Emperor-Norton's Guide to Watchman

[avatarearth]

What stats should I be stacking?

[Emperor-Norton]

What stats should I be stacking?

For endgame, get unlettered Mods (they give the largest amount of DPS helpful stats). Although a 34A Mod is better than say a 33 unlettered (aka an A from a higher tier is better than a lower tier unlettered). Go with Adept and Initiative Enhancements when possible (they give the most Power). You want to get your Accuracy close to 100% (99.5% is generally the lowest you would want to go if you have the choice). Strength Augments are better than Power. The (4pc) Set Bonus is really important, so important that if taking a 78 Armoring over a 69 means losing the 4 piece, then the 78 isn't worth it.

[Tusken]

I'm sorry, I may be a bit thick. Is this primarily a PVE build/ guide or a guide also applicable to PVP?

 

Again, sorry I've been away from the game over a year and just came back, so playing catch up.

[Emperor-Norton]

I'm sorry, I may be a bit thick. Is this primarily a PVE build/ guide or a guide also applicable to PVP?

 

Again, sorry I've been away from the game over a year and just came back, so playing catch up.

The Guide is about how to perform maximal output of damage from the spec. So while it can be useful for PvP (more for general knowledge on how to apply damage), it is more useful for PvE than PvP. Although in the current Meta Game, Watchman is more of a PvE spec than a PvP one.

 

It's not a problem and welcome back.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Emperor-Norton

[Emperor-Norton]

I got around to cleaning up the execute phase. And I guess, bump.

[Zenmar]

I find the execute phase quite similar to the one I'm using atm, except for the fact I also use OS when I have a decent amount of focus, especially before MAS. Edited March 28, 2014 by Zenmar

[Classicks]

Delete - question answered. Edited April 22, 2014 by Classicks

[ChenjonEchuu]

Hi guy's

 

i ve a sentinelle Watchman and a marauder anihilation since the release of SWTOR.... but since 2.7 i wonder if this template are still viable in PVE HM and Nightmare???

 

i don t see more of them, much are in carnage/combat or Hybrid (dot-smash)

 

thanks for answer

[Bejarid]

but since 2.7 i wonder if this template are still viable in PVE HM and Nightmare???

 

Watchman/Annihilation is still perfectly viable for end-game PvE. My main raid team's Sentinel runs as Watchman and he's one of my group's strongest DPS. Combat and Dotsmash have things a lot easier with the wide range of fights that require a target swap and/or strong AoE, but the most important thing should always be to play what you are most comfortable with and enjoy.

[Emperor-Norton]

Hi guy's

 

i ve a sentinelle Watchman and a marauder anihilation since the release of SWTOR.... but since 2.7 i wonder if this template are still viable in PVE HM and Nightmare???

 

i don t see more of them, much are in carnage/combat or Hybrid (dot-smash)

 

thanks for answer

Watchman is perfectly viable for HM or NiM. There isn't a difference for Grob'thok or Nefra. Draxus favors AOE and Burst. Focus or Dotsmash are better for Corruptor Zero just for the sheer AOE. Combat is better for most of Brontes, but I think Watchman is better for the final phase (especially if there already is a Combat Sentinel for Trans).

 

Watchman lost a good bit of luster since 2.0 when Combat almost totally caught up with it in sustained DPS, and many who played for the DoT nature switched over to Dotsmash when it was discovered. Mainly the people who play it now are just too stubborn to change, but there are still those select few that make it work and work well.

[Kredox]

Really nice guide about my lil' love

[justinplainview]

Mace, so I've been working on Watchman since 2.8 dropped (been Combat since forever) and I've found a biiiig issue with maintaining DPS during the execute phase. Usually, good parses were 3.8k, but most hovered in 3.7k, which is less than acceptable for the spec dps ceiling of 4k+. I spent the morning parsing out the spec, trying to clean up my execute range rotation (8 parses), and finally made some improvement. There are a few terrible 3.6+3.7 parses in there, just feeling out different variations in the sub 30% range, but the final parse was 3.9k, and I think a very good starting point for me. I feel like I've been overvaluing master strike in execute, as I found myself BARELY thinking about it in my 3.9k parse. TBH it just felt like OS>Merciless>Caut>Dispatch>etc.

