Darth Hater

Go ahead, I'll answer anything that I can.

What are the main stats that you should focus on?

Just wondering how the various Trees "feel" to play, particularly in PvP?

Looking at the talent trees, the Lethality looks like a poison dot tree - dot them up and run away/kite them till they die. Concealment is the "classic rogue" ambush/stabby tree and the medic, hots and instant(with talents) heals but a  little on the squishy side.  Does this actually reflect their gameplay styles?  You can only gather/inferr/ assume so much from talent trees, your hands-on input would be much appreciated.

Hey Banja

Was wondering about endgame PvE flashpoints, operations etc i am concerned that the operative will be forced into the medic role as the only viable pve spec? Are concealment ops frowned upon? Or is it considered legit dps? 

Is Operative viable in PVP? I'm a bit afraid that his cover mechanic makes him a sitting duck?

About the dps trees, do you think they are viable (PVE/PVP) atm or we will be 'tossed' to the medic tree.

Tks in advance

Cover is the mechanic for te Sniper tree, Operatives use that stealth mechanic. So your worry is directed at the Sniper.

What does Alacrity do?

If it works like Haste in other games, it means it only reduces casting time and it doesn't effect GCD or energy regeneration. And if it doesn't effect energy regenration, we are still restrained to use same number of abilities overall, regardless how fast we cast. Additionally, abilities with 1.5 seconds casting time will be executed faster, but GCD will still prevent using other abilities for 1.5 seconds.

Alacrity and quick casting could be lifesaver, but it seems overall heal/damage output will not change, if it works exactly like Haste.

Which builds did you mostly play?  Are the non-heal versions competitive/sought in groups?

1.)IA and Smugglers focus on Cunning, endurance is very important for PVP (that buff you get doesn't make a big difference without the stats there)

2.) The different trees play VERY differently...I tend to play more as a combat medic (healer though I interject myself into the combat as opposed to just sitting back and healing 100%) I'll see if I can link my main build below. Every time I tried lethiality I got squished in PVP in a group setting...but I tend to rush into the middle with knives swinging and blasters firing...so it's probably my fault, I will say the DOTs (heck most of the tech moves) sound like they're weak as hell, but it's because of the damage multipliers you get from your main attributes.

3.) I'm not honestly sure about endgame-I didn't mess around with it much as I didn't have much time for that particular aspect before we'd get characters wiped (yay working retail) and they didn't have the endgame up for very long before this got lifted.

I will say that (IMO) it's likely that Operatives will seemingly go one of 2 ways: healing or PVP...I'm not convinced at this point that the melee Operatives will be competitive in PVE-but I've been wrong before.

4.) Operative is VERY viable in PVP-IMO it's far better than sniper, but it depends on the warzone and your playstyle I think. My favorite tactic (other than picking off stragglers) was to bait a Jedi/Sith into focusing on me and healing mysellf through it while my group burned them down...early in the beta I could heal through 3-4 people beating on me, I can do 1-2 now depending on the classes a bit more.

IMO Players that say 'operatives don't use cover' are either melee, idiots, or bad at the class. I use cover constantly in both PVE and PVP. In cover I can't be leaped upon by a force-wielder and that's enough to use in and of itself, but I tend to like to move between healing people and sniping stragglers...both can use cover extremely effectively if you use your brain.

5.) Alacrity IS essentially haste...but even now things are changing so much that I can't really answer your question without testing and some sort of parsing program. They (recently?) switched so that activated abilities trigger off of your button PRESS instead of your button RELEASE (or so Im told, I haven't noticed much of a difference) but even that small change could have significant impact over an extended period of time, (and I've had some flashpoint boss fights that went 5+ minutes-not that they're supposed ot mind you)

I will say that the cast time and the channeling is affected (duh!) and it's rather obvious (also in the tooltip) but I haven't noticed if it affects the GCD, though I don't think it does, I also have no proof one way or the other. HOWEVER, with the 'new' skill stimboost our DPS/Healing Output is largely up to us...keeping that skill active and using Adrenaline rush properly is a big deal...if you drop that talent for even a few seconds it can make or break an entire fight.

http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/imperial_agent/operative/#::f5ef13e3fefe3fe10f6ef8ef4:

Here's a ROUGH estimate of the build I've used...but the trees have changed significantly recently so I haven't used this EXACT build.

However: I am almost ALWAYS top heals for a Warzone (on both sides) (and no, overhealing isn't counted)and Usually have 10-15 kills as well. I absolutely LOVE this class in PVP and this is coming frm someone that had a hardcore addiction to WOW for many years and hated Arenas and got bored in BGs...I have to force myself to keep leveling and not re-queue for WZ because it's so much fun.

Do fights which necessitate mobility gimp the sniper dps?

Quote from Maximumbob »

Do fights which necessitate mobility gimp the sniper dps?

It depends on who needs to be mobile-even the devs have stated that snipers are meant to setup camp so if they have to keep moving it will somewhat...but getting into cover takes .5 seconds anyway.

If we're talking min/maxing during Ooperations a year or two from now then yes. If we're talking a good player at release? Not too much.

Banja, What crafting skills did you run as well?  Or what do you think aids a healing focused agent the most?  I did Slicing/Scavenging/Cybertech during the last beta weekend, and the gear from that was kinda meh.  Was curious as to you thoughts.

Did you play the healer spec as well? If so, what was it like, did you feel you had the tools neccessary to keep your group alive?

I've tried a bunch of them (though admittedly never slicing) and honestly? At THIS point I can't seem to find a single reason to take one over another other than the fact that I might need some things more often, such as stims or crystals etc. I honestly wish they would put bonuses in for the crafting...I understand it currently "shoe horns" certain roles into certain professions, but I feel that it adds another layer of complexity to the game. I enjoyed WOW's crafting, if not the economy side (Having no use for BS professions etc) and I think it should be a little more geared towards that side.

That being said I am planning on putting my healer (Likely a scoundrel) into having Biochem so that I have access to stims and such on a regular basis without having to buy them at a markup.

My main (Likely a sentinel) will be a bit harder to decide, simply because artifice (which I'm doing in the current build...on my operative...) doesn't particularly seem like it's going to matter whether or not I have it on my Jedi or if I have something else. If I don't have artifice I will likely have armorsmithing or something along those lines as I thoroughly enjoy getting ultra rare recipies and utilizing those types of things to drive my characters.

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I did play the healer spec, in fact that is the vast majority of what I played. Originally I didn't feel like Operative would be a good healer, but after the class revamp a few builds ago we got the tools we needed. It's a rough class/spec to play for sure, but simply because as Quiillixx pointed out in the Resource Management thread (HERE) if you don't properly manage your resources you're borked; and with the amount of AOE and adds in fights in this game it's up to the tanks/DPS to not make you drop below your desired 60 energy threshold.

That being said it's fun as hell and I think-in the right hands-that Operative/Scoundrel is the BEST healing class in the game...the amount of HOTs and free heals/energy regen can make you ultra powerful...you just have to manage it well.