7.8 Watchman / Annihilation SWTOR Guide

Step 1: Build 30 stacks of Centering.  Activate your out of combat health regen and build 30 stacks of centering.

Merciless Slash is the main reason we do not have a fixed rotation.  This ability will float for our first several "rotations" then become much more fixed and predictable.  Each time we use Merciless Slash, the cool down of its next activation is reduced by 1.5" (1 GCD).  Merciless Slash is one of our highest priority abilities and should be used as it comes off of Cool Down.

With the Spiteful Saber tactical Cauterize becomes our fire and forget DoT.  I find Cauterize much harder to forget about vs other Fire and Forget DoTs due to its very short burn time.  Cauterize burns for 9".  This only gives us 6 GCDs to refresh it.  Luckily, we have several abilities that will refresh it, and the first up is our Spam fill, "Slash".  As long as we remember to use slash at least once out of every 6 GCDs Cauterize will not fall off.  The main issue I found with keeping it on and not having to reapply it was boss downtime.  Take the First boss of EV for example.  If we get knocked away, we cannot always just come back and resume where we left off in our rotation.  We may need to slash first to refresh Cauterize, ect.  This is an important DoT to track, as letting it fall of is a DPS loss.

This ability is off the GCD and will give us 3 Charges that last for 15 seconds.  Each time we use a melee ability, we consume a charge and add a stack of "Burning" to our target, dealing DoT damage for 6".  The effect is refreshed each time we consume a stack (use a melee ability) to add an additional stack of burning onto our Target (up to 3).  As such, the ability should be used immediately as it resets.

I look at force melt as our Main DoT and what I largely base my "rotation" on.  Force Melt builds focus and applies a burn to your target.  Dealing high damage for 9 seconds.  This is where we want Zen.  Right before we hit Force Melt, we want to hit Zen to get the maximum punishment out of our DoTs.  My goal is as follows: Always Hit Zen right before Force Melt, build enough centering to have Zen back up before Force Melt comes off of cool down (12 seconds).  This makes the "Rotation" more of a race.  Can you build enough centering to get Zen back in time for Force Melt?  It can be a struggle at times, but I do delay Force Melt if Zen is not Ready.

The Sentinel is a bit unique as it has 2 "Raid Buffs"  Inspiration to the left is the traditional raid buff giving 10% damage for 10".  It requires 30 stacks of centering, making it a choice between Zen or Inspiration off the break. 

This unique raid buff is on a 30-second cool down and requires selection from the skill tree.  Transcendence gives the raid an 80% speed increase, 10% damage reduction and cleanses movement impairing effects.  I use this on cool down even if I am not moving for most fights.  Save for movement in movement heavy fights. 

Last for 12", this ability gives us a 50% chance to dodge Melee/Ranged damage and a 25% Damage reduction to Force/Tech attacks.  It is on a 3-minute cooldown.  It's a strong defensive, but its long cooldown means you will most likely only get to use it once in a fight.  I save it for emergencies, mostly. 

This is our self-cleanse, threat drop and a 50% DR all wrapped up into one ability.  Note that dealing damage ends the effects of Force Camo Early. 

This is a staple of the Sentinel.  Rebuke reduces the damage you take by 20%, so it fits in as a defensive cool down.  However, it also reflects damage back to the attacker.  A common strategy for sentinels is to "stand in stupid" as long as the healers can handle it.  Say we stand in a spit puddle of Writhing Horror, for instance.  Pop rebuke and reflect that damage back to the boss.  As we take damage, we extend the duration of rebuke up to 30".  With our selections from the skill tree, rebuke becomes a very short fused cool down.  Matching its use (assuming we can continuously take a light amount of damage consistently in a fight) with our choice for a permanent 30% AoE DR and the concentration sentinel quickly becomes able to soak an impressive amount of damage while reflecting a notable amount back at the boss.  It's a good practice to get into using rebuke not just on cooldown, but when you know you can take light - moderate amounts of damage without stressing the fight. 

A short cool down (35") defensive or movement ability.  Blade Blitz can take some practice to know where you are going to end up.  You can use this to completely ignore (100% defense chance) high hitting damage types (doom on Dread Guards).  It has a lot of utility once you master it. 

This is our other choice (if not taking blade blitz).  A 99% Damage Reduction for 6" has the potential to soak an impressive amount of damage.  Keep in mind that a 99% DR still lets 1% through, so a mechanic like Doom listed above that hits for 136 million damage will kill you through, guarded by the Force.