Jedi Sentinel need help

[Saikochoro]

Sentinel/Mara in PVP ? Yes, very good class if there is a pocket healer around... Otherwise is a pain in the neck. I've been playing a lot a warzones since last year and my experience is that Mara/Sents are the easiest to kill. With a Juggernaut/Guardian they die like flies and It amuses me to kill them. MY experience is that Jugg/Guardian has 10 times better defenses than Mara which let's be honest, barely has any... and I don't care what other people say in the matter.

 

Class has very good DPS but it's a glass canon. I like a challenge and Sent/Mara was a challenge for me and thus, I gave the class a fair chance. In the end, I decided that it's a waste of time and energy. No matter what I did, I wasn't satisfied with it because I died many times, couldn't stay alive long enough to actually contribute. Like I said before, trhe class is OP with a healer around but every class is better for PVP, sadly.

 

So my adivce is to leave Mara/Sent and go play classes that are a lot better and enjoyable to play in pvp.

 

With a healer marauders are quite unstoppable. But even without they are a force to be reckoned with if you know the class (and other classes). Marauders actually have the best defenses in the game as far as dps goes. A dps Mara vs a dps jugg the Mara is better. Juggs defenses are just more forgiving and easier to use properly because one of their main ones revolves around healing. Some classes may last longer (operative or sorc or sin), but they are spending countless cooldowns on that survivability or stealthing out. Marauders have the best defenses in conjunction with dps out put. They even have a disengage in the form of camo. They are not a glass cannon. Powertechs are a glass cannon. Powertechs are infinitely more squishy than marauders, but they are easier to play and so people don't complain. If an operative tried to stay in the fight like a marauder the operative would die very quickly. Same with a sin. If a Merc or sorc didn't kite they would die faster too. The only one who wouldn't is a jugg. But juggs don't have a disengage. Overall marauders have amazing defenses if used properly. If you want a list of them and how they work against each class I would be willing to provide it, but only if this "marauders die so easily" nonsense stops. Marauders will die quickly if they leap into a bunch of enemies with no forethought....but that is as it should be.

[Saikochoro]

Excellent post. You gave alot of very good ideas and tips, and I intend to impliment some of the strategies covered. I am admittedly not very knowledgeble about many of the other classes, what it's like on their side of the screen, and to a degree I tend to think I'd preform better if I had more of that sort of hands on knowledge. I do fairly well all things considered, what I find most frustraiting is the lack of consistency in the preformance. I could do 2 or three WZs where I come in first or second in damage, but than the following 3 or 4 wz i'm middle of the pack. This, in part might be somewhat do to the dynamics of the WZ itself and the group make up. But the fact is, even those times I come in first or second, the numbers still arent what I see some of the other classes getting when they're topping the board. If I come in first or second, I'm not ever topping 1.7-1.8 million, and those are the better ones. 1 time, literally once, I hit 2.5 million, but this was only because I had the best damn healer in the game [sonus!!!] so far in my pocket I accidently spent him after the match. And this was the only time I ever got that high. But it is not at all uncommon [on the shadowlands server], even regular, to see sorcs, arsenal mercs, Assassins, and of course Snipers doing 2 - 2.5 mill fairly regularly. I know alot of this , in some cases, is fluff damage, but the point is, you really can't say as classes go Mara is the highest damage in PVP. The potential is there of course in terms of the damage cieling, it's just the uptime issues, the opportunities to do that damage that are what hold some of it back.

 

Maras are terrible for gaurding, at least in my experience and from what I've heard other express as well. A stealth class comes along, they can cap just stunning you [more so assy's than Ops]. As to team performance, yeah, maras bring some great utility to a team and the use of predation can't be overstated. We do better in the group than out on our own.

 

Thank you for the many valuable tips and strategies. I think they'll be quite helpful to many Marauders out there. Nice work.

 

I appreciate you responses as well. I do understand what you and others are saying. I used to think that as well when I first start trying to play my marauder. But after I gained more experience with the marauder and other classes it became a LOT easier to do well.

 

I wouldn't worry so much about overall damage as long as you are doing your best. In healer heavy matches it isn't uncommon for multiple classes to pull 2-3 mill damage. I guess some could call dots fluff, but it is still damage that has to be healed or mitigated. That said, dots are less effective at killing priority targets...except perhaps anni maras (those can put up some insane single target pressure). Burst is often more valuable in those situations and marauders have great burst. It is a bit harder to pull off, but it is also harder to mitigate IMO.

 

For example, powertech burst is very easy to set up and get going, but it is also very easy to tell when it is coming and therefore easy to mitigate. Marauders can be very predictable, but they can also be tricky with their burst. Carnage is often complained about for not being able to get off gore windows. A lot of marauders will try to get off the whole berserk + gore + ravage + devastating blast + vicious throw. Sometimes you can pull it off, but that is just asking for your target to cc you somehow. Then their goes your burst. That is predictable. I find that it is almost always better to save gore for a devastating blast + vicious throw combo. Both are 10m and you are trying to get less in, but you can time it how you like and it's not painting a big " CC ME PLEASE" sign above your head. I get 90% of my gore Windows off without a problem and will do a good 30k+ damage in that window.

