why is sentinel such garbage??????

[MaugrimTyk]

@blackfriar Hmm wow where to start, I don't want to flame you but you are saying things that are not true. (45 sentinel)

 

Damage reduction tools:

12 second 50% mitigation, Saberward,

~30 second 20% mitigation, Rebuke

5 second 99% mitigation, Guarded by the Force,

6 second 90% accuracy debuff, Pacify

 

also you can use Force Stasis as a stun, except on high end targets.

 

Threat control:

Force Camouflage, very powerfull timed right you can walk though a pack of mobs without aggro.

 

Adds controll:

Droid CC

Awe blinds/stuns pbaoe

 

Add in health pots, Doc as a healer and you can stay alive for a while. Not supposed to be able to solo everything in the game so can't expect to have every tool. However sentinels do get enough tools to work with imo.

Edited January 4, 2012 by MaugrimTyk

[Nyliana]

I thought that Angral was pretty easy tbh. Also I did it 2 levels under.

 

I did die once to him because I was forced to have Kira, who I did not keep gear updated. After dying I med probed and pulled out T7. Interrupt his junk and the fight is yours.

[EStarfall]

Wrong. I have never used anything other than doc. Learn to use your defensive cooldowns. I was just fighting on Voss last night and I can handle 4 regular mobs and a strong mob and still have 75-100% health at the end of the fight.

 

The problem with this class is that you can't faceroll the keyboard like some of you were used to in World of McDonal....I mean World of Warcraft. It takes a bit of thought to know your priorities, know what abilities to use back to back, and how to use your rotation to keep focus at all times. Some people expect to jump into a fight and just repeatedly smash their Iwin button and then complain that they have no focus.

 

Buy a Naga. Keybind all your abilities. Learn to prioritize your abilities. Use your defensive cooldowns, keep your companions well outfitted. Keep yourself well outfitted, and sentinel isn't hard at all.

Edited January 4, 2012 by Sireene
quote of deleted post

[Karagian]

Well today I discovered that the funny thing with the Sentinel is that he may die like 10 times on the way, but when he reaches the boss he is cool...

 

I killed Angral at lvl33 at the first time! I was shocked myself...Almost couldnt believe it...

[pangwl]

I don't know how you guys are not rolling on the bosses... (combat 40-sentinel here). The only time where I would die is because I 'forget' to rest b4 a boss fight. E.g. Like you don't know after you 'activate-d the button/ station/ interface' = boss scene fighting... otherwise, I'm actually out-leveling the content b4 I even reach them. :confused:

 

Surely no problem with "Class quests", Heroics is of course a group thingy... some can be solo-able, others, well just tough luck, die and keep trying, if I'm that desperate.

Edited January 4, 2012 by pangwl

[MOUSEKETEERS]

Sentinel is definitely a tough class initially. Once you figure out how to keep up your force while balancing attacks with the cool downs though it is a powerful class. I'm a lvl 47 combat spec'd Sentinel for whatever its worth. Only times I've had issues is when my companion bugs and doesn't follow their commands or endlessly only heals themselves in a fight even though they didn't take any damage.

[carlevans]

Okay so i have played my Sentinel since release and can say I LOVE the class. At first i thought the class was broken like you guys and had a hard time but now (lvl 44) i feel epic! Once I released button bashing wasn't going to work and actually thought about what i was doing everything became a lot more fun and easier. Now I hardly have any down time (using doc) i use kira or Rusk if i just wanna nuke stuff but prefer doc because i dont have any time between fights. Its all about knowing ALL your moves. I tend to build a lot of focus and then nuke them with all my dmg moves. If ever i get to low health i use force camo and carrying on dmging whilst receiving no dmg and getting healed with doc or using kira as a tank. IF you can play the class how its supposed to be played you WILL feel epic. There are some problems in PvP i have found but PvE = no problems.

