Thanks to the beta weekends, I found myself accidentally in love with the Imperial Agent class in general, and the Operative in specific. Originally I had planned to start out as a Sith Warrior, a class that I also tried out during beta, but found the story a bit less interesting.
Now, the problem is that while a Sith Warrior is pretty easy to play (you build rage points, you spend rage points, and at the level I was at you had like one obvious skill for single-target DPS, and one obvious skill for attacking groups), the IA seems much more complex. There's energy, energy regen, and Tactical Advantage to consider, and I had a hell of a time figuring out the best rotation. This wasn't much of a problem in PVE, but when I tried to duel a friend of mine (he had 3 levels on me, and was a Juggernaut) I only got him down about 50% before I lost.
I also found myself worried in groups that I wasn't pulling my weight, though I did manage to pull aggro from time to time, so I guess that says something. I'd normally do something like this:
1. Open with backstab
2. Shiv for Tactical Advantage, which gives a damage buff
3. Spam Overload Shot until Shiv is off CD
4. Shiv again, then activate the energy regen buff now that I have a TA to spare.
But of course, this led to energy starvation when fighting anything that can live beyond 2-3 shivs. So Then I tried:
1. Backstab
2. Shiv
3. Energy Regen
4. Overload Shot Spam till shiv/backstab are off CD
5. Shiv, or if Backstab is off CD and I have aggro, Stun Knife + Backstab.
6. Repeat steps 4-5.
This feels like I'm wasting the energy regen TA ability though, since I've barely spent any energy at that point. I justify it with the knowledge that I'm best off keeping my energy above 60...still, I feel like I'm overusing overload shot. What has been working for other operatives? How often do you use your "free" attack?
Fair enough. This was during the beta, and I only got as high as 16, so I'd appreciate some low-level advice to start with, then perhaps something more geared towards endgame.
That low you will have ot use some pretty basic stuff because of a number of reasons.
Firstly, you haven't spent many talents yet, so your abilities haven't been improved in various ways, nor have you gotten many ways of getting resources back other than time itself. Secondly you just don't have many abilities that are working in combat. And thirdly, unless you try to solo heroic quests and you aren't a healer, it won't matter much as long as you spend time doing something in combat.
I played a Gunslinger myself and I found that it was easier to dump all energy in a fight quickly as it generally meant the targets died sooner, then regen out of combat for a few seconds. When it didn't work like that I began treading more carefully and stored my energy (60+) and then once in a while dumped it all to see if I still had to store it. You will quickly notice if your energy isn't enough.
In groups the healer will generally want a few seconds after pulls, so there you can rest too. And only a dumbass charges ahead without the healer, so let them take the fall if the healer isn't around.
If you're constantly dumping energy on an IA you're going to be locked out of everything but your free attack pretty quickly, especially in Flashpoints. It's less of a concern in regular play, sure....but for flashpoints and PVP, even at low levels you should be thinking about what you're using and when. Has anyone done any real testing in this area?
If you're constantly dumping energy on an IA you're going to be locked out of everything but your free attack pretty quickly, especially in Flashpoints. It's less of a concern in regular play, sure....but for flashpoints and PVP, even at low levels you should be thinking about what you're using and when. Has anyone done any real testing in this area?
Only two runs of Esseles with my Gunslinger and a couple of Heroics. It really didn't change much though. With bosses it was merely a matter of using the basic attack to keep energy relatively high. But you really shouldn't worry at that level. You are not likely to be left out just because you are an Agent, and it is currently hard to guage how well people really do because we don't have any logs to tell us how things line up in damage.
Sub-20 your rotation isn't going to be very complicated, keep Backstab and Shiv off cooldown, keep Stim Boost up, fill with auto-attack or Overload Shot depending on energy (don't drop below 60 unless you are going to use Adrenaline Probe to get back over 60, or the fight will end by the time you are out of energy). One thing you should do is if a fight is going to be 15 seconds or longer is to keep Corrosive Dart up. I have not done the math in terms of a tighter rotation/priority list because at low level it doesn't matter as much and the priority list will be changing as new abilities are added.
Once you get to 20 you will finally have a single target use for TA (Laceration). Once I got to 20, I switched to healing to try it out, so I don't have first hand experience using Laceration. Just eyeballing it I would say you would want to open with and prioritize Shiv over Backstab because now Shiv leads to Laceration. Once you get to 26, things get even more complicated with Tactical Opportunity (talent), and I would really need to look at it more.
