I’ d like to state at first that I’m stillf airly new but playing around wich the sentinel class and watching over countless sentinels build I feel like the different master class lack identity.
Generic skills like lunge, rebuke, warpath and hammer throw are so powerfull that almost every sentinel use at least 2 of these.
Also since you can use more then one master class it does really blur the lines betwen gameplays.
Basicaly you don’t have the Paladin, The void knight and the Forge guard but you do have the warpath, the hammer trower and the charagin wich can be a combination of any of the 3 master class.
The fact that you can spec into all 3 master class gives the illusion of diversity but what it really does, is it makes every build fairly close to each others.
I might change my opinion as I play more but so far I feel that class really do lack diversity.
Not entirely true, Vk has abyssal echoes, took 500+wave with that recently (one of the strongest sentinels abilities imo) , pally has holy aura, also took 390+ wave with it, very strong, FG has ring of shields that also enables interesting builds, but i need better gear to make it work.
What is true: Judgment, erasing strike and forge strike are too weak cause of mana cost if they fix it, youll get more skill diversity
P.s. hammer or shield throw wont really be any good without smite…so it also adds something
Maybe there is a little bit misunderstanding in what the op really meant. You are right, there are of course build diversities. Every specialisation has its own unique skills and passive. The difference to the other classes is the following: With all other classes you change the play style when choosing the mastery. As a necro you stand back and let the minions do the work. As a Lich you will likely go for close combat. Sorcerer is a range damage dealer while Spellblade makes you a melee character. As a Beastmaster you rely on your companions when Druid makes you a solo tanky bear.
Sentinel? You choose your play style first. You go with hammer throw, shield throw, warpath, rive or whatever build. Then you decide if you wanna build this class as a Paladin, Forge Guard or Void Knight. The mastery does give you different spice but the main decission is not what mastery class you choose.
I don’t know if this is intended and whether I like it or not. My main char is a Forge Guard Shield Throw guy. And everytime I die I ask myself if it would have been a better choice to choose Paladin or Void Knight. But I don’t wanna level another char with the same skillset just with another mastery.
On the other side it’s interesting to find the best mastery for your play style. I don’t know.
Imho the Forge Guard seems a bit weaker than the other masteries. Forged Strike needs a buff and Ring of Shields should be also be available for Forge Guards only. At least it should be higher in the FG passives tree. Those Paladins already have their aura. No need to give them another really good skill.
I just dont understand what OP wants, there will always be either melee, spell or throw stereotypes+pets, nothing else. And sentinel has all of those, and the class does matter a lot when you min maxing builds. Its the same in any arpg
Its very hard to build 3 ENTIRELY different melee classes. and now its quit eok, FG-tank, VK-damage, and paladin- support thing(but multiplayer is not in game yet) so its decent dps too
Also imo FG is the strongest cause of racial and upper half passives. IMo it can push the same 660 wave as broken builds do now, just need better gear. While paladin and vk are less likely to do so. I face tanked everything till wave 500 except poison
It could have been really easy to make them far more different. Warpath, lunge and hammer trow and rebuke could have been mastery related skill rather then generic.
Every acolyte have access to summons in theory but in reality only the necro mastery support the, high enough to be a viable option later on. Well its true period.
I feel like they didn’t locked warpath to forge guard and hammer trow to paladin due to the fear to be called a diablo 2 clone.
So now that I play a warpath void knight I feel that I’ll be pissed if paladin or FG come out as a bether warpath user. Because they are all the same class with a very tiny different flavor.
What I mean is that I don’t mind if my litch does not perform as well as a necro or a warlock. Because they feel like total different class and I anjoy my litch more then my necro.
But a warpath FG, paladin or VK do not feel like 3 different class IMO so I’d rather just play the best one in that case.
and if you do that, what will you put in general tree?
also that solves nothing really, cause the game design is 2 exclusive mastery spells, and all others are available for all masteries, i played forge guard with abyssal echoes when i pushed for example, cause i think FG is better with it now than other masteries, there will always be competition between masteries on same skill.
same goes for avalanche skill for example, its a shaman skill but can also be played as druid and is very strong like that, or mana strike when sorc is better than SB.
Also i strongly disagree that sentinel masteries are “the same class with a very tiny different flavor.” thats just blatantly wrong the differences are huge , cause some upper level passives are game changers+ exclusive skills are game changers too(in case of paladin)
Yes, each skill has its own best mastery for it. But its really hard to tell which one is better in case of rive or shield throw for example or vengeance.
You can also see that in other arpg’s like POe, you can build same skill on may classes and each build will have its own pro’s and con’s same here. For example Rive-best crit version is VK, tanky-FG, DoT-Pally . imo it makes game only better not worse
i would really love to see some of your builds mishra. i find i struggle with sentinel classes in general . whether it is damage or not enough life or not being tanky.
i figure it is something i am doing wrong , but am not sure what that is exactly.
any tips on what stats to focus on and things to avoid to make a powerful melee sentinel?
oof thats a tall order, maybe ill write 1-2 guides when i will have time, the cheapest melee build is rive ignite imo. All you need is eye of reen with good roll, sigils of hope 4x of them with ignite chance , paladin passives for ignite. then get set glancing blow, set elem prot and elemental damage over time on belt and jewelry, get as much attack speed as possible on items and skill tree and you are good to go, on rive tree take ignite chance, attack speed, pull and whatever you want(damage against ignite enemies is good)
for defenses use lunge, ring of shields(maybe) and vengence(you need take damage reduction buff on it and spam every 2 seconds, a bit clunky but strong)
