Ahov's Guide to Senticar

[Ahov]

Introduction

This guide will be fashioned after my Inquisitor guide, trying to cover every possible aspect of our topic and express it succinctly. This guide may not be suitable for a fresh 50. I will not have much of an "FAQ" or "Pro Tips" section; instead, I will spread out most relevant advice when describing my macros and abilities.

Senticar is my favorite spec to play, because it offers the tools capable of drastically cutting back on healers, and in turn increasing raid dps. Proper usage of Senticar offers the most dominant raid heals, infinite mana and sufficient tank heals. At certain gear levels, you can even solo heal HK fights.

The Spec(s)

There are many variations of Senticar available. The best Senticar specs will include Light Makes Right in Justicar (two convictions per crit), Serendipity, Protect the Flock and the Sentinel battle rez. Other than that, there is a degree of customization available. You can pick up Lasting Invocation if you want, or Enraptured Breath, or mana cost reduction (though this is unnecessary). I like to spend an extra point in Justicar no matter what to pick up Interdict (AoE interrupt). It's just one of many tools at your disposal. Based from the above requirements and some personal preference, there are two Senticar specs I feel are the best in raid environments and one for fresh 50s.


The first is 32 Sentinel/22 Justicar/12 Inquisitor - This build offers the best performance in a raid setting. Your Healing Invocations and Healing Communions will outperform the other Senticar specs, and your DoLs will be very strong. Your DPS will also outperform the Warden variant, and you gain a ranged mana regen.

The second is 32 Sentinel/31 Justicar/3 Inquisitor - In comparison to the previous build it offers an extra B-rez and Reprieve (major cooldown for the tank), but loses out in overall healing output.

The third spec is 34 Sentinel/22 Justicar/10 Warden - This build offers the best overall DoLs but loses out on tank healing. You do gain Tidal Surge as a major cooldown, but in a raid setting this build begins to lose its luster against the Inquisitor variant. The average increased DoL slims down as your crit chance increases in a raid. At lower gear levels and/or outside of a raid setting you will probably want to use this build.

Buffs and skills to have on your bar

**Buffs - Mien of Honor, Reparation
**Skills to have on your bars - Even Justice, Healing Invocation, Healer's Haste, Life's Return, Tidal Surge, Healer's Covenant, Break Free, Righteous Mandate, Interdict, Quietus, Empowering Light, Sovereignty, + all macros below if you choose to go that route.
**Items - Heroic Mana Tonic, Heroic Healing Philter

I will try and touch on all of these later in the guide.

Macros

**Conviction Generator (Inquisitor)

#show sanction heretic
suppressmacrofailures
cast bolt of judgment
cast strike of judgment
cast sanction heretic
cast life's vengeance
cast bolt of radiance
cast sovereignty
cast banish

**Conviction Generator (warden)

#show whatever
suppressmacrofailures
cast light bolt
cast strike of judgment
cast life's vengeance
cast bolt of radiance
cast sovereignty
cast banish

**Instant Healing Invocation

#show Healing Invocation
cast touch the light
cast healing invocation

**AoE heals

#show Doctrine of Loyalty
suppressmacrofailures
cast doctrine of loyalty
cast @self healing communion
cast divine call

**Mana Regen

#show Purpose
suppressmacrofailures
cast purpose
cast strike of judgment

**Spot heal

#show Healing Breath
suppressmacrofailures
cast @mouseoverui healing breath

**Cleanse

#show cleansing prayer
suppressmacrofailures
cast @mouseoverui cleansing prayer

Macro/skill usage and explanations

Macros


**Conviction Generator (Inquisitor) - This macro is built for efficient conviction generation and no wasted instant casts. While standing still you will be spamming Bolt of Judgment for near-maximum dps. When moving the macro will use strike of judgment if you are in melee range; there is no reason to waste your mobile ranged attacks if you can use a spammable. Sanction Heretic is next, though you may feel free to put it on top of the macro to increase your dps. In most situations this causes no harm, though for progression (and provided we are not hitting an enrage) I do like having that extra conviction generator handy. From there, it uses up your remaining instant-cast skills.

**Conviction Generator (warden) - This is similar to the Inquisitor build except you do not have Sanction Heretic nor Bolt of Judgment.

**Instant Healing Invocation - You may use this macro as it may imply: an instant cast healing invocation. Alternatively, tap it once to activate Touch the Light and then use a communion in an emergency situation where you absolutely need aoe heals at that moment.

**AoE heals - This will be your main healing macro in Senticar; put it somewhere easily accessible. It prioritizes DoL first as it's your best AoE heal and has a huge range. The second line is a bit of personal preference on my part. For the edge cases where you completely run out of convictions and need to spam AoE heals, you can usually anticipate where damage will go out and position yourself ahead of time. "Cast @self Healing communion" just throws the heal out around you as opposed to around your target's radius. It is a safe bet if you smartly position yourself. I would still recommend keeping Healing Communion by itself somewhere on your bar, unmacroed. Finally, Divine Call will go off if DoL is unavailable and you are moving without Healer's Haste+Serendipity to use communion. Divine Call is a rather powerful skill in itself. I use this macro, but I also have Divine Call by itself for certain mechanics that only target a handful of players.

