Viable Endgame Sentinel Spec

[Foxtrotmikelima]

Ive recently found myself at Level Cap and Endgame over the last month. And while Ive learned a lot over the course of the 3 months of game time to get here. Im now facing a side of the game Ive never had to deal with before. Endgame. Hard Flashpoints and Operations.

 

As a lot of what Im doing is Solo. Im currently a level 55 playing the catch up game attempting to farm Basic Comms before even bothering to touch all the other High Tier Comms. In doing so Ive recently learned that Basic Comms Gear can have its Armoring/Mods/Enhancements ripped out and placed in Customizable Gear (which I find great since I fear being forced into cookie-cutter appearances). But in doing so Ive noticed that at least for the Fleet Vendors (Im unaware of any other Vendors with variety for Sentinels). Theres not much variety in Gear. So Im wondering if Im going to have to change my current Spec from Combat (which I rather enjoy and find to be more my playstyle) to something like Watchmen.

 

If Watchmen is a much more preferred and more resourceful Spec for Endgame. I am not opposed to changing to that and gearing with that in mind. But I would prefer to hear some opinions on the matter before I go full in on that change.

 

Before I end my OP. Id like to say that while I understand Basic Comms is not going to get me ready for Operations (Something I do eventually intend on getting into). From my understanding its more then enough for Endgame in general. And since Im currently running level 50 Planetary Comms Armoring/Mods/Enhancements. I feel like the best choice I can make on the long road to Operations. Is upgrade to Basic Comms gear first.

[AngusFTW]

Combat and Watchman are both viable. Focus is good for ad heavy fights if ranged is slacking. There is a focus/watchman hybrid that is outparsing all but will be nerfed eventually. In the current ops DF/DP i prefer combat for around 75% of the fights since it involves alot of burst phases and bursting down ads.. Edited February 7, 2014 by AngusFTW

[Bejarid]

Why would the vendor gear force you into Watchman? I'm a Combat Sentinel, been 55 for almost two months, and have exhausted all but the Ultimate Commendation vendor gear. If it's the preponderance of crit on the vendor gear that worries you, once you buy all the gear for the armorings, you can continue to buy the gear that doesn't have crit, rip out only the mods/enhancements you need, and plug them in anywhere since only the armorings/hilts bind to specific gear slots.

[Alucardess]

You should just skip Basic Comm gear. There's no point in spending Basic Comms to get the 69 tier. Just run HM FPs to get them. If anything, you can run Oricon to get the free 66 set. It's not great, but it'll get you through 16SM SnV or TFB. Once you hit 69/72, you should be good for SM DP/DF.

 

And AFAIK, the gear in the vendor generally just sucks. I had to mix and match on my Watchman Sentinel when I was buying stuff.

[Projawa]

All three trees are viable. Stick with the one that feels right to you.

I've been combat since launch because it felt right to me. When they increased the complexity of combat's mechanics in 2.0, I grew to like the spec even more to the point where I can't play any other dps class/spec without falling asleep.

 

What matters more than spec is how well you function in a group, if you have your abilities keybound, and keeping good situational awareness.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Projawa

[GrandLordMenace]

Also the vendor gear is unoptimized, the enhancements are always crap, try buying from the GTN Initiative and Adept enhancements, they have more power and less endurance.

[Bejarid]

And AFAIK, the gear in the vendor generally just sucks. I had to mix and match on my Watchman Sentinel when I was buying stuff.

 

It really does. Full of "Efficient" (low power/high surge) enhancements instead of the Adept (medium power/high-ish surge) enhancements I prefer for Combat. For folks like me, however, that don't do Ops frequently and have to PuG when we do, it is possible to make the most of the vendor gear - it just takes a lot of time, effort, and comms. But, that said, I have managed to optimize myself in all power/surge enhancements, think one power/accuracy enhancement.

 

In the vendor garbage gear I still tend to strip aggro within my first or second PS window, so I figure I'm doing well enough for SM PuGs. HM ops are likely to be an entirely different matter, but I wouldn't want to try and PuG those, anyway.

[Foxtrotmikelima]

Also the vendor gear is unoptimized, the enhancements are always crap, try buying from the GTN Initiative and Adept enhancements, they have more power and less endurance.

 

Yes cause a first time go Level Cap Sentinel is going to have loads of Credits to spend on the 500k -1mil Armoring/mods/enhancements youll find on the bloated and overpriced GTN.

 

Im not asking for alternatives to the Vendor. Im not shocked at all that I ask advice for something specific and everyone just goes off on a tangent about how I should just skip basic comms. How I should just skip right up to Elites and Ultimate Comms. How I should look on the GTN. Or the hell with the 69s. Work with 66s.

 

Im currently running a computer that will not handle Operations. It struggles going anywhere near two groups of NPCs shooting at each other. Im not going to knowningly and purposely be a pain in the *** to those running Ops until I can get a better rig. Ive weighed my options. Ive looked at the time I have on my hands and what will work for me and my situation. Currently thats Basic Comms. Now regardless of if thats optimal for you. The OP laid out that Im looking at Basic Comms. Now if you cant offer advice within that narrow field. Please dont post.

