...how much easier it is to beat the game (PvE class stories) with one of the two stealth classes (Jedi Consular or Sith Inq)?

 

Or that you can do things like grab a security chest guarded by a nearly-unbeatable foe, then "force cloak" (I forget the name of the Republic one) your way out of the battle without dying?

 

I'm not exactly the worlds most gifted RPG button-masher, and it seems to me that having a stealth character allows you to do the above, as well as things like sneaking past mobs that every other class would have to attack on the way to your objective. Or, in the case of the annoying House RIst on Alderaan, on the way BACK from your objective?

 

Sorry if this has been asked before--I'm leveling my last toon as a Commando, a couple months after finishing the Inq/Cons storylines. It seems rather blatantly unbalanced to me, thats all.

 

Even the Expansion Makeb was made astronomically easier for my stealth guys over ones like my Sith Warrior.

 

Just wondering what you all thought.

It is easier to use a stealth character for leveling. But I wouldn't call it unbalanced to where stealth is better being that the classes you are talking about( assassins,shadows) are currently the worst class they have the worst dps both trees( pve) and thy are the worst tank(pve) so maybe through leveling they may seem easy but in raids and other top level activities they fall way behind and I guess it is unbalanced but in the opposite way you are suggesting.

It's not like it is all that difficult to mow your way through the packs in the first place.

Maybe they are just more attuned to my playing style (ham-fisted, incompetent, LOL), but I died wayyyyy less using the two Stealthies while leveling to 50 (55). Maybe I didnt build my SW correctly, or I'm reading the character stats wrong, but they both (SW + SI) do about 1000 dps base damage at 55. Granted, the SW has med armor and the SI has light, but it just seems like it is way more difficult (at least for the eternally hapless RPG-er like myself) with the SW as you HAVE to battle every single mob along the way and back.

Not playing my Shadow that much. But on my Scoundrel i can just stun a mob from stealth. Grab the chest and wait for my Stealth to come of cooldown. Which takes a few seconds. Then stealth back out. That way you don't have to use your "Force Cloak" because you won't get into combat mode anyways Of course if there is more than 1 mob, then yeah that skill becomes very useful.

 

If you're worried about getting your chest ninjad by someone else when you are fighting your way to it. Keep walking towards the chest and loot it while fighting. You should be able to take the hits along the way. Especially if you use your healer companion. Which for me on my 55 Marauder and 51 Sentinel is pretty much the only companion I'm using.

 

If it bothers me that it's easier to grab chests on a stealth class? Not really to be honest. Stealth classes were designed that way.

Edited July 26, 2013 by SandsOfArrakis

It's not like it is all that difficult to mow your way through the packs in the first place.

 

And while you are 'mowing' your way easily through packs to get to the chest guarded by an elite I can easily bypass stuff while in stealth mind trap/sap/mez the elite and loot the chest...and then kill the elite.

 

When the game first came out i think you couldnt loot chests while in combat, and i did exactly what i talked about above. There was a L shaped corridor and i was on my way out on my Sith Assassin and some Rep, i think it was a trooper was on their way in. An elite was at the bend of that L and behind him was a big chest. While the trooper was coming in they had to fight a pat, and a regular pack on the way in. On my way out i bypassed a pack on my end mind trapped the elite, looted , reslealthed and killed the elite just for the heck of it. Easy content is easy i wont argue with that, but bypassing easy content means you can ignore it.

If being able to pass by mobs easier when not being able to go on a speeder is the perk of a class, I honestly couldn't care less. The time I spend leveling is a very small amount of the time I spend with a character, let alone the time I spend on planets rather than in PvP and Flashpoints. The pay-off is currently hardly worth it either. Shadows are one of the worst DPS and most unreliable Tanks. Scoundrel DPS has been laughable since I've been playing... Ye I'm not that envious at them being able to sneak past some mobs.

 

Do I take my operative, shadow, scoundrel and assassin over other classes if I feel like doing anything on planets? Operative and Scoundrel sure, since I can easily kill fast in healer gear. But I'd take my fast-killing Sniper over my Shadow and Assassin tank anyday even in planet situations.

I've never liked the idea of perma-stealth classes in any game, and I'm glad to see more games moving away from it. When I was leveling my assassin I never even had the ability on my bars. And I never had a situation where I really felt like I needed it. Why sneak past mobs when all it does is cost me XP/loot?

I dont know if you've played Makeb yet, but the sheer number of mobs means the stealth classes have an advantage over any other class---you can always force cloak your way out of any situation if you happen to drag multiple mobs by accident (which would mean instant death in a lot of cases, even using your Heroics).

 

As for the normal worlds, it kind of bothers me having to fight my way through long dungeons to get back out after I've exited the story area at the end--often, the credits and/or tradable loot just isnt worth it IMO. Like House Rist for example. I loved how I could just stealth my way past the respawned enemies rather than waste a good 15 minutes grinding my way back out again.

 

Also, another benefit----as some of you know, there is a small Level 55 grouping on a hill on Hoth, which, if you stumble upon as a level 35-40 (i forget what level Hoth is for either side), you would have zero chance of surviving, but as I did with my stealth character---grabbed the loot from behind the level 55 Elite guarding it, then force cloaked my way out of there. I dont *think* there is any way to do that with another class besides stealth. Maybe somebody has a reasonably strong tank companion at 35-40 that could survive the beating long enough for you to loot and run (if you somehow managed to dodge the level 55 angry tauntauns that line the sides of the level 55 mountain, LOL) but then you would be paying a good part of that loot back to repair his/her armor as they would certainly perish quickly.

I found the exact same area on my sage when she was around level 40. What I did was get Qyzen to jump the lvl 55 champion (the wolf) and ran in and grabbed the chest. I then used for speed to get out and by the time that my companion died, the champion was out of range.

I've never liked the idea of perma-stealth classes in any game, and I'm glad to see more games moving away from it. When I was leveling my assassin I never even had the ability on my bars. And I never had a situation where I really felt like I needed it. Why sneak past mobs when all it does is cost me XP/loot?

 

Assassin/Shadow > middle tree

 

There is a talent in the very first tier where 2/2 gives you 50% increased force regeneration for 6 seconds after leaving stealth. I've tried to find a similar talent on operative/scoundrels but with my highest one of those being level 30 i havent seen one yet. For a Sin/Shadow attacking from stealth has a bit of an advantage. On my Op/Scoundrels thought they dont have a similar mechanic (unless i've missed it) that gives them increased resource regen when leaving stealth. Because of that difference on my sin/shadow i attack from stealth, unless somebody is trying to 'race' me to a pack. But on my Op/Scoundrel i usually just lob a grenade from max range to engage or i face pull and blaster whip/shiv.

 

Personally i use stealth to get to objectives faster then non stealthers. All of my non stealthers kill so many mobs that they can skip the bonus series on Nar Shadaa, Alderaan, and Hoth. But on my stealthers if i start to fall behind then i will do the bonus series for NS/Ald/Hoth.

it has been easiest and quickest for me to level a smasher, geared in blues and with up to date stims. I've never felt like I could easily solo 2 on level elites (This is only LV 37 BTW) on any other class without BiS gear