Guild Summit: Agents/Smuggler Population

[Arigo]

1: Currently leveling a smuggler. 1a: Malcolm!!

2: Yea, I'm digging the story.

3: I don't *not* enjoy the mechanics. I can only speak from a healing scroundrel's point of view, though, and what frustrates me is how hard I have to work at my healing compared to other healers due to energy consumption.

4: Very.

5: Yes. But I find myself switching to play my shadow often so I feel like I have some survivability.

6: Tweak my healing just a bit. I do not want to dps, I want to heal. It was the final seller on me choosing the class: that I could have the smuggler story and be a healing class. Don't get me wrong, I CAN heal - but it's just so incredibly energy inefficient that it's usually a frustrating practice. There's absolutely NO reason for a group to have me in there if there's a healing consular or trooper available because I just don't match up.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Arigo

[Mysquine]

I've got a level 50 Operative, pretty much leveled him up as a PvP alt. They're good fun but in all honesty they lack that kick that every other class has. In stealth your a one trick pony, out of stealth your just a squishy meat suit.

 

Once the heavy hitting damage classes hit you.. you've got nothing to close the gap, they were nerfed too hard and alot of people just ended up giving them up because they are not really viable in PvE for DPS unless they are healing spec

[Shinybum]

* Have you leveled a Smuggler or Agent? Why/why not?

 

My first character was/is a Sniper.

 

* Did you enjoy the story?

 

I did.

 

* Did you enjoy the mechanics? Why/why not?

 

Not really. Sniper can be a very fun class to play, but it can also be extremely frustrating. The current number of bugs and issues with the cover system, combined with the fact that you have to be in cover to use the majority of your abilities, combined with the large number of pve enemies which are either A) melee, ignoring your cover defense bonuses, B) Use grapple/charge attacks which you should be protected from, and/or C) constantly knock you out of cover through the use of knockbacks, stuns, knockdowns, or other abilities... it ends up being a very annoying class to play.

 

The Sniper's focus on using almost purely weapon-based attacks is also an issue. Most classes use tech/force attacks for the bulk of their damage output when soloing, and tech/force attacks have a base accuracy of 100% along with having very low resist rates on enemies. The Sniper's ranged attacks have a base accuracy of 90%, and most enemies have moderately high ranged defenses (Dodge/deflect). Nothing is more frustrating than seeing your 15 second cooldown, 2.5 second cast ambush get deflected.

 

I very much agree with this. There's a certain frustration to getting the right position, lining up your shot, opening and then finding yourself watching a show that basically goes...

 

Hit Ambush>dodge>bring rifle to bear on target>dodge>dodge>bring rifle to bear>dodge>dodge>dodge>shot goes off.

 

2.5 seconds versus melee attacks? Looks longer to me. The bar fills and I have to wait for all the dodging to finish before I actually fire my weapon. I've seen the same on all the other non-instant abilities to the point where I start thinking I'd rather take the damage just so my target can take some as well. Rotations are WAY smoother against a ranged opponent than versus melee.

 

Apart from that, I really liked that you need to think to play a Sniper well. Paying attention to your target groups and planning a flexible course of action pays dividends when the time comes to pull the trigger. I also think it made working with stealth a lot more effective when I rolled an Assassin (I wanted to try something different, and going from 35m range to 10m was certainly that!) since I'd become very used to the idea of getting somewhere as safely as possible, killing what you have to and getting the **** out before things get out of hand.

 

* Are these classes an important SW fantasy to you?

 

Because I wonder about how things work behind the scenes, yes. When you look at how many Sith seem to behave like pantomime villains it makes sense that there are cooler heads making sure things actually work.

 

* Do you still play the class? If not, why not?

 

Not all the time, but I do like to take him big game hunting. He should have a row of stuffed heads on the bulkheads of his ship.

[Sprigum]

Cover system is stupid at lower levels when you don't have portable cover (snipers) and you're lacking most of your melee stuff on the operative side of things.

