I seem to have the most difficult time deciding between the sniper and operative. I was hoping for a run & gun commando. Instead I have the operative which is stealth/heal/melee/few range in lethality and the sniper who his position/attack. My ideal agent is somewhere between those two. But here is what I'm wondering to help me make my choice:

Which of the agent's advanced classes do you find more useful and fun in pvp (nerfs aside - assuming balance will be reestablished).

For those that have played both of the advanced classes past level 20-25, what do you like and not like about the two?

In general, which of the two classes is more rare on your servers?

i personaly like the OP better.

i have a 36 sniper, and then rolled an OP and got him to 50. i just find they are more fun to play. cooler skills, mobility, stealth exc.

Sniper is just cover/shoot,shoot,shoot run. cover shoot/shoot/shoot exc.

I have a 48 Sniper and a 50 Operative. I definitely enjoy the Operative much more than my Sniper. I don't like the sniper's lack of mobility and utility relative to the operative.

PvE is easier on my operative because I have heals. I can solo champions a few levels higher than myself while I have Dr. Lokin out. I can't kill them fast, but I can kill them by myself. Additionally, I can skip through a mission to the objective instead of wasting my time clearing the way there. Operatives can solo many of the 2 and 4 man heroic missions in the game. My sniper moves very slowly through all areas and needs to group more often, but the one thing I do like about sniper is that I am never struggling to fill my rotation. I am constantly putting out damage.

PvP is easier on my operative because I have cloak. Sniper is capable of some decent damage, but enemies know that it is coming and can therefore heal through it, move out of range, LoS or use defensive cooldowns. Operatives can deliver similar damage without giving the enemy the chance to prepare. Cloaking also gives operative much more survivability because it provides them with a way to escape from an enemy. Sniper has tools to keep the enemy at a distance, but is not able to get away from an enemy that is set on attacking them.

**Almost forgot - the Sleep Dart ability of Operative is tremendously useful in PvE content. It makes an enormous difference when you decrease the number of enemies you have to fight by one.

Both advanced classes can be pretty ridic in pvp if played right. From what you describe, I'd either go operative or a lethality specced sniper. With both of these you get to be very mobile and deal good damage, without all the cover and immobility that comes with the marksmanship tree.

Personally, I roll a lethality/engineering specced sniper at level 50. I NEVER use cover unless doing a quick explosive probe, and more often than not have the highest damage output of any in the WZ (I'm about all champ gear at this point, a few centurion pieces). Personally, I love the spec, and I love this class.

Operatives are fun, but I feel that it would get kind of boring after a while. You're kind of helpless outside of your opener. I feel sniper/lethality you can at least have some flexibility, and you can deal massive aoe damage, which is great in pvp. That's my two cents, anyway.

Go OP.

Being a sniper in PVP is like being THE companion itself.

Earlier tonight, I told a BM Sniper I think he's the most dangerous RDPS in the 50 bracket on my server. He destroys 'pubs, if you keep him alive (I play a healer). Everyone notices Concealment Ops more, of course, due to the 'throw you to the ground, then stab you in the face' attack style. But a good sniper does gigantic piles of damage. Both AC's reward a player who thinks tactically and does a bit of planning before charging in.

If you ever decide PvE sounds fun, RDPS are always in higher demand (it's an mmo raiding cliche).

For PvE go sniper. There are only 3 ACs who are capable of ranged damage, and sniper is one of them.

The ratio MeleeDD:RangeDD is like 10:1. On my server Ranged is really missing in raid-environment.

have a 50 sniper and a 48 operative(leveled operative at launch)

sniper is in all regards less straining on my nerves.

1.) youre very very rarely unable to attack your target

2.) you have more tools available to you to deal with someone attacking you -

2 knockbacks(1 being talented), legshot, talented snare, area deny(cast orbital strike on yourself when a melee attacks you), CC-immunity while in cover, charge immunity while in cover, more reliable burst (sometimes its even a chore just to catch up to someone with low HP when youre in stealth as they move faster than you or at the same speed)...

3.) more control over a fight

however operatives do have their advantages

1.) stealth, major advantage on ilum or when youre losing a WZ, you can just stealth and do whatever it is you want to do.

2.) self-heals - as a sniper you rely on biochem/medpacks.

other than that i really do enjoy my sniper more.

i personaly like the OP better.

 

i have a 36 sniper, and then rolled an OP and got him to 50. i just find they are more fun to play. cooler skills, mobility, stealth exc.

 

Sniper is just cover/shoot,shoot,shoot run. cover shoot/shoot/shoot exc.

