Have people forgotten this? http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/04/together-we-work-alone-two-days-with-star-wars-the-old-republic/2/ "Still, Erickson stressed that none of the multiplayer game experiences are compulsory. " You never have to play PvP, you never have to play a heroic, you never have to play a flashpoint," he said. But since you lose none of the single-player experience by grouping up, and you get access to heroics and flashpoints you would otherwise have to miss, there isn't much reason not to try it." Or this... http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/12/forever-alone-stars-wars-the-old-republic-as-a-single-player-game/

This makes a lot of sense. You win today's Nostradamus award.

SO let me get this straight. In December 2011, my Sentinel Watchman began life in the canon universe of Dark Horse Comic' Tales of the Jedi and Knights of the Old Republic, and Bioware's Knights of the Old Republic continuous mythology that lasted a hundred years after A New Hope. Then in April 25, 2014 the Sith Emperor apparently hatched some arcane ritual that apparently destroyed that universe making him a legend. Now, he got frozen in carbonite somehow, and has reawakened in a new canon universe once again?

Yeah. You could probably say that my post really jumped the shark.

The adds are the responsibility of DPS. Your job is holding the boss. The fight has been nerfed. Just tonight we had a full on baddie DPS stand in red, die, and then promptly drop group leaving the rest of us to finish it 3-man. If you guys have any remote amount of resurrected pieces, it should be easy. But if the DPS have problems with the adds, then its a DPS problem, not yours.

You guys all missed the point. To the OP, your assessment of the Devastator Monolith was too limited. Let us assume for a moment, that there actually are a number of Monolith-related achievements. Let's focus on two kinds just for a moment. All one needs to do is review their planetary achievements, and there's a fairly common type: the simple kill achievement. That is "Kill N number of X." There's one for the Ziost planet achievements: kill 50 monoliths (of any variety). And to be sure, there are multiple variants that count. There's the initial one-time mission in Ziost prelude. He counts. There's Worldbreaker WB mono; he counts. There's Colossal mono; he counts. Then there's the two PVE mobs, a stronger and a weaker mono; they both count. Now, the easiest open world PVE mono to use to clear the achievement -- by far -- is the weaker mob version. If that were all, then you might have a point. But, let's presume there is another, different achievement that requires an open world mono to be _alive_. Well, then, that would indeed be a very difficult achievement to clear if everyone's out to kill it, and the mono to be killed is very easy soloable. TL, DR: Devastator's whole existence is owed to ensuring that a mono makes it to a certain place on Ziost at a precise moment while there's players that have a very small window of time who need a mono to be there. If all the mono's were Devastators, then the achievement might be deemed too easy. If all the monos were the weaker, then no mono might ever survive for people to clear the achievement. By making most mono's the weaker one, but mixing in a Devastator periodically, balance between multiple mono-related achievements is reached. It's time for you to go now to Ziost and engage in much mono-related shenanigans. You suggest you know the mono's spawn locations. That's part of it. You might want to trace the routes from those spawn points and notice any special features on the route... anything leap out at you? Or is the chasm between thinking the Devastator has no point and that he might serve a useful purpose too great a jump to make?

Shadow of Revan is an expansion. If you have it, click on the terminal on your ship and you can begin it immediately at Rishi.

Exactly; this is a mechanic that responsible Watchmen/Annihilators have been dealing with since the first operation; most notably TFB Dread Council Kel'Sara fight. But let's be honest. I think you've hit on the correct root problem, but are identifying the incorrect symptom. The Curse, which goes out every 60s and lasts 10s does multiple things: 1) immediate damage to cursed player (enough to toss a sideeye towards the magnitude); 2) reduces healing received on cursed player by -50%; 3) damages cursed player on healing received; 4) heals the boss; 5) damages vicinity other players. I'm not sure of the magnitude of the returned damage from healing yet, but I suspect it's probably not enough on its own to kill a cursed player outright (as say the Kel'sara debuff was). Of course being mdps, it's most likely that the annihilator did not run away from boss/group, but being melee, stayed close to the boss while they were cursed, healing it and damaging everyone in the vicinity including likely the tank. The key to Curse is that cursed players must: 1) run away from boss and group and 2) not get healed for the duration of debuff. You can deal with the OP's main point in several ways. The Cursed player goes out in big red raid-wide text; responsible Watchmen/Annihilation won't use Zen/Berserk for the next 10 or so seconds. Likewise you're biggest worry to cursed player is heals not watching debuff but just the raidscreen health bars and goes to heal the cursed, again, likely killing him in the process. The other time-honored tactic for dealing with such a healing debuff mechanic, is to move Watchman/Annihilation to his own raid group. Any of them are viable; the off-heals from Zen do help; you can get upwards of 800 hps for the fight. (Helpful, but really, for HM Colossal, your main heals should be enough on their own.) My $0.02... http://assets.enjin.com/wall_embed_images/1432615549_Colossal-Monolith-HM.jpg

