Just FYI for those saying Sentinels are broken or the lvling is difficult

[DarkRegent]

You know there are several different learning styles and perhaps some people respond better to pictures than text. Perhaps there are visual learners among you so let’s see if this makes any difference.

 

-Sentinel -----------------Commando-------

--| DPS| . --------- |DPS| – |HEAL| – | tank|

 

Note that they both have dps boxes. Note the both DPS boxes look alike because they are very much alike. However on one side there are more boxes, extra boxes. This is balanced, this is equal. You are supposed to accept that this is working as intended.

 

No, your box doesn’t hold any more DPS than the other. No you can’t have his boxes, because this is balanced. If you had the same number of boxes he has you would be over powered. You should really just have your DPS box and be quiet.

 

No it is not over powered that he has those three boxes, you’re just a bad player, a bad naughty player.

 

Now take your DPS box and go play because you are very, very balanced

[Anilon]

You know there are several different learning styles and perhaps some people respond better to pictures than text. Perhaps there are visual learners among you so let’s see if this makes any difference.

 

-Sentinel -----------------Commando-------

--| DPS| . --------- |DPS| – |HEAL| – | tank|

 

Note that they both have dps boxes. Note the both DPS boxes look alike because they are very much alike. However on one side there are more boxes, extra boxes. This is balanced, this is equal. You are supposed to accept that this is working as intended.

 

No, your box doesn’t hold any more DPS than the other. No you can’t have his boxes, because this is balanced. If you had the same number of boxes he has you would be over powered. You should really just have your DPS box and be quiet.

 

No it is not over powered that he has those three boxes, you’re just a bad player, a bad naughty player.

 

Now take your DPS box and go play because you are very, very balanced

 

 

 

Just a few points here:

 

1) Commando's are not tanks

 

2) Putting a box for DPS without covering mobility, gap closers, burst ratios, etc, is over-simplification.

[RamzaBehoulve]

You know there are several different learning styles and perhaps some people respond better to pictures than text. Perhaps there are visual learners among you so let’s see if this makes any difference.

 

-Sentinel -----------------Commando-------

--| DPS| . --------- |DPS| – |HEAL| – | tank|

 

Note that they both have dps boxes. Note the both DPS boxes look alike because they are very much alike. However on one side there are more boxes, extra boxes. This is balanced, this is equal. You are supposed to accept that this is working as intended.

 

No, your box doesn’t hold any more DPS than the other. No you can’t have his boxes, because this is balanced. If you had the same number of boxes he has you would be over powered. You should really just have your DPS box and be quiet.

 

No it is not over powered that he has those three boxes, you’re just a bad player, a bad naughty player.

 

Now take your DPS box and go play because you are very, very balanced

 

Really pointless comparison. Commando is nothing like Sentinel.

 

Sentinel was, is and will always be a DPS only class unless someone at Bioware gets hit by something big. The Sentinel is meant to deal damage in different ways, that's it. Oh and dual lightsabers.

[Tangenobi]

Sents do not have HUGE problems good grief ..Does it have issues yes but it is not broken nor is the clsss garbage..iv e read threads where people tru to give advice to those who struggle but they get bashed.

 

Sents is a class to where is though you either get it down pat or you dont there seems to be no in between..

For every 4 people that complain.(not the ones who are just bad) there is 3 that say they are fine for the most part..which leads me to believe that it is a L2P issue more so than it being totally broken...

 

My Sent is 41 in the beginning it was hard to play it but then it through trial and error i got it down pat..i use different companions for different situations...

 

btw...sents have an delay issue and surv. issue...other classes have the toolz to start and enter fights the way they choose( hard stuns and cc's)..we dont so im thinkin they are going to bolster are def cooldowns since we literally have to jump into they fray so to speak.

 

other than that no we arent garbage or totally broken...Sents are just more of a challenge with some issues..but ince u get it u love to play one!

[MBirkhofer]

frankly, fully on the broken side now.

 

our instant cast moves are not instant cast.

