Extreme difficulty curve at level 49

[ekimmak]

Ok, my main has always been a Sentinel. I've gotten maxed affection from Kira and doc, and moderately good with all the others but my crafting droid, who has zero. I took the combat skill tree because I liked the idea of a third form, and despite people instisting I should switch to watchman, I never did (Because no one bothered to explain where the skill respec person is). For crew skills, I went Cybertech, Slicing, and UT. Regretted it, because people charge a large fortune for scavenging materials, so my crafting is seriously underlevelled(but on the upside, I have maxed slicing and UT, as well as several purple grade ship schematics.)

 

I've gotten to the mission where

you take down the turbolaser turrets

and all of a sudden, it's impossible. Every mob is two standards and a strong, or occasionally two strongs, or an elite. And an inverse to the nightmare that was levels 20-32, I can only handle the elites, everything else is a nightmare to handle.

 

If I bring Doc, I either don't manage the aggro correctly, the strong goes after him, and always finishes him before I can pull enough threat (Or when I do get the strong's attention, the standards kill him instead). When it's two strongs, they always pile on damage faster than I can handle it, or go after doc, and pull that precious healing off me. I tried bringing Kira, and while she did pick up the slack a bit, it's still going downhill. I managed a double strong mob using a heroic moment. A 20 minute cooldown is not going to let me pull this off frequently. Finally, I tried T7, who I've been gearing up from the rewards, and ran with on Belsavis without too much trouble. I have trouble now. I send him to pull the Strong, and kill off the standards. Problem is, by the time I'm finished, so is T7, and I cannot handle a strong solo (even with the damage T7 inflicted. In tank stance, it sucks.

 

It seems my problem is that when I focus on putting out severe threat, I'm neglecting my cooldowns, and watching my cooldowns means that I'm only sticking aggro into one target, leaving the others free to go beserk on my ally. My ally goes down about the time my cooldowns run dry, meaning I follow shortly. Is there anyone with advice? I doubt I have enough time to learn any new spec correctly. Will post my current spec later.

[Jephurien]

Well I never went Combat so I don't know how that pans out. I went watchman and had no problems with it really, there were a few parts that were tough but with using medpacs and being careful with cooldown management or changing up my initial target I was able to make it through without much issue. Alot of those mobs, if I remember correctly, do their biggest damage from either casts or channeled abilities. I could keep them from casting or channeling 80% of the time by alternating my kick, force choke, and leap to stun them. By alternating them there is maybe a 5 second window or so where you can't interrupt them but it isn't too bad. Also, are any of them droids that you can use disable droid on? I know that came in handy for me a few times on Corelia when there were groups like that which would've been almost impossible without having one stunned.

 

Basically when I was doing it, against the larger groups I took out the easier to kill mobs first, Scourge would often die while holding aggro on the elite, then it would just be me and the elite and by managing interrupts combined with defensive cd's they were rarely a problem.

[ekimmak]

I think the only real advantage combat has over watchman is being much harder to kite, and better range attacks (Blade Storm is an excellent heavy hitter, for only 2 focus. Unfortunately, it requires a bit of setup to achieve the over 2K hits for an undergeared)

 

I've considered switching to watchman, but that raises the question of how much I'd need to adjust, and with what is believed to be the hardest class story end boss just around the corner, it makes me nervous to consider. Besides, no one ever told me how.

 

Edit: I do use disable droid. I used it quite a lot when dealing with the droid missions earlier on Corellia. The problem I'm facing now is that all the mobs are composed of Imperial troopers, along with Sith that utterly destroy an semblence of balance (Marauders with overload saber, ataru form, and armour reduction? That's not even the same class!). I've tried using Doc's 8 second stun, but it's not enough time for me to take out two standards, and facing a strong without any companion aid is a long and painful fight.

Edited May 7, 2012 by ekimmak
added a response

[invulnerableking]

From the way it sounds, it seems your rotation is goofed up a bit, and your not making full usage of your cooldowns. It also sounds like you aren't keybinding (but I won't make that assumption).

 

I know there is a thread around here that explains the Combat Tree rotation in depth, so I won't get too far into that.