1) Do you main a Watchman Sent / Anni Mara and if so, since when? Yes. Since early access, December 2011. 2) What time was the best state of WM / Anni and why? Generally at release. The vision of every class, advanced class, and advanced class specialties were clear and undiluted. The executive summary, as still listed on SWTOR Databank has this to say. On our class: "Through years of disciplined training and meditation, the Jedi Knight hones body and mind into perfect harmony. Combining the foresight of the Force with unrivaled reflexes and practiced physical precision, the Knight turns combat into an art form..." Our Advanced Class has this to say: "Through years of training the Sentinel learns the art of using two lightsabers simultaneously to create an intricate web of damage that is almost impossible to evade..." The WM spec. has this to say: "Provides greater skill in single-blade offense and the ability to take enemies down quickly." I read "perfect harmony," "unrivaled reflexed," "turns combat into an art form," "intricate web of damage," "almost impossible to evade," and "ability to take enemies down quickly," and the launch version of our spec., extending through about 2.4 captured all of this perfectly. Unfortunately, ability misfire bugs plagued the whole game up through Patch 1.1.2, and were unduly harsh on WM/Anni, making WM/Anni sometimes maddening to play. So more precisely, after Patch 1.1.2 which went a long way to fixing ability misfires and double-fires which had particularly vexed WM / Anni since launch; this brought them to the point where they were always intended to be, unfettered by the games' broken whims. This was the best time where it felt that a well-played WM / Anni turned combat into an art form. The feeling you got when an unbroken chain of 3-4 RNG proc'ced ability refreshes came in a row was amazing. In short, it was transcendent. Launch through about 2.4 achieved a state of perfect Zen for our spec. I jest, but I say the first signs of trouble appeared when they took away our ability to Force Leap to Portable Holo Dancers. But if I had to pick any specific point in time, I would say Patch 1.2 through 1.4 was it. This period benefitted from the ability misfire correction of Patch 1.1.2, and its quality of life improvements added to realizing our spec. vision. 1.3 further corrected timing of Riposte. 1.4 further corrected firing problems with Force Sweep. Along with our abilities, the game also provided us the cool named Rakata gear like named lightsabers Hatred, etc. 3) What's your favorite ability and what's your least favorite ability? I'll say it's a tie between WM/Anni 6-second Force Kick and Riposte (noting both abilities are no longer in the game) for essentially the same reason. WM/Anni's 6-second Force Kick offered something unique to the spec. that was not game-breaking, gave tremendous utility in the right circumstances for both PVE and PVP and played to the spec.'s vision of "unrivaled reflexes." It contributed to our historical role as heal-killer, and made us a desirable choice in cases where interrupts were a necessary mechanic. For many reasons, the design of Riposte -- nevermind it's generally poor damage -- was excellent and spot-on for our vision: a context-dependent reactive ability that never missed (there is great benefit to this), did not respect the GCD, and had a very tight window it was available after the triggering event contributed to our frenetic nature that we were known for and defined by. My least favorite ability is a CD-less Cauterize which lacks the RNG CD-refresh proc'ced by other abilities. Removing CD on Cauterize helped contributed to sucking the soul out of our spec., furthered by the sister mechanic of RNG-ability refresh on other ability proc -- losing the CD meant the RNG element of its refresh was pointless and also removed. 4) How much do you enjoy the spec after 3.0 in comparison to 2.X? Well, definitely less. But, then 2.X also wasn't my favorite period for the spec. either. If I could rephrase the question to be "how much do you enjoy the spec after 3.0 in comparison to your Question (2) response?" My answer is I greatly dislike the current state of my favorite class/AC/spec. in the entire game to when I most enjoyed it. The soul has been sucked out. The flame of the Watchman's burning heart has been extinguished. It feels boring. It is boring. I yearn for the time when a string of abilities refreshed randomly, some at the same time, and were competing for abilities that were triggered on event like Riposte. I yearn for the time when I had to assess 2-3, or even sometimes 4 competing abilities on the fly, as compared to what I gambled might come next. I yearn for the times when I took a chance counting on a random refresh that happened sending my DPS to the pinnacle of performance. The uniqueness is gone. We are now a lot like each other. And a lot more like other specs of much different classes. It is easier to play, more conforming to a standard norm, and less interesting. 