Streamlining/Fixing Sentinel's Inherent

[Oneirohero]

I've mentioned it a bunch of times in game and people have been mostly agreeable with the sentiments, so I'm just going to post the suggestion and possible solutions here.

 

Sentinel's Opportunity is okay, but it's poor execution is holding it back. It requires that you have T1 and T2 attack powers in order to 'activate' the inherent and the benefits of choosing one or the other isn't as powerful as it should be in comparison to other ATs. What's worse, it's entirely reliant on hitting your opponents because if the attack doesn't connect, the inherent does not trigger. Good luck using opportunity if you're up against ToHit debuff-heavy mobs like the CoT and Skulls! I can see the power as being more strategic or tactical then most ATs but it's not reliable in the least. Think of an AT whose inherent requires some kind of check to activate and you'll find Sentinel's is the only one!

 

(No, not even the Brute, cause even MISSING can build Fury. Controller is a hard sell because bonus damage always occurs when damaging mezzed enemies. Blaster can literally use their first two attacks even while mezzed. Scrapper/Stalker/Corruptor crits might be easier to argue with, but one thing can be said is that it applies to ALL their powers, not just the first two attack powers.)

 

The solution to all this is to streamline it into a Domination-like power you activate at will. Create a new power 'Opportunity whatever' and make it so it can only be used when the inherent gauge is 95-100% full. It requires you target an enemy and upon activation, marks the foe as it would currently do when using a T1/2 attack. The power should not require a ToHit check and better yet, it should be one whole effect encompassing the two current types of Opportunity buff or maybe something different (again, think of Dominator in terms of strength). Let the guage drain over time to act as a 'duration' for the effect and if the enemy falls, it could drop to a minimum of say... 35%, so that if you defeat he enemy early you don't lose your entire Opp guage in the process. (Like if you Opp something close to dying anyway) Anything less than 35% remains untouched.

 

Opportunity as an inherent would then be as reliable as the other ATs and thus the frustration that comes with the current implementation. Sentinels can become a ranged shotcaller and be able to assist offensively, even being able to use a power to designate a priority target if need be. Or they could target and ally whom could either have a buff version of Opportunity or allow it to assist-target their own target so they may instantly benefit from the Sentinel's Opportunity ability.

 

I mean, take the suggestion how you will. But if you're going to use the Dominator SFX for the inherent anyway, you might as well!

[Galaxy Brain]

I agree that the inherit needs a second look where it seems like it is forced on the 1st two powers.

 

I've leveled a few sentinels now into the 30ish range and had solo and team experience. The opportunity mark is really nice if you have it ready on a hard target in a team setting and it *is* nice that it is triggered by an attack instead of a separate power like a debuff set would have. That said the downside is also that it is part of your most spammed powers so it can be akward to wait for the recharge when you have a target you want to hit with one or the other versions of Opportunity,  or on the flipside it can be annoying to "waste" the main targeted debuff on a minion when the next group has something you would have liked to mark!

 

I like the dynamic of choosing the offense or defense a lot, but I find the actual opportunity mark to be akward given how it is set up and how often I find it sort if wasted given how long you have to wait to mark a target + how comparatively weak the marked effect is. If marking was separate from opportunity, as weird as that sounds, I think itd be nicer.

 

 

[Varkarrus]

Consider this: Give Sentinel a new inherent, and then, to differentiate Sentinel from Blaster further, replace their Snipe power with a stronger, enhanceable version of Opportunity?

[Galaxy Brain]

Consider this: Give Sentinel a new inherent, and then, to differentiate Sentinel from Blaster further, replace their Snipe power with a stronger, enhanceable version of Opportunity?

 

They already dont have snipes

[Errants]

I've mentioned it a bunch of times in game and people have been mostly agreeable with the sentiments, so I'm just going to post the suggestion and possible solutions here.

 

Sentinel's Opportunity is okay, but it's poor execution is holding it back. It requires that you have T1 and T2 attack powers in order to 'activate' the inherent and the benefits of choosing one or the other isn't as powerful as it should be in comparison to other ATs. What's worse, it's entirely reliant on hitting your opponents because if the attack doesn't connect, the inherent does not trigger. Good luck using opportunity if you're up against ToHit debuff-heavy mobs like the CoT and Skulls! I can see the power as being more strategic or tactical then most ATs but it's not reliable in the least. Think of an AT whose inherent requires some kind of check to activate and you'll find Sentinel's is the only one!

 

(No, not even the Brute, cause even MISSING can build Fury. Controller is a hard sell because bonus damage always occurs when damaging mezzed enemies. Blaster can literally use their first two attacks even while mezzed. Scrapper/Stalker/Corruptor crits might be easier to argue with, but one thing can be said is that it applies to ALL their powers, not just the first two attack powers.)

 

The solution to all this is to streamline it into a Domination-like power you activate at will. Create a new power 'Opportunity whatever' and make it so it can only be used when the inherent gauge is 95-100% full. It requires you target an enemy and upon activation, marks the foe as it would currently do when using a T1/2 attack. The power should not require a ToHit check and better yet, it should be one whole effect encompassing the two current types of Opportunity buff or maybe something different (again, think of Dominator in terms of strength). Let the guage drain over time to act as a 'duration' for the effect and if the enemy falls, it could drop to a minimum of say... 35%, so that if you defeat he enemy early you don't lose your entire Opp guage in the process. (Like if you Opp something close to dying anyway) Anything less than 35% remains untouched.

