Get rid of Tactical Advantage (especially for Lethality) or just buff our defense and damage (not via Overload Shot! ).....

 

And change Lingering Toxins effects to 2.5 Madness Sorcerer version - protect our dots from cleanse!

Edited October 28, 2013 by Glower

Make stim boost much better to reduce energy problems.

Maybe increase the damage of corrosive dart so they do more damage without being bursty and OP in PVP.

Currently in class right now so I'll post my full thoughts later, but I appreciate the incremental patching approach and continually asking the community for feedback.

 

If Bioware follows through and listens, they'll have regained the respect from a lot of players.

Edited October 28, 2013 by Morde_

A major issue with operative DPS is that their survivability is somewhat tied to Exfiltrate. This is bad. It costs a ton of energy, costs a GCD, gets you out of range for actually DPSing a target and its procs (Insant Infusion and mini-Evasion) are neither sufficient or even guaranteed to proc. These procs need to be redesigned to be more reliable and most importantly shouldn't be tied to Exfiltrate.

 

I believe that Lethality damage is fine (Snipers are far superior but I believe that that class requires DPS nerfs, they are so far ahead that buffing every other class to their level would likely cause more balance headaches than it is worth).

 

Concealment needs to be able to use Hidden Strike more frequently. It's not that good of an ability as is: no guaranteed crit, needs stealth. It should be redesigned so that it can be used when Ghost (Sneak) is active. But it only knocks the target down if used from stealth.

 

Concealment seems to have been designed for frontloaded burst and stunlocking. Buffing its burst damage is a terrible idea, it will just frustrate the recipient of the damage without promoting any counterplay. Instead, Operatives should be immune to hard CC when coming out of stealth and when Sneak is up (sneak procs for a few seconds out of stealth like Deception blackout). This allows the Operative to do his full combo and be a threat but won't be impossible to counter like it was at launch when you would literally be 100-0'd.

 

Concealment sustained damage does need a buff. Surge on Shiv, needs much better energy management. Laceration is pretty bad. Only notable Concealment damage is when Backstab/Hidden Strike crits. There simply needs to be more sustained (preferably not up front, as Concealment openers would be too strong) damage in the other skills.

 

 

DPS operatives need more passive survivability/utility talents. They just get destroyed by pretty much every other DPS class in the game, either in a hard switch or over time (it doesn't take very long). So yeah, really need more sustained survivability like damage reduction or something in both trees.

 

Other ideas that I think should be looked into:

 

Concealment gets a free Exfiltrate every X seconds

 

Overload shot needs both a damage buff (already reported as incoming) but it also needs better energy procs. It's gonna be useless even if it's damage is buffed by like 500-1000 (assuming full minmaxxed gear) because the energy cost is just too high. Maybe make it cheaper/free if used on a poisoned target? It needs something.

 

Make Snipe useful in one of the specs? Yes, it was designed for Snipers but it would be nice to have the ability not be completely useless for an entire AC. Would probably be tied to Lethality, since that is the more "gun" focused tree.

 

Get rid of surge bonus on Sever Tendon in Concealment, or make its damage actually good. Seriously, it's a damn joke as is.

 

Explosive probe energy reduction talent in one of the trees to help with burst.

 

 

 

 

 

etc

 

: )

Disclaimer: This post indeed a brainstorming, so the ideas here may be overpowered/underpowered/silly etc.

 

- Sever Tendon generates TA if used on target which is more than 4(10) meters away. May be a two-tier ("has 50/100% chance) talent in Lethality Tree.

 

- Move Evasive Imperative to Concealment Tree.

 

- Redesign Calculated Frenzy: Still a three-tier talent, now gives Lacerate(other attack) a X/Y/Z % chance to generate <fancy proc>, which allows the use of Hidden Strike out of stealth. <fancy proc> lasts ? seconds and this effect cannot occur more than once every ? seconds. In addition, reduce the cooldown of Backstab by 1/2/3 seconds.

 

- Toxic Regulators: Your DoTs don't tick on targets affected by ANY sleep effects, not just your own.

 

- Counterstrike: In addition to current effect, it also has a 50/100% chance to make your next Exfiltrate free

My suggestions are mostly about DPS specs.

 

Overload Shot: Currently it has no place on a DPS rotation, energy cost is too high and the damage is too low.

