Combat and Watchman still stand a chance?

[XenarisArcient]

With the buff to focus, are these specs still viable? If so, what are some good ones?

[Quangus]

With the buff to focus, are these specs still viable? If so, what are some good ones?

 

A good Watchman will still rip a Focus Sent into pieces (all he needs to do is have defensive roll) unless the second one is more skilled or has better gear. And a Combat Sent will still bring more utility for the team, but thats just my opninion.

 

If u however refer to damage overall in wzs than Focus has the potential to beat the over two by a mile. (and i would go so far that this potential always existed even before the buff but again, just my opinion...)

 

But seriuosly, play what u ike most and ull do fine

[salaryman]

With the buff to focus, are these specs still viable? If so, what are some good ones?

 

I think both Combat & Watchman are viable, all the buff to focus did in my opinion was bring up equal to the others. I think Watchman will still be the easiest spec for solo'ing PVE content.

 

At the end of the day though just play the spec you enjoy the most.

[Mini-Shifty]

Agree with the above. I've played both Combat and Watchman since the patch and, while focus seems to be pulling the high damage number, all three still have their benefits.

 

With Combat I found myself relying even more on good teamwork and help from healers. The stuns and interrupts make it pretty tough now but if you can get through that and make your hits you can still do a lot.

 

I do prefer watchman a lot more though. I wouldn't call myself that good but I'm still not finding rage marauders much of a problem. Yes a good one who knows what they're doing can tear me apart but I chalk that up more to skill than the specs.

 

Reading through this can give you some decent information: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=472646

There are other threads explaining the 3 specs that give good info as well. Bottom line, you'll play the best in the spec you feel most comfortable with so try out all three and see what you like.

[BlznSmri]

With the buff to focus, are these specs still viable? If so, what are some good ones?

 

Viable how? PvP, OPS, or Dailies?

 

In terms of OPS, I still hate Focus with a passion, it doesn't flow and doesn't pull similar dps to Combat or Watchmen (which are in the same ball park in terms of dps). Focus is a one trick pony with it's 6k (for me) sweeps that hit up to 5 people. Combat has mobility and burst, Watchmen has burns, heals and quicker interrupts.

 

I mean, in PvP, those sweeps are nice and all, but really only useful on trash...

[Kyriosgundam]

My question is this which skill tree is the best for Sentinel when in a group AND for when I go solo? Also any ideas for getting a lvl 16 Guardian Tank good enough to kill an elite of the same lvl for a class mission on Ord Mantell?

[XenarisArcient]

I am Watchman now. I run a http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#501bIrRMorfsZhMMZh.2 spec.

I am only battlemaster as of now, and plan on getting the 4-piece vindicator set.

Would it be more wise to stack power over crit?

[arkitip]

Focus is laughably easy. I respecced just to see what it pulled off now. In WZs you will top damage or be top 2-3 even if your team gets stomped. The issue is, it's a very difficult spec to master on a team level because you'll tend to tunnel vision on getting your next sweep off on as many people as possible.

 

The misunderstanding is that Focus has the biggest burst. It has the biggest burst if you get 3-5 people grouped together. Single target, Combat still has higher burst. For 4.5 seconds out of every 15, Combat has the ability to hit a single target for at least 10k.

 

In PVE, the buffs only made Focus viable. Combat and Watchman will still parse higher. I also notice that while Focus will tear through normal mobs faster of course, I will drop strong/elites/champs quicker in Combat.

[XenarisArcient]

I am Watchman, but really want to learn to play Combat well. What Combat spec would you prefer? What should I stack?

[AsiriusNazriel]

I can say that as someone who is considered to be one of the best Marauders/Sentinels on my server that Annihilation/Watchman is more than viable. The other 2 trees have been brought to par, but even so, I still manage to outdps Rage/Focus specs. I'm a bit of an exception when it comes to performance for Annihilation/Watchman, but the survivability is huge. I am easily the top dps in every single warzone, regardless of side and who wins, except for when I have elite PTs on my team, and even then it is extremely close.