This is what I've been using as an initial opening and then keeping energy 60%+ by weaving in rifle shots. Your going to lose abit of Acid blades dot uptime on the initial opening but the Armour pen will remain up.
Keeping Shiv, Backstab on CD
Maintain stim boost on yourself, Acid blade and corrosive dart on the target.
Everytime adren probe is about to come off CD start bursting again and pop probe.
This is what I've been using as an initial opening and then keeping energy 60%+ by weaving in rifle shots. Your going to lose abit of Acid blades dot uptime on the initial opening but the Armour pen will remain up.
Keeping Shiv, Backstab on CD
Maintain stim boost on yourself, Acid blade and corrosive dart on the target.
Everytime adren probe is about to come off CD start bursting again and pop probe.
Acid blade requires a TA. How can you start with it?
Hi, this is just shy of comfirmed, but the AcidBlade ablity form the talent tree is useing a wrong discrition on the live game, if u want a basic idear of wat it should say look at it in this TC: http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/imperial_agent/operative/ this was what thay chaged it too in beta the original move is what the discrition syas on the live game, for info soon i gess.
This is what I've been using as an initial opening and then keeping energy 60%+ by weaving in rifle shots. Your going to lose abit of Acid blades dot uptime on the initial opening but the Armour pen will remain up.
Keeping Shiv, Backstab on CD
Maintain stim boost on yourself, Acid blade and corrosive dart on the target.
Everytime adren probe is about to come off CD start bursting again and pop probe.
Acid blade requires a TA. How can you start with it?
The acid blade tool tip is old and will be corrected in the next patch. Currently acid blade does not require a TA. It coats your blade and adds a dot to your next hidden strike or backstab as well as gives you an armor pen buff.
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Posted 12/2/2011 6:03:47 PMThanks to the beta weekends, I found myself accidentally in love with the Imperial Agent class in general, and the Operative in specific. Originally I had planned to start out as a Sith Warrior, a class that I also tried out during beta, but found the story a bit less interesting.
Now, the problem is that while a Sith Warrior is pretty easy to play (you build rage points, you spend rage points, and at the level I was at you had like one obvious skill for single-target DPS, and one obvious skill for attacking groups), the IA seems much more complex. There's energy, energy regen, and Tactical Advantage to consider, and I had a hell of a time figuring out the best rotation. This wasn't much of a problem in PVE, but when I tried to duel a friend of mine (he had 3 levels on me, and was a Juggernaut) I only got him down about 50% before I lost.
I also found myself worried in groups that I wasn't pulling my weight, though I did manage to pull aggro from time to time, so I guess that says something. I'd normally do something like this:
1. Open with backstab
2. Shiv for Tactical Advantage, which gives a damage buff
3. Spam Overload Shot until Shiv is off CD
4. Shiv again, then activate the energy regen buff now that I have a TA to spare.
But of course, this led to energy starvation when fighting anything that can live beyond 2-3 shivs. So Then I tried:
1. Backstab
2. Shiv
3. Energy Regen
4. Overload Shot Spam till shiv/backstab are off CD
5. Shiv, or if Backstab is off CD and I have aggro, Stun Knife + Backstab.
6. Repeat steps 4-5.
This feels like I'm wasting the energy regen TA ability though, since I've barely spent any energy at that point. I justify it with the knowledge that I'm best off keeping my energy above 60...still, I feel like I'm overusing overload shot. What has been working for other operatives? How often do you use your "free" attack?
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Posted 12/2/2011 6:57:47 PMYou never mentioned what level this is for. It looks more than just a bit light for 50.
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Posted 12/2/2011 9:16:48 PMFair enough. This was during the beta, and I only got as high as 16, so I'd appreciate some low-level advice to start with, then perhaps something more geared towards endgame.
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Posted 12/2/2011 9:53:08 PMThat low you will have ot use some pretty basic stuff because of a number of reasons.
Firstly, you haven't spent many talents yet, so your abilities haven't been improved in various ways, nor have you gotten many ways of getting resources back other than time itself. Secondly you just don't have many abilities that are working in combat. And thirdly, unless you try to solo heroic quests and you aren't a healer, it won't matter much as long as you spend time doing something in combat.