Possible Fixes: Add a talent on each DPS tree that results on a different effect for OS, for example increase DoT damage for Lethality spec, for Concealment give it a chance to reset the cooldown on Hidden Strike and make it useable out of stealth (without the stun, just the damage).

Another possible solution is to give it a cooldown, make it free and useable at 30m, that way you can actually do some minor dps instead of spamming rifle shot until you are on your target, this will also add a bit of dps when you use exfiltrate.

 

Hidden Strike: Great skill, specially for Concealment, but the fact that it can only be used during stealth is just lackluster.

Possible Fixes: Give it a talented proc that allows its use outside of stealth, or simply let it be used while Sneak is activated (again, without the stun for Concealment)

 

Stealth Mechanics - Cloaking Screen: This probably counts as a big change so take it with a grain of salt. I do not believe stealth classes need a get out of combat active skill, Operatives/Assassins and their republic counterparts would benefit much more from a Marauder-like Force Camouflage, a short duration and low cooldown, remain in combat, stealth that is designed purely as a defensive cooldown (maybe its not the case for Operatives, but you can not deny that resetting the cooldown on Recklessness when you exit combat is what makes Deception op on 1v1). This will give Operatives a much needed survivability buff without depending on something potentially game breaking, or without resorting to a troll roll spam.

 

Other than that this class is well balanced (except for healers) even in its current state you can find some really good Concealment players that can melt face.

Hidden Strike as a whole seems like a really underwhelming power for something you can only use once per battle. Lets save a button, shall we? It really feels like it could just be swapped out for:

 

Hidden Strike (Passive): When you use Backstab while Stealthed, you do +X damage and the cooldown on Backstab is not triggered.

 

Any talents using Hidden Strike can just say 'Backstab while Stealthed'.

Edited October 28, 2013 by Excise

Some other posts have touched on this, but Tactical Advantage is pretty dull for the two DPS specs. The beautiful thing about the healing tree is that it gives you multiple fun ways to get TA, including a guaranteed way (Kolto Injection) and a semi-random way (HoT ticks). Also, the increased stacks to 3 and longer buff timer makes it much more convenient to use.

Made similar post in scoundrel thread, have both classes, so would like to see these changes for operative as well.

 

For a dps buff,

 

-Do away with the tiered energy system (so constant 5-6 energy regen whether you have 100 energy or 1 energy).

-Lower the cooldown of backstab back to 9 secs or make shiv/rifle shot/frag grenade/etc. reduce the cd of backstab by 0.5 secs (it's one of the hardest hitting abilities and compared to Maul, has A cooldown/compared to Smash has a longer cooldown.).

 

For a survivability buff,

-Make the "Surprise Surgery" tree talent a base ability talent that will benefit both dps trees.

-Make cloaking screen auto-remove all negative effects for the duration. (this would probably help DPS scoundrels the most, as they often get knocked right back out of stealth, but can't effectively heal to full like healer operatives. I said for the duration of the ability so that if a merc shoots you with a dart as you cloak, having it go off won't break stealth either.....which sometimes it doesn't anyway)

-Add "Quickening" type talent to Concealment tree for instant heal.

Up until Oct 24th, I had been thinking that allowing Hidden Strike to be used from Cover as well as Stealth might be a good idea (possibly restricting the knockdown to Stealth-only).

 

As a QoL fix, I'd like to see Hidden Strike and Backstab combined into one ability (knockdown when used from stealth). Right now, due to engine, lag, etc., a lot of combats start out for my Conc Op as:

 

o Approach target in Stealth from Behind.

o Something (AoE, Advanced Stealth Detection, Lunar Phase) breaks my stealth but client is not updated (or I just lose the race condition between ability activation and update) so I don't know this until...

o Use Hidden Strike -- fails (Must Be In Stealth To Use This Ability)

o MOB moves slightly (no actual "back" indicators, so I can't always tell, especially if my team is dropping a ton of AoEs so all I see is explosions)

o Use Backstab -- fails (Must Be Behind Target)

o Start using other abilities, but I'm already down about 2 GCDs and have lost my opener and initial TA

 

If Hidden Strike / Backstab were combined, I'd still get a decent opener (Backstab) instead of nothing for the first few seconds.

 

As a plus, the redesign could make it so that the "optimal" opener had a second attack that was optimal regardless of whether the first attack was stealthed or not.

