Great Job by the Devs

[tjknight]

I'm enjoying the update. Sentinel's are hybrids, and really should be compared to VEATS, not blasters. The improvements really strengthen the AT overall, while not sacrificing unique feel of playing a hybrid DPS.  

[BurtHutt]

On 10/23/2022 at 6:55 AM, oldskool said:

 

"From some really sharp players" - Nice backhanded compliment. 

I gave you a thumbs down the first time because I disagree with your commentary. I find "hot garbage" to be a bit much. I also find it a bit much from someone not qualifying their observation with anything else other just *I think this is true...*. 

Furthermore, you show your complete arrogance here taking umbrage with someone disagreeing with you (how DARE we). In order to really get us good this time, you decide to not only be a condescending jerk in text, but make a false assumption we must be idiots too. Therefore, it must be necessary to post your Blaster and then declare it superior to all Sentinels because surely no one here is as smart as you are. 

Meanwhile, in reviewing a comparison, my Sentinel actually does in fact higher single-target DPS than that build does due to its structure. Sure, the Blaster as an AT is going to do more AOE. I freaking know this because I play one myself, but its also not an argument anyone is making. 

Seriously, get over yourself. You'd be easier to take seriously if you didn't purposefully go out of your way not only be a dick about it but then literally post a build that is yawn inducing. 

Don't get a nose bleed off that high horse your riding on. 

 

Well put. Just because some idiot calls themselves @Snarky doesn't entitle them to be insulting etc. @Snarky, you make some ok points here and there but be prepared for the backlash when you become a bit rude, arrogant or even....snarky... 🙂 

[Snarky]

5 minutes ago, BurtHutt said:

Well put. Just because some idiot calls themselves @Snarky doesn't entitle them to be insulting etc. @Snarky, you make some ok points here and there but be prepared for the backlash when you become a bit rude, arrogant or even....snarky... 🙂 

Whatever, that yawn inducing Blaster will STILL out damage ANY Sentinel, and played to that Blasters Powers and Build out survive nearly any Sentinel. That would be true even if Ms Manners wrote my posts and Buttercup was my name. 

[BurtHutt]

16 minutes ago, Snarky said:

Whatever, that yawn inducing Blaster will STILL out damage ANY Sentinel, and played to that Blasters Powers and Build out survive nearly any Sentinel. That would be true even if Ms Manners wrote my posts and Buttercup was my name. 

I see you missed the entire point of my post. I'm trying to throw you a life jacket, not an anchor. 

[Snarky]

Just now, BurtHutt said:

I see you missed the entire point of my post. I'm trying to throw you a life jacket, not an anchor. 

I'm undead.  I don't mind being underwat.... wait?  How F-ing far down is the bottom?  You gotta be kidding me...

[Paragon Vanguard]

On 10/27/2022 at 11:00 AM, Snarky said:

I'm undead.  I don't mind being underwat.... wait?  How F-ing far down is the bottom?  You gotta be kidding me...

From reading this thread, the bottom is pretty deep.....and getting deeper.... 😄 

[Snarky]

30 minutes ago, Paragon Vanguard said:

From reading this thread, the bottom is pretty deep.....and getting deeper.... 😄 

I have actually merged the ideas from that elec Blaster with the playstyle i learned on the Dark^3 Corruptor and rebuilt my Dark Dark Soul Blaster to merge the two.  That is now my main. Does more damage than the Elec Blaster, but plays in close.  Has Phase Shift in case things go south, or I need to get a few hundred yards through enemies that see through stealth. It lacks many tools from the Corruptor but is quite hardy and hits like…a Blaster.  
 

side note, new Sentinel Armor earth w/e has geode which….isnt that-a stationary phase shift?  Because i got a lot of grief for “needing it” when Sentinels are above such things lol

 

*clutches anchor tighter….the bottom must be down here somewhere.   What does Mary Annas mean?

[Underfyre]

52 minutes ago, Snarky said:

hits like…a Blaster.

 

I mean, a Sentinel does that now too if all you're doing is plinking away from a good safe distance. Gunna have to put on those big boy pants and wade into battle if you wanna show them dirty Sents h'wut for these days.