**Mana Regen - Purpose is one of the most important skills to utilize with Senticar. The option to spam your AoE heals is derived from Purpose. It's up to you to determine when there is sufficient down-time on an encounter to use this macro and restore up to 70% of your mana. Every single fight has opportunities to use this, even if it's not the full 70%.


**Spot heal - I mostly use this on the tank while moving; any time more than one person needs healing I just use DoL. This macro is "@mouseoverui" meaning you can hover over your recipient, without changing targets, and deliver the heal.

**Cleanse - Obvious one here. This macro is "@mouseoverui" meaning you can hover over your recipient, without changing targets, and deliver the cleanse.

Individual Skills

**Even Justice - Feel free to use while in melee range and there are multiple targets up. It's spammable, supplies extra passive healing, and offers higher dps. The only downside is the relatively high mana cost. If you are very low on mana be cautious about using this skill.

**Healing Invocation - As a Senticar you are expected to be able to perform all healing duties, tank-healing included. When you are not AoE healing or generating convictions, you should be healing the tank with this.

Healer's Haste - There are two main uses for this talent: to grant very fast Healing Invocations for tank heals, or instant cast Healing Communions. The most common is likely the former, but the more useful is the latter. If you ever run out of convictions and absolutely need to move, Healer's Haste grants you enhanced mobility and can easily save your raid during crises. The best example of using Healer's Haste would be on Grugonim if you have run out of convictions while chasing idols.

**Life's Return - Battle rez, fairly standard.

**Tidal Surge - When you absolutely, positively have to keep the raid up, combine this with a DoL. If the tank is dropping very low and it's too late to pop Healer's Covenant, combine this with a Healing Invocation. Anticipation of damage may allow you to use this skill ahead of time, granting more opportunities to use the skill.

**Healer's Covenant - Cooldown generally reserved for the tank, best used in anticipation of heavy damage as opposed to waiting until damage occurs. A common scenario is your tank-healer dying, and you need to cover both tank and raid heals. You may pop Healer's Covenant on the tank, b-rez the tank-healer, and continue healing the raid without worrying about the tank too much.

**Break Free - Apparently this still works with some raid mechanics. Use as you see available.

**Righteous Mandate - Generally reserved for the tank. Make sure to apply it before a pull.

**Interdict - AoE interrupt. I'm sure you can figure the rest out

**Quietus - Silence, can be used in a trash pull or within an encounter with adds, usually.

**Empowering Light - AoE cleanse. This skill is incredibly important on any fight with multiple debuffs going out. (Think of Dollin, Sicaron)

**Sovereignty - If you specced 31 Justicar for the extra b-rez, you also picked up a stun in Sovereignty. Similar to your silence, it may be used on certain adds in raids.

Items

**Heroic Mana Tonic - When learning a fight you may have difficulty discerning when it's safe to regenerate mana through Purpose. It's always a good idea to have lots of Heroic Mana Tonics available in emergencies.

**Heroic Healing Philter - Don't let being a healer stop you from using these. In an emergency situation such as other healer deaths, these can save the attempt.

**Heroic Philter of Restoration - These stack with Heroic Healing Philters and should be used before a Heroic Healing Philter since Heroic Healing Philters set these on cooldown. The total healing is rather small, but I've definitely seen deaths with very small overkill.

Priorities

As a Senticar, you are capable of so much. It's tough to list absolute priorities, because healing relies on more variables than DPS. In general I would argue Senticar is a raid-healing spec first, tank-healing spec secondary, with all sorts of utility in-between. Your AoE heals are all smart-target, so keep in mind your DoL will still heal the tank. If there is raid damage going out along with heavy tank damage, you just need to prioritize based on your exact situation. Are you literally the only healer at the time? If so, pop cooldowns to keep the tank up in as few GCDs as possible, while spending the rest healing the raid/generating convictions. Are there other raid healers such as an inquisicar? Spend more time healing the tank. A guide can only teach so much.

[intrinsc]

Great guide, Ahov. One thing I do with this spec when I heal dungeons or solo heal 10mans is that I have a cast @focus Healing Invocation macro so I can throw an HI at the tank if he needs it while keeping targets targeted for conviction building. Overall, this is my favorite 10man and 5man healing spec. It also does really well in solo healing some 20man fights.

[SwiftFlame]

Wouldn't 14 points in Inq be better for mana regen(ranged), BoJ spam and better DoL's on crit? 20just/32sent/14Inq? Not to mention to you get soul drain.

But ty for the guides, been looking forward to em.

[usman]

Wouldn't 14 points in Inq be better for mana regen(ranged), BoJ spam and better DoL's on crit? 20just/32sent/14Inq? Not to mention to you get soul drain.

But ty for the guides, been looking forward to em.

No, Light Makes Right is too good to drop below 21 in justicar. but my own preference build wise is 32/22/12inq for purge/AR/preseverance/SH/BoJ/AoD or AoT.

Surprised you didn't include this build Ahov, its a very viable spec and one that should be mentioned in my opinion.