 

As far as what companion to take, Doc is the man. If you any gear on him at all, his heals are plenty. Just make sure he is in his healing stance... For aggro issues, Doc will always target the mob you arent attacking with his CC Ability. At least he does for me? I could be wrong. Secondly, pay attention to your cooldowns. For fighting two mobs that are tough, Pacify and Awe are your friends. If aggro is getting away from you, make better use of force sweep to keep it on you. Between Awe and Pacify with all your other abilities plus Zen with Blade Rush you should be able to burn through both targets. Just remember to keep Rebuke active too. If you are having a ton of trouble putting one guy down and need even more time, Use Saber Ward.

 

The best way to manage PVE effectively on your own is to master the usage of your cooldowns, and do not underestimate a good Relic either.

 

Hope that helped.

 

Edit: btw... I never trained Disable Droid, it always seemed like a waste of money? You have enough control between you and Doc to give yourself enough time to down mobs.

Edited May 7, 2012 by invulnerableking

[ekimmak]

From the way it sounds, it seems your rotation is goofed up a bit, and your not making full usage of your cooldowns. It also sounds like you aren't keybinding (but I won't make that assumption).

 

I know there is a thread around here that explains the Combat Tree rotation in depth, so I won't get too far into that.

 

As far as what companion to take, Doc is the man. If you any gear on him at all, his heals are plenty. Just make sure he is in his healing stance... For aggro issues, Doc will always target the mob you arent attacking with his CC Ability. At least he does for me? I could be wrong. Secondly, pay attention to your cooldowns. For fighting two mobs that are tough, Pacify and Awe are your friends. If aggro is getting away from you, make better use of force sweep to keep it on you. Between Awe and Pacify with all your other abilities plus Zen with Blade Rush you should be able to burn through both targets. Just remember to keep Rebuke active too. If you are having a ton of trouble putting one guy down and need even more time, Use Saber Ward.

 

The best way to manage PVE effectively on your own is to master the usage of your cooldowns, and do not underestimate a good Relic either.

 

Hope that helped.

 

Edit: btw... I never trained Disable Droid, it always seemed like a waste of money? You have enough control between you and Doc to give yourself enough time to down mobs.

 

Thank you.

 

Anyway, keybinding, yeah, have no idea what that is. I generally tend to swith auto-run with delete, and switch QE with AD. Apart from that, I just move the powers around for easy number access.

 

I actually had doc's stun off, so I could manage that myself. Earlier levels, he would stick it down on people I was attacking, giving them immunity, and I needed that so I could use Pommel Strike on Strong enemies. But considering I have Disable Droid and Awe now, guess I don't really need to manage him any more.

 

I've always started my fights with Force Sweep, simply because that was the only way to keep mobs from striking me once, then going to town on Doc. But that doesn't seem to keep aggro for too long.

 

Awe: Drat. Forgot about this. Although it does tend to break thanks to the DOT Doc has, should I disable that?

 

Pacify: I already use this quite a bit, and the range boost from combat is pretty sweet. It's sort of my "Crash this guys damage for 10 seconds", learned from taking down Sith Ravagers with Kira. I tend to use it with Blade Storm and Master Strike in a three way fight, to give Doc those few seconds of me being untouched to bring my health up. I'm guessing for double strong fights, I stick it on Doc's mez target (after it wears off) while wrecking the other?

 

I'll be sure to hunt down a Combat rotation guide. My current one goes Leap+Rebuke->Zealous Strike-> Blade Rush -> Precision Slash -> Blade Storm -> Master Strike. I've heard that it should be Master Strike first, but I've found Combat Trance tends to run out before the end, and isn't renewed in time for a final Blade Storm, even with a guaranteed proc from Blade Rush.

[invulnerableking]

I will get back more to you in the morning and edit this post. Just didn't want to leave you hanging.

[HartshornNate]

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=47695

 

Look through this guide. This is my first MMO and Sentinal was my first class, but this really helped me figure out rotations and sich.

[witelightnin]

Not really sure why you're having issues unless you are SEVERELY undergeared (or Doc is). I really can't recall any instance after getting Doc where it was very difficult... other than maybe on the Emperor's ship... but even there I was never really close to death, just more of an "oh, these guys can actually damage me". Perhaps that's because I leveled as watchman, but I've got to think that Focus would be similar, especially now since it got a decent buff in 1.2.

