Tips for Soloing Darkness on Ilum as a Combat Sentinel

[Plicitous]

So, I was talking to a friend of mine who also happens to be a Combat Sentinel, and he mentioned that he solos Darkness on Ilum when doing dailies. Not wanting to reveal my ignorance, I didn't ask him how the hell he did it. The more I thought about it, the more incredulous I became. He's not decked out in BiS gear; most of his armor is Columi w/ Rakata Ears/Implants.

 

I'm geared better than he is (half BH, w/ mix of Columi and Rakata + DG Relic) but he has much better situational awareness than I do (10k hours of WoW will do that to you!) so I figure there's something key that I'm missing. I've tried to solo the heroic with Doc, Kira and Scourge (desperate, I know) and I just can't do it. Every once in a while I'll get lucky and take down one of the three, but I can't do it consistently, and have never come close to beating the bastard that shoots lightning.

 

This has turned into a test of manhood! Any tips you can provide would be most appreciated.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Plicitous

[Helig]

LoS enemies so you can cluster them for an Awe=>CT grenade (not really necessary, but why not), keep destroying them 1 by 1. You should not need to use Blade Ward (though Rebuke and pacify on the main melee is a must). Camo is a useful option to mitigate a cast that you know is aimed at you. Target priority is usual - casters>melee, strong>Elite.

 

I use Doc because he's the safest and doesn't need micromanagement to avoid breaking Awe prematurely. But it's totally doable with Kira and Scourge (DPS gear, DPS stance). Slightly less so with Rusk, because he loses on damage output if he's getting pounded, and T7 is a joke because of pitiful damage output even in DPS stance.

 

Some unlucky situations might require an extra ommph with GBTF=>Medpack, especially if you aren't geared and not fully comfortable with the class. Don't be afraid to let your companion tank a Strong mob or two - as long as you kill them off in time.

 

Goes without saying that spellcasting elites need to get interrupted.

 

That's only from the top of my head. Hope you manage it. Have fun.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Helig

[Aurojiin]

To be honest there's really not that much to it. Using Doc is a given (DPS and tank companions will just fall over). Consider your cooldowns:

 

1. Rebuke

2. Saber Ward

3. Guarded by the Force (as a last resort)

 

Then you have Legacy cooldowns on top of those. If you're still having trouble, a judicious use of Awe and Pacify can swing the tide. Kill the strongs, then kill the elite.

[Plicitous]

Thank you for the responses. I have been missing something with this fight and I suspect that once I figure out what it is, it's going to make me a better player in other PVE engagements as well.

 

I suspect the thing that's getting me in the most trouble is poorly timed defensive cooldowns and ignorance where key abilities are concerned. For example, I assumed Pacify wasn't very useful in this engagement since it didn't mitigate Force accuracy, but based on the responses above it seems that I was wrong. I'm not sure if I failed to understand how Pacify works or if I failed to understand the type of damage/attacks they were doing...maybe both!

Edited February 10, 2013 by Plicitous

[Aurojiin]

I suspect the thing that's getting me in the most trouble is poorly timed defensive cooldowns and ignorance where key abilities are concerned. For example, I assumed Pacify wasn't very useful in this engagement since it didn't mitigate Force accuracy, but based on the responses above it seems that I was wrong. I'm not sure if I failed to understand how Pacify works or if I failed to understand the type of damage/attacks they were doing...maybe both!

You're correct about Pacify, but consider that at least one of the elites has primarily white damage melee attacks. Pacify him, and that buys you time to eliminate one of the strongs, reducing the amount of incoming damage.

 

Saber Ward should be used earlier rather than later; it's not an invincibility cooldown, so it does you no good if you're on death's door. Guarded should be used as late as possible, obviously. Rebuke should be used immediately upon pulling.

 

Even popping Force Camo near death to dump the mobs onto Doc can buy you a couple of GCDs to work with.

