Can you address our concerns?

[drfumblez]

I'd be absolutely fine with the difficulty of the class if not for the ability lag and NO KNOCKBACK/PULL OPTIONS!

Seriously! I'm a *********** Jedi, and I don't have Force Push? What kind of Star Wars game is this? Oh, and the absolute terrible damage of the off-hand saber. It's pathetic.

 

And is it just me, or do you think that Shadows should have been duel-wielding, and Sentinels should have had the Saber-Staff? Makes more sense in my mind.

[HyperionAdama]

43 sentinel here. It was pulling teeth for a good long while and only got better after i finally got Doc. More than once i required external help for class quests. Hell one of the main complaints (guided by the force) Those harrowers appear again the MOB itself is bugged.

 

At this point i feel like i can take on any mob right now and have a coinflip chance at worst a better than even chance. But it took a while to get there. THIS however should NOT be taken as a condoning of the current class state.

 

The first post expounds on MAJOR issues i've seen with this class as i've played it. One thing that also needs to be discussed is Commendations gear. I've had to CRAFT the majority of mods or BUY the ones i cant craft because commendation vendors specifically LACK DPS gear. Not sure why this is but they do. When you're running almost pure orange in armor that gets VERY expensive. I don't mind the lack of utility for Sentinel to be honest a pure focus is a GOOD thing. But i can see the issue. Still i've rolled up a trooper for when i finish with the Knight. These issues wont stop me from playing it but should give anyone thinking of making a Knight pause.

 

I fully back the first post.

[Caustic]

Playing guardian and just reaching 50 I feel pretty good about the class personally. I haven't found any of the pve class stuff too difficult I've even been able to beat champion mobs of similar level with doc as my companion while leveling the class.

 

My concern though is with the survivability of the class in pvp especially when Defense spec. Most of the other classes deal damage that bypasses our shields making absorption and shield ratings useless and pvp gear with those stas equally useless. I'm better off going dps spec now for pvp because I'll have more or less same survivability as I do in defense spec currently. Basically anything that is not weapon damage our shields will not mitigate.

[bevelian]

as a pretty inexperienced MMO melee player i can say that though the sentinel is probably needing some kind of boost, the PvE element has been ok.

 

sometimes id get stuck on a boss, so id nail pvp for a level (and die alot) to get XP. id complete the space missions and what not. i did all the class & sub quests i could, not cuz i felt i had to but because i really enjoyed the storylines.

 

i am now level 50 sentinel Watchman & i enjoyed levelling a lot. if you get used to using it and put the effort into learning about the class and what fits best where, its fine. if i dont hit certain buttons when fighting elites i get dominated, but if i do hit the right buttons i sometimes finish the fight with full health. its difficult but its not impossible to level well as a sent.

[Darengar]

Currently a level 50 sentinel (watchman). On my way up in the levels, I found some of the class quests extremely hard. I never had to call in for a buddy, but each fight normally left me with sub 10% health on the class bosses. Also normally needed a few attempts. The final fight I managed to solo with under 5% with no tricks, insanely difficult.

 

I feel as I played my sentinel through EV and some hard modes that I am doing at least 10 more things than anyone else in the group. I rarely even look up from my bars, and honestly could play the game without the graphics. However, I know that a well played sentinel is very high DPS. But playing my guy well shouldn't take key binds with my whole keyboard mapped.

 

In PvP, I watch my trooper friend hit like 3 abilities, out damage me by about 100 k each game. That being said, I normally do about 250k to 300 k damage each BG. But managing to do that much is such a hassle. Monitoring all my CD's is such a pain I already want to re-roll. Not to mention since every ranged class has such good CC, I am lucky if I get to beat on one for any significant amount of time.

 

TLDR: My sentinel is almost to hard to play and have fun at the same time. I feel like I do the most work but get the same rewards as other classes.

[ProfessorWalsh]

TLDR: My sentinel is almost to hard to play and have fun at the same time. I feel like I do the most work but get the same rewards as other classes.

 

I second this whole heartedly.

 

I can do great in Warzones.

