54 réponses à ce sujet

[naledgeborn]

I'm sorry (my 'opinion' of course) but AP Ammo is damn near worthless. You're better off with Squad/Heavy Warp Ammo. Hell, Shredder is more effective than AP on Vet difficulty and below.

[EffectedByTheMasses]

jamesp81 wrote...

BTW, I'm curious about some the damage math being done here. Tungsten ammo is +70% against health and armor. Say you have the 50% assault rifle damage upgrades. How does this stuff figure? Is it a total 120% boost against health and armor?

No. The ammo power does not stack with the upgrades, it goes with the base damage.
So if you have 50% extra damage worth of upgrades and Tungsten ammo on a 100pt damage per shot gun, each shot would fire a total of:

100 pts + (100pts x 50%) + (100pts x 70%).

Although I THINK (and I'm not sure) upgrades stack on top of one another, so that weapon damage is upped significantly, not only by 50%. I'm not really an expert on the number crunching though. But that should be why ammo power damage doesn't really make a difference apart from CCing uses. Which AP ammo doesn't have.

Modifié par EffectedByTheMasses, 08 avril 2011 - 12:07 .

[aimlessgun]

EffectedByTheMasses wrote...

jamesp81 wrote...

BTW, I'm curious about some the damage math being done here. Tungsten ammo is +70% against health and armor. Say you have the 50% assault rifle damage upgrades. How does this stuff figure? Is it a total 120% boost against health and armor?

No. The ammo power does not stack with the upgrades, it goes with the base damage.
So if you have 50% extra damage worth of upgrades and Tungsten ammo on a 100pt damage per shot gun, each shot would fire a total of:

100 pts + (100pts x 50%) + (100pts x 70%).

Although I THINK (and I'm not sure) upgrades stack on top of one another, so that weapon damage is upped significantly, not only by 50%. I'm not really an expert on the number crunching though. But that should be why ammo power damage doesn't really make a difference apart from CCing uses. Which AP ammo doesn't have.

I believe what you posted is the same as what he posted   Your math: 220 dmg. His math: 100 dmg + (1.2 x 100) = 220.

PS: Mattock Sentinel no1! All the short range power of a shotgun and all the long range power of a Viper!

[mcsupersport]

jamesp81 wrote...

mcsupersport wrote...

Unless you have a roll playing issue, then Warp ammo would be better than AP just about any day. It only gives 20% less bonus which on a fully upgraded gun amounts to maybe 5% difference in damage, and it hits another defense, aka Barriers and increases even more against biotically ragdolled enemies. The only reason I didn't take it on my last infiltrator build was roll playing, didn't want a biotic power on a Tech class, and took ap instead. I would only put a ammo power on a class where I wanted the absolutely maximum weapon damage I could possibly squeeze out. The ammo powers AP, schredder and warp, are all second class powers because they will not give you near the benefits that Inferno disruptor, or cryo will. The CC of the non-bonus ammo powers are huge, when it comes to actual play.

True, but sentinel doesn't get any of those.

Never said they did, was actually responding to multiple posts in one post.  I would take Warp over AP but again either will only give limited effectiveness and should be only used if you don't have a bonus power you really love.

Was searching Google and found a nice post about Sniper rifles in ME2 on a Soldier using AP and AR giving a pretty detailed numbers account, that I personally couldn't follow tonight(proabably any night).  Some of the finishig numbers were listed with a Mantis having a base damage of around 280 pts ending up with 1500 and 1800 fully upgraded without then with AP, and well over 2500 with AR and AP.  The numbers showed that to get a change of 200-300pts on a shot of 1800 you invest 10 points of skills, it does make a difference but also figure if you use an assault rifle you will get a distance bonus up to 70% just for range alone at short range and 40% at medium range.  So saying you get 70% upgrade actully turns out to be around 20% of the final damage, and thus not that great in my opinion, while Warp would give you double (base damage) bonus against biotic effected enemies and allow you to hit Barrier as well for all of losing 20 % of base damage or maybe 60 points per hit against health and armor.

Interesting aritcle, but again Ammo powers have a limited effectiveness that isn't really indicated by the +% to damgage listed in the skill.  I really wish that the Devs had put real numbers down, so you could actually know how much damage you are actually doing or expect to do with a given build.  I like DA for having this ans wish that ME 3 would had the feature.

[EffectedByTheMasses]

aimlessgun wrote...

EffectedByTheMasses wrote...

jamesp81 wrote...

