Do you feel your group was able to progress in power through the Operation?
Yes, although as many people have pointed out, IPCPT (as it was tuned before the nerf) should not have been the first boss of the operation, mainly because Watchdog and Kanoth are way easier.
Do you think improvements could be made to make it easier to progress as a group? If so, what do these improvements look like?
Improve the difficulty curve of the operation, which has partly been done with the IPCPT nerf. However I believe it was the wrong way to adress this issue as this boss was perfectly doable in 330 gear before the nerf. A better solution would have been to make Watchdog the first boss and IPCPT the second.
The following suggestions would not necessarly make the progression easier but would give more consistency to the operation difficulty wise, forcing groups stuck at IPCPT to improve their gameplay instead of looking for ways to go around the challenge. Currently the raid is in a weird place with the first and last boss being actually challenging while the second and third boss are way easier in comparison. This leads to the "cheating" technique described in many posts above consisting in getting lockouts of second and third boss to get gear and killing IPCPT afterwards. To avoid that, bosses 2 and 3 should be more difficult. Watchdog should have dps and healing checks (the boss is currently solo healable, with no dps requirements whatsoever as long as the mechanics are well executed. Kanoth is missing a dps check (before the burn phase) aswell, the fight can last more than 10 minutes without any consequences as long as people keep clearing the niroth.
Did you want to upgrade your Hazardous gear?
Yes, it is a good way to supplement the purple tokens and bringing to 340 the pieces that otherwise only drop from last boss. It is also nice to gear alts faster.
How quickly were you able to upgrade your Hazardous gear?
I decided to upgrade each piece of gear directly to 340 in one go so it would take me 1 or 2 raid days to do so, which is reasonable. However, it is much longer for tanks as 340 blue gear is BIS for them (so make the purple 340 gear BIS for tanks and problem solved!)
Was Hazardous gear helpful in completing The R-4 Anomaly?
It gives a sizable dps boost compared to 330 gear, especially the mainhand. As for healing, the entire operation can be clear in 330 gear without problem, so Hazardous (or even Virulent) gear wasn't that helpful.
Do you like the look of these armor sets?
Not really, they are not ugly but we have many, many more options that look way better.
Did you attempt to clear The R-4 Anomaly to earn these armor sets?
No, since I did not like the look of them. Achievements, title and mount were my incentives to clear R-4.
Is there anything you’d like to see from future Operations armors?
Like other players suggested, armor similar to the one earned in Dxun, with light effects and animations and armor of iconic operation bosses like the dread master outfits. But there is so much more that could be earned in operations: weapons, weapon tunings, toys, flairs... I know most of those are reserved for cartel market but it would be really nice to get more stuff from raids, especially since the pace of release for that type of content is really slow.
Do you like the look of this mount?
Did you attempt to clear The R-4 Anomaly to earn this mount?
I think the mount looks nice, however the drop rate is way too low (I have not seen it drop once) to make it a reason to clear R-4.
Do you feel your group was able to progress in power through the Operation? Yes, although as many people have pointed out, IPCPT (as it was tuned before the nerf) should not have been the first boss of the operation, mainly because Watchdog and Kanoth are way easier. Do you think improvements could be made to make it easier to progress as a group? If so, what do these improvements look like? Improve the difficulty curve of the operation, which has partly been done with the IPCPT nerf. However I believe it was the wrong way to adress this issue as this boss was perfectly doable in 330 gear before the nerf. A better solution would have been to make Watchdog the first boss and IPCPT the second. The following suggestions would not necessarly make the progression easier but would give more consistency to the operation difficulty wise, forcing groups stuck at IPCPT to improve their gameplay instead of looking for ways to go around the challenge. Currently the raid is in a weird place with the first and last boss being actually challenging while the second and third boss are way easier in comparison. This leads to the "cheating" technique described in many posts above consisting in getting lockouts of second and third boss to get gear and killing IPCPT afterwards. To avoid that, bosses 2 and 3 should be more difficult. Watchdog should have dps and healing checks (the boss is currently solo healable, with no dps requirements whatsoever as long as the mechanics are well executed. Kanoth is missing a dps check (before the burn phase) aswell, the fight can last more than 10 minutes without any consequences as long as people keep clearing the niroth. Did you want to upgrade your Hazardous gear? Yes, it is a good way to supplement the purple tokens and bringing to 340 the pieces that otherwise only drop from last boss. It is also nice to gear alts faster. How quickly were you able to upgrade your Hazardous gear? I decided to upgrade each piece of gear directly to 340 in one go so it would take me 1 or 2 raid days to do so, which is reasonable. However, it is much longer for tanks as 340 blue gear is BIS for them (so make the purple 340 gear BIS for tanks and problem solved!) Was Hazardous gear helpful in completing The R-4 Anomaly? It gives a sizable dps boost compared to 330 gear, especially the mainhand. As for healing, the entire operation can be clear in 330 gear without problem, so Hazardous (or even Virulent) gear wasn't that helpful. Do you like the look of these armor sets? Not really, they are not ugly but we have many, many more options that look way better. Did you attempt to clear The R-4 Anomaly to earn these armor sets? No, since I did not like the look of them. Achievements, title and mount were my incentives to clear R-4. Is there anything you’d like to see from future Operations armors? Like other players suggested, armor similar to the one earned in Dxun, with light effects and animations and armor of iconic operation bosses like the dread master outfits. But there is so much more that could be earned in operations: weapons, weapon tunings, toys, flairs... I know most of those are reserved for cartel market but it would be really nice to get more stuff from raids, especially since the pace of release for that type of content is really slow. Do you like the look of this mount? Did you attempt to clear The R-4 Anomaly to earn this mount? I think the mount looks nice, however the drop rate is way too low (I have not seen it drop once) to make it a reason to clear R-4.