[ssfish]

Yes cause a first time go Level Cap Sentinel is going to have loads of Credits to spend on the 500k -1mil Armoring/mods/enhancements youll find on the bloated and overpriced GTN.

Im not asking for alternatives to the Vendor. Im not shocked at all that I ask advice for something specific and everyone just goes off on a tangent about how I should just skip basic comms. How I should just skip right up to Elites and Ultimate Comms. How I should look on the GTN. Or the hell with the 69s. Work with 66s.

 

Im currently running a computer that will not handle Operations. It struggles going anywhere near two groups of NPCs shooting at each other. Im not going to knowningly and purposely be a pain in the *** to those running Ops until I can get a better rig. Ive weighed my options. Ive looked at the time I have on my hands and what will work for me and my situation. Currently thats Basic Comms. Now regardless of if thats optimal for you. The OP laid out that Im looking at Basic Comms. Now if you cant offer advice within that narrow field. Please dont post.

 

You didn't ask a single question in your OP. You made a statement about possibly having to switch from Combat to Watchman. Your comment was addressed when people said that all three specs were viable.

 

You stated in your first post that you were facing both HM FPs and Operations, then you backpedal and say you can't run operations. If you aren't running Ops, then your gear doesn't matter. Simple as that. When you get around to venturing into operations (where gear matters), you can do SM TfB and SV in the gear that drops from level 50 HMs, particularly if you supplement with the few good mods/enhancements that you can find in basic comm gear.

 

Beyond that, come back when you drop the attitude and I'm sure people would be more than happy to provide the help that your narrow mind craves at that point in time. Alternately, you could phrase the question that you want answered in the form of an actual question, so as to minimize the chance of people addressing different points in your rambling in the assumption that what they are providing information for is what you are asking for.

[GrandLordMenace]

Yes cause a first time go Level Cap Sentinel is going to have loads of Credits to spend on the 500k -1mil Armoring/mods/enhancements youll find on the bloated and overpriced GTN.

 

Im not asking for alternatives to the Vendor. Im not shocked at all that I ask advice for something specific and everyone just goes off on a tangent about how I should just skip basic comms. How I should just skip right up to Elites and Ultimate Comms. How I should look on the GTN. Or the hell with the 69s. Work with 66s.

 

Im currently running a computer that will not handle Operations. It struggles going anywhere near two groups of NPCs shooting at each other. Im not going to knowningly and purposely be a pain in the *** to those running Ops until I can get a better rig. Ive weighed my options. Ive looked at the time I have on my hands and what will work for me and my situation. Currently thats Basic Comms. Now regardless of if thats optimal for you. The OP laid out that Im looking at Basic Comms. Now if you cant offer advice within that narrow field. Please dont post.

 

LOL 500k-1mil? Consider yourself pretty *********** lucky.

 

On the ebon hawk, an enhancement can go for an average of 2 mil with 3mil occasionally, and 500k ish for MMGs. Its bloated as hell.

[Emperor-Norton]

In one way or another all Sentinel specs are viable for Endgame. Dotsmash is current top dog but will probably get nerfed soon since it is pretty unbalanced relative to the other specs. Watchman and Combat both do well in the hands of a good player (both have their advantages and disadvantages), Combat is probably overall better, but a good Watchman will certainly give Combat a run for its money (and in many situations, beat it). Focus isn't as premiere but is viable for all current content.

LOL 500k-1mil? Consider yourself pretty *********** lucky.

 

On the ebon hawk, an enhancement can go for an average of 2 mil with 3mil occasionally, and 500k ish for MMGs. Its bloated as hell.

Pot5 is different. I think In general PvP Servers have more consumer friendly economies (possibly having to do with a larger hardcore base relative to a smaller casual base).

 

Brb, transferring to Ebon Hawk to sell a lot of Hilts and Enhancements.

Edited February 11, 2014 by Emperor-Norton

[GrandLordMenace]

The Ebon Hawk has some of the richest crafters in the game, and cartel market items sell for millions on this server (we have things like revan's mask selling for around 15 million at times) due to the high RP population. Also due to the relatively small raiding community, crafted items are in decent demand but ridonkerous prices. Crafting is majority done for no charge but critical crafts are sold on the GTN.

 

I believe before he left the biggest crafter on the ebon hawk, Stew, had some 750million credits and he's the closest I've ever seen to achieving 1 billion credits.

 

And on the Ebon Hawk we also used to have some funky things like the Greenspan scam stuff, basically he had some sort of stock thingamajig and a company and virtual currency and blah blah blah financial stuff that jacked a fair amount of credits from several players on the imp side of the server.

[Vodrin]

Yes cause a first time go Level Cap Sentinel is going to have loads of Credits to spend on the 500k -1mil Armoring/mods/enhancements youll find on the bloated and overpriced GTN.

 

.

 

If you are running dailies regularly you should be making hundreds of thousands of credits per week, maybe more when you get the rotation down. Buying stuff should not be a problem once you can clear dailies regularly.