sentinel Semi-Reworking the Sentinel into a tanky ranged AT (or, really, anything to make Sentinel better)

[Frozen Burn]

My Sentinel is already "tanky."  I even took Provoke on mine so I could taunt.  😄  The recent rework of the Sentinel AT did wonders.  There doesn't need to be any additional changes to the AT - it already stands out as it is.  

[CoeruleumBlue]

Nah I think Sentinels suck because the closest AT to Sentinels is Brutes. Once you hit level 35 on a Brute you get better armor than a Sentinel and you get a bunch of ranged attacks, while Sentinels only get two melee attacks and have worse armor. The only thing Sentinels do better than Brutes at all is support, since their innate ability is support and Sentinel epic pools usually get at least one support ability, but no one bills Sentinels as being for support at all. Trying to build Sentinels for support usually ends up making them worse Dominators since Dominators get better support abilities despite not being Controllers, they get armor, they get more melee attacks, and they get more ranged attacks. So yeah I think Sentinels are mostly just kind of doomed. The closest AT is always going to be Brutes IMO but their stats seem totally nerfed all-around compared to Brutes and even then people complain about Brutes a lot too. 

[CoeruleumBlue]

On 10/10/2025 at 12:03 PM, Troo said:

I get wanting Tank survivabillity, Scrapper melee damage, Blaster ranged damage.. those are all 10s. 

 

Corruptors, similar to what you are saying "Sentinel to be a master of none" are not 10s at anything and yet are one of the best all rounders and very effective.

 

I can see an argument being made that Sentinels should be somehow on par with Corruptors stats. Maybe pushing damage to 8 instead of 7 OR pushing survivabillity to 8 instead of 7, I just don't think folks would like whatever the trade off would be (and there would be a tradeoff).

 

In my opinion, Corruptor SECONDARIES are actually what make them shine and so effective. The bit of control, buffing and/or debuffing at similar range to their primaries makes for some really good synergies where they don't have to be The Best at anything.  Scourge to be honest hits maybe once or twice on typical foes. It's nice but a nothing burger until giant bags of hp show up.

Sentinel secondaries being melee might not mesh very well with ranged attacks. That's a potential flaw and that flaw makes them unique. It's almost like they were built to really NEED their Epic and Patron pools to be trooly effective. Maybe Sentinels could get Epic/Patrons earlier than other archetypes?

 

Sentinel synergy, it's a tough nut to crack.

 

 

I think Sentinels still just suck because of the stats. Whenever I've made a Brute or Dominator they need their epic pools too but their stats are still better. Probably just adjust Sentinel stats to be closer to Dominator or Brute stats and they'll be fine. As of now, why would I want to use Link Minds on a Sentinel with armor when I can use it on a Dominator with armor, and why would I want to use big ranged AoE attacks on a Sentinel when I can use it on a Brute and also have Taunt, better melee attacks, and better armor? Sentinels don't get buffs to CC either so the CC attacks from Epic pools end up being better on Brutes as well, while the CC on, say, a psionic sentinel just ends up being worse than the actual CC on a Dominator. Maybe sentinels try to be a balanced class but they aren't because CC and support are bad on them and I'm just let down by them because the only sentinels I have ever run are psi/bio, psi/ninjutsu, and psi/psi, and if CC and support are buffed on sentinels they'll work perfectly fine, while say elec/elec that someone else plays and likes is one of the better ones because it doesn't need CC or support to work. Having basically a perfectly balanced class should be fine, but the sentinel class ability should probably be an AoE and stack and the stats should probably be adjusted slightly since it seems mostly like the issue is sentinel pretends to be a perfectly balanced class but it sucks at CC And support and the class abilities for Sentinel are actually support so that stands out a lot. 

[Frozen Burn]

20 minutes ago, CoeruleumBlue said:

Nah I think Sentinels suck because the closest AT to Sentinels is Brutes. Once you hit level 35 on a Brute you get better armor than a Sentinel and you get a bunch of ranged attacks, while Sentinels only get two melee attacks and have worse armor. The only thing Sentinels do better than Brutes at all is support, since their innate ability is support and Sentinel epic pools usually get at least one support ability, but no one bills Sentinels as being for support at all. Trying to build Sentinels for support usually ends up making them worse Dominators since Dominators get better support abilities despite not being Controllers, they get armor, they get more melee attacks, and they get more ranged attacks. So yeah I think Sentinels are mostly just kind of doomed. The closest AT is always going to be Brutes IMO but their stats seem totally nerfed all-around compared to Brutes and even then people complain about Brutes a lot too. 

