Easiest Low budget primary/secondary combo to solo with?

[Zewks]

To start out.

 

Im poor. Super poor. I dont expect to have much inf by the time I play to 50 as the double xp buff removes any earnings along the way.

 

Im curious what the best solo primary/secondary sets could be for a Sent that was ONLY using SO's along the way. Im not looking to do +4/+8 missions, but I also dont want to be stuck soloing +1/+0 missions either.  I know that with proper slotting of sets, and end game unlocks, any build can be viable. Its just getting there that is the big struggle, and id prefer a power combo that struggles the least until that point.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Zewks

[aethereal]

The double XP buff removes a completely trivial amount of inf.  You can earn plenty of inf while leveling while keeping double XP running -- merits are the easiest way, but there are others.

 

Common IOs are cheaper than constantly upgrading SOs.  However, I really encourage people to, even if self funding, even if allergic to learning slightly complicated strategies for earning inf, buy at least cheap sets.  It's a trivial amount of money and it improves the leveling experience so much.  SOs are the lazy strategy, not the cheap one.

 

Sentinel sets are pretty forgiving while leveling, with lots of endurance tools etc.  Energy Aura and Ninjutsu both are defense sets (good, powerful) with heals and endurance heals (useful, forgiving).  Electric for the primary maybe?  But honestly, if I were you, for the primary I'd just go with whatever looks good to you.  I don't think there are serious trap sets that are terrible.

Edited January 20, 2023 by aethereal

[drbuzzard]

I really like electric blast as a primary (though really, most sentinel primaries are well enough balanced across sets so you can't go terribly wrong, I might avoid radiation or dark, but beyond that they're fine). It doesn't need IOs to be good, but they can certainly help. I would suggest regen as the secondary since it basically just works, even if you only use common IOs or SOs. Sure, with a bunch of set bonuses you can push your luck more, but it is already pretty durable. Also regen gets a really good endurance recovery power which will get you without all the fancy endurance pumping IOs. 

 

I strongly second Aethereal's suggestion. Get common IOs in place at 22 or 27 (lvl 25 or 30 IOs). They will give SO or near SO level values and never expire. Slotting attacks for 2 acc, 3 damage, 1 end works well enough. That's what I did when I first got back into the game and lacked resources. SOs because they expire are a sucker bet. It's actually a bit cruel that they made them available for low levels since it is a pure influence sink since they won't last long enough to do much good as low levels fly by. 

 

If you want a quick suggestion on making money, get on one of the PI paper mission teams when you're low level. This will have 2 positive effects- you'll gain levels fast, and you will get the lvl 50 common IO recipe drops which are each worth around 100K influence just at the vendor. 

 

Oh yeah, one other bit of advice is hover blasting since without IO sets, using position for protection is a good idea as you won't be that durable. Playing keep away especially favors sets which heal you up (regen, fire, willpower). 

[biostem]

On 1/20/2023 at 11:56 AM, Zewks said:

To start out.

 

Im poor. Super poor. I dont expect to have much inf by the time I play to 50 as the double xp buff removes any earnings along the way.

 

Im curious what the best solo primary/secondary sets could be for a Sent that was ONLY using SO's along the way. Im not looking to do +4/+8 missions, but I also dont want to be stuck soloing +1/+0 missions either.  I know that with proper slotting of sets, and end game unlocks, any build can be viable. Its just getting there that is the big struggle, and id prefer a power combo that struggles the least until that point.

What I would recommend is dual pistols/radiation armor.  Dual pistols has some great utility and is a very effective set, IMHO.  Radiation armor provides a lot of great performance and survival tools right out of the gate.  One thing I could recommend, however, is to go with level 25 or 30 generic invention-origin enhancements - they aren't very expensive, they'll do the job all the way to 50, (and even beyond),, and once slotted, you'll never have to worry about them expiring/turning red...