 

Fury burst is easier to pull off and is still quite good, but can be predictable. If you know it's a fury Mara that just leapt to you there is a good probability that they will use raging burst. And they will probably use furious strike pretty soon after. Those two can also net you 30k+ damage and the marauder will likely want to do that while they have cc immunity from force crush. So it is a good idea to pop a defensive cooldown. So why not be unpredictable? What kind of fury marauder leaps to someone and then starts ravaging? I'm not sure, but ravage will hopefully invoke a cc or defensive cooldown of some sort. Then once they've blown one or both of them why not put force crush on them and unload that burst? Changing up your pattern can be helpful.

 

I do agree that maras should not be guarding nodes. Stealth really ought to do that. Marauders should be in the fight. That is what they are designed for. And yes marauders most definitely are not a lone wolf class like ops and sins are.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Saikochoro

[Saikochoro]

It's good to hear someone voicing alot of thoughts over concerns I've had. I've always felt like 1vs1 against many of the other classes Marauders are at somewhat of a disadvantage despite their great damage output and defensives. The stealth classes just have to many ways to shut us down one on one for us to really keep up with. This may be slightly less the case with Fury, but if we take the low numbers of Fury users we see running around even in PVP it says alot about its poor damage output.

 

Fortunately for me I care more about PVE than i do PVP. PVP is fun and it's something to do, but I'm a raider at heart, and while some of the other classes may do better in PVP than us, we're killing machines in PVE second to none and our DCDs really keep us going well most of the time.

 

Inside of the pack, I guess is where we belong, and now that you pointed it out and I gave is some thought, it does seem that alot of our problems are mitigated when we are fighting with teammates at our sides [so to speak] and our vulnerabilties are somewhat mitigated by them.

 

Snipers rip my *** apart no matter who's standing next to me tho heh, same with Arsenal Mercs [They're like Ranged Carnage heh].

 

Thank you for your response.

 

Yeah honestly I don't do pve at all haha so I wouldn't know. You would most definitely be better and have to coach me if I were in a raid. But I just haven't been able to get into pve like I do pvp. I just like the dynamic nature of pvp.

 

Yeah marauders are best when being a team player. You can go on to the outskirts of a fight to take someone out. That isn't a problem. Just don't get caught alone by a stealth.

 

Yeah snipers were designed well to shut down and destroy marauders. Fury marauders do better against them, but honestly I rarely ever lose to a marauder on my sniper. I have more ways of keeping a marauder at bay than they have of getting to me. That's why I always make sure to have LOS before trying to fight a sniper. Obsfucate is your best friend against snipers, especially since most of them are marksmanship. I often don't even focus on a sniper even if it is nearby. I'll focus on the healer next to the sniper, but switch targets to the sniper just long enough to obsfucate it and then continue attacking the healer.

 

Mercs can be difficult too especially if they have net up, know how to kite, and their isn't LOS. But I find mercs to be easier than snipers because you can at least leap to them. Still can be a tough fight. I tend to engage them by just running up to them from around a LOS object or if they are distracted attacking someone else. I like to open with ravage sometimes because like 99% of the time they (along with all other classes) will cc me somehow or PPP a defensive cooldown or both. That gets that out of the way. If they knock me back I will leap to them. If they stun me I will wait it out. It gets them to blow their defensive and cc load before I try bursting them. Then when I do try bursting them they don't have as much to stop me. They can try rocket out, but I will just mad dash to them. Honestly it is really hard to kite a marauder. I also will pop cloak of pain in the beginning of a fight because it is a good bit of damage reduction and has great uptime. And use other defenses as necessary. Just keep in mind that most mercs are arsenal and to not waste a gore + devastating blast on their chaff flare. In that situation I will gore + ravage or massacre spam. Obsfucate also works wonders against mercs because a lot of their damage is from blazing bolts, unload, or rail shot.

 

But yeah if you have specific classes or situations you want more specific advice for let me know and I will share what I know.

[Shubhabrata]

I read in this thread that Maras should not be guarding nodes and I agree. However, sometimes, due to unavoidable circumstances one may be forced to do so and it is best to be prepared for such eventuality. Many times, if the opponent is a decent player, doing 1v1 against an operative or an assassin will end badly for a Marauder. What we can do, is stretch the fight as long as we can, as we don't have to get the node from them. They need to get it from us and we have all the time in the world. For encounters against not so great stealthers, feel free to go all out and wreck them

 

I made a short video with some instances and instructions today. I hope this helps any new Sentinel/Marauders looking for some tips.

 

[TrixxieTriss]

I read in this thread that Maras should not be guarding nodes and I agree. However, sometimes, due to unavoidable circumstances one may be forced to do so and it is best to be prepared for such eventuality. Many times, if the opponent is a decent player, doing 1v1 against an operative or an assassin will end badly for a Marauder. What we can do, is stretch the fight as long as we can, as we don't have to get the node from them. They need to get it from us and we have all the time in the world. For encounters against not so great stealthers, feel free to go all out and wreck them

 

I made a short video with some instances and instructions today. I hope this helps any new Sentinel/Marauders looking for some tips.