 

I was in a rated WZ with the best Imperial PVP guild on our server, I was an alternate for their team, and we had 3 Rage specs. 2 Rage Juggs, 1 Rage Marauder, and myself a lowly Annihilation spec. At the end of the match, a CW, I had the highest DPS, and trust me these guys are as good as they come, and our opposition was the primiere Republic guild on our server. We won. This was after 1.4 was released.

 

I run a balanced built that is 31/7/3. I have 400 crit, 99.3%accuracy, 260 surge for 75.1%, and 790 power with STR augments. My gear is fully itemized.

I average between 80-130 heals per second in WZs, depending the team consitution for me and for the opponents. There is never a single WZ where I don't have at least 1 solo.

 

With my Annihilation build I outdps every single big hitter because I stay alive longer, focusing on my survivability and evasiveness. I am literally healer-bane. And even if I'm getting peeled or I can't quite kill the healer, they are still out combat and running for their life. The majority of the time when I am on a healer, any healer, they are dead.

 

Combat/Focus work amazingly if you have a pocket healer, if you don't you're easy pickings. You have to know this and be concious of it.

 

This is the reason that for rated teams you have guys going Combat/Focus, because they are guaranteed to be healed and looked after. When you solo queue you have to rely on yourself more.

 

All 3 trees are great, all are viable. Don't throw out Annihilation/Watchman because you hear these amazing stories, trust me when I say that it is a very very good spec to run even in rated.

Edited October 3, 2012 by AsiriusNazriel

[yOuNgEaRtH]

Honesty I think watchman is easier than focus. BW just buffed focus so it would be more fluid like watchman and combat. Watchmen get extra focus from the leap and it has shorter range and cooldown which makes focus building very easy. Combat has the shorter cooldown on presicion slash and focus has zen now. IMO its just balance.

[DarthConn]

I can say that as someone who is considered to be one of the best Marauders/Sentinels on my server that Annihilation/Watchman is more than viable. The other 2 trees have been brought to par, but even so, I still manage to outdps Rage/Focus specs. I'm a bit of an exception when it comes to performance for Annihilation/Watchman, but the survivability is huge. I am easily the top dps in every single warzone, regardless of side and who wins, except for when I have elite PTs on my team, and even then it is extremely close.

 

I was in a rated WZ with the best Imperial PVP guild on our server, I was an alternate for their team, and we had 3 Rage specs. 2 Rage Juggs, 1 Rage Marauder, and myself a lowly Annihilation spec. At the end of the match, a CW, I had the highest DPS, and trust me these guys are as good as they come, and our opposition was the primiere Republic guild on our server. We won. This was after 1.4 was released.

 

I run a balanced built that is 31/7/3. I have 400 crit, 99.3%accuracy, 260 surge for 75.1%, and 790 power with STR augments. My gear is fully itemized.

I average between 80-130 heals per second in WZs, depending the team consitution for me and for the opponents. There is never a single WZ where I don't have at least 1 solo.

 

With my Annihilation build I outdps every single big hitter because I stay alive longer, focusing on my survivability and evasiveness. I am literally healer-bane. And even if I'm getting peeled or I can't quite kill the healer, they are still out combat and running for their life. The majority of the time when I am on a healer, any healer, they are dead.

 

Combat/Focus work amazingly if you have a pocket healer, if you don't you're easy pickings. You have to know this and be concious of it.

 

This is the reason that for rated teams you have guys going Combat/Focus, because they are guaranteed to be healed and looked after. When you solo queue you have to rely on yourself more.

 

All 3 trees are great, all are viable. Don't throw out Annihilation/Watchman because you hear these amazing stories, trust me when I say that it is a very very good spec to run even in rated.

 

I just wanted to vouch for Arash. He is easily the best marauder on the server and maybe even the best sent/Mara on the server. So I would listen to him. He's a nightmare to play against!

[XenarisArcient]

As Watchman, I am confused if I should put all of my 3 points in Insight, or if I should put 2 in Master Focus, and 1 in Insight. Or if it makes much of a difference anyway...

