Sentinel

[Dawkins]

why is the sentinel so weak?

Sentinel is pretty much a known noob trap, you tend to get ridiculed for even using one

if you had some kind of statistic system running you would see the kill/death ratio for sentinel users to be much worse off than others, and you would also notice that it is hardly used

Sentinel is meant to be more of a warrior/fighter class as I understand it, the outrider is the quickest and best for skiing, so it baffles me that outrider seems far superior to sentinel in combat

There is a very poor balance going on here, and the system which this game seems to run on is more like a democracy; where the players have the majority vote on changes, and the players all obviously play raider and outrider class

nobody really cares about the overall balance of the game, they would just rather their own preferences be the most powerful, kind of like on starcraft 2 where the zerg subforums are all like "buff zerg!", terran subforums are all "buff terran!" etc

hence why the latest changes made the already underplayed, underpowered class even weaker with a huge mortar nerf and added features that benefit mostly outrider/raider (regen, warp core), because the sentinel is pretty much useless without it's overdrive, you can't get off the ground.

I'm sure the counter arguments here will be terrible or maybe the thread will just be locked, wouldn't surprise me, a couple of days ago some admin kicked out all the sentinels in a game because he wanted only good players

tl;dr: buff sentinel (or just make mortar worth using again)

 

[SeymourGore]

I think that the biggest reason why the Sentinel feels so weak is because its use ingame is still fairly niche. It'll probably feel a lot more powerful (and useful) once deployables are introduced that really require a proper HO to properly launch an offensive against the enemy or a HD combined with an engineer and its deployables to protect the base.

As for the mortar nerf, I personally like the damage radius change, makes mortar feels more like a precise, surgical weapon. I wouldn't mind it receiving a boost in range, though.

I'm looking forward to see how the new content changes the dynamics of the game, it probably won't make everyone happy, but hopefully some middleground can be reached.

 

[ContingencyPl4n]

Sents are hard to try and balance, in a game that favors movement, the sentinels are an odd ball. There are plans to help it along, but getting on par with the other two is a chore(sp?). When assets are brought in, we shall see what happens.

 

[stefygraff]

Sents kick ass, stop picking on fat! Its just rude! As it is now, this class has enough mobility to protect the flag.

 

[AFireInAsa]

The mortar is pretty terrible. Needs a buff. +Range and a slight radius buff would probably be the best.

I think the sent is fine in all other regards.

 

[Ucantry2run]

It's hard to play the sentinel in a public game when there are tons of people running around. Once you get into more organized games, sentinels are much more valuable. You need a sentinel to protect your flag on defense with people protecting you. They aren't weak in that regard. Come into our ts3 sometime, people play pickup games now and then.

 

[Dawkins]

Come into our ts3 sometime, people play pickup games now and then.

I would if I didn't get banned for no reason

but anyway, as someone who uses mortar more than most people probably, one of the most annoying things about it that I think made it useless, was the explosion delay that was added. Seymour you say "feels more like a precise, surgical weapon" but you can't even MA people with it any more, it bounces off their face and no matter how precise/accurate you are, the bomb with just sit there being useless and you have to hope the enemy lands on it when it decides to explode

honestly if mortar MA and explosion delay wasn't changed, I wouldn't have been so mad, the range is fine so I don't know why you're bringing that up

also the reason I mentioned outrider vs sentinel, I am always fighting people that I know I should be able to beat, they miss all their shots etc but I lose anyway because sentinel is so damn fat that you have to expend your life just to keep in the air, a slight change in some variable wouldn't hurt

 

[Mahidhar]

My opinion. Mortar range is part of the problem. That range is what motivates people to sit on a far hill and spam the stand or any other populated enemy area. A Heavy who is very used to Mortar and it's timing can easily one-hit-kill Cappers going out. Depending on the map, he is either helping his chasers or rendering their role completely useless. By rendering them useless, I mean that they are not making much effort to catch the Capper as they are supposed to.

My solution: Make it short range(about 80-100m max), charge and shoot, slower projectile with instant explosion on contact, but travels in a straight line(disperses after the range limit). Refer to Mass Effect 2's Heavy Weapon M-920 Cain to get a better idea on charge and shoot.

 

[SeymourGore]

Personally the range is too short for my liking. In the past due to its wide radius and power, it was a common sight to see people just sit on hills and spam it, now not so much. However, due to the speed of cappers and what have you, there's very little time to be able to hit them with a long shot now (iOD+ mortar fire being your best chance to get the range). I like to think that the mortar's specialty is the long range and doesn't need to be modified for a shorter range as the Sent has weapon options already in that category. Don't forget, the Heavy still has its unique Cluster2 to help it deal with low to midrange targets (and projectile control).

I would if I didn't get banned for no reason

Let us not stand on ceremony, Mr. MightySheep. If you'd like to discuss the reasons for your bans, feel free to message me. As for changes for Sentinel, we'll discuss that in this thread!

 

[Crisis12096]

annoying things about it that I think made it useless, was the explosion delay that was added. and you have to hope the enemy lands on it when it decides to explode
also the reason I mentioned outrider vs sentinel, I am always fighting people that I know I should be able to beat, they miss all their shots etc but I lose anyway because sentinel is so damn fat that you have to expend your life just to keep in the air,

The explosion delay fixed it. A lot of people used it prior to the nerf because it was easy, once it became more skillful they said *dance* it or complained about it. I won't go anymore into this because everything has pretty much been stated...sent isn't a dueling class etc etc

But, I do have one question. You're against someone you think you should beat, presumably because they miss all their shots. You don't get hit, but you still die. You mentioned the need to expend life to stay in the air, so from that I think you're just spamming OD upwards......While sentinels are not for dueling, if your enemy is missing 90% of their shots, you should still win. Then why don't you? Is it because you can't aim? Is it because you relied heavily on the mortar and then once it got fixed you didn't know what to do? So, what happened after it got fixed, I wonder. Oh wait...

