SteveGarbage
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Posts posted by SteveGarbage
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Ah the old power/crit debate again. My answer is and still remains with power.
The main reason I prefer to stack power over crit or surge is because there are no diminishing returns. That makes a huge impact.
In Watchman you may think that crit is a good idea because of the burn crit heals. But the long and short of it is, you get auto-crits from Zen. You're not going to be stacking a ton of stats anyway until you're in later levels, anyway. And once you max out the Watchman tree, I'd suggest starting in Combat where you nab Defensive Forms. That essentially doubles your Centering gain ensuring more Zen and more auto-crits on your burns. So stacking crit doesn't seem to make much sense because the main skills you want to crit will do so automatically through Zen.
It's nice to get a little extra crit chance with all of your other skills, but your bread and butter are Cauterize and Overload Saber and those are covered by Zen. Also, remember that your Strength contributes to your crit score too.
You're focused on your burns and because of Zen, your focus should be Power>Surge>Crit.
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How about riposte?
Useful at all or just a waste of focus?
Asking for both PvE and PvP
My opinion - waste. Having it off the GCD makes it marginally more useful, but for two focus you can drop a slash that is just as good. You're better off saving your focus for your Cauterize/Overload Saber combos.
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Any suggestions on what spec to go with? Would you suggest this as a leveling build as well? Thanks!
I'd suggest Watchman for either PvE or PvP. It's currently the strongest and highest utility spec. General consensus is that it's the "best" Sentinel spec.
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I play PvE exclusively and since most of the time I'm not moving and my enemy isn't moving, I have NO problems with ability delay. In most cases it seems like people have trouble with it when they're trying to run around and drop the skills at the same time.
I did have some problems before, but the patches addressing them seemed to completely resolve it for me.
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1) I disagree with Combat not having good Centering generation. You get Defensive Forms in your first tier, which is great. With Defensive Forms and Temperance, you should be building Centering FASTER than a Watchman unless they took Valor (which I don't think most people do because there are better skills to spend points on).
With your changes, by level 16, you could potentially be building 4 Centering per second (from getting damaged and fighting), not including bonuses from killing enemies or using skills that eat Focus. Which means if you kill an enemy every three seconds you could be building around 10 Centering per three seconds. That's overboard.
2) Ataru form is tricky and there's a couple ways to tackle it - increasing the damage, increasing the percentage or decreasing the CD time. I don't know that eliminating the CD would actually help, considering Combat gets automatic Ataru hits from Blade Rush, which is instant. That CD becomes almost a non-factor at that point. It would help for pre lvl40 before you get that, but doesn't solve the overall damage output issues with the class.
I don't have an issue with the Force Leap idea, although then you've packed ANOTHER ability into the already crowded Ataru package. Besides, I assume that would turn out to be some kind of coding nightmare for the devs. Having leap off the GCD would maybe save you an extra second between your last GCD and your next opportunity leap. Again, doesn't seem like a big help.
3) Agree with the increase in effect of Precision Slash, as I've heard many complaints along the knockback thread. Especially since it's a huge part of the Combat equation, increasing that effect length is a good suggestion. I think treating it like Overload Saber charges is a good way to do it - although I don't know about it ticking for only focus spenders.
4) Ehhhh, you're already getting your 30 percent crit damage bonus there. Tacking on another ability on top of it seems OP, even if the bonuses are small.
As for SturmUndSterne, gotta agree with the bug fixes on the stuns - although like the above, I've got to disagree with tacking even more effects onto Ataru Form. It's overloaded as it is.
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That's a tricky question and one I'm not 100 percent certain on. I was investing my final point (Lvl 50) and put it into Insight.
I was looking at the descriptions in the skills menu (hit P) to see what was force and what isn't. Obviously Force Sweep and Force Stasis benefit from it. I've got to check it again but if I'm remembering correctly:
I believe that Overload Saber in that menu is classified as "Force." However, I suspect both of the damages from Cauterize and Overload Saber tick as either energy or elemental and not as Force damage - unlike Force Stasis and Force Sweep.
Here's probably the best way to find out. Find some easy mobs and do the following:
- Use Force Stasis and watch what COLOR the damage popup displays as.
- Then use Overload Saber and hit the enemy with a Strike and watch the color of the ticks.
- Try the same with Cauterize.
I believe this game displays different colors for different types of damage, but I can't remember what are what, although I know I've seen white numbers and yellow numbers (along with the obvious green for healing and red for player damage)
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I've not seen/heard about an orange belt for Sentinels. I have heard that there is one orange set of bracers that is open, but it's very rare. You have to luckily find it as a drop or I've heard they may drop out of some Treasure Hunting lockboxes.
