Must I be Smash Monster? Oh, and CC...

[Elxaime]

Hi everyone. I have a 55 Sentinel in Watchman tree I have been trying out in PVP. I am Valor 49 now witll full set of Conqueror's weapon master and working on Obroan. Two questions:

 

- I seem to read everywhere that in PVP only focus tree is viable, e.g. become a Smash monster. Is this true? Is everything else fail?

 

- this is more a gripe than a question, but as a Sentinel in WZ I seem to be unable to move most of the time due to CC. Basically, about half the time. The single stun break doesn't do any more than delay the inevitable. It seems like WZ's are full of ranged classes that can CC and self-heal. It feels like I am swimming upstream trying to play a melee class in WZ's, particularly Huttball...

[Rhylass]

Greetings.

 

Haven't posted much here, but I like to share my experience.

If there is only one thing I love in TOR, ... its the Watchman spec. Wächter.

I am playing watchman in PVP exclusively, for over 1 year now and I love it.

 

Watchman, you can't really play in WZ as you do in PVE. So, for one thing, use the high utility of the spec and forget about DPS. PVP is about burst, hard hitting blows on single opponents, and high situational awareness. Smash monkeys, and the combat Sents have an advantage, if the damage is all you care. Try focus on healers and look for targets already down half their health bar.

 

I choose my gear for high crits and Strength. Try using your Matrix cube. I have 1909 expertise, buffed to 2017 in the WZ. You like to hit as hard as you can, between 6000 and 7000 damage is possible, if you know your spec.

Be a Wolf harass them, stay at the fringe, pic your target carefully. You won't get the big numbers, but the kills.

[Juithtin]

If you're looking at the specc in terms of burst, it's always going to be on the lower end of the spectrum. Watchman was designed for sustained damage, so keeping on top of your target is key (Inflammation and Leg Slash help). I've always played watchman on my Sentinel (I'm a failure at Combat and dislike Focus), and one thing I've found is you can be a pain in the arse to a healer... 6 second interrupt plus the leap, means you can severely diminish the heals of a Merc/Commando and Sage/Sorc (Operatives are a little different.)

Since the specc isn't that bursty, it's better to kind of hang back rather than jumping right into the thick of things (unless you have good healers/tanks), otherwise you can just melt.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#501bIrRrRrfsrzZRR.3

 

That's the specc I use, which relies more on utility and survivability than damage (I'm sure someone could link you another build that can hit harder, if that's what you're after.) Anyway, good luck.

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention; yeah, CC is a bit of a pain. Typically if I get snared out in the open I'll pop camouflage and wait for the snare to drop off.

Edited February 5, 2014 by Juithtin

[Sylvane]

Watchman has ramp up time and can be cleansed so it's not the ideal pvp spec. Basically you have 2 pvp routes to go, combat for single target dps or smash for aoe dps. Also whatever spec you play in pvp make sure you pick up the aoe dmg reduction talent in the combat tree, you will live longer.

 

CC is going to be annoying no matter what as a melee, since your are in the thick of everything, you just have to eat it until you get white bar'd or cleansed.

[Elxaime]

Thanks for the comments, especially on how best to play Watchman. Without necessarily understanding why, I have sensed more success going after healers than jumping into the middle.

 

I appreciate I am not the only melee who is suffering from the rampant CC. It is frustrating when just as you finally come alongside a target to be able to damage them, they stun or bounce you and run away. Meanwhile, because they are ranged, they don't have to do anything other than tab target. By the time you drag yourself through their CC to get alongside them again, their CC cool-down is ready again, so its rinse and repeat. If you get them down in health, they self-heal.

 

If it was a mix of classes in WZ's, it would be less frustrating. But WZ's are full of the same ranged CC classes. The few melee that show up seem mainly for their amusement.

[lokiwalker]

A good sniper will still always be reallly hard to take down, and if he is at range in cover you are done for.... but for a non rage/focus build as others have said the Combat tree is very viable, though certainly has a steep learning curve to it.

[Rhylass]

Good advise here, I like to add, my spec is 36/8/2. Especially the 2 point in "INSIGHT", Focus spec, are IMO important.

I know CC and all is a pain, don't let this discourage you. Its quite normal to "die into it" at the very start of things. But as you grow into the thing, you add your own nasty tricks and your self heal helps.

Good luck!

[Tevzz]

A good sniper will still always be reallly hard to take down, and if he is at range in cover you are done for.... but for a non rage/focus build as others have said the Combat tree is very viable, though certainly has a steep learning curve to it.

 

Yep, definitely harder than Watchman, but quite effective if you know the ins and outs of the spec...and of course if you don't force leap first.

[Cordorian]

In general you don't have to play focus in pvp, but some point in your pvp career there will be quite strong pull, to try it out. It is way easier to play and ridiculously effective, so call it the dark side of knights and warrior.

 

As others said combat is highly viable for pvp, because it has a massive burst that can really make healers go nuts and on top of that has great utility in wzs because you can spam transcendance quite a lot. On further advantage it has over watchman is that it has 2 very powefull roots (on crippling throw and master strike), which gives the spec way more control and makes you less prone to kiting and you get a root breaker on force camo, It is though on of the more difficult specs in the game, where you have to pay a lot of attention to procs and stuff.

As I take combat is becoming one stronger part in arenas, especially in ranked, since with its (double combat sent) burst it becomes possible to burn the tank quite quickly and thus making the way free to kill the operative healer.

 

like most dots spec watchman seem to suffer a bit in pvp, but i guess in regs you can get away with it, As one previous poster said, if you make an profession out of just being a nuissance to healers and go for your occasional 1v1 (it is the best 1v1 spec of sentinals) you will be doing fine. It is competitive top end pvp, where atm the spec is useless, with ranked being dead on most servers, this doesn't mean much.

 

So play what you like and if you get too annoyed with watchman you can tree out combat. And if you still feel like your stunned out of your damage, you can rage respec focus and enjoy easy mode for a bit.