DP and "Slotting for Proc"

[Curveball]

I don't have a lot of experience with high-end characters because the majority of my life in game is getting a character to 22-25, getting bored with the concept, and making a new character. However I have a DP/SR Sentinel that I think I'm going to stick with for a while, so I've been looking at the best way to prep him for end game. I've seen a number of posts making passing references to DP "slotting for proc" but no posts specifically about what that means.

 

My _assumption_ is that what you do is take all the proc pieces of various sets (chance for energy damage, chance for poison damage, chance for lethal damage, etc) and you slot them in a single attack, so when that attack goes off you get the potential for 3-5 damage types firing off every time you use that attack. And if you get your global recharge high enough and slot EVERY DP power with proc pieces you're basically rotating through an endless hail of randomized damage madness.

 

Is that the gist of it?

[JediDave]

That's the gist of it. 

 

Avoid slotting recharge (the enhancement value, you can and should still go for some rech set bonuses), and on a sent, still get close to ED capped damage slotting done before slotting procs. 

[Curveball]

So... one accuracy, two IOs at 50 (to get you to 84%) and then three procs?

[Maelwys]

16 hours ago, Curveball said:

So... one accuracy, two IOs at 50 (to get you to 84%) and then three procs?

 

Typically builds that use Procs would also use enhancements that boost multiple aspects (Invention Set IOs or Hamidon origin HOs/DSyncs) so that they're getting as much benefit from the power's non-proc enhancement slots as possible. E.g. 2x ACC/Dam HOs plus 4x Procs.

 

 

 

Edited October 7 by Maelwys

[JediDave]

14 hours ago, Curveball said:

So... one accuracy, two IOs at 50 (to get you to 84%) and then three procs?

It's gonna vary from power to power. You still want to get set bonuses where you can. I would say post a build you made and then people can give advice on ways to tweak it to better go in the direction you want to go. 

[tidge]

If a player is starting to consider leveraging %damage from procs, here are some quicky rules:

 

1) If the power has a base recharge time < 15 seconds, it is probably a poor choice for %damage

2) AoE are generally better places to put %damage than single target

 

The alternative to franken-slotting is pursuing set bonuses... especially Global Recharge and Accuracy (for %damage powers)

[oldskool]

As a person that both plays this combo, and also builds into this outcome, I do have some first hand experiences to share. 

The overall gist in the OP is pretty close in this case. You can definitely push one power with this logic, or... you can do that with multiple powers. Dual Pistols has access to a lot of different set types which happen to have damage proc options. Slows, Defense Debuff, Damage sets... etc... You can potentially fill up one attack with all procs and do some decent damage. 

But, there is a bit of buyer beware in that approach. That's Stamina. 

Repeatedly attacking is going to be your highest form of endurance drain and you may have some challenges in managing endurance if you overbuild for procs without minding the drain. 

Super Reflexes has some built in global recharge. The defense sets can combo into Super Reflexes to really let you push your global recharge very high. That can potentially get you into a lot of actions per minute and Dual Pistol powers, especially the ones with great proc potential, ain't exactly cheap to use while hammering out damage. 

 

My personal preference is to slot my single target attacks for additional procs and balance it with some Acc/Damage, and Acc/Damage/End enhancements. So, no, I don't fully proc all my attacks because the endurance drain just isn't fun to deal with. You can fix this with Ageless but... I don't always want to run Ageless. So, I am accepting of a loss of damage in order to have some quality of play, and besides... not stopping my offense is better than having to stop to chew a blue pill or pause damage. If you're on a team... well, then this issue may not matter to you at all and that is a separate consideration to make. 

Fun things to do here: 
Suppressive Fire can use the Unbreakable Constraint Chance for Smashing proc which has a pretty solid chance to go off in this power. You can also add in some psychic damage from other hold sets if like. 
Executioner's Shot is my preference for adding Achilles' Heel because debuffing resistance while solo is good stuff, and the Apocalypse Chance for Negative and your choice of other procs can round this out. 
Dual Pistols can be surprisingly effective despite its 6second base recharge. You can add in some extra smash damage (knockback set, slow set) and cold damage (slow set). 

If you wanna go half-way to just bump up damage and also have some endurance mods, then 3 piece Thunderstrike works well. Thunderstrike can get you Acc/Dmg, Acc/Dmg/End, Dmg/End. If you wanna rank those to +5 you could or you could attune them for exemplar play. Either way is great. With Musculature Core Alpha you can definitely hit ED on damage in your attacks while still making use of endurance reduction and fill in 3 slots with procs. 

For the AoE attacks, I don't really bother to proc bomb for the Sentinel, but on my Corruptor and Defender I do like Force Feedback Chance for Recharge. On other ATs where other powers with long recharge times may benefit your play style, Dual Pistols can be leveraged to make that a bit faster. 

I know Dual Pistols is not a super popular set, and I don't want to suggest it is some stellar DPS set. However, it is incredibly flexible in how you build it and its versatility can open a lot of different gameplay doors. 

The *only* AT I don't like Dual Pistols with is the Blaster. I can't get into the set, at all, on the Blaster. But I love it on Corruptor/Defender/Sentinel. I feel the proc use really shines on those ATs where on a Blaster I am overly concerned with using attack slots to spec in defenses. I find I don't need to do that so much on the other 3 ATs. Obviously your mileage may vary. 😄 

[Six-Six]

there was a certain "era" in my CoH gaming that I just slotted an ACC or two, maybe and End redux or recharge into a power, then fill the remaining available slots with permissible procs. My findings are

1) they work. some powers don't proc as well as they should on paper, but they work
2) sometimes an acc, end, recharge IO will still be out performed by the pure percentages of set IOs (acc + dmg, acc + dmg + end, etc), not even counting the set bonuses you get as a result.
3) frankenslotting is really taxing on my brain... but fun. sometimes necessary for certain ATs and/or powers, not so much on sent, though, unless you want to maximise its tankiness. I had a build that had as high as 70-80% damage increase on a sent, but the resulting damage was still meh.

Now for DP/SR sent, recharge isn't a huge concern. you'll have enough powers where you can stick an LotG proc plus Quickness. with those alone, you'll have enough recharge to have most powers at the ready, even your quasi-nuke. this particular power set combo is also one of my favourites.

also, IIRC if you pick ninja mastery, you have the option to slot your ATOs in the mastery powers... unless they fixed that... which opens up more slotting in your regular powers.

PS. I'd listen to Oldskool when it comes to Sentinels. I learned the game with sents, and I consider @oldskool as well as @Sunsette as pillars of wisdom on the matter.

And, if you like DP on a sent, I would suggest DP/Ninja on a blaster. fast-action blapping at its finest, with scary damage. who cares about res and def when you got two guns and a blade.

[oldskool]

Aww, thanks Six-Six. 🙂