Jedi Guardian Vs Jedi Sentinel

[Wogee]

Hey everybody,

 

I Bought the game just yesterday, and I'm really enjoy the game until now.

I have level 9 Jedi Knight, and going to pick class soon.

 

I Didn't Play in the beta, and didn't really read about the game so far, and need your help with choosing my class. I've played World of Warcraft some years ago, and really enjoy PvP and that what I'm mostly want to do in this game also.

 

What is your recommendation with picking the class for me? Should I take the Jedi Guardian or the Jedi Sentinel? What is the advantages and the disadvantages in each one on PvP?

 

Thanks for help,

Wog

Edited December 26, 2011 by Wogee

[Wogee]

Someone have answer to me? please?

[Avean]

Well sentinel is purely dps, you have no other options. His abilities are very focused on damage quickly. A guardian can also spec dps but even so, his abilities are more defensive focused with alot of taunting abilities. He can also force push (Great btw) while a sentinel has an in combat stealth. If it gets hairy he can pop stealth and vanish for 2 seconds. So its about playstyle. Do you want to focus purely on bringing the most hurt on your enemy all the time, or do you want to mix it up with the guardian ?

 

Both are great in pvp and insanely fast in pve. Ive levelled a shadow, but levelling the jedi knight class ....**** ..... its like turbo mode.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Avean

[ashleybaker]

I have been leveling a Jedi Guardian in the Focus tree, and I have had a lot of problems with the storyline gameplay. A lot of the fights are impossible without my companion, and I have stayed 4 levels above my enemies steadily. I wouldn't suggest the Focus tree to anyone for leveling up... I just hope it does better in PvP.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention, I have recently run into a lot of fights where I can not win... All cooldowns used, companion and I are at 10% health, and the enemy is at about 50% health. And yes, I am still 4 levels above the enemy. Other classes or specs better not be having this much trouble with single-player quests.

Edited December 26, 2011 by ashleybaker

[stocean]

I'm currently playing as Jedi Guardian DPS tree and he plays similar to arms/prot warrior which I like. He seems to be a good team player and can even off-tank low level group areas with defensive stance(Higher level instances will surely crush me though). I like the overall versatility in PvP and PvE.

 

I can't say much about Sentinels but it seems they're very offensive berserker style. They're DPS specialists so they get more ways to move around(two leap attacks, etc) and deal damage(3 unique DPS trees) compared to Guardians. Tearing through enemies with two light-sabres seems very satisfying.

 

In the end I think it's just up to your preference. I prefered one sabre over two sabres and the ability to tank over different ways to deal damage and haven't regret one bit.

 

Edit: Ah, sorry. You were asking about PvP only. I think they play quite differently in PvP.

 

Guardians tend to charge first and tank the damage with defensive cooldowns and keep key players snared while dealing burst damage. They seem to be kited a lot though.

 

Sentinels seem to prefer to stay out of enemies' focus by kiting and moving around quickly while dealing very high damage.

Edited December 26, 2011 by stocean

[LongDongBrady]

Do guardians not have companions?

[warkat]

Of course they have companions. Im rank 53 valor guardian Focus tree dps. If i could do it all over again i would go Sentinal. We have 3 of our main nukes worthless in PvP if you spec into Dps I dont know what the devs were smoking...Basically you will be forced into Guardian tank spec for PvP and PvE.

[mmarsh]

Very true

 

I like my Guardian, but I am tired of being last in about everything when it comes to PVP. And its not a question of skill, I am not a Pro, but I can hold my own.

 

The Guardian/Jugger is at terrible disadvantage in PVP. Some of our abilities are useless in PVP (like Master Strike) we have no CC until far too late, the DPS is terrible, we cant heal ourselves, (unlike more powerful classes that can), and we don't have enough useful interrupts we means we are constantly CC'ed. Our better abilities (sunder, blade barrier) have long cooldowns forcing us to rely on spamming vastly inferior ones, it takes a long time to generate focus.

 

One of the best defensive abilities for Jedi (REBUKE) is a Sentinel skill, I don't understand why as Defense is supposed to be the Guardians job. The ONLY advantage we have over the Sentinel is the fact we can carry Heavy Armor (which also sucks because the appears to be a shortage of armored robes we saw on the ads)

 

 

PVE is fine, but we just seem to suck at everything in PVP except for the flag carrier in Huttball. The entire class is in serious need of a revision (not just a buff) but espicially the Guardian/Juggernault

 

I just stated an Inquisitor and I was just shocked at all the things that class gets even at very low level.

 

I tested both the Guardian and a low level Sentinel, and aside from the Sentinel being alittle more squishy (not by much) the Sentinel was Superior.

 

I think i am going to shelf my guardian until a fix comes out and focus on a either the Inquisitor or roll a Trooper (I prefer playing Republic).