I played a Gunslinger myself and I found that it was easier to dump all energy in a fight quickly as it generally meant the targets died sooner, then regen out of combat for a few seconds. When it didn't work like that I began treading more carefully and stored my energy (60+) and then once in a while dumped it all to see if I still had to store it. You will quickly notice if your energy isn't enough.
In groups the healer will generally want a few seconds after pulls, so there you can rest too. And only a dumbass charges ahead without the healer, so let them take the fall if the healer isn't around.
Charming... yes? http://imgur.com/r6WrI
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Posted 12/5/2011 2:07:40 AMUm...that's kind of what I was already trying. I was hoping to get some insight on how best to optimize my play at low levels.
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Posted 12/5/2011 8:45:10 AMNot so complicated down there. There are few insights into something that is intuitive. Until you get more abilities it will be fairly simple.
Charming... yes? http://imgur.com/r6WrI
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Posted 12/5/2011 1:57:53 PMIf you're constantly dumping energy on an IA you're going to be locked out of everything but your free attack pretty quickly, especially in Flashpoints. It's less of a concern in regular play, sure....but for flashpoints and PVP, even at low levels you should be thinking about what you're using and when. Has anyone done any real testing in this area?
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Posted 12/5/2011 6:06:11 PMOnly two runs of Esseles with my Gunslinger and a couple of Heroics. It really didn't change much though. With bosses it was merely a matter of using the basic attack to keep energy relatively high. But you really shouldn't worry at that level. You are not likely to be left out just because you are an Agent, and it is currently hard to guage how well people really do because we don't have any logs to tell us how things line up in damage.
Charming... yes? http://imgur.com/r6WrI
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Posted 12/7/2011 12:28:40 AMSub-20 your rotation isn't going to be very complicated, keep Backstab and Shiv off cooldown, keep Stim Boost up, fill with auto-attack or Overload Shot depending on energy (don't drop below 60 unless you are going to use Adrenaline Probe to get back over 60, or the fight will end by the time you are out of energy). One thing you should do is if a fight is going to be 15 seconds or longer is to keep Corrosive Dart up. I have not done the math in terms of a tighter rotation/priority list because at low level it doesn't matter as much and the priority list will be changing as new abilities are added.
Once you get to 20 you will finally have a single target use for TA (Laceration). Once I got to 20, I switched to healing to try it out, so I don't have first hand experience using Laceration. Just eyeballing it I would say you would want to open with and prioritize Shiv over Backstab because now Shiv leads to Laceration. Once you get to 26, things get even more complicated with Tactical Opportunity (talent), and I would really need to look at it more.
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Posted 12/8/2011 9:32:53 AMThe rotation looks abit different after 20 with laceration (strong attack which cost a TA) and waylay (making backstab energy free).
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Posted 12/11/2011 12:53:56 PMLevel 50 opener for burst
Acid Blade -> Hidden strike -> Back stab -> Shiv -> Laceration -> Laceration -> Corrosive Dart -> Adren probe -> Shiv -> Stim Boost -> Acid blade -> Backstab
This is what I've been using as an initial opening and then keeping energy 60%+ by weaving in rifle shots. Your going to lose abit of Acid blades dot uptime on the initial opening but the Armour pen will remain up.
Keeping Shiv, Backstab on CD
Maintain stim boost on yourself, Acid blade and corrosive dart on the target.
Everytime adren probe is about to come off CD start bursting again and pop probe.
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Posted 12/20/2011 3:05:39 PMAcid blade requires a TA. How can you start with it?
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Posted 12/22/2011 4:06:03 AMHi, this is just shy of comfirmed, but the AcidBlade ablity form the talent tree is useing a wrong discrition on the live game, if u want a basic idear of wat it should say look at it in this TC: http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/imperial_agent/operative/
this was what thay chaged it too in beta the original move is what the discrition syas on the live game, for info soon i gess.
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Posted 12/22/2011 11:35:34 PMTake the Medic talents and heal for procs prior to combat.
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Posted 12/25/2011 7:09:19 AMThe acid blade tool tip is old and will be corrected in the next patch. Currently acid blade does not require a TA. It coats your blade and adds a dot to your next hidden strike or backstab as well as gives you an armor pen buff.
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