 

... I can't have fun while doing so. If I look at the action on screen for too long my DPS plummets. I run 39 macros/keybinds between my Mouse and my Keyboard (literally all but 1 quick slot.).

[Helshad]

Just wanted to add I play a Sentinel and noticed much of what has been described here. Up to level 15 no problem... then.. buttons... more buttons... where is the **** button!!! *laughs*

 

Bosses... Jikes... its fun with a challange but if you choose "combat" tree (i learned is the weakest) its not challenging... its just plain slaughter... of my toon that is ... yea I am not a pro but not a noob either.

 

Anyway... I second the first post and support many of the comments here that points out weaknesses to the class... I choose Sentinel because I wanted to play a DPS fighter... I am actually just playing the one being bullied...

 

However.. with that said... I love the sentinel too... I really enjoy a good challange and the story that comes along with it.

 

A happy player despite the drawbacks...

[colaboksen]

Haha, what's up with people struggling on Valis, and the sith marrow? I had no issue with it at all (i was the same lvl as the content)

 

I think, that people simply just don't understand the mechanic of the class. I totally agree that The jedi Sentiel needs a buff, overall. Cause it's like... a huge different on skill requirement for playing the class. But isn't that the point? If everyone just facerolled the class then it woudn't gain the same respect as it would now for playing it good.

 

 

 

I have no issue with any missions whatsoever. But i mostly do the rotation pretty damn perfect. But that's my taste x)

[RaidenOmega]

The only real issue I have as a Knight and more specifically the guardian is the animations resetting before the ability goes off. If you spam the button it will sometimes show the character in a manner as if he's rapidly trying to reuse the ability but isn't quite finishing it.

 

There's no damage till the ability goes off. It has to do with deflecting blows and the like. At first it wasn't such a big deal but the closer to 50 I get the worse it is. It's making fights much longer and more tedious than necessary.

 

I'm considering hanging up my guardian till this gets fixed.. which means I'll be hanging up my favorite class. A break from MMOs is probably in order after nearly 15 years I guess.

[Magrador]

can we get some COOL looking helmets pls?

[cwilsonafr]

First, I want to say I have read every single post. Second, I have enjoyed my experience playing so far immensly. But that doesn't mean I didn't feel there were shortcommings or flat out fails.

 

I wanted to get the largest sample of experiences to compare to my own as possible and it seems very clear to me there is a very clear problem with the JK class, specifically the sentinel. I didn't struggle so much as some in the leveling (currently 37) but looking back I realize I put an extraordinary level of effort into prepping and equipping him. My first toon was a JK/Grd artificer (also at 37) and I spent nearly every credit I made on ensuring I had the best possible gear at each level. My sentinel is also a very high level biochem, which allowed me advanced reusable medkits, stims and adrenals that I used in nearly every fight. Add in being over leveled due to space missions alt missions to earn enough credits to push 4 crafting skills on 4 toons to provide gear for the two, and I ended up working way harder than I now realize I should have.

 

Then, when I finally had great gear and had gotten (what seemed to me) pretty good at playing as a knight, I tried out PvP around level 35. To say I felt like a sheep in the wolf's den is being modest. Everything that has been said about being constantly stunned, snared and kited with no real way to even the playing field is true. As a DPS focused character I shouldn't feel hesitant to go one on one with a BH or Agent. Yet I watch as level 20's and 30's of those classes execute far higher level knights like younglings. I don't even try to take on an inquisitor if they are 30 or above. I die. Period. Unless I'm playing with an experience high level guardian or healer type who does nothing but keep me alive while I damage. I die. Its simply not "balanced" as BioWare intended when a ranged focus class can kill me just as easily up close as they can from afar. I CAN NOT close the distance with leap if they are in cover and my boost and buffs are too short in duration and too long in cooldown. It's gotten to the point I only play enough pvp to get my 1 daily win and move on.