 

1 minute ago, CoeruleumBlue said:

 

I think Sentinels still just suck because of the stats. Whenever I've made a Brute or Dominator they need their epic pools too but their stats are still better. Probably just adjust Sentinel stats to be closer to Dominator or Brute stats and they'll be fine. As of now, why would I want to use Link Minds on a Sentinel with armor when I can use it on a Dominator with armor, and why would I want to use big ranged AoE attacks on a Sentinel when I can use it on a Brute and also have Taunt, better melee attacks, and better armor? Sentinels don't get buffs to CC either so the CC attacks from Epic pools end up being better on Brutes as well, while the CC on, say, a psionic sentinel just ends up being worse than the actual CC on a Dominator. Maybe sentinels try to be a balanced class but they aren't because CC and support are bad on them and I'm just let down by them because the only sentinels I have ever run are psi/bio, psi/ninjutsu, and psi/psi, and if CC and support are buffed on sentinels they'll work perfectly fine, while say elec/elec that someone else plays and likes is one of the better ones because it doesn't need CC or support to work. Having basically a perfectly balanced class should be fine, but the sentinel class ability should probably be an AoE and stack and the stats should probably be adjusted slightly since it seems mostly like the issue is sentinel pretends to be a perfectly balanced class but it sucks at CC And support and the class abilities for Sentinel are actually support so that stands out a lot. 

 

Comparing Brutes, Dominators, and Sentinels is completely off.  They are nothing alike.  Brutes have better armor than Sentinels, period - they are between scrappers and tanks, "theoretically."  Sentinels are not support at all - those are your defenders, corruptors, controllers, and MMs.  Sentinels are damage dealing toons that get scrapper level armor but have ranged attacks instead of melee attacks.  Sentinels are nothing like a Dominator, which is a blend between a Controller and a Blaster.   Dominators only get a single shield in their epics, while Sentinels have an entire set dedicated to defense.  Sentinels are not supposed to do CC or Support.  They are there to do damage - and that's it. 

 

If you're building your Sentinels to do CC or Support, you're doing it wrong, and no wonder you hate the AT.  

 

And you can hate Sentinels all you want and that's fine.  But at least make your comparisons and reasoning why more sound and appropriate so you hate it for the right reasons.  I personally hate Sentinels (I'd rather play Blaster or Scrapper), even though Sentinels are a sturdy class and do right well.  

 

[CoeruleumBlue]

5 minutes ago, Frozen Burn said:

 

 

Comparing Brutes, Dominators, and Sentinels is completely off.  They are nothing alike.  Brutes have better armor than Sentinels, period - they are between scrappers and tanks, "theoretically."  Sentinels are not support at all - those are your defenders, corruptors, controllers, and MMs.  Sentinels are damage dealing toons that get scrapper level armor but have ranged attacks instead of melee attacks.  Sentinels are nothing like a Dominator, which is a blend between a Controller and a Blaster.   Dominators only get a single shield in their epics, while Sentinels have an entire set dedicated to defense.  Sentinels are not supposed to do CC or Support.  They are there to do damage - and that's it. 

 

If you're building your Sentinels to do CC or Support, you're doing it wrong, and no wonder you hate the AT.  

 

And you can hate Sentinels all you want and that's fine.  But at least make your comparisons and reasoning why more sound and appropriate so you hate it for the right reasons.  I personally hate Sentinels (I'd rather play Blaster or Scrapper), even though Sentinels are a sturdy class and do right well.  

 

 

Yes, of course Sentinels suck at what I was building mine to do but it makes me wonder why you even can take a CC damage set and a support armor set and then the stats just suck. But, if you take Psionic Mastery on a dominator you get three shields, and I think some others like Leviathan Mastery are similar. Like why would I play a Sentinel when I can play a Dominator with three shields, Leadership, more than two melee attacks (and if you look at Sentinel epic pools vs. Dominator assault sets, you probably get literally all the melee attacks a Sentinel would get and then some) and actual CC, debuffs, and at least four buffs? The Sentinel gets Link Minds and two psionic melee attacks, but the Dominator does literally everything they're supposed to do but better: ranged attacks, melee attacks, armor, buffs, and debuffs, plus the CC is actually statted to work and they get more big AoE attacks even if they aren't Blaster nukes. On the other hand it doens't seem like the psi/psi/psi Sentinel works like at all, because the stats for Sentinel to do CC and support are not equivalent to the armor or damage or even support a Dominator gets. 