 

Trick to successfully using cover as an Operative?

 

Shift+F - That's right, screw the mitigation. I'm going into cover right here.

 

I use it even in PvP to drop Explosive probes, and occasionally sniper that sorc who is trying to lolsprint away.

 

I like that operatives can still use cover, it's part of what makes operatives the most versatile classes in the game.

 

Here are some more facts:

 

- Agent is one of the hardest classes to level.

 

- I agree the Agent story is really really good. But lets not forget that it starts out agonizingly slow. Really seems to pick up and get good towards the late game.

 

- Operative really blows in Huttball, and that's about 75% of PvP at this point.

 

- Operative healing clunky at times. Merc and Sorc offer much more well thought out talent trees.

 

- Operative is the least played class because to be effective it requires a great deal more effort and technique than other classes.

 

- Operative armor sets are generally less impressive than other classes. I'm thinking Troopers/BH/Marauders in particular. This goes for snipers as well.

 

- Sniper play style is turret mode. Snipers in real life are masters of hiding in plain site, surviving the harshest environments, mastering physically challenging terrain, and of course being able to make some ridiculously good shots. They got the shooting part down it seems. Seems like Operatives inherit a lot from snipers. I don't think it'd be game breaking to give them some sort of stealth mechanic in PvP.

 

- Vibroknives need an overhaul. They aren't very exciting, and using the exact same one from 1-50 is quite irritating. I'd really love a small lightblade or even just a much larger, shinier serrated blade to shank with.

 

Vibroknives are basically an operative's primary weapon. We use it a hell of a lot more than we do our gun. I also believe we should get a melee range auto attack as well as the ranged variant. Ramp up the DMG slightly on the melee version. Shooting people in the face with an enormous blaster rifle just doesn't seem practical when I have a perfectly good knife.

 

I'd also love for the knife to be displayed on my belt or somewhere else convenient. I'm a firm believer that the "stat-stick" should be that giant rifle we carry around and not our primary weapon (although I understand that tech attacks benefit basically just purely off of power).

 

Sorry, this is getting long, but you asked. This is stuff that I think would keep the flavor of the class while supplying more of that O.o factor.

 

As an operative healer I'm tired of my ninja costume. It's ridiculous. I want a Medical droid inspired armor set with kolto stims strapped to my chest and some stinking armor! Marauders look like they're wearing much heavier armor than we are, when in fact we wear the same type.

 

Operatives are all needles, dart, and droids. Our armor sets should reflect this.

 

Another thing that bothers me is how small my wristband/probe launcher is. That little wristpiece is entirely too small and inconsequential. I'd love to see a variety of models based on the armor I'm wearing and that has a little more flash and substance to it.

 

We look like light armor wearing ninjas who for some reason have giant needles, green darts, and a battalion of kolto probes- Fix it!

 

We need a power-aura type visual indicator for TA as well.

 

Things an Operative is responsible for tracking as a healer:

 

- Tactical Advantage (2)

 

- Stim Boost (Requires TA)

 

- Kolto Probe (2) - Occasionally More, not often though.

 

- Managing our Energy resource very carefully

 

- Debuffs that are about 0.5mm in length on the crappy raid frames. Especially on fights where dispelling is essential (jarg and sorno NM anyone?) this is a hassle like you wouldn't believe.

 

- Adrenaline Probe CD - You'll need it.

 

- Finally we're keeping track of all boss mechanics and each individual health pool. All at the same time.

 

Pretty sure nobody else is managing this much stuff at once. I need some visual queues to make it a little less difficult.

 

I feel in PvE that we're very effective healers, but in PvP we need some mitigation CD's on the Healing side of things. We just get shredded.

 

My experience:

 

- Valor 60+

- 10/10 NM w/ Titles

- All three specs - Primarily a healer.

