Looking for help for Elec^3

[Aeroprism]

Hello beautiful people!

 

After a solid 18-20 months away; the lovely patch notes sang their alluring song and here I am, back home.

 

I have been playing this lovely Elec/Elec sent for about 28 levels now and she's fantastic but I'm having a hard time seeing the long term.  Not necessarily asking for a build here (though if anyone has one, I won't complain), as I'm trying to make one of my own, but:

 

• I'm really confused by the fact that Charged Shield only takes Heal Sets, (I thought it would take End as well). 
• What's the best way to slot Short Circuit and Voltaic Sentinel? Now that the Shocked mechanic exists, it seems a good idea to pay attention to Endurance drain.   
• Where would the ATOs be best used?
• If you skip Grounded, what's the best way to get some -KB?

 

You know, easy questions, for pros like you 😄

 

It's good to be home!

[drbuzzard]

A) There was a thread on charged shield recently. I suspect they just wanted a solid +10 end and leave it at that. 

B) I do the rechargeable pet set on voltaic sentinel since it gives global recharge. I build sentinels to do damage and survive, endurance drain, while a better mechanic than it was, still isn't that great. There's better sapper builds. 

C) Think I use them in thunderous blast and zapp. I imagine someone better at proc math can make a better suggestion. I don't really consider the proc effects that important or great. 

D) There's multiple different IOs for that, but I wouldn't skip grounded since it's got a few other things it can do such as immobilize protection, end drain resistance, and more negative energy resistance. I guess an efficient alternative would be combat jumping with a blessing of the zephyr KB proc. 

[Aeroprism]

1 hour ago, drbuzzard said:

A) There was a thread on charged shield recently. I suspect they just wanted a solid +10 end and leave it at that. 

B) I do the rechargeable pet set on voltaic sentinel since it gives global recharge. I build sentinels to do damage and survive, endurance drain, while a better mechanic than it was, still isn't that great. There's better sapper builds. 

C) Think I use them in thunderous blast and zapp. I imagine someone better at proc math can make a better suggestion. I don't really consider the proc effects that important or great. 

D) There's multiple different IOs for that, but I wouldn't skip grounded since it's got a few other things it can do such as immobilize protection, end drain resistance, and more negative energy resistance. I guess an efficient alternative would be combat jumping with a blessing of the zephyr KB proc. 

 

Thank you so much for your reply!

 

I will definitely check that thread!

 

End drain is not as useless as it seems. According to patch notes, "Shocked" will do more damage to things proportionally to how little End they have left,

 

As for Grounded, well, I tend to jump around everywhere all the time so, it's not very reliable.  CJ (which is an essential to a happy jumper) + KB resist will do just fine.

 

 

[Aeroprism]

This would be my first build attempt. I didn't put in many purples even though I have them in my base so I could modify it accordingly.

 

The Resistance is ok but the Def is nowhere near softcap.  Note that I don't want Sentinel to solo like my Tankers do, that's plain silly.  I just want her to hold her own if I try story missions at say, x8+2

 

Feel free to suggest changes. This is faaaaaaaaaar from optimal.

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.6
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Technology Sentinel
Primary Power Set: Electrical Blast
Secondary Power Set: Electric Armor
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Electricity Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Lightning Bolt -- Dcm-Build%(A)
Level 1: Charged Armor -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(3), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(3), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(37)
Level 2: Ball Lightning -- SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprOppStr-Dmg/Rchg(5), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), SprOppStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), SprOppStr-Rchg/+Opportunity(9)
Level 4: Charged Shield -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 6: Zapping Bolt -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(9), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(13), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(13)
Level 8: Charge Up -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 10: Conductive Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(46), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(50)
Level 12: Energize -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Tesla Cage -- UnbCns-Hold(A), UnbCns-Hold/Rchg(17), UnbCns-Dam%(17), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg(19), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg(19), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold(21)
Level 16: Hasten -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(21), RechRdx(23)
Level 18: Static Shield -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), ImpArm-ResPsi(37)
Level 20: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(23), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(25), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(25)
Level 22: Short Circuit -- Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Obl-Dmg(40), Obl-Acc/Rchg(43), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(45), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Obl-%Dam(46)
Level 24: Lightning Reflexes -- Run-I(A)
Level 26: Thunderous Blast -- SprSntWar-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg(27), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), SprSntWar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), SprSntWar-Rchg/+Absorb(31)
Level 28: Voltaic Sentinel -- BldMnd-Acc/Dmg(A), BldMnd-Dmg/EndRdx(31), BldMnd-Acc/EndRdx(31), BldMnd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), BldMnd-Acc(33), BldMnd-Dmg(33)
Level 30: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Tough -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(34), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(34), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 35: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-Def(36), Rct-Def/EndRdx(36)
Level 38: Havoc Punch -- TchofDth-Acc/Dmg(A), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx(39), TchofDth-Dmg/Rchg(39), TchofDth-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), TchofDth-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Lightning Field -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(42), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(42), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Obl-%Dam(43)
Level 44: Maneuvers -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(45)
Level 47: Power Sink -- PwrTrns-EndMod(A), PwrTrns-Dam/Rech(48), PwrTrns-Dam/EndMod(48), PwrTrns-Dam/Acc/End(48), PwrTrns-Dam/Acc/Rech/End(50), PwrTrns-+Heal(50)
Level 49: Super Speed -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 1: Opportunity 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Health -- Prv-Absorb%(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(36), Mrc-Rcvry+(37)
Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 1: Shocked 
Level 49: Speed Phase 
------------

