Confused about Forms and Zen.

[Vortac]

I'm a level 16 Sentinel, and while I chomp through everything quickly on Coruscant, I'm trying to figure out WHAT it is that makes my class tick. I recently learned Juyo form, and while it's a nice upgrade in damage output compared to Shii-Cho, I don't understand how Zen/Centering ties in.

 

As far as I know, the only "burn attack" I have is Cauterize, and I can only get the ability off one time before the remaining Zen buffs drop off. Am I missing something? I'm almost considering NOT using it period because of the loss of a global cooldown that I could use for something else.

 

Essentially I'm playing my Sentinel as a direct-damage dealer rather than a DOT type of build. If this isn't optimal DPS, I don't care, I'm happily chugging along using T7 as my tank and beating things down pretty quickly.

 

I just don't understand the talents, hoping you can clarify.

 

Should I be doing something differently? My typical rotation is always:

 

Force Leap -- Zealous Strike -- Blade Storm -- Vicious Slash -- Out of Focus use Master Strike and as needed use Strike to Build Focus until Zealous Strike is off cooldown, and repeat as needed.

 

Thanks!

[BlznSmri]

Zen has different effects per form.

 

For Shii-Cho it generates about 12 Focus, which is great for the focus spec.

 

For Juyo it makes your burns, Cauterize and Overload Saber (Get that from talents in the Wathmen tree) automatically crit.

 

For Ataru, which you get from the combat tree, it lowers the Global Cooldown on Slash and Blade Rush by half a second and lowers the cost of each by one Focus. This allows you to spam them quickly and do a lot of burst damage.

 

At 16 you're really too low of a level for Zen to really matter at this point. It really comes into fruition at around level 30 or 40 depending on your spec.

[Vortac]

Thanks. Alright, so if I want to be more of a direct dealer anyway, I need to push forward for Ataru form. Sounds good to me.

 

Reading your link in your signature, that helps clarify a lot of the priorities. Thanks for throwing it together. I'll read up on it while I can't log in. :/

[SovereignConvict]

Vortac, BlznSmri is correct. There are three "trees" of skills that line-up with which stance you should typically be using (some people get into crazy stuff, but it's just easier to follow these). I'll reiterate what BlznSmri said:

 

Watchman = Juyo

Combat = Ataru

Focus = Shii-Cho

 

Sounds like you're currently Combat spec. All three are great specs, but Combat tends to be best when you're in a small group and Focus works best when you're in a large group so that you can receive heals from other players.

 

Watchman is basically the "solo playstyle spec." You self heal, so you have much better survivability, but it also has a more complicated rotation (and more complicated variables that factor into that rotation) than the other specs.

 

If you're mainly just leveling right now, and you tend to be at or above the level of the mobs you're fighting, Combat is probably your best bet.

 

Once you hit 50, if you start doing any solo PvP, you may want to eventually consider speccing into Watchman.

Edited November 16, 2012 by SovereignConvict

[Elear]

As far as I know, the only "burn attack" I have is Cauterize, and I can only get the ability off one time before the remaining Zen buffs drop off. Am I missing something? I'm almost considering NOT using it period because of the loss of a global cooldown that I could use for something else.

Full duration of cauterize causes 6 DoT ticks, same amount as number of Zen stacks. So if you're in Juyo and have reached 30 centering, it's best to use Zen, and then apply Cauterize. This way whole Zen will be consumed.

 

Keep in mind that you don't gain Centering while under effects of Zen/Transcendence/Inspiration(both yours and from other sentinels), so if you are left with one or two stacks of Zen and no way to use them up(this can happen only in Juyo form), it might be best to remove buff manualy than wait for it to expire. Or in case of Combat, use them up at earliest convenience.

[SteveGarbage]

Yeah, pretty much you shouldn't be using Juyo unless you're going to go Watchman tree. In Watchman you have a combo of Overload Saber and Cauterize as burns, to get the most bonus out of it.

 

If you don't want to focus on DoT skills, I'd suggest going with Combat or Focus trees and their respective forms.

[BogyOne]

I believe now that at low level most useful form for Zen is default Shii-Cho.

 

With my new Marauder I put first TPs in Defensive Forms, Valor and Focused Slash from Combat and Watchman trees and often I have next Zen ready before I empty Focus/Rage bar after current Zen/Fury.

Edited November 26, 2012 by BogyOne

[Nythain]

As a brand spankin new sentinel (or any melee class for that matter), I just learned more from the handful of responses to this thread than i did reading the first two pages. Thank you all for all the input and clarification on not only the original topic, but the side topics of which tree is best suited for which situation.