The Focus Tree - How Misguided Public Opinion Has Misrepresented A Devastating Tree

[Destinus]

WARNING: This is a LONG post. If you don't like long posts, or you don't trust your abillity to resist the temptation to whine about them -- do yourself a favour and move on to another thread. You'll be happier if you do.

 

Do you ever get the feeling, as if you were in an episode of the Twilight Zone, where everyone else you seem to talk to seems to think something but you can't, for the life of you, figure out why?

 

I'm not even talking about a popular contention. I'm talking about an assumption so unanimous, widespread and unchallenged that it's literally considered to be a given. Yet despite how seemingly obvious this belief is, you can't help but be baffled by it: not the least because all the evidence you see seems to blatantly contradict it.

 

That's how I've felt for a long time about the way SWTOR players, and specifically Jedi Sentinel players, have approached their "understanding" of the trees available to our class.

 

 

You can spend 15 seconds browsing this forum, or talking to any Sentinel in-game, and they will almost certainly treat you to a matter-of-fact recitation of how there are two types of effective Sentinels: combat or watchman, and how essentially the only real discussion being had by any serious player is which one is better than which, or at least preferable in certain circumstances. This is referred to as the "Combat vs Watchman" debate, but it might as well be referred to as the "Sentinel debate" for all the aknowledgement anyone ever has for the focus tree. Why? Simply put, these people have been told (and in some rare instances, to be fair, have convinced themselves) that these two trees are the only two worth considering. It's gotten so far that you'll actually see so-called "Sentinel Guides" on this forum that omit mention of the Focus tree altogether. The immediate inanity of having a guide for a class that omits 1/3rd of the available trees aside, this belies the basic blind acceptance so many of us have adopted towards the idea that Focus is useless. It wouldn't be such a shame, if the truth weren't so drastically in a different direction.

 

Not only do I disagree with the horrifically insufficient contention that Focus isn't worth mentioning, I'd actually go a step further. That is to say, I unequivocally believe, have seen and continue to demonstrate in-game on a consistent basis that it is in fact the preeminent strictly DPS tree available to Sentinels -- used correctly.

 

 

Now I know what you might be thinking at this point: "this guy is clearly wrong... after all, EVERYONE knows that Focus is the bad tree." But I'm going to explain why this bafflingly widely accepted belief is long overdue for a harsh reality check.

 

 

First off, to give a brief basis for where I'm coming from, I'll start with the following screenshots:

 

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/14/398kdamage.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/805/screenshot2012010705484.jpg/

 

Now a quick note about these screenshots. They are both from tonight (Jan 7th), and were the two highest damage scores I obtained out of 10 consecutive WZ wins - over half of which were over 300k damage. I was not outscored in damage in any of the WZ matches I played today, nor have I been for the past 3 days. Not by any Imperial player on the opposite side, and certainly not by any on my side. I've lost many WZ's in my time, and won many as well, but in the past few days (win or lose) dealing the highest damage in a WZ has not been a problem. Why? I'd love to say it's because I'm an exceptionally brilliant player who is just innately more skilled than everyone else on the Ven Zallow server, but that unfortunately isn't the case. Sure i have some ability at the end of the day, it's really just because of the Focus tree. It's so effective a baby could dominate with it (if he hadn't already been convinced not to try it). Simply put, it's become increasingly obvious that any person using any other tree, or any other class in the game, really doesn't stand a chance when it comes to competing for top DPS.

 

How is this possible you might ask? Aren't the "real" trees for Sentinels either Watchman or Combat? Well, let me explain.

 

First off, I'm a level 50 sentinel with 50 valour and nearly a full compliment of Champion armour -- minus an offhand sabre and bracers. With that in mind, it is only fair to note that I am getting a considerable damage boost (around 9%) in PVP from expertise. With that being said, I frequently play with other level 50 sentinels (there are 2-3 in my guild alone) and their damage, while very respectable, has been completely left in the dust -- they are of course exclusively combat or watchmen. They used to laugh when I told them I went focus, and bemusedly would ask what I was thinking or why I hadn't "come to my senses and switched to the 'real' Sentinel trees yet". For a while I wondered if they were right (hell, everyone else must know something I didn't). But then something changed. I started to figure out that the Focus tree has a series of surprisingly devestating trips, combos and patterns to get used to. Then I got a few new skills like Valorous call and force exhaustion, and by the time I hit 50 all of a sudden nothing could come close to my DPS be it in a 30 second spread or a 30 minute one. Now all of a sudden...no one laughs anymore.