Mobility as an OP? You have... 10m 2 second root *gasp*. That about covers your mobility, LOL. Prepare to be kited, rooted and knocked back.

Lethality? No dispel protection = Lethality useless when it will matter (aka rated warzones). Go have fun with randoms, no one cares.

Mobility as an OP? You have... 10m 2 second root *gasp*. That about covers your mobility, LOL. Prepare to be kited, rooted and knocked back.

 

Lethality? No dispel protection = Lethality useless when it will matter (aka rated warzones). Go have fun with randoms, no one cares.

Read through the OP again. He wants mobility as in moving around. Not "mobility" as in never allowing the enemy to move.

That is basically a lethality sniper or an operative. Anything that isn't forced to stay in one spot in cover all the time.

I have a 50 sniper and a 50 OP and can offer this:

While playing my sniper, I feel that I have much more control over the fight once it's started. If someone is attacking me, I always feel like I have a chance to beat anyone 1v1. The class requires a good sense of situational awareness and an ability to kite when needed.

While playing my OP I have more fun. There's something more visceral about getting in close and doing a fast burst on some unsuspecting person. Stealth grants initiative and you have a wonderful escape mechanism when you want it.

It's really about personal taste. I enjoy both for very different reasons. I do find that while melee range can be frustrating at times, that I have more fun playing my OP in pvp.

EDIT: Just be aware that you really don't get a feel for both classes until about level 36 or so. If you roll one, understand that both classes take some time to really develop.

My operative's damage was totally reliant on stealth, and these mobs kept on un-stealthing me, putting me in a room full of 5+ strongs. Ops simply cannot solo, and are only great for bursting down trash, and with pauses to stealth in between.

My level 39 operative as of now is spec'd to heal, which I enjoy more because once you get a heavy DPS companion, you're invincible.

As for PvP, I felt that I was doing pretty good. After getting to 36 - the most important ability of all - Hidden Strike - was given to me. I then leveled a whole level that day (Big deal, I level slowly!), and was getting tons more medals (7+ as opposed to 4 and 5). Okay yes, I was kill farming. Really, the operative doesn't offer much to the objective based Huttball other than the cliche stealth to the enemy goal line to be interceded or passed to. In Voidstar and Alderaan, I can generally flashbang > Turret > *LoS so that the 8 sec Flashbang allows me to cap, if timed right* > Enemy breaks > Escape to stealth > Sleep dart. Sleep dart is either 8 or 20 seconds - I cannot remember. If it's the former, the whole plan is useless. If its the latter, free cap. Wave teammates over.

My level 35 sniper is spec'd MM, and does some amazing Burst in PvP at 30, crazy more in 32. It does, however, require you to use ALL of your skills. I can quickly turn the tide of a fight to save my life by spamming snipe if need be. Near the end of a 1v1, sacrificing energy to save health is necessary sometimes.

I took a brake off my sniper because I got to Taris - a place where junk and Rakghouls are. Sniper is single target DPS - not the best for cycling around dealing with trash mobs. be forewarned: I did awful in PvP pre-30, and even in PvE, I had to wait for the cooldown on Flashbang. I can credit this to crappy gear. I was level 26, and the level 20 PvP gear was a numerous change. I then proceeded to farm WZ Comms to max out gear. Then I spent all my Nar Shaddaa comms and ran Black Talon to get orange sets. Nuking things down ever since.

DD Operative stealth is a case double-edged sword, it is awesome in many ways, but the problem is that you NEED it to do good.

Operatives seem to be having quite a lot of issues delivering their damage, the moment they are going against people who know what they are doing. You are melee and you are squishy and your only real defense is 2 min CD combat stealth.

Also operatives have no real gap closer, in many cases something as simple as one good knockback is basically all that is needed to make them useless for the next 20 or more seconds.

Sniper, on the other hand, has the easiest time delivering damage in PvP - you have excellent range and you are immune to interrupts in cover and even have CC immunity on-demand, which is quite a big deal, when you go against people who know what they are doing.

While some Operative is stealthing around in frustration trying to find some sickly deer to take out, Sniper is already in a full "pewpewpew" mode, spraying bullets everywhere, while enjoying a relative safety of range and extra CC in his toolbox.

Operatives are good at getting away from nearly hopeless situations, but on the other hand they are much more prone to get dragged into those situations due to melee requirement to begin with.

Thank you everyone for the input so far. For those who play sniper:

What do you feel you gain as a sniper for the loss of stealth and healing from the operative? What does a sniper bring to a group in addition to damage?