How about Lower the CD on Backstab

Purely a PvE perspective, coming from someone who raids at the NiM Level (formerly) as a Lethality Operative at the high-end (I've switched my operative to heals now, due to the problems I'll mention here):

 

Lethality (and Concealment, though I have significantly less experience with that spec) need PvE survivability. There are many sources of unavoidable damage in raids. Most DPS classes have excellent cooldowns to deal with this to less the healing burden on them. However, Operatives are left solely with Shield Probe. While the ability to self-heal is nice (but takes both energy and time, two things incredibly valuable when racing an enrage timer), it is a reactive, rather than proactive solution. Taking damage and then healing it is far less effective than mitigating it in the first place. Operatives are given only a set pool of essentially extra hit points to mitigate this damage. Coupled with medium armor, this leaves them in the unenviable position of being "too squishy to be worth taking" when compared with classes that do similar amounts of damage (snipers, marauders, mercenaries), and they also lack the raid utility offered by these classes (armor debuff/ballistic shield, bloodthirst/predation, armor debuff/spammable AOE heal).

 

To compare the common progression level DPS classes:

Operatives have emergency (used in the strictest way) heals, a small defensive cooldown that only effects themselves, take 15% less damage from DoTs, and a roll that takes a heavy toll on their resources for emergency mobility.

 

Marauders have bloodthirst and predation, which need no description. Marauders have a suite of defensive cooldowns, a gap closer that GENERATES resources, a 90% accuracy debuff, a short cooldown interrupt, and take 15% less damage from AOEs (which is the majority of unavoidable damage in PvE scenarios.

 

Snipers have everything that Operatives have. Oh, and they have a Ballistic Shield, can spec into Ballistic Dampers, and have a roll that offers 100% immunity. All while doing the same or more damage from range.

 

Mercenaries wear Heavy Armor, have Energy Shield and Kolto Overload, receive increased healing, have Energy Rebounder, the ability to spec into Decoy, giving them a 100% immunity to a damage source (essentially a mini-sniper roll), and Hydraulic Overrides, which allows them to ignore the majority of physics effects that disrupt rotations for brief periods. Again, this is all done from range, where the general amount of damage taken is lower than in melee range.

 

There is no reason to bring an Operative over an equally skilled and geared Sniper, Marauder, or Mercenary. They offer little more than Sorc or Assassin DPS except in the number tuning department.

 

Some suggestions to improve this:

 

- Have Corrosive Grenade (with a high level talent) apply one of the two tanking debuffs.

- Move the heal on Shield Probe collapse from the Medicine tree to the Lethality tree.

- Tweak weakening blast or backstab such that targets affected by weakening blast or backstab take X% increased damage, allowing operatives to offer raid utility somewhat comparable to other classes.

- Reduce the cost to infiltrate, or cause it to proc a free attack (or grant tactical advantage) as well as the free Kolto Infusion. This is suggested purely for parity with Marauders.

- Have some method of further reducing the cooldown of Shield Probe. Some ideas include critical hits with dots reducing the cooldown by .5s, or Shiv hits reducing it by X seconds (3?).

 

Lethality Operative damage is at a level consistent with other classes, but they offer less in raid utility and require far more healing than other options, so the tweaks should be focused on remedying that issue, and not on increasing their DPS.

I have an idea, remove all operative abilities, all of them, and keep just basic heal skill and reduce its effectivness by 75%

 

now, seriously, make som drastic energy changes, this class is near to impossible to beat sometimes due to them almost never running out of enegry. Nerf the roll, for example, 3 second cooldown between each roll or something.

As a concealment operative, backstab just needs to be used a bit more - there's a lot of dead time where you end up using rifle shot just because you can't backstab or shiv, and lacerate isn't up. Getting behind someone is more difficult than a 'hit anywhere' attack, and not having backstab available at opportune moments is annoying.

 

Hidden strike is only useful once per fight - it's pretty much useless after that.

Edited October 28, 2013 by EHKodiak

-cover-nerf? ok, but not in the dps-trees.

-3ticks more of AB/FR or reduce cd of BB/BS.

-double the amount shield probe can absorb.

-get rid of this "slippery/shady" and give flat AEDR/DR while stunned.

-reduce Sever Tendon CD

-give perk to make Sever Tendon AE/Conal

-dont change Orbital/Flyby

-HS/SF=autokrit + bring dmg in line with Maul

-AB/FR passive

-Flat energy reg

-Sneak needs a rework, since scamper makes it useless. (DR/ krit/ force camou/ unstoppable/ HtL/ instant heals)

-give Heal debuff

-change all alacrity perks in Krit/Power/Surge

-Toxin Scan off global and 0 energy

-aggro drop= break force-roots in both specs

-reliable instant heal (6-9kish)

-by far more energy reg while stealthed

-Surprise Surgery is crap! no healer specs into this. (make it viable by doubling/trippling the amount healed when shield probe wears off) then, you may consider moving it into dps trees.