I stumbled across an orange-grade set of bracers for Smuggler only and sold them within one hour on the GTN for 200,000. I probably should have jacked the price up higher due to its rarity, but that should tell you how coveted orange-grade belts/bracers are.
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There are some skills I want to try..but I'm only level 23 at the moment..so I rely on Overload Saber + Zealous Strike + Cauterize + Bladestorm.. : D
As was said before, as a Watchman, don't use Bladestorm, as Slash, when talented, becomes your better option. It's cheaper and does about equal damage. The only real advantage Bladestorm has is its short range. At later levels and talents, Slash will give you a percentage chance to instantly finish the CD on Cauterize, making it even better.
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As a Watchman, Blade Storm is almost completely useless for you, because it costs twice as much as a Slash and doesn't do significantly more damage than using Slash twice. Also since Slash will have a chance to reset your Cauterize CD, makes it even better. Yes, the range is OK, but since you'll also get reduced CD and range on Leap, by the time you're done with the first or second enemy in a mob you can just leap to the next one.
For Combat or Focus, Blade Storm has more uses because you have talents to reduce its cost as well as a variety of other effects.
I'm a Watchman and it's completely been taken out of my hotbar and out of consideration. I haven't bothered to upgrade it either because why waste the money.
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As stated, the second lightsaber is located in the bag you get after choosing your spec on the fleet. Hope you didn't sell it!
As for server changes (I think what you're talking about), it's not possible to change servers yet, although the feature may be implemented in the future.
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Some things, rehashing a few points already made:
1) The difficulty for Sentinels really ramps up in the Tatooine/Alderaan series, and many people do begin to struggle in this area.
2) The Sand Demon is a very tough fight if you're not significantly above it's level, so that is normal too.
3) T7 serves as a pretty good tank early but he begins to lose his effectiveness as you near Level 30. A lot of people will say that he's always good, but in my experience, he can't keep step well after that point.
4) As said by others, once you get your healer, things get marginally easier for Sentinels.
5) You noted that you're only one level above the content. I would suggest trying to stay at least three levels up. Sentinels do have some difficulty soloing content and I found in my playthrough that being at least three levels up really, really makes a difference. Make sure to complete bonuses on missions, finish all the content, and complete some daily space missions to get a couple legs up. Also, log off on your ship, on the fleet or in a cantina to get the rested Double XP bonus.
6) Interrupt! I don't know how religious you are about using Force Kick, but that's probably the best skill you have for keeping you alive against enemies who channel skills. It doesn't help against straight up beefy attackers, but should give you the edge on everyone else.
7) Combat spec is regarded as the weakest of the three Sentinel options. I'd highly suggest switching to Watchman, which most people use and is considered by a lot to be the best spec. Watchman offers self-healing, reduced Force Leap cooldown and range, reduced CD on Force Kick and high-sustained damage from burn effects, although it does require a bit more attention and skill to play that other specs.
8) Don't neglect your ancillary equipment - earpieces, implants, relics, bracers and belts. If you haven't come across some top-of-the-line stuff, consider looking for some deals on the GTN to boost those stats.
Really my best advice is to get a couple extra levels. The additional stats you can get from another tier of gear can really make all the difference. I was often 3 to 6 levels above the content and it made soloing the content that much easier.
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I'm a Watchman:
I've taken both Riposte and Blade Storm off my hotbars. Both are too expensive focus-wise for the damage they deal. Otherwise I pretty much use everything else.
Also as a PvE player, I always use Zen and never pop Transcendence.
I love Pommel Strike and Opportune Strike for helping me clear out weaker mobs and I've recently found an appreciation for Dispatch too.
There are a lot of skills I don't use often - Resolve, Saber Ward, Stun Droid, Force Camouflauge, Guarded by the Force and Call on the Force - so I have those on my hotbar but not mapped. When I need them I rely on an good old mouse click.
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The problem with Combat is that the sustained damage of the class doesn't seem to be on par with Watchman or Focus.
And by not going, say Watchman (considered to be the premier spec by most), you lose a lot of really great abilities. Watchman's get a small self-healing mechanism, reduced cooldown and range reduction (to melee range) on Force Leap allowing you to use it more and from wherever, a reduced cooldown on your interrupt Force Kick to six seconds making it very useful, and procs that reset Cauterize which is your main burn skill.
It's not that Combat is that bad, but it's damage output leaves something to be desired and you really lose a lot of the nice utility moves that you can pick up with the other two specs.
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I've got to agree that Combat can use some additional love. It may be as simple as increasing the damage a bit on skills like Blade Rush, Blade Storm and Ataru, since those are some of the major pieces of the spec.
