50 Operative -- ask away

[jbrdude]

Annoying to keep up?

 

and youre giving advice. lollolol

 

You are misreading.

 

I keep Acid Blade up.

 

I am saying it is annoying to keep it up every 15 seconds. Not a fun design mechanic. Regardless, I utilize it.

[jbrdude]

ever find a way to kill those damn sages in PVP?

 

Never had any problems with mage-types.

 

Good BH's can be nasty with their kickback... Sorcs and such go down fairly easily once you are passed their bubble. Interrupt any castable. Once their bar is empty, go for another vanish->hs (purge if needed) -- time it to minimize their potential overload.

[jbrdude]

To play off him, does the ability that gives extra +% healing with TA, does it give PER STACK?

 

Or just a single time?

 

Not sure -- never tested. Easy enough to test though...

[NoDebateReborn]

Does weakening blast boost the damage of cull or only corrosive dart/grenade?

 

Yes. Weakening Blast increases the bonus damage / consumes weakness stacks when Cull is used.

 

Prepping TA then burning Weakening Blast / Corrosive 'Nade + Dart / Frag if outside of range / Shiv if in range / Cull / Cull is great. Don't listen to everyone that rants and raves about Concealment Operatives being the only viable PVP/PVE DPS. Try them both out and make the decision for yourself.

 

For me personally? I prefer Lethality Tree for two reasons. Sort of.

 

1) AOEs + DOTs + AOE-DOT. Speaks for itself. You can spread damage out across multiple targets and can still do damage while focused/fleeing/CC'd.

2) More ways to open on an opponent. The thing Concealment Operatives forget is, there are few ways for you to enter your combo. Since Concealment Op's do the majority (not all) of their damage in Melee, you must close the gap on your target, which may or may not flee you if visible (see: Kiting). While Sever Tendon is a great starter to shutdown a target and get in close for your Melee, Sever Tendon breaks stealth, opting you out from using Hidden Strike, one of your largest sources of melee damage. While you could, in theory, Server Tendon / Cloaking Screen / Hidden Strike / Debilitate / Shiv / etc., it burns your escape and, you're reliant on the long CD of Cloaking Screen. In contrast, Lethality Ops do most of their damage regardless of stealth (though Hidden Strike is always welcome burst) and has a slow built right into their AOE-DOT, Corrosive Grenade, which aids in closing gaps. This leaves Stealth and Cloaking Screen not so much as an opener but rather, an escape mechanism, a scouting tool, and so on.

 

However, Lethality Ops burn Energy Fast. Even with Adrenaline Probe + Stim Boost (mind you, Stim Boost burns TA, preventing you from Culling) you can often "bottom out" on Energy, leaving you with a dreaded few seconds of auto-attacking, until you can begin the dance once again. In contrast, Concealment Ops are fairly light on the consumption of Energy and, since they are not reliant on TA Executions, can freely burn TA on Stim Boost.

 

So again, as I said, I would strongly suggest playing around with both and finding what fits your comfort zone. For me, I feel comfortable with poking at range, then closing in for the kill when victory is certain. I always like having a way out, and I enjoy having a constant flow of damage. That and, I foresee a potential doom for a Concealment friends in the coming weeks. :[

[Svensy]

How do I avoid getting hit for 40% on the first hit as a BH from operatives?

I'm serious. I have 15k health and I get hit for like 40% of my health while in that stun opener.

The only way for me to survive is to pop CDs (I'm a healer)

[fest]

How do I avoid getting hit for 40% on the first hit as a BH from operatives?

I'm serious. I have 15k health and I get hit for like 40% of my health while in that stun opener.

The only way for me to survive is to pop CDs (I'm a healer)

 

Have to wait for Bioware to make so that Operatives don't rely on their opener so much like they said they would. Best thing to do is try to use your stealth detection(do all BHs get this?) effectively and then hope a teammate is willing to help you out.

 

Someone on reddit was saying he was able to crit for 8k with Hidden Strike with relic+adrenal. There isn't avoiding it really.

[Spifnar]

You're wrong. The speed works fine.

 

To elaborate, the +15% speed works fine, but it doesn't stack with Sprint. So the only time that +15% speed helps you is when you are in combat. So it will almost never help while in stealth, because in stealth you are almost always out of combat.

