I've been in SWTOR beta since the begining of spring. I have extensive knowledge on all advanced classes including a heavy focus on both Operative and Sniper ACs, with having leveled up 5 Operatives and 4 Snipers above level 40. My gaming background in MMOs includes UO, EQ, AC, DAOC, WoW, SWG, Aion, and Rift; above all others, DAOC being my favorite.
Operative will be my first 50 when SWTOR launches. Please feel free to ask any questions in regards to either IA Advanced Class, as well as tanking, healing, or DPS questions in general; both PvE and PvP.
Is the Operative like 95% or 100% melee? And if it is do you have to equip vibroblades as your main weapons rather than blasters?
DPS Operative is close to 100% melee. Ranged attacks came in 3 categories. 30m for long range, 15m for medium range, and 4m for melee (Snipers do get some attacks extended to 35m). Two builds back, all of our 15m range attacks were moved down to 10m, just outside melee range. This includes Flash Bang and Overload Shot. At 30m, we have Rifle Shot (our default attack) and Corrosive Dart (a DOT). We stop using cover around levels 12-15. So Snipe and Explosive Probe are rarely ever used.
Our DPS capacity exists in a 4m to 10m range. For PvP this has been problematic. We have a passive 15% speed boost through talents, but it takes 13-15 seconds to close from 30m to 10m on someone running away from us at default speed. Our ranged CC and snare were dropped from 30m and 15m respectively, down to 10m. There has been a lot of uproar over this, including from me, which I have been very vocal about.
For our weapons, Blaster Rifles determin Rifle Shot damage along with Overload Shot. Our vibroknife determines the damage modifier of all of our melee attacks like Shiv, Backstab, and Lacerate. Any ability that reads "Deals X weapon damage." is refering to using our Blaster Rifle as the damage modifier.
How much harder was it to find a full group at level 30+ as a Sniper (or non-healer Op) than a healer Op?
This follows the same overall premis that tanks are hardest to find, followed by healers, then by DPS. As a healer Op, you tend to get in groups a bit quicker than as a Sniper, but because of the group requirements.
How is the sniper class holding up in pvp? PvP is my main focus but I like to lean to the more harder not over used classes with some challenge will this be a good fit for that?
Last edited by travballard on 11/21/2011 10:30:30 AM
Power - Increases damage and healing bonus on all abilities
Expertise - Increase ability damage against players, reduces damage received from players
Class based stats.
Strength - Sith Warrior / Jedi Knight
Aim - Bounty Hunter / Trooper
Cunning - Imperial Agent / Smuggler
Willpower - Sith Inquisitor / Jedi Consular
Some classes were being spread thin in regards to how many stats they needed to stack due to role. There was a disparity in place when a few classes had to focus on 4 primary stats while others could focus on 2, and in turn be stronger overall. To even the playing field, each class was assigned a single primary stat that increases all aspects for their class. This effectively means each class can now focus on 2 primary stats. Their class stat, and endurance for hitpoints. Imperial Agents use cunning; which increases ranged damage and crit, tech damage and crit, and healing. While we can equip items with aim, it would only increase our ranged damage and crit. For item stat budgets, point for point, cunning is better than aim and presence. Aim and presence will only increase their individual bonus, while cunning for agents, increases all 3.
To your question, the stats we want are in the following order:
Endurance
Cunning
Crit Rating
Surge Rating
Power
Accuracy
Gear at 50 is customizable for the most part but comes in two main flavors for us, cunning and endurance evenly split, or cunning > endurance. Because we are a melee class, and because we must be in the thick of combat, we need the extra hitpoints. Snipers can focus on gear that has more cunning than endurance for two reasons; they are behind cover which adds damage avoidance/mitigation, and they are at range which limits the exposure to incoming damage from many sources. Operatives need to either balance hitpoints or stack extra hitpoints in order to survive. Snipers are glass canons, Operatives however need to be able to take a hit.
How is the sniper class holding up in pvp? PvP is my main focus but I like to lean to the more harder not over used classes with some challenge will this be a good fit for that?
Snipers in PvP are formidible in both open world and battlegrounds. Entering and exiting cover is not on the GCD, so you should not be afraid to reposition when needed. Rarely will you find phsycal cover where you need it, or at the correct angle to provide a benefit, so don't limit yourself to looking for those areas. Players that enter a battle ground with the mindset of using physical cover will normally fail. They will spend more time contemplating where to go instead of actually playing.
Compared to other classes, Snipers are late bloomers. We need talent points and several key abilities in order to round out our class; aoe knock back at 16, ranged interrupt at 18, first talent ability and entrench at 20, AOE blaster attack at 22, second talent ability at 30. I can go in a BG at level 10 and score highest damage with ease, all single target, all by moving away when the flow of the fight is going sideways. But I can score nearly double the damage than my level 10 self once some more abilities and talent points are added to the mix.
