Playing Sentinel[tribes.wikia.com] isn't easy, infact it's probably the hardest class to master. But once mastered is by far the most devastating and can easily make a game very one sided. The aim of this guide is to enlighten you on how the Sentinel can be played.

The class can be unlocked 100 gold or 7200xp, making it quite cheap compared to other classes.

Health: 800 (900 with upgrades)
Energy: 90 (100 with upgrades)

Your hit list as the sentinel can be prioritised as so:

• People with your flag.
  
• People currently on route to your flag. (Cappers)
  
• Light hostiles around your flag.
  
• Anything else.

Since you have a weapon with zero hit scan, you do not need to worry about aiming ahead of your target, even at the longest range it is instant, making you pretty OP.

You have a variety of rifles and secondary weapons at your disposal, as well as your belt items.

My build is as follows:

Primary: SAP20
Secondary: Falcon
Belt Item: Motion Mine
Pack: Energy Recharge
Perk 1: Safety Third OR Rage.
Perk 2: Survivalist

Raking in 30 kills a game is non uncommon for me, or any other experienced sniper. This guide should put you well on your way to becoming the best marksman you can.

You can find me ingame playing as 'bapsteks' or feel free to add me here on steam.

Primary Weapons

Rifles consist of the standard BXT1 Rifle[tribes.wikia.com] which is pretty good for a starting weapon although you MUST remain scoped to fire, it is useless no-scoping, the rifle does 500 damage and takes 3 seconds to fully charge up, damage is lower for lower charge times, the rifles then continues to the Phase Rifle[tribes.wikia.com] and SAP20[tribes.wikia.com], these use energy instead of waiting to charge up and can be used without looking through the scope, the Phase Rifle hits or 510 and uses 90 energy whereas the SAP20 hits for 575 and uses 100 energy, both of these rifles also cost 500 gold or 42000XP, not including the BXT1-A because it is a peice of ♥♥♥♥.

People will debate the BXT1 and the PR, saying one is better than the other, they're pretty much equal. It's based on personal preference more than anything, if you like to stay put then the PR will suit you better, if you prefer your ability to move then you may favor the BXT1, the SAP20 is even more powerful than those 2 but, you'll have to choose your shots more carefully and your movement is limited due to it using almost all your energy in one shot.

Secondary Weapons

The Nova Blaster[tribes.wikia.com], pretty much the joke gun of the game.. Impossible to hit anything due to it being a slow projecticle that bounces of two surfaces. It hits for 350 which kind of makes up for it, if you can ever hit anyone. The Falcon[tribes.wikia.com], pretty much the go to secondary weapon for Sentinels, it is an automatic smg that hits for 65-47 depending on range, it costs 500 gold or 42000XP but is highly worth it, it has a high rate of fire and can be easily used to kill heavies if weakened first and makes mincemeat out of light classes.Accurized shotgun[tribes.wikia.com] is the last one I will mention, due to the 4th being a copy of the oh so great Nova Blaster, this shotgun has a tighter spread than most shotguns meaning a direct hit with this is very harmful to any class. It fires 8 fletchets doing 70 damage per, and for only 9000XP/240 gold it is a good purchase but I would reccomend still taking the Falcon due to its range.

Belt Items

Claymore Mine[tribes.wikia.com], you all know what this is. It does 700 damage in whichever way it has been faced, useful for placing on the flagstand, around corners for unsuspecting victms, or for protecting enterences to your base. Next up is the T5 Grenade[tribes.wikia.com], a Grenade that deals up to 800 damage with a splash damage radius of 500-300, this grenade makes the Sentinel a bit harder to kill if hes being harrassed during the game, useful for throwing towards the flag when a capper is inbound or generally helping out your team with base defense, all for a measly 7000XP or 120 gold. The Focused Claymore Mine[tribes.wikia.com] is a variation of the Claymore that does 100 less damage but has a wider angle to be triggered, it costs 160 gold or 9000XP and is worth taking as a normal sniper shot will do 500 damage, meaning even if you only do 600 with your claymore you're still hitting 1100 alltogether resulting in a kill. The newly added Motion Mine[tribes.wikia.com] is a personal favourite of mine, doing 700 damage to anybody travelling over 120kmph with a 360 degree triggering area, place them around the flag but not directly on it for best use, costs 240 gold or 21000XP.