 

Opportunity as an inherent would then be as reliable as the other ATs and thus the frustration that comes with the current implementation. Sentinels can become a ranged shotcaller and be able to assist offensively, even being able to use a power to designate a priority target if need be. Or they could target and ally whom could either have a buff version of Opportunity or allow it to assist-target their own target so they may instantly benefit from the Sentinel's Opportunity ability.

 

I mean, take the suggestion how you will. But if you're going to use the Dominator SFX for the inherent anyway, you might as well!

I agree that the inherit needs a second look where it seems like it is forced on the 1st two powers.

 

I've leveled a few sentinels now into the 30ish range and had solo and team experience. The opportunity mark is really nice if you have it ready on a hard target in a team setting and it *is* nice that it is triggered by an attack instead of a separate power like a debuff set would have. That said the downside is also that it is part of your most spammed powers so it can be akward to wait for the recharge when you have a target you want to hit with one or the other versions of Opportunity,  or on the flipside it can be annoying to "waste" the main targeted debuff on a minion when the next group has something you would have liked to mark!

 

I like the dynamic of choosing the offense or defense a lot, but I find the actual opportunity mark to be akward given how it is set up and how often I find it sort if wasted given how long you have to wait to mark a target + how comparatively weak the marked effect is. If marking was separate from opportunity, as weird as that sounds, I think itd be nicer.

 

Please, make Opportunity tied into a stand-alone, click power. The defensive opportunity seems underwhelming, at best (caveat: I've not gotten a 50 Sentinel yet), and irritating, at worst, when I accidentally activate that one instead of the debuff. It's gotten to the point that I've respec'd out my T2 blast, and don't intend to take them on any future Sentinel builds either.

 

Making Opportunity a stand-alone click power, a la Domination, opens build freedom and options, as well as lowers the chance for mistaken or early activation.

[Galaxy Brain]

Does anyone feel the benefits of each version of opportunity are worth them being separate? They each feel, I suppose toned down enough where combining them to "Combat Opportunity " wouldnt be too drastic,  and allow either t1 or t2 blast to activate

[drbuzzard]

 

Please, make Opportunity tied into a stand-alone, click power. The defensive opportunity seems underwhelming, at best (caveat: I've not gotten a 50 Sentinel yet), and irritating, at worst, when I accidentally activate that one instead of the debuff. It's gotten to the point that I've respec'd out my T2 blast, and don't intend to take them on any future Sentinel builds either.

 

Making Opportunity a stand-alone click power, a la Domination, opens build freedom and options, as well as lowers the chance for mistaken or early activation.

 

I do have a level 50 sentinel, and you are correct, defensive opportunity never becomes worth a damn. The heal is always negligible (as I have a /WP build it's even more worthless). Since I've finally got the built decked out pretty well I just removed the #2 power from my tray so I can no longer accidentally trigger the defensive opportunity and waste my full bar. The other since target powers now recharge fast enough that I can chain without it and not lose anything.

 

I'm not really sure what the measured effect of offensive opportunity is, but I'm quite sure it's not terribly large. Truth be told, the sentinel inherent is fairly meh at best. It may look flashy, but it really doesn't do a heck of a lot. I get the impression that the developer of the class was wedded to the notion that ranged damage + protection was simply too powerful.

 

I like the class overall though, so I shouldn't complain too much. A lousy inherent is a small price to play for a blaster like AT which doesn't faceplant as much as blasters.

[Galaxy Brain]

Yeah, range isnt *that* big of an advantage in this game where people can hop around at 70mph to close distance

[jack_nomind]

Here's what I've suggested in other incarnations of this thread.

 

Anyway, some ideas, most of which have problems of their own (brainstormed as individual ideas, not a collective proposal):

• Significantly increase the duration of the enemy-affecting portion of Offensive Opportunity to something like 15-20 minutes, allowing the Sentinel to stack enormous debuffs on an AV over the course of a long fight.  (Add or rework similar long-duration debuffs into their EPPs.)
  
• Rework Sentinel primaries and EPPs to have more AoE, particularly cones (primaries) and PBAoEs (EPPs) to take advantage of their resilience.
  
• Make Defensive Opportunity place an effect on the target that restores HP and END to anyone who hits it for a few seconds, rather than a one-time Sentinel-only buff.  (Add or rework similar "battle cleric"-style buffs into their EPPs.)
  
• Add a 10-20s (self) +recharge buff to either Opportunity (a shorter buff on Offensive would be more powerful, a longer buff on Defensive would help give it a stronger use case).
  
• Enhance Sentinel T9 nukes.  Every Sentinel T9 was standardized to 90s recharge but they don't appear to have had their damage adjusted accordingly, making Rain of Arrows miserably bad and Thunderous Blast exceptionally good -- so at least they need a balance pass.  Most of them already have 3 mag, 9-15s mez effects; triple the magnitude and duration, and add a mez.  Give them a "crit" effect for additional bonus damage when the Sentinel is affected by either Opportunity.  Have them leave an effect on the field that debuffs enemies or buffs allies.
  
• Give Sentinels much better (Defender-like) scaling on ally-affecting powers.
  
• Give Sentinels a "power-build-up" aura that enhances the secondary effects of nearby allies.