I've figured that cover is a good substitute for stealth (knock back/charge protection & defense).

I seem to have the most difficult time deciding between the sniper and operative. I was hoping for a run & gun commando. Instead I have the operative which is stealth/heal/melee/few range in lethality and the sniper who his position/attack. My ideal agent is somewhere between those two. But here is what I'm wondering to help me make my choice:

 

Which of the agent's advanced classes do you find more useful and fun in pvp (nerfs aside - assuming balance will be reestablished).

 

For those that have played both of the advanced classes past level 20-25, what do you like and not like about the two?

 

In general, which of the two classes is more rare on your servers?

You want a lethality sniper. Operatives are far to reliant on stealth openers and melee to be a real force in PvP outside ganking noobs. With lethality sniper you have the best mobility in the game and retain 30m range and much better burst that doesn't rely on stealth to happen.

Thank you everyone for the input so far. For those who play sniper:

 

What do you feel you gain as a sniper for the loss of stealth and healing from the operative? What does a sniper bring to a group in addition to damage?

 

I've figured that cover is a good substitute for stealth (knock back/charge protection & defense).

What do you feel you gain as a sniper for the loss of stealth and healing from the operative? Nothing

What does a sniper bring to a group in addition to damage? 5% crit buff?

I've figured that cover is a good substitute for stealth (knock back/charge protection & defense) Doesnt prevent knock backs & there are so many ways to counter the charge thing.

Being a sniper, at least in PVP, it sucks right now. I play on a server with alot of good players and you hardly see any snipers. You get focused, you are dead, that simple. What kills us is the damage mitigation, the lack of CC that DOESNT break on damage & energy.

Go OP and enjoy it. You still rip face in PVP. As an OP you will actually LOVE snipers because u can just walk up on them and kablam...take 50% of their HP away while they are CCed.

For a run-and-gun playstyle you are looking at getting a Lethality sniper.

Your standard attacks would be Corrosive Grenade, Corrosive Dart, Weakening Blast, Cull, Takedown. Of these 5 skills, 4 can be done on the move while chasing a target / kiting a melee, and only 1 needs you to be stationary (Cull is a 3 second channel)

No other class really offers a run and gun playstyle: Mercs require you to stand still to fire Tracer Missile (their bread and butter skill) while Sorcs also need to stand still for most of their rotation.

If you indeed roll Sniper - roll it for the Dot-Cull'n'Run Lethality spec.

PvP Wise, and currently, the rest of the AC is just inferior than it.

Sadly in my case; I rolled a Sniper to be just that, a Sniper. Therefore I'm "stuck" with MM and I have to work twice as much as the other classes to achieve similar results. Unluckily for me.. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you everyone for the input so far. For those who play sniper:

 

What do you feel you gain as a sniper for the loss of stealth and healing from the operative? What does a sniper bring to a group in addition to damage?

 

I've figured that cover is a good substitute for stealth (knock back/charge protection & defense).

What you gain as a Sniper over Operative is quite simple: you have a much easier time delivering damage. You do not have any restraints of melee or stealth AC, you can just run into position and gun people down right away. There are other differences, like Sniper having more and better CC, for example.

Cover and stealth are two completely different mechanics, I don't think you can categorize it as a substitute. Cover is a much whined about mechanic and not for a good reason, IMO. It does grant you quite a few edges over other Ranged AC's, namely built-in pushback/interrupt immunity, CC block on demand and the fact that you can't be leaped or pulled in PvP while in cover, which may sound like a small thing, but that Marauder you just knocked off the ledge will disagree. There are other small perks, but let's not get off the topic too far.

Utility, we are a damage dealer, your no.1 utility is to kill people. One of our strengths is an excellent array of all kinds of CC and pseudo-CC like root or specced accuracy debuff. How useful you are outside of damage is in your hands, you do get tools to make people rage outside damage.

When I look at the ACs, it's primarily through the lens of how they behave as lethality spec. I'm pretty confident in the damage delivery and cover-independent/run n' gun style play of the lethality sniper.

A lethality operative on the other hand has the restriction of needing TA for culls (but you do get no cooldown & I believe lower energy usage).

A pure lethality build pretty much needs you to run into melee to shiv so you can build that TA. I've been playing around with the idea of leveraging the TA generation ability of the medicine tree to pair with lethality - the 18/0/23 build that already seems to be out there.

In theory, this build should allow you to leverage stealth to move around, use your heals to keep you & your team alive, and allow the heals to generate TA to use on culls. So while you can still use the odd shiv when you need a TA, you are not super dependent on it.