[AsiriusNazriel]

As Watchman, I am confused if I should put all of my 3 points in Insight, or if I should put 2 in Master Focus, and 1 in Insight. Or if it makes much of a difference anyway...

 

Here's the thing, I would put them all in Insight. For the Watchman tree I don't take any points in close quarters. I leave my force charge to close/reclose distance. Good players will knock you back and so you need to, more often than not, run in instead of force charge. This leaves the force charge in case you get stunned or knocked back, otherwise you're not doing anything or worse yet, getting kited.

 

Secondly, Masterstrike/Ravage is often overrated. As watchman your damage comes from your slash/assault basic 2-focus/rage building attack and your bleeds. You want to have as high a crit, without going overboard, so that you can heal yourself in the process. Having that big focus/rage reserve is uber important and sometimes more important than executing Ravage/Masterstrike. When you're dots or big hit abilities come off of gcd it can be all at once and so you should have that large reserve for when that happens, otherwise you start flailing around trying to build that reserve. Lastly, Ravage/Masterstrike can be easily countered by good players and so I will often leave it for an occassion such as when an opponent is stunlocked, where I can guaranteed get off that big last hit. The 4% crit bonus on insight is better in my opinion because alot of your effectiveness comes from the self-healing bleeds.

 

As with everything, it's situational. I think that Master Focus has merits and you wouldn't be wrong in using it, but personally I go for 3 in insight for the above reasons.

[AsiriusNazriel]

I just wanted to vouch for Arash. He is easily the best marauder on the server and maybe even the best sent/Mara on the server. So I would listen to him. He's a nightmare to play against!

 

Thanks man, I appreciate that. Just trying to give tips to those that are looking for advice/guidance.

[WooliestWorm]

Just my opinion here but I run only one point in close combat and force fade in favor of 2 points in focused leap or watchguard. The extra force from leap is obviously kinda handy. The improved cd on interrupt is very useful for healers in particular or for locking down a tracer missile/grav round spam and pacify is pretty awesome, particularly with helping out a healer on your team who's attracted the attention of a dps.

I find that the 5 meter reduction for leap is enough that if you're out of range of your main attacks you can still close without it being a complete waste and 4 secs is enough on force camouflage to take cover/regroup.

Having said that I also drop inflammation for the other of those 2 as I'm more of a pve player who occasionally enjoys a bit of pvp.

[XenarisArcient]

Here's the thing, I would put them all in Insight. For the Watchman tree I don't take any points in close quarters. I leave my force charge to close/reclose distance. Good players will knock you back and so you need to, more often than not, run in instead of force charge. This leaves the force charge in case you get stunned or knocked back, otherwise you're not doing anything or worse yet, getting kited.

 

Secondly, Masterstrike/Ravage is often overrated. As watchman your damage comes from your slash/assault basic 2-focus/rage building attack and your bleeds. You want to have as high a crit, without going overboard, so that you can heal yourself in the process. Having that big focus/rage reserve is uber important and sometimes more important than executing Ravage/Masterstrike. When you're dots or big hit abilities come off of gcd it can be all at once and so you should have that large reserve for when that happens, otherwise you start flailing around trying to build that reserve. Lastly, Ravage/Masterstrike can be easily countered by good players and so I will often leave it for an occassion such as when an opponent is stunlocked, where I can guaranteed get off that big last hit. The 4% crit bonus on insight is better in my opinion because alot of your effectiveness comes from the self-healing bleeds.

 

As with everything, it's situational. I think that Master Focus has merits and you wouldn't be wrong in using it, but personally I go for 3 in insight for the above reasons.

 

Awesome, I thank you tons for the advice. It has helped a lot.

[-Yui-]

To all those saying Focus outdpses Combat/Watchman, I disagree. I played around with Focus for around a week, and given the correct situation, Focus will do immense damage. However, the play style is inelegant and damage is based on situation. On average, I would say I get more damage as Combat or Watchman simply because you're not going to get 2+ people stacking on each other in each Warzone.