Settling into Beam/Energy as my first try at this AT...

Generator · May 31, 2019

Hey,

So as my subject line says, I'm pretty sure the first serious effort I put into a Sentinel will be Beam Rifle/Energy Aura. (This is a reroll of a Beam/EM Blaster I had back in the day on Pinnacle, not that you care.)

Any glaringly obvious tips/advice? First order of business will be to get a build together, one that just functions on an SO/common IO level. If anyone has any thoughts on that I'm all ears, otherwise I'll start noodling in Pine tonight.

Have a great day!

Generator

Polarois · June 22, 2019

I'm interested as well in any possible recommended builds at 50 with incarnates and all.

oldskool · June 22, 2019

Here are my suggestions. First off, if you have ever played EA on a melee, forget what you know. You must... unlearn. What you have learned.

Second tip, Pine's has some issues with Sentinels and with Beam in particular Refractor's information isn't correct.

Other tips...

The only power you may wish to skip in EA is the T9. Sentinel EA has a collection of changes making it very different from the melee versions. All of the other powers have uses which is a pretty big change from melee EA which might skip several.

You get Energize at level 10 which is a heal, regen, and endurance discount. Normally, I'd suggest taking the Tier 2 from the primary (Charge Shot) for Defensive Opportunity. However, with this build you could skip it and never miss it. Actually, a lot of Sentinel builds can actually skip Defensive Opp, but that usually doesn't happen until pretty late. For this particular build, I'm willing to bet you could skip Defensive O from the start and never miss it.

You'll still want Single Shot because this activates Offensive Opportunity, at least with how the inherent works currently. Eventually this will collect dust on your power bar and you will use it when it lights up for Offensive. Since you've played Beam before, Sentinel's rotation won't be that big a difference other than how Single Shot works. Offensive add damage, Defensive adds endurance recovery and health per hit, they both put the same -Resistance debuff on a target. Since Energize does everything Defensive O does and you get pretty early, this is why I think you can skip it.

Refractor in Pine's still has it as a snipe. It's not. It's a chain AoE and gets a huge damage effect on Disintegrate targets. Since Lancer is getting a 100% chance to spread on Justin, Refractor becomes a hard hitting follow-up with bonus chaining damage and it will be more reliable. Not sure when that's going to be pushed to the live servers.

I'd recommend considering adding Fighting, Leadership, and Speed for the common picks there. BR/EA can still have a few open picks for whatever else you want like a travel power of any of the Ancillaries.

Psionic Mastery has Link Minds as the 3rd available pick. It may or may not mesh with your theme. I bring up Link Minds because EA has no Psionic Defense. LM can help get you some.

Sentinels have a 0.7 defense modifier vs Scrapper/Stalker 0.75. Doesn't sound like much, but it is enough to keep you about 2.X% off from softcap defense vs a melee AT using similar slotting. That means you may not hit 45% as easily and you may need to decide if that is what you want. That's also going to be a decision that varies wildly depending on Primary/Secondary pairs. In general, I try to get my defenses some where that I feel is comfortable for me, but if I don't get to 45%+ I also don't sweat it. Lately, I've been pushing my IO plans for global damage. YMMV

That's what I've got for now. Looks like a solid pairing, but I don't currently play it.

oldskool · June 22, 2019

I'm interested as well in any possible recommended builds at 50 with incarnates and all.

As for Incarnates, I'd recommend focusing on damage with them. I've got 4 Sentinels. There is only one which I flop back and forth on about Agility vs Musculature and that's my AR/Bio. Still, I lean towards Musculature most of the time.

Other Incarnate slots are going to be standard damage AT fan favorites. Either the fire dot/resistance toggle or the hit point debuff/toxic. Barrier is a good general defensive option, but Ageless or Rebirth could be interesting too. Use those to whatever flavor you like. I personally prefer Barrier since Sentinels kits come with Health/Endurance management and getting perma-Hasten is possible.

I don't find there to be any secret formula on Incarnates with the Sentinel. They do damage and it is best to improve it.

Sunsette · June 22, 2019

I don't play Beam/, but I do play /Energy. I agree with much of what oldskool said, but not everything.