Packs

The Drop Jammer[tribes.wikia.com], the default pack for the Sentinel is a jammer that cloaks you and any allies in a nearby radius in a huge area, don't forget the fact it can go through walls to cover more area, you can cover a massive area of your base on Arx Novena and others, it removes the HUD indicator as well as revealing any Infiltrators that are nearby and uncloaks them, one downside is the fact that the Jammer will be easily visible by the enemy due to it appearing on the HUD really easy, to counter this place the Jammer out of the line of sight of the enemy. http://Energy Recharge Pack, this should only be used when using the Phase Rifle of SAP20 as it only affects your energy recharge rate, upgrades 3 times adding 4% to the speed, this costs 240 gold or 21000XP but is invaluble as a Sentinel.

Armor Upgrades

(7500 XP to master)

1. -25% Regeneration Delay
2. +10% Run Speed
3. +25% Health Regen Rate
4. +100 Health
5. +10 Energy

Perk Slot 1

Looter[tribes.wikia.com]: Being able to pick up ammo drops to replenish your ammo is pretty decent, these are often around your base and ripe for the picking.

Bounty Hunter:[tribes.wikia.com] Getting 200 extra credits per kill will help towards gaining 2000 for an inventory drop, once you have this you will be head and shoulders above your opponents, also takes out the chore of moving to refill ammo/health.

Rage[tribes.wikia.com]: A full refill of your health and energy is always a bonus, although this is only useful is you plan on staying close to your flag the whole game.

Safety Third:[tribes.wikia.com] The ability to drop another belt item, the more mines you can sustain the harder its going to be for someone to take your flag, simple as.

Perk Slot 2

Nothing good going on for the Sentinel here, I choose to take Survivalist[tribes.wikia.com] as it is sometimes a lifesaver. Being able to gain health, energy, ammo and a belt item is a big bonus for me. You could however take Ultra Capacitor 2[tribes.wikia.com] for the added maneuverability and damage with the PR and SAP20.

Call VSDF, let them know you're defending. Now, when defending make sure you always have your mines laid down, if using them. Try to place them not directly on the flag, but maybe 4-5 metres away from it, so that Jugg that's been mortaring your flagstand for the past 15 minutes doesn't hit them, plus they're less likely to be shot by the capper himself. Try to use them in pairs, one on either side of the flagstand making it diffucult to avoid both of them.

Keep them coming towards you, theres usually a main route on most maps that pretty much everyone takes, face towards this as best you can. If not then face away from it and let them fly overhead. If you do spot someone far out, call it! Let them know there's a LIGHT hostile incoming, most people catch on and will focus on them, now when do you make that first shot? If possible wait them to arc and reach a low speed, then fire when they reach the top of it, and start to fall back down, if not wait till they're on their way towards the flag, they'll straighten up and that is when you should fire. The only time you should fire before this is if they are on low HP from boosting, and are hoping to regen by the time they hit the flag, however if you feel confident enough nothing is stopping you from taking shots whenever you wish, just remember you have to charge/wait for energy after every shot. If there is nobody to shoot, then you should be spotting. Check around your base and spot (Alt) the enemies for your teammates, this helps them immensely and you can get assists for helping out.

Check the scoreboard, see how many pathfinders the other team has. If it's only 1 or 2 then you can focus on helping your team a little more, if its over 4 then you should be keeping a keen eye out for incoming Pathfinders, sometimes an e-grab can change a game.. don't let it happen.

If you're using the Drop Jammer, use it to your teams advantage and place it near the flagstand and/or generator if possible, remember these cloak your allies and reveal cloaked enemies above and below you as well as around you! Don't stay scoped in for huge periods of time, remember every time you shoot you give your position away, so keep on the look out for people or just to check your base. I reccomend if possible using headphones, being able to hear footsteps and grenades landing is a huge help when you're alone on a hill, you can hear Infiltrators footsteps whilst cloaked too, not sure if that's been patched or not.. but it's great.

They're going to fast for you to hit? No problem, get as close to the flag as you can without being in a stupid spot, when they grab the flag they're going to be moving directly away from you which is pretty much the easiest kill you can ever get. Never give up trying to kill the flag carrier until they have actually capped the flag, chase them if you have to, get into a better position and keep firing. Most cappers make it back to base with very low hp, you can kill them with 1-2 shots.