[Snoobic]

Sentinel is definitely a tough class initially. Once you figure out how to keep up your force while balancing attacks with the cool downs though it is a powerful class. I'm a lvl 47 combat spec'd Sentinel for whatever its worth. Only times I've had issues is when my companion bugs and doesn't follow their commands or endlessly only heals themselves in a fight even though they didn't take any damage.

 

I'm currently L43 Watchman spec. I haven't tried combat, so not sure how it compares. The class has had it's ups and downs for me personally - I thought it was really tough between 27-33, but then it got a whole lot easier as I got Doc, some new abilities opened up, and I started to master some of the priority rotations (still not quite 100% admittedly).

 

Things were super easy from 33-40, and then I ran into some minor trouble on Hoth and the space station after but nothing too bad. Some of the ease was due to being OL for where I was, some was keybind mastery, and some was just the availability of new moves (Awe?!!).

 

As I play and start to think about it more, I'm starting to think that the main issue for the spec is a perfect storm so to speak; It's the intersection of the server/GCD errors with the magnitude of Micro-managing required to do well. I still think it's all very unforgiving; You have to really keep an eye on your GCD's and interrupts to make the most use out of them - and it can be frustrating when they don't work correctly. This is compounded for me that at L41, Doc suddenly stopped healing me regularly. He picks and chooses when to do it (even out of battle) and I can't figure out how to get him to work consistently again. Things are usually fine for me if I'm soloing an even level or strong - but as soon as I hit a mixed group of 3+ or an elite - Doc effs me every time. He doesn't even use lube!

 

Also - slightly off topic - but I'm curious to hear about the PvP experience from the Self-proclaimed "Sentinel Experts." I have only just started up warzones (wanted to get some decent leveling first), and while I'm not doing terrible, I'm not exactly "wrecking stuff" either. Seems to depend a lot more on the quality of the other players than anything else I can point at - but curious what I might be missing (if I have a good healer, I can get some serious DPS out. If I run into an OP, I'm stunned and ganked in 3 seconds).

 

All in all, I find that I almost need a completely different keybind structure due to more common use of leg sweep & saber throw... and also have some trouble generating focus & applying burns with how much people run around.

 

Any tips??

[Venator-Falco]

Blackfriar you obviously have very little knowledge about this game. Your Companions can’t proximity agro. Agro is only caused by you so if you got agro, it was because of something you did, and then the pet responded to the agro mobs.

 

Second, I can say as a L47 Sentinel that I have taken down 2 Standard and 2 elite Mobs simultaneously. So it is possible to do, though I would be surprised to succeed at L16, the class hasn’t come together with enough skills to control your combat and damage.

 

As has already been pointed out, you have 2 interupts, 2 Stuns 3 Damage decreasing Debuffs, depending on your spec a couple of heals of different type.

 

I am not sure what quest you are referring to on Tatooine that caused you any grief as Tatooine had nothing I saw as a major Grief quest, I died once on one of the gating quests because I played it like a noob. Over all I’d say that Tat was the easiest planet to play as a Sentinel so if you couldn’t handle what Tat had to offer the problem is definitely with how you are playing the class. Your Obvious lack of knowledge on the skills available to you indicates that you have a lot of learning to do before you can constructively provide feedback on the merits and flaws of the class.

[RamzaBehoulve]

Guardians and Sentinals have a class balance problem. And it's not because I don't don't know how to play the classes. I notice it because I play ALL EIGHT CLASSES and notice how pathetic they are in all the situations my other toons (just as hard/easy to play) cruise through them.

.

 

We've been saying for weeks the Sentinel has no middle ground, requires full attention and hours of gameplay to master and is overall harder to get to its full potential, yet you come out and spout non-sense like you are playing all 8 classes so you know better?

 

No, you don't. The people saying they have no problem aren't elitist jerks, they are playing one, maybe two classes and mastered them or close to it including the Sentinel. You, playing 8 classes, are probably far from mastering any of them.

 

Just because some classes only require enough attention to use three skills doesn't mean all classes should be the same as those as long as the potential is there once you know how to wield it.