[drbuzzard]

We clearly have very different design approaches, but I would caution against neglecting your heal and regeneration powers. Energize and charged shield both need to have either a healing set or at least 2 lvl 50+3 heal IOs in them. Your resistance simply isn't that great with a 75% cap to assume you don't need to heal yourself. 

[aethereal]

Do not skip Grounded.  Look, Electricity isn't a great armor set on the 75% resist-cap ATs, but one of its true joys is near immunity to endurance drain.  The most fun you can have on an electric armor character is roleplaying.  Follow this script:

SOMEONE ELSE:  God I hate sappers.
YOU:  What are sappers?
SE:  I thought you said you fight Malta?
YOU:  Yes, I fight them all the time.  I'm always coming for their falcons.
SE:  So the sappers.
YOU:  Not ringing any bells.
SE:  The ones who drain your energy?
YOU:  Nope.
SE:  They shoot a wavy beam of light at you and then you lose all your energy and die?
YOU:  Oh, you mean the funny little men who have a gun that doesn't do anything?  They're weird.

[drbuzzard]

Can't really argue with this. Immunity to drain isn't always useful, but when it is, you get to shine. 

[Aeroprism]

As I said, if you guys have a workable build ... 😉

[drbuzzard]

I don't do builds for myself. I just work up the character as I go. Sometimes this calls for respecs, but it is what it is. 

[Underfyre]

There's a build list floating around this forum where I dumped all the Sentinel builds I had up to that point. E^3 was included in that.

[Aeroprism]

26 minutes ago, Underfyre said:

There's a build list floating around this forum where I dumped all the Sentinel builds I had up to that point. E^3 was included in that.

Yes 😄 I found it just before you mentioned it, looking at it now!  Thank you!

[Aeroprism]

I'm digesting it, it's interesting but the resist/defense numbers seem less advantageous than those in my build.  The Regen is twice as good but isn't regen overrated when you're not playing a purely defensive build? HP drops so fast, a +200% regen is not going to make that much of a difference. As long as you have a good punctual heal to complete your mitigation.

 

The other part that confuses me is Tesla Cage. I keep reading that it needs to be treated as a proc monster but it's a single target power so, really? Isn't it better to give it the advantage of a full 6-set instead of super-proccing it and hoping for the occasional RNG?

 

Food for thought.

[drbuzzard]

18 minutes ago, Aeroprism said:

I'm digesting it, it's interesting but the resist/defense numbers seem less advantageous than those in my build.  The Regen is twice as good but isn't regen overrated when you're not playing a purely defensive build? HP drops so fast, a +200% regen is not going to make that much of a difference. As long as you have a good punctual heal to complete your mitigation.

 

The other part that confuses me is Tesla Cage. I keep reading that it needs to be treated as a proc monster but it's a single target power so, really? Isn't it better to give it the advantage of a full 6-set instead of super-proccing it and hoping for the occasional RNG?

 

Food for thought.

I bet it's old enough so that people leveraged procs instead of the sentinel damage scalar. These days I don't know that I have any procs left in mine. 

 

As for regen, this is one of those things which is a touch complicated. Defenses should be looked upon as a survival time kinda thing. So if you are taking a certain DPS you can figure out how long it is before you croak. If your combination of regen+defenses provide enough mitigation to exceed that you can't die. Regen actually works nicely with resistance sets because they effectively multiply the regen (as long as it's one of the covered types). So if you have 50% resistance, you have double the regen. If you get to 75%, you have four times the regen. Optimally you should be pumping up both your regen and resistance if you can. Basically I find on the resistance sets that unless you're trying to tank stuff (I usually play on teams), you will basically regen+resist any miscellaneous damage that comes your way. The heal is if you start getting a bit adventurous. 