BTW, I'm curious about some the damage math being done here. Tungsten ammo is +70% against health and armor. Say you have the 50% assault rifle damage upgrades. How does this stuff figure? Is it a total 120% boost against health and armor?

No. The ammo power does not stack with the upgrades, it goes with the base damage.
So if you have 50% extra damage worth of upgrades and Tungsten ammo on a 100pt damage per shot gun, each shot would fire a total of:

100 pts + (100pts x 50%) + (100pts x 70%).

Although I THINK (and I'm not sure) upgrades stack on top of one another, so that weapon damage is upped significantly, not only by 50%. I'm not really an expert on the number crunching though. But that should be why ammo power damage doesn't really make a difference apart from CCing uses. Which AP ammo doesn't have.

I believe what you posted is the same as what he posted   Your math: 220 dmg. His math: 100 dmg + (1.2 x 100) = 220.

PS: Mattock Sentinel no1! All the short range power of a shotgun and all the long range power of a Viper!

Ooooooops, I forgot about the 50% damage. My bad. 

[RGFrog]

Damages are easy to calculate. Just add all the percentage bonuses together. Then multiply by the base. That's it and comes directly from the devs.

So, as in the above, if the base is 100... and the only bonuses you have are 50% damage upgrade, and 70% ammo then it's 100 + 120%...

This the same for all percentages. If the weapon, say like the mattock, does additional damage against armor, and you've got tungsten, and 5 damage upgrades, then you're looking at:

base damage 50.4 + (30% (mattock bonus vs. armor) + 50% + 70%)... which is 50.4 + 150% for each shot against armor. That's 126 points of damage for every round with this configuration barring any other bonuses by squadmates or armor pieces.

Take tungsten off, and damage per round goes to 90.72 against armor and 75.6 per round against health.

This difference is less than one shot (base damage) and is usually why most peeps think tungsten is worthless.

However, I usually don't look at points per round, but instead tend to look at what a weapon is lacking. In the case of the tempest every round does 50% extra damage to shields and barriers. However it does only base damage against armor. Adding tungsten balances that out a bit making it so every round does at least 50% extra damage against all protections per round (70% extra against armor). Base damage is irrelevant to me as the tempest puts out 15 rounds per second and it's just up to me to make sure they all hit the target.

If I can get all 15 rounds to hit in a second (which I do more than not) that's a base of 210 points of damage In that same time frame with the 5/5 damage upgrades (50%) and Tungsten ammo (70%), the tempest has the potential of doing 462 points of damage per second against armor AND then again 462 points of damage per second against health.

That means to me while I play that I can remove most armor in a second. And then i can toss a singularity, pull, combos, etc. OR i can continue for another second and kill the target completely (providing I don't miss).

This does not take into account additional bonuses provided by distance from the target, armor pieces, etc.

Can I get the same numbers with a Mattock... yep, but I'm just not that fast with single fire so I tend to get less damage per second from a Mattock...

So, that's why I like tungsten ammo... all that being said though, I still prefer ED as it increases the bonus to shields along with tactical armor so much that I just don't really need ammo powers to get the job done.

Long post is long

Modifié par RGFrog, 08 avril 2011 - 03:53 .

[Bozorgmehr]

Assault Armor >>>> Power Armor whatever the playstyle. Sparrow already explained why. However, it's best used at close range and I highly recommend to play either Adept or Engineer if you like casting (at range). Both classes are better casters and can use a lot more interesting powers plus their CC abilities (something the Sentinel lacks) will greatly reduce damage taken which makes extra protection rather redundant.

jamesp81 wrote...

Whatever works for you, but I find that AP ammo turns the Locust from a backup weapon into a frontline killing machine. The health of Collectors drops like a damned rock when using it against them. Three bullets will strip the armor off of a husk. One full magazine will strip most or all of the armor off a Krogan. The firepower of the Locust with Tungsten ammo is similar to that of the Revenant, except of course the 20 round magazine as opposed to 80 rounds for the Revenant.

The Revenant, Vindicator and Mattock are a lot more powerful and useful than the Locust. The Locust is a nice weapon for those (few) times Shep's main weapon runs out of ammo. The Rev is out of the question coz Sentinels cannot use them, the Vindi and Mattock are much stronger against all defenses (armor in particular). Someone using one of those ARs will kill two Scions whilst the one using the Locust is still working on the first one.

