Trying to play my Sentinel = sadface

[GRINnBARRETT]

Level 36 - Watchman spec

 

I'm just overwhelmed by the amount of abilities I have to keep track of. I look at my trainer & see I have 5 more to learn by the time I hit 50. I've no idea where they will fit on my ability bars. I read where BW wants to add even more abilities for the Sentinel class. At this point I'm ready to ditch the character.

 

I'm a pretty decent player. I have a rank 52 shadow & rank 37 sage. I have a myriad of other alts from lvl 42-low 30s. I just don't get why this class requires so many abilities. Ascetically it's very pleasing to leap into combat with 2 lightsabers blazing. But that's where the fun stops for me. It's not very challenging pve wise b/c once I got Doc, it was non-stop action.

 

PvP though is another story. I feel that the Sentinel has some of the best animations in the game. Too bad I have to record my matches to actually see them b/c I'm too busy trying to play speed whack-a-mole.

 

I know some of you will just troll & say I suck. That's OK; I don't claim to be anything great with this class. But BW, if you're reading this, please consider toning it down & consolidating abilities. I love the game but frustrations like this just make me want to log out.

Edited April 7, 2012 by GRINnBARRETT

[Smuglebunny]

The sentinel is a class for someone that likes to have alot of abilities. Its complex. This isnt fun for everyone. Since you are probably playing to have fun you should choose whatever class you find the most enjoyable and not worry if someone thinks you are good or bad at the game.

 

I like the sentinel cuz it seems like once you learn to chain the abilities together properly and know at what times to use the defensive cooldowns it becomes much more fun.

 

Im watchman spec only lvl 21. Try looking for rotations of moves in the forums and when to pop the cooldowns and then you wont have to look at the quickbar so much. You need keybinds, the sentinel has too many moves for clicking.

[Quor]

Level 36 - Watchman spec

 

I'm just overwhelmed by the amount of abilities I have to keep track of. I look at my trainer & see I have 5 more to learn by the time I hit 50. I've no idea where they will fit on my ability bars. I read where BW wants to add even more abilities for the Sentinel class. At this point I'm ready to ditch the character.

 

I'm a pretty decent player. I have a rank 52 shadow & rank 37 sage. I have a myriad of other alts from lvl 42-low 30s. I just don't get why this class requires so many abilities. Ascetically it's very pleasing to leap into combat with 2 lightsabers blazing. But that's where the fun stops for me. It's not very challenging pve wise b/c once I got Doc, it was non-stop action.

 

PvP though is another story. I feel that the Sentinel has some of the best animations in the game. Too bad I have to record my matches to actually see them b/c I'm too busy trying to play speed whack-a-mole.

 

I know some of you will just troll & say I suck. That's OK; I don't claim to be anything great with this class. But BW, if you're reading this, please consider toning it down & consolidating abilities. I love the game but frustrations like this just make me want to log out.

 

If it helps, I didn't really start to "feel" my Sentinel until the last 30's, partially for the same reason. Where the hell do you put all those skills???

 

Took me some practice, but I came up with some keybinds that work for me. Alt+Q for Force Camo, Shift+T for Transcendence, Shift+R for OS, Shift+E for Merc Slash....that kinda stuff.

 

I've managed to do that on top of hotkeying adrenals and relics, and I'm happy to say that, although it took some time, I'm pretty comfy with my how Sent works now. But it *did* take some work. I think what you said with the "whack-a-mole" comment is quite true. It took seemingly forever for me to get into a natural playstyle with my Sent. You spend so much time using Strike to build focus it's hard to keep on top of the 10 GCD's between Zealous Strikes for that big focus gen, on top of keeping targets snared, debuff with Crippling Throw, and tossing out other high damage moves as necessary.

 

Watchman really starts to shine 40+. You'll have more focus gen from your DoT's as well as your big hitter in Merc Slash (which will be talented to reset the CD on Cauterize, to help generate more focus and damage). It starts to flow a lot better 40+, so keep at it at least until then. And try not think too hard about when to use what. When I stopped thinking and just let the muscle memory take over I found the class was a lot more enjoyable.