 

I'd say work on your rotation. If it's 2 weaks and a strong, you should have both weaks dead before the strong even has a chance to do much. If you don't, you are seriously undergeared or using a poor rotation. Make sure you are abusing awe at the start of a fight, it gives you 6s to burn down the weak mobs. Also, don't forget force stasis, it can buy you 3 seconds for Doc to get off a heal on himself or you based on situation. If you find yourself getting wrecked, force camou and let Doc take some punishment.

 

You really shouldn't be having any problems with this if you're playing the class appropriately and using proper gear, so I'd say those are the first 2 things to think about.

[SturmUndSterne]

As a Sentinel, there's one thing you can do that most people forget to do.

 

TURN OFF ALL OF DOC'S OFFENSE.

 

Put him in Med Watch, turn off ANY offensive ability besides the standard attack. Any time Doc is shooting the enemy, he's *not* healing you. Don't give him options.

 

You should have your defensive cooldown up (the blue one, don't remember the name offhand, not Saber Ward) at all times. It's got a short refresh time and lasts up to 30 seconds per use. Have it rolling constantly. It also reflects damage, so that's a net gain on that end.

[iCanUseTheForce]

One nice part of Watchman is that when you Force Stasis a guy, you should have 4 DOTs rolling on him. Which eqautes to simultaneous damage & CC. Also, you can have DOTs constantly rolling on multiple targets to keep them aggroed on you. Leap + Opportune and you've got someone on you, swap target, throw a few burns on, switch target, sweep, merciless....once you have their focus on you choose one & bash away. Watchman also lets you Leap from 0 feet, so it's easier to hop to a guy that's targeting Doc if necessary. With Combat you can't keep DOTs rolling but you can turn all of Doc's attacks off, and leap n' sweep a group onto you.

[ekimmak]

Ok, seeing how many people wanted to lend a hand, I think it's only fair that I reply.

 

Last night, finished act 3. I turned Doc's mez back to auto use, and started using awe the moment Doc's mez ran dry. That, along with an explanation of how to properly use Ataru Zen, I started flattening mobs again.

 

I think the real issue I had was simply that the strongs were melee, but the standards were ranged, so when a strong decides that Doc is more threatening than me, they leave Force Sweep range, and Crippling Throw was not enough to peel them off him.

 

I am going to have to find somewhere easier to reach for Dispatch and Awe, though. All in all, thanks for the tips.

 

Edit: There was one mob, though. Two strongs, two standards. But I won't talk about that, since they were off to the side and easily avoided.

Edited May 7, 2012 by ekimmak
Added a sentence.

[Darianth]

Ok, my main has always been a Sentinel. I've gotten maxed affection from Kira and doc, and moderately good with all the others but my crafting droid, who has zero. I took the combat skill tree because I liked the idea of a third form, and despite people instisting I should switch to watchman, I never did (Because no one bothered to explain where the skill respec person is). For crew skills, I went Cybertech, Slicing, and UT. Regretted it, because people charge a large fortune for scavenging materials, so my crafting is seriously underlevelled(but on the upside, I have maxed slicing and UT, as well as several purple grade ship schematics.)

 

I've gotten to the mission where

you take down the turbolaser turrets

and all of a sudden, it's impossible. Every mob is two standards and a strong, or occasionally two strongs, or an elite. And an inverse to the nightmare that was levels 20-32, I can only handle the elites, everything else is a nightmare to handle.

 

If I bring Doc, I either don't manage the aggro correctly, the strong goes after him, and always finishes him before I can pull enough threat (Or when I do get the strong's attention, the standards kill him instead). When it's two strongs, they always pile on damage faster than I can handle it, or go after doc, and pull that precious healing off me. I tried bringing Kira, and while she did pick up the slack a bit, it's still going downhill. I managed a double strong mob using a heroic moment. A 20 minute cooldown is not going to let me pull this off frequently. Finally, I tried T7, who I've been gearing up from the rewards, and ran with on Belsavis without too much trouble. I have trouble now. I send him to pull the Strong, and kill off the standards. Problem is, by the time I'm finished, so is T7, and I cannot handle a strong solo (even with the damage T7 inflicted. In tank stance, it sucks.