 

It's not a good idea to compare +15 stealth levels from Sneak to +3 stealth levels from Infiltrator

[jbrdude]

How do I avoid getting hit for 40% on the first hit as a BH from operatives?

I'm serious. I have 15k health and I get hit for like 40% of my health while in that stun opener.

The only way for me to survive is to pop CDs (I'm a healer)

 

If you can keep up your anti stealth, that will do it.

 

Otherwise it's trinket and knockback and dot if you can.

 

I did a 8350 crit today in a wz (I think on a lvl 35). And that's only with a few BM pieces... I think my opponent was only lvl 37 though My point? If you don't trinket you will also be eating a Backstab and a shiv and a Lacerate (and potentially another Lacerate) before you can react. That drops most everything I face these days unless they trinket...

[SgtSplacker]

So I come here looking for a stickied guide, nothing. I sort the threads by post count and this thread comes right up to the top. And I see it's full of jackholes and little kids ranking on OP like hes doing something wrong by trying to help people. The best part is that the underlying theme to the sarcasm is that this thread is unnecessary. Wow grow up people.

[yoshimuraswtor]

The 15% speed boost does NOT STACK WITH SPRINT.

 

This should clear up some issues.

 

So if you and your friend are over 14 and racing. You're not winning.

 

and you are not losing ;p

[jbrdude]

New crit record is 10298 screenshotted (had a higher one I unfortunately didn't screenshot):

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/829/10298uploaded.jpg/

 

That sounds high until you see a Jugg or his mirror critting for 10k on an aoe: http://i41.tinypic.com/2mnqjbs.png

 

To date, those screenshots are the 2 highest crits I've seen posted on these forums.

 

The real issue is that buff stacking is op -- and they are addressing it. I still recommend Biochem as, well, what is better even after the nerf?

 

I don't see any material nerfs to our burst without compensation in mobility or utility. And, if they did nerf our burst, they would need to nerf 3 other classes (at least) as well.

Edited January 14, 2012 by jbrdude

[Virindi_UO]

What stats for DPS, healer?

[jbrdude]

What stats for DPS, healer?

 

Cunning is our primary stat, thus focus on that.

 

Power is very useful. A bit of surge is useful to get in the 90-99 range (beyond that is a severe cap dropoff). Crit is good, but generally not at the expense of power. Accuracy, Alacrity -- I wouldn't prioritize these above the others at this point.

 

In PVP I really like the healing Op -- nice for single target healing and incredible in open world pvp (due to element of surprise). With the Ilum changes coming (hopefully next week), things should get fun for us Op's. Of course, we know how deadly the DPS Op is in pvp. For pure WZ matches, Ops are nice -- but force speed and overload and push/pull/jump abilities are game changers.

[jbrdude]

My favorite companion (now) is Ensign Temple for pure dps output (I've tested this quite a bit on various mobs and he has the best results to date). Plus she can use the gear I upgrade out of (which at this point is other battlemaster gear due to duplicates).

 

If I need more survivability (and for easy soloing of gold elites) I go with Doc. Same gear upgrade strategy which makes outfitting easy.

[buffnblue]

New crit record is 10298 screenshotted (had a higher one I unfortunately didn't screenshot):

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/829/10298uploaded.jpg/

 

That sounds high until you see a Jugg or his mirror critting for 10k on an aoe: http://i41.tinypic.com/2mnqjbs.png

 

To date, those screenshots are the 2 highest crits I've seen posted on these forums.

 

The real issue is that buff stacking is op -- and they are addressing it. I still recommend Biochem as, well, what is better even after the nerf?

 

I don't see any material nerfs to our burst without compensation in mobility or utility. And, if they did nerf our burst, they would need to nerf 3 other classes (at least) as well.

 

When you say buff stacking

Exactly what buffs are u sracking.

I cant get but 1stim on me at any given moment

[jbrdude]

First get 400 Biochem. Get the mats you need to make all the best items.

 

Then you can stack things like power adrenals, cunning stims, relics, expertise pvp surges (both vendor and in game), and of course all buffs from other classes.

 

This will change in 1.1 (the amount you can stack) lowering burst potential.

[Mr_Gallows]

First get 400 Biochem. Get the mats you need to make all the best items.

 

Then you can stack things like power adrenals, cunning stims, relics, expertise pvp surges (both vendor and in game), and of course all buffs from other classes.

 

This will change in 1.1 (the amount you can stack) lowering burst potential.