[exhya]

you only need to have good hotkeys and some "skill" . playing starwars isn't hard

[Asphen]

In this thread: Shadow players that think they are good, until they try another class.

 

 

Sorry man, the OPness of the Shadow class has been carrying you. Sentinels are extra fun, but most people that really like the Sentinel, actually enjoy the complexity of the class. This class is not for all players. I'd recommend just playing your Shadow.

 

 

Expect more of these posts with 1.2, and everyone thinking we got 'buff'ed'.

[nanohana]

I don't really know what you are looking for here, what kind of help - if any - you are trying to get.

For what it's worth Sentinel is the class which requires the most abilities to bind and Watchman is the most complex of all three specs. So the only advice I can give you is to try out the other two trees of which Combat probably is the easiest with the least cooldown management.

Edited April 7, 2012 by nanohana

[Veniras]

Watchman is the most complex of all three specs.

 

Heh. Sure about that?

[Jinook_Phi]

I had to laugh at the statement that Watchman is the most difficult, especially being it is the only one of the three specs that has built in self healing, but ok, to each his own.

 

It bugs the heck out of me when I see incredibly unhelpful people just saying, yeah, its complicated, probably not for you, go back to your (fill in the blank). The reality is, Sent can be very frustrating early on. It helps to have friendly people to encourage you along the way. A novel idea, I realize, but what the heck, lets give it a whirl.

 

To the OP: it all comes down to one core question, which some peeps noted, do you enjoy complex rotations and having a variety of options as a play style, as a way of playing the game, or does that play style wear you out? If you do like having a far more open set of options but are just feeling overwhelmed, then you will be fine once you get some of the mechanics of this unique class down.

 

Suggestion #1: DONT buy all of those abilities and definitely DONT use all of them, its overkill and actually undermines your effectiveness. Im a level 50 Focus spec and all of my "core" abilities could fit in the central, core tool bar excluding one centering ability, the stun droid ability and two relics. Obviously, I do not have any of forms in my main, no reason to. So the amount of key binding and/or tool bar usage, should be just be a single two row tool bar, or two rows of key binding, however you play. On the Knight tab of my trainer, there are probably 5-6 abilities on there that Ive either never used or used once at a lower level and dumped it. On my Sent tab, there are three I never use or level.

 

Suggestion #2: Ive never played a class in any MMO that required as much testing as I had to do on this spec, to truly get a feel for what works and what doesnt. Find an area maybe 5 levels below you but that has some silvers. Camp there for a bit and just constantly test different combos, move things around. Testing on lower level silvers is very effective for this purpose. Read up on the various rotations used, how Watchman heal and generate focus, etc... Unlike other classes, there is no "one" path. This is a very big deal in my view, the testing. Once I got what worked for me down, I went from dirt naps to coming out of fights with decent to high health. This process also helps you to determine what abilities work for you and what dont, so you dont have to level them.

 

Suggestion #3: As you really did not speak to how effective you are with your Sent, if its working for you or not, I have no idea if you need help with skills. A quick overview true of all 3 paths to a sent, is we do this delicate dance between setting up crits, delivering well placed specials that maximize on those set-ups, driving focus and constantly interrupting the enemies action if they are a silver (in some cases) or higher. Learning to pace all of that, executing the right abilities at the right times, is what I love about this class, its a very delicate dance of death that feels rather awesome when you're in the zone.

 

Hope that helps!

Jin

[bionamaster]

Level 36 - Watchman spec

 

I'm just overwhelmed by the amount of abilities I have to keep track of. I look at my trainer & see I have 5 more to learn by the time I hit 50. I've no idea where they will fit on my ability bars. I read where BW wants to add even more abilities for the Sentinel class. At this point I'm ready to ditch the character.