 

Like many said prior to me, you should start by learning the basics of the game and the class. All your lengthy posts trying to debunk the Sentinel in some way are full of misconception and overall wrong information, both concerning the Sentinel class and the game mechanics.

Edited January 5, 2012 by RamzaBehoulve

[Ninja_Jedl]

Here is my say in this argument:

 

 

Many consider that being able to come out on top in a PvP match is proof that the class is perfectly fine. This is not the case. Just because you were on the top of the leader board once doesn't qualify as evidence that this class is balanced, and in no need of tweaks. Some will do fine with the class, some won't. Some will complain, some won't. Its very simple. Let me explain the mentalities behind the complainers:

 

The Sentinel is considered a complex class in comparison to the other ones available, and rightly so. I'm not saying the complication is a bad thing, infact, I welcome it, but it is the cause for most, if not all, complaints that the class is broken. I ask anyone reading this to ignore these people, for they were unprepared for the demands of the class.

 

The Sentinel requires a large amount of micromanagement that can overwhelm some people who decide to make an attempt at the class, and many take to the forums and begin complaining. Little of their points are actually valid.

 

On the other hand, we have the people who find this debate a golden opportunity to boast. They continually attack anyone who expresses any doubt about the classes abilities, and express how well they do in everything in every part of the game with the class. These people are commonly known as the "Elitists". Though a small amount of their points, too, are valid, most are common boastings and trollings. Their defining trait is when one of them says "L2P!!1".

 

Then there are the "Fair-minded" as I like to call them. These people are the ones that actually have a decent amount of intellect, and calmly debate over the strengths and weaknesses of the class. They also actually consider opinions and arguments before replying, instead of brushing them off as inherently false, if they prove their own points wrong.

 

My own personal opinion is that the Sentinel is slightly underpowered in comparison to other classes. The bulk of this is in PvP, and I find PvE, while occasionally difficult, is easy to conquer once you learn the requirements of the class and its capabilities.

 

However, in PvP, there is a significant disadvantage for this class. While some are able to fight the odds and scrape up a good standing on the leader boards, most fall victim to the classes prevailing weaknesses in PvP and end up near the bottom, or somewhere in the faceless middle.

 

This is because the Sentinel lacks one or two key utilities, of which once supplied, I believe will balance out the scales and cause the Sentinel to become a force to be reckoned with, and not one to be easily breezed by and trotted on. I think the Sentinel merely requires another short-cooldown Stun, or CC. Compared to other classes, the Sentinel has little to none. This would make it easier to survive and, more importantly, thrive in PvP.

 

*Please note: I do not consider everyone who disagrees that the Sentinel is underpowered in some way or another an "Elitist". I do consider everyone who proclaims the class is broken to be a complainer and unworthy of any intelligent debate or attention. These people are simply suffering from the fact that they can not comprehend what the Sentinel requires of them.*

 

-Ninjajedi

Edited January 5, 2012 by Ninja_Jedl

[CrowingOne]

I've got myself up to about level 26 right now, and while I seem to get the impression that Sentinels are under-powered compared to other classes from reading and watching, I'm not having much of an issue with leveling. Then again, I tend to be the sort of player that will complete any and all quests that come my way, which often leads me to be a few levels higher than the area I'm in, toward the end of a planet. I'm 26 and just now finishing up Nar Shaddaa.

 

The most curious thing for me is just how squishy we are as a class. In the world, when faced with the groups of 2-3 trash mobs and a strong elite I keep seeing a huge discrepancy between the amount of damage I take from fight to fight against the same, basic, mobs. Most of the time I'm finding that I finish these small battles with 80-95% of my health remaining. Other times I get down to under 30%. For the most part I don't believe I'm approaching the fights too differently from each other, and the issue often crops up (I believe) when Kira gets stuck or goes AWOL for a short time.

