Sentinel - I had to reroll to appreciate

[Kanludar]

Like so many others on this board i used to believe that my sentinel sucked at just about everything and I admitted to wasting my time lvling one up and pvping up to rank 57.

 

Over the last few weeks I have begun to realize how wrong I was, and had to reroll a different character to really appreciate what the sentinel brought to the table.

 

I just wanted to list a few tips that aren't mentioned very often, and I have found supremely useful.

 

First off

 

FOCUS BUILD, FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS

 

Many of the problems sentinels are experiencing, especially in pvp are because Watchman spec is too button heavy. Unless you run premades with a tank or a healer, Watchman will be nearly impossible to play until you get full champ gear. There are simply too many buttons to press to get your damage up, and while trying to do decent damage you will not be using the skills that really set us apart, and dying quickly.

 

My watchman initial blast requires 8 hotkeys, Focus requires 4 (this includes rebuke/ and centering buffs) Focus's damage rotation is so simple you will become much better at using all the defensive cool downs that make us great, and it hits like a truck. With full champ gear 300k each match is not difficult, and I've maxed over 500k in voidstars.

 

Other things that I believe are understated and absolutely terrific

 

While in focus build use transcendence all the time. I get accused of using a speed hack because if transcendence hits 3 other people you get all the centering refunded and you can use it again, this keeps your centering maxed until you get into a nice cluster of enemies and pop Zen for the double slash hits. Hitting 2 people with slash for 1500 to 2k damage 6 times for no focus is quite a lot. Not to mention transcendence also increases you defense.

 

Use LOS to your advantage. As melee you will quite often find yourself around the turrets in Civil War, or killing healers that are humping pillars in Voidstar. Use those objects to your advantage. Position objects between yourself and ranged enemies whenever possible.

 

Force leap is a great defensive tool, when you find yourself surrounded by three melee, target a caster who is on the other side of the fight and leap over, not many people want to chase you across the battlefield.

 

Finally learn ALL of your abilities. 1vs1 you can shut an opponent down for a long time, choke, pacify, guarded by the force, invis, not to mention obvious cool downs like rebuke (use this hotkey basically every time you leap) and saber ward.

 

Padawans, Sentinels don't suck, they are in fact great. We are the hardest dps class to kill, and can put out damage close to the classes most would consider op, and have great utility (leaps, invis, sprint, aoe stun, pacify, channeled stun)

 

Not exactly a professional how to post, was just really feeling the sentinel love, and there is not enough of this on the message board.

[devildocyoung]

Ya I agree, and when i was leveling having issues 1v1 elites my level I was really worried about the class but I have no such fears now.

 

I was pretty confused with threads listing us as the worst class or melee is useless. I'm top dps in my guild by far and I can solo 2 man heroic dailys on ilum/belsavis. No worries

[khsolo]

Sentinels require a Force Push or Force Pull to be real Jedi

 

I feel half Jedi when i play

[MinionOfEckerd]

Any suggestions on what spec to go with? Would you suggest this as a leveling build as well? Thanks!

[AlatarTheGrey]

Good post.

 

I'll note I had a similar experience with my Jedi Sage. I thought I knew what I was doing. But starting again and rethinking while levelling up taught me a lot more than I learned while grinding thru levelling up as quick as I could the first time. It's amazing how I went from being revived in a med center 2 or 3 time per level to passing out infrequently.

 

And I'm finding my so far level 26 Sentinel to be a real treat to play. I'm leveling up a Shadow at the same time, and I don't see how a Sentinel is in any way squishy or underpowered. I love the damage I can deal out so quickly.

[McVade]

Sentinels require a Force Push or Force Pull to be real Jedi

 

I feel half Jedi when i play

 

Jedi Sentinels are Fury Warriors with glow-in-the-dark swords. They couldn't have missed the feeling of a Jedi harder in a Sentinel.

 

Not saying we're not good, but Scoundrels feel closer to Jedi than Sentinels do - I mean, they PUNCH things out, including droids. That's like beyond Jedi. lol

Edited February 23, 2012 by McVade

[SteveGarbage]

Any suggestions on what spec to go with? Would you suggest this as a leveling build as well? Thanks!

 

I'd suggest Watchman for either PvE or PvP. It's currently the strongest and highest utility spec. General consensus is that it's the "best" Sentinel spec.

[Asphen]

The Focus spec is intended for slow players and mostly mouse clickers. It was designed so that bad players can enjoy the game too.

 

 

 

Enjoy the fun you are having with only the four buttons you mouseclick, but Focus is not the path of the advanced and capable Sentinel player.

 

 

 

 

Focus is what I would have my Dad play, if he wanted to play SWTOR, and only intended on playing through the quest story.

[KilllerRock]

The Focus spec is intended for slow players and mostly mouse clickers. It was designed so that bad players can enjoy the game too.