- Skippable Powers: You can get away with skipping both the T8 and T9 in /Energy. The T8 is good, but not great. Taking the T8 will make it much easier to skip Defensive Opportunity but I'm not sure Power Drain synergizes well with Beam/ since I haven't looked at Beam closely to see if it's got a lot of PBAOEs. I generally recommend respeccing out of Defensive Opportunity later if you don't need it, not skipping it up front. Energize's cooldown is just too long as a lowbie.
- Link Minds is an iffy suggestion to get Psi D because it has a long damn animation. The reason to get Link Minds is because you want to support your party boosting their Psi D, not particularly because you want to get your Psi D up. /Energy has enough Resistance powers and Sentinels have enough ranged attack powers that it's fairly easy for you to reach Psi D softcap as Energy and get a decent amount of resistance. Softcapping Psi D will require you to slot some Devastation sets though, which are a mild DPS decrease compared to Decimation/Glad Javelin/etc; it may not be worth it for you if you don't go solo against Arachnos/Rikti/Rularuu/Seers often enough.
- Energy Armor is really, really easy to softcap all defenses with if you grab Agility. It's going to be harder if you grab Musculature instead. Agility will increase your damage indirectly by allowing you to use your T9 a lot more often, which is a sizable damage increase for Beam even Single Target from what I'm seeing in Pine's. Musculature is a straightforward damage increase. Which is better for you straight-up, I don't know, just noting that. Whichever power eventually gets Apocalypse will be your standout damage dealer by far and having it on a low recharge will also boost your damage a lot.
- Personally speaking, Hasten was never worth it with EA. I tried it on recommendation when I first was starting out and Hasten notably made Energy Management as a fresh incarnate worse and there's nothing absolutely crucial for /EA to keep perma. The most useful thing to perma from your secondary is Energize and you need it less if you're not having the Hasten mini-crash! It took up a power slot, it locked me out of a pool I could use to get more defense, I wasn't convinced.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962

http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Chandeliere FireNova: Level 50 Magic Sentinel
Primary Power Set: Energy Blast
Secondary Power Set: Energy Aura
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Power Bolt -- Dvs-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Dvs-Dmg/EndRdx:50(3), Dvs-Dmg/Rchg:50(3), Dvs-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(5), Dvs-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(5), Dvs-Hold%:50(7)
Level 1: Kinetic Shield -- LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def:50(7), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(9)
Level 2: Kinetic Dampening -- GldArm-3defTpProc:50(A), ImpArm-ResDam:40(9), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg:40(11), ImpArm-ResPsi:40(11), UnbGrd-Max HP%:50(13)
Level 4: Fly -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 6: Power Blast -- SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg:50(A), SprOppStr-Dmg/Rchg:50(21), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(21), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(23), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(23), SprOppStr-Rchg/+Opportunity:50(25)
Level 8: Hover -- Srn-Fly:50(A), Srn-EndRdx/Fly:50(17), LucoftheG-Def:50(19), LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(19)
Level 10: Aim -- RechRdx-I:50(A), GssSynFr--Build%:50(25)
Level 12: Power Push -- Apc-Dmg:50(A), Apc-Dmg/Rchg:50(27), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(27), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(29), Apc-Dam%:50(29), Apc-Acc/Rchg:50(31)
Level 14: Afterburner -- Frb-Fly:50(A), Frb-Stlth:50(39)
Level 16: Entropy Shield -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 18: Explosive Blast -- SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg:50(A), SprSntWar-Rchg/+Absorb:50(33), SprSntWar-Dmg/Rchg:50(33), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(34), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(34), FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(34)
Level 20: Power Shield -- ShlWal-Def:50(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP:40(31), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx:50(33)
Level 22: Energize -- NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg:50(A), DctWnd-Heal/Rchg:50(31)
Level 24: Power Armor -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(A), ImpArm-ResPsi:40(36), ImpArm-ResDam:40(36), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx:40(36)
Level 26: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(37), LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(37)
Level 28: Repelling Force -- LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def:50(37), Rct-ResDam%:50(39)
Level 30: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff-I:50(A), DefBuff-I:50(39)
Level 32: Nova -- ScrDrv-Acc/Dmg:50(A), ScrDrv-Dmg/EndRdx:50(45), ScrDrv-Dmg/Rchg:50(45), ScrDrv-Acc/Rchg:50(46), ScrDrv-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(46), ScrDrv-Dam%:50(46)
Level 35: Fire Cages -- HO:Perox(A), HO:Perox(40), HO:Perox(40), JvlVll-Acc/End/Rech:50(40), JvlVll-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech:50(42), JvlVll-Dam%:50(42)
Level 38: Cremate -- Hct-Dam%:50(A), Hct-Dmg/Rchg:50(42), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(43), Hct-Acc/Rchg:50(43), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx:50(43), HO:Centri(45)
Level 41: Tactics -- HO:Membr(A), HO:Membr(48)
Level 44: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 47: Tough -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx:40(A), ImpArm-ResDam:40(50), ImpArm-ResPsi:40(48), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:40(48)
Level 49: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def:50(A), LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(50), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
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 -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- IntRdx-I:50(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End:50(A), Mrc-Rcvry+:40(13), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+:50(15)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%:50(A), PrfShf-EndMod:50(15), EndMod-I:50(17)
Level 50: Reactive Radial Flawless Interface
Level 50: Agility Radial Paragon
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Assault Core Embodiment
Level 50: Ageless Radial Epiphany
Level 50: Phantom Radial Superior Ally
Level 50: Pyronic Radial Final Judgement
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
------------

