Nrg/Nrg Speedster Advice or No its not a make me a build thread

[The_Warpact]

Couple things first...this is not a "can't you post a Mids build for me" thread, secondly, I have yet to make a Sent. That being said, my question is advice or better yet let me explain my thoughts, I intend to make this toon as a ranged blitz attack style, the secondary will be purely for ranged def and probably S/L because caves, council bases, the claustrophobic areas..you get it. So can a Sent be effective for this play style? With the primary acting as a control damage set because of the KB to force them away if they get too close plus damage obviously, couple this with the "speedster" aspect of SS, and the def and high rech.

 

I've read some of the threads on Sent's and I get the gist of their functionality and how it can be beneficial to team dynamics (seriously what AT isn't in some way), I have a VG mate who loves his Sent's and after watching him enough I know there is a definite viability to them. So now I want to try them.

 

So before I go the route of spending an hour on Mids, min/max a possible build to be proofread, what advice would you give?

[oldskool]

"Effective" is highly subjective.  What you're asking is the fundamental nature of how Energy Blast works.  You knock enemies back and you do damage.  That's going to translate into any other AT with access to this kit.  

You can build for ranged defense on any AT and so this doesn't make the Sentinel a unique choice.  The only real question is if any of this matters to you when exemplaring down for low level Task Forces.  That may be a key feature where the mez protection gives you an easy-mode perspective of the AT.  

I don't ever write this in the Sentinel forums, but why not just make a Blaster?

[The_Warpact]

2 hours ago, oldskool said:

I don't ever write this in the Sentinel forums, but why not just make a Blaster?

 

A few reasons, one the secondary is a protection based set for Sent's, two which is a tie, mezz protection and Opportunity. The ability to stay in the fight and keep going is the the highlight that I see that outweighs the blasters ability of high damage. Yes, it is possible to get a moderate amount of protection on a blaster but, at what cost?

 

And which you asked, I do a lot of lower lvl TF/SF so there is the attraction to the AT for that reason. I should have re-read what I typed because even I questioned my motives as to why I posted it in that way. I understand exactly where you are coming from with your post and I appreciate the response and the "hey did you think this through" style.

 

[oldskool]

If you're playing to exemp a lot, then the Sentinel can be a really solid AT.  I do this pretty frequently myself and that is a big reason why I do not worry so much about the epic pools (which backload power post 41+).  

You also recognize that a Blaster will do more damage so that's good.  The Sentinel damage "issue" is an often glossed over range of possibility.  That range can include what appears to be Defender-quality damage but really the baseline should be higher.  A min/maxed Sentinel will exceed that too, but it just won't be crushing Pylons on the same level as Scrappers/Stalkers/Blaster etc...  

All that said, it sounds like the Sentinel is going to do what you want it to do.  When running Energy Aura, you do not need the second power in the Energy Blast kit (Power Blast).  You don't need Defensive Opportunity in the long run.  I would suggest you at least start with both Power Bolt and Power Blast with a plan to eventually drop P.Blast.  Opportunity is pretty underwhelming the more you stack IO set bonuses and Energy Aura's Energize power will cut your endurance costs significantly.  Between Energize and endurance procs you shouldn't be hurting on your blue bar unless you go out of your way to build for that.  

The other powers in Energy Blast; Power Burst, Push, and Focused Power Bolt are all pretty solid damage powers for what they are.  Power Push is the most important of the three as it has the highest base damage-per-activation.  The other two you can take both or leave one off depending on what you're doing.  

[The_Warpact]

@oldskool thanks for the advice. Couple things I didn't know and this exactly why I posted seeking info.