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.

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?

It's possible that it's just an odd bug like when adding friends. I was into the game during second day of early access and tried to grab a name for a friend that wasn't even a real word or reference and is too contrived to have been taken already and I got the 'Invalid Name' error. I don't see why Jester (an entertainer), Lictor (roman bodyguard), or Denton (JC Denton from Deus Ex) would be on any word lists. They have little to no religious context and are not offensive in the least. *shrug* I remember a smuggler called 'Jedi' during the weekend beta testing = ). Edit: Whoops - scanned the posts a bit too fast. I guess they could be playing it safe with copyright material.

Forgive me if this was already discussed in another thread, but how does the game determine if something is an invalid name? I'm trying to make an agent and was going for a code name vs. a real name like Bob. I tried the following and it keeps giving me 'Invalid Name' (not 'Unavailable Name'): Jester Lictor Denton What exactly about the above names makes them 'Invalid'? Google and torhead searches don't show me any mobs/characters with those names. To my knowledge, none of the above are inappropriate.

Is the NPC in the spoiler tags closer to the operative or the sniper? If you have not done the foundry, the following might be a spoiler.

It sounds like the sorc/sage has greater control when compared to the operative/scoundrel brethren. How about the sorc/sage vs the sniper/gunslinger? I remember seeing some early videos/comments from the SWTOR team that the sniper/gunslinger excelled at zone defense/denial in warzones.

They must mean self-control. "I will not lose my cool. I will not lose my cool. I can be just as good as everyone else. Goosfraba. "

Thanks Vesperr - that really helps me outline some of the options I have. Rafkin - I think my question was more along the lines of 'Who has the most...', but I will not disagree with you that sorcs are very effective. As an immortal spec-ed tank, I have a tough time take on sorcs - they feel like they can take more of a beating than me = ). That said, the game will balance over time - I'm more interested in intended results. For example, the Rogue in warcraft was always intended to have a heavy-control theme - regardless of when/if they were good or bad.

Historically, I have really enjoyed classes that provide a lot of control to the group when running through flashpoints, taking on pvp, etc. I really enjoy the tactical approach to a fight that require you to interrupt, stun, cc, and in general be clever in your approach to the fight because you're dead otherwise. I've noticed most classes in this game get the basics of interrupt and some stuns. In your opinion, which advanced classes offer the most tactical (needing to think and react to other players to survive) feel to approaching fights? For context, I really enjoyed playing the rogue in warcraft for the strong control options that they brought to the table. I don't however want to say 'what's the most rogue-like', because it wasn't the ambush/backstab i enjoyed - but rather the kick, blind, gouge, kidney shot, recuperate, etc. Any opinions and insight would be greatly appreciated!

I suppose for the comparison, you'd have to assume that a player of equal skills is playing each class. I'm not saying one class is better than the other - they both have their pros and cons. I just wanted to see what people valued more in their tank teammates. Did the GMs/Devs really call that a legitimate tactic vs a flaw in the game design? It's incredibly annoying to fight your way as a team to the goal and have someone camping puller destroy the ball carrier with no effort from their side. Pulling/Pushing into fire and acid is a clever use of a class's abilities; Pulling someone into a spawn area to exploit a poorly designed boundary mechanic is broken.

Given a choice between a Shieldtech Powertech or a Immortal Juggernaut at 50, which would you choose to have your back in a warzone and why? My Thoughts: Shieldtechs have good damage, range vs. melee flexibility, charge, pull Immortals have lots of utility (aoe snare, smash reduces accuracy, sunder reduces armor, etc.), charge, push (charge-->push-->charge combo), very good defensive cooldowns They may not be chart toppers, but I lean towards wanting an immortal on my team because of their utility and mobility.