So let's talk Sentinel, BioWare.

[BuhamutZeo]

I love my Watchman Sentinel. None of my characters are nearly as fun. Not my gunslinger, commando, or agent. He has so many abilities that I'm never at a loss for something to hit the other guy with or to protect myself with. This goes for PvE AND PvP.

 

Ever since the ability lag update went in, my Sentinel has been a hurricane of pain and fire. One of the best outcomes is that my force kick actually fires off when I hit the button. Healers are my primary target for obvious reasons. That doesn't mean they're easy to kill. The good ones still live for minutes longer than other classes, but any time spent trying to stay alive means no one else is getting their heals, and I'm just fine with that. The bad ones just die, all the better.

 

I've even some up with some great kill combos from 3/4 focus!

 

Force Leap -> Saber Overload -> Cauterize -> Strike (Zealous Strike if I need focus) -> Force Stasis (So I can watch them dangle and burn) -> Master Strike -> Cancel last Big Windup into Merciless Slash -> Slash -> Dispatch if applicable.

 

You do the math on what just happened.

 

Talented Force Camo stops SO MUCH DAMAGE. Especially if BHs are stacking Thermal Dets or sticky darts on me. And Guarded by the Force. SO GOOD. Few dot crits on them means a good chunk of healing with zen up. And Pacify. The bane of snipers and marauders everywhere. With all of these traits and abilities I regularly win 1v2s in WZs and Illum. I won't usually run from 1v3's either, because I know I still have a good chance. I actually believe that a 20-button mouse is required to play this class properly. Luckily I happen to have one of those!

 

Anyways, why I posted this is because I'd like to know BioWare's stance on Sentinels and what plans they have for them in 1.2. As you can tell, I'm rather happy where I am at the moment, with Watchman spec atleast. Watchman Sentinel is pretty close to perfect. The only changes I'd ask for is a longer duration for the overload saber buff to be on you (Not the enemy, on the Sentinel himself) so I can more easily keep 3 stacks up. Same for Merciless Slash, the margin to use its cooldown reduction buff is ludicrously small. 3 seconds for both should do it.

 

Now Combat and Focus....garbage. Just absolute garbage. No real defensive options in either tree and the damage isn't higher than Watchman as to justify that. They either need MUCH more damage or defensive bonuses added to saber ward, etc.

 

So, I'm asking what you plan to do with Sentinel, if anything. If it were up to me, I'd leave Watchman pretty much alone and focus on Combat and ... Focus. Yeah.

 

Thanks for reading!

[Balashark]

Move on already!

 

Thanks for reading.

[Zilliztra]

They cant really fix the combat lag. I dont know if it is an issue with the game engine or the people using it, but the little improvments usually gets worse after a time.

 

This game is not resonsive in any way or form, it is slow and laggy.

 

So melee classes in general is just messed up.

[Monotoli]

I've never once had an issue with combat lag, except for the occasional hiccup, and I'm running this game on Macbook Bootcamp over a medium-tier wireless internet.

 

Sadly, c'est la vie.

 

(my two cents)

[Balashark]

Try playing a marauder.

[Cancrizans]

Nice post. I agree with most of what you said. I am by no means a "pro" Sentinel, but while at first I thought we were a bit gimped, the more I play Watchman the better I get with it and the potential seems endless.

 

The class has a bit of a learning curve but once you learn to manage and use all your skills it really is both an effective and terrifically fun class to play! I agree about Combat and Focus though. Focus is a one trick pony atm, and while that trick CAN be effective in situations where you get a lot of people close together as when fighting at nodes in Alderaan or doors in Voidstar, beyond that it just doesn't have enough to justify playing it instead of Watchman. Combat suffers from similar problems, to me it seems that though sometimes you get a heck of a lot of burst, it is not consistent or extreme enough to warrant playing Combat over Watchman either.

 

They definitely need to give us a reason to look at those specs at level 50.

[Cancrizans]

Try playing a marauder.

 

Meaning what? It is pretty much the same class.

[BuhamutZeo]

Try playing a marauder.

 

Is there some issue here that I'm missing?

[Chessack]

Having got my Sentinel to level 46 now... playing any other class makes me cry. My BH feels like a squishy. And his damage output feels so anemic. As a Sentinel since level 16 or so, I've gone LOOKING for Elites to fight... mostly because nothing else is even a challenge. As a BH, I avoid them like the plague because they take FOREVER to burn down. I thought it was me but a few other BHs in my guild are having the same problem on the same spec (DPS mind, not heal or tank!). Heck one of them called for help in her level 46 class quest... I can't tell you the last time I needed help against an elite on a class quest as a Sentinel... because I think it was never. Yes she takes longer to wipe out a clustered group of normal mobs than the BH... but against Strongs, Elites, or worse yet a Stong/Elite add... the BH wilts like a flower on the surface of Mercury, while the Sentinel just shrugs and melts them too.

 

Agents are fun, SIs are a blast. All the classes have great stories. But the Sentinel is bar none the most fun and enjoyable class in the game. I fear nothing when playing her in PVE. (I can't speak to PVP, since I don't do it at all.)