 

dispatch, crippling throw, blade storm all have obvious cast times, and travel times.

those 3 core moves are completely trivialized by anyone not completely incompetent by breaking line of sight. simply STEPPING THROUGH us, healing, shielding, etc.

Even marauder scream/blade storm is actually instant, vs our travel time.

 

Every one of our melee dps moves also has the same problem, damage is dealt when we finish flipping our sabres around, not instantly. So again, its as simple as stepping through a sentinel, to completely comprise their attack animations.

 

 

Go look at assassin/shadow spinning strike, compared to dispatch.

Spinning strike is actually instant. no projectile, usable at 30%, not 20, hits WAY harder. It innately scales better. then on top of innately better scaling, it has talents that effect it.

Edited January 17, 2012 by MBirkhofer

[Garrum]

frankly, fully on the broken side now.

 

our instant cast moves are not instant cast.

 

dispatch, crippling throw, blade storm all have obvious cast times, and travel times.

those 3 core moves are completely trivialized by anyone not completely incompetent by breaking line of sight. simply STEPPING THROUGH us, healing, shielding, etc.

Even marauder scream/blade storm is actually instant, vs our travel time.

 

Every one of our melee dps moves also has the same problem, damage is dealt when we finish flipping our sabres around, not instantly. So again, its as simple as stepping through a sentinel, to completely comprise their attack animations.

 

 

Go look at assassin/shadow spinning strike, compared to dispatch.

Spinning strike is actually instant. no projectile, usable at 30%, not 20, hits WAY harder. It innately scales better. then on top of innately better scaling, it has talents that effect it.

 

Having animations with not just a wind up, but a SLOW wind up, was the most terrible idea they could have ever had for a melee class. Actually tying the hit to the animation is more along the lines of a sin than a bad idea.

[Cancrizans]

sooo what youre saying is because you can't 1button win the class is UP? Sents are fine as is. Yes the stutter/delay meeds to be fixed but outside that theyre fine dude.

 

Swtor has done an amazing job balancing. There is no end all dps. Sure the balance isn't prefect but have you played any other mmos? This is probably the most balanced I've ever seen.

 

Cry more dude. If you want to be tanky healy dps go play a commando. If you want to play a jedi with two glowsticks then shut up and play.

 

Dude DUDE! That isn't what he was saying at all, if you weren't in junior high you might understand that grossly misrepresenting what someone says and then arguing against your misrepresentation makes you look stupid, not smart.

 

BTW dude, the fact that there is one class(and its counterpart) that doesn't have any other role BUT DPS, and that Bioware insists on this "no more than 5% DPS advantage" is part of the reason Sent/Mara are in a bad position relative to other classes.

 

OK DUDE? Cry moar! L2P! Spam more brainless interwebz sayings to look cool!

[HollowVamp]

I've never lost a 1v1, regardless of gear or class, while leveling up and it has continued at level 50. I don't see that as broken.

 

the game isnt based off 1v1, pvp is ALL about objectives, and alot of our problems make our class not to good to have around objective based games.

[kylrapture]

Point is, we have lower survivability and a much more complex rotation/priority with no CC and we pull the same damage as hybrid classes. We are a dps class for gods sake.

 

Would like to point out there is no such thing as a hybrid class in this game. If a guardian specs for dps he is a dps. If a BH specs for dps he is a dps. The devs stated that as a fact, there is no hybrid tax. They have more limited options on HOW to dps compared to Sentinels.

[Lancerx]

The only problems with Sentinel are bug/ability delay/stutter related.

 

I agree, I had no problems at all leveling my Sentinel, or soloing any quest class. I even solo'd every heroic 2 and some heroic 4's. Hard...? Yes, the heroic 4's was hard, but everything else was easy and fun.

[Vibeth]

Would like to point out there is no such thing as a hybrid class in this game. If a guardian specs for dps he is a dps. If a BH specs for dps he is a dps. The devs stated that as a fact, there is no hybrid tax. They have more limited options on HOW to dps compared to Sentinels.

 

So a Bounty Hunter who specs as dps can't heal? They said there is no hybrid tax, not that there isn't a hybrid class in this game.

