Tanking Sentinel

[MasterGladius]

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#501rMZMMZGrRMzfRbfz.1

 

Here is an attempt to build a Sentinel that tanks. It sounds absurd, I know, but I thought I'd try it. It is primarily a Focus build that uses Shii-Cho and dips into Watchman and Combat to boost Rebuke a little, including cutting its CD. Hopefully Sweep and Cyclone slash will allow the Sentinel to hold aggro reasonably well, thought without a taunt the battle is uphill.

 

How viable would this build be in PvP or solo play? I doubt it would perform well in high end group PvE, but I could be pleasantly surprised.

Edited April 13, 2012 by MasterGladius

[MasterGladius]

No replies? Is that because it is hopelessly impossible or simply that nobody cares about the prospect of a tanking Sentinel?

[Lightzzoutt]

its not that I don't like tanking..

 

I just prefer to hit things with my sabers for crazy dmg

[thepilk]

If I were to make a tank sentinel, Id probably go Watchman over Focus.

 

The constant burning would help maintain agro (since you dont have a way to taunt), and the Zen heals and crit DoT ticks would probably keep you in the game more than Shii-Cho's damage reduction baseline.

 

Also, no matter what spec, Id make room for the 30% AOE damage reduction in Combat tree to help cushion damage.

[MasterGladius]

I chose Shii-Cho mostly for the sweeps. Without a taunt, I felt the build would benefit from generous AoE damage. The DR was just icing. Obviously the build revolves around building Focus for Riposte to feed Rebuke and Sweeps.

 

The I see your point for Watchman burns and would even agree with you except that Watchman, in my opinion, struggles to maintain aggro on more than one enemy. One on one I'd definitely go Watchman, but as a general purpose build, I feel Focus is the way to go.

 

How important the 30% AoE DR is depends on whether AoE damage occurs frequently and harshly enough to be worth spending the points on it. I've never run ops or Hard Modes, so I'm really counting on the feedback of the community to evaluate this build. I am especially interested to know whether Riposte will trigger and execute frequently enough to keep Rebuke up 90-100% of the time since Sentinel's baseline DR is sub-par for tanking.

 

I figure the best chance for making this work is to have Crit Rating and Defense Chance stacked. I'm not sure which would take priority, though. The damage is secondary, so Accuracy and Surge can take a back seat.

[Rhavim]

no threat increasing saber form = you're not going to tank. ever.

what, you think you can do enough damage to hold threat? ok, you'll go splat in all that damage gear.

oh, you're going to use defense gear? then you're not going to hold threat.

[MasterGladius]

Yeah, Rhavim... That was my biggest concern all along. I was just hoping there was a way to mitigate or negate it. Maybe one day there will be. We can hope. Actually, it was an exercise to see if I could justify using some of the talents the Sentinels have always possessed. It always seemed awkward that a dedicated DPS class would have tanking enhancing talents. Edited April 14, 2012 by MasterGladius

[Rhavim]

Yeah, Rhavim... That was my biggest concern all along. I was just hoping there was a way to mitigate or negate it. Maybe one day there will be. We can hope. Actually, it was an exercise to see if I could justify using some of the talents the Sentinels have always possessed. It always seemed awkward that a dedicated DPS class would have tanking enhancing talents.

 

 

 

not to rain on your parade...again.... but there's a reason you can see what are the class roles before you choose your advance class. jedi guardian is the tank, sentinel is the kickass.

 

yes we have damage mitigating talents, but dont forget, dead dps dont do dps, that's why they are there, pvp, lvling, etc.

[Funick]

no threat increasing saber form = you're not going to tank. ever.

what, you think you can do enough damage to hold threat? ok, you'll go splat in all that damage gear.

oh, you're going to use defense gear? then you're not going to hold threat.

 

I've main tanked 2 HM FPs and offtanked 2 KP runs on my sentinel, agro isn't too much of an issue since you are top dps and are throwing out heals on watchman. main thing is not blowing all your defensive cool downs at once. using your defensive cool downs you are plenty tanky stay in offensive gear just pop a fortitude stim.

 

The main problem for sentinel tanking is no taunt so any fight that has an agro drop mechanic can be very problematic. if you want to tank I recommend a tanking class.

[SteveGarbage]

no threat increasing saber form = you're not going to tank. ever.

 

That's exactly why a Sentinel tank will never fly. You can put as much defense or absorb as you want, but you'll never be able to hold threat. Another tank, a high DPS gunslinger or sentinel or a healer will attract enemies more than any sentinel tank build.

 

There's no saber form to increase threat, you have no threat-generating abilities and you can't equip a shield.

 

What I really wish is that Sentinels had one threat-generating ability. There are times when I'm in a Heroic or Flashpoint and I want to just be able to pull a little threat. Oh well.

