I cant decide on my AC

[ahrimen]

Hi, im new to the game, having played less than a week, I rolled a Agent because I read they had one of if not the best story and have really enjoyed the playstyle. I hit level 10 and am having a very hard time deciding whether to go Operative or Sniper.

 

I would like to engage in all aspects of the game pve, pvp and flashpoints (dungeons?)

 

I dont mind rolling as heals if it means lower time to get into groups, but some of the talk involving healers in pvp worries me, I also am a little worried about the damage of the operative in pve. Ive been going back and forth.

 

Advice would be most welcome,

 

Thank you

[Usefulidiots]

Hey bud

 

Well, depends on what you really feel like playing. Op has the healing and stealth and sniper is straight dps. As of now, the sniper is a really good class to play in both pve and pvp. I am speaking more of pvp though. They are tough.

But, sometimes you feel like healing, or maybe you just want to stealth through that pve zone to the next objective.

 

The best suggestion I can make is to create the opposite AC on the republic side. That way you can see how the class is played differently as well as enjoy a new story. Unlike myself were I have alts of the same AC's on the same side, etc etc. i have a mess on my hands.

 

Good luck, and enjoy the game.

[Chiyeko]

I have both around lvl 25 now and I enjoy the operative more, dps is a tad lower, but lvling is actually faster for 2 reasons:

 

1: Being a healer means faster groups for flaspoints

 

2: Stealth means you can skip so many mobs that reward to little exp to be worth while to kill that you actually gain exp faster because you complete quests faster. A sniper even when overleveld will most of the time still be force to fight through pack after pack of mobs which takes up a lot of time for little to no rewards.

 

In the short the operative is just more flexible and when **** hits the fan you cloak away and chuckle while your sniper body dies (which for a sub is fine for F2P is a pita).

 

Also reason why I didn't like my sniper is the whole sniper role which sounds fun until you notice you still are shooting mobs in pistol range of 35 which just doesn't feel like being sniper, specially if you like me have some some sniping in planet side 2.

[MickyJuulke]

2: Stealth means you can skip so many mobs that reward to little exp to be worth while to kill that you actually gain exp faster because you complete quests faster. A sniper even when overleveld will most of the time still be force to fight through pack after pack of mobs which takes up a lot of time for little to no rewards.

 

I wonder about that, I use a lot of stealthing and find I have trouble keeping up with lvls, just got to Correlia at lvl 46. And I've done most questlines, including bonus lines, even got the 30% exp boost to class quests (legacy), use exp boosts, sleep in rest zones. I didn't have that problem with my sith warrior and trooper. I think all those pesky lil mobs add up to quite a bit of exp in the end.

[krakadyla]

Some mobs give bonus XP for those "Stage 1 - kill N things" missions. I used to test-kill one mob to see if it grants that - if yes, do the mission, if no, keep merrily sneaking past. Hit 50 on Voss with this tactics +25% boosts + always rested, no PvP or flashpoints and a few sneakable heroics.

 

And snipers "snipe" at pistol range? Really? Well, here goes my wish to try a sniper, because pft, what's the point then?

[z-monty]

Hey there!

 

I wont bore you with how each class is played since I assume you know the basic mechanics of a close combat, mobile style vs. a long range, stationary style. That said, you can easily pick both and have a blast. Like you said, Agent is the best story in the game, so no one will blame you if you play both!

 

Operatives are much more mobile, probably the most mobile of all classes, and this is what makes them probably the best healer in PvP right now. Despite being a bit squishy if focused, if you get left alone or simply go 1 on 1 you have a nice chance of surviving and annoying your pursuer enough that he gives up or keeps trying in vain to kill you. An Op healer left alone is a dangerous thing, at least if you go the healing route. An Op healer was my first MMO character ever, and I've had an absolute blast playing it. Once you get the hang of it, they are awesome.

 

An Operative's damage is a bit more tricky to get the hang of. They are perfectly doable, by all means, although it takes a higher learning curve to learn how to play them, as they rely on a lot of DoTs and knowing when to cast certain abilities that lead to others, etc. You wont do as much damage as Sents/Maras in PvP but you also shouldn't be. You can be a giant pain in the ***** in PvP if you know what you're doing.

 

Snipers have great damage for PvE and PvP, and can be a threat if left unchecked, which is easy to do since they hang in the background and can't be jumped to / pushed or pulled, another great PvP ability. Unlike Ops, however, they are very stationary, and you'll find you only move around when you need to re-position yourself. Otherwise you are basically a turret.

 

Both classes are great, and I like the idea of creating the opposite class on the Republic faction just so you can get a feel for both if you dont want to make two Agents. It's all about finding the style of play you enjoy most, stationary turret, or running around stabbing/healing. Once you find that, run with it and have fun! Hope this helps!!

[MishraArtificer]

Both classes are great, and I like the idea of creating the opposite class on the Republic faction just so you can get a feel for both if you dont want to make two Agents.