 

No hybrid tax is exactly what is wrong with this game - this means that a hybrid class specced as dps can dps as hard as a pure dps class, while also having the option to heal.

 

Your logic is way off.

Edited January 17, 2012 by Vibeth

[MBirkhofer]

Would like to point out there is no such thing as a hybrid class in this game. If a guardian specs for dps he is a dps. If a BH specs for dps he is a dps. The devs stated that as a fact, there is no hybrid tax. They have more limited options on HOW to dps compared to Sentinels.

 

Just not true.

 

Especially in pvp. Go look at some sage, op, merc builds. Pretty much ONLY sents are forced to go 31 points deep in their trees.

Have you really not seen any BGS with a tank, sage, scoundrel with 300k damage, 10k protection, 100k+ healing, and getting 12-13 medals?

[AstralProjection]

The people wanting our animations fixed are absolutely correct. That can't be argued. That part of the class isn't "fine". For most people it's a frustrating factor that has NOTHING to do with skill level or lack of class knowledge.

 

Do Sentinels still rock? Yes, and we will rock harder when the game works properly.

 

Most of the people asking for Force Push or Force Pull back are asking for it because outside of Force Stasis, we have very few powers that make us feel like a Jedi. It's not so much a "we need it to be balanced issue". It's that I'm supposed to be a Jedi and I can't do one of the most basic Jedi Knight moves. It's not my job to balance it, they spend our money on the salary of someone who should balance it, but I would tend to agree that they should make it happen for the sake of not neutering our class from a lore perspective. It's not an OMG I'm rage quitting issue. Just a "Please fix it when you get a chance, and post in the forums so we know you're actually paying attention" kind of thing. The best we got was a vague hint that the Jedi Knight classes were being looked at (hopefully not while we shower, gross BioWare).

 

Hybrid classes do exist - and DPS normalization is making it so that our 5% damage increase can't compete with a DPS class that has a heal built into it on the long term. It's not ruining the game for me, but it is one of the poorest ways to implement a pure DPS class I've ever seen. In this case the moves aren't broken - just the idea that giving all of us roughly the same DPS isn't as fair as it sounds, since all of us don't get self heals and other factors.

 

We still have the tools to win. We're not a useless class, especially in the hands of a good player. That doesn't mean we're on an even playing field with the other classes though - I think that's the issue being ranted about the most, and being boiled down by a lot of people into "L2P", which doesn't really do much other than flaunt one's own ignorance.

 

Truth be told though, neither does "This class is worthless and I'm quitting". If you root through all the extremes, there may be some truth stashed away somewhere in the middle ground. Hopefully BioWare's dev team really is watching it.

 

I would prefer this slow, cautious approach to changing our classes than to massive, sweeping nerfs and buffs, which NEVER properly balance a game.

[Stonemender]

I think the idea that a pure DPS-Class like the Sentinel should do more DPS than a hybrid class is wrong.

 

When it comes to endgame content, such a difference in DPS would make hybrid classes obsolete. No raid leader would consider taking along a hybrid DD, when that players DPS potential is considerably lower than the DPS potential of a pure DD.

 

Balancing raid composition is always tricky and i think Blizzard did well in their raid concept, by giving each class semiunique raid buffs and by giving most classes special abilities (special debuffs, buffs, cleanses, interrupts etc.). So far, the only special ability in SWTOR is interrupting the enemy. Unfortunately, most classes have access to interrupts, so in most cases this ability will have no impact on the team composition choice.

 

So, in essence, i dont think the Sentinal needs to be buffed. The bugs must be fixed and BW needs to rethink their classes in terms of 'what is the unique contribution of this class to the high end content'.

[AstralProjection]

I think the idea that a pure DPS-Class like the Sentinel should do more DPS than a hybrid class is wrong.

 

When it comes to endgame content, such a difference in DPS would make hybrid classes obsolete. No raid leader would consider taking along a hybrid DD, when that players DPS potential is considerably lower than the DPS potential of a pure DD.

