50 Jedi Sentinel PvP - Watchman Spec

[Ganiccus]

Hey everyone! After being Combat for 50 levels (and then some after) I decided to give Watchman a go.

 

Here are my thoughts, included is a brief spec overview and discussion of talents:

 

 

Hope you enjoy!

[ChipHazard]

Very nice as always. So what's your take on the whole combat vs watchman debate?

[MBirkhofer]

Wait who was talking in that?

 

later in the vid, someone was talking about combat spec, and said they felt it was focus starved.

And then mentioned that "maybe i should have taken focused slash"

 

Yes. if you were combat spec, and did not take focused slash level 41,42,43, you are doing it wrong.

[SharkSurfr]

i went combat to 33 switched to watchman, switched to combat again after a few days of 50. all i can say is im not impressed, either pvp or pve. might give focus a try.

[tk-fourtwentyone]

Another great video Faroh, keep it up. It almost makes me want to abandon combat and take the time to learn watchman, Almost.

 

 

my Combat build has bunch of talents that help out with focus and I'm usually running around with 3/4 of a bar and nothing to dump it on. I might just have too much focus.

 

-Reduced cost on BS

-chance for refund on BR and possibly BS

-Rebuke generating focus

-Combat trance providing 1 focus every 6 seconds

-Extra focus from leap

 

etc etc

 

Only time I'm ever low is at the beginning of a fight and I generally open with zealous slash (+6 focus). I rarely if ever use strike or zealous once a fight starts.

[Ganiccus]

Wait who was talking in that?

 

later in the vid, someone was talking about combat spec, and said they felt it was focus starved.

And then mentioned that "maybe i should have taken focused slash"

 

Yes. if you were combat spec, and did not take focused slash level 41,42,43, you are doing it wrong.

 

That was me, for some reason the level of my mic changes drastically from the webcam recording to the in-game recording. I'll have to figure out to fix that. :| It starts out way too loud then gets way too soft later.

 

And, the reason I didn't take Focused Slash was because I had taken the 10% heal on Resolute from the Focus tree.

 

I'll probably switch back to Combat so I can get a more accurate comparison, now that I have played Watchman for a bit. But, honestly the thing I don't think Combat can stand up to is the self-healing from Watchman. So many times I have kept myself alive by popping Guarded By The Force and Zen, then Force Camo if necessary.

 

It's gotta be frustrating for Empire by how impossible it can be to take me down at times, haha.

 

The snare break from Combat on Force Camo I do miss, however, it's useless for things like Huttball when you're the ball carrier and you really NEED it, because you lose the ball. Plus, the 100% damage reduction on Force Camo from Watchman is almost better because you can use it at 5% health and DoTs won't kill you or pop you out of stealth.

 

But, for the time being there's no dual specs, and I'm quite happy with how Watchman performs in PvP, and I have a suspicion that Watchman is probably the better PvE spec...So for now, I'm staying Watchman.

 

TL;DR - Self-healing too good + consistent damage/burst = Watchman FTW.

[Atlanis]

All fairly balanced, Watchman is for more "skilled" players in terms of many keys to bind and the healing is not that hell good as everyone calls it, helpful yes but the stronger Dot and the DMG reduction buffs do your day.

 

Personally I find Combat appealing as it gives a hell of damage to you, but without Doc in Pve or a good mate in PvP you have to be fast hitting your hardest skills in a good flow. It kills quite fast.

 

Focus is, well, a little bit of everything or the 2 key sentinel (stasi and masterstrike) if you got the cast over time from stasis via talent.

[Nyliana]

Thank you for the video, I enjoyed it. I am already familiar with the trees so I found your explanations there pretty boring. Great for the prospective sentinel though!

 

I recently swapped from combat to watchman, and I also have been enjoying the damage output lot more. I'm a bit sad though as I prefer the playstyle of combat and am not fond of melee dots. But hey, whatever returns them to the medcenter amirite?

 

Either way, thanks again!

Edited December 29, 2011 by Nyliana

[FourTwent]

could you give some examples for your typical rotations?

 

I tried watchman until about lvl 20 and switched to combat, and then switch to focus a few lvls later.

 

I wasn't impressed with watchman too much, except I dont think I gave the spec long enough and didn't learn the proper rotations for it(burst rotation or the regular build up rotation). I'm thinking I didn't stack Overloaded Saber enough times or something. . .I dunno.