[Troo]

3 hours ago, CoeruleumBlue said:

I think Sentinels still just suck because of the stats.

 

That's cool not all archetypes are for all players. I can't get into dominators though I've tried many times.

I'll stand by sentinel primary and secondary being a bit at odds, but that's likely intentional.

I agree with some of what @Frozen Burn is trying to point out.

[Rudra]

3 hours ago, CoeruleumBlue said:

But, if you take Psionic Mastery on a dominator you get three shields, and I think some others like Leviathan Mastery are similar.

I wouldn't count Link Minds as a shield. It has a 90 second duration and a 300 second recharge. It is a team buff. And Leviathan Mastery only has Shark Skin as an armor (and requires a prior pool pick.) Mace Mastery has Scorpion Shield and Personal Force Field, but you can't fight while Personal Force Field is up. Mu Mastery has Charged Armor and Surge of Power, but Surge of Power is basically Gremlin with all the same features, crash included.

 

Edit: Also, what do you mean by: 

3 hours ago, CoeruleumBlue said:

it makes me wonder why you even can take a CC damage set and a support armor set

A crowd control damage set? A support armor set?!

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Rudra

[CoeruleumBlue]

1 hour ago, Troo said:

 

That's cool not all archetypes are for all players. I can't get into dominators though I've tried many times.

I'll stand by sentinel primary and secondary being a bit at odds, but that's likely intentional.

I agree with some of what @Frozen Burn is trying to point out.

 

So is it objectively bad to try to make a Psi/Psi Sentinel, or Psi/Bio, or Psi/Ninjutsu? Is there anything with psychic blast primary on Sentinel which doesn't suck? My Demolisher One is still a Psi/Psi Sentinel and, as the name implies, that was the first one I made. Demolisher Zero is Dark/Psi Defender and Demolisher i is Psi/Psi Stalker. If the Sentinel one isn't actually just some vague balanced class then maybe I just free up the name for one of the other Demolishers? For everyone who isn't a mind-reader, yes, that's a reference to Demolished Man. 

[Rudra]

1 hour ago, CoeruleumBlue said:

 

So is it objectively bad to try to make a Psi/Psi Sentinel, or Psi/Bio, or Psi/Ninjutsu? Is there anything with psychic blast primary on Sentinel which doesn't suck? My Demolisher One is still a Psi/Psi Sentinel and, as the name implies, that was the first one I made. Demolisher Zero is Dark/Psi Defender and Demolisher i is Psi/Psi Stalker. If the Sentinel one isn't actually just some vague balanced class then maybe I just free up the name for one of the other Demolishers? For everyone who isn't a mind-reader, yes, that's a reference to Demolished Man. 

I haven't tried Psionic Armor yet, so can't advise on that. However, as far as a psychic Sentinel? Do you enjoy playing Psychic Blast Defenders? Sentinels and Defenders get the same Psychic Blast set except for the snipe. So if you enjoy Psychic Blast as a Defender, I don't see why you couldn't enjoy it on a Sentinel. (Not wouldn't, couldn't.) Unless you are also looking for the Defender's support abilities.

 

Sentinels are armored ranged combatants. Not support. Not crowd control. Range with armor. Go into it with that mindset instead of crowd controlling armored support ranged attacker, and you might enjoy it more. (Or you might not. For instance, I really enjoy playing a Corruptor, but I don't like playing a Defender. Personal preferences.) If you want crowd control, grab a Controller or Dominator. Maybe a Mastermind. If you want support, grab a Controller, Corruptor, Defender, or Mastermind. If you want high damage ranged? Grab a Blaster or a Corruptor. If you want to be able to take hits and down opponents at range? Grab a Sentinel. Brutes, Scrappers, Stalkers, and Tankers aren't in the running against Sentinels. (Neither are the other ATs, but they're getting a surprising amount of mention in this thread.) They're melee, so they get stronger armor to deal with it. Sentinels get Scrapper armor caps, but they aren't competing with any of the melees.

 

Edited 48 minutes ago by Rudra
Edited to remove Dominators from the support line up. And pluralize "Scrappers".