 

I'm a pretty decent player. I have a rank 52 shadow & rank 37 sage. I have a myriad of other alts from lvl 42-low 30s. I just don't get why this class requires so many abilities. Ascetically it's very pleasing to leap into combat with 2 lightsabers blazing. But that's where the fun stops for me. It's not very challenging pve wise b/c once I got Doc, it was non-stop action.

 

PvP though is another story. I feel that the Sentinel has some of the best animations in the game. Too bad I have to record my matches to actually see them b/c I'm too busy trying to play speed whack-a-mole.

 

I know some of you will just troll & say I suck. That's OK; I don't claim to be anything great with this class. But BW, if you're reading this, please consider toning it down & consolidating abilities. I love the game but frustrations like this just make me want to log out.

 

There is always Keybinds. Another poster on these forums helped me figure out how to use them. Go to preferences, click on they Keybind tab at the bottom of the page, then click on the icon next to an ability and map it. You will want to configure sidebars first, though.

[GRINnBARRETT]

Thanks for the helpful replies & even the troll ones, they keep me grounded. I had already read the Sentinel guide in the stickies prior to rolling this character.

 

The problem isn't the inability to keybind. I keybind on all my games. I use the G13 gamepad and the M.M.O. 7 mouse. My keybinds are thus:

 

G10 = 1 Force Leap

G11 = 2 Overload Saber

G12 = 3 Zealous Strike

G13 = 4 Cauterize

These hold commonly used combat abilities.

 

G3 = 5 Blade Storm

G4 = 6 Force Sweep

G5 = 7 Force Stasis

G6 = 8 Pacify

These allow me to move my finger one row above to use the next set of abilities.

 

G17 = 9 rebuke

Allows me to drop my middle finger down one row.

 

The other G13 keys (the ones "out of reach")are set to things like map, character sheet, escape, auto run, etc.

 

The M.M.O. 7 mouse has 12 or 13 programmable buttons, 5 of which are near the thumb. I use those 5 for Alt, Ctrl, Shift, Mouse 4, Shift+Ctrl.

 

That gives me:

Alt 1 Strike

Alt 2 Slash

Alt 3 Master Strike

Alt 4 Opportune Strike

Alt 5 Crippling Throw

Alt 6 Cyclone Slash

Alt 7 Force Kick

Alt 8 Leg Slash

Alt 9 Saber Ward

 

Ctrl 1 Relic 1

Ctrl 2 Relic 2 (haven't done the matrix cube yet)

Ctrl 3 Expertise Adrenal

Ctrl 4 Stun Grenade

Ctrl 5 Root Grenade

Ctrl 6 Aoe Grenade

Ctrl 7 PvE Med pack for me & comp

Ctrl 8 PvE med pack

Ctrl 9 Heroic Moment: Call on the Force

 

Shift 1 Power Stim

Shift 2 Crit Stim

Shift 3 Str Stim

Shift 4 Stam Stim

Shift 5 Riposte (Inconvenient I'd like it near my combat buttons)

Shift 6

Shift 7 Sprint (Keybound so I can turn on & off when datacron hopping)

Shift 8 Shii-Sho Form (Keybound so I get a touch more D when running the ball)

Shift 9 Revive (I could take this off since I can right click revive, but it gives me instant feedback on my CD).

 

I also use:

Shift+Ctrl 1 Juyo Form

Shift+Ctrl 2 Force Might

Shift+Ctrl 3 Quick Travel

 

Q resolute

Alt Q Transcendence

Ctrl Q PvP Medpack

E Force Camoflage

Alt E Zen (Will be replaced with Inspiration when I get it at lvl 42).

Ctrl E Pommel Strike (Inconvenient - I'd like it near my combat buttons).

Mouse 4 Introspection

S+E Mount

S+Q Throw the Huttball

 

This is my 48 button allotment. I have 1 open spot and 5 more abilities to keybind when I level: Guarded by the Force, Inspiration, Valorous Call, Awe, Dispatch.

