Sentinel Guide: For players having trouble

[Melhcior]

Here is a quick guide I typed out at work for anyone having issues or trouble as a Sentinel. Dont pay attention to all the "this class sucks" or "our dps is weak" posts.

 

I have been combat ever since I placed my first spec point. I tear through everything and have never died more than once on a class quest which most of the time I dont die at all.

 

Sentinel is by no means weak compared to other classes, it's more or less the skill cap is much much higher and the average casual player will likely not excell at. If your looking for a faceroll button spam WoW style class, Sentinel isnt for you.

 

The biggest key factor is gear, if your running around attempting to faceroll with all green's your doing something wrong. There are ample ways to get money and just completing all the quests on a planet will provide you with more than enough credits. Here is a list of things to live by if you want to survive as a solo Sentinel.

 

-If for some extremely strange reason you are always low on funds, at least keep your lightsaber hilt modded close to your level. You are a dps class, your biggest upgrade will ALWAYS be your weapon damage.

 

-If you dont have money to fully mod the rest of your gear, dont buy the rank 2 speeder traning unless you have a surplus of credits...210k for a little extra non combat speed? Lets be honest, dont be stupid.

 

-Know your defensive cooldowns and when to use them. I personally have 4-5 if my companion is out and can nearly survive an apocalypse if timed right.

 

-Interupt, Interupt, Interupt...did I mention Interupt?

 

-Force choke and Awe (Whatever the 6s aoe blind is called). They are unbeleivable life savers on a fairly low CD all things considered.

 

-On tough fights, always send your companion in first...it does not matter which one your using. Doc can take just as many swings as Kira can. The idea is to let your companion absorb the first set of initial "special" attacks the mobs will use.

 

-ALWAYS kill the weakest mobs first, letting the 2 normal mobs with 2.5k health blast you in the back while that gold Elite with 28k takes time to kill isnt smart. Again, you are a pure dps class not a tank. This applies to player groups as well, please dont be the player hitting the boss the whole time while 3 elites are eating your healers mana up.

 

-Know your offensive abilities and which ones are useful. Spamming Slash over and over again is weak and you will most likely die. This applies to groups as well, if your spamming slash...yes by all means you are going to look like a fool with low dmg. Blade storm in my current state is by far my hardest hitting attack and can often times 1 shot normal mobs.

 

I'm sure there are a few more if i spent time thinking about it but im at work I will update as they come to me.

 

I hope this helps anyone having trouble with the class. Keep at it, you will eventually learn and excell as a dps to compete and even do better than other dps classes. It will just take more time and effort than the other dps classes.

 

Good luck and May the force be with you.

[Ainianu]

Good post, agree with it (my alt is also combat spec sentinel) and id agree its not easy to play, however ive never been having problems either so far at level 30 (just started chapter 2 and Balmorra)

[thanealpha]

If a class (in this case Sentinel) requires more skill and better gear...it IS a weaker class.

 

Heck, that's the definition of a weaker class.

[Hematic]

Also, make sure to use Riposte every time it comes up, it ignores the GCD and if talented reduces the cool down of rebuke.

 

You can use Rebuke and Pacify almost every fight, the cool downs are so low, especially if talented (watchman).

Edited February 8, 2012 by Hematic

[Ainianu]

If a class (in this case Sentinel) requires more skill and better gear...it IS a weaker class.

 

Heck, that's the definition of a weaker class.

 

no... definition of weaker is not that requires skill to play

 

my Commando can press 1 button and do more damage than a poor Sentinel... my Sentinel when i am playing it clearly has a far higher single target damage and i find it much faster and more efficient to solo

 

It is not weaker, it is different.

[Vasinar]

If a class (in this case Sentinel) requires more skill and better gear...it IS a weaker class.

 

Heck, that's the definition of a weaker class.

 

Agreed..I dont understand how people can say with a straight face, *Sents arent a weaker class...you just need better gear then everyone else and your fine* How can one even respond?

 

Its not the complexity of the sent that is troubling. I have 17k health and can get 3 shot by an operative if they get the drop on me. At no point can a sent have that kind of firepower no matter what your gear. How can a effing ranged class have better melee dps ( and I see in their forum they want a "gap closer" because, well, massive ranged dps isnt enough they want a tea bag option added) then a melee dps class that is supposedly "Unmatched in hand to hand"

 

With every other class having KB, CC, or range (w/ slowing-pinning) it seems like a spear pointed at the heart of a sent becuase all we have is swinging the saber, particularly combat specs.

