Smash Monkey: That funky monkey.

[WarpedAcorn]

This weekend I started fiddling around with my Sentinel (I haven't really played her since beginning of the year). Now, I leveled as Combat and made the switch to Watchman after I hit 50 and loved it. I pretty much leveled all the way to Battlemaster (in the days of Ilum) as a Watchman spec. When I started PvPing again recently, I kept hearing that Focus was the way to go. Since respecs are free for subbers, I decided to give it a try.

O
M
F
G
!

Yeah, Focus is pretty crazy from a number standpoint. An epic battle at the Southern Node in Denova resulted in a 510k damage outting. I'm not sure if I've ever hit those numbers in a PUG setting. Sure, 250k-350k is pretty standard, over 500k is impressive. So I'm sold...Focus spec hoooo!

Now the question I have is, do I pursue Focus Sweeping my way to victory on my Sentinel or my Guardian? My Guardian is not yet 50, and when he does get there he will have to work for gear. That aside, I see benefits to both the Guardian and Sentinel. Typically, observing end of match stats, the Guardian/Juggernaut specs seem to dish out the most damage. But the Sentinels have some good utility like Zen to get 4 stacks of the damage boost, ranged Execute, "Mortal Strike", Stealth, ect...

What do you guys think for HULK SMASH, Guardian or Sentinel?

[Deleted]

Actually, both Guardian and Sentinel are almost on par when spec'ed on Focus. They would put 31 points on Focus tree and the other 10 points left won't actually give a real benefit on Force Sweep, either as Sentinel or Guardian

So, I would say it's what you prefer. Guardian or Sentinel playstyle. IMHO Focus is the only viable PvP spec for Guardians where as Sentinels can also do great on Watchman too.

[Deleted]

Smash/swoop = guardian. The pvp armoring wich gives your set bonus increases dmg by 10% after force leap for a few secs+you have a few talents to improve the dmg as well if i recall it right
IMO, if u dont want to be complete cannon fodder if u decide to lvl your guardian, buy legacy gear with your sentinel on coruscant, put armorings/mods etc from heavy/ guardian gear and just mail it over.

Imo i cant stand either combat or focus (to spammy) and opting for watchman. Theres moments when u run into a healer who removes burn effects but im fine with that, the joy of blowing up any non healing focus target the moment you hit zen is just to good

[WarpedAcorn]

I played my Guardian a bit more and leveled him up enough to get some of crucial Sweep talents. I immediately noticed a difference from Vigilence as far as damage output.

Thus far I will say that I massively prefer the Combat Focus ability to the Centering Building -> Zen Talent for gettting the 4 stacks of Singularity. It also, when provided with Force Leap, gives you a full Focus bar to unleash at the start of the fight. This is something the Sentinel can not do outside of every 3minutes if using Valorous Call.

I will admit I'm not comparing Apples to Apples though, as my Guardian is 33 in crappy gear (I don't really enjoy wasting credits on epics that I will only use for a day or 2), while my Sentinel is 50 in Battlemaster/War Hero/Elite War Hero gear. So it will be interesting to see how I feel at 50, but for now I think I do prefer the Guardian. The class also has the ability to tank, which can provide more versatility in PvP and in PvE.

[Arlee]

I would say always sentinel... though some would say I am probably biased

[Psychlon]

Smash/swoop = guardian. The pvp armoring wich gives your set bonus increases dmg by 10% after force leap for a few secs+you have a few talents to improve the dmg as well if i recall it right
IMO, if u dont want to be complete cannon fodder if u decide to lvl your guardian, buy legacy gear with your sentinel on coruscant, put armorings/mods etc from heavy/ guardian gear and just mail it over.

Imo i cant stand either combat or focus (to spammy) and opting for watchman. Theres moments when u run into a healer who removes burn effects but im fine with that, the joy of blowing up any non healing focus target the moment you hit zen is just to good

What keeps you from getting these pvp armorings for your sentinel? In fact... not using these armorings is not playing to the classes potential.

As vs. healers... I play a marauder so far and I've felt a important difference by using saber throw which decreases the healing my target gets, especially if you have to burn through heals because you play against 3 healers while having none in your team.

However I have to say pvp wise I prefer my juggernaut. I can keep many more people occupied and with taunt I effectively decrease the opponents team dmg output which I can use frequently and situationally. Further more I have so many possibilities to interrupt/ stun opponents... force choke, force kick, backhand, ae stun etc. . I felt it was much more easier with my juggernaut to "control" a larger group while focus burning a specific target.

I played my Guardian a bit more and leveled him up enough to get some of crucial Sweep talents. I immediately noticed a difference from Vigilence as far as damage output.

Thus far I will say that I massively prefer the Combat Focus ability to the Centering Building -> Zen Talent for gettting the 4 stacks of Singularity. It also, when provided with Force Leap, gives you a full Focus bar to unleash at the start of the fight. This is something the Sentinel can not do outside of every 3minutes if using Valorous Call.

I will admit I'm not comparing Apples to Apples though, as my Guardian is 33 in crappy gear (I don't really enjoy wasting credits on epics that I will only use for a day or 2), while my Sentinel is 50 in Battlemaster/War Hero/Elite War Hero gear. So it will be interesting to see how I feel at 50, but for now I think I do prefer the Guardian. The class also has the ability to tank, which can provide more versatility in PvP and in PvE.

