Concentration pvp

[Thenakedindian]

Don't really see a whole lot of people playing or recommending concentration. Is combat the fotm AC for sentinels or is it just the genuinely better option? I'm not max level yet but I can't see how concentration would be bad. Looks like you just need to know how to effectively roll DCDs but the damage and utility seems nice.

 

Any vet concentration(or the imp version? sorry dunno its name) that can help?

[JouerTue]

for regs everything is fine..good players know how to shut down properly combat/carnage. for ranked the immunity after force crush is the best you can achieve and that's rage only. the burst is decent also, 3 hard hitters versus gore window which is 2 GCD(not going to land ravage+CB so often).

[Thenakedindian]

Is concentration/fury good in solo ranked or group?

[teclado]

Concentration/Fury is quite good in pvp. It's my personal favorite spec. I've played all three specs a good amount, so here are my thoughts on each.

 

Combat: Highest burst potential, but easy to interrupt precision windows and therefore negate a lot of damage. Ideal for group ranked and regulars with a solid team to support you (heals).

 

Watchman: Lowest burst potential, but highest sustained DPS. Some small self-heals can help in 1v1. Fun in regs for DoT spreading and putting up big numbers. Not really ideal for solo or group ranked.

 

Concentration: Very good burst, lowest sustained DPS out of the three specs, but can't be shut down. Ideal for any time you are queuing solo.

[EmilmcUgly]

I've been trying out a sentinel in pvp. Tried combat, but couldn't stay engaged to opponents - they very rudely moved away to prevent me from attacking. Moved to concentration because at least that spec has a little more range, but I still have the same problem. I'm lvl 56 now, expertise 1936. I know there's at least one more ability coming that will help. But then I see marauders with four-figure dps and I wonder how the hell they do it. Edited January 8, 2016 by EmilmcUgly

[jauvtus]

expertise 1936

 

Sorry but this caught my attention: if you have 1936 expertise, it means you dont have expertise crystals in your mainhand and offhand (1936+41+41=2018 aka maximum expertise)

Btw if you have problems staying on target, I suggest use Brazen, Force Fade and Unbound utilities and dont use Berserk, use your Fury stacks for Predation. You will run with +95% (15% passive from Force Fade+80% from Unbound talented Predation) movement speed, and with Brazen (which is mandatory anyway) you can have an incredibly high uptime of this speed. And another bonus: you apply the 80% part to your team as well.

If you really wanna use Berserk, dont forget to take the Relentless utility instead of Force Fade, that way you can use Predation free, with a 30s CD, which means 33% uptime. But I suggest using the first method, because high dps potential is no use if you cant stay on target to deliver it

If you still have problems staying on target as melee, maybe you should try to play (AP) PT. PT is a mid-range class, which means while you have important abilities with melee range, your damage output wont suffer that much if you fall behind, since most abilities are 10/30m range (ofc going in melee is needed with it too, just failing to do so isnt penalized that much)

Edited January 8, 2016 by jauvtus

[teclado]

Sorry but this caught my attention: if you have 1936 expertise, it means you dont have expertise crystals in your mainhand and offhand (1936+41+41=2018 aka maximum expertise)

He's level 56, so unless he has pvp mainhand and offhand, it is impossible to get to 2018. Unless it has been changed, you really don't want to mix PVE mods with expertise crystals.

 

@Emil

Do you keybind and mouse turn? Any melee pvp class will struggle heavily without those things.

Edited January 8, 2016 by teclado

[EmilmcUgly]

That's right - I do have weapons with the expertise crystals in them, but when I equip them in pvp my expertise actually goes down.

 

I do mouse turn and keybind. The mouse turning is an issue, simply because I turn so fast I lose track of everybody, I'm like a drunk octopus trying to pour four drinks at once, especially in a melee. But that's more of a ltp issue.

 

Predation (or, as we Sentinels call it, Transcendance) is great, but it only lasts 10 seconds and isn't always available. I did take the utility that gives you greater speed. So the question really is just: is there a technique or other skill I can use? Is there something I can do, besides learning how to control my mouse better, to stay with an opponent who won't do me the simple common courtesy of standing still so I can hit him?

[teclado]

Yep, if I recall correctly (it's been a long time since I actually tried this), if you have a gear piece that has a mix of pvp mods/enhancements/crystal and pve ones, your expertise will be negatively affected. So that's something that you don't want to do. 1936 is the best that you can get without having a mainhand and offhand that have pvp hilt (armoring) and mod and enhancement and crystal.

