Secondaries for Elec/ or Dark/

[StriderIV]

Hey all,

 

So here I was, tanking for an ITF, when this Elec/Elec Sentinel has the GALL to leap frog me between camps and tank some mobs herself.

 

All that being said, I was very impressed 😛

 

I'm looking to build a Sentinel myself, and I've settled on either Elec/ or Dark/ as my primary. Both are thematically cool, as well as seeming to have pretty good synergy with the Sentinel Archetype.

 

That being said, I'm not sure what secondaries have the best synergy with either of those primaries! Elec/Elec sounds GREAT, but I just want to make sure I'm looking at all my options and not overlooking anything.

 

Would any of you Sentinel Savants be so kind as to let me know any secondaries you feel have a really good synergy with either of those 2 primaries?

 

[oldskool]

"Synergy" is pretty loose.  Electrical Blast can perform some end drain.  If you're looking for more of that in secondary powers, then Elec Armor or Energy Aura may be what you're looking for.  However, you don't have to push the endurance sap gimmick.  You can though and if you did those two secondary sets would help.  You could also tap into the Electricity Mastery epic for the toggle Lightning Field power.  Sentinel armor sets do not have the PBAoE damage fields that exist in the melee versions, but that particular epic power brings it back into the kit.  In fact, you can get pretty creative with several epic powers beyond pushing m0Ar damage.  

Dark Blast is the little black dress (yuk yuk) of Sentinel sets.  It goes with everything.  This is due to having to-hit debuffing in each attack which can contribute as a minor mitigation benefit.  This isn't nearly as good as having a Parry-like melee attack, but this is as close as Sentinels get.  Dark Blast's T9 power is PBAoE and so there is some synergy there with stealth mechanics.  Ninjutsu grants you some stealth in one of the powers and this stacks with the stealth IOs.  This makes jumping into melee and dumping Blackstar pretty safe.  Targets struck by this suffer a massive debuff which can have a noticeable effect even against +4 enemies.   

Beyond those basics, there could be room to go into the weeds about how you may wish to slot the final build.  That too may influence what kind of secondary you want to play and which primary to pair it with.  If you're wanting to use a lot of damage procs, then you're not going to gain a lot of set bonuses.  This makes a great case to run more self-contained secondaries that don't need that kind of IO slotting.  Or, if you don't care that much about pushing extreme mitigation layers you can take the hit on sets and run any secondary.  Or, or, you can stack a ton of set bonuses and go really extreme with it.  

That advice has the underlying decision question of what is more important to your gameplay goals.  Is it squeezing out highly optimized damage or just making the tankiest Sentinel you can? Does that even matter to you?  

Last note, Sentinels can be a little bit bumpy as they cut their teeth leveling up.  Their inherent seems fickle and nearly useless to some players.  Unfortunately, the design goal of the inherent doesn't start to realize its potential until you start piling a lot of recharge.  By the time you do that, the feature that matters more is the -20% resistance shred and not the Offensive or Defense feature.  Those two features have diminishing value for a range of reasons.  The nice thing about this you don't *have* to take both.  However, in Electrical Blast both Charged Bolts and Lightning Bolt *are* good powers.  Dark Blast and Gloom can also have a place in your build but Gloom isn't critical.  

[CaptTastic]

I’d recommend Resist sets for Dark Blast synergy. On defence sets you’re likely going to be shooting for the def cap anyway, so resist sets make the most of the -tohit. 
 

I think a secondary with a strong PBAOE also works great with Dark Blast as you can fire off a good one-two punch with the nuke. So /fire and /Rad would be great choices. 
 

As for Elec Blast, it’s hard to look past /Elec and /NRG. I have a Elec/Elec/Elec and he’s a beast, but the sapping + defence of Elec/NRG sounds brilliant. No endurance means fewer attacks, and that’s really maximises a defence set. 
 

It depends what you want out of your Sentinel though. If you’re looking to show off a bit and run ahead like the guy you mentioned in the ITF, you’ll need a sturdy old Sentinel. Invul would be a great choice then, and /fire wouldn’t be. 

