Noob Here---Sentinel good/bad?!

[Foggyduck]

I've seen different topics about Sentinel. Some people are saying that they are not a good class to play...Is that true? I made a Sentinel just to try it out and it seems pretty fun. I'm just wondering if they are worth playing?

 

Fyi- I'm playing solo.

[Stanimir]

They're certainly enjoyable. I've been playing mine since December 20th (early release launch date).

 

It isn't the best in PvP right now, but you can top damage numbers in each spec given the right circumstances.

 

Most of the anger here is over Annihilation/Watchman and the changes Bioware has made. To a new player, it won't really matter as you didn't witness "the glory days" the people here weep for (fraudulently in my book).

 

It also isn't as hard to level as it used to be given the changes in damage they've made. I'm leveling a marauder now for kicks and am melting lowbie pvp and questing.

 

Generally speaking, don't ask the forums for advice as you'll get thrown into some forum debate that has little relevance to your concerns.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Stanimir

[Foggyduck]

They're certainly enjoyable. I've been playing mine since December 20th (early release launch date).

 

It isn't the best in PvP right now, but you can top damage numbers in each spec given the right circumstances.

 

Most of the anger here is over Annihilation/Watchman and the changes Bioware has made. To a new player, it won't really matter as you didn't witness "the glory days" the people here weep for (fraudulently in my book).

 

It also isn't as hard to level as it used to be given the changes in damage they've made. I'm leveling a marauder now for kicks and am melting lowbie pvp and questing.

 

Generally speaking, don't ask the forums for advice as you'll get thrown into some forum debate that has little relevance to your concerns.

 

oh okay thanks. I'm not playing PVP atm, so I guess that's good. lol

Are they supposed to be squishy or is just me?

[Bejarid]

Combat for a good, long while will be rather squishy; no idea on Watchman (never played it, never wanted to); Concentration isn't too bad with Defensive Forms, and gets even sturdier later on. When I started back at launch, did the bulk of my leveling as Focus (old Concentration) because it felt the most durable early on; now that I'm back Concentration, between Rebuke and Defensive Forms, my Sentinel feels like he can take quite a beating while dishing out more than enough damage nuke everything before I get in danger of death.

 

Really, though, the trick is to figure out which spec you find most enjoyable, and learn how your defensive cooldowns work. Comfort alone will make things far less squishy.

 

Also, get to Balmorra and you get your healer companion.

[Atlanis]

One Word: HELL

[Skettitangles]

It's hell if you're bad. Fun if you're good. A bit broken since 3.0 came out but in time will be balanced enough to be competitive again.

[Foggyduck]

It's hell if you're bad. Fun if you're good. A bit broken since 3.0 came out but in time will be balanced enough to be competitive again.

 

Well right now I'm bad. lol

 

When you say broken do you mean its not as good as it used to be?

[Skettitangles]

Well right now I'm bad. lol

 

When you say broken do you mean its not as good as it used to be?

 

Yes. 3.0 kinda destroyed the essential nature of Annihilation spec and took away its unique play style. Carnage and Fury are still ok to play in terms of functionality. The main reason the class under performs is more to do with the excessive nature of the buffs (defensives/cc/movement etc) all the other ACs got out of the transition to 3.0 and the overall better design of their utilities and the melee unfriendly content in PvE. It's an imbalance in the game overall and the fact that our high sustained dps spec got changed way too much that leaves the class trailing behind everyone else

[Bahadori]

^^^ Completely agree

[Svarthrafn]

I didn't realize how bad maras had become until I rolled a juggernaut. Seriously, they do everything better. I did pretty well on my mara once I learned the class better, but the juggernaut feels like ez mode. Edited May 19, 2015 by Svarthrafn

[Alec_Fortescue]

In solo rated pvp sentinels are in far superior position than jugs are now... Complete lol

[Atlanis]

In solo rated pvp sentinels are in far superior position than jugs are now... Complete lol

 

Yeah let me see ah Juggernauts have higher ratings, more players participating and more matches played, but sents remain viable in rated. L2read. Sents are the worst of the worst. If you think Sents are superior, you have lots of l2play issues on your Class.

[Bahadori]

^^^^ LMAO! Hates Sentinels, spends all his time in Sentinel forums What a guy!

[Maxymus]

This is only my second day really paying attention to the forums here...

 

Alanis, chill out dude. You're making yourself look crazy and incompetent with the sheer amount of rage posts you're making.

 

 

That said, sentinels do have it tough in pvp, but we are extremely fun IMO. I have both a sentinel and a guardian now for pvp and I think both are very fun to play in pvp matches. Once you get the hang of sentinels and how they are meant to be played(IE don't lead the charge of an assault lol, target soft targets, target low health targets, etc etc) you will have a good time. They are glass cannons that tend to break or have to be backed off on before getting broke before reaching full damage potential in pvp, and even when able to go balls out you'll possibly see a sorc, assassin, or sniper out dpsing you still, but all in all sentinel/marauders are fun to play as.