5) Which was the best version put on PTS for 3.2.1? Hah! A trick question! The correct answer is there were no good versions put on PTS for 3.2.1. It would even be difficult to choose the least worst option since they were all so horrifyingly bad. 6) Will the planned build for 3.2.1 be an improvement to what we have live atm? Not really. But what we have live atm sucks so much bad kephii as well. 7) How do you think class balance should be achieved and how should different specs of an AC get their own identity. Let's go to the most basic foundational level of game balance. You ideally balance classes based on the best standard gear in game (ex. full standard set {not modified bis components} of Revanite w/ 204 mainhand atm with 14 spec-appropriate augments) presuming equivalently skilled experienced players who know their spec enough to obtain the excellent possible maximum performance. However, you must practically balance as based on gamewide across-all-server average performance of the spec. vs. specs. of the same role. The target needs to be a 5% band between the highest spec's performance average to the lowest spec's performance average; but also measured against the baseline mean of all spec's of the given role. Let's for sake of discussion talk about DPS role and presume that WM does the highest average DPS and Assault Specialist does the least average DPS; all other DPS specs fall within this band. Balance will be achieved when WM is then 2.5% above the arithmetic mean of all DPS specs, Assult Specialist is 2.5% below the arithmetic mean of all DPS specs and there is a 5% separation between the WM average DPS and Assault Specialist average DPS. Same goes for HPS for all heal specs. Same goes for Tanking Damage Mitigation (and/or threat for all tank specs. The next question is why aren't they all the same? This plays to the abilities unique to each spec. Melee sustained specs should reign supreme. Ranged burst specs should not. Modifying parameters should include any/all of the following factors. Sustained (more) vs. Burst (less). Difficulty (more possibility) vs. ease (less possibility but better conforming to average), armor type (Heavy less vs. light more). High time on target (less) vs. less time on target (more). And of course also modified by utility and hybridized- abilities: Ability to exit combat (less) vs. not (more). Ability to "h2f/mtp" (less) vs. not (more). Ability to invis / pick start of combat (less) vs. not (more). Ability to heal on command (less) vs. not (more). Ability to taunt (less) vs. not (more). So, for example, let's say there is a game which has a medium-armor wearing mDPS sustained spec. who cannot taunt, turn invis to exist combat, or heal-to-full-on-command, can't teleport away or anything, then it should reign at the top of the heap; dare we say it should have the highest DPS of all. Ranged should do less. A heavy-armor wearing mdps who can also taunt should do less. A bursting variant of the same AC should do less. A light-armor DOT mdps, if such a thing existed that could not invis, heal-to-full-on-command, teleport away, should be the only possible thing which could arguably do more. You start with giving each spec. their own vision. Then give them primary performance abilities to support that vision. Then give them unique utility abilities generally in line with the vision and to help define a clear identity for the spec. relative to other specs. and those of its same AC. Sentinel is a good example. WM/Anni is built around DOT, whereas Combat is built around burst. The exact DOT mechanic of WM is burns, and so everything visionary about WM should relate to burns. The exact burst mechanic of Combat is speed, and so everything visionary about Combat is the way it sets up to drop massive discrete alpha strikes within its burst windows. 8) Do you feel you have the opportunity to contribute to the improvement of the spec with your feedback? Yes. Actually, dare I say I am the reason why the devs told you WM performs well in its game metrics (*) and you all need to l2p. (* well, at least I tell myself that there's this one WM on Jedi Covenant who has busted the curve for everyone else). But, seriously. Yes. I feel no butthurt in the way others feel our voice is being or not being heard by the devs. I've tweeted to Musco. I post on the boards. I know they've read my posts in the past, as my signature can attest to. 9) If there's just one thing you could change about the spec, what would it be? (please do stick to the "one thing" bit here, this is important!) I would reintroduce ability refreshes and triggers based on situational and RNG triggers that were related to Riposte activation on direct attack and Cauterize CD refresh on random proc of Merciless. 10) What does it take to make you continue playing Watchman / Anni? Restore Inspiration to its at-launch mechanics. Restore self-heals on Zen back to 2%. Restore our ability to choose a 6s interrupt as a supplement to one of the existing first-tier utilities. Restore Riposte, with higher damage than it did last time it was in-game. Restore CD to Cauterize with RNG ability refresh of Cauterize CD on use of Merciless. Buff crits on burns and Merciless. Make our 2- and 4- piece set bonuses on PVE gear match the 2- and 4-piece set bonuses that were in-game prior to 3.0 (make Revanite and Resurrected 2- and 4- piece set bonuses match verbatim the Dread Forged / Dread Master 2- and 4- piece set bonuses). That is, give us back higher damage for slightly longer during Zen, and our increased damage to Master Strike.

