Not quite the same, but in many respects it resembles the L49 Synthweaving armor for us.

Yea, hilts are everything. Above all else, you want to keep that as high in level as possible. That is what determines the base damage range of your lightsaber. Similarly, armoring mods are what determine the amount of armor on any given piece. You can look at the rating number (displayed as 'Rating #', near the required level) to find out just how much better (or worse) other hilts you find are. For example, if you find a green hilt with rating 86, but are using a blue with rating 76... even if the blue has better stats, you'll want to use the green, as it will undoubtedly allow you to hit harder. As an artifice, this should almost never be a concern for you. Keep up with your crafting and you'll have the best DPS possible all the way to 50, with some luck in the Reverse Engineering department.

Sounds like a gearing issue to me. You're level 28? What level are your hilts? If they aren't at least RL26 blues, you should probably address that. Blue hilts can generally be attained every 3 levels for 7 commendations from any given planet. If all else fails, consider T7 instead of Kira. He will better allow you to split up incoming damage between the two of you, keeping both of you alive. Master Strike is definitely worth using. It should be good for slighty better DPS than having used Slash twice, but costs no Focus. It's rather vital in keeping your rotation on higher damage skills, rather than building focus with Strike. Reposite, for the same reason you describe, is one I only use when DPS is of absolute vital importance.

I can say that, with absolute certainty, I have never once had the Master Strike or Crippling Throw root fail to apply. Snares/roots completely ignore resolve CC immunity, so it's really quite impossible to muck it up. Where do we stand out? Well, given the purpose for this thread, I hate to even suggest it... but... utility. We have plenty of the stuff geared both towards survivability and general wtfpwning an enemy. We are also easily the most mobile class on the battlefield.

I'm actually going to disagree on this one. In a Combat spec, we have two roots which help tremendously... but everyone has access to a snare which allows us to stay on targets very well. A knockback would do us no good. A pull would certainly be useful, but is completely unnecessary IMHO. Yes, we get knocked around a lot, but we have plenty of skills that help get us back into the fight just as quickly. In Hutball, my Watchman spec is plenty deadly enough to kill the Imp carrier and already has all the necessary utility to be one of the best ball runners in the game. Transcendence gives us a huge burst of speed to offset snares and leave enemies in the dust, Guarded by the Force just flat out lets us walk through fire, Force Leap always gets us to where we need to be and Force Camo allows for some interesting tricks with the ball or getting to it. Also, you appear to have forgotten about Awe. Absolutely invaluable. If you ask me, CC is already too heavy in PVP and is a crutch we just don't need any more of. And since you appear to be interested in the credentials of those replying to your thread, I am an 11+ year MMO vet, have been 50 for some time now, PVP daily and haven't lost a single 1v1 in the open world since turning 50. Carry on.

Why I feel Watchman players are having more success with some of the more difficult solo encounters is because of interrupts. Between a 6 second CD on kick and point-blank leaping, there isn't much you can't keep interrupted, which directly leads to less damage taken. There are some encounters that are just simply impossible without interrupts and a number of them are completely trivialized by this build. They are also invaluable in HM Flashpoints. One Watchman spec'd Sentinel can, in my experience, take care of all of the interrupts that need to take place in any given encounter. It is very much to the point that I can't see ever spec'ing out of it.

Each spec certainly has it's own perks. When I switched from Watchman to Combat, things I missed greatly... - Interrupts! In PVE, Watchguard all but assures you will pick up every single interrupt of any given skill. Point-blank Leap helps to fill in any blanks, where applicable. In PVP, while you can't completely shut down any one given skill, you can still prevent enough casts to shut down healers/casters long enough to make a difference. - Focused Pursuit just feels like an absolute must in the likes of Hutball and Alderaan, while still being quite handy in PVE, both in and out of hard flashpoints. - Merc Slash, 'nuff said. When I switched from Combat to Watchman, things I missed greatly... - Blade Storm feeling useful. - Immobilize effects on Master Strike and CripThrow, for PVP. - A far more predictable rotation of steady, solid DPS. For me, right now, it's Watchman or nothing... if only for the interrupts. They are turning out to be so vital in these hard FPs.