[Ryat]

If I may add two things.

 

First, learn the Zen. I love the fact that I can now call Zen up early ( lvl 50 ) and I always use it. In Shii-Cho Form I can often clean up two strongs or one strong and one elite with ease.

 

Second, for those specced Watchman (like me) is keep those burns going. When specced right you can get some health back (not a lot but enough to carry you through a lot of the time) and the elites just melt.

Edited February 9, 2012 by Ryat

[Tedroni]

1. I don't think Sentinels are weaker, but they are far more complicated than other classes... perhaps prohibitively so. And that is something I think could be a problem for the game since Knights are the iconic class of the Star Wars universe.

 

2. I'd like it if we could keep this thread focused on the Combat Tree. There are a lot of threads about Watchman, and they've been helpful to me, at least. But I'd like to learn more about this tree since it's so rarely spoken of positively.

 

3. Thanks, OP, for starting this. I hope to learn a lot.

[Davajita]

I'd like to reiterate the part about interrupts. This right here is probably the single most important tip for surviving tough fights... interrupt everything. "But I've only got 1 interrupt, and mobs cast stuff more often than it's off cool down!" Wrong, you've got 3. Force Choke, Force Leap, Force Kick... and don't be shy about using Force Camo to let your pet take some heat for you while you wait for an important cool down to finish.

[Venator-Falco]

I will add an other element to this

Combinations. They are the winner.

You can spam Blade Storm all you like but if the mob has huge armour it isn’t going to do you any good. So Hit precision slash first, Once you have Blade rush this should also be kept cycling so that Ataru procs are always hitting.

 

When cleaning up trash (Before you go for the boss mobs) think about the most efficient way to hit them, for example if you crit on your force leap and your blade rush, don’t use Blade storm to finish the mob off, use something small so that bladestorm is available for the next mob. If a mob has HUGE DPS (NPC Sith Assassins come to mind) then the rule about cleaning up the little mobs first may go out the window. You may have to take out the High DPS Target first, you have little mitigation or absorbance so get rid of the big hitters.

 

And just in case you missed it before… Interrupts… Force kick should be a nervous twitch for you, Force Stasis and Awe much the same, Also if you are running low on hitpoints and so is the mob, hit force stasis to give everything a chance to come off cooldown and then hit them with the big stuff.

 

The Combat sentinel doesn’t have inherent survivability, but by making sure the combat runs at a pace you dictate you can proactively turn this around.

 

This is what makes the Sentinel more complex to play but not less powerful. When played well we have huge DPS, our job is to put out damage not take it. If you are in a group and you are taking lots of damage then you have to change your play style. Take out things that you can take down quickly then get on the mob the tank is on. Use Force Camouflage if you pull agro to get the mob back on the tank.

[PatT]

Will say it again too. Riposte. They can't dodge it. It ignores global cooldown. If it's avail, use it. Always. They can't dodge it!

 

I am finding my sentinel the funnest char yet to play. Far less repetitive than a Sage. But yes, you have to think about what you're going to hit with.

 

There's far too much running around without thinking going on in this game, instead of analyzing what you're going into and stragetizing a little first. When I find a pug where they do take time to analyze before attack, it's just a dream!

[Killawayz]

Personally I'm happy with the dps of both combat, and now, watchman trees. Combat puts out some extreme controlled burst and watchman is well sustained dps. The issue lies in survivability. Sentinals are squishier than other classes. I'm not going off on some "*** bw blah blah" crap, just stating my sage and gunslinger both took less damage leveling, in pve, and in pvp.

Once geared, they are fun though! lol

[Melhcior]

First of all, there is some great input in here keep it up! Also yes please if your going to reply to this post think of 2 things. 1) Be constructive/no flaming. 2) Try to stay on topic

 

Here is another point I wanted to talk about. Stats.

 

I know there has been alot of talk about survivabiliy, however I am a firm beleiver that picking up high endurance items over high strength items is not worth it. Mods are not the only thing you have the choice with. Some normal gear is balanced more around higher endurance vs higher strength. Personally unless I have no choice I always go for the higher amount of strength. I dont feel that the extra endurance and lower strength on an item helps my survivability. It "might" give you 1 extra swing before you die, but then again look at it this way...what if you had chosen the 3-4 higher strength items instead, would the mob already be dead?

