Voltaic Sentinel: Is it as bad as I've read?

Adamence · June 06, 2007, 11:14:26 PM

My bubbler will soon be hitting 35, at which point I'll get the chance to pick up voltaic sentinel. I was pretty excited about getting it when the toon was still in the teens, but when I started doing some reading on it, and most of what I've read is that it's "pretty bad," "only useful when soloing," and "might be good for a defender." Of course, most of these comments are years old, and the power may have had some changes done to it since then.

While teaming the other day, I saw a blaster with one, and asked about it, and got an opinion that it was overall pretty good. So I'm hoping someone around has some ideas on it and can help me out.

Is it any good? Does it actually contribute to the battle, or does it just tick away at health in single digits? I've noticed that it stays nice and close to the caster unlike other pets, but does it tend to draw aggro?

Of course, this might all be moot anyways, since I don't really know what else there really is for me to take 35 anyways, but I'd really like to hear what you guys think.

Thanks :)

captainspud · June 06, 2007, 11:51:06 PM

It's free damage. Even if it's not MUCH free damage, it's still damage that takes no effort. So... why not?

Adamence · June 07, 2007, 10:00:12 AM

If it draws aggro that I can't handle, then it's utterly worthless to me. If it makes almost no contribution to a fight, then I may as well get some power that actually will make a decent contribution.

That said, I'm not sure if there are any of those left for me at the moment, so I'll probably end up just taking it anyways.

GhostMachine · June 07, 2007, 11:56:27 AM

I had it on GhostMachine for only about 2 levels, including while doing a TV respec trial. I dumped it when I used the respec. Voltaic Sentinel follows you around and launches attacks at mobs at random, so it *can* draw aggro onto you if it gets too close to mobs and fires at them. Another problem is, its attacks are only about equal to Charged Bolts, if I remember right. Not worth it, in my opinion.

I would not recommend taking it unless there's absolutely nothing else you want to take, including a pool power.

(But, I could see it being more useful to a defender than a blaster)

Adamence · June 08, 2007, 12:09:25 AM

Well, I hit 35, and looked at all the powers I could possibly take. After considering each one for a few moments, rejecting most for whatever reason, I decided to give Voltaic Sentinel a shot. I've run into people in the game who love it, and others who haven't, I figured the only way I'd find out if I liked it or not would be to give it a shot. So I grabbed it. I tried it against a mob of whites, and it did comparable damage to charged bolts, it was pretty accurate, it wasn't terrible for what I was doing. I tried calling it out while teaming, it fired its shot, didn't really do too much, but didn't really bring down thunderous aggro on me either.

So, the verdict is, meh. I can live with it until my next respec, or until something better comes along. Worse comes to worse, I just won't summon it.

Camma · June 19, 2007, 07:57:33 AM

I had it on Camma for a while mainly to have as many pets or summoned entities as possible. It doesn dmg between charged bolts and lightning bolt, so its not bad, but as you've found its not that good either.

I found the short duration a hassle as well since i was constantly resummoning and then hitting the battle late. But that may just be a function of my final problem with it, which is, as a storm summoner i was waaay too busy already to bother summoning it for the paltry damage.

Xenolith · June 20, 2007, 05:06:08 PM

Certainly not bad, but nothing special. I have it with my blaster and it doesn't really help that much. Its nice if you get swarmed by low level guys. I didn't put any enhancements into it, but maybe it would be a good stunner/end drainer. In any case, it doesn't stick around nearly long enough to be "good."

DMenacer · July 27, 2007, 10:02:42 AM

I had it on my Emp/Elec Defender as his bodyguard. Since he only has buffs, heals and two holds it was needed because Defender dmg isn't that hot. There have even been times before certain patches that I've had more then one up and running at the time. In the middle of a battle its not bad having a little extra firepower but when not fighting it will start a fight with any villains that it gets near. If you get it and keep it, be careful how you use it. It could get you defeated if it starts a battle when you are not prepared for one.