It's a good observation. I would wholeheartedly support such an addition.

"But you just don't understand," they say. "I found the perfect 'gotcha' to show them. See there's an area in the game currently that's not quite so easy to get to. And somehow. Ummm. It's the same." Let me also give you this other pearl of wisdom. You can get kicked up to the lower sandcrawler datacron... and not be banned! Whoa! Stop the presses!

Any connection between Grim Tooth and Monolith is stupid. Oh, oh, we know that there's no reference to Monolith in the OP; goto this first sentence. That aside, if you're needing to get someone else to push you to kill Grim Tooth, then you're doing it wrong. Maybe wrong is too harsh. You're doing it more complicated than you need to make it. Rest assured -- with all the assurance a non-dev fellow forum poster can assure you -- that you should feel free to kill Grim Tooth however you choose to. All of that said, to answer the original question more (most?) directly: no, using teamwork to get an achievement in this game is not an exploit.

We've come full circle. Just return us to game launch. 2% self-heals on Zen. GbtF no health loss or at very least health cost on immediate use, reduce from 50%. And for something completely different: Add to rebuke duration immunity to all stuns and roots from front 60 degree cone for 10m length: an advancing sentinel is a painful sentinel. Give us rng chance to break stuns and roots on burns (each dot tick carries 5%? chance to break)

Well, know that Watchman can destroy the current 16m SM Ravagers. A Sent. Watchman is #2 on Bulo: http://torparse.com/leaderboards.php?boss=bulo&mode=sm16 A Sent. Watchman is #1 on Torque: http://torparse.com/leaderboards.php?boss=torque&mode=sm16 (a fight they say is supposedly bad on mdps ? ) A Sent. Watchman is #1 on Master Blaster: http://torparse.com/leaderboards.php?boss=blaster&mode=sm16

Kissakias, thx for continuing to stay on top of this. Interesting epiphany about the environmental/mechanics' kills of the Makrin. I would suggest that may be correct, __IF BUT FOR__ the fact that Bioware confirmed on multiple times in formal developer bug reports/updates that the "Kill it With Fire" achievement was in fact, unobtainable, because it was bugged. One of those times was in the December 2, 2013 report: http://www.swtor.com/de/community/showthread.php?t=641546&highlight=makrin We're not the only ones who want this put to bed. Our German friends were also interested: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=673940 I can't read what it says, but could only imagine -- or at least I want to read it in that way -- that Hitler has just found out for the first time that the "Kill it with Fire" achievement is bugged, and his ministers had been keeping it from him.

[Alteredbeast]"Arise from your grave."[/Alteredbeast] Anyone know what the deal with this is? Still bugged (essentially since Makeb went live)? Thx.

To really see the rotation repetition, I recommend doing the following to the Raw Data. Drop it in Excel. Separate by 6 columns. Columns 1-4 repeat for every row. Column 5, block time, repeats only for the end of a quadruplet (opening) or triplet. Column 6, number of abilities, repeats only for the end of a group, so every 4th, 5th, (or 6th) ability. Then you can further delineate between the Opening rotation, the Standard Rotation, and the Dispatch Rotation. Drop in some line formatting to break between groups and quadruplets/triplets, and you really then see a relatively simple pattern emerge that you simply just repeat with precise execution.