 

Lets move onto secondary stats, post your opinions on your choices and why. There isn't alot of theory crafting out there yet with in depth research on what is the better choice due to no combat logs.

 

I personally like power as my first choice and surge as my 2nd. Yes there is info going around if you get your crit up to 30% that your blade storm will have a 100% chance to crit. Unfortunately just like rolling dice, even though in theory you have 100% crit, you will never crit 100% of the time. There is always that small chance the random number generator will, for lack of a better word "bone you".

 

My reason behind Power: I would rather have increased sustained dps rather than rely on lady luck to smile down on me, because i'll be honest...she hates me

 

My reason behind Surge: As previously stated crit wether you have 15% or 30% is a game of chance. I have personally had bad rounds where I get 1 crit during the entire duration of an Elite fight. I choose Surge so when the game chooses to grant me that luck I have been waiting for, that crit will be HUGE.

 

I have not done alot of testing with accuracy yet because honestly I havent needed it during my course of leveling (Just hit 50 last night). If anyone has insight on Accuracy it would be a nice thing to post here for others who may be curious about the worth of this stat.

 

There are alot of ways to increase your dps output but unfortunately due to the nature of medium armor and pure dps class, our survivabiliy will never get better. Thus why in my original post be sure to manage your defensive cooldowns, they are the survivability you so desperately want.

 

Keep up the good work my fellow Sentinel's, we will rule the world some day May the Force be with you!

Edited February 9, 2012 by Melhcior

[Vasinar]

Will say it again too. Riposte. They can't dodge it. It ignores global cooldown. If it's avail, use it. Always. They can't dodge it!

 

I am finding my sentinel the funnest char yet to play. Far less repetitive than a Sage. But yes, you have to think about what you're going to hit with.

 

There's far too much running around without thinking going on in this game, instead of analyzing what you're going into and stragetizing a little first. When I find a pug where they do take time to analyze before attack, it's just a dream!

 

The problem with reposte is you have to be taking dmg to use it..and we dont do that well, particulary when we are suffering from one of a 100 cc's. However absolutly riposte is a great ability and I use it all the time, its really nice when coupled with increased cool down of rebuke

[Erudain]

I'd like to reiterate the part about interrupts. This right here is probably the single most important tip for surviving tough fights... interrupt everything. "But I've only got 1 interrupt, and mobs cast stuff more often than it's off cool down!" Wrong, you've got 3. Force Choke, Force Leap, Force Kick... and don't be shy about using Force Camo to let your pet take some heat for you while you wait for an important cool down to finish.

 

Only Watchman can use leap as a interrupt 24/7, Combat has less uses for it being at melee range.

Basically...watchman has 4 interrups and combat has 3 and one on longer cd.

[Melhcior]

Only Watchman can use leap as a interrupt 24/7, Combat has less uses for it being at melee range.

Basically...watchman has 4 interrups and combat has 3 and one on longer cd.

 

I dont know why I failed to address this earlier. Interupts are very key, yes. BUT in the situation you accidently used one at the wrong time and a mob starts a cast, there are many many objects around the world that can be used to LoS (Line of Sight) these casts. I.E. Large rocks, pillars, doors and sometimes starships But I honestly wouldnt result to this unless its an elite mob or your about to get force lightning in the face.

 

Hope this helps and keep up the good input folks!

 

May the force be with you!

[SteveGarbage]

Also, make sure to use Riposte every time it comes up, it ignores the GCD and if talented reduces the cool down of rebuke.

 

Yeah, but Riposte also used 3 Focus which screws up your rotations. For me, I've completely tossed it from my hotbar. To me Focus management is more important than a little extra damage. It's the same reason why a lot of Snipers ignore the insta-snipe and alacrity talents, because shortening the channels screws with energy management.

[Venator-Falco]

Oh the question of Secondary stats is an interesting one.

I was specking power through all of my levelling for the same reasons you have been. I am not a huge fan of unpredictable spiky damage, I mainly got into this mode from playing a WOW hunter when you could suddenly crit a couple of times and taunt off the tank, so I liked to keep predictable controlled DPS.

But… I have found I crit quite consistently now, so stacking surge has a noticeable effect. One thing to always remember is diminishing returns.