The generator is none of your business, do not do anything besides leaving claymores if you have to hide there or regen. You'll only die if you try and defend it, remember you're a light class.. one direct spinfusor hit and you're toast.

Defend your ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ flag carrier, if the enemy flag carrier is hidden away then pick off the people chasing them, it makes their life so much easier and you'll rack up some extra kills in the process.

Not something that I would personally do, since you end up being hunted instantly due to you giving away your position easily and are usually faced against full health opponents. If you end up wanting to attack then you will need to find a good spot that you can retreat from easily if possible, you want to be attacking people in this order:

1. Cappers returning home (usually on low health)
2. HoF, gets him real mad and ends up running around to avoid you.
3. People on low health.

I would take the T5 Grenade over claymores when attacking too, since you'll need them to repel off any attackers, also try to keep moving to avoid being knifed when scoped in.

Priority list:

This is what you should be focusing on, highest being the most important.

• Cappers
  
• Infiltrators
  
• Non capping Pathfinders
  
• Raiders
  
• Soldiers
  
• Any of the heavy classes, judge which based on which has the lowest health or is the biggest threat.

If your flag has been taken or a capper is enroute then this list does not apply, your main priority is making sure that flag does not get back to your enemies base, or even leave yours. Generally stick to killing off the lights if there is no apparently flag danger, or if you can get early shots off than you can kill mediums with not much difficulty. Heavies however, or pretty damn hard to kill by yourself. So we press ALT and call there position, begin firing and 9 times out of 10 an ally will help you.

The key to being a good sentinel is playing tactically and to keep moving, you should always position yourself so the main/most popular cap route comes towards you, this makes a shot way easier to pull of as apose to trying to shoot someone going across your screen at 300kmph. Once you've bagged some kills, move to a different location as I find people get mad as ♥♥♥♥ as will go Liam Neeson on you, trying to kill you all game.

You can choose to play 2 ways, attacking or defending. Defending is all about that flag, that flag is your prized posession, protect it however possible. However attacking, you're all about disrupting the enemy defense, making the defenders life hell and taking their mind off the incoming cappers, and onto that annoying Sentinel hitting them from miles away.

My personal preferences on positioning on maps:

This is where I usually rotate around, do not take these as the 'best' places to stand, this is just where I do the best, and yes I know Sentinels should never be by the flagstand blah blah, but I am confident enough to keep myself alive near the flagstand and choose to hover around (not on) the stand most of the game since the PR and SAP20 basically double as rail guns.

Arx Novena: On top of the two towers by the flag (Open to attack very easy, switch often), by the turret behind the base or on the right of the base near the archway above the bridge.

Crossfire: Anywhere on top of the ship, strafe plenty to avoid attackers. Highest platform around base, grass to the northwest of the base (looking towards the enemy base).

Drydock: On top of the main building by the flagstand, either of the two towers, behind the base on the rocks and to the left of the base by the sensor.

Katabatic: Underneath the sensor, by the turret on the ridge (left of the base), by the big peices of ice behind the sensor (above the cave enterance.)

Permafrost: On top of the flagstand, by the turret on the left or behind the base.

Raindance: On top of the flagstand (again very open to attacks), behind the base by the spawn point or infront of the flagstand on the hill.

Stonehenge: Above the flag, by the sensor or on the highest hill on the right handside of the base (spawn point).

Sunstar: Top of the main tower, in the smaller tower or around it, on the hill to left of the base by the smallest tower.

Tartarus: By the sensor on top of the base, stood on the boxes near the flag or on the hill large hill closest to the base.

Temple Ruins: Above the flag on the ledge near the sensor, on the huge hill directly infront of your base or hover around the flag.

This is for anything that doesn't really need a section..

Mouse sensitivity should be lower than usual, you can get macros to lower it once scoped in but I have yet to find one that works well for me, I run on 18 sensitivity and it has served me fine.

Reticles can be changed and altered, look online for a custom loader to add your own reticle, since the default ones are horrible.

Lower your graphics settings to remove some of the non-needed bloom and other effects that make looking at the sky as bad as the sun.

I will update this with pictures, videos and more content if requested.