 

The biggest challenge for me, which I have been enjoying, is the sheer breadth of our abilities and how we really do use almost all of them on a regular basis. I come from playing a DW Frost DK in Wrath-WoW endgame (quit after that for the billionth time since vanilla) where I was used to, through macros and such, only needing to bind about 10 different commands. I'm just not "hardcore" enough to be able to bind all our our abilities and be able to flawlessly pop the right one at the right moment.

 

I know some people think macros are the devil, but I wish I could set a binding that, for example, used Zealous Strike or Slash if ZS is on cooldown. Since the class is very conditional (and I love that) being able to bind groups of abilities by condition/priority would ease a lot of the infrequent-but-deadly "oh crap!" moments where I have to search for the correct ability among my four action bars. Related, it also takes a lot of learning the various effect icons to know exactly what is happening at any time. I assume that once the UI mods start pouring in, we'll see a lot of the "proc-style" addons for the Sentinel that will more explicitly state when you have three stacks of overcharge or 50 of centering, etc. which I can only assume will allow for a greater control over our wildly large array of tools.

 

At the end, I'm not having any issues aside from how squishy we are, and I don't see that as a huge problem yet. While I tend to die more frequently than what I see with other classes, it's almost always (in questing) because I messed up my rotation or popped the wrong CD ability in the heat of battle. The further I get into the game, the more mitigation I have available, and the less I tend to die if I judge my needs correctly. I learned the hard way that I need to pop mitigation (Rebuke, Ward, Transcendence etc.) almost always first-thing when facing a gold elite or story boss.

 

I think a lot of the issue is what we're used to, and looking at WoW in particular (where most of us came from at one time or another) this sort of DW style melee class is almost always armored more heavily than our Sentinels.

[Riddickcz]

Ok I got lvl 50 Sentinel for few days already. I leveled as Combat and there was not a single quest I didnt manage to solo, except heroic areas ofc. I got low few times but just leg slashed the oponent and ran around to give my companion more time to heal me up and to get my def CDs running again.

 

That said I had to laugh when I read the comment about needing to use exactly ALL abilities to defeat hard encounter..cause its SO true. On one hand its SO unfair compared to other classes using like 3-4. On the other hand I think all classes should be like this, thats why we have all the abilities..to use them.

 

On the other hand I hated PvP as Sentinel. I had no idea how to kill anything and as lvl 50 I was getting killed by lvl 20s in Warzones. I respecced Watchman and noticed big dmg increase. I got a lot better gear now, full Champion, some Centurion and stuff and Its starting to feel like Im FINALLY getting there...but still when some good Operative shows up, keeps me stunlocked and 5k/6k/5k im dead in 4 secs. Which is something I can never do...and half of the time in Warzones I spend Camuflaging and sprinting to reach the healing thingie to get back in the game.

 

But Yea, I got Commando to lvl 10 and OWNED Void Star with 260k dmg and 45x2 score. Unfair.

[MBirkhofer]

Ok I got lvl 50 Sentinel for few days already. I leveled as Combat and there was not a single quest I didnt manage to solo, except heroic areas ofc. I got low few times but just leg slashed the oponent and ran around to give my companion more time to heal me up and to get my def CDs running again.

 

That said I had to laugh when I read the comment about needing to use exactly ALL abilities to defeat hard encounter..cause its SO true. On one hand its SO unfair compared to other classes using like 3-4. On the other hand I think all classes should be like this, thats why we have all the abilities..to use them.

 

On the other hand I hated PvP as Sentinel. I had no idea how to kill anything and as lvl 50 I was getting killed by lvl 20s in Warzones. I respecced Watchman and noticed big dmg increase. I got a lot better gear now, full Champion, some Centurion and stuff and Its starting to feel like Im FINALLY getting there...but still when some good Operative shows up, keeps me stunlocked and 5k/6k/5k im dead in 4 secs. Which is something I can never do...and half of the time in Warzones I spend Camuflaging and sprinting to reach the healing thingie to get back in the game.