For spec (as of the past several builds), I'd highly recommend Engineering for early, mid, and late game, while Marksman should be held off until late game. Yes, there are some great talents in Marksman, but it is not well rounded until later tiers and abilities come into play. Engineering is also the best PvE leveling spec because of it's AOE damage output, and the fact you are almost always fighting multiple enemies at once.
Glad to hear about Engineering like that. From that talents it looks like it is also the most fun, perhaps more fluid rather than static in abilities used in combat. And of course, using little probes and grenades looks more fun than simple blaster bolts.
Similar question to the Sniper PvP one above, but for Operative. Want to get your take on your feel of Operative PvP, and your take on whether or not its worth taking Acid Blade or skipping that and going deeper in the Medic tree for Kolto Probe. Any general advice would be appreciated.
Also, is Strength of any use to an Operative, as it boosts melee damage, or should we focus primarially on Cunning for an offensive stat out of the two.
Similar question to the Sniper PvP one above, but for Operative. Want to get your take on your feel of Operative PvP, and your take on whether or not its worth taking Acid Blade or skipping that and going deeper in the Medic tree for Kolto Probe. Any general advice would be appreciated.
Also, is Strength of any use to an Operative, as it boosts melee damage, or should we focus primarially on Cunning for an offensive stat out of the two.
Thanks for doing this!
Kolto probe is pretty badass if your cunning is up there, but acid blade des good damage as well...it really depends on your playstyle (I say this a lot lately) and how mobile you are and how well you use your other abilities.
Similar question to the Sniper PvP one above, but for Operative. Want to get your take on your feel of Operative PvP, and your take on whether or not its worth taking Acid Blade or skipping that and going deeper in the Medic tree for Kolto Probe. Any general advice would be appreciated.
Also, is Strength of any use to an Operative, as it boosts melee damage, or should we focus primarily on Cunning for an offensive stat out of the two.
Thanks for doing this!
My personal preference is Kolto Probe. Acid Blade does not have good synergy in its current form. The only benefit to Acid Blade is its damage type bypasses armor and is useful on high defense targets such as tanks, which you don't need Acid Blade to kill in the first place. Kolto Probe also increases your capacity as a team player. Not only does it increase your own survivability in 1v1 fights, but also allows you to assist others in their fights. You will be using this on others in BGs and in open world PvP. All in all, the usefulness of Kolto Probe is much better than Acid Blade.
Strength actually does nothing for our damage. All of our vibroknife attacks are based on tech damage which is increased by cunning. Our knife attacks are not counted as a melee weapon and gain no benefit from strength. In our character pane which shows our stats, we don't even have a melee damage listing in our drop down. Here is a listing again of how stats work per class
Cunning increases IA ranged damage and crit, tech damage and crit, and healing
Aim increases BH ranged damage and crit, tech damage and crit, and healing
Strength increases SW melee damage and crit, and force damage and crit
Willpower increases SI melee damage and crit, force damage and crit, and healing
If a BH equipped a cunning item, they do get the tech damage and crit, but they will miss out on the ranged damage and crit, and healing. Cunning only increases everything for an IA
If an IA equipped an aim item, they do get the ranged damage and crit, but they will miss out on the tech damage and crit, and healing. Aim only increases everything for a BH
If a SW equipped a willpower item, they do get the force damage and crit, but they will miss out on the strength damage and crit. Willpower only increases everything for a SI
If a SI equipped a strength item, they do get the melee damage and crit, but they will miss out on the force damage and crit, and healing. Strength only increases everything for a SW
Point for points, your class's primary stat will always trump using a different primary stat. For us Imperial Agents, it's cunning.
By default, if an item has willpower on it, it's meant for a SI, not a SW. If an item has cunning on it, it's meant for an IA, not a BH. For armor you won't have much of a problem. SW wear medium or heavy depending on AC choice. Not only will you not find medium or heavy armor with willpower on it, but SI can't even equip it. BHs use heavy armor and IAs use medium armor. Again, IA's can't equip heavy armor, and BHs aren't going to equip medium armor with cunning in place of heavy armor with aim. The mix up will occur at the implant, weapon, and earpiece level. Because these are all generic for some classes, players may get confused and swipe these from the correct class they are meant for.
So abit of confirmation regarding operative dps as you stated its roughly a pure melee tree however what would your default attack be if its a melee tree (still rilfe shot?). What would a typical single target or multitarget rotation look like? I played a sniper up to level 18 on a weekend beta and enjoyed it but was disappointed at how difficult it was to find a healer so I feel like i'm going to be pushed into being an operative just so I can have more group utility. That said there were instances where having cover based combat helped tremendously on boss fights or outdoor heroic areas. I just can't see how your survivability would be outside of cover meleeing scary things.