 

I think Bioware might have been worried about an overpopulation of Jedi/Sith Warriors so the gimped the class to make others tempting. But I am afraid they have gone to far, as this is easily the worst class in the game.

Edited December 29, 2011 by mmarsh

[murkraz]

Look at it this way.

 

It's the Star Wars, you're an aspiring Jedi Knight at a fork in the road.

 

You have the choice of either Guardian or Sentinel. While they are both Peacekeepers, the Guardian is more of a warrior-protector while the Sentinel is more of a rogue-assaulter. In heavy armor, the Guardian also has the option to buff, weaken armor, taunt it's foe and offensively as well as defensively deal single sabre damage. Sentinel, in medium armor, is more of a raw damage dealer with swift dual-wielding capabilities.

 

I chose Guardian because I usually enjoy tanking, and this time around it doesn't feel as definitive with it's tank and dps status. I find that I feel like a main component in combat and am able to deal a fair amount of damage while still upholding my defensive capabilities. Most of my friends chose Sentinel and I'm the only Guardian in my guild. I think they're both good choices so I'm glad it's a hard decision for others.

Edited December 29, 2011 by murkraz

[Zaywin]

I have been leveling a Jedi Guardian in the Focus tree, and I have had a lot of problems with the storyline gameplay. A lot of the fights are impossible without my companion, and I have stayed 4 levels above my enemies steadily. I wouldn't suggest the Focus tree to anyone for leveling up... I just hope it does better in PvP.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention, I have recently run into a lot of fights where I can not win... All cooldowns used, companion and I are at 10% health, and the enemy is at about 50% health. And yes, I am still 4 levels above the enemy. Other classes or specs better not be having this much trouble with single-player quests.

 

Yea, ANY spec gets destroyed without their companion, especially kira, her dps is the same as yous if you are Vig spec.

 

They were scared that this would be the most populated class, and yes it is the "Worse" class stat/gameplay wise in pvp. But they will change that after a while. I hope.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Zaywin

[mmarsh]

For those that come from WARHAMMER ONLINE, the Jedi Guardian needs really to be oriented as the Dwarf IRONBREAKER was. Basically a very tough sturdy character that is both difficult to damage or Control but only moderate DPS (or specced higher DPS sacrificing some Defensive ability).

 

The IRONBREAKER was a good class because it could serve two roles. 1. A Front Line Battering Ram (2H Offensive Tank) whose job was to smash the enemy front lines and put pressure on the backline. 2) A Defensive TANK whose job is to protect himself and the squishes and healers with Guard, hold the line, oathfriend, shield abilities.

 

This is what I see the Guardian/Juggernault's role as, just like the Ironbreaker. The problem is that Guardians seem to have all of the Ironbreakers weak points (being vulnerable to ranged fire, only moderate DPS) and none of its strengths.

[xxxJXTxxx]

The thing with the Jedi Guardian is that until you start getting utility skills, you're pretty weak in PvP. It's not that you can't do anything, but you just aren't quite as good as the other classes that get a lot more of their tricks earlier on. It's really annoying being so limited at lower levels as a Guardian.

 

And then you get to the higher levels with all your skills available and you find yourself pretty darn dangerous. You can easily keep your opponent's armor sundered (Guardian Strike + Sunder Armor = max armor debuff), stay alive for monstrous amounts of time (Riposte defense boost, Blade Barrier, Saber Ward, Warding Call, Enure), interrupt the crap out of enemies (Force Kick, Force Leap, Force Push, Force Stasis, Hilt Strike, and I assume Awe when I get it) and all around cause havoc in the middle of enemy ranks (remember to aoe taunt!). Not to mention they can guard a target, which is insanely useful on a healer, and also on the ball carrier in Huttball. DPS suffers a bit (Pommel Strike and Opportunistic Strike I don't think work at all in PvP, Master Strike only works against people who can't play well and stand there, which leaves you with just Guardian Strike as your big hit, Blade Storm as a sort of usable big hit, and Riposte as a good damage supplement), but then you can stay alive to continue dealing damage, which makes things even out somewhat. Mobility is pretty decent with Force Leap, and it'll get even better when I get Guardian Leap at level 50. A free Force Freeze whenever I want makes it annoying for enemies to fight around me as well.

 

They rock in PvE too (once you get Doc at least), especially against opponents that deal most of their damage through cast time skills... because they never get to get them off. It's hilarious beating down an elite droid thing without the elite even getting its Ion Cell buff up the entire fight because I keep interrupting them.

 

Can't say much about a Sentinel as I haven't played one past lvl 19 in beta, but I generally win against Sith Marauders in PvP if that's any indication.

 

This is all from a Defense spec perspective, btw. I've not played the DPS trees yet, so I can't speak to them.

[sonny]

I went with a DPS guardian only because I like the look of a single saber as opposed to two.