[KaizenSoze]

I was expecting a surge in Sentinels players, but I am only seeing a few more than usual. I guess it will take awhile for folks to realize how much better they are now.

 

Combat teleporting to the tank, fold space, dropping Explosive Arrow and Rain of Arrows, then popping back a few feet is fun. Yes, blasters can do that, but it's much more dangerous for them.

[Murcielago]

On 10/22/2022 at 3:10 PM, drbuzzard said:

 

While you are not completely incorrect, you're not really saying any really helpful truth. 

 

Let's be honest, for the hardest content in the game, seven corrupters and a tank is likely the best possible combination. I used to run with Repeat Offenders back in the day, and I know what those stacked buff/debuffs can do. Adding a tank with the biggest sack of HP to be the damage sponge is all you really need.  Perhaps having some of the higher damage scalar classes in (scrappers, blasters) may be considered, but I'm not sure they would actually add to things. 

 

So what does this leave us with? Four good classes, and the rest are sub optimal. Yep, I guess that it is the case, and doesn't reflect on the sentinel buffs whatsoever. 

 

Sentinels now run with the pack at least, though admittedly not the front of the pack. I'd certainly argue that now they are no longer close to the back anymore. 

 

Sentinels will remain a nice class for the leveling up portion of the game, and are now more relevant at endgame. That seems like some pretty good improvements to me. 

Hey I remember you!

[Sovera]

2 hours ago, Murcielago said:

Hey I remember you!

 

In the mountains.

[Teirusu]

4 hours ago, KaizenSoze said:

I was expecting a surge in Sentinels players, but I am only seeing a few more than usual. I guess it will take awhile for folks to realize how much better they are now.

 

Combat teleporting to the tank, fold space, dropping Explosive Arrow and Rain of Arrows, then popping back a few feet is fun. Yes, blasters can do that, but it's much more dangerous for them.

 

 

This is pretty much what I've seen as well, there are more Sentinels around but not a massive number.  The other thing I've noticed or, at least it appears to me, is that other Sentinels aren't really using Vulnerability very much at all, when I've teamed with them.

 

 

But yeah, that play-style is pretty much what I do on my main.  Either Combat Teleporting into a group first (Playing like a Stalker somewhat, to that alpha off on a boss); Fold Space and then nuke, or closely following the tank in (Or CT to them) and then Fold Spacing on top of them and nuke.

No melee is going to out-damage you if you're defeating half the spawn as an alpha strike before them.  Well, besides a well-played tele-nuking Elec/Shield, that is.


And that is really the key difference between the comparisons between a Blaster and a Sentinel.  A well-built Sentinel can just be alpha striking spawns as much as they wish.  A Blaster not so much.  No matter how well you build a Blaster, you're always going to want to have some melee (Or Sent) between you the the NPCs.  Sentinels, on the other hand, can be just as aggressive as any Scrapper.

[Wavicle]

It will take some time for people to learn to use Vuln effectively. Figuring out when to use it and when NOT to use it takes some practice.

[StrikerFox]

[drbuzzard]

3 hours ago, Sovera said:

 

In the mountains.

More like high plains. 

[drbuzzard]

I've been thinking about the vulnerability power. It's interesting, but given that it ignores the purple patch, you end up with a debuff which  exceeds what a corrupter can do at +4. It can be maintained pretty much permanently on a single target. 

 

Sentinels are now competitive debuffers. 

 

Let's  have the math to back it up. 

Purple patch is .42 against +4s. Most corrupters debuff resistance at 22.5% (there are outliers). 

Actually the crossover for corrupters is at +3s

 

for +3 targets .65x.225= .14625

for +4 targets.42x.225=.0945

 

So if you're doing your normal +4 stuff with an alpha shift, at least for resistance the sentinel is superior. Of course the corrupters will stack, so that's back in their favor. 

 

For defenders:

for +3 targets .65x.3= .195

for +4 targets.42x.3=.126

 

So against +4s (and above) sentinels are the resistance debuffing kings now. 

 

So the moral of this story, is keep up vulnerability on the hard target, your team is counting on you. 

[Underfyre]

48%, not 42%. So 10.8% and 14.4% respectively. Still winning.

