A symbol of hope in dark times, the Jedi Knight stands… On the High Ground
Welcome to From the High Ground, where I will bring you news, commentary and speculation about the Jedi Knight class in both PvE and PvP game-play. I will start the series off with something I find very interesting about the class and is already a subject of much debate within the community.
As Laura H has pointed out in her two excellent articles on hybrids in SWTOR, (found here and here), each class has at least one hybrid role in it. The Jedi Knights are no exception. The Jedi Knight’s two Advanced Classes (ACs), Guardian and Sentinel, will be able to DPS. However, only the Guardian will be able to wear heavy armor and spec. into a tanking build. Here a post from developer blog by Georg Zoeller, Principal Lead Combat Designer :
Jedi Knight Advanced Classes
Jedi Sentinel (Roles: Close Range Damage Dealing. Wields dual Lightsabers)
Jedi Guardian (Roles: Close Range Damage Dealing, Tanking. Wields a single Lightsaber)
- Based on feedback from testing and requests from the general community, we reworked one of the skill trees on the Jedi Guardian Advanced Class to be focused on dealing damage while utilizing a single Lightsaber. Previously, the Guardian’s only available role was as a tank.
- The Sentinel Advanced Class remains targeted at players that prefer damage dealing gameplay over other roles. The variety between Sentinel skill trees has been increased, allowing players to specialize in several very different ways of dealing damage.
I sense a great disturbance in the force. Bioware has stated that they intend the Guardian DPS build to only be slightly behind the Sentinel DPS. Is the ability to wield two light sabers enough of a trade off for losing the ability to wear heavy armor? For some players it will be. However, I think those people will be in the minority, just head over to the official forums and look at all the Sentinel v Guardian DPS threads. Prospective Sentinel players are already upset and they haven’t even swung one lightsaber yet.
While it appears that sentinel’s will have a variety of ways of doing damage, for example single vs. multiple target, but unless their damage is noticeably higher, I foresee a great amount of unrest within the Jedi Order. If the Guardian can do comparable damage and have the ability to off-tank, then what does the Sentinel bring to the table, other than the flashiness of two light sabers?
Personally, I like it. I don’t want to have to use two lightsabers in order to DPS. If I want to roll an iconic Jedi with at single lightsaber, I shouldn’t be relegated to tanking. I am a big believer in, It’s your $15 a month, play how you want.
However, old MMO ways die hard. I plan on playing a DPS Guardian build, and I plan on everyone I party with, expecting me to tank, most likely calling me names for not being a tank. The class elitism that appears in MMOs really grinds on me. By class elitism I mean; when players have a difficult time playing how they want to play, because most of the player base expects their class to be played a certain way. Any dwarf priests in the house?
I can’t wait to play the game and see how the sentinel and guardian DPS compare, I plan on playing both. No matter what, Bioware will have players who qqing about how their class is underpowered and the other AC’s are overpowered. The real question at hand is, will the difference in gameplay and aesthetics between the advanced classes be enough differentiators for ACs that perform the same role or will the community demand the pure classes be significantly better than their rival ACs?