Parse in question: http://www.torparse.com/a/712647/time/1404132857/1404133114/0/Overview

Preliminary thoughts: In your guide, on a Million Health parse, you had said there should be 88-92 hits of Merciless Slash, and I only had 65. I don't feel as though I'm skipping the ability, but if the 88-92 is an absolute MUST to maximize the DPS, I will improve on that. I also have less Overload Saber hits than your recommendation, and Cauterize was only 60, as opposed to the 70+ range you recommend. TLDR; I'd love a little input from you on how I can improve.

 

PS: I'm too lazy to update my AMR at the moment, but I have Dread Forged Power Surge earpiece, DF Power Accuracy Implants, DF SA+DF FR relics, 4 piece set bonus 180 (with 1 Underworld set bonus armoring), Enhancements are almost all best in slot (except for 2 terrible verpine accuracy enhancements because I'm a combat sent, so I just plugged whatever power accuracy enhancements I could find to hit accuracy cap). I have zero 186 pieces. Running 138 crit at the moment. Purple Might augments. In case you wondered gear level for that parse.

Edited June 30, 2014 by justinplainview

[jobuck]

Mace, so I've been working on Watchman since 2.8 dropped (been Combat since forever) and I've found a biiiig issue with maintaining DPS during the execute phase. Usually, good parses were 3.8k, but most hovered in 3.7k, which is less than acceptable for the spec dps ceiling of 4k+. I spent the morning parsing out the spec, trying to clean up my execute range rotation (8 parses), and finally made some improvement. There are a few terrible 3.6+3.7 parses in there, just feeling out different variations in the sub 30% range, but the final parse was 3.9k, and I think a very good starting point for me. I feel like I've been overvaluing master strike in execute, as I found myself BARELY thinking about it in my 3.9k parse. TBH it just felt like OS>Merciless>Caut>Dispatch>etc.

Parse in question: http://www.torparse.com/a/712647/time/1404132857/1404133114/0/Overview

Preliminary thoughts: In your guide, on a Million Health parse, you had said there should be 88-92 hits of Merciless Slash, and I only had 65. I don't feel as though I'm skipping the ability, but if the 88-92 is an absolute MUST to maximize the DPS, I will improve on that. I also have less Overload Saber hits than your recommendation, and Cauterize was only 60, as opposed to the 70+ range you recommend. TLDR; I'd love a little input from you on how I can improve.

 

PS: I'm too lazy to update my AMR at the moment, but I have Dread Forged Power Surge earpiece, DF Power Accuracy Implants, DF SA+DF FR relics, 4 piece set bonus 180 (with 1 Underworld set bonus armoring), Enhancements are almost all best in slot (except for 2 terrible verpine accuracy enhancements because I'm a combat sent, so I just plugged whatever power accuracy enhancements I could find to hit accuracy cap). I have zero 186 pieces. Running 138 crit at the moment. Purple Might augments. In case you wondered gear level for that parse.

 

First of all, you dont want to be using merciless and dispatch in the execute phase, it's just simply too expensive. Being the sentinel expert that I am..lol jk, I use Dispatch only in when I'm 30% and below, it's less focus, but the same damage as merciless, and also it has the same result of what you're really wanting, to end the cd on cauterize. During the execute you should never have cauterize off of the dummy for more than 1 or 2 more cd's (with as many dispatches you're getting in, this should not be a problem). As far as crit, I run 2 crystals, and 1 186 Potent Mod, that really should be all you need, if you have 34+ Str.. If you would like to take a look at my logs or gear setup etc. I'd be happy to link it to you

[Ardarell_Solo]

First of all, you dont want to be using merciless and dispatch in the execute phase, it's just simply too expensive. Being the sentinel expert that I am..lol jk, I use Dispatch only in when I'm 30% and below, it's less focus, but the same damage as merciless, and also it has the same result of what you're really wanting, to end the cd on cauterize. During the execute you should never have cauterize off of the dummy for more than 1 or 2 more cd's (with as many dispatches you're getting in, this should not be a problem). As far as crit, I run 2 crystals, and 1 186 Potent Mod, that really should be all you need, if you have 34+ Str.. If you would like to take a look at my logs or gear setup etc. I'd be happy to link it to you

 

That was before 2.8., when Merciless cost was 2 higher than Dispatch and its Damage was not that much higher.