 

 

 

Enjoy the fun you are having with only the four buttons you mouseclick, but Focus is not the path of the advanced and capable Sentinel player.

 

 

 

 

Focus is what I would have my Dad play, if he wanted to play SWTOR, and only intended on playing through the quest story.

 

Well in his post he specifically said Watchman has more buttons and focus is easier to play because it has less buttons.

[iCanUseTheForce]

I too have rediscovered the love I have for my Sentinel. I realize now that, played & geared right, it is a powerhouse and a lot of fun.

[CapuchinSeven]

The Focus spec is intended for slow players and mostly mouse clickers. It was designed so that bad players can enjoy the game too.

 

 

 

Enjoy the fun you are having with only the four buttons you mouseclick, but Focus is not the path of the advanced and capable Sentinel player.

 

 

 

 

Focus is what I would have my Dad play, if he wanted to play SWTOR, and only intended on playing through the quest story.

 

So basically, what he said in a single sentence that you turned into three paragraphs?

I say this because it sounds like you're bashing him for playing Focus.

[Superpescado]

So basically, what he said in a single sentence that you turned into three paragraphs?

I say this because it sounds like you're bashing him for playing Focus.

 

agreed it was a douchey reply

[MacOda]

The Focus spec is intended for slow players and mostly mouse clickers. It was designed so that bad players can enjoy the game too.

 

 

 

Enjoy the fun you are having with only the four buttons you mouseclick, but Focus is not the path of the advanced and capable Sentinel player.

 

 

 

 

Focus is what I would have my Dad play, if he wanted to play SWTOR, and only intended on playing through the quest story.

 

 

Translation: I am a wannabe l33t boi that is ube because I play the most commonly accepted spec for Sentinels. This obviously means that I am superior to other players for this reason and any one that prefers any other play style is inferior and terrible.

Edited February 23, 2012 by MacOda

[nubzz]

lvling is harder period. I went to alderaan at the minimum lvl discovered I was going to die many many times and went back to tat and got to 31 and used my synthweaving to maximize my gear with the highest blue and purple gear I could make. This made alderaan much more tolerable. I would venture to say it is more difficult lvling than my gunslinger was and on alderaan was where my gunslinger also began running into trouble but it was not quite as bad and I was able to complete it with green whatever I had looted gear on the gunslinger. My Vanguard just mowed through lvling, I think that class could do it naked but I think it helped greatly that the vanguard had a healer companion early.

Sent is quite fun to play though much more so than the vanguard certainly and at least on par with the gunslinger as far as "fun".

I have noticed in wz's I destroy more classes 1v1 than my gunslinger can however. I don't really fear any specific classes on the sent so far like I did and still do on my gunslinger. I chose to play a sent because this happens to be the class my gunslinger has the easiest time defeating 1v1 and I was curious as to how they play. After having played a gunslinger however I'm doing relatively well vs snipers/gunslinger in wz's of course because I know what they are going to do why and how.

I guess my only real gripe with sent is the lvling, it's bad. It's tedious and slow. The people who want to say this class is better because they have to use many skills to make up for 1 or 2 skills that another class can use to the same effect are delusional.

[jaedsm]

Enjoy the fun you are having with only the four buttons you mouseclick, but Focus is not the path of the advanced and capable Sentinel player.

 

Eh, I'm focus spec and I use every single ability with 24+ key mappings.

[JerokTalram]

lvling is harder period. I went to alderaan at the minimum lvl discovered I was going to die many many times and went back to tat and got to 31 and used my synthweaving to maximize my gear with the highest blue and purple gear I could make. This made alderaan much more tolerable. I would venture to say it is more difficult lvling than my gunslinger was and on alderaan was where my gunslinger also began running into trouble but it was not quite as bad and I was able to complete it with green whatever I had looted gear on the gunslinger. My Vanguard just mowed through lvling, I think that class could do it naked but I think it helped greatly that the vanguard had a healer companion early.

Sent is quite fun to play though much more so than the vanguard certainly and at least on par with the gunslinger as far as "fun".

I have noticed in wz's I destroy more classes 1v1 than my gunslinger can however. I don't really fear any specific classes on the sent so far like I did and still do on my gunslinger. I chose to play a sent because this happens to be the class my gunslinger has the easiest time defeating 1v1 and I was curious as to how they play. After having played a gunslinger however I'm doing relatively well vs snipers/gunslinger in wz's of course because I know what they are going to do why and how.

I guess my only real gripe with sent is the lvling, it's bad. It's tedious and slow. The people who want to say this class is better because they have to use many skills to make up for 1 or 2 skills that another class can use to the same effect are delusional.