 

I've never really understood why people don't look at the Focus tree and automatically say to themselves "holy **** that could be awesome", but since I've long since realized I'm in a very small (almost non-existent) minority on that count I'm going to give a high level walkthrough of some of the perks of the tree. Keep in mind this is just a high level walkthrough, as I will leave identifying individual skills behind the strategies I mention here to readers.:

 

1) AOE Brute Force: I have a Force Sweep that has 9 seconds of cooldown and does between 3k and 5k damage to EVERY person within it's considerable range. All I have to do is build up 4 ticks of force exhaustion or force statis (for 100% extra damage), followed by a zealous leap (automatic crit ) and then let loose. With my absurdly low cooldowns on force abilities I can rinse and repeat this several times a minute, sometimes doing as much as 17k per execution (if there are 3-4 enemies in range) or considerably more if there are more than that. On Attack & Defend it's not hard to find 3-4 sith within range of one another on a door or at a turret on Civil War. It even happens sometimes in Hutt Ball around the ball carrier. Tell me a class that can outpace that kind of damage in a commensurate time frame.

 

2) Sustained, Low Focus Cost, Fast, Quick Damage:

If you play the Focus tree right, you are rarely (if ever) using anything other than some kind of abillity to do damage. The result is that you have no "lull periods" where you are waiting for cooldowns to pop, or building up focus. With the right assortment of hotkeys and a thorough understanding of the possibilities of the tree, you are simply doing one set of incredible damage while the other recharges. Because you have abilities that drastically reduce your cooldowns -- one is almost always ready by the time the other set is through. As an example, I am almost always using slash whenever my other abilities are cooling down. Due to the almost absurd amount of crit stacking, damage modifiers and etc. of the Focus tree my Slashes can easily do 2k damage each time and oftentimes way more than that. Just a few of the skills in the Focus tree alone give your slash +20% enemy armor mitigation, +6% damage and far more of a crit chance. Couple that with the Watchman abillity that let's your slash refund 1 focus 100% of the time (making it just 2 at the end of the day) and the Combat t1 skill that gives you 2 centring for every hit you take (which allows you to use Zen frequently) and you've got little need to ever be using strike. I would say in an average WZ I use Strike maybe 2-4 times total. SOmetimes not at all.

 

3) Mobility: It is next to impossible to get away from me. With fantastic cooldowns on all your abilities, in addition to having a second leap AND a second slow (zealous leap and force exhaustion), the only time I have to worry about anyone escaping from me to go heal/get help is when they can stealth. When it comes to a WZ environment, and to being a melee DPS class, too many people underestimate how important it is to keep your opponent within your kill zone for as long as possible... as often as possible.

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

At the end of the day, the time really has come for this nonsense about serious Sentinel players needing to choose between "Combat" and "Watchman". And while I personally think those two trees are rather lackluster (based on my initial reads of them, and the performance I continue to see them generate by other players), I will at least agree that they have a rightful place IN the discussion. They suit certain play styles that I'm sure many find appealing.

 

With that being said, at best any contention that the Focus tree is not (at the very least) on par is absolute irresponsibility. At worst, it's a product of a severe misunderstanding that has been propagated by misguided public opinion. The emperor has no clothes however.

 

 

 

Going forward, I will continue to post screenshots to this thread of results from my Warzones. I'll post games that I've lost as well, and I'll show how I still take top damage by a sizeable gap every time. I say and do this not to toot my own horn about how awesome I am, because I truly believe it is in fact the very nature of the Focus tree that makes 90% of it possible. I'm of the opinion that the only reason no other Sentinels I've seen come close to the consistent damage I put out in Warzones is simply because the playing field isn't equal: they've been convinced, or have convinced themselves, that the Focus tree isn't useful. As a result, any damage they do put out is inevitably handicapped.

 

 

I'd love to see the day where that tragic misconception changed, and I no longer had free reign to reap the benefits of Focus unchallenged.

 

 

-Destin

 

 

*Disclaimer 1: Damage is not the most important stat in a WZ, nor is it all-indicative of good play. For the purposes of supporting an argument that the Focus tree is by far the most effective pure-DPS tree available to Sentinels, however, no other stats in WZ's are worth mentioning.