 

Regarding staying on target, at level 61 you will get Blade Blitz which does help. Additionally, I would recommend taking the utility point that makes force camouflage purge removable effects (such as roots) - then you can use force camo to get back onto a sniper that rooted you and rolled away. Also take the util that makes Transcendence remove roots. Having two leaps in Concentration spec is nice - especially since the 10m one can be used on targets in cover (snipers). Use Force stasis and Leg Slash. If you are attacking a PT or Merc and they pop Hydraulic Overrides, use Force Stasis to hold them in place for a few seconds and waste some of their speed boost. The same for Sorcs when they use Force Speed. Leg Slash reduces the target's movement speed by 50% for 10 (!!!) seconds! This is hugely important for staying on a target that is trying to kite you! Leg Slash also applies a 20% healing debuff, so that really helps if they are getting some heals. Blade Dance (formerly known as Master Strike) has a root with the utility (which I always take). The only other thing that I can think to suggest is try not to use your 30m leap unless you have to. Sometimes it is best to simply approach on foot.

 

If you're doing all these things...there's not much else you can do. Sometimes Sents will get kited a bit. But you should easily be able to do over 4 figure damage per second in a warzone. By that you mean over 1000, correct? You should be able to hit at least 1500 DPS range, sometimes in the 2500 to 3500 range during games in which you are not dying much.

 

For example, if you open up a dummy parse program such as StarParse and run a parse with your pvp gear on against the pvp dummy, you should be able to exceed 6k dps for a 5 minute parse when in full 208 optimized pvp gear. I have done this, so I know that it is possible. Now, since the warzone scoreboard displays Damage Per Second as a simple calculation of (total damage) / (duration of game in seconds), it's simply a matter of uptime - how much of the game time was spent attacking something and how much time was spent idle? If you spend a lot of time node guarding, yeah your DPS will display as really low. If you rush to mid as fast as you can and spend the entire game attacking healers that never die, your DPS numbers will be much higher.

 

P.S. Sorry if I am stating the obvious on anything, just trying to be extremely clear.

Edited January 8, 2016 by teclado

[Mordresh]

I switched to fury yesterday after being mostly Annihilation and it's the best time I've had on my marauder in ages. The other two specs are far too frustrating in PvP. Edited January 9, 2016 by Mordresh

[Thenakedindian]

Nice, i feel good about the pick. Was worried I might have to go Jugg/guardian or AP PT/Vanguard PT.

 

Concentration feels good so far, jack of all trades kind of class. Damage of concentration mixed with the DCDs, utility, and gap closing seems well rounded.

[EmilmcUgly]

After spending way too much time playing over the weekend, I now find that taking a more zoomed-out bird's eye view of the battlefield really helps with mouse turning. You don't lose sight of your opponent so easily that way. It's not the best visual picture aesthetically, but more efficient.

 

Also, hit level 61 and got Blade Blitz. I don't quite get it yet because you spin right past everybody. Cool image, but since a big part of my problem was keeping my opponent in view, it's going to take some getting used to.

[teclado]

Yeah, zooming out really helps. You can edit an .ini file to increase the max viewing distance even further. See here.

 

I view Blade Blitz as just another mobility tool, don't really care that it does damage because it is insignificant. It's helpful for when somebody uses a knockback on you - just blitz right back into melee range on top of them (unless the knockback has a root with it). You can choose a utility point that will make Blitz break the root, but I have never used that because there are too many other important utilities.

 

I also use Blitz to get from point A to point B faster. So, if I am responding to a call for help at the other node, I will use it to help me get there a little bit faster. If Transcendence is available, you can use that and then Blitz once Trans finishes. You can really respond to calls quite fast.

 

Another thing to note: Blade Blitz increases your defense chance by 100%. So, if you see a sniper drawing a bead on you with ambush, pop BB really quick and the ambush will most likely miss you (if you time it right). The same is true for some other attacks. So, you can use it like a defensive ability.

 

One more thing that I remembered: huttball. You can BB right through fire and acid traps without taking too much damage, and you can use it while carrying the ball. Even if the fire or acid are not active at the time, it's often a good idea to BB through them just in case somebody tries to stun you (100% defense chance means that stuns can be resisted).

Edited January 12, 2016 by teclado