 

I like the Operatives, and I like it more that we are a rarity. I'm fully geared for the new Operation coming in 1.2 and will surely hit the ground running.

 

P.S: Take alacrity off our gear, or make it useful.

[paha_kuukkeli]

[*]Have you leveled a Smuggler or Agent? Why/why not?

 

Yes. My main character is level 50 Operative healer. I'm also leveling Scoundrel who's level 45 at the moment.

 

[*]Did you enjoy the story?

 

At first the Agent story was pretty nice but eventually it started to get rather bland. Smuggler's kind of meh all the way. And no, I'm not playing this game for the story so it's secondary concern to me. Good books and movies are just so far ahead of games today when it comes to story.

 

[*]Did you enjoy the mechanics? Why/why not?

 

Yes and no. There are nice ideas and concepts but due to poor synergy between the skill trees there's always something that doesn't seem to fit and something missing. Healing is very repetitive and needs more tools to react instead of just doing the same rotation no matter what happens.

 

[*]Are these classes an important SW fantasy to you?

 

Smuggler sure but not that much for the Agent.

 

[*]Do you still play the class? If not, why not?

 

Yes. Raiding weekly with my main and leveling the Smuggler.

 

[*]*edit* Anything they could do to encourage you to try one if you haven't, or play the one you have?

 

Well, playing my Operative / Smuggler is more dependant on the content patches and generic fixing of the game - I'll play them as long as I play the game. Other than that your posts regarding our healing have lots of good points. After leveling my Sorcerer to 50 it's easy to see the imbalance between the healing classes.

[Iite]

A nice idea would be to add interesting looking gear.

 

I enjoyed the cape/hat/duster idea with centurion gear but I grow tired of seeing it on champ/battlemaster and ALL the pve gear.

[fooolishfool]

I'm presently levelling a smuggler (scoundrel). She is level 27.

 

The story is cool, very stylistically distinct from that of a Jedi, I think it works well.

 

The mechanics aren't so strong, I feel like the Smuggler got somewhat a mishmash of the leftover stuff and they don't really fit together really well. The first 10 levels were super painful due to Cover, which is perhaps the worst mechanic I've ever encountered in a game. When I hit level 10 and picked scoundrel I was immensely happy to remove cover from my bars. Unfortunately, the weird energy semi-melee thing with upper hand also seems very clunky. It might work a bit better at later levels somehow with more talent points, but it really doesn't feel like it works as a dps class in the 20s. That said, the energy / upper hand combination is pretty sweet as a healing mechanic, I like it a lot (in fact so far it feels a lot like the class was designed entirely around being a healer with these mechanics and the dps specs were shoehorned into them later on).

 

I think they're pretty important to Star Wars as a thing. Certainly Lando/Solo were pretty non-trivial...

 

I think the class would benefit a lot from mouseover healing being enabled (both while levelling and in groups with players), the continually losing your target when you heal something contributes a lot to the clunkyness of the experience. Perhaps also a somewhat different sequence of companions... Corso first seems entirely useless for any playstyle, and as a bonus he is an idiot. But really, cover sucks, and I imagine that turns a lot of people off very quickly.

[Farho]

• Have you leveled a Smuggler or Agent? Why/why not?
   
  My main is a L50 scoundrel
   
   
  
• Did you enjoy the story?
   
  Not bad at all. I love the fact that you're not "the one and only hero that can save the galaxy". The story is nothing about saving the galaxy either.
   
   
  
• Did you enjoy the mechanics? Why/why not?
   
  Somewhat. I'm playing a healer with a rogue kit and I loved soloing with it. Healing with it would also be cool if the heal skills were as good as Sages'.
   
   
  
• Are these classes an important SW fantasy to you?
   
  Yes, as much as the next guy bothering playing this game. We all care it's Star wars.
   
   
  
• Do you still play the class? If not, why not?
   
  yeah.
   