I've been with Watchman since I started and loved it, but the more I hear from Combat players the more I believe that there really is a build issue and not a player issue.
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I don't know about PvP, but what I've heard is most of the effects DON'T work.
In PvE:
Force Leap immobilize works on Normals and Strongs, as evidenced by the fact you can Opportune Strike (Jedi ***** slap) them afterward.
Force Sweep stun works on Normals only. Anything strong and above does not get stunned.
Blade Storm stun works on Normals (I can't remember on Strongs since I haven't used Blade Storm since I bounced it from my hotbar on Taris)
Leg Sweep slows Normals and Strongs, again evidenced by the ability to use Opportune Strike.
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1) If you're judging Sentinel by what you're capable of doing at Lvl 20, then you're not really giving it a chance. Sentinels pick up a lot of their really handy utility skills at higher levels. Until you get Force Camouflage and Guarded by the Force and Awe etc.
2) If you're feeling like you're not hitting hard enough at 20 with Watchman, you'll likely be disappointed with Combat at that level. Consesus is that Combat has a hard time keeping step with Watchman in terms of damage output, but it's even worse at lower levels. Combat doesn't get a lot of its really useful skills until 30+ when you're able to effectively string together the combos enabled by Ataru Form.
3) I'm not a PvP player, but if you're having problems getting smacked around so much, it makes me think that you're not approaching combat correctly in the PvP field. If you think you're just going to leap in and wipe the floor with your opponents, then this is probably the wrong class for you. Even at Lvl 50 you can't just fly in there.
Watchman has a lot of damage and utility to it. You just need to level with it, get some practice using it. In my opinion, it's the premier Sentinel spec.
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Some people around might disagree, but it's my opinion that Power>Surge>Crit is the priority for all Sentinel classes, even Combat.
Just to start off, the consensus is the Combat is weaker than Watchman. I would argue that it may be the weakest of the three specs.
As to your Doc point in No. 3 - If you're level 50, why is that an issue now? If you were able to solo 90 percent of the way to 50, it doesn't sound like you had that big of a problem. Sure, you get Doc a little later than other classes, but, in my opinion, getting him any earlier would make most of the quest line way too easy. I didn't have enough trouble from post-Coruscant to Balmorra to need him any earlier than that.
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The general consensus among the boards is that Watchman is the premier PvE class.
For PvP, I've seen generally positive things said about both Watchman and Focus.
Combat usually gets poor reviews for both PvE and PvP.
Even despite the minor Watchman burn nerfs and the recent surge fix, Watchman still seems to toss out the highest sustained damage of any of the three specs. The other two are more bursty and can lay out some big hits, however don't seem to do as much damage over the long run.
The main bonuses of Watchman that other specs don't get are:
1) Reduced cooldown and range reduction Force Leap (allowing you to use leap from melee range)
2) Reduced cooldown on Force Kick, allowing you to interrupt every six seconds.
3) Self-heals from burn criticals, which become automatic when using Zen.
4) A top-tier talent (Merciless Slash) that has its own cooldown reduction mechanism.
My suggestion is to give them all a try. Since respec costs reset every week after patches, take a couple opportunities to try them all out. I've been playing Watchman since 10 and I like it. Once I hit 50, I plan on giving some of the others a try too.
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The main problems I see are:
1) You'll obviously be using Transcendence as opposed to Zen (since you've talented two different things for it). But since you've avoided the Shii-cho talents, that makes me believe you're also using Juyo. That seems contradictory. One of the main benefits of Watchman is getting self-heals with Zen, which you seem to be ignoring.
The way I see it, if you're going to use Juyo, use Zen. If you're going to use Transcendence, you're better with Shii-cho, especially if you're pumping up Slash so much. Free two-target slashes for the duration? Why would you want to pass that up?
2) You pass up dual-wield mastery, therefore decreasing your offhand damage by 36 percent. For a 200 damage saber (you'll have more by 50), that's a loss of 72 damage per strike. That adds up to a lot over the course of a fight.
3) You're trading Merciless for Zealous Leap. Since you're already talenting the Force Leap skills in Watchman, do you really need another leap that's less powerful than Merciless? It sets up the Force Sweep crits, but otherwise the damage is underwhelming in comparison.
4) You add Force Sweep crits which are nice but at the cost of increasing burn damage and focus-building burns in Watchman as well as taking it over Merciless. I don't know that's a trade that I would like to make.
Hybrid builds for Sentinels just have some flaws. It's a class that's best taken to 31 and then filled out, no matter what spec you're using.
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Overload Sabre + Cyclone Slash will apply OS to up to 3 targets for 6 seconds. That is 3 people out of 8 on the other team completely unable to stealth or capture an objective for 6 seconds.