Solo, I don't use Zen at all. Never really need to. In groups, fairly rarely. Because our build all but dictates that Cauterize be used on refresh for DPS, windows for it's usefulness are limited. If I just happen to have a full stack of Centering, and my healers look to need the help, and Cauterize comes off cooldown... I'll consider using it. More often than not, though, I use my Centering on Transcendence (especially on encounters with knockback elements.) Any DPS that would have been gained by guaranteed Cauterize crits is easily made up for by a single attack made for having returned to the boss sooner, while also helping the defenses of our tank. In PVP... I would like to use Zen more, but I find Transcendence to be more useful as a whole just about every time I build up to a 30-stack.

As a long-time user of the N52 and having picked up a Naga the very day they were released, I am typically blindly pro-macros. That stopped after I played Rift. No game should ever allow what they did with their macros ever again. That was a true nightmare. There were a couple of builds which could literally be boiled down to one button and still kick out equivalent or even better DPS than if you micro'd it, simply because you didn't have to know what you were doing. IMHO, allowing two abilities to be cast three a single macro is acceptable. Three, maybe. Any more than that and you risk simplifying combat for the worse. I currently have but one macro in this SWTOR; one which triggers both my reusable Adrenal and my Relic at the same time. Past that, I really don't see much need. A Zealous/Strike macro, for example, sounds nice for 95% of the time, but there are certainly times that I need to use Strike when ZS is up.

Perhaps a new question is in order... Can anyone confirm these things spawn outside of the Tomb area of the map? I've been over this thing about a 80 times since finding one (in the same spot I've found my other two, mind you) this morning. It seems to me, if they are on a circuit, it isn't anywhere in the area I am searching.

Ineffective is not a word I would use for Sentinel in Warzones. Having said that, I feel that raw damage is a fairly meaningless number when it comes to Warzone PVP. For example, in Hutball, I generally do less than 100-150k damage, as I am more concerned with running the ball (which this class excels at) than I am actually killing. Similarly, damage can be artificially inflated in healbot vs healbot situations, where neither side is really losing anyone--living longer means more damage on the enemy team, even if it is all fairly pointless. If I had to slap a number on something for the sake of the thread, I would do so with a few qualifiers. On a 'fair' game of Alderaan, where neither side is completely controlled by the other, and when I am afforded the ability to stay in the thick of things, rather than being relegated to West defense, I would say that 250-275k is about average for me, with 12-15 killing blows (not kills) being typical.

Any more co-ords, by chance? After some 7 hours of searching, I've managed to get three... all from the same spot... but these blasted circuit spawns are leaving me high and dry elsewhere. This morning I appear to be the only one doing it and I can't find that magical last spot it is hiding at.

This is why I preferred T7/Scourge for leveling. Doc's healing is all well and fine, but the lack of DPS slowed down fights too much. With a tank pet, in outdoor areas, you simply mount up and go for your next pull. When you hop off, the companion is back to full HP. Do it right and you have 0 downtime and extra DPS.

