Jedi Sentinel – A Primer

[Maefly]

Hi Maefly (and other Sentinel experts!). This is a great read, thank you!

 

I just have a question: My Sentinel is going to be leveling in a group of four (primarily instances, pvp, heroic quests and class quests). I'll be playing with a Commando healer, Shadow tank, Gunslinger dps. I've read a few threads about how to play Sentinel, but the majority of the threads have, obviously, been about soloing.

 

Is there anything specific I should consider as a group member, as a Sentinel? Is there a spec/talent tree that is "better" for groups (helps kill adds fast, or good CC for tough groups, etc)?

 

Any of the three trees are fine for leveling, especially in a group. If you have a full group, I think you'll find a lot of targets dead before you can get your dots rolling in the Watchman tree but you'll do fine against silver and gold mobs. Combat will allow you to carry a stream of damage from pack to pack and may allow you to put more damage up front faster. Focus is a great option after level 40 since you'll be the one killing standards before your buddies can even start damaging them but you may find it weaker on gold targets.

 

If you do a heavy amount of PvP you may find watchman or focus better than combat. But everything really just comes down to play style and preference.

 

I like that all the trees are viable and there isn't a clear winner for leveling. End game numbers are still being worked out but the current trend is Focus for PvP and Watchman for PvE.

[flowqz]

i raided the first time yesterday and i had some threat issues. i had to use force carmu very often (somtimes like on cd) to not stomped to death.

 

that said i just handeled all my cds + buffs but without keeping a rolling overload on my target and i dont think this will be possible, cause u dont play against a boss which literally does nothing. u get knockbacked, u get stuned and sometimes u just have to run around. so i just stoped worrying about it and ignored it completly.

 

im still wondering which adrenal we should use. currently i run force stims + relics but im not sure if thats the best choice, dunno if anyone did mention it before, if thats the case i'm sorry!

Edited January 9, 2012 by flowqz

[Fallen_Prodigy]

How and where can I reset skill tree..?

[MBirkhofer]

I know of 2 locations to reset skills.

 

The guy you need is called a skill trainer, iirc.

 

One is on the fleet, and one is on Corascant.

The corascant one, is under Senate Plaza. The area with the skill trainers, and vendors.

In the back, with the cargo hold, Galactic trade, there are 2 npcs behind them. a skill trainer for reseting talents, and guild registrar.

 

On the fleet, in the combat training area, there are 4? bays. the further south one, is skill trainer, and guild registrar.

(Jedi knight bay is the top one, so furthest bay away)

[Maefly]

i raided the first time yesterday and i had some threat issues. i had to use force carmu very often (somtimes like on cd) to not stomped to death.

 

that said i just handeled all my cds + buffs but without keeping a rolling overload on my target and i dont think this will be possible, cause u dont play against a boss which literally does nothing. u get knockbacked, u get stuned and sometimes u just have to run around. so i just stoped worrying about it and ignored it completly.

 

im still wondering which adrenal we should use. currently i run force stims + relics but im not sure if thats the best choice, dunno if anyone did mention it before, if thats the case i'm sorry!

 

I have had some thread issues as well. I did find that using Pacify helped a little since it would cause the tank to successfully defend and allows for abilities like Riposte to be used more often.

 

That being said, my gear level is much higher than our two tanks and I'm hoping things balance out as they catch up.

 

Trying to keep OS rolling forever is almost impossible but I can usually get the three stacks to carry over on the opener before things get too crazy. I find its easiest to do when stasis is up or if I just happen to be knocked back or move missing a few globals. I'm not sure about the damage increase if its even worth it but you can train your fingers to do it.

[flowqz]

I have had some thread issues as well. I did find that using Pacify helped a little since it would cause the tank to successfully defend and allows for abilities like Riposte to be used more often.

 

That being said, my gear level is much higher than our two tanks and I'm hoping things balance out as they catch up.

 

Trying to keep OS rolling forever is almost impossible but I can usually get the three stacks to carry over on the opener before things get too crazy. I find its easiest to do when stasis is up or if I just happen to be knocked back or move missing a few globals. I'm not sure about the damage increase if its even worth it but you can train your fingers to do it.

 

well, currently our tank has ~19k hp while i sit at 15k. i prefer not to take larger hits than him, while the mob turns around and cleaves into me and the other melees!