Staggers are also worth mentioning. The Vindi and Mattock have a very high chance to stagger enemies (which is a very powerful ability), the Locust does not. They also inflict a lot more damage per clip. The only real advantage of the Locust is its huge ammo capacity, but I hardly ever run out of Vindi/Mattock ammo so that's not a real issue.

jamesp81 wrote...

BTW, I'm curious about some the damage math being done here. Tungsten ammo is +70% against health and armor. Say you have the 50% assault rifle damage upgrades. How does this stuff figure? Is it a total 120% boost against health and armor?

No, ammo powers are considered a power, so they get bonuses from power upgrades (which do not exist), not weapon upgrades, and they always take their initial damage value from the base weapon damage without upgrades (the extra damage remains the same throughout the game and while your weapons will become a lot more powerful (upgrading), the ammo power damage does not change). This is an example about Warp Ammo out of my Adept thread:

Example: Mattock (50 base damage) using Heavy Warp Ammo (+50% damage), Nemesis (+15% Power Damage) >

50 * 0.65 = 32.5 extra damage against armor/barrier/health; Warp Ammo's effect is doubled against ragdolled enemies >
50 * 1.15 = 57.5 > at point blank range (double damage) it's 65 and 115 respectively.

So far, so good, but now we add weapon upgrades; 7/7 Assault Riffle Upgrades and Penetration Upgrade >

Mattock receives a default 1.3x vs armor, and 1.2x vs shields and barriers; thus damage:
against health: 50 * 1.7 = 85 > total damage: 85 + 32.5 = 118 (+38%)
against armor: (50 * 1.7) * 1.3 * 1.25 = 138 > total damage: 138 + 32.5 = 171 (+24%)
against shields and barrriers: (50 * 1.7) * 1.2 * 1.25 = 128 > total damage: 128 + 32.5 = 160 (+25% vs barrier only)
against ragdolled enemies: (50 * 1.7) * 2 = 170 > total damage: 170 + 57.5 = 228 (+33%)

This example didn't include weapon damage bonus available through gear and (Miranda's) passive, they would further reduce Warp Ammo's extra damage percentage. Point blank range doesn't change the percentages - both weapon and ammo damage is multiplied by two.

The 70% bonus (Tungsten) will be around 20-30% for most of the game (Heavy Warp Ammo's 100% damage bonus is only 33% (or less) with a couple of upgrades - see example). Tungsten Ammo is useful against enemy health, but when you're using decent weaponry (SR, SG, AR) it doesn't add much. Also remember ammo powers only take effect when the shot hits the appropriate layer (shooting an enemy with one point in shield makes any ammo power that boosts health damage worthless - even if the shot damages enemy health.

Ammo powers are not useful and not worth wasting the Sentinel's bonus power slot with so many other (and more useful) bonus powers available. When you're playing ME on a console (with limited hotkeys) and you don't like/want to pause the game then ammo powers might be an option. It's not great, but a small damage boost is better than having a power you're not going to use anyway.

[termokanden]

Bozorgmehr wrote...

Assault Armor >>>> Power Armor whatever the playstyle. Sparrow already explained why.

 
Assuming your Tech Armor is constantly being destroyed, which is already pretty bad for casting. If you can avoid this, Power Armor is better for obvious reasons. This might make it a better option on lower difficulties though, or maybe just once you have enough shield upgrades.

[jamesp81]

aimlessgun wrote...

EffectedByTheMasses wrote...

jamesp81 wrote...

BTW, I'm curious about some the damage math being done here. Tungsten ammo is +70% against health and armor. Say you have the 50% assault rifle damage upgrades. How does this stuff figure? Is it a total 120% boost against health and armor?

No. The ammo power does not stack with the upgrades, it goes with the base damage.
So if you have 50% extra damage worth of upgrades and Tungsten ammo on a 100pt damage per shot gun, each shot would fire a total of:

100 pts + (100pts x 50%) + (100pts x 70%).

Although I THINK (and I'm not sure) upgrades stack on top of one another, so that weapon damage is upped significantly, not only by 50%. I'm not really an expert on the number crunching though. But that should be why ammo power damage doesn't really make a difference apart from CCing uses. Which AP ammo doesn't have.

I believe what you posted is the same as what he posted   Your math: 220 dmg. His math: 100 dmg + (1.2 x 100) = 220.

PS: Mattock Sentinel no1! All the short range power of a shotgun and all the long range power of a Viper!

I'd think that running with 220dmg vs 150dmg is worth the trouble.

In the case of the Locust, it does 25 base damage (more than the damned Revenant fer chrissakes) and gets a 25% bonus against all defenses.  So damange is calculated as....

