As i say, its always a trade off for using defensive skill to achieve offensive objective. As long as the outcome is balance enough, its fine. Just like you can either use escape to pursuit your enemy or save it to flee from danger. No matter which one you choose, you're then off from the other for the next 2 min. I see no problem in using vanish as weaponry.
But the point is where is the balance at? Is a 2min vanish over-worth 1/3hp and a 3sec stun on 2 enemy? Maybe. But at the moment we do not have much choices to balance it out, that 's why I called it all of nothing. And such model is not healthy or sustain at all. (From the perspective of who didn't really experience our class a lot at least). That's why I'm calling for adding more utility in compensate. Right now the nerf is just like taking away our only upper hand and neglect the inferior.
Cover is just my suggestion of one way to grant us the utility. I just think its a pity to abandon such an interesting mechanism. For instance in huttball map. Imagine you are in a situation that you're knocked down to floor 1 platform and the ballfight is on floor 2. As a concealment operative, you don't have the ability to charge back to floor 2, or pull your enemies to floor 1. What I'll do is taking cover and start smashing my snipe(or charged blast on rep side) button. I know the cover mechanism is kind of buggy now, but with well fine tunes, its a good entrance for devs to start investigation of the utility problem of OP.
It allow the possibility of some unique from other class utility buttons, at the same time, utilizing and completing the "role" playing of the IA/smuggler class. (An agent with a rifle just for decoration? Seriously lol?)