 

but i really like the class in terms of raiding, our dps seems to be pretty high, our jump just makes us mobile and our 15s +15%dmg and heal buff is pretty damn nice if it comes to burst fights (e.g. soa). we also have a very high survivability due to our cds and we have the lowest kick cd ingame.

 

that said, sentinel is propably the best melee dps ingame right now, maybe even the best dd overall.

[Enian]

Amazing post, thank you.

[Sayda]

Thanks MBirkhofer and Maefly! I'm going to start with Watchman but I may try out Combat as I progress. Usually I get "stuck" in a tree and hate changing but I'm going to be extra flexible with Sentinel!

[Shevu]

Can someone please clarify what he means when he says, "Accuracy to cap"? Is 320 the cap limit for Accuracy and that's what we should focus on doing first?

[Maefly]

Can someone please clarify what he means when he says, "Accuracy to cap"? Is 320 the cap limit for Accuracy and that's what we should focus on doing first?

 

Accuracy should say 100% (or be very very close).

 

You can mix talents and Accuracy points to get to that number. 320 is my guess at the cap without using any talents.

 

Accuracy *seems* to be the most important thing to square away first for end game content. If you miss one of your Zealous Strikes not only does it set your dps back but it also further pushes down your dps because you don't have the focus to continue damage.

 

As prefaced, all of this is pure speculation since we can't test anything without a combat log. But from available information, 100% accuracy means you should not miss with your melee attacks and the first component of doing damage is not missing.

[stilari]

Very very well written guide. If only there was such a clearly constructed one for Guardian, I enjoy the format.

[Evallix]

Hi, thanks for the wonderful guide. I would like some clarification in regards to accuracy. Should I increase accuracy to 100% only for mainhand, or should I continue focusing on increasing accuracy for the secondary weapon to get it to 100% too? Thank you.

[Maefly]

Hi, thanks for the wonderful guide. I would like some clarification in regards to accuracy. Should I increase accuracy to 100% only for mainhand, or should I continue focusing on increasing accuracy for the secondary weapon to get it to 100% too? Thank you.

 

Numbers are still out on this but offhand damage currently accounts for such a small amount relative to main hand that it's probably not worth it.

 

In addition, I'm unsure if the offhand is even counted as a separate hit / miss chance. Without a combat log, we can't see that the main hand on Zealous Strike landed but the offhand missed. Also, the main hand hit seems to be the trigger for things like dot application and focus generation so the most important thing is 100% on the main hand.

 

It may be worthwhile from a min/max dps standpoint to push offhand accuracy up a little but this one really won't be known until we get a log and parser.

 

Long story short, I wouldn't stress about a <100% offhand hit chance but I would focus on getting main hand to 100% then pushing the other attributes.

[Alexious]

Numbers are still out on this but offhand damage currently accounts for such a small amount relative to main hand that it's probably not worth it.

 

In addition, I'm unsure if the offhand is even counted as a separate hit / miss chance. Without a combat log, we can't see that the main hand on Zealous Strike landed but the offhand missed. Also, the main hand hit seems to be the trigger for things like dot application and focus generation so the most important thing is 100% on the main hand.

 

It may be worthwhile from a min/max dps standpoint to push offhand accuracy up a little but this one really won't be known until we get a log and parser.

 

Long story short, I wouldn't stress about a <100% offhand hit chance but I would focus on getting main hand to 100% then pushing the other attributes.

 

I heard that Accuracy past 100% allows armor penetration, is that true?

[Maefly]

I heard that Accuracy past 100% allows armor penetration, is that true?

 

The tooltip says "Reduces Defense". As we understand it Defense is the number used to calculate things like parry, dodge, etc. So, based on this information, no it doesn't reduce armor.

 

We're also operating under the assumption that Boss level NPCs have 0 defense which means there should be no reason to push accuracy past 100%. Of course if it turns out that they do have some amount of defense, it may be worth taking more accuracy. Again, log + parser is our current road block.

 

The interesting thing about Defense is every player has a base 5% chance and tanks add to this through gear. So we're thinking that an accuracy of 105% is ideal for PvP and this is supported by a lot of the Champion and Battlemaster gear having accuracy on it. At 105%, you should never miss a non-tank player.

[Shevu]

Accuracy should say 100% (or be very very close).