 

whatever you do, eric/combat team, im done with my scouperatives. the 2.5 patchnotes are just insulting and discouraging. from the activity in this thread i see, that im not the only ex-scouperative addict who feels like this. this class is dps-wise just dead. best players gone, no incentive for new players to waste time with.

 

maybe i will be back for the "rise of the scouperatives" addon next year. gl.

I rarely play my Operative as DPS anymore, but here are some things that always kind of bothered me.

 

For one thing, I have always felt that Lethality needs another way to proc TA. Medic Ops can proc it with hots, Concealment Ops can proc it with Lacerate. All Lethality can do is Shiv. How about a chance to proc TA from Cull ticks, or Backstab? DOT ticks?

 

For Concealment, I think they could reverse some of the nerfs that were made earlier on at this point. I think they made the cooldown on Backstab too long. Also, I never liked the mechanic of clicking Acid Blade before every backstab. It just feels awkward. I don't know how but I feel like they could design Acid Blade to be a little less cumbersome.

Edited October 28, 2013 by chuixupu

make tactical advantage buff stay with no timer. especially 6 seconds are not enough, you did that change with marauders annihilate so....

 

change the way to gain TA. i play lethality and its strange. 30m grenades 4m shiv 10m cull. throw grenades run to mob hit shiv run away cull cull. its just strange. probably change shiv for lethality operatives with overload shot and let this ability grant TA.

 

so for lethality its mostly about TA and the ranges. probably we could need a speed buff too for kiting, or a better leg shot.

 

for concealment its just the too low and only single target damage. and real damage only out of stealth. this spec doesnt offer anything good. assassins are better with single target burst and single target sustained.

probably make lacerate AoE. make backstab gain TA too because hidden strike is just once per fight.

 

overall, make concealment in comparison with assassins also a burst spec, lower burst, but more sustained and aoe damage.

My suggestions are:

 

 

• Make Flechette Round a permanent effect (like the Jedi stances) and make it so, it automatically gets applied every time Shoot First/Backblast are used. This is a QoL change as well as an approach to fix energy problems in longer fights.
   
  
• Remove Legshot from the Underdog talent as it is 100% pointless and add Sucker Punch instead.
   
  
• Remove the Surprise Comeback talent and add some kind of defensive talent instead (DEFINITELY some kind of flat damage reduction CD like Blackout for Inifltration Shadows NOT just an increase to Shield Probe). This is probably the most important change.
   
  
• EITHER increase the critchance that the Element of Suprise talent gives OR make Sucker Punch profit from it as well.
   
  
• Change the Fight or Flight talent to some kind of rootbreak. Not as powerful as Hold the Line obviously, but some kind of rootbreak is needed.
   
  
• Give us a better PvP-setbonus 5 Energy is - frankly - a joke. My suggestion for a useful 4-piece setbonus would be to decrease the cooldown of one of the new defensive skills, if something like I suggested above gets added.
   
  
• Remove the cover requirement from Sabotage Charge, since cover will become pretty much useless for scoundrels anyways.
  

Edited October 29, 2013 by DynamiCtagez

Hey everyone,

 

<snip>

As a part of that, one of the things we agree on is that DPS Operatives could use a little bit of love.

<snip>

 

-eric

 

 

I'm still a newcomer nub to this game so I don't have much to offer in the way of suggestions at this stage.

 

I just wanted to say that, as a newcomer, seeing (numerous) threads like this where the Devs are actively engaging with the community about ideas on how to improve the game is, imho, a great sign that i've picked a good game to sink my time into.

 

cheers! I will offer suggestions when I have some!

The two main problems with Concealment are lack of sustained damage (mostly from energy management issues) and lack of survivability. Lethality damage is moderately good (some say it's "fluff", but a triple cull on anyone will be insane damage), but again the spec is crippled by virtually no survivability. The larger of the two issues is most certainly survivability.

 

In this thread already are dozens of ideas to improve both aspects. Ones that I am personally in favour of (that I feel balance us but don't make us overpowered):

 

For Damage:

• Granting the ability to use Hidden Strike while Sneak is active (but only knockdown when from stealth).
  
