So with recent nerfs to the Sentinel (or mara) a friend, if you want to even call him that, in my guild and I got into an argument about the Sentinel sub specs in pvp. Without giving my side or hise side and giving this a bias.. Please will any of you give your opinion about which Sentinel Subspec is the best against a Tank. Now keep in mind the best is different from simply good against a tank.

Thanks ^_^

So with recent nerfs to the Sentinel (or mara) a friend, if you want to even call him that, in my guild and I got into an argument about the Sentinel sub specs in pvp. Without giving my side or hise side and giving this a bias.. Please will any of you give your opinion about which Sentinel Subspec is the best against a Tank. Now keep in mind the best is different from simply good against a tank.

 

Thanks ^_^

If you are talking about a 1v1 scenario, I would try dragging out the fight by stacking all of my own self-healing tools. A good Watchman using Zealous Ward and Inspired Focus can heal quite a bit while keeping hot sentinel dps pressure on a tank.

Otherwise it might be better to use a more bursty spec if the plan was to deal with tanks and their healer buddies in the middle of chaotic warzones.

But the best answer always is to reroll to a tank.

This fight is all about fundamentals, but if I had to give my opinion

Watchman is the best vs 1v1 tank

despite it's 'nerfed' sustain, it's sustain nonetheless, and tanks dont have any respectable sustain.

internal/elemental damage rips tanks to shreds

All things considered, I agree with Bon's assessment. The stacking bleeds which do internal/elemental damage would keep a steady stream of damage going on the tank even while you may be stunned, mezzed, or knocked back, while the small heals attached to Annihilation]s/Watchman's Berserk aren't much, they are better than nothing and the other two specs wouldn't afford you any baseline heals at all. Additionally, Annhilate can hit rather hard and the damage of that attack is like that you would get from a burstier spec. You also have those autocrit bleeds which add up unaffected by their shield, as it doesn't protect them from critical hits in PVP.

A skank tank might changes things a little as they would be doing more damage than a "true tank" and thus make the advantage in terms of DPS the Sentinel would normally have over a tank somewhat less while not diminishing the 'tanks' survivabilty much. They won't be using a shield however so that aspect is different than when facing a true tank, essentially a moot point.

Assassin and Jugg tanks have a good deal of CC so be prepared for that if you go Watchman, certainly more than you, this would be of a lesser concern if you were using concentration due to it's anti-cc passives. Watchman's dots would also help some if the tank were an Assassin as damage can break them out of a stealth ability. Additionally the use of blade blitz could also be used in such a fashion with a little bit of luck.

A watchman vs a tank is a battle of attrition and while your damage will certainly be better than the tank's, the tank will have greater survivability which mitigates the better damage you'll have somewhat. - Anni/Watchman has long been considered the spec most apt of the three in 1v1s. All in all the fight is in your favor against a true tank.