 

You all can argue about who predicted what and who's experiences are more valid. But it seams to me that enough people playing feel that the Knight class IS in some ways broken/underpowered/unballanced- whatever you want to call it. And yes, it is frustrating that the Devs are quick to reply to post complaining about the cosmetic atrocities of PvP commendation gear, but not the unbalanced game play of the single most iconic class in Star Wars. Period. The Jedi Knight IS Star Wars. In Galaxies people complained the Jedi was overpowered, so they changed it. Now people are complaining that their Jedi, who is supposed to be an overwhelming force, feared and respected across the entire galaxy, is getting squashed by EVERYONE. Knights, even dps should have all kinds of powers, but don't even have push? The most basic power ever? Its a powerful close range fighter with high mobility? It should be, it's supposed to be... but isn't.

 

Balance, BioWare doesn't just mean comparable damage outputs across all classes. It means comparable overall EFFECTIVENESS across all classes. BH has hi dps at range and AoE. Fine, but that means that if a force powered lightsaber wielding mele specialist get up close, they should be dead. Since I have NO chance against him at long range, he should have NONE against me at close range. That's balance. And this example is replicable with the other classes as well. They ALL have a far more effective ways to kite and bind and stun (all while damaging) a knight, than a knight has to in being able to effectively break free, close the gap, and stay close long enough to matter.

 

It doesn't matter how much damage your rotation yields if that sorcerer can just keep you at distance and fry you with lighting until you die or he gets bored.

 

And for those you about to say L2P Noob. Hold your tongue. First off, BioWare was very specific that they wanted this game to be playable by more than just the hardcore. And even if I was a completely green, the learning curve isn't so hard that it would matter in such high levels. There was a comment earlier about a comparison to the champion class in LOTRO. I have played that since release and also have a mele champ. The sentinel IS harder to learn and even more difficult to make effective in PvP against competent players. A well equipped and experienced champ in LOTRO will tear through most classes at close range because that's what they are meant to do and do it.

 

Knights sacrifice survivability for higher damage output, right? But it seams like all they have done is in fact, become squishy as many have stated.

 

This is my experience and my perspective. I respect all of yours and like I said, read each one.

 

BioWare, please make the Jedi Knight classes like they are supposed to be. The formidable, powerful, and iconic characters they are SUPPOSED to be. Any non-mele DPS focused or Tank SHOULD run in fear from a mele dps specialist, just like a they are afraid of being kited and killed from long range. It's the balance you advertise yet are failing to fulfill.

 

I expected bugs and flaws during the early weeks. So I'm not surprised or even upset. Every game like thins has them in some manner. But if you fail to listen to the people who play, who you made the game for, then you will fail, and this game will fail. And that starts with responding to your players' issues.

[MightyKebob]

So i goto lvl 50 with my sentinel, faced the emperor with my t701 that i haven't upgraded since some low lvl (seriously why do u get this machine!), went to loot the chest after dieing a lot to even get close to it only to find that on completion of the puzzle it doesn't open. Needless to say killing the emperor was pretty impossible.

 

So i thought to myself i'll go do some pvp (world pvp is impossible as there are a small amount of republic players on my server!) So upon entering and playing a fair few WZ, it's just impossible to actually enjoy pvp as melle and here's why: -

 

PVP is very fast, you don't have time to click you relics and defensive buttons and shields, and build up your centering to unleash your power, players are constantly on the move yes i get a couple of dots off which is about the most damage you can do. Meanwhile some ranged class is up somewhere unleashing hell , while the sorcerers are cc'ing and blowing everyone down.

 

The only thing sentinel was designed for was stand there and do some damage on an immovable target. In pvp you get 2 seconds to get off your damage before there zooming away over the horizon.

 

After getting to lvl 50, being on a server thats full but with few republic players, not being able to find groups for the flashpoints and sucking badly in pvp and no desire to grind the better gear as it's the character itself that is broken i wonder if i will do : -

 

Cancel my subscription and regret the day i ever spent the money on this game

Reroll a ranged imp class and spend my hours nuking republic melle classes

 

Seriously Jedi's are supposed to be awesome, not "lol there's a jedi watch me kill them in 5 seconds"

[Zedakah]

I have a 22 Sentinel and found it much harder to play than any other class. My main is a gunslinger who hasn't had any trouble with content, even underleveling class quests by a good bit.