   
  
• *edit* Anything they could do to encourage you to try one if you haven't, or play the one you have?
   
  Not for me but for others, I recommend making them more viable in PvE, and making their gear look better. Currently when compared to Jedi or troopers, smugglers' looks and animations are clearly worse.
  

Edited March 6, 2012 by Farho

[yargovish]

• Have you leveled a Smuggler or Agent? Why/why not?
   
  I have a lvl 50 Operative. I was simply looking for a stealth class and went with this one.
   
   
  
• Did you enjoy the story?
   
  Chapter 1 felt generic because the end twist became obvious to me before the prologue even ended. But then chapter 2 caused me to become emotionally invested in my character, and as a result had me absorbed in the story right up to the end.
   
   
  
• Did you enjoy the mechanics? Why/why not?
   
  Yes. To me Tactical Advantage is the defining mechanic for operatives, and I find it very satisfying when questing/soloing, which is how I spend most of my time. I do not enjoy the cover mechanic, but thankfully operatives have next to no use for it.
   
   
  
• Are these classes an important SW fantasy to you?
   
  As much as I like my agent, killing master jedis with poisoned daggers feels somewhat silly. Smugglers on the other hand definitely feel iconic with their obvious reference to Han Solo.
   
   
  
• Do you still play the class? If not, why not?
   
  Yes. I slowed down after 50, but that's mostly due to dailies being boring, rather than the class.
   
   
  
• Anything they could do to encourage you to try one if you haven't, or play the one you have?
   
  I wish they would change Diagnostics Scan to something, well, fun. That ability is single-handedly keeping me uninterested in the healer side of the Operative.
  

 

edit: changed formatting to be more readable.

Edited March 6, 2012 by yargovish

[iceperson]

• Have you leveled a Smuggler or Agent? Why/why not?
  

 

Yes, sniper was my first character. Got it to 33 and gave up on it.

 

• Did you enjoy the story?
  

 

Only finished act 1, it was okay from what I remember.

 

• Did you enjoy the mechanics? Why/why not?
  

 

Not really. Cover was fun at first, but after the novelty wore off it just because tedious and felt more limiting than anything else.

 

• Are these classes an important SW fantasy to you?
  

 

Agent? No. Smuggler? Yes

 

• Do you still play the class? If not, why not?
  

 

I try to do the daily pvp from time to time on it, and then remember why I quit playing it (cover)

 

 

• *edit* Anything they could do to encourage you to try one if you haven't, or play the one you have?
  

 

I really wish if I tried to use an ability that requires cover while out of cover that it would just put me into cover in place. Sometimes (especially in pvp) I get removed from cover and don't notice. Maybe I fat fingered a movement key, accidentally pushed both mouse buttons, or someone hit me with an attack that removed me from cover and I just didn't notice as my eyes were on the combat 10 feet away. I'm sure it makes me a bad sniper, but it's the only character that feel clunky to me. Or, better yet, remove the cover requirement from every ability and just reduce those abilities dmg by 20% or something while out of cover.

Edited March 6, 2012 by iceperson

[Maltuvion]

 

• Have you leveled a Smuggler or Agent? Why/why not?

 

Yes. Levelled because I've got full Rakata on my Guardian tank and the number of Scoundrels on my server can be counted on literally one hand, hence I wanted to see why that was the case; was the class bad? Was the story not enticing?

 

 

• Did you enjoy the story?

 

I enjoyed prologue and part 1. Instantly I was drawn into the story of a smuggler captain blockade-running and subsequently stranding on the forsaken rock that is Ord Mantell, and then trying to get my ship back, leading on to the merry chase 'round the galaxy after Skavak.

However, after you have reacquired your ship and Nok Drayen's treasure is introduced, the story starts rambling off on tangents. It still maintains some focus and continuity in Skavak, but the treasure hunt seems very forced. However, it's bearable and honestly works alright.