 

The point isn't that I can easily drop a couple skills off my current bar to make room. The point is that I NEED 48+ keybinds in order to play the class OPTIMALLY. BW is talking about giving the Sentinel new abilities. Really?! I surely hope they intend to consolidate the new ones b/c this is a bit ridiculous. If I had to describe this system in one word: BLOATED.

 

And that just addresses the keybinding. You actually have to commit them all to muscle memory and learn when best to use them in order to play optimally. Keep in mind this is my alt! An alt that BW wants me to play so they have time to develop endgame.

 

In the end, I could always just play a class that requires much less with respect to memorization. But I'd like to be able to sample all classes (after all you never reach your pvp potential until you learn the other classes' abilities). This class doesn't need to be this difficult. At least give me credit for trying to make this work instead of "go play your shadow".

 

Thanks again.

Edited April 7, 2012 by GRINnBARRETT

[Dark_Hazard]

Sentinel is a very deadly class when played in the right hands , you pretty much need to keybind everything you would use in strategic places and then your set!

[vuec]

To be fair, this class and this class alone made me want to dish out money for peripherals beyond my keyboard and mouse. But I didn't want to shell out that money for only this game. So I watched other people's videos and basically looked at their key binds for clues how to do my own. I have a problem hitting control without hitting the windows button (bad stuff) so I avoid using the control button. Everyone power we have has it's uses, and to deny yourself the ease of using one isn't optimal. So take a look at some videos or screens to get an idea of how you want to layout your key binds. Actually it helped me a lot because all my characters are similar key bound. Always nice to have access to powers without using the mouse to go click them.

[AethiusSake]

First, Id like to point out how ironic your name is in correlation with your post lol

 

With that said.. I feel your pain.. but it gets better.. trust me on this..

 

I started out head exploding when I played my sentinel watchman, and through all the different MMOs iv played I havent had to override that many default keys..

 

This is the first time iv replaced over 15 default keys to compensate skills

 

My q and e are no longer movement for strafe (just hold mouse button to move), and are now skills, my F, X, T, V even my S (lets face it, u never really move back, you just turn and run) the direction you need to

 

Im lucky to have a decent mouse too with 2 extra buttons on the side for hotkeys

 

All in all.. you will find what works best for you, experiment and move keys around and see whats comfortable for your fingers and what makes sense in your head, to me 1 is Force Leap and V is Overload saber, V for overload I dont know why.. but Pressing 1 then V is great for me..

 

Its little things like that which will get you more comfortable with the class, you will probably spend an entire 10-15 levels from level 1 - 30 staring ONLY at your skill bar instead of the damage animation and the enviroment around you while fighting. This is normal for your "testing" stage.. its what Im just getting out of.

 

GOOD NEWS is once you get used to all that, you will be so comfortable with your skills where they are you will be watching your character and whats around your character the entire time, and paying attention only to maybe your burn ticks instead of cool downs cause youll be so dam used to it and know exactly when and what skills to use, and from there on, any additional skills you can either add into your rotationa or even plan a key for future use.

 

(what i did was researched the class and plan out 10 levels ahead what keys I wanted for that skill because I was already comfortable with a certain setup)

 

itll become second nature, and thats when you feel completely fullfilled because you are playing a complex class with many skills that you have learned to micromanage.

 

 

 

Ill tell you what I have right now

 

1 - Force Leap 2 - Slash 3 - Blade Storm 4 - Zealous strike 5 - force sweep 6 - master strike

R - Riposte T - Resolve F - Force Kick V - Overload Saber X - Zen Q - strike E - Cauterize

 

Mouse 4 - Crippling Throw Mouse 5 - Leg Slash (usually only used in pvp)

 

F1 - Saber ward F2 - Rebuke F3 - Guard of the force

 

There are more, but those are the important ones that I use right now, I find this setup useful, but like I said.. make your own thats comfortable to you and itll all flow later like second nature

Edited April 9, 2012 by AethiusSake

[CecilTellyn]

To be honest, I find playing my Jedi Guardian with all his thousands of abilities and key bindings to be WAY more fun than playing my Sorc which just presses two keys over and over and over again. If it's a boss, I might need to press up to four (4!) keys.