 

But Yea, I got Commando to lvl 10 and OWNED Void Star with 260k dmg and 45x2 score. Unfair.

There are overarching issues with the class. I think power gains while leveling need to be adjusted. Giving us more tools, and damage earlier. Like, switching blade rush and prec strike or example. combat is notably training behind the other two early. Changing combats Zen effect would be great as well.

 

Other issues would be reducing the number of short term def cooldowns. That nonsense is just not fun. Wow Rogues, 3m mages. are not good design. relics/adrenals all add into this. Frankly, this nonsense should be gutted.

 

But before any real class balance is made to sentinels, beyond afore mentioned combat spec getting some earlier damage, bug fixes need to be made.

Its not really possible to tell, if its sentinels needing to be buffed in pvp, sorcs nerfed, or if its just resolve isn't working properly.

I die at "LEAST" 3 times a day, due to stasis bug. (I see it casting, i see my target stunned, but they aren't stunned, and I'm not casting. As after a moment, I take damage, and stasis is back off CD, allowing me to cast again. But generally, I just took 2-5k damage for standing there doing nothing for 2-3s.) Seriously, at least 3 times a day. I hit it to interrupt a heal, nuke, sniper, etc. And it didn't do anything.

Or, I hit guarded by the force and... nothing happens. Again, there is a SMALL window for guarded by the force to go off and be effective. it takes 50% of my current hp, so I hit it below 30%, just prior to incoming damage that would kill me. And guess what? if I hit it at 30%, and it doesn't go off. that incoming damage kills me. So if I hit a button, out of the blue not while doing anything else, that skill better damn well go off. Having to mash it 3-4 times, to get it to activate is not cool. esp with a move like that, which requires a .5s window generally. Transcendence and force camo notably have this same problem I've seen.

Target one guy directly in front of you. hit leap. precede to leap perpendicular to some guy, not targeted, and not even on your screen inexplicably.

Tab targeting priority. tab should target closest to further est in a direct line from in front of your character. how games have such a hard time with this, I just don't know.

Better targeting hit-boxes, and nameplates for direct clicking would be nice as well.

 

Input lag, desync, and alot of those bugs mentioned need to be addressed before we can really say where Sentinels really stand in pvp. Fixing resolve could fix Sents in pvp, as the single biggest issue is being chain CC'd in group pvp.

[CrowingOne]

That said I had to laugh when I read the comment about needing to use exactly ALL abilities to defeat hard encounter..cause its SO true. On one hand its SO unfair compared to other classes using like 3-4. On the other hand I think all classes should be like this, thats why we have all the abilities..to use them.

 

At least in PvE, this is the crux of the frustrations, I think. We simply lack the tools right now (such as macros and addon mods) which most of us are used to using to place everything at our quick fingertips. It doesn't mean that we're necessarily disadvantaged (though we do less DPS than we should in a lot of cases), we're just a more complicated class to play.

 

A lot of that also has to do with the fact that the more I play (and I'm only about halfway to 50) the more I realize that we're a finesse class which needs to employ both DPS and mitigation to survive. This is in contrast to many of the other classes that are more focused on a single output of either DPS or mitigation of one sort or another. In PvE situations, we simply have to manage more "stuff" than others.

[Riddickcz]

There are overarching issues with the class. I think power gains while leveling need to be adjusted. Giving us more tools, and damage earlier. Like, switching blade rush and prec strike or example. combat is notably training behind the other two early. Changing combats Zen effect would be great as well.

 

Other issues would be reducing the number of short term def cooldowns. That nonsense is just not fun. Wow Rogues, 3m mages. are not good design. relics/adrenals all add into this. Frankly, this nonsense should be gutted.

 

But before any real class balance is made to sentinels, beyond afore mentioned combat spec getting some earlier damage, bug fixes need to be made.

Its not really possible to tell, if its sentinels needing to be buffed in pvp, sorcs nerfed, or if its just resolve isn't working properly.