 

 

People often forget to move when guarding, even stealths. Most people make the mistake of standing to close to the node and also not moving around.

Too close and you'll be sapped and capped, like Snave does in the video link in my signature. Stand to far away and you can't break and interrupt. Stand still and you are just asking for it.

I'm constantly moving, but try not to be predictable or you might as well just stand still.

I've not had any problems guarding on my Sent, my only issue with that class guarding, is it is detrimental to your teams dps output. Sent/Maras are designed to put pressure in the middle of the battle, having one of the best pressure specs sitting at a node is such a waste. Especially if there are more suitable classes on your team to fill the role.

 

About to watch your video to see if you know something I don't

[TrixxieTriss]

 

Excellent video, love the music, just last night I said Snave should use that for his next operative video. Benny Hill is the King

You and I play very similar when defending. Lots of LOS, speed, stuns, interrupts. Like you said, staying alive is essential instead of going for the kill.

I also use similar tactics to harass their off node when I need to take the pressure off my team. Being a pain in the backside often makes them panick and half their team come to try and kill you. But if they don't, I'll try and finish the guard off and cap, then go into defence mode till back up arrives.

[Shubhabrata]

Excellent video, love the music, just last night I said Snave should use that for his next operative video. Benny Hill is the King

You and I play very similar when defending. Lots of LOS, speed, stuns, interrupts. Like you said, staying alive is essential instead of going for the kill.

I also use similar tactics to harass their off node when I need to take the pressure off my team. Being a pain in the backside often makes them panick and half their team come to try and kill you. But if they don't, I'll try and finish the guard off and cap, then go into defence mode till back up arrives.

 

Thanks

 

There is no reason an off node guard should die before help arrives. Unless the team isn't paying attention to chat, one stealther shouldn't be able to steal a node.

 

Double stealth sap/cap however is a different story.

[TrixxieTriss]

Thanks

 

There is no reason an off node guard should die before help arrives. Unless the team isn't paying attention to chat, one stealther shouldn't be able to steal a node.

 

Double stealth sap/cap however is a different story.

 

LoL, doubles are bad and my toon can't walk for a week after you have a foursome with 3 operatives.

[Greezt]

A single stealther can easily cap a node on CW vs. a mara, I don't really understand what that first op was doing.

 

You really can't stop a sin from capping as a mara, assuming he has the instalift utility.

 

Don't get me wrong, you defended impressively against those players, but NC is a completely different matter. Today I went east with my shadow twice and solo'd the guard every time. That didn't help, since the team still stopped my cap... And we lost.

 

The only real problem is pylons and nodes in CW, and mara shouldn't be guarding those. If he is, a competent stealther will cap.

[Shubhabrata]

I agree that a Mara shouldn't guard. What I said was, in the eventuality that one does so, one needs to be prepared. So I demonstrated some ways to do that if a marauder has to guard, inevitably. It is difficult, yes and you have to be very careful near the node so that they can't mezz and cap node, but delaying it is doable. Of course, if no one comes to help, the node is gone.

[TrixxieTriss]

A single stealther can easily cap a node on CW vs. a mara, I don't really understand what that first op was doing.

 

You really can't stop a sin from capping as a mara, assuming he has the instalift utility.

 

Don't get me wrong, you defended impressively against those players, but NC is a completely different matter. Today I went east with my shadow twice and solo'd the guard every time. That didn't help, since the team still stopped my cap... And we lost.

 

The only real problem is pylons and nodes in CW, and mara shouldn't be guarding those. If he is, a competent stealther will cap.

 

It will always come down to individual player skill. I know I wouldn't want to be the guard if Snave was trying sap cap me on his operative. But I'm also not shy of taking my Mara or Sent to solo a Sin guarding their node. I've done it more often than not and then been able to hold against the same Sin respawn or kill them again, until their team arrives.

But ideally you don't want to be left guarding as a Mara. It's easier win a contested node than it is to defend one against stealth.

 

I'm guessing that when you capped those today and their guard called inc and they came running, that your team followed them or had seen you trying to cap so all ran to east too, instead of all pushing hard at Sth ?

That's usually a common occurrence when I've drawn most of their team to me.

[Greezt]

It will always come down to individual player skill. I know I wouldn't want to be the guard if Snave was trying sap cap me on his operative. But I'm also not shy of taking my Mara or Sent to solo a Sin guarding their node. I've done it more often than not and then been able to hold against the same Sin respawn or kill them again, until their team arrives.

But ideally you don't want to be left guarding as a Mara. It's easier win a contested node than it is to defend one against stealth.

 

I'm guessing that when you capped those today and their guard called inc and they came running, that your team followed them or had seen you trying to cap so all ran to east too, instead of all pushing hard at Sth ?

That's usually a common occurrence when I've drawn most of their team to me.

 

Pretty much, sadly. I don't have high expectations in midbies, though. That's fine.