[nihilii]

Echoing Radiation Armor as the secondary of choice. It gives you tons of endurance management, regeneration, resistance, so you're all set on SOs.

Before the Sentinel buffs, I made a SO only version of my Fire/Rad Sentinel, and if I recall properly this was enough to solo the ITF on base difficulty up to the last mission. Perhaps to completion, even. So there's more than enough power to be found, for regular play.

 

(This was also my very first character on Homecoming, anyway, in the beginning few days where nobody had money. Leveling went smoothly.)

While this is not necessary for standard play, Radiation Armor stacks excellently with "one simple trick": converting all your inspirations into purples. As your resistances, healing, regen and recovery are taken care of, you can stack pure defense on top and improve your survivability tenfold.

[Wobegone]

Hmm, definitely gonna try Fire/Rad for my next Sentinel.  I had a great time (mostly) soloing Fire/Bio and Electric/Bio.  Both used Hover.  They were among the easiest solo projects I've ever done for casual difficulties.  I settled on +2/+0-4 when I got into the twenties. 

 

As far as Influence, you'll get a ton of Reward Merits running solo story arcs, and you'll get plenty of drops along the way.  I've done several solo projects that self-funded while leveling.  With just those two sources, you should easily be able to afford level 25+ generic IOs by crafting most of the recipe drops, converting, then selling, and/or using the Merits for Converters and selling them on the AH.  I'd also frankenslot IOs you find as drops after level 25 or so.  

 

If you take a few extra minutes putting in bids for cheap yellow recipes on the AH at the end of your session (just make sure they don't need orange salvage), and about 15 minutes crafting/converting at the beginning of your session, you'll end up a billionaire in your 30s or 40s.   Starting this process depends on early drops.  A lucky drop gives enough capital to buy more recipes to start.  Check out the Market Forum or the Guide section for more detailed advice.

[BazookaTwo]

Don't forget in the merit side of things, that the Who Will Die arcs give double merits the first time you run them, and can be ran twice a week. That's 40 merits in 6 quick missions, starting at lvl 14. A cure for altiitis poverty is running them with alts whether the alt needs the merits or not. 

 

Then there's explore badges and zone merits. 5 per zone. I usually get Atlas, Galaxy/Atlas echo and Kings before I hit level 6. That's some seed money.

[Underfyre]

Is the old knowledge lost? Do the Smoke and Mirrors arc. You'll get 12 merits in less than 7 minutes when you git gud at it.

[laudwic]

I generally stop double xp at 40 as inf starts building up at those levels and you will need to do multiple contacts if you want the Portal Jockey badge.  Plus, lvl 50 white recipes are a great source of funds just selling to contact.  I find this way by the time this one gets to 50, it will pay for the IOs for my next one.

[biostem]

On 1/26/2023 at 3:50 PM, Ignatz the Insane said:

Hmm, definitely gonna try Fire/Rad for my next Sentinel.

I know this is an older post, but just a word of warning about fire blast on sentinels - The power "Blazing Blast" has this weird repel/knockback/hold mechanic ingrained in it, which I find to be very off-putting.  Besides that, best of luck!

[drbuzzard]

4 hours ago, biostem said:

I know this is an older post, but just a word of warning about fire blast on sentinels - The power "Blazing Blast" has this weird repel/knockback/hold mechanic ingrained in it, which I find to be very off-putting.  Besides that, best of luck!

Yeah, it's a knockback/repel combo which you can't undo. It amounts to a solid mechanic for taking a target out of a fight for a bit of time, but if you like to keep things bunched up to cook them, it's annoying. 

[lemming]

It's an odd power, but once you learn to use it, it's handy.  It's like Ki Push or the sonic push.   Mitigates a bit.   My only complaint now about it is it will knock stuff back further than your range.

[drbuzzard]

I find that it, coupled with fire having lousy T1 and T2 powers makes the set not terribly appealing to me. Blaze is great and all, but it doesn't offset other aspects of the set which are meh.