Edited January 7, 2012 by Destinus
Disclaimer

[kwintox]

Thanks for the great post! I was deffinately prejudiced about that build, mainly about what i've read on the forums. The only thing that i'm wondering, it's a true pvp talent spec isn't it? I like pvp, but I am aiming for PVE in a short while and from what I can tell is that Focus will probably lack sustainable dps in hardmodes and raids. What's your perspective about the effectiveness of the Focus build in PVE?

 

I haven't seen any other guides or player experiences on that part. It is realy hard to find a proper spec in this game with the lack of dps meters and combat logs

[RobGFour]

The only thing I hear about the Focus tree is that it's a 'PVP" tree. Maybe the reason why it's ignored by the large majority of Sentinels is that they are focused on leveling up rather than PVP.

 

You should preface your article by saying "This is about PVP", or even better, explain how Focus is better than other trees in a PVE role.

[gnarkilli]

I rolled focus on day 1 just because of the OP slowing/capture abilities, which I was assuming from WoW experience to be a major win factor in PvP.

 

As an added bonus to this, after about level 30 we receive some powerful semi AOE abilities, with additional buffs through talents, not to mention a near spammable set of interrupts/silences.

 

I havent played the other specs, i will do one day. I just havent felt the need to switch yet due to too much fun.

[vactus]

I'm also curious about your PvE thoughts of the focus tree and if you would kindly post your current spec.

 

I just rolled up a sentinel yesterday, and although I'm only level 11, I am enjoying at the moment. My two points are in Combat right now as that looked like the more bursty DPS build upon initial inspection. I haven't even bothered to check out specs just yet on these boards. As I love PvP and hate Taris, I'll soon enough being doing PvP to level past Taris just so I can do the class quests there and moved on.

 

My main is a Vanguard Trooper and I played a Guardian Knight for a long time in the beta... now I want something more DPS related and I enjoy the Knight storyline. (ramble ramble ramble)

 

Thanks for the well written post by the way. Hope you come back soon to answer our questions.

[Fascion]

I am certainly guilty of this myself, to a degree.

 

In my posts, I've really only addressed Watchman and Combat specs... reason being, my experience with the Focus tree thus far has been little more than looking it over and discounting it completely. Frankly, on paper, it just doesn't sound all that impressive. The one point in this game when I briefly considered trying it out was just about when I was able to put my first points into Watchman's Watchguard... and that was that. Even if I am doing considerably more PVP than I am HM Flashpoints right now, the reduced cooldown on Kick is just too vital for me to pass up.

 

For me, yessir, it's just that easy to write off the other two trees.

 

 

 

1. The Force Sweep bit is really the only thing that every piqued my interest with the Focus build--then I heard that Guardians do it better. No big deal, really... just a touch disappointing. I guess we have our own perks for that, though, thanks to Quick Recovery in the Watchman tree.

 

2. This is where the paper may have lied to me. I always felt that, with a Focus build, you'd be waiting on cooldowns the majority of the time. Sure, the Slash buffs are nice (I've often wondered about a slash-heavy build that doesn't use any tree toppers) but I didn't think they were quite that nice... you may be slowly making me reconsider.

 

3. So I'm not the only one with this view of the class? Okay, Timmy, maybe you don't have to wish this guy into the cornfields afterall. This, I believe, is our biggest niche in PVP... and one I feel that most people either don't realize or completely discount as "useful." People want stuns and pulls and all manner of over-the-top utility, which I feel we just don't need... all because we have so many options to put us right in the thick of things.

 

 

 

What I would be truly interested in, though... is how Focus fairs in end-game PVE. It's all well and fine that it's a great PVP spec, but for folks like me who do both, it's not enough to have a build that shines in one and is quite lackluster in the other.

 

Additionally, as you said, damage and kills aren't always the most important numbers in these WZs. With my Watchman build, I find that I am an asset to the team in far more ways than just putting Imps down. For example, in Huttball, I've dropped the ball carrier near our cap and solo-run the ball clear across the map for a cap on a number of occasions, something that isn't quite as doable in any other build. In Alderaan and Voidstar, I am capable of bouncing from objective to objective far quicker than any other class/build.

[SoraAzure]

I think anyone who has played Focus in the pvp environment would completely agree that it's ability to smash packs of enemies is uncomparable to the other specs as it has a fast set-up for its primary nuke and and not so much down time. It compliments the melee style by having a cheap melee snare, a range'ish snare, and double leap which makes getting away from you hard. I myself tried Focus after being steam rolled by out Sith equals after paying attention to his buffs to figure out what spec they were.