• Reducing the cost of Explosive Probe for Concealment so that there is some more sustained damage (currently it costs too much and can quickly leave an Operative out of energy). This can also be acquired by reworking energy management or adding more useful talents that address energy regeneration.
  
• Adding a strong healing debuff to Acid Blade or Laceration. This will add utility to Concealment for lowering the global TTK (which is currently too high imo) and intrinsically buffing Concealment damage against healers without people screaming nerfs about huge Concealment numbers (lol).
  
• Making Acid Blade a passive (permanent) effect.
  
• Hidden Strike from stealth should be 100% crit chance. There is nothing more unsatisfying in this game than being a "slippery" snake and working your way around to prepare burst on a target in the back only to open up on them with a lackluster 4k hit.
  
• Make Tactical Advantages last longer for DPS. Think of how long Marauder stacks last for. Think of how long DPS tactical advantages last for.
  
• Granting CC immunity for a few seconds after exiting stealth. (Think of Unstoppable in the Vengeance tree)
  

 

For Survivability (both Lethality and Concealment):

• Move the heal on Shield Probe collapse from the Medicine tree to the Concealment tree, and buff the amount that it heals (it's way too weak right now).
  
• Reduce the cost of Exfiltrate or have some sort of proc to make it cheap/free. (DPS only, not for healers)
  
• Merge Shadow Operative Elite and Quickening so that both Lethality and Concealment can acquire the benefits of both. Don't allow the Medicine tree to acquire them, though.
  
• ********** Change the Cloaking Screen mechanic to be "stronger", i.e. more like the Marauder vanish. Perhaps change Sneak/Cloaking Screen so that AoE damage/Stealth Scans do not bring us out of stealth while either is active. This should only be for DPS specs, as it would be overpowered to give this to healers as well. This is a big one. Our biggest defensive cooldown as concealment should NOT be as fragile as it currently is. **********
  
• Implementation of an AoE damage reduction talent so that we're not torn to shreds by 3 smashers. Put this HIGH in a DPS tree so that healers cannot obtain (Operative healer with AoE damage reduction would be too strong).
  

 

Also, PLEASE ADDRESS OUR SET BONUSES. THE PVE SET BONUSES PUT THE PVP ONES TO SHAME.

 

TL;DR: There's lots that can be done (and needs to be done) for Operative DPS. Give us something useful for 2.5 please.

Edited October 29, 2013 by Morde_

I've been playing Concealment Operative for a while now, and I agree with many of the previous posters that the class has some glaring issues.

 

- Hidden Strike as a "once per fight" skill is annoying. We wait so long for it, and it's just the opener.

- After the opening, energy maintenance is frustrating.

- After the opening, sustained damage is difficult, requiring a lot of Rifle Shot spam.

- Positioning is hugely important for Backstab, but it's often difficult to tell where the target is facing. Even with human enemies, I'm often not "behind" the target even when it is clearly facing the tank, who is standing directly on the target's other side.

- We need a better, cheaper, more consistent way to close gaps. Roll is too little, too late, and is so energy-expensive that it's often more effective to just run to the fight the normal way, spamming Rifle Shot. Sneak's speed boost feels insignificant compared to Marauders that can just leap *directly* back into the action.

 

There's a lot to like about Operatives; few abilities require channel times, we're able to do most of our stuff "on the move," the animations and visual style is awesome. But playing them is frustrating.

Edited October 29, 2013 by Rayinte

Hello,

 

I play Operative Lethality in PvE HL.

The DPS are really good, you can easily reach 3k dps and there are a lot of nice AoEs available already.

Still you could make weakening blast effect only affect the agent who casts it (like the correction you made on deathmark effect in the sorcerer's madness skill tree)

 

Our defenses are weak, my idea is to add a bonus like the one present on the marauder's carnage skill tree, for instance Shiv or Backstab could grant us 1 or 2% (or more) dodge with 1 or 2 stacks (like with Frenzied Sabers)

 

Zavi, Battle Meditation

Disclaimer: This perspective is taken mainly from a PvP standpoint. I have played all of the SM content on my Scoundrel and have completed some of the older HM/attempted NiM content as well. However I do not believe I have enough knowledge to support these claims for high end PvE, though I do believe everyone will enjoy these changes. I know there is another mirror faction, however because this is about the Operative advance class, discussion will use Imperial and Agent terminology. Please enjoy the read (crl+f THX-1138 for skill changes), it was extremely fun to write this out

 

 

As an Operative I can understand the problems with trying to change this class. There are two facts that are absolutely true:

 

1. Medicine Operatives have the ability to maintain a consistent high amount of healing while under pressure.

2. Lethality has the ability to post the highest amount of total damage (as long as a cleanse is never used) and has the potential to deal out a substantial amount of burst when the stars align (the glorious three cull).