[georgemattson]

I've been playing nothing but Sentinels, so take this with a grain of salt, but I seriously think it comes down to how well you know your class and your abilities. I'm a noob when it comes to PvP, but I've gotten quite a bit better since launch simply because I'm starting to realize the importance of some of the various abilities that didn't seem terribly obvious when I first looked at them. Slowing or freezing people and damage over time never really jumped out at me as hugely critical, but now I'm starting to see that they're a pretty big deal, so I'm starting to work them into my rotation.

 

My button layout on the UI was pretty weak, too, to begin with (and still is). I originally just used the layout that the game defaulted to, so the lower level stuff was at the left with higher stuff on the right. It never occurred to me that I could have two bars until I accidentally hit the tilde (`) key one time and brought up my companion's tool bar. That was a very useful lesson; I changed all the top row stuff to F1-F12, with the bottom row as 1 to =. Recently, after seeing a video tutorial, I noticed a guy with tool bars on the right and left as well, so that's my next step. Beyond that, I'm also thinking I might group abilities according to function; stuff that slows or freezes people in one area, damage stuff in another, DOT stuff in another, etc.

 

Then there's the mods, hilts, and other equipment. Heck, I've got about 750-800 points invested in artifice/archaeology/treasure hunting, yet I only use drops in my equipment because I'm constantly reverse engineering stuff and moving on to the next level of equipment as soon as I can craft it. Dumb, but I never really thought about it; kept waiting until I was "high enough," but heck, it'll all help me level. Yeah, I'm a noob.

 

Point being there's a huge difference in the effectiveness of a character based on all the variables that go into it. If you know the class well and keep your equipment updated, you'll do very well. If not, you won't. I've been in PvP sessions where I was dominating a lvl 50 1 on 1 and had him nearly dead (about 10% health, while I had about 1/3) before his friends showed up (I was alone, mid 20's, no healer), but have had my butt well and truly kicked by a lvl 13 when I was lvl 29 (and not alone).

 

btw; I found a couple posts that look to be really useful, if you want to pursue the Sentinel class.

 

Jedi Sentinel – A Primer

 

Sentinel PvP Guide

 

I would imagine there should be something similar for the Guardian class, if you want to pursue that.

 

*Edit: it also occurred to me that it might be useful to have multiple sets of toolbars. You can't change both, but Page Up/Page Down swaps the one bar quickly enough that I would think it'd be a viable option to switch between PvE and PvP sets. Since I do a blend of both and some abilities are more useful in one setting v. the other, I think this will likely be my next goal, along with having a third set for the "miscellaneous" abilities. Unless, of course, I have enough room to throw them all into the left and right toolbars.

Edited December 29, 2011 by georgemattson

[Arlette]

I haven't had any problems leveling as a Defensive Spec Guardian, up until the very last class quest fight... at which I'm stuck still and for which I'd like to thank Bioware for TOTALLY *********** IT UP AND GIVING ME THE RAGE OF A LIFETIME!!!

 

Other than that, Defense spec seems to be the best for leveling cuz of the low downtime and easily manageable boss fights.

[Virsane]

I'm having a lot of trouble with my Guardian at level 27. All of my story missions where I have to take down elite enemies usually result in me dying numerous times and just getting lucky with a win. I eventually switched to a smuggler and am currently leveling him up but I want to go back to my guardian. It just gets frustrating.

 

EDIT: As the poster above said - I might go into a defense spec. I'm currently Vig spec'ed so maybe that could be an issue?

Edited December 29, 2011 by Virsane

[Atallcost]

I'm having a lot of trouble with my Guardian at level 27. All of my story missions where I have to take down elite enemies usually result in me dying numerous times and just getting lucky with a win. I eventually switched to a smuggler and am currently leveling him up but I want to go back to my guardian. It just gets frustrating.

 

EDIT: As the poster above said - I might go into a defense spec. I'm currently Vig spec'ed so maybe that could be an issue?

 

Man, i'm sorry, but I haven't had any issues killing ANY quest fights on the first try. I'm Guardian spec, and haven't incredibly out leveled any of them. I could say it's been close, and have had to pop a medpack or something, but I've never actually died on a class quest all the way up to 31.

 

Just wanted to balance the equation here with some perspective.

[aka_matrix_pwner]

Im playing a Guardian using the Defense talent tree.

 

with the right companion, DPS or Healer. Im seriously kickass PVE. Im also quite good PVP, but not just as good. Guardian is a good class, but i would say that it takes some skill to play properly.

 

I just reached 50 btw

[Carrionld]

I saw your post and thought I would reply based on my experience so far. I am a level 33 Sentinel and I have had difficulties with teh storyline quests as well during teh most recent levels. Then I stepped back beefed up my gear and my companions gear (some people forget to get gear for their companions this makes a huge difference as well).