 

With a sentinel, just a pack of 4 weak mobs takes my health down to about 50%, if I don't use defensive cooldowns. I've rarely ever used defensive cooldowns on my gunslinger, and I think I eve have more of them. I didn't even know I had an interrupt on my gunslinger until about mid 30s, because I never needed one. I killed things faster than they could come close to damage me on my gunslinger.

 

Part of the reasoning was that on my gunslinger I take out a mob from range before they even notice me. That's one less to fight off the bat. Then in 2-3 seconds, another one is dead. By the time the melee reaches me, he's dead. No damage taken from a group of 3-4 mobs. But on a Sentinel, I have to jump in the fray and bop them on the head with glowsticks, while taking damage from multiple sources.

 

I thought that was the main reason Sentinels were underpowered....that is until I rolled a shadow with balance spec. Here is a class that is light armor and melee. However, I kill things much faster and take a LOT less damage than on my medium armor sentinel. So my light armor melee dps is much easier to play than a medium armor pure dps melee class.

 

I don't even have any defensive cooldowns yet on my level 19 shadow (that I know of), and I've never really needed to use one if I had it. I even completed Taris class quest with ease at 18. With a good combination of force powers and melee in the balance spec, I actually feel like a jedi. I do not feel this way on a sentinel, as the lightsabers act more like NERF bats.

 

That said, I'm criticizing the class because I love the story so far. I really want to play it, but I feel like playing this class is a chore instead of a pleasure.

[MightyKebob]

Following my post i've cancelled my subscription unless bioware fixes the server imbalances on pvp servers and the sentinel so i can actually play and enjoy my lvl 50 sent that i spent ages lvling i'm done with this game.

 

Great concept, great graphics, but if your character sucks and the developers won't listen whats the point i might as well go and roll a hunter and play wow and spend my time getting farmed in WSG that should be about as much fun

[flamezfan]

I love the Jedi Knight, and I will say, with it, I've given up on PvP play. I've few problems with PvE play, the biggest problem was the Sith Asissions on Alderaan. I'll admit I'm not the best player, I'm not going to be a top PvP player, but when a ranged player is shooting at me, running away from me and I can do nothing about it gets very frustruating. Force leap good, but by the time I leap to them, they've already moved outof slashing range. Status, good idea, but again, they break it and once more out of range. I've even tried force push, again, it's not long before they are out of range, I've even tried to slow them down, with slow. And when I do get into attack range I feel that my attacks are doing nothing compared to what they are doing. (My other big problem is lag between wehn I hit my keyboard and when teh attack happens, I've seen it take almost two seconds to respond, which in PvP is forever. Don't have a lag problem in PvE though.)

 

I've tried guarding, done that quite a bit, but again, it feels like my attacks when guarding a healer being attacked are weak. My most powerful attacks never seem to connect.

 

One thing I'd like to see, is a deflect, where a Jedi can deflect a ranged shots back at the shooter.

 

I know some of you will critize me, but like I said, I'm not one of thos experts, just someone who wants to enjoy the game.

[cwilsonafr]

I feel your pain. I love my sentinel in PvE, but its like I said before, He is over leveled for the content and loaded with gear. One thing I forgot to mention is that from an early level, I noticed that my Kira was consistently dispatching foes faster than I was. Maybe I was still learning, but that lead me to changer her role completely and it has paid off. Her main starting stat is willpower. Which would be great if her force powers were all that useful or could heal. But since she mostly just hacks away, I re-modded all her gear as a dps melee. Call me crazy but it works and its help get me through the tougher content.

 

As far a PvP, I only really even attempt it in with my guardian. I focus on guarding a healer who in turn, heals me. I don't get a lot of points for damage or kills, because guardians don't do a lot of damage in that stance compared to others. But soaking up damage so someone else can kill my target is about all Knights are good for in PvP. And that's only in 2 of the 3. You are totally worthless in huttball unless you camp near the fire pits and try to either stun people in them or push them off ledges. But unless you're a level 50 with maxed out top level gear and all that, you aren't killing much. When the warzone stat tracker comes online, everyone will be able to see just how un-ballanced it is for jedi.