 

You can mix talents and Accuracy points to get to that number. 320 is my guess at the cap without using any talents.

 

Accuracy *seems* to be the most important thing to square away first for end game content. If you miss one of your Zealous Strikes not only does it set your dps back but it also further pushes down your dps because you don't have the focus to continue damage.

 

As prefaced, all of this is pure speculation since we can't test anything without a combat log. But from available information, 100% accuracy means you should not miss with your melee attacks and the first component of doing damage is not missing.

 

Thanks for the reply Maefly + the informative guide. Sorry for the repetitive question but when you say Accuracy do you mean just the base "melee accuracy" that pops up under your character tab? Or do we want to try raising "secondary weapon accuracy" close to 100 as well?

[Rorq]

Just out of curiosity, does Master Strike have no place in Combat's rotation?

[Shevu]

Just out of curiosity, does Master Strike have no place in Combat's rotation?

 

When I was a combat build I used Master Strike a lot. But I usually only used it during prolonged fights and only after I used precision/blade rush/blade storm. Read Maefly's original post under the combat pve section for a better example.

[Erudain]

I use master stike a lot as a filler specially against gold/bosses.

 

rebuke + Leap + overload (mid air) + op stike (if available) + z. strike + cauterize + merciless + slash...and by now you are more or less out of focus (even with rebuke and tics focus gains)....here is the time for a master strike as filler, after that all cds are up and you can rinse an repeat (I use stasis as filler the 2nd rotation)

 

That's of course asumming you are facing a melee boss you dont have to interrupt a lot.

 

In pvp you can use MS in a lot of situations, against a player with a hard cc/root from a companion; wait for a knockback, leap and MS (leap root + MS root if combat) and of course you will always meet the ocasional bad who thinks they can facetank a sent.

[Rorq]

When I was a combat build I used Master Strike a lot. But I usually only used it during prolonged fights and only after I used precision/blade rush/blade storm. Read Maefly's original post under the combat pve section for a better example.

 

Yeah I see it now. I guess I was just expecting more emphasis on using one of our hardest hitting abilities on CD, especially with precision slash up. It's kinda mentioned as an afterthought or "do this if you have nothing else to do" ability which made me wonder about the importance of it in the rotation.

[Maefly]

Yeah I see it now. I guess I was just expecting more emphasis on using one of our hardest hitting abilities on CD, especially with precision slash up. It's kinda mentioned as an afterthought or "do this if you have nothing else to do" ability which made me wonder about the importance of it in the rotation.

 

It may hit hard but it takes 3 seconds which is 2 global cooldowns. In that time there are far more powerful damage / second abilities to use which is why I put it lower in priority. The real upshot to MS is that it costs no focus making it great for continuing to damage after you have used your more powerful focus spending abilities.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Maefly

[flowqz]

u should switch your pve specs to defensive roll beeing speced. i assume (havent tested) its pretty handy on most encounters (unsurvivable without).

[Sath_Wishes]

u should switch your pve specs to defensive roll beeing speced. i assume (havent tested) its pretty handy on most encounters (unsurvivable without).

 

I'd say it's pretty much an core Ability as an Melee, at least i would not go without. Even if encounters don't have strong ae's we can ignore the weaker ones.

 

I am http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#501bIbRrRMcGzZhMMZh.1 for Watchman.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Sath_Wishes

[flowqz]

i found force fade very valuable in some situations in which u know incoming dmg might kill u

 

1st ev boss single target rocket which hits aoe on impact

2nd ev boss if u know another stomp might kill u

3rd + 4th are not important at all

5th u may defuse lightnings with it... havent tested it yet

 

bonetrasher: very very very handy if u get his rng aggro in your face and he tries to insta cleave u.

[Sath_Wishes]

i found force fade very valuable in some situations in which u know incoming dmg might kill u

 

1st ev boss single target rocket which hits aoe on impact

2nd ev boss if u know another stomp might kill u

3rd + 4th are not important at all

5th u may defuse lightnings with it... havent tested it yet

 

bonetrasher: very very very handy if u get his rng aggro in your face and he tries to insta cleave u.

 

Well, never had problems with situations like that, Camouflage is my Aggro Reset (<3) and for a speed burst (Soa after P1 etc.). For the stuff you posted i got enough other defensive cooldowns, i would'nt take Force Fade over 4% Force Crit and totally not over Defensive Roll.