I have been watching both classes as I play my sage and both seem powerful, it's not often to see top 3 dps at end of game being Guardians, and yes sentinels, but mostly guardians.

 

So which is better for PvP and will the new lvl 51 abilities change much, I see Sentinels get a 2 light saber toss that will hurt all in there path, that sounds like a better ability than what Guardians get.

 

but regardless of lvl 55 possibilities, which is better now.

 

1) Which is best for PvP = ?

2) Which is best for PvE leveling = ?

3) Which is best for rated PvP = ?

Really depends on how you play.

If you are strictly interested in dps go with the sent:

1) Better group utility

2) More survivability than guardians (unless specced as a tank)

3) More flavors for your dps

If you like to change between tanking and dps or mix between them go with the guardian.

 

EDIT: More or less this holds for lvl55 patch.

Edited February 23, 2013 by znihilist

Sentinel you can actually be a fantastic dps and astounding tank at the same time, while believe it or not the Guardian has to choose one of the other.

 

You certainly are not a fool for wanting to dump your Sage.

Guardian good tank for pvp

Sentinel good dps for pvp

Guardians are for protecting your friendly healer, while Sentinels are for killing the enemy healer.

 

The Guardian can rake in protection medals just from using his taunts. If you get a healer that will actually heal you as well as just himself, then the Guardian can place guard on the healer and the two can hold any objective long enough for reinforcements to arrive. And if you spec deep enough into Vigilance to get Unremitting then you become the best ball handler possible in Huttball.

 

The Sentinel has excellent defensive cool downs and a healing debuff. So once you spot the enemy healer you can sneak in close with camo, snare, debuff and release the pain. Save your force leap for after the enemy healer knocks you back. You're going to kill that healer before your cool downs wear off and any protectors can stop you, especially if you've spec'd Focus for the currently overpowered Sweep.

Tanks will always have faster queues than DPSers will when you're doing flashpoints. But outside of flashpoints, it doesn't really matter which one you play for questing.