Quantitative Analysis of the World’s Best (*) Dummy Parses As Measured by Conformance With or Against the Conventional "Forum Parse" (Or Is This Better Titled Dummies for Watchman or Watchman for Dummies) The two key references are as follows: The Forum Parse (“The Short Watchman Rotation”)[36s rotation]: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=783526 The parse being anaylsed: http://swtor-parser.elasticbeanstalk.com/parser/view/2308780ad6b5b60a2f1cdb82b17fd252/0 I am just now getting around to cleaning it up for posting. The analysis was actually performed early February 2015, on a the top english Watchman parse in Parsely at that time. THESIS: The “World’s Best” Top dummy-parsing sentinel watchman rigidly applies the forum-recommended watchman "rotation" to achieve the world-record (*) watchman parse. (*) ignoring better German parse for translation simplicity (no slight to the Deutsch, I just want to be absolutely sure about the abilities. TL,DR: I'm a common American that believes the world revolves around us.) Definition of Terms: Group: A series of actions and abilities, most commonly including four but may alternately include five or six. Quadruplet: A series of four (4) groups (4-4-4-4/5), only to be utilized during the opening 24s rotation. The Quadruplet is capitalized and unchanging (well, you have the option on a couple of slashes or strikes). Triplet: A series of three (3) groups utilized in the Standard or Dispatch phases and conforming to a 18s duration. Triplets may include many different abilities but will generally follow strict recurring rules. Where a group includes Force Leap and/or Overload Saber, it will always follow the format of Force Leap + Overload Saber and will open the group. Where a group includes Master Strike or Twin Saber Throw, Master Strike or Twin Saber Throw will be the final ability of the group. Triplets will always alternate using an 18s/36s format whereby Force Leap begins every other group. Triplets may also be generally defined by the end ability out of three different abilities of each group of that triplet: Force Melt ends the first group and every third group after that in perpetuity. Master Strike ends the second group and every third group after that in perpetuity. Twin Saber Throw ends the third group and every third group after that in perpetuity (if double damage proc’ed). Summary: Opener: Zen pre-fight. Presumed Adrenal pre-fight (not shown in parse). Opening rotation is rigidly adhered to; comprised of "24s" block [actually 23s) of 4-4-4-5. Standard rotation: Standard rotation is rigidly adhered to; comprised of "18s" blocks of three 4-4-5, perpetually repeated. It is noted that the Standard rotation in this specific dummy parse is comprised of seven (7) 18s blocks: seven 4-4-5 triplets. Master Strikes are rigidly stopped short, cancelled after 1.5s channel in every case. Note a hiccup occurs at the 1m21s mark. To retain the 4-4-5 triplet format, the group begins with Strike (it should begin with Force Leap + Overload Saber). Alternately, this group could be divided as a 5-4-4 triplet. This causes the follow-up 4-5-5 triplet outlier, beginning at the 1m40s mark. That follow-up 4-5-5 triplet corrects the hiccup, returning us back to normal rotation. The same could be noted for the very first Standard rotation triplet after the opener is complete; because of zen use, this becomes a 4-5-5, rather than 4-4-5 triplet. The defining transition from Standard to Dispatch phases occurs (identified to us retroactively to us) the moment Dispatch becomes available – we don’t know we’re in the Dispatch phase until we Dispatch. This triggers warning to plan to use Adrenal + Inspiration at an opportune time, and begins the possibility for random course corrections, especially if the 6-set bonus is available (random Dispatch CD reset to occur not more than 1 per 60s). We say “retroactive” because unless you are keeping really good book-keeping and an eye on boss exact health, in any given fight, we won't be be absolutely sure when this will occur; we can watch health, and generally be ready for it, but the moment Dispatch becomes active, we now now we’re in the final stretch. Dispatch Rotation: note that presence of Dispatch creates initial 5-4-4 triplet, followed by 5-5-5 triplet; both triplets retain 18s group duration of the standard