Stacking one thing out the wazoo as a general rule doesn’t have as much effect as pushing everything up.

There is a really good thread on the subject in these forums, but I can’t find it.

If someone does cross linking to here could be worth while.

[furiousferret]

Every planet I only get the commendations, and use the upgrades there and every time I hit an odd level I go to the GTN to regear. Well, past level 23. Gear is typically at an odd required level and I gear my companion as well..

 

Interrupts are also key for me, if something does 5k damage and interrupts as well, I save it to use as an interrupt. Controlling the fight is more important than damage.

 

The big thing really is to get out of your comfort zone and make sure every important ability is being used. To be honest I forget abilities, so I force myself to use a certain lesser used ability for a few hours. The key is to just be dialed in.

 

Use your companions health as a resource. Let him attack first so you get some free hits in.

 

I'm new to the class so I dont want to sound like an expert but this is generic advice.

[Jinook_Phi]

Although I agree with most of the post, it is important to note that said advice does NOT 100% apply to all types of Sents. I am a Focus spec and as result, you definitely do not want to kill trash mobs before elites (have no idea if this is true with the other two specs). Once you get into your 30's as a Focus spec, your Force Sweeps can already do some rather amazing damage for up to five mobs. Focusing on the elite, keeping your interupts up and all the others things noted, WHILE STACKING your leaps and stasis, means when you do a sweep, you're 100% guaranteed to crit with damage multipliers (if you're Focus and allocating your tree properly + gear as noted). Last night, at level 35, my sweep crits were ranging between 1340 -1560. My sweeps both stun and destroy trash WHILE I am taking on the gold. One to two sweeps, WHILE fighting an elite and all trash are dead. So, again, as a Focus spec, absolutely focus on the elites first, not adds.

 

Also, one thing not mentioned directly, is the effective use of your camo. A) it will save your butt from death and repair costs time and time again, if you dont use it too late. B) Believe it or not, baddies chase you- LOL. SO when you do use camo, especially if your companion is dead, two KEY things to remember. -1- run to spaces that interrupt line of sight and -2- Run Forrest Run!!! - dont stop until the little red dot on your hud goes away. The best way to know when this has happened, meaning you've dropped aggro, is your self heal ability will become available.

[Melhcior]

Although I agree with most of the post, it is important to note that said advice does NOT 100% apply to all types of Sents. I am a Focus spec and as result, you definitely do not want to kill trash mobs before elites (have no idea if this is true with the other two specs). Once you get into your 30's as a Focus spec, your Force Sweeps can already do some rather amazing damage for up to five mobs. Focusing on the elite, keeping your interupts up and all the others things noted, WHILE STACKING your leaps and stasis, means when you do a sweep, you're 100% guaranteed to crit with damage multipliers (if you're Focus and allocating your tree properly + gear as noted). Last night, at level 35, my sweep crits were ranging between 1340 -1560. My sweeps both stun and destroy trash WHILE I am taking on the gold. One to two sweeps, WHILE fighting an elite and all trash are dead. So, again, as a Focus spec, absolutely focus on the elites first, not adds.

 

Also, one thing not mentioned directly, is the effective use of your camo. A) it will save your butt from death and repair costs time and time again, if you dont use it too late. B) Believe it or not, baddies chase you- LOL. SO when you do use camo, especially if your companion is dead, two KEY things to remember. -1- run to spaces that interrupt line of sight and -2- Run Forrest Run!!! - dont stop until the little red dot on your hud goes away. The best way to know when this has happened, meaning you've dropped aggro, is your self heal ability will become available.

 

First off I want to welcome you to our ongoing thread. This is some great input, it isn't often we hear from focus sentinels. I was not aware focus actually has reliable higher damage aoe. Very good to know for those new sentinels looking to try focus for a change.

 

Also you are very right about force camo , if timed right it can be the difference between life and death. There is no shame if you truly don't think you can win, pop force camo to place threat on your companion and run like the wind.

 

Keep it going fellow sentinels, there is a lot of good info for any sentinel having difficulties.

 

May the force be with you!

[timotheose]

Currently I am kinda testing and practicing with Sentinel. My plan is to level a Sentinel and a Shadow and see who has the best ability to solo, ie. without a companion.

 

So far the Shadow is doing better, it just seems to hit harder and takes down mobs quicker, thus reducing the damage incoming.