Sunsette · June 22, 2019

Double Posting because I hit character limit cap:

Personally I'd strongly recommend the Radial Assault Hybrid rather than the Core for Sentinel, I got a lot better results out of Radial. Other than that, I agree with Oldskool; there's not really a lot in the non-Alpha Slot choices to consider that's not standard.

oldskool · June 22, 2019

I don't play Beam/, but I do play /Energy. I agree with much of what oldskool said, but not everything.

- Skippable Powers: You can get away with skipping both the T8 and T9 in /Energy. The T8 is good, but not great. Taking the T8 will make it much easier to skip Defensive Opportunity but I'm not sure Power Drain synergizes well with Beam/ since I haven't looked at Beam closely to see if it's got a lot of PBAOEs. I generally recommend respeccing out of Defensive Opportunity later if you don't need it, not skipping it up front. Energize's cooldown is just too long as a lowbie.
- Link Minds is an iffy suggestion to get Psi D because it has a long damn animation. The reason to get Link Minds is because you want to support your party boosting their Psi D, not particularly because you want to get your Psi D up. /Energy has enough Resistance powers and Sentinels have enough ranged attack powers that it's fairly easy for you to reach Psi D softcap as Energy and get a decent amount of resistance. Softcapping Psi D will require you to slot some Devastation sets though, which are a mild DPS decrease compared to Decimation/Glad Javelin/etc; it may not be worth it for you if you don't go solo against Arachnos/Rikti/Rularuu/Seers often enough.
- Energy Armor is really, really easy to softcap all defenses with if you grab Agility. It's going to be harder if you grab Musculature instead. Agility will increase your damage indirectly by allowing you to use your T9 a lot more often, which is a sizable damage increase for Beam even Single Target from what I'm seeing in Pine's. Musculature is a straightforward damage increase. Which is better for you straight-up, I don't know, just noting that. Whichever power eventually gets Apocalypse will be your standout damage dealer by far and having it on a low recharge will also boost your damage a lot.
- Personally speaking, Hasten was never worth it with EA. I tried it on recommendation when I first was starting out and Hasten notably made Energy Management as a fresh incarnate worse and there's nothing absolutely crucial for /EA to keep perma. The most useful thing to perma from your secondary is Energize and you need it less if you're not having the Hasten mini-crash! It took up a power slot, it locked me out of a pool I could use to get more defense, I wasn't convinced.

Yeah, I personally have no issue with skimishing on Sentinels so PBAoE's do not even register as an issue to me. So I can see what you're saying about Power Drain. The only Sentinel I have that doesn't have a PBAoE at all, is my Beam/Will.

Link Minds has a 90 second duration and can be made perma with recharge. Yes, it has a roughly 4 second wind up time, but you'll have well over a minute of duration on it before you recast. To each their own though. I brought it up because it is yet another direct defense layer to stack with other things like Weave. With your example build, doesn't seem like it would be necessary, but the OP did ask to know about options. I've used Link Minds on other ATs and the animation is something to consider, but I had gotten used to it from playing a Widow and Mind/Psi/Psi Dom. Anyway, the feedback is still good.

Hasten is also a to each their own. Depends on how much the OP values recharge.

As to the Incarnates, Agility shaves off less than 2 seconds off of Full Auto on my AR/Bio Sentinel while dropping my best attack by 19 per shot, but my next hardest hitter drops by 37. Musculature, is hands down the damage increase in a contest of Alphas. Agility does get me perma-hasten and reduce times off my Secondary but doesn't appreciably alter my attack chain. So from a minor durability perspective Agility is nice, but Musculature is the winner for damage.

