abylities Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 So, 50 watchman, fully geared in PVP and PVE... But I feel like a complete scrub when it comes to this skill. I see so many people using it - but why? Proficiency 10, costs 3 focus, 4m range, deals 1345- 1588 damage... And that's it. No focus building, no (real) skill advantages. Just another focus burner. Please, enlighten me - if you use this skill, why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woopinars Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 First off as watchman, you have that one ability that gives a % that resets cauterize cooldown. Granted merciless slash benefits from the same ability, it also uses 3 more focus (remember you should have the ability that refunds 1 focus after using slash meaning its actual cost after activation is 2). Meaning you get 2 1/2 slashes per merciless. Now why is this important? The one ability called valor. It gives 2 centering per force ability used, so the more slashes you use the more centering obtained meaning more zen crits or transcendence pops. Also in terms of damage per focus used, overtime slash spamming out does merciless slash considering its lack of cooldown, lower cost and ability to almost consta spam it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McVade Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) So, 50 watchman, fully geared in PVP and PVE... But I feel like a complete scrub when it comes to this skill. I see so many people using it - but why? Proficiency 10, costs 3 focus, 4m range, deals 1345- 1588 damage... And that's it. No focus building, no (real) skill advantages. Just another focus burner. Please, enlighten me - if you use this skill, why? Yes, you do use Slash as a Watchman, though the exact timing isn't easy to predict. First, it's only 2 focus if you take that Tier 1 Watchman feat, which you definitely should. Need 3 to do it, but it always refunds 1. Basically, I slash when I'm at or nearing focus cap and Merciless Slash, Overcharge Saber and Cauterize are all on cooldown. Otherwise, I'm using Zealous Strike or regular Strike to build Focus. I'll keep doing Slash until focus drops to 5-6ish, or until the cooldown is up on any of those abilities (note: Each Slash has a 33% chance to finish Cauterize when you spec Mind Sear, so be mindful of that). Edited February 5, 2012 by McVade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldxLady Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Focus speced Sentinels and Zen, would like to have aa word with you ;p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjmig Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I'm curious... What do you use in place of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keizen Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 not much of a choice really, there will be a time where everything is on cooldown and slash is the only available, its really not that bad except its really slow and it stutters. If your a focus spec sentinel, slash and force sweap are your main damage. if your combat spec, you remove your slash and replace it with blade rush, which is a super fast attack that procs ataru , this ability stutters as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abylities Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 First off as watchman, you have that one ability that gives a % that resets cauterize cooldown. Granted merciless slash benefits from the same ability, it also uses 3 more focus (remember you should have the ability that refunds 1 focus after using slash meaning its actual cost after activation is 2). Meaning you get 2 1/2 slashes per merciless. Now why is this important? The one ability called valor. It gives 2 centering per force ability used, so the more slashes you use the more centering obtained meaning more zen crits or transcendence pops. Also in terms of damage per focus used, overtime slash spamming out does merciless slash considering its lack of cooldown, lower cost and ability to almost consta spam it. That's the outlook I needed - fairly rooted in my skill tree, and had missed that skill. So, interesting. I may have to try a few raids with it on hand. Cooldown of Cauterize also seems nice... I'm curious... What do you use in place of it? Everything else? I juggle focus well, so that I don't spam my CD's as soon as every single one is up, leaving me to strike for 15 seconds. Try to never hit full focus, and never be below 3 - I have great DPS, and rarely find the need for another burner, so it's not really a case of 'replacing it' :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaaat Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Strike + Slash is an interesting mini rotation you can use as watchman as the net focus loss is 0 while at the same time you're building up centering and have a chance of resetting your cauterize cooldown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfgarrex Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) Slash is used when Cauterize, Overload Saber, and Merciless Slash are on cooldown, and pressing strike before any of those come off cooldown would cap your focus. Occasionally, when Merciless Slash doesn't reset Cauterize, and i get lucky with burn ticks refunding Focus, i have a situation where i have plenty of focus and nothing to spend it on, so you obviously have to go with Slash. I've had Slash hit for up to 2k, my max merciless is 4.1k, so it's relatively competitive. In many circumstances you're better off just using Strike though and pooling focus for your Overload Saber, Cauterize, Merciless Slash, (Cauterize). Also, when Merciless Slash buff is at 3 stacks it's pretty hard to have a situation where you have an over abundance of Focus (other than really chain-focus returns from burns). Edited February 5, 2012 by Wolfgarrex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveGarbage Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Yup, as said above - in Watchman, Slash has an effective cost of only 2 focus and is the best option for a filler while your other skills are on cooldown, especially since it offers the opportunity to finish the cooldown on Cauterize. While other classes have some reason to use Blade Storm, for Watchman, Slash completely outclasses it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vibeth Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I do just fine without it to be honest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepilk Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 While other classes have some reason to use Blade Storm, for Watchman, Slash completely outclasses it. Other than the 10m range, higher immeditate damage for spikeing, and the ability to stun standard mobs for pve crowd control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therealkoop Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Ive been wondering about this myself. Currently im a lvl 38 watchman but when I get merciless strike my rotation is going to get all screwed up. Do you tend to build focus with strike so you can spam merciless? Do you float at a certain level of focus and weave in slashes so you dont "over generate" focus? Currently my rotation is: Overload, Zealous, cauterize, slash, strike. I basically just smash through that over and over. Its super easy and it does good damage. Dispatch will be tossed probably in front of overload, but im not sure what to do with merciless and its FIVE focus cost (one gets refunded im aware). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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