 

Once Skavak is defeated, however, Rogun the Butcher and The Voidwolf becomes the primary antagonists, and then everything goes down the drain. They get so little stage-time that you hardly feel vested in them, and they rarely, if ever, directly affect your actual experience, meaning they are never established as antagonists. Entire chapter 2 and 3 seems awfully disjointed and tacked on, and it was hard to keep interested in the story when you become a Republic Privateer.

 

It would be obvious to break up linearity and actually make Privateer choices matter. Want to set up a personal pipeline of credits rather than help the republic? Do it! The devs could have made it Smuggler-phase only and perhaps, if you did so, allow 500 creds to tick in daily to your character. In a full year of playing that would amount to roughly 200k - hardly gamebreaking in any way, and if the majority of the playerbase, as of guild summit stats, got less than 1 mill. creds due to excessive repair costs (Bioware's words, not mine), it wouldn't hurt. Plus it would lend some gravitas to your choices.

 

Summary: Prologue + Chapter 1 = great, Chapter 2 + 3 = some of the worst waste of story potential I've yet to experience in a game.

 

 

 

• Did you enjoy the mechanics? Why/why not?

 

As a dps, yes. At level 47 I crit higher than my Rakata geared Defense specced Guardian, and it sounds like I'm in the middle of an old Stallone-movie with all the punches. As a healer it was ridiculous how much gear affected the capabilities; I've since acquired full Columi and after that the crit heals become reliable enough for me to feasibly sustain energy throughout a fight while maintaining high throughput. As a newly dinged 50 Scoundrel, it was at times unreasonable how taxing on resources relatively small heals were, compared to, say, a Sage's healing.

 

 

 

• Are these classes an important SW fantasy to you?

 

It's Han Solo. Of course it's iconic and important.

 

 

• Do you still play the class? If not, why not?

 

It's an alt, so occasionally. Great for doing dailies fast in stealth.

 

 

• *edit* Anything they could do to encourage you to try one if you haven't, or play the one you have?
  

 

I don't need encouragement to play it since it's my alt; it'll never become a main as I, both due to mentality and principle, don't reroll and thus force my guild to rearrange their roster to commit me.

 

For new people: Roll one to become a high-valued commodity.

[grandmthethird]

do plan on playing all clsses, i have not played either agent or smuggler yet. i guess they just didn't seem as appealing. first i played marauder, saber wielding force choking ancestor of vader, now that's iconic, next i rolled a BH bobba fett again iconic. tbh i dno't see the SI as iconic, i know its the ancestor darth sidious, but it really doesn't remind me of him. them we have he agent. i'm not eing funny. but i can't think of a single iconic agent.

 

seems to me like they made the smuggler. and thought what can we mirror this with? an agent. lets make james bond in space. i know every1 raves about the agents story, and it might be the greatest story of the lot. but as a fan when i bought the game it didn't jump out at me as to a class i had to play

 

2 points tho

 

1)i have not read the starwars books. yet. maybe when i do i will discover the agent that is a starwars icon

 

2)i do see the icon in the smuggler and when i roll republic it is the first one i will play

[Snoodmaster]

My current main is a level 50 sniper.

 

In addition to the issues with cover, I also think a good reason for the lack of Agents in the general populace (at least on the sniper end) is the fact that you don't get a healing companion until Dr. Lokin. Frankly, with the way the mobs are tuned, it is much, much harder to level without a decent healing companion. And even though u can gear out the ship droid, he misses out on a lot of stats by not having a weapon. I noticed that the healing got a LOT better once I got Lokin.

 

I have a lvl 36 juggernaut now, and I have to say that I die a whole lot less as a juggernaut than I did levelling up as a sniper. I'm not sure how much of that is due to being able to buy artifact level gear for him and how much is the class mechanics, but it just feels less frustrating. I remember having to basically suicide any quest boss that had a group of mobs because Kaliyo would always die to the concentrated fire of 3 or 4 mobs and then I would die immediately afterward. I'd get a few of the mobs so damage wasn't an issue, it's just that I couldn't heal her up so by the time 2 mobs died, she'd be gone and it'd be just me against the gold level mob. Once I got Lokin, I could tank those groups myself and he'd keep me healed.

