Operatives good god!

[Mytilus]

Let me just give you a bit of background info. I play a rotation of eight toons so I always get rested bonus that way i'm usually 2-3 levels higher for the area and it makes it relatively easy. I have six imps and 2 pubbies I doubled up on BH and IA's for no particular reason. Anyway like I said I breeze through most content only pausing to consider some of the more difficult encounters but generally I have no problems...that is until I started playing an operative.

 

First 10-15 levels was easy enough, pretty much the same as the sniper which I was also levelling. From 15-30 I really struggled with this guy, couldn't get the hang of whether he was ranged or melee and had to do a lot of thinking about how I should be playing him. I looked at the abilities I was getting at these higher levels and decided I would play more in the style of a rogue from wow, this worked a treat and from level 30-40 I breezed though Taris, Quesh, Hoth and the Alderaan bonus series. I finally though i'd cracked it.

 

I arrived at Belsavis with my level 43 Operative happy that I had finally cracked his playing style only to find that I am once again struggling. It is extremely hard work to play this toon and when I come up against elites particularly gold ones I either scrape through with 2hp or something and having lost my companion or I don't survive at all. I very rarely get these gold elites on the first attempt if at all.

 

So whats the problem here, am I just really bad at this class, does anyone else struggle as much as this, are operatives in need of some extreme buffage. Like I said it is very hard work playing this class I mean hard work on your hands and wrists from using mouse and keyboard but thats not such a big issue its getting ganked all the time when your trying so hard that is soul destroying.

[Tarmi]

Leveling my healing op I had the opposite experience. Most of the time I was two levels low for the zone but could still drop elites. I was three levels low when I hit Voss and it was on the edge but two levels low is doable.

 

You are a stealth mele class, forget all about cover and range. I use CC on every fight even if it's just one elite to start. Key for me was to never fight multiple strongs and always cc a mob in a 4 mob group. At 40 I got the robot tank and it has helped a lot as a healer.

 

When fighting elites and strongs interupt every chance you get and stun them whenever debilitate is up. Once I tumbled to this they got a lot easier to drop them. Funny thing is I find strongs harder than elites even though they have less hp, they seem to hit me much harder.

 

Hardest fights are all the ones that start from a cut scene and have multiple normals and a strong or elite. For these you can't start from stealth so burn down the normals then vanish, sap strong/elite, drop any remaining normals then the strong/elite.

 

If you are running something other than healer you may want to go with Doc Loken. He does a very good job healing if you get him some decent gear.

[Gronkaarr]

I think elite mobs are harder now (just hit lvl 47) than they were when leveling up through 20s and 30s. They seem to hit a lot harder. Anyway, not sure what spec u are but I'm 31 points in concealment. against elite mobs of even level, I use Ensign because she is my best geared companion due to having all the operative gear. I dont go for my usual acid blade - hidden strike opener though. instead i have Ensign attack first and I stand back and heal her until the mob is at about half health. then I jump in and try to burn it down.

[-Kraxis-]

Sounds like your gear... I was soloing Champions 2 levels above me when I was leveling my Concealment op.

 

Get Orange gear and keep the mods current (always take mod rewards from quests) and use your planet commendations to buy more mods, and fill out the remaining mod slots from the GTN... pass down all your armor to Dr. Lokin.

 

By level 49-50, you should have full Orange armor on yourself and a Companion (Doc Lokin if you are DPS) and all those slots should have level 22/116-120 mods in them.

Edited March 16, 2012 by -Kraxis-

[Tarmi]

One last thought. For the freakishly hard elite mobs that you run into once in a while I just send in the robot and heal until the mob is dead. Not fast or very exciting but it is effective though I'm not sure what concealment op would do.

[Mytilus]

One last thought. For the freakishly hard elite mobs that you run into once in a while I just send in the robot and heal until the mob is dead. Not fast or very exciting but it is effective though I'm not sure what concealment op would do.

 

What robot?

[Arrys]

What robot?

 

you don't have her yet and she tanks no better than a geared kaliyo. So don't worry about it.

 

1.) cleanse most golds drop a cleansable at the start of a fight that significantly adds to their negative impact - remove it.

 

2) Interupts and aggro swap / kite, If you see a cast bar interupt it you have 3 effectively - debilitate - FB - and interupt - golds cycle on 15-30 sec CD's generally. If the fight is going south and mob seems like a melee snare kite away spam rifle shot etc....(Lokin is great at interupting as well as healing as you do this). crouch explosive probe.

 

3) A few of the later fights are DPS race interupt fests in the class quest line.

 

4) Clear adds vanish move away cycle buffs/presence buff engage gold.

 

5) Run a warzone so you have all class buffs up then try again if all else fails:).

[Tamanous]

I've always been a med/conceal hybrid which changes the play style greatly but I did find the following was needed once hitting the much harder 40+ mobs:

 

1. I switched to Temple and kept her well geared (easy as she uses same gear as you). Keep her defensive power on and turn off the shared offensive. 2 min cool down that makes her tough as nails for 10 seconds. Her much higher dps is what made her beneficial to me over how poorly the tanks scale at those levels (never tested Scorpio yet fully geared).