 

This is why Operatives/Scoundrels are a top class; we are capable of these two facts without having to take a set bonus. Based on gear and stat optimization, we have a potential that is unmatched by others. Then there is our Concealment middle tree and it is clueless on what it is trying to be.

 

I am actually content with the current damage output from the concealment class. The Operative is a multi-function class, we should not be better than others in DPS (especially pure DPS classes ie, Marauders and Snipers) but we should have better utilities. For concealment that means better single target control and this how I think the class was envisioned to excel at. For those that remember from the glorious launch month, Concealment had a 5 second knockdown from Hidden Strike and the Resolve bar functioned in a much different way that allowed for an Operative to practically “stunlock” an opponent. Damage output was never very high (until the relic stacking became known), but their ability to lock a character out of a fight was the reason Operatives were immediately considered overpowered.

 

We do know that Bioware is heavily involved with the lore of Star Wars, class designs and the KotOR series is proof of this. What this means to me is that an Operative is not a capable melee fighter when compared to a Sith/Jedi. Lore wise, Operatives they rely on their cunning (wonder why dexterity/agility was changed to that?) to get them out of dire situations (“We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?” ring a bell for Scoundrels?). The Operative is a new character that wasn't in any past Star Wars games (maybe in some books?) but this to me is why their story and character animations is the best of this MMO, Bioware basically had free range to develop how an Agent of the Imperial Army would be portrayed.

 

What does this have to do with class changes? SWTOR provides two stealth classes, the Deception Assassin and the Concealment Operative. The Assassin advance class is a Sith that stills know how to fight from the extensive training in their saber art and force powers. This is why I can accept that the Assassin class is capable of maintaining their DPS out of stealth because they are capable melee fighters, they are the “rogue” of this game. The Operative on the other is just a regular human (or w/e race, but one with no force sensitivity), however they have risen the ranks of the Imperial Army with proven military tactics and knowledge of sophisticated Imperial technology to allow them to stand shoulder to shoulder with a Sith.

 

So how do we increase the viability of the Operative Concealment but not also break any lore character standards that Bioware may have? The concern is that right now our damage output from stealth and out of stealth is low compared to others. In addition with the changes to how critical currently works, it really downplays our ability to maintain any threating damage on a single target and thus we are forced into playing this double Hidden Strike game to maintain any sort of single target damage.

 

So why am I okay with this poor damage assessment? Because Operatives must be tactical in their approach, not play this brute out of stealth in your face type class like the Deception Assassin. To me, utilities that cause debuffs and an increase to snares would be the answer. A class that allows us to be a mosquito, a minor nuisance at first, but if not properly treated it will be too late to realize that the itch has become an irreversible pain.

 

Currently the changes that are being suggested are to bring Concealment Operatives into this standardization of the “rogue” dps, big upfront damage to make up for the lack of sustained out of stealth DPS. That means there must be a way to increase confirmed critical chances and allow for users to be threaten by large numbers. I believe that the Deception Assassin class already fills this role and for an Operative to become this all powerful melee warrior is not consistent to what it means to be an Operative of Imperial Intelligence.

 

The changes mention from here on will change the way a Concealment Operative is currently played, but I believe that this will change the dynamic of why people should play this class.

 

THX-1138

 

Skill revamp for Concealment Operatives:

 

-Replace the skill “Revitalizers” with Venom Dart. When specced into Venom Dart, it will replace the Operatives Sleep Dart with a stinger that applies the Venom debuff. The skill description will be as follows:

 

When Venom matures (15/10/5 seconds) the target is struck with Kouhun Neurotoxin causing 50% slow and 10% reduced armor rating for 10 seconds. 45 second cool down, requires stealth and can be used when opponent is in combat. Venom can be cleansed, however once Kouhun Neurotoxin has settled in it cannot be cleansed and is not considered a poison.

 

 

-Acid Blade will also get the following changes:

 

When using Hidden Strike or Backstab on an opponent with Kouhun Neurotoxin, target will receive 50% reduced armor rating for the next 15 seconds. 25% reduced armor rating if no Kouhun Neurotoxin is on the target.