I die at "LEAST" 3 times a day, due to stasis bug. (I see it casting, i see my target stunned, but they aren't stunned, and I'm not casting. As after a moment, I take damage, and stasis is back off CD, allowing me to cast again. But generally, I just took 2-5k damage for standing there doing nothing for 2-3s.) Seriously, at least 3 times a day. I hit it to interrupt a heal, nuke, sniper, etc. And it didn't do anything.

Or, I hit guarded by the force and... nothing happens. Again, there is a SMALL window for guarded by the force to go off and be effective. it takes 50% of my current hp, so I hit it below 30%, just prior to incoming damage that would kill me. And guess what? if I hit it at 30%, and it doesn't go off. that incoming damage kills me. So if I hit a button, out of the blue not while doing anything else, that skill better damn well go off. Having to mash it 3-4 times, to get it to activate is not cool. esp with a move like that, which requires a .5s window generally. Transcendence and force camo notably have this same problem I've seen.

Target one guy directly in front of you. hit leap. precede to leap perpendicular to some guy, not targeted, and not even on your screen inexplicably.

Tab targeting priority. tab should target closest to further est in a direct line from in front of your character. how games have such a hard time with this, I just don't know.

Better targeting hit-boxes, and nameplates for direct clicking would be nice as well.

 

Input lag, desync, and alot of those bugs mentioned need to be addressed before we can really say where Sentinels really stand in pvp. Fixing resolve could fix Sents in pvp, as the single biggest issue is being chain CC'd in group pvp.

 

All that and for my buying and building new PC cause playing it on medium quite smoothly or on high not so smoothly are both not good ideas for PvP. I think my performance in PvP wil increase by 1/3 when I get my i5 and GTX560ti.

[Riddickcz]

At least in PvE, this is the crux of the frustrations, I think. We simply lack the tools right now (such as macros and addon mods) which most of us are used to using to place everything at our quick fingertips. It doesn't mean that we're necessarily disadvantaged (though we do less DPS than we should in a lot of cases), we're just a more complicated class to play.

 

A lot of that also has to do with the fact that the more I play (and I'm only about halfway to 50) the more I realize that we're a finesse class which needs to employ both DPS and mitigation to survive. This is in contrast to many of the other classes that are more focused on a single output of either DPS or mitigation of one sort or another. In PvE situations, we simply have to manage more "stuff" than others.

 

Actually the thing is that we are wasting so many GCDs (and everybody is complaining how long that is..1,5s) on just activating 50 abilities to start the combat with. Then we start dealing some dmg..but at that point our oponent used all the GCDs to use offensive abilities and we are almost dead. So what remains...camouflage and go heal yourself up, all def abilities are on CD and that just goes on and on and on..

[CrowingOne]

Actually the thing is that we are wasting so many GCDs (and everybody is complaining how long that is..1,5s) on just activating 50 abilities to start the combat with. Then we start dealing some dmg..but at that point our oponent used all the GCDs to use offensive abilities and we are almost dead. So what remains...camouflage and go heal yourself up, all def abilities are on CD and that just goes on and on and on..

 

Oh, absolutely. I have a ton of unbound abilities that I can't justify giving a binding slot to because they're only used every once in awhile. I get all messed up around Zen/Transcendence because it's a main tool that either replaces a more-used ability in binding or is a pain to pop because it is left unbound/inconveniently-bound. Between the CDs and the very-important-yet-very-conditional abilities, it can get overwhelming. Add on top of all that the fact that we fold like tissue when we screw up, I'm seeing infrequent-but-massive screw-ups which cause us to hit the ground before we can recover.

 

Most boss fights in the story, for me, have been two shot affairs in which I learn from the first try and easily overcome on the second. For me that isn't a huge deal.

Edited January 5, 2012 by CrowingOne

[Riddickcz]

I get all messed up around Zen/Transcendence because it's a main tool that either replaces a more-used ability in binding or is a pain to pop because it is left unbound/inconveniently-bound.