 

With the Jedi Guardian, I feel like I'm actually PLAYING the class whereas with the Sorc, I just feel like I'm punching buttons. I know I'm just pressing buttons to make bars go up or down either way but still... the Guardian is just more satisfying.

 

I guess that could be why I prefer driving manual cars. I like to drive my cars, not just steer them

Edited April 9, 2012 by CecilTellyn

[Irongrin]

You could minimize some buttons for example I just use "numpad -" for medpack but when pvping I switch the medpack to a pvpheal, that'll free up a button.

 

On my jugg (and all my chars for that matter) I have these keybinded

 

1,2,3,4,5,6,r,t,b,f,g,v,z,x,a,d

 

shift + 1,2,3,4,5,r,t,f,e,q

mouse,3,4,5

numpad +,-, /, 0

 

I strafe on Q and E

 

I don't have pommel strike or kick on my bars, since I mostly pvp and in pve I find them kinda useless, it might save you like 1-3 sec per group to use them, but I cba, especially pommel.

[Darianth]

Thanks for the helpful replies & even the troll ones, they keep me grounded. I had already read the Sentinel guide in the stickies prior to rolling this character.

 

The problem isn't the inability to keybind. I keybind on all my games. I use the G13 gamepad and the M.M.O. 7 mouse. My keybinds are thus:

 

G10 = 1 Force Leap

G11 = 2 Overload Saber

G12 = 3 Zealous Strike

G13 = 4 Cauterize

These hold commonly used combat abilities.

 

G3 = 5 Blade Storm

G4 = 6 Force Sweep

G5 = 7 Force Stasis

G6 = 8 Pacify

These allow me to move my finger one row above to use the next set of abilities.

 

G17 = 9 rebuke

Allows me to drop my middle finger down one row.

 

The other G13 keys (the ones "out of reach")are set to things like map, character sheet, escape, auto run, etc.

 

The M.M.O. 7 mouse has 12 or 13 programmable buttons, 5 of which are near the thumb. I use those 5 for Alt, Ctrl, Shift, Mouse 4, Shift+Ctrl.

 

That gives me:

Alt 1 Strike

Alt 2 Slash

Alt 3 Master Strike

Alt 4 Opportune Strike

Alt 5 Crippling Throw

Alt 6 Cyclone Slash

Alt 7 Force Kick

Alt 8 Leg Slash

Alt 9 Saber Ward

 

Ctrl 1 Relic 1

Ctrl 2 Relic 2 (haven't done the matrix cube yet)

Ctrl 3 Expertise Adrenal

Ctrl 4 Stun Grenade

Ctrl 5 Root Grenade

Ctrl 6 Aoe Grenade

Ctrl 7 PvE Med pack for me & comp

Ctrl 8 PvE med pack

Ctrl 9 Heroic Moment: Call on the Force

 

Shift 1 Power Stim

Shift 2 Crit Stim

Shift 3 Str Stim

Shift 4 Stam Stim

Shift 5 Riposte (Inconvenient I'd like it near my combat buttons)

Shift 6

Shift 7 Sprint (Keybound so I can turn on & off when datacron hopping)

Shift 8 Shii-Sho Form (Keybound so I get a touch more D when running the ball)

Shift 9 Revive (I could take this off since I can right click revive, but it gives me instant feedback on my CD).

 

I also use:

Shift+Ctrl 1 Juyo Form

Shift+Ctrl 2 Force Might

Shift+Ctrl 3 Quick Travel

 

Q resolute

Alt Q Transcendence

Ctrl Q PvP Medpack

E Force Camoflage

Alt E Zen (Will be replaced with Inspiration when I get it at lvl 42).

Ctrl E Pommel Strike (Inconvenient - I'd like it near my combat buttons).