Just crafting full modded outfits with blue mods will result 13-14k + in case you are further using augments which is enough to create some serious headache for the opponents team.

[WarpedAcorn]

Just crafting full modded outfits with blue mods will result 13-14k + in case you are further using augments which is enough to create some serious headache for the opponents team.

The thing is...blue Mods go for ~9k, blue Armorings go for ~7k, and blue Enhancements go for ~12k on my server right now. So I use my Comms to just buy components and then sell them. Cashing in my Comms from Tattoine and Alderaan (plus mod rewards and blue drops) yesterday netted me 160k. Then I turned around and spent under 10k to buy up-to-date green gear, plus about 20k for blue earpiece and implants.

That being said, I did see a Juggernaut (42) in a warzone yesterday who had 17k HP without using the HP boosting buff.

[Psychlon]

Well ok.. I'm crafting everything myself, I'm completely unfamiliar with GTN prices as I'm not using it at all apart from selling. Seems to me like mods is something for twinks where as you have a lvl 50 with enough funds.

Well if you craft high endurance mods you probably will get there even without augmenting everything but 17k is around the highest I've seen as well.

[WarpedAcorn]

My Guardian is now up to 45 (desperately wanting to hit 46 for the crucial Dispatch ability), and I think now I can honestly say the biggest difference between Sentinel and Guardian Smash Monkeys is survivability vs. utility respectively.

The Guardian has a lot more tools in their toolbox to solve problems in PvP. Force Push is something I now feel it would be difficult to play without, not only as a CC tool but also as a positioning and movement ability. Taunting carries its own benefits for mitigating enemy damage to allies. Combat Focus is a superior ability to the Centering-Zen mechanic for building Singularity, and due to its low CD allows for it to be used at the start of nearly every encounter.

On the flip side, the Sentinel has superior defensive abilities. Force Camoflauge is an amazing defensive and offensive ability that can avoid damage or close the gap when knocked back or rooted. Guarded by the Force is AN AMAZING defensive ability that lets you avoid death more than any other ability. It is arguably the best defensive CD in the game. Transcendence is probably the most useful utility ability the Sentinel has, but in a Smash Spec its usually a better idea to pop Zen for the Singularity stacks.

Overall, right now, I'm liking the Guardian more for its versatility.

[Psychlon]

I prefer a Juggernaut over a Marauder exactly becauseof the above.

[derpkitteh]

i am in love with this spec. not only does it help me kill things reall fast, even with my lame gear. but! it also has the added bonus of causing butthurt in loads of people that like to cry about skill! this makes it perfect for me, because i'm 30% human, 70% troll ;D

[WarpedAcorn]

As I continue to smash my way to victory and/or stroke my epeen with big numbers, I've noticed some interesting things I never really picked up on before. Specifically, when you play a spec that relies on heavy AOE damage, you start to pay a lot more attention to clumps of people. One of the trends I've noticed is that better players tend to spread out while worse players tend to hang around someone like they are using a "buddy" system.

Healers have been interesting as well. Typically I stick to healers like gum to a desk. I've seen several strategies employed. Some healers run right to their DPS and just sit there until I am killed, which also means that the run me right into more targets for my Force Sweeps. Better healers, I've noticed, run away from the objective and kite me away from the battle. That forces me to choose to follow or to abandon pursuit and pick another target/interrupt node caps.

I guess my point is that the more I play this spec the more I realize that a good chunk of its "OPness" is due to bad players making bad decisions. That being said I would definitely rank this spec up there alongside Pryotech and Tanksassin.

[Psychlon]

As I continue to smash my way to victory and/or stroke my epeen with big numbers, I've noticed some interesting things I never really picked up on before. Specifically, when you play a spec that relies on heavy AOE damage, you start to pay a lot more attention to clumps of people. One of the trends I've noticed is that better players tend to spread out while worse players tend to hang around someone like they are using a "buddy" system.

Healers have been interesting as well. Typically I stick to healers like gum to a desk. I've seen several strategies employed. Some healers run right to their DPS and just sit there until I am killed, which also means that the run me right into more targets for my Force Sweeps. Better healers, I've noticed, run away from the objective and kite me away from the battle. That forces me to choose to follow or to abandon pursuit and pick another target/interrupt node caps.

I guess my point is that the more I play this spec the more I realize that a good chunk of its "OPness" is due to bad players making bad decisions. That being said I would definitely rank this spec up there alongside Pryotech and Tanksassin.

Which is one of the reason why I still stand by my argument.... good specs are only made op by the stupidity of the opponents player. The closest to have an virtual erection is whenever the entire opponents team is standing in novare coast inside the house and I'm killing the entire team with fusion missile, death from above and sweeping blasters. It's like a big fat honey pot...

Smasher are really great but any organized team which isn't standing next to each other can somewhat counter the strength of this spec.

With my operative I'll stun you, stun you again, run away from objectives and go invisible only to wait to put you to sleep. In case you aren't annoyed after that... you're welcome to try again.