By Geldarion
Briefing
Welcome to the war, comrades. You have been selected to receive the latest training and tactics fresh from the warfront. The tried-and-true strategies you are about to hear are extremely effective and CLASSIFIED. Let’s get to the briefing. Today, we will discuss what Sentinels and Marauders bring to the table in team-based PvP.
More after the Jump…
Every class has its uses in team-based PvP. Certainly, when reading the forums or even fansites, you will hear that “class X is the best at burst damage” or “class Y sucks since Patch blah blah when they nerfed them,” but I believe that every advanced class has a reason to pick them, and that every strategy can accommodate any advanced class.
The main thing to remember is a good player playing <insert class here> is better than a bad player playing <insert “flavor-of-the-month” class here>. This will mostly depend on the player’s understanding of his class and of other classes. These advanced class spotlights will have a two-fold purpose: to help you understand what your teammates can do, and to help you understand what your enemy can do.
So today, I want to give you a taste of what the Sentinel and Marauder can do for a group in PvP. This will be in three sections: Talent Trees, General Skills, and Group Roles.
Talent Trees
The three talent trees for a Sentinel/Marauder are Watchman/Annihilation, Combat/Carnage, and Focus/Rage. Why is it important for you to know that? It really isn’t, except for the purposes of knowing what I am talking about in this article.
What is important to know, is that in team play, these can roughly be categorized as:
Watchman/Annihilation: healer-interrupting spec
Combat/Carnage: speedy spec
Focus/Rage: AoE powerhouse spec
You can tell by the following stance icons which spec they are using:
Watchman/Annihilation – Juyo Form
Combat/Carnage – Ataru Form
Focus/Rage – Shii-Cho
General Skills
It is good for all of the classes to have a working knowledge of how the Sentinel/Marauder’s more unique skills work. It can help both when facing them, and when discussing strategies with them. Here are a few of the most important skills when it comes to team play.
Transcendence/Predation
Transcendence/Predation is a buff that can be used periodically as the Sentinel/Marauder reaches 30 stacks of Centering/Fury, which build as they use skills. This buff is special, as it is the only Centering/Fury-based buff that is Ops-wide, meaning all 8 teammates get the benefit of +10% ranged and melee defense and, more importantly, of a +50% run speed boost. If the Sentinel/Marauder is specced Combat/Carnage, this bonus is +80%. This is useful in all of the Warzones, with examples ranging from getting to the next room in Voidstar faster, to helping the ball carrier to clear two firetraps quickly in Huttball.
Crippling Throw/Deadly Throw
This skill is mid-ranged (10 meters) and is on a 12 second cooldown. It debuffs the target for -30% incoming healing. It is useful if the Sentinel/Marauder is the Focus Target, as it can help bring down healers, ball carriers, or high-profile players more quickly.
Force Kick/Disruption
This is one of the shortest-cooldown interrupts in the game. If the Sentinel/Marauder is specced Watchman/Annihilation, then it is on a 6 second cooldown, and it locks out a skill for 4 seconds. Otherwise, it is on a 8 second cooldown, which is still pretty short.
Force Leap/Force Charge and Zealous Leap/Obliterate
These are fantastic skills, each capable of slightly different things. Force Leap and Force Charge are 10-30 meter leaps (unless specced Watchman/Annihilation, where there is not a minimum range). They also interrupt any skill you are currently casting, as well as rooting you in place for a few seconds. Zealous Leap/Obliterate are only available if the Sentinel/Marauder is specced Focus/Rage, and it does not root nor does it interrupt. It can, however, be used on people in Cover, so it is excellent in Huttball for jumping up to the ledge so they can run into the endzone.
Group Roles
Using the article I wrote on group roles in PvP as a base, the Sentinel and Marauder’s trees are specifically good at the following roles.
Watchman/Annihilation: Healer-Interrupting DPS
Combat/Carnage: Support DPS (Transcendence/Predation buff)
Focus/Rage: Support DPS (AoE damage and Ball-carrier leaps)
All specs are good at being a Focus Target. The frequent use of Crippling Throw/Deadly Throw is the main draw to having this class being in charge of calling targets.
In general, expect the Watchman/Annihilation spec to be good at staying alive through bleed heals. They will probably be on the enemy healer at all times, and if they are using their interrupt correctly, that healer will not be able to get off their big heal, so the healer will need support.
Expect Combat/Carnage players to be close to objectives, mainly popping Transcendence/Predation to facilitate their allies’ movements across the map.
Expect Focus/Rage players to be in the melee, popping AoEs, and in Huttball, expect them to be the ball carrier.
I hope this gives you some ideas on how to use Sentinels and Marauders in team PvP. Let me know if I missed anything or if you have any thoughts in the comments section!
Use this information well, soldier. Fight for victory and die with honor. Till our next briefing, DISMISSED!