Items with upgradeable slots are great (higher slotted items make a huge difference), I also am not great at my attacks yet I am improving since I recently respecced (free now as long as you dont do it often).

Once I upgraded my items and my companions items I was able to complete the quests they are still challenging.

You can also group with others to complete some of the tougher quests ro do Heroics (fun).

This game has a lot of options that you can choose to improve your capabilities:

Upgrade your items adn your companions items often.

Ensure that you know how to use your skills properly, I have been ignoring the stealth skill I thought it was just for sneaking (just learned that on this post). That will probably be one of teh best skills since I have one that cuts damage by 50% when stealthed.

I am glad to see your post I was wondering of others were having problems with the quests.

I am enjoying the Sentinel, I am able to fight teh story battles one level below my own and do fine. I hope this was helpful.

[tekknikal]

I agree with the guy that said this class takes you knowing what you're doing to put out excellent dmg output. Which is why I will rejoice in the day that they finally give in to the QQing of most of you guys and buff this class to the point that it will be unstoppable when well played.

 

I'm speaking more from a PVE perspective, but this class is beast if you know your rotations and aren't a moron with your talent points.

[Bravedave]

The way the moves are laid out, for me as a Sentinal, I've managed to establish a pretty decent rotation between snaring the enemy, blowing a few moves, stasising the enemy to allow my moves a little time to recuperate, then blowing the entire shibang, cool downs, everything...

 

Just hit 40 on sentinal, and for me, 1-v-1 I'm fairly confidant in my abilities in pvp, more than one, well, it's very rare that I can come out on top unless I have all of my defence cool downs + a medpack...

 

as for in PVE, standard mobs I can easily solo, however, 1 strong + 1 regular I struggle... and as for an elite, lol, he'd blow his nose with me.

[AnthonyLeo]

I went Sentinel and am currently up to lvl 41. I was combat specced till 35 then respecced into watchman. Both specs are a lot of fun but I found watchman to be more effective at pvp. The ability to use zen, overload saber, then cauterize is a huge advantage for a dps class since the combo allows you and your teammates to heal up while you enemy takes damage due to the special properties of the moves. Plus, once you get guarded by the force, I can't tell you how many times that combo plus guarded by the force has saved my butt in pve/pvp to buy me enough time to finish off a fight.

[Anrew]

I got torn apart by a marauder only 1 lvl above me in open pvp the other day. In warzones on my sage I can generally tank a person and sometimes to till backup arrives, but I got completely torn up. No idea how he was spec'd but I did have to tip my hat to him. Granted I still kind of question why I'm on a pvp server when I don't like open world pvp or being ganked.

[AnthonyLeo]

I feel your pain. I agree that Jedi Knights could use some sort of buff somewhere as the Empire currently dominates in PVP. I would love to get a better CC and some sort of pushback ability, though I'm not saying Jedi Knights are a bad class as I usually end up towards the top of the damage dealt (and sometimes healing) for my team, its just when I look at some other classes in the warzones, such as sith sorcerors, they are face stomping everyone in damage dealt and healing.

[Cancrizans]

Very true

 

I like my Guardian, but I am tired of being last in about everything when it comes to PVP. And its not a question of skill, I am not a Pro, but I can hold my own.

 

The Guardian/Jugger is at terrible disadvantage in PVP. Some of our abilities are useless in PVP (like Master Strike) we have no CC until far too late, the DPS is terrible, we cant heal ourselves, (unlike more powerful classes that can), and we don't have enough useful interrupts we means we are constantly CC'ed. Our better abilities (sunder, blade barrier) have long cooldowns forcing us to rely on spamming vastly inferior ones, it takes a long time to generate focus.

 

One of the best defensive abilities for Jedi (REBUKE) is a Sentinel skill, I don't understand why as Defense is supposed to be the Guardians job. The ONLY advantage we have over the Sentinel is the fact we can carry Heavy Armor (which also sucks because the appears to be a shortage of armored robes we saw on the ads)

 

 

PVE is fine, but we just seem to suck at everything in PVP except for the flag carrier in Huttball. The entire class is in serious need of a revision (not just a buff) but espicially the Guardian/Juggernault

 

I just stated an Inquisitor and I was just shocked at all the things that class gets even at very low level.

 

I tested both the Guardian and a low level Sentinel, and aside from the Sentinel being alittle more squishy (not by much) the Sentinel was Superior.

 

I think i am going to shelf my guardian until a fix comes out and focus on a either the Inquisitor or roll a Trooper (I prefer playing Republic).

 

I think Bioware might have been worried about an overpopulation of Jedi/Sith Warriors so the gimped the class to make others tempting. But I am afraid they have gone to far, as this is easily the worst class in the game.

 

There is a really good post about Guardian PvP floating around these forums, you should read it. He talks about forgetting about topping the damage meters and using the Guardian in PvP according to its strengths...as a harasser, protector and using some CC to help your team. Really good read.