I have to test it again, but I don't think that's correct. I believe Cyclone Slash only applies OS to one target.
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Hmm, that damage seems borked to me. I haven't really paid that much attention to what my Merciless pumps out but I feel like it's at least twice as much as Slash. Some other things to remember about Merciless:
-66 percent chance to reset the cooldown on Cauterize, your top priority skill.
-Requires 5 Focus to use, but only actually costs 4, assuming you're talented for it.
-Has it's own internal cooldown mechanism.
Personally it works out fine for me.
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The truth of the matter is, at this point, it seems like Watchman>Combat. Combat looks good on paper but the truth is, in most cases, the damage just doesn't keep par.
While part of it is that Watchman is better in sustained fights compared to the burstiness of Combat, another part of it is that Combat just seems underpowered (or Watchman overpowered, although I shudder to think of what a substantial nerf to any Sentinel spec would cause...)
As to the other issues with crafting/end game gear/etc., my only notion at this point is, it's early. This game has only been public for what, three months now? We've got to believe that additions and expansions to level out these issues will be coming. Crafting especially outside of Biochem is pretty useless in endgame, and that's something that will likely need to be remedied, especially since GTN prices usually aren't worth the effort of crafting and trying to sell.
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I dunno i kinda feel focus starved after using overload sabre + cauterize thats 6 focus right away then i still need to use 3 more skills to obtain the 3 bleed effects from overload sabre.
Most of the time I find my self lacking focus when i need it, and i have too much focus when i don't need it and end up using slash over and over
First off, Cauterize+OS is only five focus, not six. If you Leap-OS-Zealous Strike-Cauterize, that will leave you with a net of +4.
Focus management is a challenge for Watchman. That's one of the reasons why I took Focused Leap in Combat to get the extra one every time I use leap. Remember, though, as you get higher up the Watchman tree, your burns will also have a chance to grant focus, which can help boost your bottom line.
The long and short of it is, you'll probably have to end up using Strike here and there. It's low damage but when Zealous Strike and Leap are on CD, you really don't have many other good choices — except for Stasis, but in PvP, it's something you probably want to save AND also leaves you standing there while it channels. The key is only throwing in Strike when you need it, though, in order to keep your DPS up.
It's hard to explain. For me it's more of a "You'll get a feel for it" the more you play it. There's sometimes when you get out of rhythm, but the more you get your hands into Watchman eventually you'll just know when your OS ready again and when you need to build focus and when you can afford to burn it. I know that's 100 percent NOT helpful but it really does become somewhat of an instinct thing.
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I don't play PvP but here are my thoughts:
1) My guess is the main reason is it takes spending 7 points in Focus which are better spent in Combat. The addition of up to 15 percent critical on Slash doesn't seem worth it to me. You're burning points in Insight which doesn't benefit a majority of your skills. Master Focus, at least, gives you a nice CD reduction to Stasis.
2) For me at least, and I feel like a lot of other players, Riposte is out of the equation. I don't use it at all because of its 3 Focus cost and it screws up management of my Focus. Also I don't think a lot of people take Recompense over the Slash/Sweep talents at first tier Watchman and certainly I wouldn't go back and pick them up at later levels since each level has better skills worth taking. Also, the Jedi Crusader can only grant you one focus every three seconds. That's a nice add, but it seems like there are better places to spend points.
3) The damage from dual wield mastery may seem small, but you're increasing your offhand damage from 30 percent to 66 percent. If your offhand saber does 200 damage, you've increased your damage by 72 damage per hit. I'd say that's pretty substantial and definitely worth the three points.
I support spending points in Combat. You get Dual Wield, Defensive Forms (which is great for boosting your centering) and Defensive Roll which is a nice damage protection. Personally I like Focused Leap for some additional focus generation too.
As to your Cyclone Slash question, I haven't fully tested it but I think the answer is no, it hits multiples but only spreads the burn to one. I believe someone said they think it's the left-most target, although no one seems to have tested it extensively.
As for rotations/attack patterns in PvP, I'll leave that to someone more versed in the sport than I.
Wisdom and Disturb Mind Question
in Sage / Sorcerer
Posted
Two questions as I continue to level my Sage here. I was planning on a Telekinetics/Balance hybrid but now I'm going to go straight up Balance. While it may be a while off still, I'm looking at two talents and have two questions:
1) Does Wisdom (Seer tree), increase the amount of self-healing you do through your DOTs?
2) What is the benefit of Disturb Mind (Telekinetics tree)? It obviously increases the duration of Weaken Mind which is one of the most important Balance skills. But does that also increase the damage or is it just taking further spreading the damage out? I would think you would want the DOT from Weaken Mind to tick faster than not?