together.  

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by oldskool
some typos;not all though