I had a few questions regarding these classes for the PvE DPS roles.

1st, generally speaking which do you who have played them find to be more fun to play, the operative/scoundrel or the GS/ Sniper?

With regard to the mirror classes which side do you think has the better eye candy as far as abilities/ animations/ effects etc? You spend countless hours on them so for me, it sometimes comes down to the eye candy. For example, I have both a Merc and a Commando and I dont think its even close, the merc is so much better to play as it has much much cooler looking skills, missiles and rockets FTW! Same with the Powertech over the VG. Flamethrowers and rockets over a swiss army knife gun anyday.

In asking in general chat most said sniper over gunslinger but with over 200 in general now it was hard to ask more.

Any insight you could give me would be greatly appreciated. I have a level 65 token to use so that's what this is about.

TY

On the whole for fun factor, I prefer Scoupretives. They have Stealth (sooooooo useful), a diverse bag of tricks, high mobility in a fight, and though I know you mentioned DPS specifically, I do find it handy to be able to buy the field spec bonus and use nearly the same gear to switch to a healer role when I've got a team in a pinch.

On the visuals side, I prefer Scoundrels to Operatives, mostly, but it's pretty close (and I do, for what its worth, prefer Operative animations on healing). It does depend a little on which DPS spec you want to use, though.

Scrapper vs. Concealment is basically "knives (Ops) vs. fists (Scoundrels)", with my preference for Scoundrels coming mostly from the fact that the Scoundrel gets a little mileage out of their gun in that build (I dislike the Powertech/Sage/Sorcerer approach of a weapon that's nothing more than a stat stick, and Concealment Operatives have that problem).

On Ruffian vs. Lethality, it's mostly that there's one particular attack, Lethal Strike, which has an awkward "knife-wiggle" animation versus the cooler looking from-the-hip shot that Scoundrels get instead with Point Blank Shot.

That's my take on it, anyway.

For what it's worth, you can create a character with that 65 token, then immediately exit out of the story, go to the fleet or capital, and test animations on a training dummy. As long as you don't do anything else, you can delete the token character and get it refunded.

I had a few questions regarding these classes for the PvE DPS roles.

 

1st, generally speaking which do you who have played them find to be more fun to play, the operative/scoundrel or the GS/ Sniper?

 

With regard to the mirror classes which side do you think has the better eye candy as far as abilities/ animations/ effects etc? You spend countless hours on them so for me, it sometimes comes down to the eye candy. For example, I have both a Merc and a Commando and I dont think its even close, the merc is so much better to play as it has much much cooler looking skills, missiles and rockets FTW! Same with the Powertech over the VG. Flamethrowers and rockets over a swiss army knife gun anyday.

 

In asking in general chat most said sniper over gunslinger but with over 200 in general now it was hard to ask more.

 

Any insight you could give me would be greatly appreciated. I have a level 65 token to use so that's what this is about.

 

TY

Scoundrel/Operative is more versatile as you can also take a healer role. Sniper is pure dps.

Do note that inspite of operative having a gun almost no animations use your rifle most are with a knife. For scoundrel that is with your hands. Also snipers use the big sniper rifle while gunslingers dualwield (IIRS don't have a GS). For coolness factor I would rank operative and sniper way above their republic counterparts.

Also if you haven't played the story the agent story is usually considered superior to the smuggler story,. Then again don't remember whether you get even any of the class missions when you use a 65 token.

I had a few questions regarding these classes for the PvE DPS roles.

 

1st, generally speaking which do you who have played them find to be more fun to play, the operative/scoundrel or the GS/ Sniper?

 

With regard to the mirror classes which side do you think has the better eye candy as far as abilities/ animations/ effects etc? You spend countless hours on them so for me, it sometimes comes down to the eye candy. For example, I have both a Merc and a Commando and I dont think its even close, the merc is so much better to play as it has much much cooler looking skills, missiles and rockets FTW! Same with the Powertech over the VG. Flamethrowers and rockets over a swiss army knife gun anyday.

 

In asking in general chat most said sniper over gunslinger but with over 200 in general now it was hard to ask more.

 

Any insight you could give me would be greatly appreciated. I have a level 65 token to use so that's what this is about.