 

2.8. reduced Merciless cost by one and increased its damage. That actually changed Sub 30% priorities imo. Mind you, even before 2.8. you wouldn't totally eliminate Merciless, you just made it your second option after Dispatch for proccing Cauterize. Now not doing enough Merciless Sub 30% is an absolute DPS loss.

 

Now the big challenge is to get enough focus, so you can use both Merciless and Dispatch frequently. Which will only work, if you get the focus return from Overload Saber and Cauterize burns. Which basically means: Failed procs Sub 30% will screw you good, while continuous proccs may help you to go:

 

Merciless

Cauterize

Focus Builder

Dispatch

 

for several blocks. Which is awesome!

 

And if that doesn't work anymore (no focus left), Master Strike makes its glorious reappearance: You use it to consume time until Zealous Strike/Leap come off Cooldown, perferably, when Overload Saber is more then 4 secs away from reappearing. So

 

Merciless

Cauterize

Master Strike

Merciless/ (Dispatch if low on focus)

Cauterize

Big focus builder (hopefully ready again)

 

In short: Sub 30% you're supposed to not only keep Overload Saber, Merciless, Cauterize and Dispatch on Cooldown, but also Zealous Strike and Force Leap, otherwise you'll be out of Focus in the blink of an eye.

 

Deciding what to prioritize for that in any given situation is REALLY difficult. I'm not quite sure yet, except for those rules:

 

1. Never delay Overload Saber (as always, just to make that clear again)

 

2. Try to keep Merciless as close to on Cooldown as possible

 

3. Know, in which GCD you procced Cauterize and use Merciless or Dispatch there 4 GCDs later, preferably with the other ability near it to force missed proccs.

 

4. Even more than above 30% plan ahead your focus need and available focus generators for the next 8 GCDs

 

5. If you're focus capped and Cauterize refuses to proc from Dispatch or Merciless and the next Dispatch or Merciless are not available right now, do Twin Saber Throw. Don't forc Cauterize Procs with Slash Sub 30%, it's too expensive and will kill your rotation a few seconds later, when big hitters come off Cooldown.

 

6. PRAY for Cauterize procs and really lucky focus gain from "Burning Focus" and "Plasma Plades" ! ;-)

Edited July 1, 2014 by Ardarell_Solo

[Leafy_Bug]

Hey there fellow watchman sentinels <3.

 

 

Recently I decided to dust of my sentinel as it was feeling lonely. I put some gear left and right from my DF /DP NiM farming and while it is very far from BIS, I parse quite nicely with it. I have spent some time on the dummy, trying multiple gear setups, different ramping, yes, I tried to see how much each stack of merciless influences your output and I found something that i do not completely understand.

 

 

When you open on the dummy, if your first merciless slash does not crit or fails to reset, your parse will be very poor. No matter the gear, you will be pulling numbers so low, you just want to slap yourself. However, if you keep going, and add a magic slash, you reset cauterize, then you wait the magic ICD for mind sear, and try to realign your window, you will notice insane catch up. The better your resets, the more you push the numbers. Bear in mind that this spec is still RNG reliant and contrary to its original inception with 100% cauterize, I still don't think cauterize and the increased burns are to 'blame' for picking the damage back up.

 

 

What makes watchman catch up now compared to pre 2.8? Higher dot damage, higher reset chance (RNG you can have such bad luck but still catch up), lower focus cost on merciless, or all of the aforementioned? The biggest ***** shrinker with this spec is when you hit 4k merciless slashes and the tool tip says you do double that

Edited July 1, 2014 by Leafy_Bug

[jobuck]

Hey there fellow watchman sentinels <3.