 

The only problems I have/had leveling Sentinel was the occasional Elite, I just couldn't beat. I'd be going along killing everything fine including Elites and then I would run into a Force Sensitive Elite or a mission Boss and I would have problems. Not every mission Boss by any means but enough that it would be annoying. I would hit a wall and either it would take me lots of tries before I killed him or I would get a Guildie to help.

 

All in All, I would say leveling Sentinel as Focus is fine save some elites that need to be toned down a bit. With that said, combat is probably broken and needs help.

Edited February 24, 2012 by JerokTalram

[robotdanceparty]

I leveled my sent to 38 with combat and loved the playstyle, but felt underpowered. I might switch back to it when I'm able to pick up blade rush, but I'm not 40 yet.

 

I just switched to watchmen yesterday and I'm loving it. I'm both more durable with the zen heals and I'm doing more damage.

 

This class is great to play as, its fun, flowing, with a great storyline.

 

That said, it is definitely not as strong as my vanguard main, which is a goddamn shame. I'm interested to see how this pans out at endgame, till then I guess I just gotta level up

[bathrobe]

Focus can put out a solid amount of damage, most of it in heavy burst which is good for finishing people off, and the strong AoE will usually hit a lot of people in cluster**** situations like voidstar. It has few cooldowns to keep track of, and generally flows well together, so if you keep track of 1-2 cds, you know when the others are up as well. It has a second, short range leap, and an excellent snare to help keep you on kiting enemies.

 

However, there are reasons why Watchman and Combat are considered more effective.

 

Focus damage is reliant on a single, easily recognizable combo dependant on a 21 second cd or a 1 minute cooldown to deal optimal damage. If they stop your first combo, which takes, at a minimum, 5.5 seconds to complete, If they manage to shut down a second combo, you've spent almost half a minute doing very little damage, and will need another 5.5 seconds to set up for a third combo with no hope of repeating for another 15.5 seconds. Since this combo also requires force leap or zealous leap, you'll be tempted to use these skills more to buff your damage than to tactically re-engage. If you do, you'll find yourself knocked back and snared, or knocked over a ledge with no way to return to your target in time to finish the sequence.

 

Despite this, you will get your combo off more often than not. Less often against good opponents, of course, but even they can't stop you every time. When you get your combo off, your primary damage comes from Force Sweep, which is not targeted. The extreme movement of PvP combat combined with the lag issues this game mean that this ability misses far more often than most people find acceptable, even if you do everything perfectly.

 

Even if you managed to finish every combo, and land every sweep, you still will not deal as much damage to geared opponents. You might be able to deal more damage overall, given the AoE nature of your primary damage ability and your zen, but you can't really control where that damage goes, and much of it will be wasted. Because your spec is balanced around dealing AoE damage, combat and watchman will pull well ahead in single target situations. Given the high healthpools, heavy mitigation, and strong healing in organized PvP, most experienced players prefer the option to inflict strong damage on a single, vulnerable target in order to create mismatches, rather than try to take down groups.

 

The reason Watchman is considered the premier PvP spec is because it combines the best, reliable damage, best centering generation, and best utility (self heals, fast interrupts, equivilent mobility skills), into a single tree. It is widely considered the premier healer-killing spec, not only in this specific AC, but in the entire game. That's kind of a big deal.

 

Combat also has a solid place in organized PvP with its peel potential (lol alliteration) and mobility along with the fact that its next-to no ramp up time burst and armor penetration make fast-switch tactics extremely effective. Also, when played right, the majority of its highest damage strikes ignore 100% of armor. If Watchman is the healer-killer, Combat is the tank killer.

 

Compared to these two excellent specs, Focus is just lacking in any kind of competitive environment. It is excellent for stomping poorly geared opponents though, and the large crits are satisfying to a certain mindset. Feel free to spec it if you wish, but just know you're not doing your team any favors.

Edited February 24, 2012 by bathrobe

[kumacurry]

Bathrobe - your comment is great, it gave me something to think about, thanks.

But you are talking about PvP here, while thread is more about leveling sentinels. I think this is where Focus actualy shines more also due to higher damage mitigation.

Watchman is probably ok for leveling (never tried that tbh, never liked that tree), but for Combat tree i have found myself rather very squishy even with blue/purples gears.

Also Zeal ability for Ataru form feals a bit like... meh...

 

So for middle game leveling, i find Focus as most enjoyable spec. Might change at lvl 50 PvPs, but first i have to get there.

[Jageera]

My main's a Guardian rank 57... which has got to be one of the weakest classes outside of a scoundrel in my eyes. Sure, everyone *****es that their class is underpowered. I saw a few Sorcs posting about how weak they are on the PVP forum not long ago... good for a chuckle.