[Ahov]

No, Light Makes Right is too good to drop below 21 in justicar. but my own preference build wise is 32/22/12inq for purge/AR/preseverance/SH/BoJ/AoD or AoT.

Surprised you didn't include this build Ahov, its a very viable spec and one that should be mentioned in my opinion.

Any given senticar spec is "viable"

I posted the two variants I thought most relevant. One is intended for best DoLs and Tidal Surge cooldown; one is intended for double B-rez.

[Eryon]

Nice Guide Ahov!

I was using MadBomber's Smite Cleric variant initially but had to revise it to be usable with Estrode. The recommended 34 Sentinel/22 Justicar/10 Warden build in the guide looks like it would work as an alternative to the half thought out mod I am running now.

Thanks for your time and effort on this!

[Ladara]

I've personally been using the variation with 2 brezzes for some time now and really enjoy the utility and ability to switch between ST/tank heals and raid healing easily. Thanks for posting this Ahov I think a lot of clerics are going to benefit from the information you've been sharing.

[Zeypher]

Thanks
Gonna use those specs, I've been using 22 warden variant.

[mxdiz]

Great guide Ahov! Senticar is my favorite heal build by far. What do you think of using purifier's Spirit Rupture for convictions? I use a 33s/31j/2puri (for the 2 brez) and find it works pretty awesome. Most often I get 3 convictions if not 4 each cast. At least for the dual brez build its pretty nice.

[intrinsc]

You should ask for Guide Writer status so you can keep them up to date in the future.

[Rallock]

Can we assume this is just a list of spells you would use in your macro as opposed to the actual rotation?

**Conviction Generator (Inquisitor)

#show sanction heretic
suppressmacrofailures
cast bolt of judgment
cast strike of judgment
cast sanction heretic
cast life's vengeance
cast bolt of radiance
cast sovereignty
cast banish

Isn't the general rule to put cooldown abilities first and then the rest? Mainly curious why BoJ would be first in your list and strike of judgment as second. I don't want to turn this into a big macro debate thread but was just curious as to your lineup.

I believe my macro is more along this line (first 3 can be any order really I just usually put longer cooldown abilities first) :

#show sanction heretic
suppressmacrofailures
cast sovereignty
cast bolt of radiance
cast sanction heretic
cast life's vengeance
cast strike of judgment
cast bolt of judgment
cast banish

[Raynedrops]

No, Light Makes Right is too good to drop below 21 in justicar. but my own preference build wise is 32/22/12inq for purge/AR/preseverance/SH/BoJ/AoD or AoT.

Surprised you didn't include this build Ahov, its a very viable spec and one that should be mentioned in my opinion.

100% agree. Using that same spec and it absolutely kicks ***.

Two battle rezzes? That's so 2011.

[Byona]

Can we assume this is just a list of spells you would use in your macro as opposed to the actual rotation?



Isn't the general rule to put cooldown abilities first and then the rest? Mainly curious why BoJ would be first in your list and strike of judgment as second. I don't want to turn this into a big macro debate thread but was just curious as to your lineup.

I believe my macro is more along this line (first 3 can be any order really I just usually put longer cooldown abilities first) :

Because BoJ hits harder which gives better DPS and better passive heals from reparation. Also he wants to keep his instants available for when he must move.

PS, i use the same as your spec Usman

[Raynedrops]

Can we assume this is just a list of spells you would use in your macro as opposed to the actual rotation?



Isn't the general rule to put cooldown abilities first and then the rest? Mainly curious why BoJ would be first in your list and strike of judgment as second. I don't want to turn this into a big macro debate thread but was just curious as to your lineup.

I believe my macro is more along this line (first 3 can be any order really I just usually put longer cooldown abilities first) :

Having BoJ first is so that you will always use it when stationary, thus saving your instacasts for movement phases (it's also your best spell dps-wise). I'm not a great fan of defaulting to BoJ myself, but I definitely understand why someone would want to.

The macro you posted seems a bit odd. Might I suggest the following instead:

#show Sanction Heretic
suppress...
cast Sanction Heretic (used first for fast convictions and to apply the dot)
cast Bolt of Radiance
cast Life's Vengeance
cast Sovereignty (the reason why I put Sov last is that this rotation will make it so you have a new instant cast (BoR) available almost right after you cast this one)
cast Bolt of Judgement
cast Strike of Judgement (don't put SoJ above BoJ or you will default to it when close to mobs - SoJ is only meant as a last resort, when being on the move and happening to be in melee range)
cast Banish
cast Vex

(I use this rotation mainly because my playstyle is a bit ADD; I like to run and jump even if I don't have to.^^)

[cwharland]

I use the double brez variant for utility although I take the points out of inquisitor and have a zero point inq so it's estrode friendly. Admittedly this is not a more effective senticar but it's great for trash (brez to keep things moving) and for estrode it's easy to swap out the zero point for w/e soul memebers need for the achievement.

In response to the people asking about macro order. He doesn't put the insta casts at the top because you only want to use those on movement. So if you are standing still you shouldn't be spamming your insta casts you should be spamming BoJ or Light Bolt. The others fire on movement. So as you run in you get four convictions right away with instants then immediately get to spam.