In your opinion, what is better for PVP, Sentinel Watchman, or Sentinel Combat?

[maximusthrash]

Just want to figure out if I want to change my discipline or not. Thoughts? Edited April 25, 2017 by maximusthrash

[Purgamentorum]

Watchman for groups combat for single target. Concentration can also be fun. Which ever you choose make friends with a good healer and que with them

[Quangus]

Just want to figure out if I want to change my discipline or not. Thoughts?

 

Try them all. And then play what you feel the most comfortable with. Because that will be the one which you will contribute the most with. And after a while, no matter which spec you choose, you will realize that some are better for certain situations in pvp but that part comes later as I said. If it is strictly between watchman and combat, I will say this from my personal experience: Combat is a solid choice when you have a group but can be frustrating when you are alone. Watchman works in both cases.

[rylanadionysis]

Arsenal Merc

Gunnery Commando

 

Youre welcome

[thepilk]

Whichever one calls incoming when guarding, pays attention to the positions of his allies, asks questions when they dont know something, responds to support requests, doesnt clog the chat window with complaining and finger pointing, and understands the objectives of each match.

[Purgamentorum]

pays attention to the positions of his allies,

 

90% of pvpers do not do this and it is the single most import part of the game. Do not LOS the healer, and do not dump your self in the middle of a group of enemy and draw the healer in. Especially on gree pylons.

[Yezzan]

concentration.

[Dbohrius]

I roll Combat and sometimes it gets very frustrating going against Snipers and tag-teams of Juggs and Sorcs. The amount of roots and stuns in this game is incredible. But if you have a Healer buddy at your side, it can be very rewarding.

 

I didn't try Watchman that much because frankly I don't like it, but that's a personal perspective.

[maximusthrash]

I decided to go with combat. What I noticed is that pubs complain about my dps being so low, and say I don't know how to play. Seems like watchman has higher dps than combat.

[Thaladan]

in the actual environment i suggest to play concentration for the immune stun and the 2nd (especially against cover sniper)

 

but you asked for watchman or combat so i'll say watchman.

 

combat is really bursty but i don't feel it really polyvalent.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Thaladan

[Sargrith]

I have two sentinels I PvP on and I have tried all three flavors. I know concentration is the lowest dps-wise but I find it works really well and use that on one. For me watchman is all about building dots and long fights, but that is not really PvP. I find combat much more fun for me and use that on my second.

 

Point is try them all, the one you feel the most comfortable with will be the best one for you in PvP in the end.

[Soljin]

I decided to go with combat. What I noticed is that pubs complain about my dps being so low, and say I don't know how to play. Seems like watchman has higher dps than combat.

 

Combat struggles because you need to be on target 100% to dish out damage which can be difficult currently. If you have the burst rotation down perfectly this spec will excel in damage but is easy to shut down. You must get damage off quickly and stay on target as long as possible before the KB's, stuns and plethora of slows win out.

 

Concentration has a bit more mobility and immunity which helps.

 

Watchman will continue to damage a bit while you are out of range so it works well if you are constantly getting slowed or knocked around because you don't need 100% up time to get your damage off...

 

Just my take.

 

I have two Sentinels 1 male, 1 female and even though I am currently playing the class it is not a great deal of fun in PvP currently, for me anyway in any of the 3 specs.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Soljin

[shyroman]

This is what I love about sentinels right now, all 3 specs are in a pretty good spot for pvp at the moment (at least regs). I much prefer combat because of the fast paced style of it and since I take all the utilities that enhance my movement so I barely feel the effect of all the slows and such compared to other classes that I play.

[Wimbleton]

concentration.

 

Winner

[WayOfTheWarriorx]

I decided to go with combat. What I noticed is that pubs complain about my dps being so low, and say I don't know how to play. Seems like watchman has higher dps than combat.

 

It's true, Watchman/Anni can put out higher DPS [not a ton more tho, only difference between equally geared is just under 100], but a lot of that is just fluff damage from easy dot spread, just like Vengeance and Madness. In PVP dot spread has very little effect and is easy to heal through. Fluff Damage like that doesn't kill people [unless of course they were already quite low in health]. There are some people who just ignore killing people and just search out the most tightly packed group of enemies just so they can spread dots for as long as possible to fluff their numbers.

It does have some hard hitting attacks, but unless your focusing on killing that dot spread is helping no one. Chasing down groups just so you can use your dot spread causes downtime as well.

 

The Dots do work on single target too of course, and the longer the fight the better, but that spec has a rather long [relatively speaking] ramp up time to reach the highest levels of DPS and for the most part PVP does not afford that kind of ramp up time. It's really good for Boss fights even dueling to an extent, but for single target and faster kills, Combat/Carnage is the better spec.

 

Watchman/Anni does have some other useful things it can bring to the table though. It can put out small group heals, which while they are minor heals they are still keeping everyone at least getting some heals through out the match [providing they are engaged in combat], their DOTs will still tick even if they get knocked out of melee range, they don't even need to physically hit all those they want to effect with their dots [force sweep does it], and of course their self heals contribute to some increased survivability. Furthermore, I'd say they probably have better survivability than the other two specs [not by a great deal though].