That above comment about the 2 second reduction also applies to all my Sentinels. Hail of Bullets on my perma-Hasten DP/Nin goes from the current 25 seconds with Musculature to 23 seconds with Agility. Yet, Executioner's shot loses 38 damage. Since I have a gapless attack chain that 38 damage per rotation of Executioner's Shot (not to mention the attacks) nets me far more damage than using Hail of Bullets 2 seconds faster. It's something I've given a lot of thought to.

Anyway, I appreciate the insights Sunsette and that build looks pretty awesome!

P.S. So leveling up my Beam/Will power, I used Defensive Opportunity so many times I could count it on one hand and still have digits left prior to level 22. At 22 when I took Quick Recovery, I started using it even less. Beam has some long-ish animations. You just don't hammer attacks as fast once you get the real damaging powers post Disintegrate. Since there is so much animation wind-up, I'd think a 30 second long endurance reduction power like Energize would go a long way. Yeah, you can still have Charged Shot in your back pocket for when Energize is recharging, but in a final build I seriously doubt you'd keep it. Anyway, another good point but I wanted to clear up my perspective.

Daihok · June 22, 2019

Hey oldschool would you mind posting your build for your DP/Nin? This is my build so far but its my first attempt.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 2.22

http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Woo: Level 50 Magic Sentinel

Primary Power Set: Dual Pistols

Secondary Power Set: Ninjitsu

Power Pool: Fighting

Power Pool: Leadership

Power Pool: Speed

Power Pool: Sorcery

Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:

Level 1: Pistols

(A) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage
(3) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
(15) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
(15) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
(17) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime

Level 1: Ninja Reflexes

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
(9) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
(11) Luck of the Gambler - Defense

Level 2: Danger Sense

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
(11) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
(13) Luck of the Gambler - Defense

Level 4: Boxing

(A) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative)
(7) Hecatomb - Damage
(31) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge
(31) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(50) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Recharge

Level 6: Shinobi-Iri

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
(39) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
(39) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance

Level 8: Swap Ammo

Level 10: Kuji-In Rin

(A) HamiO:Ribosome Exposure

Level 12: Suppressive Fire

(A) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative)
(40) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance
(43) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Recharge
(43) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(46) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge

Level 14: Maneuvers

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
(33) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
(37) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge

Level 16: Seishinteki Kyoyo

(A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
(17) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge

Level 18: Executioner's Shot

(A) Superior Sentinel's Ward - RechargeTime/Chance for +Absorb
(19) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage
(19) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Damage/RechargeTime
(21) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
(21) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 20: Kuji-In Sha

(A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
(23) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
(23) Preventive Medicine - Heal
(25) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
(25) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime
(39) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime

Level 22: Tough

(A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP

Level 24: Weave

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
(37) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
(46) Luck of the Gambler - Defense

Level 26: Piercing Rounds

(A) Ragnarok - Chance for Knockdown
(27) Ragnarok - Damage
(27) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge
(29) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(29) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge

Level 28: Bo Ryaku

(A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
(31) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
(40) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection

Level 30: Hasten

(A) Recharge Reduction IO
(40) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 32: Hail of Bullets

(A) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage
(33) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance
(33) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge
(34) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(34) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge

Level 35: Dual Wield

(A) Decimation - Chance of Build Up
(36) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
(36) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
(36) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(37) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage

Level 38: Bullet Rain

(A) Superior Opportunity Strikes - RechargeTime/Chance for Opportunity
(46) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Damage/RechargeTime

Level 41: Mass Hypnosis

(A) Fortunata Hypnosis - Chance for Placate
(42) Fortunata Hypnosis - Sleep
(42) Fortunata Hypnosis - Sleep/Recharge
(42) Fortunata Hypnosis - Accuracy/Sleep/Recharge
(43) Fortunata Hypnosis - Accuracy/Recharge

Level 44: Dominate

(A) Basilisk's Gaze - Chance for Recharge Slow
(45) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
(45) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
(45) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge

Level 47: Link Minds

(A) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage
(48) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance/RechargeTime
(48) Reactive Defenses - Defense
(48) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance
(50) Reactive Defenses - Endurance/RechargeTime
(50) Reactive Defenses - Defense/RechargeTime

Level 49: Mystic Flight

(A) Winter's Gift - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance

Level 1: Brawl

(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Dash

(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Slide

(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Quick

(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Rush

(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Surge

(A) Unbounded Leap - +Stealth

Level 1: Sprint

(A) Empty

Level 2: Rest

(A) Empty

Level 4: Ninja Run

Level 2: Swift

(A) Run Speed IO

Level 2: Health

(A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
(5) Miracle - +Recovery
(5) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance

