Possibly Sentinel?!!!?

[Scarlet Shocker]

4 hours ago, Snarky said:

I do not, ever ever ever PvP.  Unless you play chess.  I am a moderately grumpy 1600-1700 player.  
 

it HAS to be Dark Dark. Preferably Dark Dark Dark.  Is there a 4th Dark.  I am being told just my attitude.  Okay, I will work on 4th Dark.  

 

Ok serious question, why is there no flexibility in your planning when you can endarken everything with power customization?

[Snarky]

27 minutes ago, Bopper said:

Is taking every primary and/or secondary power a requirement for you?

Anytime I see Cloak of Fear it makes me want to look at presence pool to combo it with Invoke Panic. Would that be a playstyle you'd like?

only when they are this good lol.  i have run a lot of Dark Dark across many ATs, i know each piece of the swiss army knife and what i can mcgyver with it

 

i just use cloaks the way i do on tanks and brutes, they are fire and forget damage mitigation.  if i had a fear cone i would be very happy and use the crap out of it.  but...  gonna be busy slamming ST and jousting it looks like.  leave the troll powers to doms and trollers

Edited April 27 by Snarky

[Snarky]

4 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

Ok serious question, why is there no flexibility in your planning when you can endarken everything with power customization?

because it is not really Dark.  yes, the color is dark.  but the powers across Dark actually have fear, -tohit debuffs, and various things that scream "undead"  invul is stronger, coloring it black does not make it as "from the grave" as Dark powers

[Scarlet Shocker]

7 minutes ago, Snarky said:

because it is not really Dark.  yes, the color is dark.  but the powers across Dark actually have fear, -tohit debuffs, and various things that scream "undead"  invul is stronger, coloring it black does not make it as "from the grave" as Dark powers

 

That's a fair comment. But you could equally argue (without getting too semantic) that poison is the root of vampirism, an infection that taints your victims.

 

Thus you then have the fear of dark in your primary and the toxicity of your affliction in poison

 

I'm not criticising, simply offering an alternative perspection

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

That's a fair comment. But you could equally argue (without getting too semantic) that poison is the root of vampirism, an infection that taints your victims.

 

Thus you then have the fear of dark in your primary and the toxicity of your affliction in poison

 

I'm not criticising, simply offering an alternative perspection

Factually incorrect my friend.  Vampirism is an alien dna retrovirus.  Space Herpes.

[BjorJlen]

Omg!!! 😮
   Your Snarky, THE Herpe Man?!?!?! Now it all makes sense! 🙃

[Scarlet Shocker]

29 minutes ago, Snarky said:

Factually incorrect my friend.  Vampirism is an alien dna retrovirus.  Space Herpes.

 

 

Ah yes, Herpes, goddess of genital afflictions!

[Riverdusk]

Yes, sent damage is pretty good now I'd say.  Damage is even more comparable to a blaster if you are one that normally plays a blaster as "all ranged" anyway and ignores blaster secondary melee attacks, which I know a lot of people do.   From watching blasters on teams I rarely see any of them actually get in and "blap" a whole lot (yes I know all the forum blaster pros do, but that is a small number in reality.)  Big difference is mostly the lower target caps, which to me is a fair trade off for the extra armors.

[Snarky]

18 minutes ago, Riverdusk said:

Yes, sent damage is pretty good now I'd say.  Damage is even more comparable to a blaster if you are one that normally plays a blaster as "all ranged" anyway and ignores blaster secondary melee attacks, which I know a lot of people do.   From watching blasters on teams I rarely see any of them actually get in and "blap" a whole lot (yes I know all the forum blaster pros do, but that is a small number in reality.)  Big difference is mostly the lower target caps, which to me is a fair trade off for the extra armors.

Yes, looks like a fun experiment.  Of course Dark Armor is a resist set.... So.  lol.  But when stuff does hit me I am a little shocked not to take a giant wallop.  Been playing a lot of squishies for a long time.

[FupDup]

If you're gonna proceed with this, something to note here is that Sentinel Dark Armor is kind of weird in regards to the clicky heal power. On most ATs Dark Regen gives you like 3 health bars in one click but costs a truckload of endurance. On Sents, Obscure Sustenance (the replacement) costs only a modest amount of endurance and gives you a decaying regen and recovery buff that starts high but tapers off over time similar to Destiny powers. You'll want to spam it frequently to keep up the higher buff levels rather than waiting until you're at low HP (multiple castings don't stack but they do reset the timers). 

 

https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=sentinel_defense.dark_armor.obscure_sustenance&at=sentinel

 

It's also wonky because it's coded as a 35ft PBAOE but it only hits one target. IMO it should've just been an ST ranged attack with similar range as most Sent primary ST powers. 

[PeregrineFalcon]

2 hours ago, Snarky said:

Factually incorrect my friend.  Vampirism is an alien dna retrovirus.  Space Herpes.