Mouse 4 Introspection

S+E Mount

S+Q Throw the Huttball

 

This is my 48 button allotment. I have 1 open spot and 5 more abilities to keybind when I level: Guarded by the Force, Inspiration, Valorous Call, Awe, Dispatch.

 

The point isn't that I can easily drop a couple skills off my current bar to make room. The point is that I NEED 48+ keybinds in order to play the class OPTIMALLY. BW is talking about giving the Sentinel new abilities. Really?! I surely hope they intend to consolidate the new ones b/c this is a bit ridiculous. If I had to describe this system in one word: BLOATED.

 

And that just addresses the keybinding. You actually have to commit them all to muscle memory and learn when best to use them in order to play optimally. Keep in mind this is my alt! An alt that BW wants me to play so they have time to develop endgame.

 

In the end, I could always just play a class that requires much less with respect to memorization. But I'd like to be able to sample all classes (after all you never reach your pvp potential until you learn the other classes' abilities). This class doesn't need to be this difficult. At least give me credit for trying to make this work instead of "go play your shadow".

 

Thanks again.

 

I think you got a bit key bound happy. You do NOT need all of those to play the class optimally you can have a 15 key rotation with your CDs stims and health packs close by. You definitely don't need grenades key bound. It looks like you are simply trying to key bind every possible thing in the game so yea I am sure you feel overwhelmed but the truth is you have done it to yourself. Narrow it down because I guarantee you that if you are using every one of those moves, you are not putting out the top dps. This class does-n't need the 31 move rotation that the Shaman in WoW has so don't make it to where it is.

Edited April 10, 2012 by Darianth

[Stealios]

'Loads of other buttons & keybinds'

 

Ctrl 4 Stun Grenade

Ctrl 5 Root Grenade

Ctrl 6 Aoe Grenade

 

Shift 1 Power Stim

Shift 2 Crit Stim

Shift 3 Str Stim

Shift 4 Stam Stim

 

Shift 7 Sprint (Keybound so I can turn on & off when datacron hopping)

Shift 8 Shii-Sho Form (Keybound so I get a touch more D when running the ball)

Shift 9 Revive (I could take this off since I can right click revive, but it gives me instant feedback on my CD).

 

I also use:

Shift+Ctrl 1 Juyo Form

Shift+Ctrl 2 Force Might

Shift+Ctrl 3 Quick Travel

 

 

Alt E Zen (Will be replaced with Inspiration when I get it at lvl 42).

Ctrl E Pommel Strike (Inconvenient - I'd like it near my combat buttons).

Mouse 4 Introspection

S+E Mount

 

 

This is my 48 button allotment. I have 1 open spot and 5 more abilities to keybind when I level: Guarded by the Force, Inspiration, Valorous Call, Awe, Dispatch.

 

Thanks again.

 

To me, where you might be going wrong is putting stances, grenades & stims on hotkeys.

I use about 25-30 hotkeys and seem to not have your problem (yes i have learned all the abilities, I just chose not to use them all).

 

Also never lose Zen instead of inspiration, while inspiration is awesome, it's also on a 5 min CD. Zen is available way more often, and is really useful as well.

Also you're going to want Guarded by the force, awe & dispatch on hotkey for sure.

 

There are a few possible things you might want to consider:

#1: Is it really necessary to have all those medpacks & the things in my quote etc. on your hotkeys? That should drop you back to around 30 hotkeys, still a lot, but less.

 

#2: drop some of the less important abilities? I for instance never use pommel strike or the other thingy only usable in pve. Sure they're good, but only work on weak, normal and strong, so the elite mobs you won't hit with those attacks anyway.

Same goes for Riposte, sure it's of GCD and deals dmg, but imo it costs to much focus to 'really' use it.

Edited April 10, 2012 by Stealios

[GRINnBARRETT]

Thanks for the replies. I'll take your advice into consideration & adjust accordingly.

[JoeOrno]

You could minimize some buttons for example I just use "numpad -" for medpack but when pvping I switch the medpack to a pvpheal, that'll free up a button.