[Hizoka]

No replies? Is that because it is hopelessly impossible or simply that nobody cares about the prospect of a tanking Sentinel?

 

because no-one is dumb enough to actually entertain the idea.

[Forest-Crane]

Just stick to your standard watchman build. Generally the only time you will tank a HM FP is when you are over geared for the flashpoint. The great thing about having a sentinel tank is that you can get 3 DPS and 1 Healer for extremely fast runs through the flashpoint.

 

I've tanked T5, MP, Battle of Ilum, False Emperor and off tanked in KP. There's plenty of other sentinels who have done the same and more.

 

There's a video of a sentinel in full rakata tanking a normal mode eternity vault with 4 other individuals.

 

 

The only time you have any issue is when there is an aggro dump, or when there are multiple enemies. In these situations things get hectic but you can generally pull through.

[GaryCartel]

Not meaning to troll, but is this really a thread?

 

Sentinel is a DPS class. Not a tank. They do not have any tanking abilities. So I don't see that point.

[Sevvy]

Not meaning to troll, but is this really a thread?

 

Sentinel is a DPS class. Not a tank. They do not have any tanking abilities. So I don't see that point.

 

People do this in every MMO. If that's how they have fun... /shrug

[Onager]

As for whether or not Sentinel is meant to tank, players have retrofitted classes that aren't designed to tank for that purpose for as long as MMOs have been around, so whether or not a class is designed to tank or not is irrelevant for purposes of this discussion. I can give examples if you guys want, but if any of you had been involved in the MMO community half as long as I have you'd all have an example of your own that demonstrates this very principle.

 

Anywho, Defense rating is the only tank stat that can work for a sentinel, Shield and Absorb require use of a shield to be active and sentinels can't use one.

 

I've tanked via dps on my Guardian as Vigilance for short bursts, and it was totally viable, I just didn't have the same cooldowns that a Sentinel has. IMO if you're going to tank as a DPS spec Sentinels do it better than Guardians for longer periods of time.

 

I don't have any specific logistical analysis on this subject due to lack of personal experience with the Sentinel or Marauder in specific, but I just wanted to chime in to support the thread on basic principle.

 

Feel free to proceed.

[KingofForce]

u have no aggro grabs, so it wouldnt work

[Apocalypse-]

Not meaning to troll, but is this really a thread?

 

Sentinel is a DPS class. Not a tank. They do not have any tanking abilities. So I don't see that point.

 

As a Watchman Sentinel, I've tanked just about every boss on HM in EV/KP. Rebuke+Riposte put you so far beyond everyone else's DPS where the only mechanic that defeats you is threat wipes (new raid is pretty rough for this, second boss is literally impossible to sent-tank). Threat itself isn't remotely an issue with sentinel tanking as watchman, you're doing the same DPS as other DPS before rebuke/riposte, AND you're getting threat gen from your healing. Threat gen as a sentinel is rather insane if you never drop threat. As for taking damage, you get rebuke for 30 of every ~48 (recompense) seconds, and you get a LOT of self-healing.

 

Is sentinel tanking ideal? No, but neither is vanguard tanking or guardian tanking. Is Sentinel tanking viable? Yes. Is Sentinel tanking fun? Hell yes.

[Hizoka]

As a Watchman Sentinel, I've tanked just about every boss on HM in EV/KP. Rebuke+Riposte put you so far beyond everyone else's DPS where the only mechanic that defeats you is threat wipes (new raid is pretty rough for this, second boss is literally impossible to sent-tank). Threat itself isn't remotely an issue with sentinel tanking as watchman, you're doing the same DPS as other DPS before rebuke/riposte, AND you're getting threat gen from your healing. Threat gen as a sentinel is rather insane if you never drop threat. As for taking damage, you get rebuke for 30 of every ~48 (recompense) seconds, and you get a LOT of self-healing.

 

Is sentinel tanking ideal? No, but neither is vanguard tanking or guardian tanking. Is Sentinel tanking viable? Yes. Is Sentinel tanking fun? Hell yes.

 

now we know you are full of crap

[witelightnin]

now we know you are full of crap

 

why, because YOU can't do it he has to be full of crap? It's really not hard to tank on a high-dps class, and his point about rebuke/riposte makes sense. Since riposte is off the gcd, it is pretty much spammable for decent damage if you have the focus for it. And since watchman is already pretty much tops in damage, it makes sense that you could lock down hate by doing this. I still think we're way too squishy and would require too many heals to be considered anywhere close to as efficient as ACTUAL tanks, but it is certainly viable with a decent healer or 2.

[Forest-Crane]

now we know you are full of crap

 

You do realize a fair number of sentinels have already chimed in to say that have tanked Hard mode flashpoints, normal mode EV and KP. Now we have someone who said they have done some of the HM EV and KP bosses. Very very possible depending on the raid composition.