Really?

 

I thought Vampirism was a contagious demonic possession.

[Snarky]

9 minutes ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

Really?

 

I thought Vampirism was a contagious demonic possession.

shhh.  if you tell them everyone will want one.

[lemming]

Reminds me to finish speccing out my Storm/Dark Sent.    Just looks like a floating cloud and things tend to melt around them, but I still need to install some sets.  I should also redo my Dark/Dark one on Excel.

[Snarky]

15 minutes ago, lemming said:

Reminds me to finish speccing out my Storm/Dark Sent.    Just looks like a floating cloud and things tend to melt around them, but I still need to install some sets.  I should also redo my Dark/Dark one on Excel.

yeah, i dug one out that i had farmed to 50 and put on a shelf.  not even 1% of incarnate exp.  fresh 50.  so i built it in mids, then respec in game.  then farmed the alpha open (10 min or less) then emailed myself two transcendents and T4d the alpha.

 

I have run it in a TPN, a BAF, a CoP, An hour or two with friends doing Doc Buzzsaw's "new" arc,  That in particular showed me how strong this thing is.  Able to Tank EB while being swarmed.  Regularly.  Now, not gonna try that with an AV, I am too lazy.  But the thing hits hard and is able to be propped up.  

 

Still trying to figure out "opportunity"  starting to get it.  

[FupDup]

12 hours ago, Snarky said:

Still trying to figure out "opportunity"  starting to get it.  

Opportunity is kind of like the Brute's "Rage" bar (the coding literally refers to it as rage). You build it up slowly over time and while attacking. Eventually when it's full, you can use the Vulnerability clicky button on a single enemy. This applies some debuffs to them, the most important of which is a -res debuff, and these debuffs ignore purple patch effects. 

 

https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=inherent.inherent.vulnerability&at=sentinel

 

The most important thing is that since this power only affects one target, it should normally be reserved for big threats (bosses and higher). Sometimes I like to use it on annoying minions or LTs like Sappers but it should mostly be used on bosses, EBs, AVs, and GMs. 

[Marshal_General]

I made my Sent a Psy/Regen. Regen is good on a sent.

 

Then again mine is a Dhampir, the Lite Beer of Vampires.

[InvaderStych]

On 4/27/2024 at 1:39 AM, Snarky said:

The problems are many.  The close calls fall around me like artillery shells in no man’s land. Which one will be mine?

 

Maybe it is time to Snark Outside The Box.

 

Edited May 1 by InvaderStych

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, InvaderStych said:

 

Maybe it is time to Snark Outside The Box.

 

No, I think you got the picture right.  I took a look at Sentinels because it had more of what I wanted.  Then I started looking at the armor I wanted.  Was on a Brute for a day.  Now on a Dark Dark Tank lol.  Box time.  Oh yeah!

 

[drbuzzard]

On 4/27/2024 at 10:42 AM, Snarky said:

I get the icky target cap, but I was considering Doms pretty seriously (rebuilt one with all purples) until I ran it for 5 minutes and remembered why I stopped.  F-ing rainbows.  Rainbows?  On a Villain AT?  Seriously???

 

But why is Sentinel damage half, when I can clearly see the ST DPS (on paper) looks very close to a Blaster ST DPS?

 

It is not half, that's hyperbole. The difference in damage between sentinels and blasters has to do with 4 things:

A) Defiance- each attack of a blaster gives a damage boost. These can pile up to a fair bit of damage, but not immense (I think 30% of base is about it). 

B) Hard hitting attacks from the secondary- this is far more true for some secondaries than others, but people always assume the best secondary. Hell it could be plant, and oh well, so much for that. 

C) The many times mentioned AOE cap, which is certainly valid. 5 targets for cones sucks severely and hence I just don't use the cones often. 16 is certainly better than 10, but I can live with 10. 

D) Build up. Sentinels never have this, while most blaster secondaries do. At high recharges I have to imagine it is fairly significant. (yes sentinels have aim, but so do blasters, so that is a wash)

 

There's also a lot of very expert blasters out there who have optimized the hell out of things and gone after the metrics to show blaster damage on pylons and (before the latest issue) the incarnate start mission times. No slights on the people trying this with sentinels, but blasters are more familiar territory and I think that is reflected in the times. 

 

Also note that the gap between the best blaster and the best sentinel is probably smaller than between the best blaster and the worst blaster, so some sentinels probably are better than some blasters. 

 

The offsetting sentinel vulnerability debuff isn't bad by any means, but it does not offset all that. I would like of it stacked from multiple sentinels so they could have superteams, but I'm fairly happy with the buff they got. Considering the debuff ignores the purple patch, that is pretty nice. It's always a 15% damage boost on a single target (and other things). 

[Sanguinesun]

On 4/27/2024 at 5:39 PM, Snarky said:

This is a weird one for me.  I am trying to mesh my “fictional vampire” from some bad fiction i write with a workable AT from CoH/V.  The problems are many.  The close calls fall around me like artillery shells in no man’s land. Which one will be mine?