 

Either way, I've now rerolled into Sentinel. I guess I've got some sort of fixation on melee force users. I just hit 30 and I already enjoy how complex, demanding, and ultimately rewarding the Sentinel is. There's no possible way, given equal gear, that my Guardian can out DPS a sentinel. Truth be told, between Camo, Rebuke, and pacify, Sentinels have better survivability than a DPS-specced Focus Guardian. Of course, that's assuming the Guardian is specced for Shii-Cho over Soresu.

 

Either way, I love both toons. I've never understood how anyone could think the dual wield saber classes are weak in any way. After playing one, it still perplexes me.

 

For the record, Sentinels have it pretty good in terms of tree balance as well. Guardians have only one viable pvp tree and it happens to be one that Sentinels have access to. Scoundrels have only one viable pvp tree after it got nerfed into oblivion and that's as a healer... maybe. Watchman might be tops in the game for DPS and we all know what Focus can do.

 

Be proud to be a Sentinel. You've got it better than you think.

[rakuenCallisto]

My main's a Guardian rank 57... which has got to be one of the weakest classes outside of a scoundrel in my eyes. Sure, everyone *****es that their class is underpowered. I saw a few Sorcs posting about how weak they are on the PVP forum not long ago... good for a chuckle.

 

Either way, I've now rerolled into Sentinel. I guess I've got some sort of fixation on melee force users. I just hit 30 and I already enjoy how complex, demanding, and ultimately rewarding the Sentinel is. There's no possible way, given equal gear, that my Guardian can out DPS a sentinel. Truth be told, between Camo, Rebuke, and pacify, Sentinels have better survivability than a DPS-specced Focus Guardian. Of course, that's assuming the Guardian is specced for Shii-Cho over Soresu.

 

Either way, I love both toons. I've never understood how anyone could think the dual wield saber classes are weak in any way. After playing one, it still perplexes me.

 

For the record, Sentinels have it pretty good in terms of tree balance as well. Guardians have only one viable pvp tree and it happens to be one that Sentinels have access to. Scoundrels have only one viable pvp tree after it got nerfed into oblivion and that's as a healer... maybe. Watchman might be tops in the game for DPS and we all know what Focus can do.

 

Be proud to be a Sentinel. You've got it better than you think.

 

I agree with everything you said besides the Scoundrel part.

 

Although we have been nerfed p hard, I still EASILY get 200k+ damage and 6+ medlas without breaking a sweat as Scoundrel.

 

Now actually FINISHING people off and killing them... that's a whole nother story.

[Jageera]

Now actually FINISHING people off and killing them... that's a whole nother story.

Well... that's kinda what I was referring to. Scoundrels just aren't a threat anymore.

[EssFerret]

lvling is harder period. I went to alderaan at the minimum lvl discovered I was going to die many many times and went back to tat and got to 31 and used my synthweaving to maximize my gear with the highest blue and purple gear I could make. This made alderaan much more tolerable. I would venture to say it is more difficult lvling than my gunslinger was and on alderaan was where my gunslinger also began running into trouble but it was not quite as bad and I was able to complete it with green whatever I had looted gear on the gunslinger.

 

I had the same problem I was dying on almost every strong+norm pull. I did not fix it with gear. For me, it was all about approach.

 

1. Drop teeseven and use kira. teeseven was not able to keep enough aggro/stay up long enough to be useful as soon as we got to alderaan. Kira's extra DPS meant I could kill stuff fast enough to always stay above 70% hp in a normal mob fight.

 

2. As Watchman spec, don't try to bleed the norms. You have 3 skills that punish norms at level 28, and it's easy to forget about them because you are focusing on your fancy bleeds and awesome skills. Master Strike, Force Sweep, and Blade Storm all have a norm stun. Norm stun = less incomming damage. In addition if you use these you can get Pommel Strike going. These 3 skills had started to work their way out of my rotation as I was focusing on building bleeds and watching CDs. Adding them back in took a lot of pressure off.

 

3. Religious use of Rebuke. Not needed for every battle but keeping it up for 30s is a fun game to try and keeps your pace up. Use it EARLY in fights, because you will mitigate more damage when there are more mobs hitting you. Same goes for saber ward. If you don't feel like resting and have 40% hp, pop ward before leaping so you can absorb dmg when there is more of it.

 

4. Once you hit 30 you can use cloak to control aggro. If your hp dips below 50%, pop it and make them hit Kira and then start attacking again. This will keep your hp up and keep the dps rolling.

 

5. Interrupt everything. You have 3 interrupts at this point. Use them every time a mob is casting/channeling. The reason your scoundrel felt easier is because you had cc. As a sentinel your interrupts are your cc.

 

I love sentinel. I like the challenge of watchman spec. I like starting an elite battle with 40% hp and fighting my *** off to pull through it. Just like the op, it took a re-roll from mara for me to appreciate the play style.

Edited February 24, 2012 by EssFerret