 

It can be very lethal single target if the player is going for a kill. Those players who are just trying to fluff thier numbers with dot spread however, benefit more from their enemies not dieing so that they can continue to use their dot spreads on the most amount of enemies.

 

Pound for pound though, combat is better at killing individual enemies faster. DOT specs by their very nature [ Damage Over Time] are not designed with quick kills in mind, but over time, yes, they can put out more over all damage than burst specs. Time is one luxury you seldom find in abundance in WZs though.

 

They are both very strong specs, and both bring something to the table. Sometimes burst specs are better for a certain fight and sometimes a DOT spec is better for another fight. Circumstance is always a factor. As they both get the job done, player preference should really be the deciding factor. If you are good at micromanaging multiple bleeds to keep them up as seamlessly as possible, Watchman is the way to go. If you are looking to hit like a truck and want shock enemies by the swiftness of your attacks and how quickly you applied that damage, Combat is the way to go.

 

Both specs require a high skill set to really maximize their potential. All in all though, it's easier to shut down Combat than it is to do to watchman, interruptions and pauses have a more serious effect on Combat's DPS than Watchmans. Sure interruptions won't stop bleeds from still ticking, but than, they ain't ticking for all that much damage. But some damage is better than none!

 

The short of it is, you really can't go wrong with either one. The one you find more appealing and funner to play is the one you'll put out the most damage with. Go with your gut.

 

Best of Luck.

[Eastiano]

I would suggest playing all 3 specs, they each shine in different ways but are all pretty much viable.

I would even go so far as to say the 3 specs are the most balanced I've seen em since launch, that being said, I love anni!

 

It's my fave just cos I played it a lot and feels quite instictive to me now

[Sharkii_boy]

Slightly offtopic but I would strongly suggest playing concentration over those two. It is the simplest spec which allows for better situational awareness, has the best mobility out of the 3 and doesn't suffer as much from downtime as the combat spec whilst still having very respectable DPS and burst damage. Snipers won't cause you as many migraines because you can now leap to them from 10m and also have an additional option to resist their knockbacks. Edited April 21, 2017 by Sharkii_boy

[yellow_]

I would suggest playing all 3 specs

^^

 

learn to play all of them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

connoisseurs of the burst spec master race play combat 8)

Edited April 21, 2017 by yellow_

[Icykill_]

Just want to figure out if I want to change my discipline or not. Thoughts?

 

If you want to kill snipers go for Combat.

[Rion_Starkiller]

If you want to kill snipers go for Combat.

 

Exactly

 

Combat is very skill dependent, but once you are good at it, you are a beast. That spec shines in both pve and pvp.

 

 

Do you ever play a guardian? If so, focus is better than concentration (per Bants numbers) and they are nearly identical in rotation and such. So I dunno if I"d bother too much with concentration.

Edited April 21, 2017 by Rion_Starkiller

[WayOfTheWarriorx]

Exactly

 

Combat is very skill dependent, but once you are good at it, you are a beast. That spec shines in both pve and pvp.

 

 

Do you ever play a guardian? If so, focus is better than concentration (per Bants numbers) and they are nearly identical in rotation and such. So I dunno if I"d bother too much with concentration.

 

If the Combat/Carnage User is facing a competent sniper, he is not getting near that sniper long enough to kill him, not even close. The Fury/Concentration practitioner has it in spades over the Combat/Carnage with regard to snipers for the simple fact that they he can get more uptime on him than Combat/Carnage can.

 

Against a less skilled Sniper who who is not competent in using the class to it's full potential, than yes, The Carnage/Combat user will have an easier time killing the sniper, no question.

 

There is a very easy well to tell if you are fighting a sniper who knows his class. If you can stay near him for any appreciable amount of time as a Carnage/Combat or Anni/Watchman, he doesn't.

 

Also, while the discipline shared by Focus/Concentration may be the same, the DPS is not. Generally speaking, class wise, Marauders have better DPS than Juggs. [Anyone can fluff their numbers with easy dot spread in PVP, but fluff is fluff].

 

As a die hard Carnage user for the last 5 years I agree with your general appraisal.

 

Combat/Carnage is "very skill dependent, and once you are good at it, you are a beast. That spec shines in both pve and pvp."

 

That said, once a sniper is "good at" his spec, the carnage/combat user of close skill level stands very little chance against said sniper if that sniper is giving him his attention.

 

1v1 , skill levels being equal, that little chance turns into no chance. People may either fool themselves or simply be mistaken in gauging the skill level of their opponent. But if a Combat/Carnage User beats a Sniper 1v1 whom he thought was on equal level in terms of skill, he was simply wrong. You might as well be 1v1ing an Operative.

 

P.S. I see you're RBL. I'm a Shadowlander myself. You're my favorite Pubs to fight! See you out there! - Grim'alkun.

Edited April 21, 2017 by WayOfTheWarriorx

[Mikeieveli]

Personally I love Watchman currently. i have played all 3 specs since launch, mostly Watchman and Combat. I liked combat pre-5.0 better than its current state with focus gen and damage in between PS windows. Really the main issue is focus gen. If that was better then damage would also be there in between PS windows. Moral of the story, play all 3, but play what you like best. I have, and im sure others have as well, played the least popular spec at any given time better than most in the most popular spec, simply because of the enjoyment.