[HyperionAdama]

Haha, what's up with people struggling on Valis, and the sith marrow? I had no issue with it at all (i was the same lvl as the content)

 

I think, that people simply just don't understand the mechanic of the class. I totally agree that The jedi Sentiel needs a buff, overall. Cause it's like... a huge different on skill requirement for playing the class. But isn't that the point? If everyone just facerolled the class then it woudn't gain the same respect as it would now for playing it good.

 

 

 

I have no issue with any missions whatsoever. But i mostly do the rotation pretty damn perfect. But that's my taste x)

 

Valis requires a constant bead on your interrupt not something everyone understands their first few tries. Nor would they believe an interrupter would WORK on a boss level mob (thank you WoW and other games for making such mechanics useless) I had no clue until another player told me that the interrupt would even WORK. Once i knew that it was a matter of knowing which mechanics to intterupt but he went down pretty easy.

 

That fight is nowhere near the issue the Harrowers are. At about 30-20% hp they go into a frenzy where they are immune to EVERYTHING and they're still attacking you. This frenzy lasts about 15-20 seconds and is more than enough time to burn any defenses you might have and kill you. Oh you don't have Doc at this point usually so without an outside healer you're toast. I overleveled the content and i STILL couldn't take them down (and i always upgrade my gear)

 

Facerolling content isn't what i want i want to not be pounding my head against the wall till i hear the squishy noises. Which at the lower stages felt exactly what i was doing.

[DralenBrand]

 

I appreciate what the OP had to say, and it was certainly well-put. While I don't necessarily disagree with anything OP wrote, I might disagree with the degree to which some issues were emphasized. However, OP has certainly pled a legitimate case that the sentinel needs some work. From there, I observe most posters fitting into one of two broad categories of players:

 

(1) The "sentinels are underpowered and need a massive buff to fix this issue" crowd;

 

AND

 

(2) The "sentinels are fine if you just tweak X, Y, or Z with your spec, gear, and avoide mouse-clicking or buy a gaming mouse to compensate" crowd.

 

The first crowd is overstating the problem, and the second has missed the point entirely.

 

To the first crowd I highly recommend they consider some fo the advice from the second, and I can personally attest to the efficacy of some of that advice.

 

To the second crowd, I point out that your clever advice and "work-arounds" (e.g., max your gear, take on mobs at or below your level, use certain tactics, etc.) is just that: cleaver advice for getting around a problem. Your "work-arounds," while useful, are evidence of the problem - not grounds to deny it. "Work-arounds" and hyper-strategized advice would hardly be necessary if there was no issue requiring same.

 

I use some Razr peripherals, and so I never really considered how difficult it would be to play a sentinel without the more accessible buttons until I read the OP. The problem of requiring sentinels to employ more involved, complex combat tactics employing more abilities than other classes rely on is that this approach results in an "apples to oranges" comparison in analyzing balance issues.

 

I realized this when I rolled a bounty hunter as my alt. Having exclusively played a sentinel to lvl 27, I rolled a BH and levelled him to 12. A bounty hunter is severely easy to play by comparison at lvls 1-12 (I know these are low levels, but roll with me a minute). That is a problem b/c most sentinel players will likely feel cheated if they are not rewarded for the increased investment of strategy.

 

However, approaching sentinels (or any class) in this fashion permanently defeats any chance at balance. If one class is given a reward/buff because it is complicated, then only one of two possible consequences result: (1) players who master the additional complexity of that class will have a distinct advantage over other less-complicated classes; OR (2) players who fail to master the complexities of that class will have a distinct DISadvantage versus other less-complicated classes.

 

Thus, comparing classes for balance purposes becomes an "apples v. oranges" scenario, since the answer will depend not on universal factors but upon the unique skills of the player employing the more complicated-class. Logically, there can be no fair way to balance the classes when a factor in the analysis is subjective player ability.