Level 2: Hurdle

(A) Jumping IO

Level 2: Stamina

(A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
(3) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
(7) Performance Shifter - EndMod

Level 8: Cryo Ammunition

Level 8: Incendiary Ammunition

Level 50: Agility Core Paragon

Level 8: Chemical Ammunition

Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment

Level 50: Preemptive Total Core Conversion

Level 50: Ageless Total Radial Invocation

------------

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oldskool · June 23, 2019

Hey oldschool would you mind posting your build for your DP/Nin? This is my build so far but its my first attempt.

That looks like someone else's build with some minor changes to put Hecatomb in Boxing.

For being defense heavy, it looks fine. A couple things though...

With the recharge in that build, you have 0 need to ever weave Dual Wield into the attack chain. Like never. So that Decimation will see very little use. The damage it shows up on paper won't be realistic since the core attack chain (Pistols, Executioner, Piercing of some combination of your choosing) should be gapless.

You have far more recharge than I think is necessary OR is realistic. At first glance, Hail of Bullets recharges in 18 seconds. Except that Ageless will drop off pretty quick over the duration so that number isn't real. With just Agility it recharges in 22 seconds. Which is awesome, but with Musculature you're not losing a lot of recharge. You'd also do more damage with it. I didn't bother with the Accuracy/Recharge from Armaggedon in mine. It's the only one I skipped to push more damage per use since the default to hit in HoB is ridiculously high as it is.

You have 3 floating slots. Max out Pistols, Executioner's and Piercing. Put a -resistance proc in each. That's two Achille's Heel for the single targets and Annihilation for Piercing. The two Heels won't stack, but that's not the point. You improve up time on the debuff which is where the real damage is going to come from.

As I said in the DP/Nin thread, I'm not fond of pushing the range on mine. So I don't split the ATO's. Hell, I don't even bother with Sentinel's Ward, only Opportunity. What I do with my DP/Nin is not "the right way". There is something to be said about breaking up the ATOs and making the max range further, but it just isn't my cup of tea.

I can get the drop, Hail of Bullets, my defense jumps from 42% (not considering Barrier) to 52% for 5 seconds. Since Nin Shinobi-Iri and a Stealth IO let you play like a Stalker, dropping your PBAoE T9 is pretty damn safe. Plus I have Blind Powder as a back up, Kuji-In Retsu (the T9), and Barrier. So I stopped worrying about the 45% soft-cap without my other toys and focused more on global damage. My build has 26% because I have 3 Devastations sets, a few other side powers with 2.5% damage (Shield Wall 5pc, Efficiency Adaptor 5pc, etc.) and a few purples with 4% global damage (like Coercive Persuasion in Blinding Powder).

Daihok · June 23, 2019

ok awesome took those suggestions any other way to up my damage even more? Was wondering maybe I should drop bulletrain or dualwield and maybe take like tactics or something else or just leave as is? Also would that build-up proc from decimation be better served else where?

oldskool · June 23, 2019

ok awesome took those suggestions any other way to up my damage even more?

I don't have Overwhelming Force in anything. That's another 3% (with only 3 pieces) and my build isn't capped to it. However, I'd lose 6.25% trading out Positron's Blast in my AoEs since my single targets (Pistols, Dual Wield, Suppressive Fire) already have 4pc Devastations.

The 3% damage in my case adds about 4 points of damage but throws the recharge off of other powers from what I planned. So it isn't worth it for me. You may be able to push more but you'll certainly compromise defense and recharge to do it. Plus, the damage increments aren't that big an improvement.

Feel free to PM about this particular pairing so we don't continue to hijack the OP's topic.

Sunsette · June 23, 2019

You know, I hadn't gone back and re-evaluated my Alpha since before I even hit 50. I forgot how small that amount of recharge is when you're stacking lots. This discussion was useful for me, Oldskool; thanks. Got some new ideas to work on for my build 2. =) Build 1 is for soloing or psuedo-scrapping but I'm trying to make my second build stronger in a team.

I don't play Beam/, but I do play /Energy. I agree with much of what oldskool said, but not everything.