      Std Dmg Mods     AP Ammo             Dmg Research
25 + (25 * 0.25)   +     (25 * 0.7)       +       (25 * 0.5)              =  61.25 total damage

That's more than a Mattock does before upgrades.  Without AP, it's 48.75.  Maybe I'm misreading something, but would 61.25 dmg not provide as noticeable, significant advantage over 48.75?

I understand why some people prefer ED for their bonus power.  What I find is that in the midst of battle, it is CRITICAL that I keep my cooldowns free to reactivate tech armor.  If I don't, I have to slow my pace way down and wait for shield regen.  Having a tech armor cast no tap allows me to really bulldoze through a lot of opposition.  Having the Viper is also integral to making this work well, as I can thin out the more dangerous enemies from range before I close in.

I'm not being combative, this is an honest question: is 61.25 not a significant advantage over 48.75 damage?

Modifié par jamesp81, 08 avril 2011 - 12:48 .

[Bozorgmehr]

jamesp81 wrote...

I'd think that running with 220dmg vs 150dmg is worth the trouble.

In the case of the Locust, it does 25 base damage (more than the damned Revenant fer chrissakes) and gets a 25% bonus against all defenses.  So damange is calculated as....

      Std Dmg Mods     AP Ammo             Dmg Research
25 + (25 * 0.25)   +     (25 * 0.7)       +       (25 * 0.5)              =  61.25 total damage

That's more than a Mattock does before upgrades.  Without AP, it's 48.75.  Maybe I'm misreading something, but would 61.25 dmg not provide as noticeable, significant advantage over 48.75?

I understand why some people prefer ED for their bonus power.  What I find is that in the midst of battle, it is CRITICAL that I keep my cooldowns free to reactivate tech armor.  If I don't, I have to slow my pace way down and wait for shield regen.  Having a tech armor cast no tap allows me to really bulldoze through a lot of opposition.  Having the Viper is also integral to making this work well, as I can thin out the more dangerous enemies from range before I close in.

I'm not being combative, this is an honest question: is 61.25 not a significant advantage over 48.75 damage?

Locust does 25 dmg and receives a 1.25 multiplier against all defenses (an additional 1.5 x against shield/barrier can be researched), there are 6 SMG upgrades available.

Using Tungsten Ammo will only add 25 * .7 = 17.5 dmg during the entire game, it does not improve at all. This means that without any upgrades Tungsten Ammo will add 17.5 dmg to 25 * 1.25 = 31.25 > total damage = 31.5 + 17.5 = 48 damage (that's an extra 52%). Now we add upgrades 6/6:

Damage against armor: (25 * 1.6) * 1.25 = 50 damage per shot without Tungsten, Tungsten will add 17.5 to total 67.5 damage (that's 35 % extra damage).

This is nowhere near the Mattock; without upgrades: it does 50 * 1.3 (modifier vs armor) = 65 damage (almost equal to a fully upgraded Locust with Tungsten Ammo). Fully upgraded the Mattock will do (50 * 1.7) * 1.3 * 1.25 = 138 dmg per shot (double damage compared to Locust), Tungsten Ammo would add another (50 * .7) = 35 dmg which gets the fully upgraded Mattock up to 138 + 35 = 173 damage (Tungsten gives a 25 % damage boost against armor).

Also remember most enemies have shields that make AP ammo useless (just like barriers); AP ammo will only take effect when shield/barrier is out of the way. Only shots fired at enemy without protection will add bonus and because that bonus is nowhere near the 70% (more like 30 %) it hardly saves even a single shot to take out normal enemies (using powerful weaponry - AR, SG, SR) Locust is not a powerful weapon, it has its uses but it's  far behind a proper AR.

[termokanden]

That comparison doesn't seem quite fair, considering how blatantly overpowered the Mattock is.

[Bozorgmehr]

It wasn't me who introduced the Mattock, but I figured it might help to put things in perspective.

[Locutus_of_BORG]

jamesp81 wrote...

Locutus_of_BORG wrote...

All I'm thinking from seeing the OP's build is, no Power Armor + Energy Drain Combo? Guns like ammo powers, but Sentinels should be able to ramp up their firepower through power spam, while using ED to break shields and replenish PA.

Although I haven't built a Gunner / Caster-type Sentinel yet, I'm sure from my Sniper Engineer that my concept is sound.

You can't rely too heavily on powers on hardcore and insanity mode.  You're going to spend a lot of your cooldowns reactivating tech/assault armor.