[drbuzzard]

20 minutes ago, Underfyre said:

48%, not 42%. So 10.8% and 14.4% respectively. Still winning.

You are correct. How did I get that wrong? I was just looking at the wiki. 

 

Thanks for the correction. 

[Snarky]

4 hours ago, Teirusu said:

And that is really the key difference between the comparisons between a Blaster and a Sentinel.  A well-built Sentinel can just be alpha striking spawns as much as they wish.  A Blaster not so much.  No matter how well you build a Blaster, you're always going to want to have some melee (Or Sent) between you the the NPCs.  Sentinels, on the other hand, can be just as aggressive as any Scrapper.

*cough   I am on a Dark Dark Blaster and I LOVE to lead into a fresh spawn if the team is lagging.  I just ran a MSR and would fly out of the bowl and nuke groups to pull them down, just like I would on my Brute.  Okay, I ran faster without waiting to see the effects.... Once in a while this causes a faceplant.  But it is pretty rare.  And sometimes...full spawn wipe.  Most times unless level is cranked the spawn is just ragged bones left over. If my nuke is noty up I lead with my KD proc'd cone and just start hosing. (4 cones)

[drbuzzard]

The other day I ended up having to pull both Nightstar and Seige with my sentinel in a BAF. I don't suppose too many blasters do that. 

 

(there was no tank, and a very soft brute)

[Snarky]

54 minutes ago, drbuzzard said:

The other day I ended up having to pull both Nightstar and Seige with my sentinel in a BAF. I don't suppose too many blasters do that. 

 

(there was no tank, and a very soft brute)

i've gotten impatient and pulled Nighstar with a Blaster before.  Siege is too far down, that road is paved with tombstones

[Seed22]

On 10/30/2022 at 12:33 PM, Teirusu said:

And that is really the key difference between the comparisons between a Blaster and a Sentinel.  A well-built Sentinel can just be alpha striking spawns as much as they wish.  A Blaster not so much.  No matter how well you build a Blaster, you're always going to want to have some melee (Or Sent) between you the the NPCs.  Sentinels, on the other hand, can be just as aggressive as any Scrapper.

Mine tanked a +2 Reichsman over two brutes.

 

 

 

I've turned weirder things into a tank though. (Earth/Ice/Fire dom). Sents make for more consistent off-tanks, whereas Blasters for me are very much a "I need to know what this powerset does before I try and break things" kind of AT.

 

Not to say sent doesnt FEEL safer, just...blasters only go plop if folks aren't prioritizing the right kinda defense. Or if you're not familiar with a set(I have caused some embarrassingly bad faceplants for myself due to not knowing the ins/outs of certain powersets. I will do it again :P)

Edited November 14, 2022 by Seed22

[Snarky]

16 hours ago, Seed22 said:

 

Not to say sent doesnt FEEL safer, just...blasters only go plop if folks aren't prioritizing the right kinda defense. Or if you're not familiar with a set(I have caused some embarrassingly bad faceplants for myself due to not knowing the ins/outs of certain powersets. I will do it again :P)

My Fire Blaster has no Defense.  This is very much an edge case in game and far from my reserved builds.  But the thing is insanely powerful.  It can wipe whole spawns until you hit Incarnate content.  For things like a sLamda I do need someone to be noticed first before I start my PBAoE bomb run.  But any cover is all it takes.  For truly endless (+4/x8 ITF) flows it works like magic.  It kills as fast as they can run up except the EBs.  And it really hits those hard

[josewales]

Sents are more fun now. I dusted off my dual pistol/Bio and tried 8/4 council for giggles. With electric fence and spamming aoes I was able to handle it with the odd kiting.  TY devs.

[ClawsandEffect]

Late to the party, but I'm going to address the "hot garbage in the hardest content" comment from earlier. 

 

My Dark/SR Sentinel proudly wears the Master of ITF badge that I soloed. That combo is generally not one of the higher damage output builds, and it isn't a proc build. But I still pulled it off solo. 

 

I've played that character a little bit since the buffs, and in my estimation it would be easier to do now if they hadn't changed the requirements for the badge.