 

 

Recently I decided to dust of my sentinel as it was feeling lonely. I put some gear left and right from my DF /DP NiM farming and while it is very far from BIS, I parse quite nicely with it. I have spent some time on the dummy, trying multiple gear setups, different ramping, yes, I tried to see how much each stack of merciless influences your output and I found something that i do not completely understand.

 

 

When you open on the dummy, if your first merciless slash does not crit or fails to reset, your parse will be very poor. No matter the gear, you will be pulling numbers so low, you just want to slap yourself. However, if you keep going, and add a magic slash, you reset cauterize, then you wait the magic ICD for mind sear, and try to realign your window, you will notice insane catch up. The better your resets, the more you push the numbers. Bear in mind that this spec is still RNG reliant and contrary to its original inception with 100% cauterize, I still don't think cauterize and the increased burns are to 'blame' for picking the damage back up.

 

 

What makes watchman catch up now compared to pre 2.8? Higher dot damage, higher reset chance (RNG you can have such bad luck but still catch up), lower focus cost on merciless, or all of the aforementioned? The biggest ***** shrinker with this spec is when you hit 4k merciless slashes and the tool tip says you do double that

 

I seem to have had focus trouble in the past using merc slash and dispatch in the past sub 30, but I'll give this a shot! Thanks

 

EDIT:: I mean to reply to Arlderrall sorry ://

Edited July 2, 2014 by jobuck

[Bugattiboy]

Bear in mind that this spec is still RNG reliant and contrary to its original inception with 100% cauterize

It's never going to be like that. In the last PTS the entire Watchman community (a.k.a 3 well known people give or take) voiced their disgust in regards to, and quite vehemently at that, increasing the proc chance of Merciless Slash to 100% so EA listened and kept the RNG in.

[Ardarell_Solo]

I seem to have had focus trouble in the past using merc slash and dispatch in the past sub 30, but I'll give this a shot! Thanks

 

EDIT:: I mean to reply to Arlderrall sorry ://

 

You're welcome! I actually forgot one rule:

 

- Enter Sub 30% with as much focus as you can, i.e. if you're at 34%-32%, get away from Slash and use Strike instead, unless you focus cap. Try to save Zealous Strike and Leap.

 

Contrary to what's been said above, I think Sub 30% keeping Merciless on Cooldown is as important (maybe even more) as keeping Cauterize on Cooldown, Dispatch ist next in priority.

 

When I analyze the Execute phase of my parses, I measure DPS from the first use of Dispatch until the end of the parse. In best cases I can push DPS by 180 in Execute, on average it'd be 70 or so.

 

Best example: http://www.torparse.com/a/697814/time/1402639566/1402639805/0/Damage+Dealt

<- +187 DPS in Execute phase

You'll note that Merciless is kept on Cooldown except for Master Strike Blocks, where there's one extra GCD. Same goes for Cauterize, which has been delayed twice by one GCD, every time for Zealous Strike, to have enough focus for Merciless + Dispatch + Cauterize. Of course Crits on Dispatch are above average in that parse.

 

Good example for Merciless: http://www.torparse.com/a/714266/time/1404364669/1404364900/0/Damage+Dealt

<- + 46 DPS in execute phase, but it's a very high parse, so pushing the 4276 DPS from first use of Dispatch to 4317 in the end is absolutely ok.

In this case Merciless was only delayed once for Zealous Strike after Master Strike. Cauterize failed to proc once, Dispatch was delayed by one GCD once and skipped twice. I did force Cauterize with Slash once (though I'd said it's a nono) after both Merciless and Dispatch failed me, but I was good with focus and Zealous Strike was up afterwards.

 

To sum it up: Prior to 30% rotation is quite obvious and easy, Sub 30% is much harder to optimize and often what separates a good fight from an excellent one - besides the obvious reliance on Crit.