 

My biggest gripe with sentinels is that it is often a real struggle to get to 1,500,000(or even over 1mill sometimes lol) when other classes seem to consistently be able to achieve this(sorcs mostly, so I guess that would explain a lot lol). Watchman specs seem to be able to get up there pretty easily, but I also feel watchman is kinda weak in ranked and reg 4v4.

 

My other gripe, and this just comes with the territory and likely won't change, is how limited we are at being useful. Huttball? Well I freak if I somehow get the ball and try to pass it as fast as possible, as it feels like we are the squishiest class lol. We don't have any real major way to support our team either other than transcendence and sheer dps. So often you feel completely helpless as your ball carrier gets butt raped lol. Also, defending nodes? Well, you better call for reinforcements right away and THEN try to fight back and last as long as possible. In that situation you're just a speed bump.

 

And BECAUSE of all of this, you will almost always get a less amount of medals in a game compared to others. Most dps/tanks or dps/healer classes will generally get them medals a lot faster and easier than us. Unless you play watchman again(their dots have a little bit of healing), but that isn't my cup of tea.

 

If you're looking for a Knight class that deals sheer damage, sentinel would likely work fine for ya. If you want to be able to swap from being dps to support and then back to dps again, guardian may be better for ya. Honestly I've really enjoyed how useful my guardian is in pvp compared to the sentinel, and while I'm still learning the guardian class, I've seen other guardians get as high on the damage charts as sentinels(or higher due to their survivability and mobility). Mind you, I'm a casual player who focus' mostly on pvp when playing. I don't number crunch or study every aspect of the class, I just play to have fun. And occasionally ramble about it on forums lol

 

TL;DR, sentinels are fun but if you want more versatility then guardians may be better for ya.

[DarkTrooperV]

Well thats why allmost all progressive raiding Sents have switched to another class until now, because its only hell if your bad. Srry, I will say it differently I have to work hard to stay atop incompetent players maining random OP Classes in regular Batlegrounds. Now that my Guardian has also reached 60 everytime I stay ahead of them even further as I still know what they could do, but not playing a Sent I actually have a lot more tools to counter stuff I would have never been able to counter as a Sent. Basicly speaking why should I stay on a Sent who gets fisted in every *********** patch and has lost all of his uniqueness and fun it used to have when there are 7 other ACs that are superior to the Sentinel in every aspect.

 

Sents are in the 7th Hell of Destruction. Arguing we are all bad players puts you in the same place as John. Watchman is not fun anymore and worst of all will do no DMG and gets a massive survivability nerf in 3.2.1., Concentration does no real DMG and is so easy to counter I always could facepalm anyone who fails to do so and Combat.....yeah I don´t really have to talk about that do I? We are not forgetting Defensive Forms was spread over 3 utilities that you normally wouldn´t take.

 

Srry, don´t play a Sentinel if you want to have fun. 3.3. will be the patch were Sent AC will finally be removed from the game, someone leaked it through Pickaxe and Potato work. If Bioware thinks otherwise be so kind to tell us what crazyness you have ready for us.

 

Can you provide a link to this removal of the Sentinel class leak? I think Bioware would be shooting themselves in the foot if they removed two AC's in SWTOR.

[Svarthrafn]

My other gripe, and this just comes with the territory and likely won't change, is how limited we are at being useful. Huttball? Well I freak if I somehow get the ball and try to pass it as fast as possible, as it feels like we are the squishiest class lol. We don't have any real major way to support our team either other than transcendence and sheer dps. So often you feel completely helpless as your ball carrier gets butt raped lol. Also, defending nodes? Well, you better call for reinforcements right away and THEN try to fight back and last as long as possible. In that situation you're just a speed bump.

 

And BECAUSE of all of this, you will almost always get a less amount of medals in a game compared to others. Most dps/tanks or dps/healer classes will generally get them medals a lot faster and easier than us. Unless you play watchman again(their dots have a little bit of healing), but that isn't my cup of tea.

 

If you're looking for a Knight class that deals sheer damage, sentinel would likely work fine for ya. If you want to be able to swap from being dps to support and then back to dps again, guardian may be better for ya. Honestly I've really enjoyed how useful my guardian is in pvp compared to the sentinel, and while I'm still learning the guardian class, I've seen other guardians get as high on the damage charts as sentinels(or higher due to their survivability and mobility). Mind you, I'm a casual player who focus' mostly on pvp when playing. I don't number crunch or study every aspect of the class, I just play to have fun. And occasionally ramble about it on forums lol.

 

It would be FANTASTIC if sents and maras come get Force Push.

[Rerednaw]

Addressing the OP. Been playing since the beginning.

Guardian is generally easier and far more forgiving than Sentinel. Sentinel you have be more mindful of your surroundings.

Sentinel had the virtue of higher DPS in the glory days...that has been somewhat...reduced. As result, melting through PVE is a bit more difficult. Difficult, not impossible. You will experience far more downtime than your ranged counterparts. The fundamental issue of ranged versus melee has been an issue since before launch and unfortunately remains. Guardian also has the same issue, but because they have heavy armor and shielding don't suffer as badly as a Sentinel who's caught/knocked out of position.

 

So in a nutshell, I would recommend you try both...and stick with the one you have more fun with.

 

Cheers and happy gaming!