 

Omg so true

[Moldrany]

Or, I hit guarded by the force and... nothing happens. Again, there is a SMALL window for guarded by the force to go off and be effective. it takes 50% of my current hp, so I hit it below 30%, just prior to incoming damage that would kill me. And guess what? if I hit it at 30%, and it doesn't go off. that incoming damage kills me. So if I hit a button, out of the blue not while doing anything else, that skill better damn well go off. Having to mash it 3-4 times, to get it to activate is not cool. esp with a move like that, which requires a .5s window generally. Transcendence and force camo notably have this same problem I've seen.

 

Input lag, desync, and alot of those bugs mentioned need to be addressed before we can really say where Sentinels really stand in pvp. Fixing resolve could fix Sents in pvp, as the single biggest issue is being chain CC'd in group pvp.

 

Agreed, there are big issues with abilities not going off. Also, sometimes I think that I have to be close to a target and face it so that saber ward activates for example.

 

Imo spells like that should go off immediately, they don't require any rage and if I press the button and they are not on CD they need to get activated.

[Zedakah]

Actually the thing is that we are wasting so many GCDs (and everybody is complaining how long that is..1,5s) on just activating 50 abilities to start the combat with. Then we start dealing some dmg..but at that point our oponent used all the GCDs to use offensive abilities and we are almost dead. So what remains...camouflage and go heal yourself up, all def abilities are on CD and that just goes on and on and on..

 

 

 

After thinking about it for a while, this here is the problem that no other class has. I have a 21 combat sentinel, and I'm up into the 40s with my gunslinger. Leveling as a gunslinger was a joke compared to my sentinel. But here's the difference when I fight any mob as a smuggler (but most notably a group).

 

How a gunslinger fights:

Go into cover at max range. Aimed shot + trickshot (or instant charged burst) - first mob dead. Sab charge + normal attack on a weak mob = dead. Or, charged burst, speed shot, quick draw....mob number 3 dead.

 

Notice, that before the enemy notices I am fighting them, one of them is dead. The next enemy dies before they can reach me or my companion. Enemy number 3 is slung across the room by my companion. Enemy number 4 (usually melee for last) will die before he reaches me.

 

In a group of 4 people, 2 are dead before hitting me with any attack. I will incapacitate one, and the 4th I usually save for last is melee will die before reaching me. All 4 people are dead without me taking any damage. If they do hit me with a laser, I have about +35% defenses in cover over a sentinel. I can also pop a cooldown for 25% more defense just for kicks to mock the enemy.

 

This same principle applies with elites. They are damage 25% before they even know they are in combat.

 

 

Now, all other classes (except shadow) has the ability to charge up ranged abilities and blast away, usually killing weak/normal enemies before the combat begins. Guardians have the heavy armor and defenses to take on 3-4 enemies for a longer period of time.

 

 

If on my gunslinger (medium armor), I had to initiate every encounter by walking into a group and beating them over the head with my blasters while taking damage from them, then I would die just as quickly.

 

 

I know that force jumping every encounter before sending your companion in is not smart. My point is that every other class usually can take down 2-3 people at range BEFORE their companion initiates combat and the melee mobs reach them.

 

Since sentinel is a melee class, the only solution I can think of is just increased defenses. Something like 25% blaster reflection on weak/normal mobs or other defensive abilities that do not require constant use of cooldown management.

 

P.S. I'm only level 21. This might get better as I level up, but currently it is much more challenging at 21 than any other class. It is by no means impossible or even difficult. But compared to other classes, it is night and day. Fighting silver mobs is aggravating, whereas I've never had that anxiety to fight them on any other class.

Edited January 5, 2012 by Zedakah

[JediLupus]

Alternatively/additionally add a better opener/stealth

[Ninja_Jedl]

I'm not trying to be mean or anything but you obviously suck because I did it the first time one time no other times. It was easy so quit your complainin and learn how to play your class.