 

It seems my problem is that when I focus on putting out severe threat, I'm neglecting my cooldowns, and watching my cooldowns means that I'm only sticking aggro into one target, leaving the others free to go beserk on my ally. My ally goes down about the time my cooldowns run dry, meaning I follow shortly. Is there anyone with advice? I doubt I have enough time to learn any new spec correctly. Will post my current spec later.

 

I run combat on my sent. Single target dispatches are cake I can easily solo a strong and have enough health to where I can almost take out a second without a companion. I use Kira and if its a group of 2 strings Ill send her on one strong while I take out the other then usually ill do enough burst to pull the aggro on me and kill the second. Like someone else mentioned you probably should check out your rotation. My order always goes(on strongs and above) Leap-> ZS-> cauterize-> Force stasis-> BR-> PS->BS-> MS.

 

Keep in mind this is subject to variate a little due to cooldowns but it allows me to easily take out one target(sometimes I don't even use my MS or BS so that I can use it on the second strong) and allows enough time that i can fill with a few BR or if i need a bit more focus use ZS since it should be off cool down or throw in a strike or two.

 

On an elite, if he has a few standards with him I always send Kira on him to draw the initial aggro, if I feel a little nervous about her health Ill pop unity which gives us and our companion a 50% reduction in damage taken. Usually I won't though and while she distracts the elite I take out the 2 standards I will usually use them as some big time focus builders using ZS and strike with the occasional BR on them and after taking them out I use BR on the elite followed by my PS-> BS-> MS combo followed by cauterize and Force Stasis. If I need to I can usually take them out with my BR.

 

With the burst that my rotation provides, its more of an issue maintaining the aggro that I pull than anything. One thing that helped me while leveling before I had my full arsenal against elites was to send in Kira then I would fly in and do my number then if they started hitting me hard, I would use force camo which allowed Kira to get focused again then I would leap back in to regain some focus so I could finish them off. One thing I forgot to mention, always apply rebuke before leaping into a fight and apply saber ward if you are getting targeted my multiple strongs, it negates most damage the mobs will use on you. If you do have to use guarded by the force make sure you have a medpack where you can use it.

 

If you decide to use my technique and you still have a problem, and if you aren't using keybindings, that should be the thing you start looking at. They help a lot more than you would realize.

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention that for groups of standard and weak use force sweep. For the strongs and Elites if you finish your rotation and the target is at or below 30% finish them off with dispatch and BR, you can mow off 30% really fast and it allows you to not have to worry about your big hitting CDs( BS and MS). Allowing them to be used on the other strong.

Edited May 10, 2012 by Darianth

[Darianth]

If anybody has anything they could add go ahead.

[Rafaman]

Cool. Previous post has pretty good advice. I too have capped and learned in the trenches so to speak. My additional advice as a Combat spec is as follows.

 

Remember you are all about bursts. So set up your procs and make sure you use them to the best you can. Blade Rush sets up Blade Storm. This is very important as the Ataru form will give 100% crit for Blade Storm when in combat trance. This is your bread and butter. In addition, remember to use Zen, again it will help you maximize your Ataru damage, combat trance, ie the burst you get from Blade Rush to Blade Storm and give you a chance of getting focus back As you use Blade Rush. So... for elites or strongs, you build focus and keep it up with Blade Rush and as it starts to deplete you use Blade Storm to maximize damage via the bonus crit. Then you hit them with Master Strike. Strongs will have nothing left and Elites will be on there way down. Seriously, I spam Blade Rush 2 or 3 times before Blade Storm. But watch your focus.

 

Another thing, for the weak or standard MOBs don't forget about Pommel. As a combat Sent I'm about bursts and speed and Pommel is a one shot kill. Set it up with force sweep and as it stuns the mob then finish them off Pommel. It will be on cool down now but the mob is done and gone in about a second.

 

Also, remember Precision Strike sets up you armor penetration proc. So when you use it follow it up with a physical attack. Don't Precision Strike and Force Sweep or stasis for example. I usually use Precsion right before I spam Blade Rush to maximize the proc. This is very important on Elites with heavy armor to say the least.