So abit of confirmation regarding operative dps as you stated its roughly a pure melee tree however what would your default attack be if its a melee tree (still rilfe shot?). What would a typical single target or multitarget rotation look like? I played a sniper up to level 18 on a weekend beta and enjoyed it but was disappointed at how difficult it was to find a healer so I feel like i'm going to be pushed into being an operative just so I can have more group utility. That said there were instances where having cover based combat helped tremendously on boss fights or outdoor heroic areas. I just can't see how your survivability would be outside of cover meleeing scary things.
You will want to keep Corrosive Dart active for the damage bonus and for Tactical Opportunity. Use Backstab on cool down because it is free to cast due to talents, and Shiv for granting TA procs. Mix in Rifle shot when you need a filler or to maintain > 60 energy.
Kaliyo will cycle targets and deal AOE damage. Her AI is a tank and she tries to get threat on all active targets. Usually, by the time the first mob dies, there will be another at roughly 2/3 health. You receive a TA proc if you landed the killing blow on the first mob (sometimes Kaliyo will get the killing blow, in which case you don't receive the TA proc). When you switch to the weakest to kill it fast, and then finally finish off the third with Lacerate spam.
There are a few boss fights where having cover helps. The downside is, during the entire time you're casting, you are exposed and can get hit like normal. For most boss fights there are cover points, but your group may or may not be in range for healing, so you can't depend on the physical cover locations all of the time. There are some cases where I'll cover tank ranged bosses in a multi boss pull, such as on Mandalorian Raiders and White Nova flashpoints with the multi-boss pull.
For the most part, cover simply helps when you pull healing agro because a mob was too far off to the side and not getting hit by AOE. You can avoid a lot of damage by jumping into phsycal cover in these situations.
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Posted 11/20/2011 5:20:25 PMI've been in SWTOR beta since the begining of spring. I have extensive knowledge on all advanced classes including a heavy focus on both Operative and Sniper ACs, with having leveled up 5 Operatives and 4 Snipers above level 40. My gaming background in MMOs includes UO, EQ, AC, DAOC, WoW, SWG, Aion, and Rift; above all others, DAOC being my favorite.
Operative will be my first 50 when SWTOR launches. Please feel free to ask any questions in regards to either IA Advanced Class, as well as tanking, healing, or DPS questions in general; both PvE and PvP.
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Posted 11/20/2011 5:50:13 PMIs the Operative like 95% or 100% melee? And if it is do you have to equip vibroblades as your main weapons rather than blasters?
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Posted 11/20/2011 5:53:45 PMHow much harder was it to find a full group at level 30+ as a Sniper (or non-healer Op) than a healer Op?
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Posted 11/20/2011 6:56:59 PMDPS Operative is close to 100% melee. Ranged attacks came in 3 categories. 30m for long range, 15m for medium range, and 4m for melee (Snipers do get some attacks extended to 35m). Two builds back, all of our 15m range attacks were moved down to 10m, just outside melee range. This includes Flash Bang and Overload Shot. At 30m, we have Rifle Shot (our default attack) and Corrosive Dart (a DOT). We stop using cover around levels 12-15. So Snipe and Explosive Probe are rarely ever used.
Our DPS capacity exists in a 4m to 10m range. For PvP this has been problematic. We have a passive 15% speed boost through talents, but it takes 13-15 seconds to close from 30m to 10m on someone running away from us at default speed. Our ranged CC and snare were dropped from 30m and 15m respectively, down to 10m. There has been a lot of uproar over this, including from me, which I have been very vocal about.
For our weapons, Blaster Rifles determin Rifle Shot damage along with Overload Shot. Our vibroknife determines the damage modifier of all of our melee attacks like Shiv, Backstab, and Lacerate. Any ability that reads "Deals X weapon damage." is refering to using our Blaster Rifle as the damage modifier.
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Posted 11/20/2011 6:59:13 PMThis follows the same overall premis that tanks are hardest to find, followed by healers, then by DPS. As a healer Op, you tend to get in groups a bit quicker than as a Sniper, but because of the group requirements.
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Posted 11/21/2011 10:07:53 AMWhen making an IA Operative Concealment what type of stats should you be looking for when getting armor and new weapons?
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Posted 11/21/2011 10:29:50 AMHow is the sniper class holding up in pvp? PvP is my main focus but I like to lean to the more harder not over used classes with some challenge will this be a good fit for that?
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Posted 11/21/2011 12:39:20 PMHere is a run down of how primary stats work.
Here are the secondary stat bonuses.
Class based stats.