 

But in my experience DPS has been primarily a PvE side of the conversation which is why I am curious to see what your thoughts are on how well it preforms in both solo and group play.

 

Granted I can understand why you show PvP stats as that is the only reliable way (that I know of) to show over-all damaging potential and at this time it may not be possible to show reliable non-paper math results.

[Zaerion_H]

Can you post your build and explain a bit wich rotation do you use? maybe i try it.

[Vraelan]

I have leveled as Focus (32 atm) and like it so far. I'll reserve final judgement till 50 though.

[Seraphim]

I have been wanting to make a similar post for a little over a week now. Having pvp'd in mmos for several years i realize that pure damage #'s for a damage dealing class is not always a good measuring stick. I was suffering from a lack of utility and the ability to keep my target within my attack range like the op stated, as well as clearing out multiple enemies around my healer or an objective with the 4-5k force sweeps was exactly what i was looking for. The mobility from the extra leap and transcendence ( i recommend taking the extra points where it refunds 20 centering after use) i was buffing my group every time transcendence was over. If you are a pvpr you need to look into focus

[Coramac]

I don't think anyone has said Focus is a bad tree. I haven't seen it so I don't know where you get this idea. Your epeen SSs are topped by numerous Combat and Watchman epeen SS. Your numbers aren't that impressive.

 

Additionally, Guardian Focus Tree > Sentinel Focus Tree :-(

[Cancrizans]

From my limited experience, I agree with you 100%. I leveled a Sentinel to 33 as combat and then rerolled to play with friends...I rerolled as focus and am now in the upper 20s, and find focus to be just an amazing tree...and easier to level with than combat.

 

Focus is great because it buffs a lot of the skills we use most in combat, and turns Shii-Cho from a lackluster stance to a really good one. And auto critting for big numbaz with Force Sweep is just plain sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

[Siokai]

/slowclap

 

So I've always had this feeling that focus was better, glad to see someone agrees. Can we see a build?

Edited January 7, 2012 by Siokai

[RamzaBehoulve]

Focus isn't better, it's just different.

 

People like to let their feelings dictate which is better, but really, without a combat log, it's safer to assume they are relatively close to each other considering I've not seen much a difference in kill time between all three past lvl 30 on Gold. Very slight advantage to Watchman on those, but Focus and Combat clear Grey and standard/weak much faster.

Edited January 7, 2012 by RamzaBehoulve

[Destinus]

Hi guys,

 

Thanks for the great responses. As requested I'm going to be following up with a posting of my spec as well as an analysis of my PVE/PVP rotations etc.

 

I'll also work on possibly putting up a video of me in a WZ so people can get a feel for my basic strategies.

 

Cheers,

-Destin

[ZACASAUR]

I am very interested in your follow up especially pve.

[MozezKim]

What do you think are the pro's/con's of the sentinel focus tree vs the guardian focus tree? Is there a big difference?

[pherball]

What do you think are the pro's/con's of the sentinel focus tree vs the guardian focus tree? Is there a big difference?

 

Guardians get 30% extra damage, 3 seconds reduced and an accuracy debuff. It's a gimmicky spec, and you can't really beat the AE damage.

 

The important thing is that Watchman has an incredible amount of utility, and a ridiculous amount of CC while still having great DPS.

 

I wouldn't be bloating about anything unless it was 500k+ dmg. Damage is always skewed on your group makeup, and who you are fighting.

[RamzaBehoulve]

The important thing is that Watchman has an incredible amount of utility, and a ridiculous amount of CC while still having great DPS.

 

I think you meant Focus there...

[Crabbok]

Good things about Focus:

Your first sweep can earn you:

2.5 K Damage Medal

5K Damage Medal

QuickShot (Killing Blow) Medal

 

 

Bad things about Focus, you tend to get knocked away often before that force sweep lands.

 

I used Focus from 1-50, and argued about how great it was. I still think it has it's good points, I just think Watchman has better consistent potential in the right hands.

Edited January 7, 2012 by Crabbok

[Seismax]

1) AOE Brute Force: I have a Force Sweep that has 9 seconds of cooldown and does between 3k and 5k damage to EVERY person within it's considerable range. All I have to do is build up 4 ticks of force exhaustion or force statis (for 100% extra damage), followed by a zealous leap (automatic crit ) and then let loose. With my absurdly low cooldowns on force abilities I can rinse and repeat this several times a minute, sometimes doing as much as 17k per execution (if there are 3-4 enemies in range) or considerably more if there are more than that. On Attack & Defend it's not hard to find 3-4 sith within range of one another on a door or at a turret on Civil War. It even happens sometimes in Hutt Ball around the ball carrier. Tell me a class that can outpace that kind of damage in a commensurate time frame.