 

Those are a few key things I've learned as a combat spec. My priorities to build focus and max damage are: Strike>Zelaous Strike>Precision Strike>Zen>Blade Rush 2X-3X>Blade Storm>Master Strike.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Rafaman

[AidanLightwalker]

Rotation is all off felas.

 

Leap in > zealous strike, precision slash, blade rush, blade storm > now blade rush spam till your out of focus and them master strike. By then zealous is back up. If you have 4 secs or less on precison, wait to use blade storm, if not, use it. Always use blade rush before blade storm for the chance at 10% more damage. Master strike is a filler ability for us when we are out of focus and zealous strike is still on cd. Manage that so that your resources are good.

 

Stasis when you need to give doc a break and heal you two up and pacify when you want to kill a silver and the gold is on doc. Pacify the gold of coarse.

 

I had no issues playing combat but manage your cds effectively and work that rotation better.

[Rafaman]

Rotation is all off felas.

 

Leap in > zealous strike, precision slash, blade rush, blade storm > now blade rush spam till your out of focus and them master strike. By then zealous is back up. If you have 4 secs or less on precison, wait to use blade storm, if not, use it. Always use blade rush before blade storm for the chance at 10% more damage. Master strike is a filler ability for us when we are out of focus and zealous strike is still on cd. Manage that so that your resources are good.

 

Stasis when you need to give doc a break and heal you two up and pacify when you want to kill a silver and the gold is on doc. Pacify the gold of coarse.

 

I had no issues playing combat but manage your cds effectively and work that rotation better.

 

 

Yup. Pretty much what I said. Blade Rush to Blade Storm. If you come away with nothing else, remember that.

[bionamaster]

Ok, my main has always been a Sentinel. I've gotten maxed affection from Kira and doc, and moderately good with all the others but my crafting droid, who has zero. I took the combat skill tree because I liked the idea of a third form, and despite people instisting I should switch to watchman, I never did (Because no one bothered to explain where the skill respec person is). For crew skills, I went Cybertech, Slicing, and UT. Regretted it, because people charge a large fortune for scavenging materials, so my crafting is seriously underlevelled(but on the upside, I have maxed slicing and UT, as well as several purple grade ship schematics.)

 

I've gotten to the mission where

you take down the turbolaser turrets

and all of a sudden, it's impossible. Every mob is two standards and a strong, or occasionally two strongs, or an elite. And an inverse to the nightmare that was levels 20-32, I can only handle the elites, everything else is a nightmare to handle.

 

If I bring Doc, I either don't manage the aggro correctly, the strong goes after him, and always finishes him before I can pull enough threat (Or when I do get the strong's attention, the standards kill him instead). When it's two strongs, they always pile on damage faster than I can handle it, or go after doc, and pull that precious healing off me. I tried bringing Kira, and while she did pick up the slack a bit, it's still going downhill. I managed a double strong mob using a heroic moment. A 20 minute cooldown is not going to let me pull this off frequently. Finally, I tried T7, who I've been gearing up from the rewards, and ran with on Belsavis without too much trouble. I have trouble now. I send him to pull the Strong, and kill off the standards. Problem is, by the time I'm finished, so is T7, and I cannot handle a strong solo (even with the damage T7 inflicted. In tank stance, it sucks.

 

It seems my problem is that when I focus on putting out severe threat, I'm neglecting my cooldowns, and watching my cooldowns means that I'm only sticking aggro into one target, leaving the others free to go beserk on my ally. My ally goes down about the time my cooldowns run dry, meaning I follow shortly. Is there anyone with advice? I doubt I have enough time to learn any new spec correctly. Will post my current spec later.

 

Hmm. I remember that quest. Quite frankly, it ws an annoyance fit for a king. I'd say that you should not by any means neglect Force Camo. If you managed to spec into it with Watchman, you should be able to head past a lot of the enemies. I always use Doc, make sure you have him all geared up. Doc has saved my life. A million times. I did everything solo once I got him. Force Camo when you hit a large blockade, use Doc, and if need be, side quest your way to 50, grab the countless ability upgrades. Speaking of which, make sure each ability is upgraded. That's the best I can offer. Oh, and if all else fails, i'd recommend asking a friend.

[Slamuel]

guys, the respeccing guy is in the combat area of the fleet. If you look at the map, it is in the very bottom right corner of that area.