 

I started with Brutes.  After a long time on a Dark/Invul i was encouraged to try Dark Dark.  It was a good suggestion.  A very good representation. Tough, a self Rez, very Dark.  No ranged powers.  Fury.  A slave to the CoH melee/agro box and 7 ft attacks.  
 

Tanks.  More survivable than Brutes.  Less damage. Still melee
 

Scrapper less and more

 

Stalker ditto
 

A Corruptor.  So damned close.  Healing others?   Squishy. Sigh, so damned close.  
 

A Blaster!   So much sweet sweet damage.  No self rez.  Kind of…. Let’s just say not sturdy.  
 

A Dominator!   So cool, decent ST ranged damage, controls to not be as squishy.  Hmmm.  Wait, what? Domination and Dark build up are both rainbow effects?   Can we just leave it out for the sun.  Let it die, just let it die.  
 

A Controller.  Very cool. Very Dark.   Very cool.  No self rez, squishy, no damage.  
 

A Defender.  It is like a Corruptor.  Just… okay, moving on.  
 

Hmmm.   Now I will own up to smack talking Sentinels.  But….   It has toughness.  Not like a Tank, but enough for story.  Self rez.  Okay.  Spell caster, ranged damage and things like Darkest Night ( Dark^3 ) Hmmm.  Damn thing checks off every box from short story.  
 

Anyone know if this Sentinel thing has rainbows coming off its Dark powers or if Netherworld Tentacles are white like Blaster/Soul Patron/ Soul Tentacles, or some other rainbow, bright glow, pretty princess BS?   

 

Oh Snarky.  Wait until you meet the 80's Buck Rodgers Space Vampire.   So many new builds shall open unto thee:

 

 

[Riverdusk]

On 4/27/2024 at 3:02 PM, Snarky said:

Yes, looks like a fun experiment.  Of course Dark Armor is a resist set.... So.  lol.  But when stuff does hit me I am a little shocked not to take a giant wallop.  Been playing a lot of squishies for a long time.

 

One nice trick is that blackstar's huge tohit debuff, which is -35% tohit for 20 seconds on both blaster and sent, recharges a lot faster on a sent, so the uptime is a lot better.   All the debuffs/mez effects tend to be that way for the nukes that have them, so any of those secondary effects are just up more often for sents (for anything that does live through them).

[Seldom]

As someone who loves dark armor, be ye warned: /dark sentinels may be sport the weakest & worst power sets in the game. Taking mine to 50 actually soured me on the archetype for a while.

 

Why? Obscure sustenance.

 

On a power set with middling resistance, sentinels get the some of the worst values overall. Dark armor usually relies on two things for survival: consistent soft control via the auras, and strong burst healing via dark regeneration. After taking out a lot of the endurance heavy powers from the set and converting them to auto powers, the heal was then gutted of its burst healing for mild regeneration and a healthy dose of recovery.

 

That's right, the set that needs the most healing gets the least, trades it for regeneration on one of the smallest health pools available that can choose the set, and the best recovery for the set that uses the least endurance of all its iterations. Because of this, I would never recommend playing the power set solo without a primary that heals, or at all. Especially if you plan to play at range, as then it has no soft control, (Auras are only 12ft) and no targets to target for resurrection after the inevitable death relapse. On a set that barely works for the ranged play style, its cornerstone survival tool was replaced with a soggy IOU note.

 

Since playing my dark/dark/dark sentinel I started a few other sentinels, and am happy to report other sentinel secondaries work far better.

[Snarky]

1 minute ago, Seldom said:

As someone who loves dark armor, be ye warned: /dark sentinels may be sport the weakest & worst power sets in the game. Taking mine to 50 actually soured me on the archetype for a while.

 

Why? Obscure sustenance.

 

On a power set with middling resistance, sentinels get the some of the worst values overall. Dark armor usually relies on two things for survival: consistent soft control via the auras, and strong burst healing via dark regeneration. After taking out a lot of the endurance heavy powers from the set and converting them to auto powers, the heal was then gutted of its burst healing for mild regeneration and a healthy dose of recovery.

 

That's right, the set that needs the most healing gets the least, trades it for regeneration on one of the smallest health pools available that can choose the set, and the best recovery for the set that uses the least endurance of all its iterations. Because of this, I would never recommend playing the power set solo without a primary that heals, or at all. Especially if you plan to play at range, as then it has no soft control, (Auras are only 12ft) and no targets to target for resurrection after the inevitable death relapse. On a set that barely works for the ranged play style, its cornerstone survival tool was replaced with a soggy IOU note.

 

Since playing my dark/dark/dark sentinel I started a few other sentinels, and am happy to report other sentinel secondaries work far better.

And that is why I am now on a Tank lololol