 

 

 

Also, I found the final title on the Imperial Agent extremely lackluster. Agent and Cipher Agent are decent, and then for all your effort you get <name here>, Master Conspirator. Not quite as cool as "Darth" so-and-so. Not to mention unnecessary since the Imperial Agent has a real imperial rank ( i think he winds up as a Major or Colonel by the end of the storyline). Personally, I was hoping for something like "Spymaster" or "Star Agent" and placed in FRONT of the name.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Snoodmaster

[Elyons]

During the Summit Livestream they showed a graph of all the class populations. Agents and Smugglers were lowest, and a Developer said that short of making the class over-powered, there was likely nothing they could do about that because it isn't as iconic of a SW fantasy as playing a Jedi. I think a more interesting plot would have shown the changes in class demographics since launch.

 

While I haven't leveled mine yet, I always thought the Han Solo fantasy was a pretty large one in the SW Community. He is certainly one of the more popular and iconic characters in our culture.

 

It is also widely believed that these are the best class stories for their respective factions.

 

So here's the questions.

 

• Have you leveled a Smuggler or Agent? Why/why not?
   
  
• Did you enjoy the story?
   
  
• Did you enjoy the mechanics? Why/why not?
   
  
• Are these classes an important SW fantasy to you?
   
  
• Do you still play the class? If not, why not?
   
  
• *edit* Anything they could do to encourage you to try one if you haven't, or play the one you have?
  

 

 

Yes. I have a level 50 Gunslinger, I heard that it would be one of the harder classes to play and that drew me to it.

 

YES! The story is the BEST I have experienced in the game. I have several alts (All different classes, Republic/Imperial) and still nothing can beat my Gunslingers story line and wit.

 

Yes. The cover system did take a little while to get used to, but after one does know how to use it, your basically a walking nuke.

 

You can play the Smuggler as two different Characters

You can either choose mostly Lightside, use wit, and try to talk your way out of most of the situations your in (Han Solo) Or you can choose mostly darkside, and give blunt sarcasm, and kill who you don't like. (Jesse James.) They both appealed to two different parts of me. However, Im still having some massive fun with the Jesse James play style. The comments you can make... Ahh, my Smuggler

 

 

Heck yes

 

I personally find it surprising that players don't play Smuggler Gunslingers. Best story in the game with the highest end game DPS of any class? Guess I don't understand people. However, I did introduce a relative of mine to the class and her exact words were "Wow, I thought this would be hard but its easier to play then my Trooper. Why don't more people play this class?"

Edited March 6, 2012 by Elyons

[Elwacko]

I specifically leveled a smuggler first because I liked the beta story the best.

 

The nerf forced me to change my playstyle and spec tree.

[monkgryphon]

• Have you leveled a Smuggler or Agent? Why/why not?
  I have levelled an Agent just to the point of picking up their Ship. I did it, because I wanted to see how the class played. I have not levelled a smuggler yet. Biggest reason, they are mostly DPS. My agent is a sniper (only DPS).
  
• Did you enjoy the story?
  I do like the story, I just have other stories I want to finish and other characters I want finished sooner.
  
• Did you enjoy the mechanics? Why/why not?
  Sniper took a bit to get used to, as it is the AC that really does rely on cover and long range. Basically plant yourself and blast with some heavy hits. When the enemy gets close, you're nearly done for.
  
• Are these classes an important SW fantasy to you?
  The SW fantasy still exists with my agent. I do enjoy it as a part of the overall story.
  
• Do you still play the class? If not, why not?
  I haven't played it in 2 weeks. Mainly because I am building a Juggernaut Tank, and really got sucked into the storyline there.
  