 

On a side note: Lucky Crits are actually more important than Cauterize procs, which, if you use your focus wisely, can, due to reduced cost of Merciless, very well be forced with frequent Slash uses (I had 6 Cauterizes "forced" by Slash after Merciless procs had failed in the last parse, which has 62 hits from Cauterize - that's actually still sub par).

Edited July 3, 2014 by Ardarell_Solo

[jobuck]

You're welcome! I actually forgot one rule:

 

- Enter Sub 30% with as much focus as you can, i.e. if you're at 34%-32%, get away from Slash and use Strike instead, unless you focus cap. Try to save Zealous Strike and Leap.

 

Contrary to what's been said above, I think Sub 30% keeping Merciless on Cooldown is as important (maybe even more) as keeping Cauterize on Cooldown, Dispatch ist next in priority.

 

When I analyze the Execute phase of my parses, I measure DPS from the first use of Dispatch until the end of the parse. In best cases I can push DPS by 180 in Execute, on average it'd be 70 or so.

 

Best example: http://www.torparse.com/a/697814/time/1402639566/1402639805/0/Damage+Dealt

<- +187 DPS in Execute phase

You'll note that Merciless is kept on Cooldown except for Master Strike Blocks, where there's one extra GCD. Same goes for Cauterize, which has been delayed twice by one GCD, every time for Zealous Strike, to have enough focus for Merciless + Dispatch + Cauterize. Of course Crits on Dispatch are above average in that parse.

 

Good example for Merciless: http://www.torparse.com/a/714266/time/1404364669/1404364900/0/Damage+Dealt

<- + 46 DPS in execute phase, but it's a very high parse, so pushing the 4276 DPS from first use of Dispatch to 4317 in the end is absolutely ok.

In this case Merciless was only delayed once for Zealous Strike after Master Strike. Cauterize failed to proc once, Dispatch was delayed by one GCD once and skipped twice. I did force Cauterize with Slash once (though I'd said it's a nono) after both Merciless and Dispatch failed me, but I was good with focus and Zealous Strike was up afterwards.

 

To sum it up: Prior to 30% rotation is quite obvious and easy, Sub 30% is much harder to optimize and often what separates a good fight from an excellent one - besides the obvious reliance on Crit.

 

On a side note: Lucky Crits are actually more important than Cauterize procs, which, if you use your focus wisely, can, due to reduced cost of Merciless, very well be forced with frequent Slash uses (I had 6 Cauterizes "forced" by Slash after Merciless procs had failed in the last parse, which has 62 hits from Cauterize - that's actually still sub par).

 

when you parse, do you use bloodthirst at the beginning for save it for the execute phase?

[SnickerJew]

when you parse, do you use bloodthirst at the beginning for save it for the execute phase?

 

I believe the common thing to do now a days is to hit it off the bat. From my understanding from testing others have done, that has proved to be better results.

[Ardarell_Solo]

I believe the common thing to do now a days is to hit it off the bat. From my understanding from testing others have done, that has proved to be better results.

 

Yep, though I can't really explain why that is...

[TACeMossie]

The biggest ***** shrinker with this spec is when you hit 4k merciless slashes and the tool tip says you do double that

 

To be fair, the tooltip doesn't account for armor (30% reduction), or the fact that ~17% of that damage comes from the offhand hit

[Leafy_Bug]

Yep, though I can't really explain why that is...

 

 

The answer is simple: nobody bothered to spend the time to get that lucky parse and use inspiration at 30%. My guildie and I are using it at under 30% and when one of us had 66% critical on dispatch, we hit 11ks. Our damage increased so fast it was shocking. He topped off at 4210 while I topped off at 4175 due to lower crits. Our gear is far from BIS and we use sentinels as alts. I posit that inspiration under 30% gives better results than in the beginning if your two dispatches crit during its duration( zen+adrenal+inspiration trio).

Edited July 11, 2014 by Leafy_Bug

[EmraldOnyxx]

Me use set up and smash buttons. Good write-up. Edited July 11, 2014 by EmraldOnyxx

[jobuck]

Yep, though I can't really explain why that is...

 

if you don't mind, could you link me an amr? id like to compare stats of that's ok