...or you can play the Agent story twice in two COMPLETELY different ways (seriously, some quests change depending on your previous light/dark choices in previous quests, some dialogue options even change just depending on which race you chose at the character select screen), and have essentially two different experiences. And even if you choose to play the Agent story through twice the same way, that's still okay...because the Agent story is that damned good.

[Banderal]

Hmm, I hope the agent story picks up like people are saying. I've gotten through chapter 1 so far, and I have to say, I saw that coming. Although the big light/dark choice you are stuck with is kinda nice. Personally, so far, I have liked the BH story the best. It's the only one so far where it really felt personal to me. It's about all the cr@p that people are doing specifically to *YOU*, vs. being a pawn in a much larger story. But anyway...

 

Yeah, I guess healers and tanks have it easy when it comes to popping group-finder queues. PvP it doesn't matter, because it doesn't balance teams in any way. As far as stealthing through mobs, I absolutely *love* this ability. One of the things I dislike about this game is fighting your way to the back of a dungeon and finishing the quest, and then all the mobs have respawned and you have to fight your way back out again (assuming your quick travel is on CD). So stealthing past all that "junk" is awesome. I've leveled several stealth classes, and I never had the trouble one other poster mentioned, about not being able to keep my level up. I tended to fight the monsters enough to get the bonus missions complete, and then stealth the rest. I mixed in some PvP though, so maybe that's why I was able to always keep at least a couple levels ahead of the PvE quests.

[MishraArtificer]

Hmm, I hope the agent story picks up like people are saying. I've gotten through chapter 1 so far, and I have to say, I saw that coming. Although the big light/dark choice you are stuck with is kinda nice. Personally, so far, I have liked the BH story the best. It's the only one so far where it really felt personal to me. It's about all the cr@p that people are doing specifically to *YOU*, vs. being a pawn in a much larger story. But anyway...

When you start getting into Chapter 2, I ASSURE you...

 

...you will learn to hate the word "onomataphobia".

[Banderal]

When you start getting into Chapter 2, I ASSURE you...

 

...you will learn to hate the word "onomataphobia".

 

Well, I've now heard it once, and I already hate it.

[Elyxin]

I enjoy the Op story allot. But I've found (played almost all the classes so far), that Story enjoyment is also a very personal thing. you will pick up aspects of a story that feel better to you, or you enjoy more.

 

As an example, I enjoyed the consular storyline, which many think to be one of the worst in the game. I liked it allot. I also enjoy the Operative story, more then the BH...I liked the BH, but it didn't hit me as much overall as the Op story (quite a few "woah" moments in the Op story).

 

So far my favorite overall is the smuggler story. i love the combo of the treasure hunt + smuggler side jobs + the attitude of the smuggler is fantastic. very fun. I think second for me would be Operative, and then the warrior/consular are tied.

 

I think most of the details about the differences in AC's have been covered though...not much to add to that. both are great classes, just depends on what you want to play. The biggest impact for me was the turret/vs. stealth mobility. the sniper is just too much stay in one place shoot stuff. I couldn't get into the concept of having to drop a shield every time i want to shoot something. but the balance of mobility, melee, ranged, and stealth with the Op made it fun for me. that was my choice of cookies.

[KaosBlader]

I came to the forums about to ask this same question. I've got my Powetech to 55 as DPS and am in the process of gearing for HM Ops, got 3 pieces of 69 gear (1 Arkanian, 2 Black market or whatever its called) and my Sorc is about 50% of the way through level 53 as a healer.

 

I must say, i'm enjoying the Sorc quite a lot more than the Powertech ATM. The ability to change from Healer to DPS with a simple respec is amazing. I know PTs can be tanks but tanking is reasonably similar to DPS, given it takes a lot more awareness and skill to tank than just spank with DPS, but as a tank your still bashing on mobs/bosses to hold threat and taunt/defensive cooldowns when needed. (i'm not saying its easy, i plan on trying it once i get my hands on some tanking gear on my powertech)

 

I've levelled 4 characters to 50, Powertech, Sorc, Sage, Marauder and the one thing that i've been longing for each time is stealth.

 

For that reason and that reason alone i'm going to go with Operative. In the same gear as a sniper, a sniper will always out DPS an operative, and stealth stuns and CCs (very handy when running ops/flashpoints to get passed mobs without aggroing them).

 

For those that don't read walls of text, i'll sum it up.

 

Operative = different styles of gameplay, decent DPS + heals + stealth

Sniper = Great DPS, Good DPS, Ranged DPS

[Infinitor]

I'm not one for advice, but as a Sniper i might as well give my input.

 

Snipers are great for pvp games. Their high dps will almost guarantee that you get all the commendations you need. Snipers are great for defending objectives in game.

 

As a sniper, from dromund kaas to the end of chapert 1, i was completely independent form my companion. A sniper can really solo most of the first act while your companions work on crew skills.

 

Just a side note, i was built into the engineering skill tree, which i find helps one stand out from the traditional sniper.

 

Hope I helped some.