Like I said, I haven't made this specific type of Sentinel yet, but I'm sure if my squishy little Engineer can handle it w/o Energy Drain, your Sentinel can handle it with Area Drain.*

*True, my way of doing it would need to make use of cover, as well as playing at a slightly slower tempo, but I'm thinking the use of ED is enough to offset any time lost shooting enemies out of cover.

Modifié par Locutus_of_BORG, 08 avril 2011 - 03:37 .

[jamesp81]

Bozorgmehr wrote...

jamesp81 wrote...

I'd think that running with 220dmg vs 150dmg is worth the trouble.

In the case of the Locust, it does 25 base damage (more than the damned Revenant fer chrissakes) and gets a 25% bonus against all defenses.  So damange is calculated as....

      Std Dmg Mods     AP Ammo             Dmg Research
25 + (25 * 0.25)   +     (25 * 0.7)       +       (25 * 0.5)              =  61.25 total damage

That's more than a Mattock does before upgrades.  Without AP, it's 48.75.  Maybe I'm misreading something, but would 61.25 dmg not provide as noticeable, significant advantage over 48.75?

I understand why some people prefer ED for their bonus power.  What I find is that in the midst of battle, it is CRITICAL that I keep my cooldowns free to reactivate tech armor.  If I don't, I have to slow my pace way down and wait for shield regen.  Having a tech armor cast no tap allows me to really bulldoze through a lot of opposition.  Having the Viper is also integral to making this work well, as I can thin out the more dangerous enemies from range before I close in.

I'm not being combative, this is an honest question: is 61.25 not a significant advantage over 48.75 damage?

Locust does 25 dmg and receives a 1.25 multiplier against all defenses (an additional 1.5 x against shield/barrier can be researched), there are 6 SMG upgrades available.

Using Tungsten Ammo will only add 25 * .7 = 17.5 dmg during the entire game, it does not improve at all. This means that without any upgrades Tungsten Ammo will add 17.5 dmg to 25 * 1.25 = 31.25 > total damage = 31.5 + 17.5 = 48 damage (that's an extra 52%). Now we add upgrades 6/6:

Damage against armor: (25 * 1.6) * 1.25 = 50 damage per shot without Tungsten, Tungsten will add 17.5 to total 67.5 damage (that's 35 % extra damage).

This is nowhere near the Mattock; without upgrades: it does 50 * 1.3 (modifier vs armor) = 65 damage (almost equal to a fully upgraded Locust with Tungsten Ammo). Fully upgraded the Mattock will do (50 * 1.7) * 1.3 * 1.25 = 138 dmg per shot (double damage compared to Locust), Tungsten Ammo would add another (50 * .7) = 35 dmg which gets the fully upgraded Mattock up to 138 + 35 = 173 damage (Tungsten gives a 25 % damage boost against armor).

Also remember most enemies have shields that make AP ammo useless (just like barriers); AP ammo will only take effect when shield/barrier is out of the way. Only shots fired at enemy without protection will add bonus and because that bonus is nowhere near the 70% (more like 30 %) it hardly saves even a single shot to take out normal enemies (using powerful weaponry - AR, SG, SR) Locust is not a powerful weapon, it has its uses but it's  far behind a proper AR.

When I did my last playthrough, I spammed Warp a lot to strip defenses.  Even though it's not considered "anti shield" heavy warp would still drop most enemy's shields by half to two-thirds.  It was murder on collectors.

[jamesp81]

Locutus_of_BORG wrote...

jamesp81 wrote...

Locutus_of_BORG wrote...

All I'm thinking from seeing the OP's build is, no Power Armor + Energy Drain Combo? Guns like ammo powers, but Sentinels should be able to ramp up their firepower through power spam, while using ED to break shields and replenish PA.

Although I haven't built a Gunner / Caster-type Sentinel yet, I'm sure from my Sniper Engineer that my concept is sound.

You can't rely too heavily on powers on hardcore and insanity mode.  You're going to spend a lot of your cooldowns reactivating tech/assault armor.

Like I said, I haven't made this specific type of Sentinel yet, but I'm sure if my squishy little Engineer can handle it w/o Energy Drain, your Sentinel can handle it with Area Drain.*

*True, my way of doing it would need to make use of cover, as well as playing at a slightly slower tempo, but I'm thinking the use of ED is enough to offset any time lost shooting enemies out of cover.

