Just switched from Watchmen to Combat...

[Ainianu]

Umm yeah ok

 

Valor 70 Combat Sentinel in full Battlemaster.

 

I face alot of Full Battlemaster Anhililation Maruaders on a regular basis and they are good players and they are no stronger then I am. The dots are great but they don't out last or out heal my direct damage. Do I win all the time against them no. I zig when I should have zagged just like they do but this whole "I'm a good player and I know for a fact" argument is BS.

 

Both specs work well if played well and fit your style. Claiming one is far superior to another is just stupid. They are 2 entirely different play styles.

 

Drop your "I'm awesome" egos and appreciate that combat just wasn't for you and you couldn't figure out how to make it work.

 

This pretty much says it...

Most Watchman lovers have not played Combat... or just never figured it out (it is harder to play and that in itself could make it considered 'worse')

 

I played all 3 specs and i found Watchman more effective in some situations... less effective in others, great consistent dps over a long period of time but its lack of upfront damage i found limiting in pvp and some areas of pve. Both have very similar roles, but go about it different ways... both are good, both have great things in their tree that define them. Neither are better than the other, its really coming down to playstyle/personal choice.

[Derian]

And wow what have I been missing?? I have to say I find Combat significantly better in PVP. IMO what I lose in 1v1 combat I more than make up for in absolutely insane burst.

 

Does anyone else feel this way?

 

No. Combat is terrible for PVP.

[Elaithe]

i've spent much thought between watchman vs combat..

 

Easy solution to dispel which is the better spec. Go to Quesh, coords are (300, 200) and see how much you can drop the Quesh World Boss before he Enrages.. The enrage timer is a lil bit over 6 mins. The boss has a lil over 800k health.

 

I did 4 attempts. 2 as Combat and 2 as Watchman.

 

Combat

1st attempt dropped him to 242k

2nd attempt dropped him to 236k

 

Watchman

1st attempt dropped him to 123k

2nd attempt dropped him to 112k

 

All in all, the results in my eyes are conclusive. Watchman is the better spec. All 4 attempts I had the same buffs, same gear. No outside help. No companion nadda.

 

So there ya go. It's still all about personal preference, and this is a pve comparison, but I still use watchman in pve. Free heals are always nice.

 

Possibly the worst comparison ever... All this tells me is that Watchman has better sustained DPS on 1 target with 100% uptime which is about 0% of the time in PvP.

 

Edit: Also, for the idiots who think Combat is awful in PvP

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=685v0BP5hAU

Edited March 4, 2012 by Elaithe

[Derian]

I disagree, in rated wzs you can expect more people will be cleansing your dots, while the ability to immobilize a target in a 8 man premade will be huge.

 

Dots last six seconds. The response and action to clean them off multiple targets successfully will waste a healers time, which in itself is a win.

[Inayat]

I played combat from lvl 1-50.

 

Liked it a lot and this was when warzones still had a 1-50 bracket.

 

Never played watchman or focus, so can not really compare.

 

Then one day i was bored and made a Vangaurd.

 

Wich was way more fun to play. Haven't touched my sentinel since.

 

I have to admit that maybe i just sucked at playing sentinel.

 

Cause i have met some marauders who hit like trucks and are really hard to kill 1v1.

 

The only thing i have going for me is knowing their skills, wich gives me some time to know when to stun/keep distance or else they just chew you up.

 

I fear a combat marauder/sentinel, that knows how to play, more than anything out there.

 

Cause there is no other class out there that gives me an "oh ****" feeling when they leap at me.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Inayat

[Silvang]

Dont know m8, but I think you might be a little wrong there. YEs, Combat is totaly different style of gamplay than Watchman, but watchman does bring more burst damage and overall damage to play...

 

That said, I played Combat all the way from 1-50 in PvE and 1-57 in PvP, and I did find Combat my playing style as I love all the immonilize it brings so its much easier to control the target.

At that time I was also most of the time in top 2 in damage beeing beaten by mostly Coms/BH and realy good Gunn/Snipers, this while beeing Champ in BM brackets. So I gues I have some experiance when it comes to Combat.

 

So than I thought I give Watchman a try and gues what on the 5 1st WZ matches my avarage damage went up by 100k. Yes, that was damage when I just switched to a totaly new spec and had only some clue on how to effectivly use it.

Now when I do have clue about the tree mechanics, I prety much burst down people much quicker than I did with Combat. Even thought on paper this should not be true.

Yes, I do hate this Watchman player style, and every match miss my ultility in locking a target down and just pop my instant abilities insted of having to build up the burst.

 

The biggest problem with Combat and why it lack the same numbers as Watchman is the fact that Bladestorm is to buggy. This is getting fixed in 1.2(?) to have the same animation time as Force Scream, so should fix its 2 times before trigger bug.

Same goes for master strike, which at least now you can re-trigger if it get bugged after the GCD is of, not like before where you had to wait for the whole 3 sec. This is the biggest issues, as our most damaging abilities we have in Combat dont trigger 50% of the time...

 

Jess, wall of text. Summery is that Combat will again be useful after 1.2 for those that like that style of play. For now Watchman and Focus is the better build.

 

Pretty much this (although i would be hesitant of the last sentence. In my case i will just add at the end "in my hands"). I have been in exactly the same situation.

 

I leveled as combat and played combat extensively in lvl 50 WZs. I loved it, loved the control and i believe i had a very good grasp of the tree itself as shown by my dmg output and 1on1s. However when i decided to switch to Watchman as a try, even though i was seeing smaller numbers (at the time my Merc Slash hit for about 70% of what my Blade would) and i should have been getting less output, my damage saw an increase of 20%+ and i was just finding it easier and easier to kill people. And that was an immediate effect (exactly like OldxLady describes).