rotation. This second odd 5-5-5 triplet could actually be the standard 4-4-5 triplet under any other circumstance, but becomes 5-5-5- due to use of Adrenal. After the odd 5-5-5 triplet group (which could just be regular 4-4-5 triplet), the rotation immediately settles back into the standard 4-4-5 rotation. The Raw Data: (formatting is all derped -- there are _SIX_ columns here: Time / Action / Action Time / Accrued Time / Block Time / Actions in Block) Time Action Action Time Accrued Time Block Time Actions in Block 23:03:00.011 (pre-cast) 1,000,000 Health 23:03:10.377 (pre-cast) Shattered Armor 23:03:38.930 (pre-cast) Zen 23:03:39 Force Leap 00:00.0 00:00.0 23:03:40 Overload Saber 00:00.5 00:00.5 23:03:41 Zealous Strike 00:01.1 00:01.6 23:03:42 Merciless Slash 00:01.5 00:03.1 4 23:03:44 Force Melt 00:01.5 00:04.6 23:03:45 Cauterize 00:01.5 00:06.1 23:03:47 Master Strike 00:01.5 00:07.6 23:03:50 Twin Saber Throw 00:02.9 00:10.5 4 23:03:51 Force Leap 00:01.6 00:12.1 23:03:52 Overload Saber 00:00.5 00:12.6 23:03:53 Strike 00:01.0 00:13.6 23:03:55 Merciless Slash 00:01.6 00:15.1 4 23:03:56 Zealous Strike 00:01.5 00:16.6 23:03:58 Cauterize 00:01.5 00:18.2 23:03:59 Slash 00:01.5 00:19.7 23:04:01 Slash 00:01.6 00:21.2 23:04:02 Strike 00:01.5 00:22.7 00:22.7 5 23:04:04 Force Leap 00:01.5 00:24.2 23:04:04 Overload Saber 00:00.5 00:24.7 23:04:05 Merciless Slash 00:01.0 00:25.7 23:04:07 Force Melt 00:01.5 00:27.2 4 23:04:07 Zen 00:00.8 00:28.0 23:04:08 Strike 00:00.7 00:28.7 23:04:10 Cauterize 00:01.5 00:30.2 23:04:11 Merciless Slash 00:01.6 00:31.8 23:04:13 Master Strike 00:01.5 00:33.3 5 23:04:16 Force Leap 00:02.9 00:36.2 23:04:16 Overload Saber 00:00.6 00:36.8 23:04:17 Merciless Slash 00:01.0 00:37.8 23:04:19 Zealous Strike 00:01.5 00:39.3 23:04:20 Twin Saber Throw 00:01.5 00:40.8 00:18.1 5 23:04:22 Cauterize 00:01.5 00:42.3 23:04:23 Merciless Slash 00:01.5 00:43.8 23:04:25 Force Melt 00:01.5 00:45.3 23:04:26 Strike 00:01.5 00:46.8 4 23:04:28 Force Leap 00:01.5 00:48.3 23:04:28 Overload Saber 00:00.7 00:49.0 23:04:29 Merciless Slash 00:00.9 00:49.9 23:04:31 Master Strike 00:01.5 00:51.4 4 23:04:34 Cauterize 00:02.9 00:54.3 23:04:34 Zen 00:00.7 00:55.0 23:04:35 Merciless Slash 00:00.9 00:55.9 23:04:37 Zealous Strike 00:01.5 00:57.4 23:04:38 Twin Saber Throw 00:01.5 00:58.9 00:18.1 5 23:04:40 Force Leap 00:01.5 01:00.4 23:04:40 Overload Saber 00:00.5 01:00.9 23:04:41 Merciless Slash 00:01.0 01:01.9 23:04:43 Force Melt 00:01.5 01:03.4 4 23:04:44 Strike 00:01.5 01:04.9 23:04:46 Cauterize 00:01.5 01:06.4 23:04:47 Merciless Slash 00:01.5 01:07.9 23:04:49 Master Strike 00:01.5 01:09.5 4 23:04:52 Force Leap 00:02.9 01:12.4 23:04:52 Overload Saber 00:00.7 01:13.1 23:04:53 Merciless Slash 00:00.9 01:14.0 23:04:55 Zealous Strike 00:01.5 01:15.5 23:04:56 Twin Saber Throw 00:01.5 01:17.0 00:18.1 5 23:04:58 Cauterize 00:01.5 01:18.5 23:04:59 Zen 00:00.7 01:19.2 23:04:59 Merciless Slash 00:00.8 01:20.0 23:05:01 Force Melt 00:01.6 01:21.6 4 23:05:02 Strike 00:01.5 01:23.1 23:05:04 Force Leap 00:01.5 01:24.6 23:05:04 Overload Saber 00:00.5 01:25.1 23:05:05 Merciless Slash 00:01.0 01:26.1 4 23:05:07 Master Strike 00:01.5 01:27.6 23:05:10 Cauterize 00:03.0 01:30.6 23:05:12 Merciless Slash 00:01.6 01:32.2 23:05:13 Zealous Strike 00:01.5 01:33.7 23:05:15 Twin Saber Throw 00:01.5 01:35.2 00:18.2 5 23:05:16 Force Leap 00:01.7 01:36.9 23:05:17 Overload Saber 00:00.4 01:37.3 23:05:18 Merciless Slash 00:01.0 01:38.3 23:05:19 Force Melt 00:01.5 01:39.8 4 23:05:21 Strike 00:01.5 01:41.3 23:05:22 Cauterize 00:01.6 01:42.9 23:05:23 Zen 00:00.7 01:43.6 23:05:24 Merciless Slash 00:00.8 01:44.4 23:05:25 Master Strike 00:01.6 01:46.0 5 23:05:28 Force Leap 00:02.9 01:48.9 23:05:29 Overload Saber 00:00.6 01:49.5 23:05:30 Merciless Slash 00:00.9 01:50.4 23:05:31 Zealous Strike 00:01.6 01:52.0 23:05:33 Twin Saber Throw 00:01.5 01:53.5 00:18.3 5 23:05:34 Cauterize 00:01.5 01:55.0 23:05:36 Merciless Slash 00:01.6 01:56.6 23:05:38 Force Melt 00:01.6 01:58.2 23:05:39 Strike 00:01.5 01:59.7 4 23:05:41 Force Leap 00:01.5 02:01.2 23:05:41 Overload Saber 00:00.6 02:01.8 23:05:42 Merciless Slash 00:01.0 02:02.8 23:05:44 Master Strike 00:01.5 02:04.3 4 23:05:47 Cauterize 00:03.0 02:07.3 23:05:47 Zen 00:00.7 02:07.9 23:05:48 Merciless Slash 00:00.9 02:08.9 23:05:50 Zealous Strike 00:01.5 02:10.4 23:05:51 Twin Saber Throw 00:01.5 02:11.9 00:18.3 