Combat Vs. Watchman in PvE

[RevansFollower]

I have been leveling my sentinel pure Combat, and keep reading these threads that say it is better for PvP and such, but Watchman is better for other stuff. My question is which spec is better for solo PvE leveling? Are the dots good for trash mobs, which are the majority of quest enemies, or is Combat good for the quests? I have exactly 0% interest in PvP, if that helps. Thanks for any feedback in advance.

[MBirkhofer]

do not level combat. It does not get its damage until at least level 27. and even then it really does not come into its own until 43.

Its zen is useless until 43.

Focus and watchman Zen buff alone will carry you all leveling compared to combat.

And this is ignoring that the trees themselves are also more dps 10-40.

[RevansFollower]

do not level combat. It does not get its damage until at least level 27. and even then it really does not come into its own until 43.

Its zen is useless until 43.

Focus and watchman Zen buff alone will carry you all leveling compared to combat.

And this is ignoring that the trees themselves are also more dps 10-40.

 

So Watchman or Focus is better to level faster and easier with? In that case, which has better endgame dps for raids and such?

[MBirkhofer]

no one really knows exactly on raid dps. No combat log. combat has a good amount of "hidden" dps in the form of higher hit rate, and offhand damage, and ataru procs on focus builders. That kind of thing is really hard to judge. hitting things for 100 damage 10times.

While focus damage is pretty obvious. you hit something for 5k, you notice.

 

But leveling, yes both focus and watchman leave combat behind.

Focus 10-20.

first off, focus is shii-cho form. 3% damage/3% damage reduc. You can take more damage.

Then the first talents you get buff your core moves force crit, and slash crit%. and then slash damage.

This works very well with focus zen. which gives zero cost aoe slashes. Your slash hits as hard as a combat specs blade rush at level 15. And with zen up, its aoe and free. this is by far the best zen.

Later you get the 100% damage sweeps. and my word. sweep scales really well inherently. it seems fairly weak at level 10 sure. But by level 40+ you will notice its core damage is only like 200 off blade storms. 750 sweep vs 950 blade storm. So consider that. then add the +100% damage after a stasis, or exhaust. 1500 sweep HIT now. and its +100% crit chance. It is not uncommon to leap in, stasis a silver elite, then aoe sweep and 1 shot everything else. you wipe out entire packs this wall. and if not, just have your companion drop their aoe, to finish them off.

 

watchman stance is 10% damage all the time. And buffs its burns at a low level with crit % as well. And that constant periodic healing, also increases uptime greatly.

[RevansFollower]

so Combat is out completely now. What would you say is better out of Focus and Watchman for reliability vs. solo quests?

[Gun_Slinger]

so Combat is out completely now. What would you say is better out of Focus and Watchman for reliability vs. solo quests?

 

Also wondering, Rolled Guardian, thinking of rerolling Sent.

[MBirkhofer]

that I can't really say. pick the one you enjoy more. Focus is bursty. Watchman is dots/hots.

 

Even combat, try it post 27. see if you like it. Frankly, that 100% crit bladestorm actually pales compared to sweep burst though. post 43 combat is an actual choice again possibly though. (even then though, I have a feeling its dps might be low)

[SteveGarbage]

I'm using Watchman over Combat. The advantage of Watchman, I feel, is that it makes downing elite and champion enemies easier because of the strong DoTs. Also you get a reduction in Force Sweep and in the mid 20s you get cooldown and range reductions for Force Jump to give you another viable focus builder.

 

I'm not directly familiar with Combat but what I've been reading is that it requires huge focus dumps. With Watchman it's a more constant stream of damage which I like instead of having to build up for those big bursts.

[Coramac]

I'd say Watchman. Focus can't really take advantage of one of its critical talents (Singularity) until you get Force Exhaust. Watchman takes full advantage of its talents throughout leveling. Additionally, 2 seconds off Kick is very, very good for leveling. You won't worry about pretty much any caster mob you run into.

 

I'd also recommend against Combat even post 40 and 43. It definitely is still garbage at 27 (far to reliant on RNG). Combat just doesn't do anything better than the other trees.

[Coramac]

that I can't really say. pick the one you enjoy more. Focus is bursty. Watchman is dots/hots.

 

Even combat, try it post 27. see if you like it. Frankly, that 100% crit bladestorm actually pales compared to sweep burst though. post 43 combat is an actual choice again possibly though. (even then though, I have a feeling its dps might be low)

 

Watchman is very bursty as well just an FYI.

[MBirkhofer]

Later. merc slash is very burst. But early, overload isnt really as much burst as a focus zen, or a mid teir sweep.

[Coramac]

Overload is actually more burst (single target) than Focus Zen as it is off the GCD. A 3 charge Overload crit hits for about the same as a Slash crit.

[RamzaBehoulve]

Overload is actually more burst (single target) than Focus Zen as it is off the GCD. A 3 charge Overload crit hits for about the same as a Slash crit.

 

DoTs and burst do not compute, error, error, please fix transmitted message

Edited December 28, 2011 by RamzaBehoulve

[MBirkhofer]

DoTs and burst do not compute, error, error, please fix transmitted message

 

nah. burst is still a damage over a short period.

I was using the 9s zen of focus for my example.

[Coramac]

nah. burst is still a damage over a short period.

I was using the 9s zen of focus for my example.

 

This. Force Exhaust is really good burst too and it's a dot. DoTs can be huge for burst damage depending on how they are designed.

 

I don't know why so many people look at burst in terms of a single number. It's definitely a sum of the whole in a short period of time. I do think Focus has a slight edge over all in burst, but Watchman has very solid burst. Combat is definitely a sustained damage tree.