 

 

But a couple example rotations would be greatly appreciated while I think over the specs

[Ptriv]

If you are combat for PvP, you are doing it wrong.

[Moldrany]

If you are combat for PvP, you are doing it wrong.

 

I'm combat and I have yet to see a watchman who is more effective in Warzones.

 

Combat scales very well with gear, if you manage all your CDs and ability correctly you can be extremely effective in both, solo play and group play.

 

The DPS potential of combat is probably higher, you can reach 500k+ in warzones if everything goes right, and also get your 9 medals each game.

[Ganiccus]

I'm combat and I have yet to see a watchman who is more effective in Warzones.

 

Combat scales very well with gear, if you manage all your CDs and ability correctly you can be extremely effective in both, solo play and group play.

 

The DPS potential of combat is probably higher, you can reach 500k+ in warzones if everything goes right, and also get your 9 medals each game.

 

I can honestly say I've never seen anyone get over 350k damage in a warzone, 500k+ sounds somewhat far-fetched.

 

What you WILL notice if you watch my future videos, me and Grodo notice I often have 30k+ healing. It's not a huge amount, but with your self-healing from Zen and the 1% party heal it provides (per burn crit), you can do a decent amount of healing.

 

I've had a number of fights I wouldn't have lasted to keep control of a door/node/what have you if I hadn't had the small self-healing from Watchman.

 

I'm usually #1 damage in most warzones I play, not even other classes top me very often, much less other Sentinels. Until I see a Combat Sentinel pull 500k damage I'm not inclined to believe it.

[Ganiccus]

Very nice as always. So what's your take on the whole combat vs watchman debate?

 

I'll give Combat another go and tweak my spec a little to what I think may make it work better, but at the current state, I think Watchman puts out equal to more DPS with the added benefit of being more mobile (lots of DoT damage, so if you're out of ranged you're still doing damage, or if someone stealths, I've killed them with dots ticking before), as well as having pretty nice self-healing as well as team healing.

 

-edit- "Mobile" is the wrong word, as Combat gets more CC breaks...but, I will say many times I've just hit Zen while dots were ticking and someone is running and watched them drop, pretty funny stuff. I'll say your damage from Watchman isn't always so dependent on you being in melee range. However, the minimum range on Force Leap reduction talent and CD reduction on it are AMAZING, I don't know I could live without it. That makes for another interrupt on healers, which you need.

 

The burst from Watchman seems more consistent as well since Ataru is a "chance" to proc every 1.5s, or every swing in other words (not including ripostes during a GCD obviously).

 

Not to mention, your Zen makes your burns Crit, which is pretty sweet when you've stacked Cauterize + Overload saber.

 

For now, I just don't think Combat does any more damage...and honestly I prefer the kick/Pacify CD reduction and the 100% damage reduction to Force Camo, compared to the root component to Master Strike (which gets interrupted most the time anyways), and the snare break on Force Camo. The root on Crippling Strike (I think thats the name? The healing debuff saber throw) is nice, but I can live without it. ESPECIALLY when Cauterize is talented to have a snare on it passively, and you should use it whenever its up.

 

I'll do further testing, but right now, I do great in PvP and don't have to respec for PvE to maximize damage output. I'm staying Watchman until I find Combat is proven to be better.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Ganiccus

[JimmyMacMac]

great vid. It's good to see others aren't having any trouble with this class, despite all the threads I've read. Keep it up.

[OldxLady]

Always great vids from this guy ^^

[JimmyMacMac]

Always great vids from this guy ^^

 

I subbed I look forward to seeing more vids

[OldxLady]

I'm combat and I have yet to see a watchman who is more effective in Warzones.

 

Combat scales very well with gear, if you manage all your CDs and ability correctly you can be extremely effective in both, solo play and group play.

 

The DPS potential of combat is probably higher, you can reach 500k+ in warzones if everything goes right, and also get your 9 medals each game.

 

I agree with this guy. The 500k damage on other hand, has never been done by anyone.

 

I myself most of the time end up on top of the damage, unless the other team is a pure pre-made and faceroll our side.

And I am only lvl 39 now combat speced and been playing lots of warzones up to this level. Even games where there are lvl 50 IP/BH/IS on the other side, it most of the time end up beeing me or one of the level 50 players.