I've got an Engineer on a hardcore playthrough that I haven't touched in a while, but I see your point.  Much slower pace, have to be a lot more careful.  With that said, I'm loving the hell out of Heavy Incinerate.

[Locutus_of_BORG]

AP Ammo's +30% base damage is not enough to put it on the level of lvl1 NS, Stasis or Slam, as this ability provides nothing else and will quickly diminish as the game progresses. In this case, even lvl1 Incendiary and Cryo Ammo are better, as they at least they produce some cc effects. On the other hand, NS, Stasis and Slam remain undimished in power and utility throughout the game.

Modifié par Locutus_of_BORG, 08 avril 2011 - 07:43 .

[Locutus_of_BORG]

^ You're forgetting Energy Drain.

Otherwise you have a point about the other powers. But I was speaking generally about the 1 pt wonders.

[jamesp81]

Locutus_of_BORG wrote...

AP Ammo's +30% base damage is not enough to put it on the level of lvl1 NS, Stasis or Slam, as this ability provides nothing else and will quickly diminish as the game progresses. In this case, even lvl1 Incendiary and Cryo Ammo are better, as they at least they produce some cc effects. On the other hand, NS, Stasis and Slam remain undimished in power and utility throughout the game.

Neural shock only works on undefended targets.  Once their shield/barrier and armor is gone, I can kill them faster than I screw around with a stun power.

[RedCaesar97]

Locutus_of_BORG wrote...

AP Ammo's +30% base damage is not enough to put it on the level of lvl1 NS, Stasis or Slam, as this ability provides nothing else and will quickly diminish as the game progresses. In this case, even lvl1 Incendiary and Cryo Ammo are better, as they at least they produce some cc effects. On the other hand, NS, Stasis and Slam remain undimished in power and utility throughout the game.

Should mention that a Sentinel does not have access to level 1 Incendiary Ammo or Cryo Ammo. The Sentinel can access a squadmate's level 4 Squad Incendiary Ammo, but no (unmodded) squadmate has Cryo Ammo.

[ViolentCone]

Hmm. Why use ED when you *do* want the tech armor to be blown off? seems a bit redundant eh?

[RGFrog]

Bozorgmehr wrote...

Locust does 25 dmg and receives a 1.25 multiplier against all defenses (an additional 1.5 x against shield/barrier can be researched), there are 6 SMG upgrades available.

Using Tungsten Ammo will only add 25 * .7 = 17.5 dmg during the entire game, it does not improve at all. This means that without any upgrades Tungsten Ammo will add 17.5 dmg to 25 * 1.25 = 31.25 > total damage = 31.5 + 17.5 = 48 damage (that's an extra 52%). Now we add upgrades 6/6:

Damage against armor: (25 * 1.6) * 1.25 = 50 damage per shot without Tungsten, Tungsten will add 17.5 to total 67.5 damage (that's 35 % extra damage).

The maths are a bit off, Boz. ALL percentages are added together first. So, in your example above vs. armor using Tungsten, 6/6 upgrades, and including the Locust bonus vs. armor it should read like this:
 
25 + (60% + 25% + 70%) = 25 + 155% = 63.75 points per round hitting armor.

It's not off enough to change the argument, but it's a bit less...

[Locutus_of_BORG]

jamesp81 wrote...
Neural shock only works on undefended targets.  Once their shield/barrier and armor is gone, I can kill them faster than I screw around with a stun power.

Sure, according to playstyle, quick cc might not be needed. I was responding to iOnlySignIn saying that lvl1 AP Ammo belonged with NS et. al. as a 1 pt. wonder, which I don't think it should.

RedCaesar97 wrote...
Should mention that a Sentinel does not have access to level 1 Incendiary Ammo or Cryo Ammo. The Sentinel can access a squadmate's level 4 Squad Incendiary Ammo, but no (unmodded) squadmate has Cryo Ammo.

True, but as I said before I was responding to a specific notion and was speaking in generalities.

ViolentCone wrote...
Hmm. Why use ED when you *do* want the tech armor to be blown off? seems a bit redundant eh?

We're talking about a long ranged Sentinel right now, which may or may not engage enemies from the edge or beyond the edge of AA's shockwave - I'm not sure if this has been established or not... However, assuming a long ranged gunfight, a Sentinel, without the benefit of Singularity or Combat Drones or the like, would need some way to maintain momentum and avoid being pinned down in cover. ED is a straightforward way to do it. I personally thought PA would be better, but AFAIK, AA was preferred b/c of its instant 50% shield regen.