 

On my jugg (and all my chars for that matter) I have these keybinded

 

1,2,3,4,5,6,r,t,b,f,g,v,z,x,a,d

 

shift + 1,2,3,4,5,r,t,f,e,q

mouse,3,4,5

numpad +,-, /, 0

 

I strafe on Q and E

 

I don't have pommel strike or kick on my bars, since I mostly pvp and in pve I find them kinda useless, it might save you like 1-3 sec per group to use them, but I cba, especially pommel.

 

 

I keybound my two low end PvE abilities to F4 and F5 as in PvE...they can seriously hit 4-5Ks if you are DPS speced.

 

Thats nothing to laugh at

[Darkovan]

General tips for keybinds without having to go and buy gaming mice and keyboards:

 

Unbind your S key! You don't need to walk backwards ever and any time you press it you are move impairing yourself anyway (that includes reverse strafing) Unbind it and un-nerf yourself. If at any point you need to move slowly use the / key on your number pad this will force your character to walk instead of run, hit it again to resume running.

 

Unbind Q and E! and replce your A and D binds from turn to strafe. Holding your right mouse button down will turn your character and camera, you dont need to use A and D to do it.

 

Unbind ~ (left of the 1 key)

 

You have now freed up Q E S and ~ as well their modified Shift/Alt/Ctrl versions.

 

When creating bindings for your sentinal or any class for that matter drag everything off your bars and start from scratch. Think about your first standard ability rotation for combat. Place your opener on 5 then place your rotation down in sequence from right to left on 4 3 2 and 1 (Don't start at 1 and move to the right if your even if your more comfortable with that, explained at the bottom).

If you have a second rotation (my sentinal does so i presume you do lol) repeat the same bind with Shift as a modifier. If your rotations repeat any ability/s, bind that ability/s to 3 or 4 as they are the sweet spot for the human hand. Keep your core rotation binds as simple as possible! save situational abilities for other binds such Q E S R F but when doing so try and group abilities with similar effects with each-other (for example i have S bound to Redoubt and Shift-S bound to Saber Ward).

 

One last tip: Dont bind anything you need to use while moving to Shift-1 or Shift-~. you cant reach them with your pinky if its holding down shift. They're also awkward to use without shift if your moving forward and strafing left at the same time.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Darkovan

[Zag_Stratos]

OP, over complicating things can have dire consequence.

 

What you want to do is learn the basics and move from there. Elaborate based on tactical thinking and knowledge. It's not because you have 60 binds that you'll do good.

 

People will come and show you a bunch of rotations and for the most part, they are valid ones (On a bright sunny day scenario) but in reality, bashing your head to learn a rotation will simply block you from understanding how to fully evolve your Gameplay and style.

 

Rotation = predictable

 

I've been a Sentinel for quite a long time and I know the animations and what skills are being used. The very moment I see someone trying to perform a "default" rotation on me, I usually block them at crucial points.

 

If you understand that Slash/Merc Slash (once you have it) will reset the cooldown on Cauterize. You're already on a good path.

 

This means that if you practice just this simple mechanics, we're looking at something like:

(note, those are just examples, not actual combos so I might be a bit off since I pretty much play by habit and instinct now. I've gone way past studying the mechanic, I simply do it... so I'm just doing my best to explain things here.)

 

Zealous Strike ---> Cauterize ---> Slash/Merc Slash ---> Did it Reset Cauterize?

 

Yes ---> Cauterize again

No ---> Slash

 

Once you understand that principal and you're used to that mechanic, this is where you want to start building up.

 

Force Leap+Overload Saber - Zealous Strike - Cauterize - Strike - Merc Slash - Cauterize... Zen!

 

 

Now obviously, not all fights will go exactly the same and allow you to perform a refined combo. This is where you want to understand skills like Master Strike, Force Sweep, Riposte, Vicious Strikes, Blade Storm, force kick.