[CoeruleumBlue]

3 minutes ago, Rudra said:

I haven't tried Psionic Armor yet, so can't advise on that. However, as far as a psychic Sentinel? Do you enjoy playing Psychic Blast Defenders? Sentinels and Defenders get the same Psychic Blast set except for the snipe. So if you enjoy Psychic Blast as a Defender, I don't see why you couldn't enjoy it on a Sentinel. (Not wouldn't, couldn't.) Unless you are also looking for the Defender's support abilities.

 

Sentinels are armored ranged combatants. Not support. Not crowd control. Range with armor. Go into it with that mindset instead of crowd controlling armored support ranged attacker, and you might enjoy it more. (Or you might not. For instance, I really enjoy playing a Corruptor, but I don't like playing a Defender. Personal preferences.) If you want crowd control, grab a Controller or Dominator. Maybe a Mastermind. If you want support, grab a Controller, Corruptor, Defender, Dominator, or Mastermind. If you want high damage ranged? Grab a Blaster or a Corruptor. If you want to be able to take hits and down opponents at range? Grab a Sentinel. Brutes, Scrapper, Stalkers, and Tankers aren't in the running against Sentinels. (Neither are the other ATs, but they're getting a surprising amount of mention in this thread.) They're melee, so they get stronger armor to deal with it. Sentinels get Scrapper armor caps, but they aren't competing with any of the melees.

 

I mentioned psychic blast on a Defender, I meant psychic blast Sentinel, not psionic armor, I was just calling it psi/psi even though that's not correct, sorry. I'm just not sure why I would actually do psychic blast Sentinel when there's psychic blast Defender to be honest. Psychic blast Defender would probably get a lot more DPS and have higher survivability if you pick a set with at least one support and one self heal. I actually don't like Scrappers either, but Scrapper seems to have an advantage that it gets huge DPS numbers, even higher than Stalker, I don't know what advantage Sentinel gets. Even Blasters can do CC, buffing, debuffing, or pets in addition to what they're supposed to do, and Stalkers can get pets and a snipe. Even if people don't technically count what Psionic Mastery on Dominators have as being three armors it still is enough I actually carried teams against Syndicate and Carnival when doing some of the Portal Corps missions that people usually complain about, plus you don't die from a stiff breeze, especially if you slot a bunch of universal defense and resistance into those or ancillary pool defensive powers (stealth, maneuvers, combat leaping, hover, whatever.) I still have no idea what a Sentinel is actually good for. I heard that Psychic Blast and Bio sentinel is OK but I'm not sure how it's actually OK when the stats just seem to be bad. The idea of Sentinels seems fine, the problem just seems to be that the stats are bad even if you have a cool idea for one. If your idea of a Sentinel is The Punisher and you just want to be an angry and gritty but not super-genius guy it seems to work, but even if you think Psychic Blast/Bio Armor is a cool idea for a Sentinel the stats don't seem to be there, even though that seems like just as coherent of an idea for range attacks/armor as the gritty underdog does. You can already make melee ATs spit out ranged attacks, you can make ranged ATs have decent survivability, I'm not sure how Sentinels work at all and the problem really seems to solely be the stat blocks. 

[Rudra]

1 minute ago, CoeruleumBlue said:

but I'm not sure how it's actually OK when the stats just seem to be bad.

Maybe focus less on stats and more on having fun in the game?

[CoeruleumBlue]

3 minutes ago, Rudra said:

Maybe focus less on stats and more on having fun in the game?

 

I like having fun in the game, but you still need to have OK stats to have fun in the game. If I can just make, like, a psychic blast/mental assault Blaster, have nearly the same survivability, and land a ton of debuffs and a few CCs, that seems a lot more fun than doing slightly less damage, dying slightly less, and not being able to do any of that. Sentinel still just seems like a training wheels blaster but also like it shouldn't have to be, since there are some fun ideas it seems like you could make. I mean I have a psychic blast/ninjutsu Sentinel that I wanted to give Ninja Tool Mastery to so I could have some weapons and steal and stuff but it still seems like that works better as a blaster or dominator who has a few melee weapon attacks, ranged psychic blasts and holds, and takes Concealment or something. Not sure how any of the armors actually work with the blast sets at all. There are damaging armors but the actual blaster secondaries have things like World of Confusion for /mental assault as well as just having the things from Epic pools such as mind probe and psychic shockwave. The damaging armors don't get enough damage compared to the assault secondaries in my opinion even if you have a fun theme.