 

I like the Sentinel a bit better tho, as it seems to require more variety and thinking spontaneously.

[Vetilo]

I have been playing a Sentinel as my main since the beginning, as I was really intrigued by the "Master of hand-to-hand" bit and being un-rivaled on the battlefield. I just hit 36 and finished chapter 1 while spec'd the whole time as a watchman. I have to say that the gameplay has been killer, and I like how easy it is to burn down some of the elites and champions that you can go up against with your companion on some of the different worlds. That being said, I have made it a point to do everything I can to keep my gear up to date and stacked with the best mods and enhancements I can, and lately I have noticed that I have been finishing even regular fights with somewhere around 20% health. This is even more so in PVP, which I only just got into, as this is the first MMO I have PVP'd in, but I find that even when I try to stay close to and support a tank or healer that as soon as I draw someone's attention, I seem to get cc'd and killed in a matter of seconds.

While I am sure that I lot of that has to do with the fact that I am a noob in PVP, I was wondering if anyone had any general advice for how I might improve my survivability, i.e change spec, rotations, anything at all really.

I really enjoy this class, and I love having the dual sabers, but it seems that no matter how many dots I stack or how many times I hit or whatever, by the time I get someone down to 3/4 health in PVP, I am already dead.

[Psybin]

I have been playing a Sentinel as my main since the beginning, as I was really intrigued by the "Master of hand-to-hand" bit and being un-rivaled on the battlefield. I just hit 36 and finished chapter 1 while spec'd the whole time as a watchman. I have to say that the gameplay has been killer, and I like how easy it is to burn down some of the elites and champions that you can go up against with your companion on some of the different worlds. That being said, I have made it a point to do everything I can to keep my gear up to date and stacked with the best mods and enhancements I can, and lately I have noticed that I have been finishing even regular fights with somewhere around 20% health. This is even more so in PVP, which I only just got into, as this is the first MMO I have PVP'd in, but I find that even when I try to stay close to and support a tank or healer that as soon as I draw someone's attention, I seem to get cc'd and killed in a matter of seconds.

While I am sure that I lot of that has to do with the fact that I am a noob in PVP, I was wondering if anyone had any general advice for how I might improve my survivability, i.e change spec, rotations, anything at all really.

I really enjoy this class, and I love having the dual sabers, but it seems that no matter how many dots I stack or how many times I hit or whatever, by the time I get someone down to 3/4 health in PVP, I am already dead.

For starters, once you get Doc if you haven't already you will find life so much easier.

 

For PvP. In non-level 50 PvP. If you are dead whilst your target is on 75% hp it has to mean at least one or two other Imps were nuking you too.

Try and pick your fights more carefully. Do not go leaping ahead into a group of Imps. Hang back a little, circle round, wait for your team mates to engage. Pick a target and smash it. Preferably a healer.

 

Use your defensive CDs. As soon as you take any damage pop rebuke.

I tend to pop sabre ward around 50% hp. I'm not sure if you have it yet but pop guarded by the force at around 10-15% hp.

Lastly, again I forget when you get it, but do not be afraid to pop force camo and run away. Hopefully a friendly healer will get some heals on you. Or try to make it to a health regen pick up item.

 

Do your daily PvP quest and use the pots/adrenals you get from it.

[Vodrin]

Just because there has only been one other focus sentinel that has posted hear I would like to chime in. My main is a valor rank 56 focus sentinel. I run currently with 9 pieces of champ gear and the rest centurion when doing PvP. That puts me at 11.2% expertise or so with some pretty solid offensive stats otherwise.

 

As mentioned above, gameplay for the focus sentinel is about burst, and AoE burst at that. I find it to have the heaviest burst of the three trees (I've tried all three). If you time force sweep with the last tick of force exhaustion and immediately precede force sweep with blade storm, you can stack 8.5K or so damage in the span of two global cooldowns, and you can do it reliably every 15 seconds or so. That's not bad. Add in Zealous leap prior to Blade storm for the auto crit on force sweep and you have 10K damage in 3 GCD's.

 

Defensively focus plays about the same as the other two trees, although you have slightly better mitigation than combat or watchman due to the effect defensive forms has on your base lightsaber stance.

 

This is the build I usually run with. It's fantastic for PvP and solo PvE.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#501bZRMRZGMRMdbRdGR.1