 

Balancing raid composition is always tricky and i think Blizzard did well in their raid concept, by giving each class semiunique raid buffs and by giving most classes special abilities (special debuffs, buffs, cleanses, interrupts etc.). So far, the only special ability in SWTOR is interrupting the enemy. Unfortunately, most classes have access to interrupts, so in most cases this ability will have no impact on the team composition choice.

 

So, in essence, i dont think the Sentinal needs to be buffed. The bugs must be fixed and BW needs to rethink their classes in terms of 'what is the unique contribution of this class to the high end content'.

 

Well, the reason to take them would be for the occasional offheal. Raiding has always been hybrid unfriendly. That's nothing new. Problem is, Sents are forced to go 31 points deep to be truly effective, and then once they are their damage output is only 5% higher than a guy that can heal?

 

Consider also that realistically, it rarely is actually 5% higher since melee classes are at a disadvantage in most PVP and Raid encounters automatically, since we have to be in the thick of things.

 

It's why other games have always not held melee DPS classes to such strict DPS normalization, and why nothing suffers in them - it's always healers that end up being the unbalanced part of the equation, even in games where pure melee DPS classes have much higher output than ours.

[MBirkhofer]

I think the idea that a pure DPS-Class like the Sentinel should do more DPS than a hybrid class is wrong.

 

When it comes to endgame content, such a difference in DPS would make hybrid classes obsolete. No raid leader would consider taking along a hybrid DD, when that players DPS potential is considerably lower than the DPS potential of a pure DD.

 

Balancing raid composition is always tricky and i think Blizzard did well in their raid concept, by giving each class semiunique raid buffs and by giving most classes special abilities (special debuffs, buffs, cleanses, interrupts etc.). So far, the only special ability in SWTOR is interrupting the enemy. Unfortunately, most classes have access to interrupts, so in most cases this ability will have no impact on the team composition choice.

 

So, in essence, i dont think the Sentinal needs to be buffed. The bugs must be fixed and BW needs to rethink their classes in terms of 'what is the unique contribution of this class to the high end content'.

 

yeah, in terms of overall concept. A "pure" dps should have more tools to ensure they are able to dps UN-restrained, as well as have more dps options. while overall dps value should be similar.

Right now, however, the opposite is true. Stealth, and ranged have more dps options, and can apply their dps with less restrictions. Due to range, due to no having to deal with melee aoe, and melee CC. Or do to being able to pick and choose when to approach via stealth.

 

(Also, as I'm looking closer at damage scaling, I am starting to think our overall damage is not on par)

[Avean]

I dont believe in this thread, you are either way over your quest levels or just lying.

I am at level 32 now, just died to a level 28 Elite. I was blazing through everything until level 31 in Alderaan. Now i am really struggling and its not my spec, tried every 3 with same results.

 

I am using interrupts, all my cooldowns, precisison strike before master strike, using blade storm when combat trance is active. This is all that Sentinel is about, its not difficult to use a Sentinel, but its just ALOT more than a Shadow has to do for example. With my shadow i can easily control the fight and vanish if it gets too heavy which is rarely does.

[Stonemender]

I am using interrupts, all my cooldowns, precisison strike before master strike, using blade storm when combat trance is active. This is all that Sentinel is about, its not difficult to use a Sentinel, but its just ALOT more than a Shadow has to do for example. With my shadow i can easily control the fight and vanish if it gets too heavy which is rarely does.

 

That is really weird.

 

1. Skill Watchmen. Its by far the easiest leveling build, when it comes to 1 on 1 against tough opponents.

2. Open hard fights with Rebuke and or Sabre Ward (for leveling i even put skill points in both Rebuke related skills, which helped greatly).

3. Keep yourself and Kira at high equipment level

4. Keep the DoT's rollin

5. Use Zen shortly before refereshing your DoT's to ensure maximum heal

6. Take MedPacs

7. If you get low on health, use Force Camouflage to set your aggro to 0 and let your companion tank through the rest of the fight

8. You can stun Elite opponents with your force stasis. Use this after you refresehed your DoT to ensure maximum heal.