Edited February 13, 2021 by CaptTastic

[StriderIV]

5 hours ago, oldskool said:

"Synergy" is pretty loose.  Electrical Blast can perform some end drain.  If you're looking for more of that in secondary powers, then Elec Armor or Energy Aura may be what you're looking for.  However, you don't have to push the endurance sap gimmick.  You can though and if you did those two secondary sets would help.  You could also tap into the Electricity Mastery epic for the toggle Lightning Field power.  Sentinel armor sets do not have the PBAoE damage fields that exist in the melee versions, but that particular epic power brings it back into the kit.  In fact, you can get pretty creative with several epic powers beyond pushing m0Ar damage.  

Dark Blast is the little black dress (yuk yuk) of Sentinel sets.  It goes with everything.  This is due to having to-hit debuffing in each attack which can contribute as a minor mitigation benefit.  This isn't nearly as good as having a Parry-like melee attack, but this is as close as Sentinels get.  Dark Blast's T9 power is PBAoE and so there is some synergy there with stealth mechanics.  Ninjutsu grants you some stealth in one of the powers and this stacks with the stealth IOs.  This makes jumping into melee and dumping Blackstar pretty safe.  Targets struck by this suffer a massive debuff which can have a noticeable effect even against +4 enemies.   

Beyond those basics, there could be room to go into the weeds about how you may wish to slot the final build.  That too may influence what kind of secondary you want to play and which primary to pair it with.  If you're wanting to use a lot of damage procs, then you're not going to gain a lot of set bonuses.  This makes a great case to run more self-contained secondaries that don't need that kind of IO slotting.  Or, if you don't care that much about pushing extreme mitigation layers you can take the hit on sets and run any secondary.  Or, or, you can stack a ton of set bonuses and go really extreme with it.  

That advice has the underlying decision question of what is more important to your gameplay goals.  Is it squeezing out highly optimized damage or just making the tankiest Sentinel you can? Does that even matter to you?  

Last note, Sentinels can be a little bit bumpy as they cut their teeth leveling up.  Their inherent seems fickle and nearly useless to some players.  Unfortunately, the design goal of the inherent doesn't start to realize its potential until you start piling a lot of recharge.  By the time you do that, the feature that matters more is the -20% resistance shred and not the Offensive or Defense feature.  Those two features have diminishing value for a range of reasons.  The nice thing about this you don't *have* to take both.  However, in Electrical Blast both Charged Bolts and Lightning Bolt *are* good powers.  Dark Blast and Gloom can also have a place in your build but Gloom isn't critical.  

You’re a muse, Oldskool. Appreciate you!

[StriderIV]

2 hours ago, CaptTastic said:

I’d recommend Resist sets for Dark Blast synergy. On defence sets you’re likely going to be shooting for the def cap anyway, so resist sets make the most of the -tohit. 
 

I think a secondary with a strong PBAOE also works great with Dark Blast as you can fire off a good one-two punch with the nuke. So /fire and /Rad would be great choices. 
 

As for Elec Blast, it’s hard to look past /Elec and /NRG. I have a Elec/Elec/Elec and he’s a beast, but the sapping + defence of Elec/NRG sounds brilliant. No endurance means fewer attacks, and that’s really maximises a defence set. 
 

It depends what you want out of your Sentinel though. If you’re looking to show off a bit and run ahead like the guy you mentioned in the ITF, you’ll need a sturdy old Sentinel. Invul would be a great choice then, and /fire wouldn’t be. 

Thanks so much Cap! I’ve been scouring these forums a bit and have read a few of your posts, so super happy to see you chime in!

 

I think Elec/Elec/Elec could be a good way to go if I want to build out a tankier Sent. Perhaps swap in EA. If you ever have any builds/recommendations for those combos, I’d love to see them =]

[StriderIV]

2 hours ago, CaptTastic said:

I’d recommend Resist sets for Dark Blast synergy. On defence sets you’re likely going to be shooting for the def cap anyway, so resist sets make the most of the -tohit. 
 