5 23:05:53 Force Leap 00:01.5 02:13.4 23:05:53 Overload Saber 00:00.6 02:14.0 23:05:54 Merciless Slash 00:00.9 02:14.9 23:05:56 Force Melt 00:01.5 02:16.4 4 23:05:57 Strike 00:01.5 02:17.9 23:05:59 Cauterize 00:01.5 02:19.4 23:06:00 Merciless Slash 00:01.5 02:20.9 23:06:02 Master Strike 00:01.6 02:22.5 4 23:06:05 Force Leap 00:02.9 02:25.4 23:06:05 Overload Saber 00:00.6 02:26.0 23:06:06 Merciless Slash 00:01.0 02:27.0 23:06:08 Zealous Strike 00:01.5 02:28.5 23:06:09 Twin Saber Throw 00:01.5 02:30.0 00:18.1 5 23:06:11 Cauterize 00:01.5 02:31.5 23:06:11 Zen 00:00.6 02:32.1 23:06:12 Merciless Slash 00:00.9 02:33.0 23:06:14 Force Melt 00:01.5 02:34.5 23:06:15 Dispatch 00:01.5 02:36.0 5 23:06:17 Force Leap 00:01.5 02:37.5 23:06:17 Overload Saber 00:00.5 02:38.0 23:06:18 Merciless Slash 00:01.0 02:39.0 23:06:20 Master Strike 00:01.6 02:40.6 4 23:06:23 Cauterize 00:03.0 02:43.6 23:06:24 Merciless Slash 00:01.5 02:45.1 23:06:26 Zealous Strike 00:01.5 02:46.6 23:06:27 Twin Saber Throw 00:01.5 02:48.1 00:18.1 4 23:06:29 Force Leap 00:01.6 02:49.7 23:06:30 Overload Saber 00:00.7 02:50.4 23:06:30 Merciless Slash 00:00.7 02:51.1 23:06:32 Force Melt 00:01.5 02:52.6 23:06:33 Dispatch 00:01.5 02:54.1 5 23:06:34 Zen 00:00.7 02:54.8 23:06:35 Cauterize 00:00.8 02:55.6 23:06:37 Merciless Slash 00:01.6 02:57.2 23:06:37 Nano-Infused Attack Adrenal 00:00.6 02:57.8 23:06:38 Master Strike 00:00.9 02:58.7 5 23:06:41 Force Leap 00:03.0 03:01.7 23:06:42 Overload Saber 00:00.7 03:02.4 23:06:43 Merciless Slash 00:00.9 03:03.3 23:06:44 Zealous Strike 00:01.5 03:04.8 23:06:46 Twin Saber Throw 00:01.5 03:06.3 00:18.2 5 23:06:47 Cauterize 00:01.5 03:07.8 23:06:49 Merciless Slash 00:01.5 03:09.3 23:06:50 Force Melt 00:01.5 03:10.8 23:06:52 Strike 00:01.8 03:12.6 4 23:06:54 Force Leap 00:01.6 03:14.2 23:06:54 Overload Saber 00:00.3 03:14.5 23:06:55 Merciless Slash 00:01.2 03:15.7 23:06:57 Master Strike 00:01.5 03:17.2 4 23:07:00 Cauterize 00:03.1 03:20.3 23:07:00 Zen 00:00.7 03:21.0 23:07:01 Merciless Slash 00:01.0 03:22.0 23:07:03 Zealous Strike 00:01.5 03:23.5 23:07:04 Twin Saber Throw 00:01.5 03:25.0 00:18.7 5 23:07:06 Force Leap 00:01.5 03:26.5 23:07:06 Overload Saber 00:00.5 03:27.0 23:07:07 Merciless Slash 00:01.0 03:28.0 Conclusions & Recommendations: The thesis was proven true, or proven sufficiently true as reasonably (humanly) possible. Strict adherence to the forum-listed 24s Opener (a single 24s 4-4-4-4 quadruplet) should be utilized to allow one to attain “world’s best” performance. Strict adherence to repetition of the forum-listed 36s/18s standard rotation should be followed. In all cases, 18s blocks of 4-4-5 triplets will yield "excellent" results. Micro-managing a block every 1-2min to eek out an additional Strike or Master Strike can improve performance. There is leeway during the final Dispatch phase to introduce Adrenal and Inspiration; when introduced, they are considered instant off the GCD, and so should not change the use of standard 4-4-5 triplets. Use it sometime after Dispatch becomes available during an opportune window, of which there are several possibilities. Zen should be used on cooldown. Circa beginning of February, where HM clears of Ravagers/ToS were uncommon, this highlights the importance of the pre-3.0 Dread Master set bonus of 4% damage increase on zen duration (nine zens were used.) Use the forum rotation, dummy. If you never want to think, then just stick with “4-4-4-4” Opener and then “Fo’-Fo’-Five” (4-4-5) it till the target is dead. You won’t be the world best, but you’ll likely be doing great – or good enough – damage. This is really the single most reason why fans of Watchman complain the AC has lost its soul. Observations: Inspiration does not appear as an “event: ability” trigger. I admit my own ignorance on the intricacies of Parsely so this may either be that it was used prior to fight (Parse has not connected the ability use to the fight), a problem with Parseley recognition of the ability if it was used (in which case, a good note to that thread might be due), or it was not used, in which case, there's an opportunity for a 6-5-5 or 5-6-5 triplet at or about the time of use of final Adrenal for a bit more damage. We presume it was most likely used just before the fight and so wasn’t registered. Note the triplet rotation used in Standard and Dispatch phases. Rather than