And note I most of the time dont have a dedicated healer (or healer at all) and I dont even have "Blade Rush" which will improve my damage drasticly because of 50% Ataru proc.

 

So yeah, I will defenetly like to see what happens when I am 40, as with new PvP gear and top ability, the fun should be on my side.

Edited December 30, 2011 by OldxLady

[Unravell]

i really think they need to tweak centering abilities for combat, theyre somewhat lacking tbh. I personally enjoy playstyle of combat and will stick with that. I am always one of the top damage dealers, however if there is a watchman sent in the same warzone he usually out-dpses me significantly.

 

Im hoping with some CC balance (endless roots, snares, knockbacks... besides chains of stuns) and centering tweaks combat will regain more contact time with the target and therefore catch up in damage with watchman. I have faith in it and am just not into dots. we'll see

[Inraika]

Does being lvl 50 in a warzone really make that much of a difference? I knew they had an advantage but I'm maxed out for my lvl right now (32) and I dont hit near the numbers you do, thats crazy. Is there something I'm doing wrong? I wouldnt say I'm a bad player at all, since my overall DPS is not bad, its just I'm not pumping out those kinds of numbers.

[Ptriv]

I saw your vid and I thought you were onto something. I was combat and sub par in dmg. I went watchman this morning and pulled 300k in a wz for the first time. I specd a little differently than you but all in all watchman is the friggin bomb. I actually notice that I have too much focus and not enough abilities to spend it on.

[Ibuki]

If you are combat for PvP, you are doing it wrong.

 

If you play warzones and you don't have a healer in your back you're screwed even if you're not playing the combat tree. If not supported, Sentinel is useless since our survivability is way too low. We can borrow seconds with our cooldowns but without a healer we're cannon fodder with every spec. Sentinel is heavily dependent on proper group play in warzones.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Ibuki

[OldxLady]

Hmm I am gona have to test a 1v1, where Combat vs Watchman to see this for myself.

It just so wierd, cause I have met cupple of lvl 50 Marauders speced theire "Watchman" tree, and I have won 1v1 just bearly, and I was 12-15 levels lowers. That is ofcs it could have been he was not to good of a player and I did had to use all my ultilities to achive that.

[Toppins]

If you play warzones and you don't have a healer in your back you're screwed even if you're not playing the combat tree. If not supported, Sentinel is useless since our survivability is way too low. We can borrow seconds with our cooldowns but without a healer we're cannon fodder with every spec. Sentinel is heavily dependent on proper group play in warzones.

 

I believe you described every class besides the Inquisitor/Consular.

[McDaniels]

Your comment about taking the bottom of watchman was correct even though you didn't think it was. That 1 focus refund is HUGE... It makes a massive difference.

 

This is my build: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#5010cZGGrbddrorsZh.1

 

Combat can do just about as much as damage as watchman, its easier to play, and it has more cc.

[MBirkhofer]

Does being lvl 50 in a warzone really make that much of a difference? I knew they had an advantage but I'm maxed out for my lvl right now (32) and I dont hit near the numbers you do, thats crazy. Is there something I'm doing wrong? I wouldnt say I'm a bad player at all, since my overall DPS is not bad, its just I'm not pumping out those kinds of numbers.

 

yes. yes it does.

 

First, abilities. Guarded by the force. Awe. Pacify. these are pretty huge.

Second. talents, and talented abilities.

Force crush, blade rush, merc slash. all are defining for the class. Imagine playing pvp on a war in WOW without mortal strike.

The +30% crit damage talents. combat needs focused slash. Focus gets way way stronger with 1 focus sweeps on a 9s cd, as well as def forms +centering on damage.

Third. gear.

Gear scales level 40-50. FAST. like crazy fast. Go look at the pvp venders, and lightsaber weapon damage/force power. At 32, your light sabre is like 120-200 right? the level 56 battlemaster one is like 400-600. Im level 42, and upgraded from my rating 92 to the next rating 96 one is like +43 damage or something. (not exact numbers, but you get the idea) And thats just base weapon damage. not including surge/crit/expertise.

A 50 in pvp gear will have like 50-60% crit rate on force powers, 90% crit damage, and +10% damage/-10% damage taken from expertise.