 

2. I use companion to open up on elites (silvers first always as they hit harder than golds) and her aoe pulls the entire spawn. I put 2x kolto probe on her which keep her up just as well as a tank or better. I would mop up the trash mobs quickly, stun an elite and slap a heal on Temple as needed then continue killing elites. Typically just before Temple would be risking death I would gain aggro and simply tank the rest of the spawn.

 

3. Against all elites I turn off Temple's aoe and sleep/cc while burning down one or two elites at a time (one aggro'ing Temple and the other me).

 

4. Kept my gear at near current level blues at all times. Had several 47 purples made (my agent is cybertech) and filled all remaining slots with crafted 49 purples which made pve a bloody joke at that point. I did that to grind out pvp mostly for my last 2-3 levels. Oh dear lord did people get destroyed .

 

By doing this I still was able to solo 2+ heroics all through my 40's. The one thing I really wish Bioware would do though is to give agents Orbital Bombardment around level 43. That would make is useful while actually leveling. It is a shame it is basically obtained at the end game.

Edited March 16, 2012 by Tamanous

[QisaBluevixen]

I also suspect your gear. Some elites can be pretty tough even if your gear is on par with your level. Cybertech for armor/mods and commendations for oj armor/enhacements.

[Canis_Anubis]

I'm not quite up to you, but leveling my Operative as a healer is INCREDIBLY easy. I keep Kaliyo and myself geared up (I'm Cybertech), and I use shiv, backstab and explosive probe versus minions, shiv, backstab and corrosive dart versus strongs and above. Everything dies, I'm never in any real trouble, sleep dart and slice droid let me divide and conquer big spawns, and if I ever get CC'd enough that either myself or Kaliyo are in danger, I pop escape and plant Kolto Injection and Surgical Probe.

 

As others have said, cutscene ambushes are probably the worst issue, but even then I just flashbang, heal and wait for Kaliyo to get aggro cemented, then go about my stabby business.

[Mytilus]

hmm interesting feedback thanks guys. Im begining to think i picked the wrong tree in lethality. My gear is not that bad i always buy up to date mods and enhancements and half my gear is moddable equipment. Im also a biochem and have re-usable meds for me and my comp as well as stims and adrenals.

 

I have tried all different tactics to defeat hard mobs but i usually find my healing is inadequate to keep my companion alive. The heals i use are kolto bolt i dont think i have any other heal and it barely lands enough heal to cover the dps so i have to chain heal just to keep her alive as long as poss then when she dies hope i have enough to dps the mob down. Sometimes this works but like i said its a real struggle.

 

I might try using lokin see how he does.

[Ahebish]

Let me just give you a bit of background info. I play a rotation of eight toons so I always get rested bonus that way i'm usually 2-3 levels higher for the area and it makes it relatively easy. I have six imps and 2 pubbies I doubled up on BH and IA's for no particular reason. Anyway like I said I breeze through most content only pausing to consider some of the more difficult encounters but generally I have no problems...that is until I started playing an operative.

 

First 10-15 levels was easy enough, pretty much the same as the sniper which I was also levelling. From 15-30 I really struggled with this guy, couldn't get the hang of whether he was ranged or melee and had to do a lot of thinking about how I should be playing him. I looked at the abilities I was getting at these higher levels and decided I would play more in the style of a rogue from wow, this worked a treat and from level 30-40 I breezed though Taris, Quesh, Hoth and the Alderaan bonus series. I finally though i'd cracked it.

 

I arrived at Belsavis with my level 43 Operative happy that I had finally cracked his playing style only to find that I am once again struggling. It is extremely hard work to play this toon and when I come up against elites particularly gold ones I either scrape through with 2hp or something and having lost my companion or I don't survive at all. I very rarely get these gold elites on the first attempt if at all.

 

So whats the problem here, am I just really bad at this class, does anyone else struggle as much as this, are operatives in need of some extreme buffage. Like I said it is very hard work playing this class I mean hard work on your hands and wrists from using mouse and keyboard but thats not such a big issue its getting ganked all the time when your trying so hard that is soul destroying.

 

It's not you... it's the morons in the other class forums who nerf'd the class so bad people don't realize just how hard it is to play and master.

 

Least of all in PVP

 

I just unsubbed

 

Btw OP... they just nerf'd operatives again, and this time they didn't even spit in our arse first.

 

Enjoy struggling worse in 1.2 than you ever did now post the first 4 nerf's.

Edited March 17, 2012 by Ahebish

[Mytilus]

It's not you... it's the morons in the other class forums who nerf'd the class so bad people don't realize just how hard it is to play and master.

 

Least of all in PVP

 

I just unsubbed

 

Btw OP... they just nerf'd operatives again, and this time they didn't even spit in our arse first.

 

Enjoy struggling worse in 1.2 than you ever did now post the first 4 nerf's.

 

I feel your pain

[subrosian]

My Operative was the first toon I got to 50, and frankly, until I hit Ilum I found it to be amazing. I'm not sure how anyone could complain about sub-50 Operatives... the fact of the matter is that the stealth classes are some of the best for leveling, because you get the option of skipping mobs that are normally a PITA, and the ability to sneak past the waves-and-waves of trash that you don't want to get stuck fighting.

[-yx-]

I leveled my op healing and had the same experience as one of the first posters in this thread - I was actually two to three levels underleveled the entire time (until the end of Corellia when I did wzs to catch up to my class quest) and still had few problems with elites. Can't speak to leveling lethality though.