How was your leveling experience (terrible, good, easy, hard...)? Mixed, ranging from easy to hard. In my experience, this was tied directly to my gearing situation. From 10-25 I did my very best to keep my gear (sabers especially) in highest available hilt/armoring configuration, while keeping mods and enhancements reasonably up to date. Doing this negatively effected me by preventing me from getting my first mount by a number of levels. The times that I had it most difficult were those when I was attempting to save money for expected expenditures at 50. When I hit 50, my main hand hilt was a level 42, offhand a 46... DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU! Which build/skill tree did you use while leveling? Combat until 30ish, Watchman till 50. I found both to be more than acceptable, though Combat is far more enjoyable at the top-end when you can afford to pick up all the focus cost reducers. Having said that, each of the four times I have respec'd, I have found certain things from each build that really hurt to let go. Which companion did you use for most encounters? Pre-Doc, T7 and Kira saw equal use. Post-Doc, T7 and Kira saw equal use. To me, Doc just lacks the DPS necessary to make him a good companion. Lord Scourge saw almost exclusive use after unlocking him and up to 50. At 50, Kira sees the most use. Did you keep your gear up to date? See above. 10-25 gear at peak performance. 25-35 I was slacking a bit and felt it. 35-42 I kept it good and all was well again. 43-50 I slacked majorly and had a terrible time while solo. Did you keep your companions gear up to date? I believe I did a bad job at this. T7 remained relatively up to date while I used him, simply because I was willing to spend commendations to keep him geared. Kira got hilt upgrades every 5-8 levels. Doc, for lack of use, remained in his default gear until 50. At 40ish, I got Kira set up in her outfit in which she will remain for the rest of my SWTOR life (slave girl with BDSM mask) so from then on out, she was probably geared better than I was. Scourge remained well equipped, as I had a buddy rocking a Guardian Synthweaver. Each, no matter how bad I ignored them, got new implants every available level, thanks to Biochem. Do you think you can play the class well (be honest)? As an 11+ year veteran to MMOs, I think that I do, yes. In PVE, my group and I have cleared three hard FPs (for having just started in on them this past weekend (Esseles on the back of me tanking enraged bosses for the final 5% under Guarded by the Force on not one, but three bosses. That place is rough!)) In PVP I am grandmaster of all things hutball (I seriously doubt there is a better class in this game for that WZ) and generally have the most KBs on our team while not dying altogether a lot. Not trying to be all gloaty... just how else might one express such an answer? BONUS SECTION! I've talked a lot about gearing in this post, but there is another issue that I think needs to be addressed. Skills. If you are the type of player who likes to have 3-5 buttons you can mash mindlessly, Sentinel, in my opinion, is NOT for you. In any given Flashpoint, I use just about every skill I have access to. I have 31 keys bound to buttons and use every last one of them religiously, in addition to 2 combat-skills that I mouse-click (like a noob.) My hotbars, all four of them, are completely full, sans one hotkey. This is, without a doubt, not a class for the lazy or those afraid to press 6-= on their keyboard.

omg, finally beat that fool down. ...and once again, on the back of invuln-tanking and our Scoundrel going DPS for the final 5%. So much suck involved in all of that, but apparently it works.

My crew and I have only just started doing hardmode FPs. We've been playing together for years now, so as far as synergy goes, it's hard to find much better. These FPs, though, they are kicking our asses. Our tank (Guardian) is clad in full T1 equiv or better (including some T1 pieces with augs.) I, as a Sentinel, and our Scoundrel and Commando each have T1/T2 equiv gearing. Seemingly every boss we encounter goes enrage or is due to go enrage within seconds of the end of the fight. In a couple of cases we have actually won encounters on the back of the tank dying to enrage and me popping my 5 second invuln, while the other two go full DPS. Right now we are hung up on Ironfist. We seemingly can't get this guy below 25% before enrage, so it's not even close. We've tried everything from ignoring the adds to trying to single heal, much to no avail. Enrage is all well and fine as a failsafe to prevent healspam to ezmode encounters, but this is ridiculous!

Depends on the situation, really... If you are planning on taking a lot of damage (PVP, for example) more END is never a bad thing. If you rarely take damage, or the damage you do take is easily offset by your healers (flashpoints) then Damage is the way to go. More HP does not make it easier for a healer to heal you, it simply gives them more time to do so before you fall over dead, so I always try to sacrifice raw HP for more DPS when I know I can get away with it.

A full set of the synthweaved armor isn't too bad, but man am I regretting making a bald fat guy. When I put on the T2 PVP armor, all I can think to myself is... Seriously, how is anyone supposed to take me serious in that set?! Personally, I'm still rocking the Agile Judgement robes I looted around level 30, tier'd up to T1/T2 with a daily commendation armoring and the mods I ripped out of spare T2 PVP armor. Looks great.