 

And Bioware proves they know their game and don't just destroy it by listing to whiners who really have no clue.

 

Look forward to 1.1. 50's bracket will make WZ a lot more fair, no stacting solves a lot of issues and not just with Ops... other classes are also insane when stacked fully.

 

They should just make a level based hard cap on buffs.

[jbrdude]

I'm looking forward to 1.1 too, though I'm hoping the q times aren't outrageous. Edited January 14, 2012 by jbrdude

[Vortimous]

i didnt see a post about your build (link?) for your level 50 spec for concealment. Could you please post this (sorry If I missed it). I just hit 25 (sorc was my main, this is my alt) and love the Op so far. I originally went up to K probe in the medic then started in concealment, but I decided I just want to role DPS and respecd to get lacerate. I just want to see your link to your final build for concealment. Now I mainly play PvE and solo alot, and I like soloing Heroics (the ones I can do)... I just respeced and will see how much not healing my tank pet will hurt me on heroics, but I am hoping that the extra damage in DPS concealment will allow me to kill faster than worrying about healing pet up all the time.... I am just curious as to what you speced at 50 with all concealment.... what did you put the other 10 points in?

 

Thanks

[EssFerret]

As a burst DPS I don't understand why you wouldn't want to prioritize crit and surge over power. It would seem to me that if you can't sustain fights then it's more important to crit early and often. Can you explain?

[jbrdude]

i didnt see a post about your build (link?) for your level 50 spec for concealment. Could you please post this (sorry If I missed it). I just hit 25 (sorc was my main, this is my alt) and love the Op so far. I originally went up to K probe in the medic then started in concealment, but I decided I just want to role DPS and respecd to get lacerate. I just want to see your link to your final build for concealment. Now I mainly play PvE and solo alot, and I like soloing Heroics (the ones I can do)... I just respeced and will see how much not healing my tank pet will hurt me on heroics, but I am hoping that the extra damage in DPS concealment will allow me to kill faster than worrying about healing pet up all the time.... I am just curious as to what you speced at 50 with all concealment.... what did you put the other 10 points in?

 

Thanks

 

Acid blade is key. There are a lot of (imho) nice-to-have skills, but not necessary. I personally vary my things around quite a bit. If I want to be more defensive (sometimes I like to be), I'll get endurance and chem-resistant. Sometimes I'll take slip-away. Generally I shy away from Deadly Directive, Precision Instruments, and Survival Training. Pin Down depends on your play-style (I generally like it). Energy screen is another interesting one -- depends on your group composition. I don't have a set build -- I like to keep changing things up for testing, group composition, goals, etc. Money isn't an issue anymore -- this respec fee (which resets) is never an issue.

[jbrdude]

As a burst DPS I don't understand why you wouldn't want to prioritize crit and surge over power. It would seem to me that if you can't sustain fights then it's more important to crit early and often. Can you explain?

 

It depends on your gear (and buffs and group composition). Some surge is nice -- but, since there are diminishing returns on it, no point stacking it beyond a certain point. So, use the BM crit/surge trinket. Power doesn't have diminishing returns. I havn't done the math yet to know the exact power/crit trade-off -- the general rule of thumb seems to be power is nicer until your crit gets high enough, then it becomes better (crit also has diminshing returns).

[Vortimous]

Acid blade is key. There are a lot of (imho) nice-to-have skills, but not necessary. I personally vary my things around quite a bit. If I want to be more defensive (sometimes I like to be), I'll get endurance and chem-resistant. Sometimes I'll take slip-away. Generally I shy away from Deadly Directive, Precision Instruments, and Survival Training. Pin Down depends on your play-style (I generally like it). Energy screen is another interesting one -- depends on your group composition. I don't have a set build -- I like to keep changing things up for testing, group composition, goals, etc. Money isn't an issue anymore -- this respec fee (which resets) is never an issue.

 

What do you mean this respec fee (which resets?) What do you mean by that.. I thought it keeps going up... when does it reset?

 

Okay, post what you think would be a good leveling spec (all the way to 50) using concealment....

[Oneiros_IV]

How does concealment shots web sustained pve dmg?

[jbrdude]

How does concealment shots web sustained pve dmg?

 

Right now it seems pretty good, though without true dps meters it is too subjective to tell. I do feel like I'm making a significant contribution though (and see lots of "wow nice damage/fast boss kill/etc" messages from others in groups).