So my main is an Assassin, and I have 3 other 50s Gaurdian, Mara, Merc. Right now I am leveling a Sniper, Operative, Sorc and probably a PT. My goal here is to have as many 50's as possible with maxed professions before 2.0.

Now, my questions. I am leveling my Operative as Concealment and all in all, this spec feels really really clunky. Granted I am only level 39 so I dont know if things change a bit with acid blade or not. But like, I have to stay above 60 nrg to keep things smooth, but I find I am quite often sitting with my Backstab/Shiv on cd and no TA for Laceration. Seems there is always this 3-4 second gap after I spend my TA on Laceration. What am I supposed to be using as a filler till my TA generators come off of cd. Overload Shot and Rifle Shot come to mind but these abilities seem to take the synergy out of the spec. Using Overload will ensure that I start fighting from the backside of my nrg bar and Rifle shot seems so damn weak in damage.

The reason I mentioned the other AC's I am currently leveling or playing is these other AC's seem to have quite a bit of flow and synergy between abilities, with Operative it feels like the global cd is longer than the others. I know everyone is on a 1.5sec cd but like, that animations are fast, so I pop an ability, and wait a sec and pop another and so on. Is it the lack of casting and channeling of the Concealment Op that is making me notice the "relative" increase in global cd?

Another thing that I noticed that sticks out to me is that the mechanics of this AC just seems, counter productive. Its just harder than the rest of the AC's. First you have to manage your nrg, and it is challenging because you spend 90% of your time in the top half of your nrg bar so most of it is wasted. Pretty much same for Sniper and Bounty Hunter. But on top of managing nrg you also have to wait for abilities on CD, again not unfamiliar territory as other classes with a complex nrg pool also have to watch for abilities with cool down timers. But the kicker is Tactical Advantage. Having to track this mechanic seems to just put icing on the cake. I mean seriously, why not just get rid of this and put Laceration on a cd or have it proc off of Shiv/Backstab, and give us a melee ability we can spam as a filler, or just take the cd off of shiv so we can spam that.

I am sorry I went from a question to crying about the AC.

Anyways, what abilities should I use as filler if Shiv is on cd and I have no TA built up. Also, does this spec get smoother as I get closer to 50?

For most things, you're correct. Yes, Overload Shot isn't worth it, if you plan on fighting a bit longer. Just not enough dmg/energy.

Yes, you are supposed to use Rifle Shots in between your attacks. Falling below 60 energy will hurt you, and managing energy and TAs can be a pain.

What I think was the point behind a tiered energy regen system and the TA requirement: Allow for burst, but leave the character in a weakened state afterwards. That this comes around to bite you in the backside when you want to go for sustained damage, well...

It's still possible to deal okay damage. Of course, if you're dishing out great damage as an operative, you'd probably deal even more damage as another AC, but still - you do ok for operations. The ones I did, anyway. Just takes a while getting used to.

Basically, only use Shiv if you have 1 TA, and only drop that last TA if you don't fight anything in the next 10 seconds. Keeping 1 stack of TA increases damage by 3% and allows you to throw in a quick stim boost when it's about to run out.

Since you're nearly lvl40, I'll just give you a rotation for standard PvE mobs including Acid Blade:

> Acid blade + Hidden strike

> Shiv ----------------------------- (that puts you at 2 TAs, Use 1 for Stim Boost)

> Corrosive Dart --------------- (on the highest difficulty mob (usually elite/strong))

> Lacerate ----------------------- (hopefully collateral strike for another TA, in which case Lacerate again)

> Shiv ------------------------------- (from here there is no rotation, it requires quick judgement to decide your attacks)

> Acid blade + backstab ------- (or use earlier on different mob, just don't overlap your acid blade DoTs) >

The reason your fighting feels so clunky is that, from what you wrote, would I be right in saying you don't use Corrosive Dart? That wastes potential TAs from Collateral Strike and reduces your available attacks. I never lacerate unless they are DoT'ed or if I know the Lacerate will kill them and therefore provide another TA.

Explosive probe does good damage and is especially nice for burst but is energy-expensive and is only up once every 30 seconds. I don't think it falls into a "filler" role at all.

In terms of a "filler" attack for classes that need to stop using resources to stay above optimal level, explosive probe won't do the trick, but I do use it to "fill" in the gap between a lacerate and the next shiv if it is up. I'm not sure what makes the rotation clunky to the OP, as rifle shot is equivalent to any filler other classes might use.

I really appreciate the tips guys, definitely helping me out. I just got to 40 and what a difference Acid Blade makes. My targets are dropping quite a bit faster and because of this my targets are dead with in the first couple Lacerations so I am not stuck with them at 30% health and not having my abilities on cd and no stacks of TA. And as far as 3-5 pulls with weak mobs, well since they are dying faster, I get TA faster and it is definitely speeding up leveling.

I guess the clunky style of gameplay that I am noticing is just that I am not used to Operative. My main is a Sin and things seem to flow really really easy. I don't know why, but when I fill with Rifle Shot it just feels off to me. Here I am using all melee abilities and then I got to fill with a weak ranged attack at melee range just to start melee again when I have enough nrg. I am just used to Sin were I can use all the force I need, and my regen rate in the same no matter what my force pool is. I am used to working from the bottom of my bar the same as I work at the top. With Op you got to completely change your rotation if you get to the backside of your nrg bar.

Anyways enough of my rant, thanks again everyone and I promise to take this guy to 50 and try everything out quite a bit and give this AC a chance.

I don't know why, but when I fill with Rifle Shot it just feels off to me. Here I am using all melee abilities and then I got to fill with a weak ranged attack at melee range just to start melee again when I have enough nrg.

You'll experience the same thing on a powertech as well; you have thus far leveled classes where the filler attack range matches the range of primary damage abilities. It certainly would be "cooler" having a small knife attack that costs no energy, but for whatever reason only one type per base class exists.