 

TY

Imo, the Sniper's more fun. Now, I'd vote for Operative if it actually had a 10m Range Discipline. Probably Lethality, but meh.

You don't even have to crouch(Take Cover) anymore and when you do, you have REALLY HIGH defenses and a beast of a Discipline to go with it too(Marksman). Other two can be used just fine outside the cover. I am a personal fan of Engineering due to a rather easy way of using it, fancy probes that come with it etc.

Operatives...meh. You've got a Rifle yet you ignore it. Yet, isn't Overload Shot just sterling fun to use? Whatever. But yes, Op is more versatile due to having an access to a group Discipline(Healer in this case). Otherwise, sharpen your knives. Has Stealth, but given that you don't have to do every single Quest(like you used to), this isn't such a big benefit anymore(imo).

Be sensible and choose Sniper, yeah?

Also one addition bout the operative healer. It is a fun option but personally I find it way below the other healers, ie sorc and mercenary. Comparatively operative healer for me feels very squishy and is all about micromanagement if you want to do really good. I.e. don't let the hots fall off..

It is a quite tedious playing style compared to sorc and merc healer for me. Still, some people love it and can do really good with it.

Do note that inspite of operative having a gun almost no animations use your rifle most are with a knife. For scoundrel that is with your hands.

Operatives...meh. You've got a Rifle yet you ignore it. Yet, isn't Overload Shot just sterling fun to use? Whatever. But yes, Op is more versatile due to having an access to a group Discipline(Healer in this case). Otherwise, sharpen your knives.

That really only applies to one Discipline, Scrapper/Concealment, though. Ruffian/Lethality still have some offhand-iness, but about half the attacks still use the equipped weapon. Similar to Gunsniper, really, which will be blasting a lot in Sharpsooter/Marksmanship and Dirty Fighting/Virulence, but mostly be tossing around gadgets in Sabotage/Engineering.

That really only applies to one Discipline, Scrapper/Concealment, though. Ruffian/Lethality still have some offhand-iness, but about half the attacks still use the equipped weapon. Similar to Gunsniper, really, which will be blasting a lot in Sharpsooter/Marksmanship and Dirty Fighting/Virulence, but mostly be tossing around gadgets in Sabotage/Engineering.

My problem is that you have an offhand discipline(Concealment, all about the Knife) and a mixed Discipline(Lethality, you use a little bit of everything), but there is no "pure" main hand discipline. There is nothing of the type "run n gun" Skirmisher, which could also be applied to an Op.

scoundrels > ops because of shotgun.

although stabbing people in the back with knives can be fun

scoundrels > ops because of shotgun.

although stabbing people in the back with knives can be fun

Too bad there's not more Shotgun action. I'd prefer if the meh Pistol abilities were all flatout replaced by Shotgun abilities.

Too bad there's not more Shotgun action. I'd prefer if the meh Pistol abilities were all flatout replaced by Shotgun abilities.

Anyways... I rolled a Sawbones Scoundrel, and I found that the healing style just didn't mesh for me; I have healed Ops as a Sorcerer and a Commando Medic... but I just couldn't get a handle on Sawbones.

I switched my Sawbones to Scrapper. I do find that I love that I bring brass knuckles to a Lighsaber fight... and win. I still find this to be my most challenging (PvE) class. Part of the problem is, I think, that their crazy maneuverability, stealth, burst damage, and ability to Heal makes them a huge threat in PvP... so they get nerfs. At the same time, none of that is especially breaking in PvE, so my PvE Scoundrel suffers because PvP players hate them. Another huge problem I have, is if I roll with a Tank companion, and open from stealth with a burst (Back Blast, Dirty Kick, Blood Boil, Vital Shot, Suckerpunch) I build so much aggro that my Tank companion can never take it away from me... and for me to DPS properly, I kinda need to be behind my target for more Back Blasts.

So, my dilemma (and why I think this class is more challenging in PvE than it needs to be) is that I can't take a Tanking companion -because my Tank won't Tank... and if I don't take a Tank, I can't ever get behind my enemy to DPS like I should. No matter how you put this together, I'm not getting out of a more difficult pull without some serious beating.

...this class was also Nerfed this week. Again. I wasn't really prepared for it, and I actually had a PvE death that was "a little" unexpected.