 

Of course, the devs could refuse to reward the "masters of complexity," but who wants to work harder for no real benefit? Sure, there are people who are just made that way, but this player doesn't want to work more and reap nothing for the extra investment. I suspect few players want to work harder without an incentive to do so. On the other hand, should players preferring simpler combat be at a disadvantage?

 

Also, if the devs refuse to reward mastery of added complexity, then they would still have to presume sentinel players will master the added complexity in order to compare apples to apples, but that is a real kick in the junk to sentinel players since the added complexity increases with the levelling process. By the time the added complexity is detectable, players have already spent many hours in-game levelling their sentinels...

 

 

I hate to say it, because I rather enjoy the added complexity, but there is no competent way to address these issues when one class is more complex than others. In fact, I have played other MMOs suffering from this issue. It becomes a blackhole of never-ending buffs and nerfs to the more complex character. If anyone has played a stealther in DAoC, you know of what I speak.

 

Many will disagree, but the only way to ensure balance is by comparing apples to apples: each class must be equally complex (or equally simple if you like) to ensure that balance is approached objectively with the goal of creating a more or less level playing field regardless of class.

 

 

 

[Staavis_SC]

I'm going to add my personal experience here for posterity as well. I am well aware that I may be subjected to the normal forum onslaughts of "L2P" or "noob" or what have you.

 

Heck, I might even deserve it.

 

But, this has been my experience thus far. It's subjective, because it's my own personal experience, and I'm not into all the 1's and 0's and data mining that is required for a full on technical thesis on the topic.

 

But here is my experience, in my own words, should a Dev care to read it.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I'd been having a hard time choosing what character would be my main, so I have leveled the following from 1-18(ish) to determine what I liked the best:

 

1. Smuggler, Gunslinger

2. Trooper, Commando

3. J Knight, Guardian

4. J Knight, Sentinel

5. J Consular, Shadow

 

I have a Sage as well, down at Level 10, and a Vanguard Trooper at 13.

 

Now, that being said...

 

When I'm on my Smuggler, everything feels very fast paced. Everything dies quickly, and 9 times out of 10, if they are running for me to close the gap, they'll face plant before they get to me.

 

I can take on large mobs, blow them away, and walk away with minimal damage. Frankly, I can't remember the last time I had to stand and flip a coin. (Rejuvenate)

 

When I'm on my Trooper, things die quickly as well. I do take a bit more damage than I do on my Smuggler, but I can keep a fairly constant pace of killing and moving on.

 

These two were by far the easiest I have leveled thus far.

 

My Jedi Consular Shadow, I rank as the 3rd easiest. While I take a fair bit of damage, I seem to kill quickly, and having stealth certainly allows me to get a jump on my prey. Additionally, Qyzen Fess is a decent tank and does decent damage.

 

No we get to my Jedi Knights...

 

One word describes the leveling with Jedi Knights, regardless if they are Sentinel or Guardian:

 

PAINFUL

 

I can deal with a slower leveling pace with a Guardian, because they are a tank. I got used to slow leveling as a tank warrior in Vanilla WoW.

 

But there is a huge problem when not only the pace of the Leveling is slow, but then, it's compounded by the fact I'm down at 1/2 helath after each fight. So, not only do I kill slowly, but I'm healing up ALL THE TIME after each and every fight.

 

T-7 is a good tank, in terms of aggro, but he dies off about as quickly as I do. Now, I know what you will say..."Have you upgraded his gear?" Yes, I have. Both my T-7 and I are sitting in gear that is within 1-2 levels of my current level, mostly blues. Gear is not the issue here.

 

Frankly, Jedi Knights (Guardians at the very least) are NOT fun. You spend a ton of time starring at action bars waiting for things like Riposte to pop, or making sure you have enough Focus to hit your bigger attacks. These are not issues with Troopers and Guardians, because the energy mechanics are reversed, and their attacks are direct mechanics, rather than a series of "do X, wait for Y, hope for Z, then solve for the square root of PI."

 

Now with Sentinels, it doesn't feel quite as bad. At the very least, if you get on a roll with a Sentinel, you can kill pretty quickly, so the leveling isn't quite as slow. You still have to heal up as much as you do on a Guardian, but at least you are killing quickly.