trying to conform to rigid timing (for example using a Starparse ability clock), it is probably better to try to internalize the necessary cadence based on the final ability of the group: once you settle into things, end the first group with Force Melt, the second group with Master Strike, and the third group with Twin Saber throw (if double damage proc’ced). This further reduces the amount of information you’ll have to keep aware of during a raid. It should go without saying this that it’s also noted that this parse only consists of the following thirteen (13) abilities: Force Leap, Overload Saber, Zealous Strike, Merciless Slash, Force Melt, Cauterize, Master Strike, Twin Saber Throw, Strike, Slash, Zen, Inspiration, and Nano-Infused Attack Adrenal. It’s a dummy parse, which is a single target, and dummies don’t hit back (duh). When you enter real combat, you’ll want to use Force Sweep after full dots, and all your DCD’s as appropriate to best effect. Recall that Rebuke returns damage back to the attacker. Special note: No slight to the parser, we say this parse is an example of “exacting conformance,” but not total conformance. It appears that hiccups in rotation did occur, and were easily corrected back to the standard plan at the earliest possible opportunity. That’s to say that when the few “mistakes” happened, their resolution was likewise executed very well. Recommendations for Future work: identify the differences between this example parse and the better German parse. Was the German parse more exacting in its conformance (“perfect” parse / no hiccups?) Did the German parse manage the Dispatch phase better? I don’t know, because Ich sprechen sie Deutsch nicht so gut, and it will be too annoying to match abilities across languages. It also likely needs an update. Also, note that as more and more people progress, the volume of gearing possibilities will increase. We should then be in better position to better understand the impacts of running with 4 Dread (DM/DF)+ 2 R(ev./ess.) and the various set bonus permutations: 4DM+2R / 2DM+4R / 6R. At some point as Revanite gear is introduced into more peoples mixes, the raw stats of 198 vs. 186 will overpower the amazing terms of the DM set bonuses and that 4% damage buff on zen will have to get tossed aside for that one critting merciless or dispatch every minute. TL, DR: The 18s/36s forum-listed 3.0 Watchman Rotation has been proven TRUE by the best Parseley DPS Leaderboard for Sentinel Watchman. The “world best” Watchman essentially uses nothing more than Opening Rotation + Standard Rotation performed to exacting conformance to 18s triplet rotations. If you want exceptional performance, then follow 4-4-5 (Force Leap+Overload Saber / something / Force Melt) - (something / cauterize / something / Master Strike) – (Force Leap+Overload Saber / something / Twin Saber Throw [buff proc]). During final Dispatch phase, you have a bit of leeway to plan use of adrenals and Inspiration; ideally you will plan for an optimized Adrenalized Inspiring Zen (Inspiration + Instant Zen) window to occur one time in that final 30%. The “something” in the equation should be Merciless Slash as much as possible; your “something – somethings” basically boil down to the heart of where your resource management comes from. Your Mercili drive your Force Melts, and your Force Melts are an intrinsic cadence key in your rotation timing.

Well, if you gather enough friends, you could force a new instance. Not a good solution, but still something.

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Very good job! Hate to post a nitpick after that. As I'm getting accustomed to the interface, I note something that isn't a big deal for leaderboards right now as the population is low, but will quickly become unmanageable, I'm sure: Operations leaderboards are reporting in simple metric [DPS/HPS] order, even if multiple instances of same name appear. You probably need to perform a check of names to report just the highest per character under the chosen DPS/HPS metric. Thanks again.

Hire a 13-year old to log in and get them all for you?

So true. Malaphar makes the heavy fabricator cry.

There is an Op and specific boss for DPS padders. It's called Karagga's Palace: Heavy Fabricator. He's always been there, just waiting for you.

The Witch Hunter on "High and Mighty" Horse.