[aethereal]

Procs do a lot of damage.  I'm not totally sure how procs work in Tesla Cage, with its conditional chaining.  But if it were a single-target power that did as much damage as it does on base (ie, without the chains), a standard 3.5 PPM damage proc would be worth 42% damage enhancement in it, if it had no local recharge.

 

The reason that people who are interested in min-maxing DPS fill up attacks with 4-6 procs is that each proc is worth a lot of damage enhancement (and of course doesn't have ED concerns).

 

Whether that's worth the loss of set bonuses is of course a judgment call and conditional on the rest of the build.

Edited December 30, 2022 by aethereal
Initial version of the post had numbers screwed up, said 52% instead of 42%

[Heatstroke]

On 12/29/2022 at 4:09 PM, aethereal said:

Do not skip Grounded.  Look, Electricity isn't a great armor set on the 75% resist-cap ATs, but one of its true joys is near immunity to endurance drain.  The most fun you can have on an electric armor character is roleplaying.  Follow this script:

SOMEONE ELSE:  God I hate sappers.
YOU:  What are sappers?
SE:  I thought you said you fight Malta?
YOU:  Yes, I fight them all the time.  I'm always coming for their falcons.
SE:  So the sappers.
YOU:  Not ringing any bells.
SE:  The ones who drain your energy?
YOU:  Nope.
SE:  They shoot a wavy beam of light at you and then you lose all your energy and die?
YOU:  Oh, you mean the funny little men who have a gun that doesn't do anything?  They're weird.

 

 

I actually LOL'd at this cause its SO true...

[Aeroprism]

On 12/30/2022 at 1:18 AM, aethereal said:

Procs do a lot of damage.  I'm not totally sure how procs work in Tesla Cage, with its conditional chaining.  But if it were a single-target power that did as much damage as it does on base (ie, without the chains), a standard 3.5 PPM damage proc would be worth 42% damage enhancement in it, if it had no local recharge.

 

The reason that people who are interested in min-maxing DPS fill up attacks with 4-6 procs is that each proc is worth a lot of damage enhancement (and of course doesn't have ED concerns).

 

Whether that's worth the loss of set bonuses is of course a judgment call and conditional on the rest of the build.

 

The devs clearly stated that procs will only work on Tesla Cage's main target and not its branching targets.  So it will be something to test and see.  Enhancement Unslotters are cheap anyways 🙂

 

I'll try to build with Grounded in mind.  But I'm still on the fence when it comes to Defense VS resistance.  Yes, a stable 75% resistance is fun with a good stable heal, but even 25% of a really bad alpha strike is a looooooot of damage.  Damage that won't hit you if you have sufficient defence.  It's just that I'm used to working with tankers, where getting to softcap is a joke.

[drbuzzard]

If you are wanting defense, build a defense secondary. Energy aura is quite good, with lots of defense, a fair bit of resistance, a good heal, and a 20% recharge boost. 

 

If theme comes first, then I'd probably just not worry about the numbers too much. 

[Aeroprism]

So @drbuzzard I embraced your philosophy and went all on a resistance + regen build.

 

Here is what I ended up with.  (Note that Hover is just for the LOTG passive, I won't be using it because: grounded)

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.6
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Sentinel
Primary Power Set: Electrical Blast
Secondary Power Set: Electric Armor
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Ancillary Pool: Electricity Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Lightning Bolt

• (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
• (34) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
• (48) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
• (48) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
• (50) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (50) Decimation - Chance of Build Up
  

Level 1: Charged Armor

• (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance
• (3) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Recharge
• (3) Titanium Coating - Endurance
• (5) Titanium Coating - Resistance
• (5) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 2: Charged Shield

• (A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
• (7) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance
• (7) Numina's Convalesence - Heal
• (9) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 4: Conductive Shield

• (A) Titanium Coating - Endurance
• (9) Titanium Coating - Resistance
• (11) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Recharge
• (11) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance
• (13) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 6: Ball Lightning

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

Level 8: Zapping Bolt

• (A) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage
• (37) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Damage/RechargeTime
• (39) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (39) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (40) Superior Sentinel's Ward - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (40) Superior Sentinel's Ward - RechargeTime/Chance for +Absorb
  

Level 10: Charge Up

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 12: Energize

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal
• (13) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
• (15) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime
• (15) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime
• (17) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
• (17) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
  

Level 14: Tesla Cage

• (A) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
• (33) Unbreakable Constraint - Chance for Smashing Damage
• (33) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
• (33) Neuronic Shutdown - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
  