I think a secondary with a strong PBAOE also works great with Dark Blast as you can fire off a good one-two punch with the nuke. So /fire and /Rad would be great choices. 
 

As for Elec Blast, it’s hard to look past /Elec and /NRG. I have a Elec/Elec/Elec and he’s a beast, but the sapping + defence of Elec/NRG sounds brilliant. No endurance means fewer attacks, and that’s really maximises a defence set. 
 

It depends what you want out of your Sentinel though. If you’re looking to show off a bit and run ahead like the guy you mentioned in the ITF, you’ll need a sturdy old Sentinel. Invul would be a great choice then, and /fire wouldn’t be. 

Also, do any of these combos (outside of /bio) fair better against AV’s? I could see Dark/Rad doing decent.

[CaptTastic]

2 hours ago, StriderIV said:

Also, do any of these combos (outside of /bio) fair better against AV’s? I could see Dark/Rad doing decent.

Well AVs don’t, in my experience at least, require anything more than enough recharge to cycle your biggest attacks and enough survivability to last the fight. They’ll resist just about all the -tohit from dark. Opportunity becomes an underrated asset against an AV.  
 

I’ve successfully solo’d, for example, an ITF on a fire/sr Sentinel which are probably the two most basic click-and-go sets around. Others have done similar far more impressively than me too. 

 

But yes, I’d say dark/rad would be a good combo generally. A good PBAOE punch, good survivability, and a lot of proc potential. I must confess though that I’ve never played on so my opinion is based solely on the theory. 

Edited February 13, 2021 by CaptTastic

[Saikochoro]

I know this thread is a little old, but figured I'd reply to throw my vote in for Dark Blast/Invulnerability.  I recently made a sentinel with this combo and I am really enjoying it.

 

Heres my build:

-Softcapped defenses

-Capped s/l resists, decent f/c, moderate e/n/t.  Does have a psi hole, but I'm not too worried about it.

-Darks -to-hit pairs nicely with invuln and I take life drain to cover some healing.

-Not nearly as damaging as my fire/bio sent, but not horrible either.  Much tankier though.

Spoiler

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Mutation Sentinel
Primary Power Set: Dark Blast
Secondary Power Set: Invulnerability
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Gloom -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Temp Invulnerability -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(3), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(3), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(5)
Level 2: Resist Physical Damage -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(7), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(7), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9)
Level 4: Durability -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 6: Abyssal Gaze -- SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprOppStr-Dmg/Rchg(40), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), SprOppStr-Rchg/+Opportunity(45)
Level 8: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%(A)
Level 10: Dull Pain -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(13), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(13), Prv-Heal/Rchg(15), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(21), Prv-Absorb%(21)
Level 12: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(15), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(19), Rct-ResDam%(50)
Level 16: Unyielding -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(17), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(17), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 18: Antumbral Beam -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Apc-Acc/Rchg(37), Apc-Dam%(39), CldSns-%Dam(39)
Level 20: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), RctArm-EndRdx(49), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(49), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(50), RctArm-EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 22: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(23), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(23)
Level 24: Environmental Resistance -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(25), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(25), UnbGrd-Max HP%(34), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 26: Life Drain -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(27), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(29), Prv-Heal(31)
Level 28: Invincible -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(39), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(40)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(31), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(31)
Level 32: Blackstar -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(33), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Arm-Acc/Rchg(33), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Obl-%Dam(34)
Level 35: Tough Hide -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def(36), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(36)
Level 38: Mind Probe -- SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(46), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(47), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(48), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(48)
Level 41: Dark Obliteration -- SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(A), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(42), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(43), SprFrzBls-Rchg/ImmobProc(43)
Level 44: Unstoppable -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(47)
Level 49: Super Jump -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Opportunity 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(45), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(46)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(46)
Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon 
Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment 
Level 50: Degenerative Radial Flawless Interface 
Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany 
Level 50: Portal Jockey 
Level 50: Task Force Commander 
Level 50: The Atlas Medallion 
Level 50: Freedom Phalanx Reserve 
------------

 

Snapshot of totals: