This is the beauty and the terror of an open market

In some cases. Good luck, OP, I hope they open up some doors in this area soon. It's not for me, but it's only fair.

Dude, don't jinx it Yeah, doing some research and figuring out what the effective players are doing is a fun little exercise, and it's really enlightened me on a lot of things. Just spending half an hour in the forums helped me completely relearn what I knew about the class (pre-20 back then, so just in time) and made the whole experience much more enjoyable. Here's to hoping more helpful tips surface in the future!

Yeah, Shadow is pretty awesome. I use Theran almost exclusively (went tank during Voss so I could give Nadia a whirl, dropped her when I maxed affection) as Infiltration and I like having the guy there. Holiday has been more useful than him, on occasion, so it's a wonderful combo!

I respectfully disagree, though I can almost see where you're coming from. I just hit 50 on my Shadow, mostly as Infiltration (Balance at 31-32, Kinetic at 40-44), and I loved it. You get in fast, use the priority system to choose the proper ability, and you absolutely control the situation. I felt really powerful as infiltration, and I rarely feared for my character's life. No matter what tree you go with, you'll have great survivability options and be very effective...it's a matter of feel, a lot of the time. Play with them all, find the one that fits your favored pacing, and above all: have fun. Also, the stickied Handbook in the Shadow forum is super handy. Good luck!

Well, the healing was always kind of minor anyway, so it's just a nice little buff. I've read it explained (sorry, can't remember who said it) as basically just another form of damage mitigation, and that explanation makes sense. So, I think it's fine, and I'm sure dedicated tanks appreciate it.

You could always make friends with a Cybertech, they can make Might armoring/mods for every other level, at least. Plus, if they really like you, they'll even have blue quality ones that last for a bit longer, if necessary! Aside from that, look at it this way: if you have to take armoring from commendation vendors that has more Endurance than Strength, you just gained some survivability

Watchman is very efficient and pretty darn fun, from my experience (just hit 35, been Watchman the whole time). Lower CD and 0m range on Force Leap, increased Centering generation, self-heals from crits...it's a blast. Typically, I can send Kira at a target as I jump at another, dot it up, single-target down another while the dots kill the one I opened on...group kills are fast, if a bit formulaic sometimes. Everything I've read about Combat tells me that it's pretty darn cool, if you stack your abilities in the right order and get lucky. I'm looking forward to trying it post-40, but I know I'll miss the efficiency of Watchman. Good luck, and thanks for playing Sentinel!

Yeah, everything I've read so far indicates that Combat really takes off after 40, as well. Definitely give it a try...variety is the spice of life Plus, then I won't be the only one trying it that late in the game!

Really? Because I took my Shadow to 50 and I'm finding Sentinel to be way more potent at his level than the Shadow was. Maybe you should check out the stickied posts in the Sentinel forum for some tips? That's what I did. Side note: players that post great how-to threads make me happy. Thanks to them for sharing their experience in a well-formatted presentation.

I like to think of it more like a secondary resource so I can "go to eleven."

Also, I get disproportionately excited when thinking about the variety our trees offer. Don't know if that's just me, but I like how we get some fun choices in that regard I've been enjoying the heck out of Watchman, because it's so efficient, but I'm gonna give the others a try in a few levels, just to see what they're like. It's not often that a single class can create that kind of feeling, in my experience.

Can't tell if troll or unaware of hypocrisy...

I find being not-dead (unlike the other guy) to be quite rewarding! You make other valid points, though...we are pretty awesome and any buffs might just push us over the line into "too awesome."

This is taken from the Primer stickied in the Sentinel forum: Which I'd paraphrase as "Power makes you go pew pew (vwoom vwoom?) harder" I hope that clears it up a bit.

Don't be so hard on yourself, it sounds like you're making the most of your circumstances, and that's nothing to be ashamed of...also, you're having fun, and that is the most important thing! If you're having some lag/response time issues, but still want to pvp, I'd recommend thinking about trying Balance or Kinetic Combat, as they've got some more survivability and a bit of health regen. Also, more emphasis on Force powers than melee, which might work better with your current circumstances. That being said, it all boils down to doing what you enjoy. It's your money, so go with your gut! Hopefully more enlightened voices will chime in and have more to add (constructively). Keep having fun!

I love my Sentinel. Centering opens up some really cool options, the trees offer some neat variety, and I feel like you have enough tools available to you to really help your group, if used properly. The collection of mobility options is nice, and I feel like I'm always moving and doing...it's very active. I was looking forward to playing this from the moment it was announced, and I'm enjoying my experience. Unfortunately, bouncing around in the forums isn't encouraging, with regards to other Sentinels' experience. I hope that this is just a vocal minority, and that there are more people out there that are having a great time. Because this game is fun, and players should have fun with it.

And this should be fixed soon, so that'll be nice!

This cannot be stated enough. Also, we have SO MUCH CONTROL once we get in range. Several interrupts, some CC, great defensive/offensive cooldowns, and high mobility; we're pretty awesome. As for your stealth comments, remember that this isn't WoW stealth. You're meant to use it to close the gap quickly, you can't just lurk. No creepin'. Shadow is great if you read your tooltips and give it a shot.

I think you'll find it to just be a slight buff while tanking, as it has been pointed out in other threads that the healing from CT basically amounts to a form of damage mitigation (since it's so small). Should be fine, and not too huge.

^ this. Read tooltips, read some things that have been stickied in the Sentinel forum (should know where it is, the thread lives there), and see that the pieces are all there. You just have to read and understand that you need to actively put them together. Centering called to say "hi" and remind you that it exists. If you really feel like you want to play with more CCs and whatnot, change things up. Shadow has a lot of situational control, and the pacing is similar to Sentinel, so consider giving it a shot, as well! Also, this. ^

I breezed through the fight, and here's how! (/billymayes) Stealthed, Mind Maze the master. Then, focus down each add quickly. At leisure, take the master, interrupting anything and everything. Personally, I was also a cybertech, and kept my orange gear slots fairly up-to-date with my level...as well as my companion's. So, double check that you've got that under control. Beyond that, good luck and have fun!

Look! A player that adapted to change! Less than three.

That's an interesting proposition. I haven't tried Combat yet, but I can see where you're coming from on the early half of the game from that viewpoint.

It strikes me more like Assault from Halo 2. But, you know, 20% cooler.