Level 16: Static Shield

• (A) Titanium Coating - Endurance
• (19) Titanium Coating - Resistance
• (19) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
• (21) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Recharge
• (21) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance
  

Level 18: Voltaic Sentinel

• (A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage
• (43) Blood Mandate - Damage
• (43) Blood Mandate - Damage/Endurance
• (45) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
  

Level 20: Grounded

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
• (45) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance
  

Level 22: Short Circuit

• (A) Armageddon - Damage
• (40) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge
• (42) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• (42) Armageddon - Recharge/Accuracy
• (42) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance
• (43) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage
  

Level 24: Lightning Reflexes

• (A) Run Speed IO
  

Level 26: Combat Jumping

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (27) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
• (34) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage
  

Level 28: Boxing

• (A) Empty
  

Level 30: Tough

• (A) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance
• (31) Aegis - Resistance
• (31) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance
• (31) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 32: Weave

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
  

Level 35: Thunderous Blast

• (A) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (36) Superior Opportunity Strikes - RechargeTime/Chance for Opportunity
• (36) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Damage/RechargeTime
• (36) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (37) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage
• (37) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
  

Level 38: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (39) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 41: Havoc Punch

• (A) Hecatomb - Damage
• (45) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge
• (46) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• (46) Hecatomb - Recharge/Accuracy
• (46) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance
• (48) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative)
  

Level 44: Paralyzing Jolt

• (A) Apocalypse - Damage
• (47) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative)
• (47) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• (49) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge
  

Level 47: Super Jump

• (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)
  

Level 49: Hover

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
  

Level 1: Opportunity 
Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Sprint

• (A) Empty
  

Level 2: Rest

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Swift

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Hurdle

• (A) Empty
  

Level 1: Health

• (A) Miracle - +Recovery
  

Level 1: Stamina

• (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
• (23) Performance Shifter - EndMod
  

Level 1: Shocked 

Level 49: Double Jump 
------------

[drbuzzard]

There's a few of concerns:

A) You went proc happy in tesla cage. That's probably not a good idea as it still needs to hit targets and you have no accuracy enhancement in it. I'd probably try to do a normal set (perhaps decimation) and then the unbreakable constraint proc since it's the best damage for the slot (at a 4.5 rate it's also a good shot of happening). 

B) Decimation proc rate is going to be very, very low. It might pop one in ten. I'd probably put that slot somewhere else. 

C) I'd probably reclaim the sixth slot of ball lightning taking out the knockdown proc. Burst proc chance is fairly low, and I think the slot is better served elsewhere. 

D) I'd say put a Gaussian's chance for build up in charge up. This gives a good proc chance and is a natural thing to pop before thunderous blast. 

E) In grounded you have the steadfast protection def special. I'm not sure why. It's the only defense in the build. Instead I'd ditch aegis in tough, and put another titanium coating there, while putting the aegis psi resistance unique here. That will get you a little bit more negative energy resistance. 

F) You don't have power sink, nor have you fully slotted stamina for endurance, so you will have blue bar issues. I'd put at least one more slot into stamina so you have two 50+3 endurance mods in there (one from performance shifter). Personally when I can hunt up the slots I like 4 slots in stamina with 1 PerfSh proc, 1 PerSh end mod (50+3), 1 power transfer chance for self heal, 1 power transfer end mod (50+3)

[Aeroprism]

Thanks again for the time you put in answering this, @drbuzzard!

 

A) Agreed.  I wasn't sure what to do with Tesla Cage. I think I'll prefer a set anyways.

B) Oh? Would it proc more often in Tesla? 

C) Food for thought, That sixth slot was for the 6% resist. Perhaps another set would do better then?  Ball Lightning is a pretty staple power after all.

D) I don't know why I didn't do that in the first place....

E) There I strongly disagree.  Resistance or not, Une little slot to get a whooping 3% defence against EVERYTHING is a pretty sweet deal.  Out of 100 hits, it's 3 less hits to soak and resist.

F) I found that high level, Stam becomes less of an issue. I will be spamming the ish out of Energize and will be getting incarnates soon.  If that still doesn't work, I'll work Power Sink in.

 

 

[drbuzzard]

Proc rate is based on the recharge time of the power computed from enhancements in the power (alpha counts towards this). Tesla case has a longer recharge, so yes it would proc more. It still won't proc a whole lot especially if you put in a set with recharge in it. 

[Aeroprism]

Well, she's 35 now and I mow down Devouring Earth maps at x5+0 .  She is, and by far, one of the most hectic, involving and fun AT combo I have ever played!