 

However i don't disagree with Vodrin nor Falcatta.

 

The only statement i can really make is that Watchman, in my hands was far superior to Combat (even though i do/did enjoy Combat greatly - more than Watchman). And i am quite a decent Sentinel (no need to go in SS and numbers mambo-jumbo, take it for what it is or not at all. Or join me in Scepter of Ragnos:P).

Edited March 5, 2012 by Silvang

[AstralProjection]

Not sure why people say combat is easier and for noobs?

 

I played Combat a lot longer than watchman, but have played both for a while now post 50.

 

They both have roughly the same amount of buttons. Both require to use your abilities in specific orders to maximize your DPS.

 

Combat has better control, short term burst.

 

In the long haul, Watchman clearly does more DPS, and also heals for a decent percentage of your damage dealt.

 

For team-based play, it's hard to argue that Watchman isn't the best, that's why I'm not specced combat anymore.

 

Combat is definitely the most fun spec for me, Watchman isn't even close in terms of that. But the advantage of having those DoT's keep ticking even if you lose melee range, and the advantage of that group healing are too much to ignore if you like to play competitively.

 

If you're a good player, and just want to play for fun, spec Combat. You'll do similar DPS, just without the healing, and actually feel like a melee combatant.

 

For rated PVP, unless they nerf Watchman or buff Combat, though, you're probably going to want to spec Watchman to do the most good for your team.

 

That's just my $0.02, others' opinions may differ.

[Dree]

I've bounced back and forth a few times from Watchman to combat and now back to watchman... seriously Watchman OWNS combat... yes combat has BIG numbers more often but overall watchman crushes combat hands down.

 

Once you get charged up on a person there is no turning back with Watchman it is unreal... Yes you have to be able to micro manage about 10 different abilities very well to make it work which is probably why people lean towards combat who cannot manage actions well enough for Watchman... check out my video just for example if you have never seen a Watchman played right...

 

[PantsOn]

I've bounced back and forth a few times from Watchman to combat and now back to watchman... seriously Watchman OWNS combat... yes combat has BIG numbers more often but overall watchman crushes combat hands down.

 

Once you get charged up on a person there is no turning back with Watchman it is unreal... Yes you have to be able to micro manage about 10 different abilities very well to make it work which is probably why people lean towards combat who cannot manage actions well enough for Watchman... check out my video just for example if you have never seen a Watchman played right...

 

 

Watchman is like 100% easier to manage than Combat.

 

(I'm currently specced Watchman)

[Zag_Stratos]

I think this is turning more into an emotional debate than what is what exactly.

 

I've gave Combat a spin again this weekend. After careful consideration, to play Combat you need Quake and Unreal like reflexes and awareness. Of course, that's based on if your trying to be the very best of the best. In that sense, quick reaction rewards the Combat tree.

 

Watchmen is a lot more MMO'ish where you stick dots and keep track of them. Hence the reason I find Watchmen harder. I do not usually play MMOs nor do I deal with the stupidity of damage over time. I am use to aim, shot and boom: headshot, rinse and repeat elsewhere. Basically, Watchmen is rewarded by a keen sense of tactics.

 

It's not a scientific analysis and god knows I'll never waste my time over analyzing a game but as a above average FPS player, when I started to make the connections, it was a bit easier to properly define what is what. At least, that worked for me.

[PantsOn]

I think this is turning more into an emotional debate than what is what exactly.

 

I've gave Combat a spin again this weekend. After careful consideration, to play Combat you need Quake and Unreal like reflexes and awareness. Of course, that's based on if your trying to be the very best of the best. In that sense, quick reaction rewards the Combat tree.

 

Watchmen is a lot more MMO'ish where you stick dots and keep track of them. Hence the reason I find Watchmen harder. I do not usually play MMOs nor do I deal with the stupidity of damage over time. I am use to aim, shot and boom: headshot, rinse and repeat elsewhere. Basically, Watchmen is rewarded by a keen sense of tactics.

 

It's not a scientific analysis and god knows I'll never waste my time over analyzing a game but as a above average FPS player, when I started to make the connections, it was a bit easier to properly define what is what. At least, that worked for me.

 

Are you talking about multi-target management or something?

[JustinxDuff]

Because there will be good healers that purge dots?

 

And those same good healers will keep healing when you don't have the CD decrease on the interrupt.

[Vodrin]

And those same good healers will keep healing when you don't have the CD decrease on the interrupt.

 

I'm pretty skeptical that healers will always quickly cleanse watchman DoT's. Even when I run in and against pre-mades healers frequently get so pre-occupied with surviving and healing that they forget to cleanse DoT's. I'll be a bit surprised if this changes suddenly. We'll see though. If Watchman sentinels suddenly see their DPS drop precipitously in competitive PvP matches after 1.2 goes live, then I'll believe it. But until them I'm a bit dubious of those saying Watchman will suddenly become much weaker.

[iCanUseTheForce]

I don't PvP, so I can't comment on that. But...

 

For questing on trash, I prefer Combat because I can burst one down, then move to the next, rinse & repeat. But elites or 2x strongs, I prefer Watchman. I can use Zen 2x on an elite as Watchman and keep myself alive even without a companion. I miss the flash of Combat, but Watchman has saved my butt more than once where Combat would have left me lying on the ground.

[iCanUseTheForce]

I don't PvP, so I can't comment on that. But...

 

For questing on trash, I prefer Combat because I can burst one down, then move to the next, rinse & repeat. But elites or 2x strongs, I prefer Watchman. I can use Zen 2x on an elite as Watchman and keep myself alive even without a companion. I miss the flash of Combat, but Watchman has saved my butt more than once where Combat would have left me lying on the ground.