Some classes were being spread thin in regards to how many stats they needed to stack due to role. There was a disparity in place when a few classes had to focus on 4 primary stats while others could focus on 2, and in turn be stronger overall. To even the playing field, each class was assigned a single primary stat that increases all aspects for their class. This effectively means each class can now focus on 2 primary stats. Their class stat, and endurance for hitpoints. Imperial Agents use cunning; which increases ranged damage and crit, tech damage and crit, and healing. While we can equip items with aim, it would only increase our ranged damage and crit. For item stat budgets, point for point, cunning is better than aim and presence. Aim and presence will only increase their individual bonus, while cunning for agents, increases all 3.
To your question, the stats we want are in the following order:
Gear at 50 is customizable for the most part but comes in two main flavors for us, cunning and endurance evenly split, or cunning > endurance. Because we are a melee class, and because we must be in the thick of combat, we need the extra hitpoints. Snipers can focus on gear that has more cunning than endurance for two reasons; they are behind cover which adds damage avoidance/mitigation, and they are at range which limits the exposure to incoming damage from many sources. Operatives need to either balance hitpoints or stack extra hitpoints in order to survive. Snipers are glass canons, Operatives however need to be able to take a hit.
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Posted 11/21/2011 1:11:37 PMSnipers in PvP are formidible in both open world and battlegrounds. Entering and exiting cover is not on the GCD, so you should not be afraid to reposition when needed. Rarely will you find phsycal cover where you need it, or at the correct angle to provide a benefit, so don't limit yourself to looking for those areas. Players that enter a battle ground with the mindset of using physical cover will normally fail. They will spend more time contemplating where to go instead of actually playing.
Compared to other classes, Snipers are late bloomers. We need talent points and several key abilities in order to round out our class; aoe knock back at 16, ranged interrupt at 18, first talent ability and entrench at 20, AOE blaster attack at 22, second talent ability at 30. I can go in a BG at level 10 and score highest damage with ease, all single target, all by moving away when the flow of the fight is going sideways. But I can score nearly double the damage than my level 10 self once some more abilities and talent points are added to the mix.
For spec (as of the past several builds), I'd highly recommend Engineering for early, mid, and late game, while Marksman should be held off until late game. Yes, there are some great talents in Marksman, but it is not well rounded until later tiers and abilities come into play. Engineering is also the best PvE leveling spec because of it's AOE damage output, and the fact you are almost always fighting multiple enemies at once.
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Posted 11/21/2011 1:45:15 PMGlad to hear about Engineering like that. From that talents it looks like it is also the most fun, perhaps more fluid rather than static in abilities used in combat. And of course, using little probes and grenades looks more fun than simple blaster bolts.
Charming... yes? http://imgur.com/r6WrI
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Posted 11/21/2011 2:39:55 PMSimilar question to the Sniper PvP one above, but for Operative. Want to get your take on your feel of Operative PvP, and your take on whether or not its worth taking Acid Blade or skipping that and going deeper in the Medic tree for Kolto Probe. Any general advice would be appreciated.
Also, is Strength of any use to an Operative, as it boosts melee damage, or should we focus primarially on Cunning for an offensive stat out of the two.
Thanks for doing this!
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Posted 11/21/2011 3:08:28 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 11/21/2011 3:56:54 PMMy personal preference is Kolto Probe. Acid Blade does not have good synergy in its current form. The only benefit to Acid Blade is its damage type bypasses armor and is useful on high defense targets such as tanks, which you don't need Acid Blade to kill in the first place. Kolto Probe also increases your capacity as a team player. Not only does it increase your own survivability in 1v1 fights, but also allows you to assist others in their fights. You will be using this on others in BGs and in open world PvP. All in all, the usefulness of Kolto Probe is much better than Acid Blade.
Strength actually does nothing for our damage. All of our vibroknife attacks are based on tech damage which is increased by cunning. Our knife attacks are not counted as a melee weapon and gain no benefit from strength. In our character pane which shows our stats, we don't even have a melee damage listing in our drop down. Here is a listing again of how stats work per class
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Posted 11/21/2011 8:27:46 PMSo abit of confirmation regarding operative dps as you stated its roughly a pure melee tree however what would your default attack be if its a melee tree (still rilfe shot?). What would a typical single target or multitarget rotation look like? I played a sniper up to level 18 on a weekend beta and enjoyed it but was disappointed at how difficult it was to find a healer so I feel like i'm going to be pushed into being an operative just so I can have more group utility. That said there were instances where having cover based combat helped tremendously on boss fights or outdoor heroic areas. I just can't see how your survivability would be outside of cover meleeing scary things.
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Posted 11/21/2011 11:35:15 PMThe free attack is Rifle Shot, which is ranged.
Single Target Rotation.