• *edit* Anything they could do to encourage you to try one if you haven't, or play the one you have?
  Don't nerf the class anymore.
  

Edited March 6, 2012 by monkgryphon

[islander]

I have a level 20 IA. It's just not a fantasy character I guess. The story so far has been great. I'll level him eventually.

 

I'm one of those people who will stay for a good year or two, and have 50's in perhaps all classes eventually.

[SNEAKYSIX]

I have an IA but shes only level 9, I still havent found a place in my heart for her yet. Once I level others I will return to her work in progress.

 

As for smuggler, unless they revamp space flight where I can smuggle from planet to planet... I have no interest...

[wrong_turn]

My first and still main toon is a smuggler/gunslinger. He's knocking on the door of level 40 but I admit that I split a lot of time with my Sentinel who is level 32. The smuggler has by far my favorite story, but the thing that clenched it for me when I decided to make one was seeing the video feature dirty kick. The best power in the game. I will say the cover system can get a little tedious especially when you keep going into cover in places you don't intend to.

[Vincynt]

• Have you leveled a Smuggler or Agent? Why/why not?
  Only till about lvl 6. I haven't pushed past there because my first character was a BH and it gripped me and I wanted to play Boba Fett, my second was a Sith Juggernaught because I had just leveled a ranged to max and now wanted a melee. But I also just found the cover mechanic to not be my style. I'm more of a "rambo" type gamer when I solo, I want to jump into the middle of the action. I don't want to hide up behind some cover and take pot shots. I just wasn't grabbed by the mechanics.
  
• Did you enjoy the story?
  I can't over coment because I only experienced it up to lvl 6.
  
• Did you enjoy the mechanics? Why/why not?
  As I said at first the cover mechanic isn't my thing.
  
• Are these classes an important SW fantasy to you?
  The smuggler sure, and I think if I decide to start on a new server as republic instead of an imperial I would give the smuggler a good go and force myself to try to adapt to the mechanics just to play a gunslinger.
  
• Do you still play the class? If not, why not?
  No, I found the mechanics of a Bounty Hunger and Sith Warrior were more my style of play.
  
• *edit* Anything they could do to encourage you to try one if you haven't, or play the one you have?
  I don't think so.
  

 

Answers in orange.

[Shinybum]

Also, I found the final title on the Imperial Agent extremely lackluster. Agent and Cipher Agent are decent, and then for all your effort you get <name here>, Master Conspirator. Not quite as cool as "Darth" so-and-so. Not to mention unnecessary since the Imperial Agent has a real imperial rank ( i think he winds up as a Major or Colonel by the end of the storyline). Personally, I was hoping for something like "Spymaster" or "Star Agent" and placed in FRONT of the name.

 

There are several different endings for the Agent story. My Sniper has no rank at all any more.

[Coplann]

My main is a level 50 Concealment Operative, valor rank 30 at the moment with 500 Competence.

 

I did enjoy leveling him (paired with a sorcerer all the time) and the story was interesting. Although the end sucked.

Who cares about Hunter being a woman? pft...

 

 

Anyway, the nerf was too early and too harsh imo (it would have been ok to nerf the stealth opener, but why also nerf Acid Blade and the "speced" knockdown?).

 

Now I have to work pretty hard (in comparison to other classes) in PvP and the class does not feel really pollished. For Huttball you lack the tools (pull, knockback, speed, jump...) and for long ongoing fights you lack the DPS and Energy while having pretty much zero defense.

The way Tactical Advantage works also diminishes your effectivenes when speced for the DoT tree.

 

It would be nice if they could improve the TA aspect, like allowing you to stack more than 2 (maybe 5), give new means to acquire TA and give the operative better defense (e.g. use TA for a 10 Second Armor or Dodge increase).

 

At the moment the Operative (and its republic counterpart) simply feel a bit lackluster. Well, in comparison to other classes.