- Skippable Powers: You can get away with skipping both the T8 and T9 in /Energy. The T8 is good, but not great. Taking the T8 will make it much easier to skip Defensive Opportunity but I'm not sure Power Drain synergizes well with Beam/ since I haven't looked at Beam closely to see if it's got a lot of PBAOEs. I generally recommend respeccing out of Defensive Opportunity later if you don't need it, not skipping it up front. Energize's cooldown is just too long as a lowbie.
- Link Minds is an iffy suggestion to get Psi D because it has a long damn animation. The reason to get Link Minds is because you want to support your party boosting their Psi D, not particularly because you want to get your Psi D up. /Energy has enough Resistance powers and Sentinels have enough ranged attack powers that it's fairly easy for you to reach Psi D softcap as Energy and get a decent amount of resistance. Softcapping Psi D will require you to slot some Devastation sets though, which are a mild DPS decrease compared to Decimation/Glad Javelin/etc; it may not be worth it for you if you don't go solo against Arachnos/Rikti/Rularuu/Seers often enough.
- Energy Armor is really, really easy to softcap all defenses with if you grab Agility. It's going to be harder if you grab Musculature instead. Agility will increase your damage indirectly by allowing you to use your T9 a lot more often, which is a sizable damage increase for Beam even Single Target from what I'm seeing in Pine's. Musculature is a straightforward damage increase. Which is better for you straight-up, I don't know, just noting that. Whichever power eventually gets Apocalypse will be your standout damage dealer by far and having it on a low recharge will also boost your damage a lot.
- Personally speaking, Hasten was never worth it with EA. I tried it on recommendation when I first was starting out and Hasten notably made Energy Management as a fresh incarnate worse and there's nothing absolutely crucial for /EA to keep perma. The most useful thing to perma from your secondary is Energize and you need it less if you're not having the Hasten mini-crash! It took up a power slot, it locked me out of a pool I could use to get more defense, I wasn't convinced.

Yeah, I personally have no issue with skimishing on Sentinels so PBAoE's do not even register as an issue to me. So I can see what you're saying about Power Drain. The only Sentinel I have that doesn't have a PBAoE at all, is my Beam/Will.

Link Minds has a 90 second duration and can be made perma with recharge. Yes, it has a roughly 4 second wind up time, but you'll have well over a minute of duration on it before you recast. To each their own though. I brought it up because it is yet another direct defense layer to stack with other things like Weave. With your example build, doesn't seem like it would be necessary, but the OP did ask to know about options. I've used Link Minds on other ATs and the animation is something to consider, but I had gotten used to it from playing a Widow and Mind/Psi/Psi Dom. Anyway, the feedback is still good.

Hasten is also a to each their own. Depends on how much the OP values recharge.

As to the Incarnates, Agility shaves off less than 2 seconds off of Full Auto on my AR/Bio Sentinel while dropping my best attack by 19 per shot, but my next hardest hitter drops by 37. Musculature, is hands down the damage increase in a contest of Alphas. Agility does get me perma-hasten and reduce times off my Secondary but doesn't appreciably alter my attack chain. So from a minor durability perspective Agility is nice, but Musculature is the winner for damage.

That above comment about the 2 second reduction also applies to all my Sentinels. Hail of Bullets on my perma-Hasten DP/Nin goes from the current 25 seconds with Musculature to 23 seconds with Agility. Yet, Executioner's shot loses 38 damage. Since I have a gapless attack chain that 38 damage per rotation of Executioner's Shot (not to mention the attacks) nets me far more damage than using Hail of Bullets 2 seconds faster. It's something I've given a lot of thought to.

Anyway, I appreciate the insights Sunsette and that build looks pretty awesome!

P.S. So leveling up my Beam/Will power, I used Defensive Opportunity so many times I could count it on one hand and still have digits left prior to level 22. At 22 when I took Quick Recovery, I started using it even less. Beam has some long-ish animations. You just don't hammer attacks as fast once you get the real damaging powers post Disintegrate. Since there is so much animation wind-up, I'd think a 30 second long endurance reduction power like Energize would go a long way. Yeah, you can still have Charged Shot in your back pocket for when Energize is recharging, but in a final build I seriously doubt you'd keep it. Anyway, another good point but I wanted to clear up my perspective.

oldskool · June 23, 2019

You know, I hadn't gone back and re-evaluated my Alpha since before I even hit 50. I forgot how small that amount of recharge is when you're stacking lots. This discussion was useful for me, Oldskool; thanks. Got some new ideas to work on for my build 2. =) Build 1 is for soloing or psuedo-scrapping but I'm trying to make my second build stronger in a team.

Yeah definitely!

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