 

 

I really wanted to enjoy Jedi Knights. They are the class I wanted to play the most. But in their current condition, it's just not very fun to play them unless you are taking on baddies 3-4 levels below you. Currently, I use my Jedi Knights only for farming credits and gathering crafting mats out in the early areas of Courscant, because I'm not looking forward to Taris and the utter dismantling I will recieve when fighting there.

 

I know alot of people really enjoy the super mechanical, intricate gameplay of the Knight, and can use them well. To them, I say "More power to ya". For now, even though I really wanted to play a Jedi Knight, I have resigned myself to playing a Smuggler as my main. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it, and it's fun.

 

But it just doesn't feel "Star Wars" enough for me.

[DralenBrand]

One word describes the leveling with Jedi Knights, regardless if they are Sentinel or Guardian:

 

PAINFUL

 

...

 

T-7 is a good tank, in terms of aggro, but he dies off about as quickly as I do. Now, I know what you will say..."Have you upgraded his gear?" Yes, I have. Both my T-7 and I are sitting in gear that is within 1-2 levels of my current level, mostly blues. Gear is not the issue here.

 

 

 

I agree with a lot of your post, and I would like to reiterate in reply to your bolded portion of the quote above that argument peeps make re having to upgrade gear, spec perfectly, etc. are "work-arounds" for a problem, not proof that there is no problem. The fact that you have to get T7's gear to some hyper-powered level for him to serve his intended role as a tank for JKs proves that he is failing to fulfill his intended role. T-7 cannot tank without a lot of special preparation. That you can mitigate T-7's lack of tanking ability is nice, but it is just a band-aid. If he is supposed to be a tank, then he should be less squishy then the sentinel he is guarding, lol.

Edited January 12, 2012 by DralenBrand

[Staavis_SC]

I agree with a lot of your post, and I would like to reiterate in reply to your bolded portion of the quote above that argument peeps make re having to upgrade gear, spec perfectly, etc. are "work-arounds" for a problem, not proof that there is no problem. The fact that you have to get T7's gear to some hyper-powered level for him to serve his intended role as a tank for JKs proves that he is failing to fulfill his intended role. T-7 cannot tank without a lot of special preparation. That you can mitigate T-7's lack of tanking ability is nice, but it is just a band-aid. If he is supposed to be a tank, then he should be less squishy then the sentinel he is guarding, lol.

 

You know, I had never really thought about it that way.

 

There is just something not right with Jedi Knights. I've played enough tanks in enough MMOs to know that they shouldn't feel squishy. Slow? You bet. That's just part of the game. But never squishy.

 

And obviously, Sentinels should be somewhat squishy. But their damage doesn't seem to be comensurate with their level of squishy-ness.

 

If the Knight (specifically Guardians) are supposed to be tanks, they should be pretty hard to kill. Their damage should be low, but the damage they do should be very high threat, and not so abysmally low that they can't kill something, but it should take them a bit.

 

I feel that Guardians are lacking most in the defense and survivability department. The damge they do would be just fine, if they didn't lose 1/2 their HP in the process.

[raelimar]

Just one correction to make. Sentinels/Marauders are not the only class without a push/pull mechanic. Operatives/Scoundrels also lack one - it's pretty much our #1 PvP complaint. No push, no pull, no speed, no leap. If we get knocked into the pit during Huttball, that's it. Granted, we're still a top-tier PvP class (arguably the top tier PvP class), so I'm not expecting sympathy.

 

I haven't personally played a Sentinel, but I run a a Medic Operative in a four-man with a Powertech (Shieldtech/Prototype hybrid), Assassin (Deception), and Marauder (leveled as Annihilation, switched to Carnage at 50). Our Marauder is usually the top DPSer in every warzone we run - though oddly enough our Powertech tends to prevail in warzones lasting the full duration, like Voidstar. I can certainly see where it'd be a class that benefits from pocket healing, though - but as far as utility is concerned, I've found Bloodthirst & Predation (Transcendence/Inspiration) to be invaluable.