 

I actually laughed at the ending of your first sentence. You said "time" what, three times? (Pun intended)

 

And if you're not trying to be mean, then why is the very next thing in your message "You obviously suck"? Not to mention it is blatantly obvious that you're trying to demean the person you're responding to, and thats just judging from the first sentence and not the last one.

 

Just because someones expresses their doubts about the class doesn't automatically mean they don't know what their doing, infact, thats one of the most short-sighted views I have ever seen. There IS a problem of people not knowing how to use their class effectively, but that is a very small slice of the cake here. The majority know what they're doing and even then they see the disadvantages and limitations the class has.

 

So, in conclusion, get off your high horse and see the reality of the situation. Newbs are not the plague thats spreading around, and it never was. L2P isn't the cure, either.

Edited January 5, 2012 by Ninja_Jedl

[Saladinbob]

The problem seems not to be with your class but the combat engine. It takes the piss. I just had him at 1% health, I was at about 40% health and in one hit I died. One *********** hit. Some people like me have suffered this, some haven't because it seems to be completely random.

[AstralProjection]

After thinking about it for a while, this here is the problem that no other class has. I have a 21 combat sentinel, and I'm up into the 40s with my gunslinger. Leveling as a gunslinger was a joke compared to my sentinel. But here's the difference when I fight any mob as a smuggler (but most notably a group).

 

How a gunslinger fights:

Go into cover at max range. Aimed shot + trickshot (or instant charged burst) - first mob dead. Sab charge + normal attack on a weak mob = dead. Or, charged burst, speed shot, quick draw....mob number 3 dead.

 

Notice, that before the enemy notices I am fighting them, one of them is dead. The next enemy dies before they can reach me or my companion. Enemy number 3 is slung across the room by my companion. Enemy number 4 (usually melee for last) will die before he reaches me.

 

In a group of 4 people, 2 are dead before hitting me with any attack. I will incapacitate one, and the 4th I usually save for last is melee will die before reaching me. All 4 people are dead without me taking any damage. If they do hit me with a laser, I have about +35% defenses in cover over a sentinel. I can also pop a cooldown for 25% more defense just for kicks to mock the enemy.

 

This same principle applies with elites. They are damage 25% before they even know they are in combat.

 

 

Now, all other classes (except shadow) has the ability to charge up ranged abilities and blast away, usually killing weak/normal enemies before the combat begins. Guardians have the heavy armor and defenses to take on 3-4 enemies for a longer period of time.

 

 

If on my gunslinger (medium armor), I had to initiate every encounter by walking into a group and beating them over the head with my blasters while taking damage from them, then I would die just as quickly.

 

 

I know that force jumping every encounter before sending your companion in is not smart. My point is that every other class usually can take down 2-3 people at range BEFORE their companion initiates combat and the melee mobs reach them.

 

Since sentinel is a melee class, the only solution I can think of is just increased defenses. Something like 25% blaster reflection on weak/normal mobs or other defensive abilities that do not require constant use of cooldown management.

 

P.S. I'm only level 21. This might get better as I level up, but currently it is much more challenging at 21 than any other class. It is by no means impossible or even difficult. But compared to other classes, it is night and day. Fighting silver mobs is aggravating, whereas I've never had that anxiety to fight them on any other class.

 

You're right, we're always going to have the issue that ranged is far more secure than melee. Honestly, as a sentinel using rebuke every time it's up (it has a pretty fast recharge) at the start of most fights helps with that mitigation and I think a lot of folks are skipping that step. Rebuke is awesome, and is a little bit of that built in mitigation you were hoping for, though I wouldn't complain if we got some kind of small passive blaster mitigation as well, it would make us feel more like Jedi.

 

The whole force-leap in strat is fine if you're rolling with Doc IMO. It lets you feel like an actual melee attacker when you run with him, rather than some guy hiding behind his droid.

 

The Kira strat works fine too if you keep her well geared - she actually helps us burn down packs really quickly, it can just be a little more stressful on Golds than running with Doc, where it's really hard to die with a little bit of healing boost.