In pvp shields suck and so does any skill tree skill that gives you bonus mitiagation as most of the damage being dealt to you will be internal/elemental which ignores armor and shields entirely. You are better off taking the armor penetration and other skills that increase your own elemental/internal damage dealt. Google Taugrim vanguard swtor and watch his narrorated pvp vids the dude is an excellent source of pvp knowledge.

Its already been stated but seriously if you have any questions on vanguard google taugrim vanguard swtor. The dude gives great advice and absolutely destroys with his vanguard, he has videos which he talks you through tactics like john madden. Really just an incredible source of pvp knowledge. I'm rolling a vanguard for this reason and honestly I wish his sentinel was higher lvl so I could learn better strategy from this guy.

Lvl 31 and about done with alderaan, I don't see what everyone is complaining about. My gear isnt even up to date and I'm clearing groups of 3 norm 2 silver or 5 norm with EASE. I'm sentinel and use t7 (also undergeared). Sure t7 dies regularly but thats what he is there for, so I dont die. I'm watchman spec and I handle silver and gold like this force leap-force sweep(only if norms are near for stun) saber overload(dot)-cauterize(double dot)-master strike(triple dot)- force stasis (thats right quad dot +cc). By the time all that is done the silver is dead, or the elite is almost dead, or the champion is half way and i pop saber ward with rebuke and a med pack and repeat one more cycle. I always move to stun any norms with force sweep so t7 doesnt eat so much dmg, and most encounters ill finish with 50% hp or more if done right, 25% if I'm off my game a bit. Zen helps a lot and with valore is up quickly, always use juyo form as well. If you dont play your games on hard or really hard because you like the challenge, then reroll another class because sent was made for people like me who dont play games unless I can up the difficulty. Nothing against people who like it easier im just saying that this isnt an easy mode class and thats why I LOVE it!

***! Gets my vote as worst armor ever, I would rather take stat hits then wear that.

I have a 32 sentinel and playing the class isn't easy, but not entirely complicated for anyone who has ever played a ranger type class in previous mmo's. My typical opener for golds and silvers is force leap>saber overload>cauterize>master strike> force stasis. For silvers they are just about dead by the time I'm done and if it's an elite they are left with maybe 25% health if that. I always roll with T7 because I dont have doc yet and because if I'm going against a group of 4 norms and 1 silver or gold he will take enough heat off me to finish the harder mob. Watchman should be your pve build for lvling and focus for pvp for the crits and aoe. The problem with this class isn't survival in pvp/pve if you pop rebuke first wait 5 sec and then pop saber ward (med packs also help when soloing champions). It's closing the gap with pvp and the majority of pvp imps being ranged. A skilled group of ranged imps will melt you down in 10 seconds flat if your ward and rebuke are on cd. If you can manage to toss it up and escape your fine. To be a successful sentinel you have to learn to pick your fights. You can really mess people up with a pocket healer but if you don't have a healer stick to fights you can win, catching someone alone or at most 2 squishies with ward and rebuke up. I have 1v1 a 49 jugg and won because I was able to break line of sight and when I was using watchman (good for pvp but takes more practice) with my same opener for silvers or golds. All those dots in a row and then a cc that is also a dot made him an easy kill. But if he had any friends around it would have been a death for sure. Heal debuff and leg slash are really helpful for closing the gap as well. In short if you have pocket healer =ownage No healer = pick your fights or death without healer if the other team is mostly range =screwed With healer and the other team is mostly ranged =true test of skill and ownage if your good Hope this helps I know I jumped around a bit. But if you really practice and pick your fights or back up your teammates who are already engaging a target you will melt faces. You can solo or 2v1 but only with wards used wisely. Think of this class as a duelist rather than a melee with medium armor because most damage is internal and elemental and ignores armor.

Yeah my bad should have broken that up a bit. But coming from a guy who has played 15+ mmorpg titles over the last 10 years everquest, horizons, everquest 2, guild wars, ultima online, rising force online, lineage 2, Heroes of Newerth, WoW, Vanguard, and the list goes on.... I have never wanted, needed, or even thought about needing unlimited anything or an "edge" over other players because I have skill and experience. Player skill>class/profession don't kid yourself otherwise. If you need the unlimited items granted by biochem for raiding or pvp, try an easier game I think star trek online is more your pace or better yet just map hack starcraft because you probably suck at that too. Artifice is useful as a craft and thats it, it's not the end all be all but weaponcrafting is always a solid choice in mmorpgs and will come into it's own in time. I'm a long term thinker so swtor as it is now will only change completely as bioware starts to learn how mmo games work. Biochem= easy mode for children who still wait for their parents to go to sleep to rub one out.

Ok so I am a pvp and pve lover although more so a hardcore pvper that misses the type of open world pvp that lineage and ultima online provided especially being able to loot your victims body...but I digress. I took artificing for 2 reasons. First I remember that in WoW in the first 6 months of release the most powerful 2 hander was a craftable hammer that required you to go to hell and back in raids for all the components, not saying this game will for sure have something similar but my guess is eventually the most epic lightsabers will be crafter made. Crosses fingers for Revan's lightsaber recipe! Secondly I am a sentinel at around lvl 30 and with purple crit enhancements and saber crystals in my leggings, chest, and both sabers my crit % sits around 20% without any buffs (25% with lucky shot buff) and will only get higher once I get lvl appropriate gear. So statistically I crit about every 5th hit making me hit the 100-150k mark on wz regularly...without implants or stims. At lvl 30 I'm doing pretty good imo especially as a class that is considered the hard class to play with 20+ skills to manage and less hp than a shadow. Also my gloves, boots, helm, and wrist armor are all crappy lvl 17-25 blues. Yeah I need to get better ones but I've been running wz none stop for 3 days now and I will upgrade when I'm good and ready. Also with the time it takes to run arch/TH missions warzones provide me with almost endless credits so I can constantly run those missions considering some take 12-20 min to complete at grade 4. My point here and I guess I've veered off a bit is that artifice is great pre 50 for maxing your crit potential and landing those huge haymakers and is only going to get better. At 50 still remains to be seen with any new schematics that bw has promised to add and if my guess is right endgame raiders will be seeking weaponsmiths to put their otherwise useless mats together into powerful crafter made sabers and blasters, hang in there folks this game is still evolving. In the land of the blind biochems the one eyed artificer is king.