AbdulAlhazred
Legend
Oh, I don't think the Sentinel one is in any way less capable in combat. As you say, very slightly more actually. Neither of them is worth actually occupying a power slot to be able to attack with though. The Sentinel design encourages actually using the companion since they don't have any vastly more effective encounter melee attack, but neither class relies on its companion for much of its combat power. They are both really utility features more than combat ones.