What level are all of you folks who are having trouble with focus with Combat builds? At 50, I am rarely using Strike... maybe 2-4 times a minute. That is including liberal use of Force Kick when appropriate and excluding the use (or misuse, depending on your views) of the Force Stasis and Force Leap. That said, on the grind up, I could totally understand how this build might have focus management issues... Between the reduced focus cost on Blade Rush and Blade Storm, lowered cooldown on Zealous, further lowered cost to Blade Rush with Zen and Trance, I find there really isn't much need to be hitting Strike all that often. Clearing trash, I use it just this side of never. On long, single target encounters, sure, I reckon I have to Strike about twice per every use of Master Strike... basically, enough to offset the lack of in-combat Force Leaps. Is that really so bad? It's no MercSlash, but it certainly does almost twice as much as the Force Leap that some "other builds" rely so heavily on. I doubt very highly that I am doing something "wrong" as someone saw fit to interject earlier... or at least I'm not if you ask my tank. Nary a boss fight goes by that I'm not blowing Force Camo to give agro back.

Not to rain on any parades, but... This already exists in the form of the Combat talent Displacement, which increases Pacify range by 3/6. This too already exists in the talent trees. This time as Inflammation, a 2-point talent in the Watchman tree. Regarding Dispatch and Crippling Throw... I rather like them on separate cooldowns. Especially with the aforementioned talent called Displacement, which provides a short duration root for CT. Now for some contribution... Vibroswords: Make them show up! Okay, so some do.. but all the "cool" ones don't... and none, as an offhand, do at all, so far as I can tell. We can have two sabers dangling from our belt, so why can't we have two vibroswords on our back? Honestly, this is one of my biggest gripes about the class thus far.

Hard to say which is better without parsers and/or combat logs. I've tried stacking both and found them to each "feel" good, as our DPS comes in the form of more consistent attacks than, say, a Shadow, whom might prefer crits for big numbers. What it may boil down to is your build. Combat builds may favor Crit, as they have access to bonuses for critical damage on key skills. Watchman might prefer power for a steady stream of higher hits.

Not to derail or anything... But am I the only one out there who just doesn't use Doc at all? Personally, I find that Scourge and Kira provide much more flexibility while solo, whereas Doc is just a, "jump on in and hope you don't die" kind of companion.

We too can get Singularity, so there is no difference there. Their Force Sweep may deal 30% more damage... but they expend three focus to do it. As a Sentinel, for a mere two points invested into the Watchman tree, we reduce that cost to 1 focus, not only for Sweep, but Cyclone Kick as well. That, in my mind, makes us the more proficient AOE class, as once Sweep is on Cooldown, they are waiting while we keep spamming. With Zealous Strike, we can AOE constantly for just this side of forever. Additionally, Slash is going to be used much more with a Focus build than any other Sentinel build. Our ability to, for three points in Watchman, reduce the Focus cost by 1 is HUGE. Not to mention in Shii-Cho form it can become two-target AOE with Zen. Lastly, Sentinels aren't exactly lacking in defense. Default mitigation, sure, we are a bit lackluster comparatively, but our cooldowns are well more than sufficient for any fight I've encountered in the game thus far.

The only way a Guardian is going to maintain better avoidance than a Sentinel is to keep on all that defense/absorb gear. Oddly enough, neither of those stats positively effect DPS. A Guardian without these stats will certainly have more mitigation than a Sentinel, but they don't have all of our tricks. Personally, the only time I die in flashpoints is when it's a wipe. Sure, we take damage here and there, but you have to be flying pretty blind for Force Camo not to get you out of a sticky.

This about sums it up. There is not a single skill we have that I don't use and use often. Some are not necessary for every single fight, but in the "big picture" view, every last one will and should be used.