The main challenge with this build is that it pretty much needs you to be 50 to make it work. And I have no idea how effective the 18/0/23 build is...Has anyone tried it at all? Is there really as much synergy as I *think* there is in TA generation with heals and expenditure with culls? It seems like an attrition build..

Once again, thank you for all the input so far - it's good to see what different people are experiencing.

WOW, I cna't believe the thigns I have been readin gon this post. I play a sniper in PvP and it honetsly sucks something awful. Snipers have no real cc, at all. cc meaning you can stun them and shoot them without breakign the cc. We have one knock back which last 2 seconds bu tbefore that even happens you have to set up your cover so it is anything but instant. Leg shot is garbage. Leg shot someone on the run and by the time it hits them they are with'in 30 meters and are in range anyways, so NO range advantage, ever. It takes less than a second to cover 5 meters. Also leg shot is good for 2 seconds... enough for one snipe? Really? You get tossed in a WW so you use escape to break out... then you get shocked for 2 full seconds and take whatever damage for that two seconds they decide to dish out. Another senerio, some guys sees you and heads your way since your an easy target. You leg shot him ASAP when he is in range, he breaks that 'cc' by using a cd of his own and charges you. You pop cover plus to knock him back so then what? He uses sprint which breaks movement imparing affects and he is on you anyways. Your done.

This is a sniper class, where is the range advantage again? Why do we only have one single escape? You can spec into counter strike but that is usless when your force choked, you break it then your feared on the ground or just simply knocked back into fire of off a cliff. Sniper 1v1 is an absolute joke.

I'm valor 56 and I'm really really close to dropping pvp altogether with this toon. Everyone across the boards complain about to much cc.... well I promise snipers have nothign to add to that. Maybe they shoudl take some away from other classes and add just one more to snipers, or another escape or soemthing. I may even like the range increased to 40 since 35 is obsolete.

This one guy told me 'you have to pick your battles'. In other words... dont' start ANY fights with anyone, just help out other people, make their 1v1 a 2v1. If they see you first your done. I've played all specs and even a couple hybrid specs just for pvp. Pvp relies on mobility, period. So I have been using Lethality. I have been doing more damage but my 1v1 is still a joke when faced with someone of equal gear level.

Snipers have no sprints, leaps, pushes, pulls, charges... nothing. They walk. Someone mentioned snipers have so many tools to use? LOL No, they don't.

When I get into a WZ and I see other snipers, I know it will be a loss. Funny thing is though, when I see several sith warriors and inquisitors I know we have a good chance to win. Sniper pvp is just simply no fun and downright stressful.

Being a sniper, at least in PVP, it sucks right now. I play on a server with alot of good players and you hardly see any snipers. You get focused, you are dead, that simple. What kills us is the damage mitigation, the lack of CC that DOESNT break on damage & energy.

Isn't that the truth...

I enter a WZ on my 50 sniper and I'm pretty much insta-focused by 3 players. Most people have realized that a sniper/gunslinger left ignored is a sniper/gunslinger that just killed all the soft targets on your team. Thus, snipers/gunslingers are generally one of the first to die.

Just the way it is. *shrugs*

Isn't that the truth...

I enter a WZ on my 50 sniper and I'm pretty much insta-focused by 3 players. Most people have realized that a sniper/gunslinger left ignored is a sniper/gunslinger that just killed all the soft targets on your team. Thus, snipers/gunslingers are generally one of the first to die.

 

Just the way it is. *shrugs*

Agree with this and the poster before. I just recently reached 50 as a MM sniper. I was having a blast until then, but once you get in the 50 only WZ, they focus on snipers because they are easy prey. There is also the gear inbalance where I have Cent gear at best and they are full BM.

I believe the Op's would at least have the ability to pick their fights. Sniper has no such luxury. I'm not sure if respeccing to lethality would even help since I'd still be the first one focused. Look like a sniper and you may as well paint a target on your back.

I'm not sure if respeccing to lethality would even help since I'd still be the first one focused.

Lethality gives you mobility and fairly high AC-independent damage, since a good chunk of the damage is of the internal variety. The downside is that its possibly the single most energy inefficient tree in game. At 31 Lethality, expect to use 80 points of your energy on your combo. Corrosive Dart: 20 energy; Corrosive Grenade: 20 energy;Weakening Blast:10 energy; Cull: 30 energy. To make matters worse, your only form of energy management (besides not spamming skills) is Adrenaline Probe and critical DoT ticks.

Personally, I did not like the tree's ratio of energy consumption vs energy regeneration. Some people like the tree however, So I'd say try it out, see if it works for you.