 

For now Iam leveling a Juggernaut, a Mercenary and a Shadow. All of which seem to make more fun in PvP.

[Kierthos]

[*]Have you leveled a Smuggler or Agent? Why/why not?

 

Yes. My main is a level 50 Smuggler (Scoundrel). In fact, when my friends showed me the trailers for the game, and I found out Smugglers were in the game, I said that would be my first character. I decided this BEFORE I knew any of the mechanics of the class.

 

 

[*]Did you enjoy the story?

 

Yes. The smuggler has some of the best dialogue, and the storyline was awesome. The only part I didn't like was that there really should have been an option

to take Skavik prisoner, and seal him in carbonite, so I could have a trophy.

 

 

 

[*]Did you enjoy the mechanics? Why/why not?

 

Yes and no. Cover is an interesting mechanic, and it has helped to reduce incoming damage. At lower levels, this is especially needed, since Smugglers are a bit 'glass cannon'-y. However, I've lost track of the number of times that I've rolled to cover, and then been unable to shoot my target because somehow I'm out of line of sight.

 

In PvP (which, admittedly, I have little experience in), the cover mechanic is almost a detriment, rather then a boon. You see, in PvE, you typically have better control over what you're fighting. You pull specific groups, and failing a patrol, you know what's going to be in the fight. Staying still isn't nearly as big a drawback.

 

In PvP, however, movement is absolutely necessary. Dropping to cover simply to use some of our abilities turns me into an easy target.

 

When you add in the lack of a 'gap closer' (other then hoping our target is standing next to a cover point), it really hurts us.

 

To my mind, the cover mechanic does need some work, and should not be abandoned entirely. I feel it works fine in PvE, mind you. It just needs to be tweaked somehow in PvP. (How this would be accomplished, I have no idea.)

 

 

[*]Are these classes an important SW fantasy to you?

 

To my mind, yes. I mean, let's face it. If it hadn't been for Han Solo, Luke and Obi-won likely would not have gotten out of Mos Eisley. Likewise, if Han hadn't returned near the end of the movie, Luke would have been blown to bits.

 

And Han Solo was basically the hero of The Return of the Jedi. If it hasn't been for him, the Death Star wouldn't have been destroyed, and hey, he gets the girl. That's got to mean that he's the hero.

 

 

[*]Do you still play the class? If not, why not?

 

Yes. I'm just now getting into doing daily quests and Hard Mode Flashpoints, and I'm still having fun. While I do play other characters, I keep coming back to my Smuggler.

 

 

[*]*edit* Anything they could do to encourage you to try one if you haven't, or play the one you have?

 

Honestly, I think our damage output, even with the recent nerfs to some of our attacks, is good. I think our survivability needs a little work to bring it to the point it needs to be at.

 

And, of course, get us the black longcoat and hat in the trailer.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Kierthos
Making it easier to read, adding spoiler tag

[RuQu]

Maltuvion, can you please wrap some spoiler tags around parts of your reply. I got partway through it, then started seeing references to things my Smuggler has only just seen and your post kept going... I'm not sure how many spoilers are in there as I jumped down a page, but please try and avoid posting them, and always wrap them in spoiler tags if they are important enough to post.

[emartell]

I have a 50 operative healer.

 

The story is really good. The last parts were a little rushed but compared to other stories I think it's great.

 

So much of the abilities I don't even use. I haven't used cover in forever. I'll use some stealth but not much. The healing abilities are ok but compared to other classes I feel like they are a little light. I have a mid 30s trooper and rolled a sorc healer and they make more sense with healing. The sorc is only 14 but the regen and power pool are insane. I want to get her to 50 to see how much different it is.

 

PvP healing basically turns me into a sitting duck. The HoT is heavy power but light per tick. I haven't respected to pick up nanotech because I'm not sure it matters. I might just to see if it does at some point, but I feel like it cripples stim boost.