Edited January 13, 2012 by raelimar

[WickedJediKnight]

Statements that we ... intentionally underbalance certain classes to make it less popular are conspiracy theory territory. ...we want players to pick the class and faction they want to play and have confidence that they are able to perform their chosen role in the game. Anything that comes in the way of that goal is considered a balance issue for us.

 

Orly? What would you call the abject silence on the issue then? Saying that there isn't a conspiracy only makes you part of it. If you were actually making any adjustments or corrections to your mistakes, there wouldn't be any theory to discredit in the first place. Prove me wrong, fix the class.

 

Seems to me you have a single class with a very vocal, but perhaps minority, of players who feel that they do not have confidence that they are able to perform their chosen role in the game.

 

Since forum post count and thread views are not real metrics one can use to determine the seriousness of this issue among the player base, why not give us a graph of the total play hours put into this class by players across all (pvp & pve) servers vs. other classes in the game since 12/13/11?

 

I would be very surprised if you do not already have a report such as this prepared on a weekly basis.

 

If, as I suspect, this class gets almost no playtime on pvp servers, and the pve server play time is declining sharply, well, I think we have a winning metric here.

 

My own story with this issue shares many common threads with others, but not all.

 

I don't pvp at all. I have the desire to, but not the stomach for losing endlessly because I don't have a solid group to go with and show me the ropes.

 

Duel wield Melee DPS *is* my class. It's the one by far I like the most, regardless of game. Ironically, I completely stopped playing my Sentinel, not because of skill/dps issues, but because of the Kira mission fail, to which I'm *STILL* waiting on a fix.

 

It was only after rolling a new Jedi consular and Shelving my JK @ 36 that I truly realized how simply un-fun my sentinel was to play.

 

Unlike a lot of other players, I didn't have trouble with Varis. In fact I completely pounded him into the deck. I died the first time, and from that mistake, it was clear that interrupting him was the key. I was only at like 50% health when I got to him anyway, I never expected to survive the first fight.

 

Having gotten my new sage to 21, it is so much more fun to be able to watch the fight rather than multitask focus, centering, and 5-8 CDs. Just trying to align overload, cauterize, and zen (juyo form), while maintaining the required amount of focus to see it through is enough to keep me from ever seeing the mob I'm trying to kill. My eyes are always glued to the quickslot bar, and I already have them all hot-keyed to a G13. I don't find myself hunting for skills so much as trying to work out all the CDs. Add to this the fact that my sage often takes so little damage (mobs rarely can get close enough)... I feel like I somehow made a mistake in choosing a Sentinel to play.

 

The worst part in this whole mess is that I actually forgot the JK story. I seriously couldn't remember the class story up to "Guided by the force", where I stopped at. I was like "Wait..I killed that guy already?". Now that I read about it to refresh my memory, The JK story is, to me, much better than the Consular story so far. I still can't even play it; what a let down.

 

My point is, I don't have problems multitasking, I *can* play the class effectively at PvE.

 

Broken companions, broken class quests, and a broken class role make the Jedi Sentinel AC completely worthless, it's just not fun/entertaining to play right now. We all know I'm not alone in that thought.

 

No, I'm not going to unsub at this point. Do we really need to stoop to that level to get your attention though? Since I already know the answer, I am switching from a 6mo billing to a 1mo billing instead. That way, when I do get fed up with your inability or unwillingness to deal with this issue in a timely manner, for whatever reason, I can make certain my opinion is duly noted on your first quarterly P&L post launch.

[HaleTheFreeVoice]

i agrre but everyone could relax a bit, the game has been out a month lol

[Thollocks]

to some Mobs being insanely hard to deal with even when following your instructions to us. (Sith War Apprentices (Sorcerers) on Alderaan, Kira's Brother, and the current hot topic the Sith Harrowers from the Guided by the Force quest.)

 

stopped reading here, you found the sith war apprentices hard? lol. why not try find a way to defeat them instead of claiming its 'insanely hard' for everyone on the forums. it isn't that difficult....