pve rotation?

[Durbenmewgen]

Not sure what rotation to do for just leveling on trash mobs and elites, as a watchman in pve.

[khsolo]

Not sure what rotation to do for just leveling on trash mobs and elites, as a watchman in pve.

 

Depends on what lvl you are

[Durbenmewgen]

19 atm

[Nitrosnwbrdr]

19 atm

 

for PvE on easier enemies there really isn't much of rotation tbh... most of the time even at 50 unless I'm fighting an elite I don't use an actual rotation since most things are dead before I get a full rotation even in. If you're surviving and feeling as if you're killing things at a decent pace I'd just stick to what you are doing.

[Smuglebunny]

i dont know what im doing but i personaly go

 

force leap, cauterize, force sweep, zelous strike, riposte when up, slash, the range saber thing etc.

 

I never get that far usualy like the other guy said, just elites.

 

work in the defensive cooldowns as you feel best.

 

Again i must stress, I have no idea what im doing, but thats what I do. Im new to mmo's never played wow.

[Ynoz]

My rotation is as follows

 

Force Leap, Force Sweep, Zealous Strike, Cauterize, then if target is alive at this point then I use Master Strike or Blade Storm (Not sure about name) but it is an ability you can use from a distance.

 

I use that at the moment because at low lvl's one does not have a wide variety of skills to choose from

[Chessack]

There is no "one right rotation" for all situations. Sweep is good when multiple enemies are together, but I wouldn't bother to use it (generally) against single targets. Blade Storm is good at range but there may be better options (depending on what is "up" at the moment) in HTH range. Master Strike is my favorite attack in the game (it looks awesome and does great damage and it costs no focus to do) but I wouldn't use it on a guy who only has a sliver of health.

 

That said, my "opening salvo" at something like level 19 would be to usually start with Force Leap and then...

 

...against clustered normal enemies, Force Sweep and then start chewing them down one at a time with single-target attacks.

 

... against 1 strong + 1 normal, clustered, same as above.

 

... against 1 strong + 1 normal, not clustered, target and Leap at the normal, Zealous to charge up focus, and then start using single targets to take him down. Let the companion handle the strong till it's all that's left, then take it down with single target attacks.

 

... against 1 strong alone or 1 elite alone, Leap, Zealous, Cauterize, Master Strike, then see what's what as the battle goes on.

 

When you get Overload Saber you're going to want to do that early. Some people like to fire it off as they are Leaping in. Others like to fire it off after the first Zealous. It really doesn't matter that much when you do it. I personally prefer not to bother with burns or with Zen or anything like that on clusters of 3 normal mobs, just because they die so fast without it that overkill that I don't bother. But that's a matter of personal preference.

Edited March 31, 2012 by Chessack

[Rafaman]

Agreed. Rotations will vary and are very dependent on the situation. However as a Combat Sent my rotation is usually something like this. Keep in mind that I don't focus on dots as a combat spec and rely on crits and power of big spikes of damage. Also, my so called rotation is geared toward building focus and depleting focus as well as armor piercing bonus and Blade Storm crit. It aligns with bursts of damage. BTW, opinions are welcome as I'm always tweaking.

 

Strike>Zealous Strike>Precision Slash>(spam the following as it can give back one focus point until low and it is almost instant)Blade Rush 3-4x>Blade Storm>Master Strike

 

The tail end here gives good damage with Blade Rush setting up crit for Blade Storm and Master Strike dealing double damage. I can typically get 3-4K from Blade Storm followed by 3-4k from Master Strike.

 

I use other abilities as apply and therefore this rotation will vary, but if I can manage that rotation in, I'm happy with the results. I don't forget Valorous Call on the front end for 30 center stacks, Zen, and rebuke on demand.

 

One note. I use Strike as a focus builder and for time management and on the second pass, it leaves the rotation ready except for Master Strike.

 

EDIT: Just noticed this is a Watchman discussion so never mind. lol

Edited March 31, 2012 by Rafaman

[IronFirewind]

With the resource system we have, bad players rotate. What you need to do instead is to look at what attacks and resources you have available and then pick the most suitable attack.