 

 

Master Strike is neglected and frown by many Sentinels but funny enough, the outstanding Sentinels on this game will use this skill.

 

Don't open a battle with Master Strike unless you're doing it on a Sniper behind his shield or something. However, the moment someone is slowed, this skills becomes very powerful. Master Strike breaks into 3 attacks on a 3 seconds timeline. The first two attacks are average but the final hit often hits like a monster truck. Even if the target is trying to get away, your final hit will land inside a 10m radius. Only folks that can avoid that third hit are either hiding behind a wall or object or force running away.

 

Now combine this with Merc Slash as a 4th instant hit and watch your opponent running away.

 

 

Blade Storm is a range attack and when it crits... get out of there. While it is a more Combat oriented skill, it is still a valid utility to have on a Watchman. Do not use that skill as a default part of your rotation but anyone that out of your melee range will get damage.

 

 

You know, sometimes that extra 1.5k damage might seem trivial but in a team situation, that might be just the much needed contribution for a kill.

 

 

Learning your defensive skills will also have a major impact on your gameplay

 

 

 

Binds... I see a lot of people over complicating things and if it works for them, great but for me, I was more than happy with the following:

 

WASD - Movement (W and D rebind to Strafe)

 

use mouse to rotate and move forward but I prefer to keep W just in case... FPS habit.

 

The following keys are by default very easy to access.

 

123456 - I find 6 hard to get in a panic situation

QERTY - Top Row

FGH - Mid Row

ZXCVB - Low Row

 

Easy to access - 19 binds

 

 

 

hope that helps.

[kyoblade]

There's really nothing complex about the sentinel class. However, I wouldn't want to play this class without a gaming mouse like a naga. Read and learn what each ability does and after a while you'll develop rotations and everything will feel natural.

[LogikGP]

As most people have stated in one way or another, the sentinel has a fairly steep learning curve. As most anyone who had pvp'd early on after release, dps wasn't cutting it and we'd get destroyed without taking anyone with us. After learning your rotations, whether watchman, combat, or focus, you will find that EVERYONE will try and kite you because they know that if they don't the road to their death is little more than a formality.

 

Tooltips are you friend and make sure you're watching your procs. I'm not completely sure about the watchman tree, because I dropped it when I found that 95% of sent/mara roll watchman (I like to be different and am completely stubborn), but I was only able to get a handle on the "broken" spec after I went through and read all my abilities and built a rotation from there. The biggest thing is learning to manage your focus and realizing that you don't need a full bar in order to begin a proper rotation. Doing that should alleviate that feeling that you are just whacking away with a couple of glowing sticks.

[Sevvy]

Suggestion #1: DONT buy all of those abilities and definitely DONT use all of them, its overkill and actually undermines your effectiveness.

 

Lol. If you want to be good, completely ignore this.

[TavoFring]

A lot of people are making good suggestions on rebinding. Hopefully one more won't clutter things up too much.

 

I shifted my movement buttons two keys over. R is forward, D and G strafe. In that position, Z is right under my little finger and i can easily reach shift as a modifier.

 

From there, I bind important abilities to the easily reached keys. For me, these are Z, B, H, Y, T, E, W, and Q as the primary ring around the movement keys, and 2, 3, 4, 5 as the primary bar above. My favorite mouse is the Logitech G700, which gives me four more buttons under my thumb. I tried a Razr (with a full number pad under my thumb) but I lacked the proper amount of DEX to use it well.

 

Then it's just a matter of being consistent with ability placement, especially when it comes to playing alts. For example, I bind my interrupt to 4. Force Kick, Distraction, Wind Shear, Kick, whatever it may be. That way, when I need to interrupt something, I automatically reach for the 4, which frees my mind to decide if I need to interrupt now (nasty channel), interrupt later (nasty cast) or not interrupt (being juked). I am old and slow, so I need these kinds of crutches...

 

Anyway, I'm not max level, not ranked in PvP, and not even very good, but I find Sentinel is a fun and is getting more fun as the important abilities fill out.