 

I like focus, and for purposes of your topic it doesn't make *too* much difference, but you're mistaken. Force Sweep caps at 5 targets, it's not quite so OP as to hit everything around you.

Edited January 7, 2012 by Seismax

[Coramac]

Guardians get 30% extra damage, 3 seconds reduced and an accuracy debuff. It's a gimmicky spec, and you can't really beat the AE damage.

 

The important thing is that Watchman has an incredible amount of utility, and a ridiculous amount of CC while still having great DPS.

 

I wouldn't be bloating about anything unless it was 500k+ dmg. Damage is always skewed on your group makeup, and who you are fighting.

 

None of that is in the Focus Tree. You do realize shared trees have 3 differing talents correct?

[Rankith]

I think your post is a bit misguided. Its simply the least used tree, not ignored. There have been a few posts floating around discussing it quite recently.

 

That said, it is still the least played. PvE, it in no way stacks up to watchman except in heavy aoe situations. Other than that, the single target dps is just not as good. Obviously this is just personal experience and that of people I play with, but im fairly certain its solid.

 

PvP wise. I agree its a very fun spec and great at putting up big numbers. I have been using it in PvP as late for pub stomping as we don't really have any hard fights since there is no matchmaking . However, its not nearly as good against good players as watchman or even combat. There is no real way I can kill any of the healers I play with if I duel them as focus. There is simply not enough control and the damage is pretty easy to avoid even 1v1 let alone in a team situation. And in between those damage spikes you just can't quite keep enough control and damage to maintain the pressure as needed.

 

This is compounded by the fact that Focus makes you use Force Stasis as a damage move more than anything else most of the time instead of saving it for when needed. Sometimes it lines up, but most of the time it really doesn't. This also applies to Force Exhaustion, yeah its another slow, but its not really saving you from applying leg slash to your target too as its too short. That plus the fact that you HAVE to use it for your sweep means its not a utility tool you will have up unless you happen to be lucky, its simply damage. Then when you dont have Force stasis you have 18 seconds between your big burst damage anyways.

 

Watchman on the other hand (and combat to a little lesser degree). Has more consistent damage coming out, as well as far greater control. None of your damage dealing is linked to utility skills that then make those skills not utility skills like Focus does. I've actually been able to kill my healer friends I duel on occasion as opposed to when I am Focus and just can't.

 

This is all coming from the stand point that I view Sentinels role as destroy the enemy healers. Also, I'm in full Champion gear -2 Centurion that have champion mods/enh in them. And so are my friends for the most part.

 

TL;DR: Focus is a fine spec, and is great for roflstomping people and posting big numbers, but I still believe Watchman is far superior in PvE and serious PvP.

[MBirkhofer]

I can't agree with that assessment. Obviously, we need a combat log to get real number crunching.

 

Between crush, sweep, bladestorm, zleap, and a highly buffed slash, you always have options for high damage moves.

focus is often about options. you can use stasis as purely CC/interrupt. or you can use it as damage.

You can zen OR transcendence. both are great for you.

 

Its really easy to forget focus talents are buffing ALL focus dealing moves for crit % and damage, and cooldown. And that ALL Moves gain armor pen.

 

Watchman? just burns. you blade storm sucks. merc slash doesnt get the crit damage, or any armor pen. Not crit % buff on any of that either. Merc slash also is mh+OH. with your terrible offhand hit %.

 

For pve, I do admit, my dps can get interrupted by alot of in/out fights.

Edited January 8, 2012 by MBirkhofer

[Saetun]

I won't deny that focus can be a decent tree, I played as focus for quite sometime myself. But using PvP damage scoreboards as basis for stating that it is the best dps tree is sketchy at best. You can easily hang back and snipe tons of damage if you are smart and your team is dominating.

 

Doing the most damage in a warzone does not mean that you actually were the top dps, it only means you were in the right places at the right times and didn't die too much. Which more often than not is a function of the team you played with, not your own performance.

 

Until we actually get a way to parse pve dps there will be no way to present any true factual data as to which tree is the best dps.