 

I tend to follow a list of priorities in PvE though obvioulsy it is never set in stone.

 

1. Zen - Adrenals and Relics if up too - Considering that I have some form on DoT up 24/7 it gets used as soon as it's up (which is frequently in Watchman spec)
   
2. Merciless Slash - If CD buff is about to drop off
   
3. Dispatch - If the target is under 20% HP
   
4. Cauterize
   
5. Merciless Slash - If the CD reduction buff isn't going to drop off and the attack is off CD
   
6. Overload Sabre - Stacked with Force Leap, Master Strike or Strike
   
7. Zealous Strike - If under 7 Focus
   
8. Slash - If I need to dump focus to drop under 7 so my Zealous Strikes don't go to waste.
   
9. Master Strike - If Cauterize, Merciless Slash and Overload Sabre are all on CD
   
10. Strike
    

 

If there is a group of mobs than I will obviously adjust my priorities accordingly by working in Force Sweep and Cyclone Slash

Edited April 1, 2012 by IronFirewind

[Chessack]

One comment about the "use Zen if it's up" rule... In the early levels, which is what the OP asked about, it's not necessarily up all that frequently. A level 19 will not have the talents to buff the Centering stack cycle. Therefore early on, I highly recommend husbanding Zen so that you have it to use against Strongs and Elites. I absolutely would not use Zen against normal mobs (unless you find yourself losing to them, in which case I would submit something is wrong, because I never, ever, lost to a plain group of normal mobs unless I did something really stupid, like not noticing my health was low before the battle started). I would save it and keep that Centering stack of 30 fully charged up and use it on strongs or Elites.

 

Especially in an instance where I knew an Elite was coming, at lower levels, I would "charge up" centering with the plan of timing it to be ready to go just as the Elite fight happened. In fact a few times I turned away from the elite to find some other mobs so I could charge up centering.

 

Now at higher levels this is not necessary, because you get to 30 Centering stacks in a few quick blows. You can also fire off a move that gives you 30 Centering stacks for pushing a button. Since you have that, THAT can be your emergency Zen backup, so you don't need to hoard it.

 

But at level 19, I would not waste Zen. Save it for when you need it, IMO. Otherwise you use it against normals and don't have it for elites.

[KennethHoover]

I agree with many others who have said that Sentinels don't use a standard rotation. Because of their varied abilities you can adapt the rotation to the circumstance. This isn't a class where you spam the same rotation over and over again.

 

The strength of the Sentinel is the ability to use his skills and adapt to the changing circumstances you meet in combat.

[SweetOldBob]

One comment about the "use Zen if it's up" rule... In the early levels, which is what the OP asked about, it's not necessarily up all that frequently. A level 19 will not have the talents to buff the Centering stack cycle. Therefore early on, I highly recommend husbanding Zen so that you have it to use against Strongs and Elites... <snip>

 

I'm working on a Sentinel alt; SWTOR is my first MMO and I've leveled up a Gunnery-spec'd Commando, which is a simpler class to play.

 

Anyhow, I tried husbanding Zen just as you recommend, in order to have it when I fought a boss, but for some reason it went dark before I needed it.

 

Only tried this once, so perhaps I was too quick to generalize, but my take-away was that having Zen enabled is a use it or lose it thing.

[Chessack]

Anyhow, I tried husbanding Zen just as you recommend, in order to have it when I fought a boss, but for some reason it went dark before I needed it.

 

Centering drains away slowly. I think if you don't do a centering-generating attack within 30 seconds it fades. You basically cannot stop combat for more than a quick pause or you will lose it.

 

Definitely if you are going to lose it anyway, use it.

 

But I am going to suggest you're much better off studying where the NPCs are in an instance and mentally mapping out a route through them that keeps you attacking and doing attacks that build centering (the rule is -- melee attacks that cost focus build centering, in general, like Slash). Leave the spawn closest to the elite for last, if you can. If you do that then generally you can spend Zen when you want, because the last spawn will build you up to 30 centering (or close enough that you can get it shortly after the boss fight starts).

 

But yeah... you have to watch what you are doing with Centering and Zen, or you will never have it up.