This thread was made.

 

[Fixious]

I've recently started using Sent and agree with a few above that the range. A moderate buff would be pretty nice. Not sure about radius though; would need to play it a bit more. I got a nice long-rage double-kill with it yesterday.

 

[WildFire]

Range is fine, iOD and then fire mortar, goes miles. Very hard to judge though.

 

[Synista]

Who wants to waste health tho?

 

[Fixious]

By using iOD? It's not that big of a health loss. Then again I usually just do one burst then fire the mortar instead of multiple iOD's/chasing. Guess it depends on if you're using it defensively or offensively.

 

[SeymourGore]

Range is fine, iOD and then fire mortar, goes miles. Very hard to judge though.

While I do like how iOD increases the range of the mortar (that trait shouldn't go anywhere), the base range doesn't seem very far at all. And if a heavy wanted to use a Shield core instead of the iOD, well, then he's really feeling that pinch.

 

[GundamExia00]

Haven't really played heavy yet, I can imagine aiming with it being pretty easy considering you have to lead a little less since you aren't move as much as a Raider or an Outrider.

why is the sentinel so weak?
nobody really cares about the overall balance of the game, they would just rather their own preferences be the most powerful, kind of like on starcraft 2 where the zerg subforums are all like "buff zerg!", terran subforums are all "buff terran!" etc
)

That is very true, the players of this game are scared of change.

Sentinel is meant to be more of a warrior/fighter class as I understand it, the outrider is the quickest and best for skiing, so it baffles me that outrider seems far superior to sentinel in combat

Wrong, the Sentinel is meant to be played as a meatshield for defense, only a few HoFs ever were able to duel while paying attention to the enemy cappers.

if you had some kind of statistic system running you would see the kill/death ratio for sentinel users to be much worse off than others, and you would also notice that it is hardly used

Wrong again, this is like saying a Doombringer on Ascend should be able to keep up with the K/D ratio of a Raider.

hence why the latest changes made the already underplayed, underpowered class even weaker with a huge mortar nerf and added features that benefit mostly outrider/raider (regen, warp core), because the sentinel is pretty much useless without it's overdrive, you can't get off the ground.

lol regen.

I'm sure the counter arguments here will be terrible or maybe the thread will just be locked, wouldn't surprise me, a couple of days ago some admin kicked out all the sentinels in a game because he wanted only good players

Basic response, and you're probably jumping to conclusions about the admin kicking people out, the last thing we want is for newer players to be discouraged from playing the game.

Also, something is very wrong if you're losing to an Outrider as a Sentinel especially since you think you're better than them. This isn't Tribes, the skill ceiling is much higher in this game.

 

[Sin]

Heavy doesn't need a nerf? With lots of people running around it's even easier....I play it. A lot. The mortar range is fine, unless you don't know how to use it. iOD + Tossing a mortar with the correct trajectory I can throw one base to base on Frosty. Ask cappers, if I'm on HoF and using mortar, I hit a lot of my shots. Adding range would just turn you into a mobile turret. It's a precise gun, not a nuke. Just get better at it, don't turn it into a cheese weapon please. I've started alternating between cluster II and mortar lately, the cluster II is OP as all hell. 1 shot a heavy? lolwut. Anyway, The cluster is your gun for CLOSE RANGE engagements, if you plan to start tossing at carriers, use the mortar. It's got a much better range and it's easier to time, since the cluster II little bomblets bounce and have a tendency to kill the chaser and not the capper. Hard to time right, they bounce so weird. No offense to anyone posting here, but I don't think you really know the heavy as well as I do, or are as good at the mortar aspect.

tl;dr Mortar is fine, heavy is op, get better at heavy

 

[ContingencyPl4n]

Sin: having the correct timing with mortar = having correct timing with cluster . I use the Cluster 2 exclusively as it is much better to kill cappers at short range, and you dont have to guess where they are going. (example: I have time to OD out, and make sure I know where they are going, then drop a cluster and let it spread, yes it does a *chocolate cookies* TON of damage, but you need to hit with as LOT of the things.)

all in all the sent is a niche thing to use. It was originally added into legions to immediately fix the issue with capping in that it was WAY to easy. So the sentinel was brought in with only HoFing in mind. (At least this is what Munge said in one of the conversations I had with him.) It can do other things, but any other player in the other armors worth his salt, can take you out, and it should be that way. Sents are not for OMNOMNOM dueling, they are for HoFing and have the ability to kill with the correct person behind the gun.

 

[Sin]

I said that the cluster was the gun of choice for close range. And no, the timing IS different. If you deny that, you're being rather ignorant. The cluster bounces if you detonate too late, and if you do it earlier than too late, you want to spread your cluster out and have 5-15% damage on the capper. The mortar has different timing...not quite the same as a cluster II. As soon as you fire it off, you don't have to time the explosion, it's a 1.5 second auto timer as soon as it's in the air. The mortar is safer for damage and accuracy for shooting out at cappers as soon as they've left, the cluster is your stand spam weapon.

 

[Application-1]

Sentinel weak, lol.