 

Interrupts are your friend; for example, IIRC (it's been a long time since I've done the dailies), the Assassin-style elite has a spinning strikes attack that hurts a lot.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Aurojiin

[jikdoc]

set doc to attack the boss or one of the silvers before you leap in, he will carbon freeze them and give you time to take out one of the other silvers, preferably the healer. make sure to peel mobs off doc so he can heal you. use pacify and awe as needed.

same strategies can be applied to CTS which can be solo'd by a combat sent

[slafko]

I use Doc everywhere. Target priority is Adept, Lord, the melee dude. Interrupting Dark Heal is a must. Things run smoothly but can get trickier if that caster Lord spawns with two Adepts. They can chain heal eachother and then the Lord nukes you with Force Storm. Still doable though.

[Plicitous]

Thanks everyone for the excellent tips. I've been soloing Darkness for a few days now and I can safely say that Pacify was the missing piece of the puzzle. That, and using the Heroic Moment any time two casters spawn. The previous poster is right -- chain heals are a pain when that elite is bringing the thunder. Edited February 16, 2013 by Plicitous

[Twolightsabers]

 

I use Doc because he's the safest and doesn't need micromanagement to avoid breaking Awe prematurely. But it's totally doable with Kira and Scourge (DPS gear, DPS stance). Slightly less so with Rusk, because he loses on damage output if he's getting pounded, and T7 is a joke because of pitiful damage output even in DPS stance.

 

T7 is very much viable. The point of your "tank" companion isn't to help you dps, it's to keep aggro off you just long enough to splat the elites. You're squishy as hell as a sentinel, but you put out so much dps, especially as combat, that it doesn't matter. Been soling that since columi/rakata and it's easily doable with your droid buddy. My T7 now has 26k+ hp and almost kills a silver on his own while I violate one silver and the gold.

 

As for cds, you don't really need them that much in BH gear and beyond. Awe them if it's up to buy you time, and in that time ANY combat sentinel should obliterate one silver with the PS/MS/BS combo and be well on your way to killing the 2nd silver before it wears off. Rebuke and pacify if you need, but if you have to use saber ward on any group you might want to rethink soling it. If you require GBTF on that quest, it's time to re-roll your class. That may sound dick-ish, but since it seems people are asking how to do this for style points and not for simply completing the quest, there it is.

 

Bottom line: T7 rocks, just have to understand the concept behind what he's there for. Otherwise just use Kira and fareroll the trio of elites; but be prepared to Introspect after each mob.

[Plicitous]

If you require GBTF on that quest, it's time to re-roll your class. That may sound dick-ish, .

 

Yeah, that was pretty dick'ish. If your T7 has 26k, it's no wonder you feel that way. My Doc is in Tionese and T7 is still equipped with the set I received before fighting the Emperor. Gear matters.

 

Not all of us have invested the 10k hours necessary to become experts.

[Twolightsabers]

Gear matters.

 

Not all of us have invested the 10k hours necessary to become experts.

 

Of course gear matters. But making an assanine comment like 10 thousand hours of playtime to know one's class is pretty dick-ish too; besides being ridiculous. Of course you're probably the kind of player who says everyone who beats you in pvp is a hacker and anyone who has end-game gear has no life. Point being, if you're having to blow every cd you have and are still struggling; don't try to solo it.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Twolightsabers

[Plicitous]

Of course gear matters. But making an assanine comment like 10 thousand hours of playtime to know one's class is pretty dick-ish too; besides being ridiculous. Of course you're probably the kind of player who says everyone who beats you in pvp is a hacker and anyone who has end-game gear has no life. Point being, if you're having to blow every cd you have and are still struggling; don't try to solo it.

 

Guess you're not familiar with the 10k Hours Rule. Many who play MMO's take for granted the amount of time they've spent playing and forget that everyone has to start somewhere. I have no idea what your history is, but, in my experience, most of the best players have played multiple MMOs over many, many years and have developed a rather elitist attitude along with their impressive mastery of mechanics etc. The skills you learned in one translate well into other games because, lets face it, they all copy each other. It may not take 10k hours to master a class, but having years of experience with very similar games certainly helps.

 

I have a grand total of 39 days, 14 hours playing MMOs and I reckon that at least a third of that has been spent standing in the fleet shooting the breeze or browsing the GTN. Forgive me if I've not mastered my class and don't really want to re-roll!

Edited February 19, 2013 by Plicitous