 

 

-Shadow Operative Elite will get the following changes:

 

Upon a successful dodge during Evasion, Cloaking Screen as a [25/50/100]% chance to finish the cooldown on Cloaking Screen.

 

 

-Calculated Frenzy will be changed to “Calculated Risk” and receive the following changes:

 

Backstab and Hidden Strike have a [50/100]% chance to trigger Calculated Risk. Orbital Strike cannot be interrupted when Calculated Risk has been triggered.

 

 

-Pin Down:

 

Server Tendon has a [50/100]% chance to immobilize target for [2/4] seconds

 

 

So why these changes?

 

A Concealment Operative is a master strategist and will utilize all tools (including others!) to support them in combat. The idea behind the Venom Dart is to allow an Operative an assisting tool without yet revealing their position so suddenly. In the PvP aspect, the Venom Dart will force healers to seek out the Venom debuff and cleanse it in time before it settles in and becomes Kouhun Neurotoxin. The point of the Kouhun Neurotoxin is to promote this idea that the Operative has now marked their target. The slow is there to start the slow process of confusing the opponent in what should be done next to defend themselves from certain death. Venom Dart places the Operative in combat but does not remove them from stealth.

 

The application of Armor Reduction is to allow for teammates to apply their support in the dispatching the target. Currently armor penetration is a single target ability designed to allow Operative to increase their damage to an opponent (I believe that is the difference, Armor Pen= user buff and Armor Reduction= target debuff. Please tell me if I am wrong about this). Going for the single 50% reduction to armor rating really opens up the usefulness of an Operative as they are now a teamplayer rather than a lone wolf. The point of the Kouhun Neurotoxin plus Acid Blade is to really drive home the idea that the opponent is being singled out from the rest of the group. The fastest way to break a cohesive unit is to make them think that they are no longer working together. The combination of the two still makes for achieving the 50% reduction to armor rating a skilled task that can be easily disrupted if not planned properly.

 

Shadow Operative Elite now becomes a three skill point skill and basically is an Operative’s way of getting back into the stealth game and doubles as their “defensive” ability. Having a successful dodge to be able to proc the reset on Cloacking Screen, is a plays on the elusiveness that Operatives are known for. The changes to Calculated Risk is to allow an Operatives to call in air support back up without having to worry about being interrupted. This allows them to maintain damage through support and still apply the out of stealth damage as need be without it forced to be a “melee” ability. The change to Pin Down is to play on this idea that Concealment Operatives are trying to confuse the target on when to use their stun breaker and really cement the idea that Operatives are calculated in their combat and understand that confusing a powerful opponent will make them weaker.

 

While I know these changes seem different from the norm, but I do believe it will provide practical applications as a tool to assist a team in both PvP and PvE. In a game with no assisting type bard class, the Concealment will fill that role while maintaining their ability at being a stealth class. These changes also will synergize with the current set bonuses, so I believe this tree change could really work within this game and allow them to become tools to assist in combat and counter the idea that all stealth classes must be rogues.

Before any other changes get implemented DPS trees NEED longer TA's. Seriously you acknowledged this is a problem for healers waaaay back when and it was the single best QoL change we ever got. Respec'ing dps in some respects feels like regressing to the stone age of resource management.

 

Losing TA's because you got stunned or the boss moved out of range and being powerless to avoid it is rage inducing.

 

I quite like the idea I saw to fold backstab and hidden strike into the one ability. Backstab essentially becoming hidden strike(more damage, +1TA) under certain conditions(sneak up, from stealth etc). Saving a keybind is totally welcome, it'll make concealment feel less of a dead tree for leveling and a followup reduction in the cooldown for backstab would help with concealment sustained damage. Win-win.

 

I'd love concealment operatives to be able to cast orbital strike from stealth. Frankly this is is more rule of cool than anything else. It would be awesome, do it. Snipers can guarantee an orbital as a denial, operatives should have a method of doing so that fits with their class.

 

Lethality could do with some of it's utility talents becoming less laughable.

20% accuracy from flash powder?

2 seconds of sprint after shiv?

a 50% shot at maybe getting a free infusion after exfiltrate?

Two talents that make shield probe better and it's still not very good.

Rework some of them to be a bit more significant or noticeable and I'll be very pleased.

Edited October 29, 2013 by CaptainApop