by David Piner on Sep 02, 2012
This guide is pre-3.0, while most of the information is still relevant, it's rather dated. Previously posted to SWTORHUB.com.
The Operative doesn’t wear heavy armor like some of the other classes so they have to rely on their tech and abilities to both mitigate and avoid damage. Abilities such as Shield Probe and
Evasion are especially helpful when stuck in a high damage situation, and provide valuable seconds allowing you to get a heal off or sneak away. Whennon the offensive the Operative uses their stealth ability to get behind opponents and deal devastating vibroblade attacks. Before the enemy has the time to react they have disappeared back into stealth and are ready for another strike.
The Operatives resource pool consists of energy. Starting at 100 this energy will be depleted every time an energy consuming ability is used and regenerates at a faster rate when more energy remains. For example having an energy level of 80-100 regenerates at a rate of 5 energy a second; while having 20-40 will have you regenerating at 2.5 energy per second. When in the thick of it the Operative has two methods of speeding up the energy rejuvenating process. The first ability is Stim Boost which uses Tactical Advantage to speed up the recovery of energy by a small amount and should be kept up whenever possible. When you really need a shot of energy using Adrenaline Probe will dish out 50 energy over 3 seconds but has a longer cooldown, best saved for when you’re running on empty.
Operatives are a great class to choose for those looking at taking up the healing profession. The Medicine tree being the specific tree you will want to focus most of your skill points in. Not only will you up your healing output by a large margin, you’ll also gain access to all new abilities. These abilities are a must for anyone speccing solely as a healer and include the Kolto Probe, Surgical Probe (exploits Tactical Advantage), and the Recuperative Nanotech, an AoE heal great for PVP.
Those looking to take on a damage role will want to spec into the Concealment or Lethality trees. If you’re a fan of sneaking up behind an enemy and unloading lots of burst damage then Concealment is the way to go. Although the abilities unlocked like Laceration and Acid Blade may be lacking in range, the tree makes up for it with an improvement to stealth level/movement speed, and huge damage increases to Backstab and Hidden Strike.
The Lethality tree is shared between both Snipers and Operatives so it’s a bit of a mixed bag and Instead of burst damage it places an emphasis more on DoT Bleed Effects and poisons with abilities like Corrosive Grenade and Weakening Blast. Those who have played a Warlock in a certain other game will find some familiar ground here.
The PVP playstyle for those taking the damage route will usually start out the same no matter the choice between Concealment and Lethality. Using the Operatives greatest attribute stealth, sneak in behind your enemy and hit them with Hidden Strike Backstab and Shiv followed by a Debilitate to stun the enemy. This is where the tactics will change and while Concealment will want to keep the fight in close using Lacerationand Shiv to continue landing heavy damage, Lethlity will want to use the speed boost granted by Escape to put some distance between them. They can then hit the target with DoT abilities like Weakening Blast and Corrosive Grenade before stealthing back behind for another Hidden Strike/Backstab. Concealment should also make use of Cloaking Screen to sneak back around for another Hidden Strike if the target hasn’t been finished off by the first wave of attacks.
Operative Medicine specced players are a great addition to any warzone group as they have a good selection of single target, AoE, and HoT abilities perfect for any situation. Placing a double stack of Slow Kolto Probe on the huttball carrier or deploying Recuperative Nanotech in a group of friendlies defending a door can make a huge difference and will usually end up getting you a good sum of MVP votes. However, with all of this healing power comes a lot of attention from the enemy team and the medium armor won’t keep the Operative alive for long. Luckily in addition to the heals you are now using on yourself, you also have Shield Probe and Evasion to avoid and mitigate enemy damage all together, not to mention being able to stealth out of combat.
It’s hard to deny that the Sniper, with their hard-hitting long range attacks, doesn’t seem like the best option to take, however let’s look at the facts. The Operative’s survivability is second to none. The ability to be able to stealth and strike from nowhere is a huge advantage, especially in a pvp setting where enemies will be watching objectives for incoming troops. Add to this the option to heal one’s self and it’s hard to think of a way that the Operative could be killed.
They hit hard. Who needs extreme ranged attacks when the enemy can’t see you coming in the first place? Hidden Strike, Backstab and Shiv all put out big numbers and if you can’t take them out in the first attack, stealth away and hit them again.
The choice between the Operative and the Sniper is actually a lot easier than some other classes as the two play very differently. During your quest from level 1-10 some things you should be considering are: Did you enjoy close up attacks, and shanking the enemy with your vibroknife? Do you want to be able to stealth and sneak up on unsuspecting victims? Do you want the option to heal? If you answered yes to the preceding questions then the Operative will definitely be a good fit for you.
While the Operative does favor a more mobile play style they don’t sacrifice protection and are capable of wearing medium strength armor. The primary stat you will want to have on this armor is Cunning, which will provide an increase in Ranged damage/crit, Tech damage/crit, as well as Healing Power. Stacking up a good amount of Cunning will ensure you’re both dishing out the damage and healing it.
Secondary stats for the Operative to consider are different depending on the spec. Those looking to do damage should look for pieces that add Power, Surge, Critical, and Accuracy in order to increase attack damage, critical chance, and critical damage. If you choose the healing route you’ll want to look for Power and Alacrity Rating (increases casting speed) for fast and more powerful heals. Of source no matter what specification you will always want to up your endurance when possible to increase your health pool.
Taking part in PVP combat will definitely require you to pick up some PVP gear to reduce damage taken from other players and increase your own. Expertise is what you looking for here and for those in the healing profession it has the added bonus of increasing your healing power on other players. The basic recruit set is a good investment for players who have just reached 50 and comes in versions to make the stat needs of the various specs.
Lone wolves they may seem, Operatives still need a willing crew to help them pull off the most daring missions. The healer, ranged tank, melee tank, ranged dps, and melee dps are all covered in your companions that you pick up on your travels. Depending on whether you go as DPS or Heals you will find yourself using some much more often than the others, but all are good for a chat.
Below you will find a list of all five of the Agents Companions along with a brief description, their strengths and weaknesses, and a link to their database entry.
Kaliyo D'jannis
The first companion you’ll run across is Kaliyo. She’s a great starting companion for the Operative do to her decent proficiency as a tank. If you’re looking to take out the baddies a little faster she’s also quite good at dishing out the damage when switched in that mode. She’s capable of wearing medium armor and wielding blaster pistols and rifles.
Vector Hyllus
This melee DPS companion is picked up on Aldreaan and serves as a formidable melee DPS class. In terms of usefulness for the Operative he’s not that great as he is only equipped with light armor and his threat generating capabilities are lacking. It’s best to go for a tankier class like Kaliyo or Scorpio.
Doctor Eckard Lokin
The good doctor can be found on Taris and serves dual purpose due to his… condition. When in human form Lokin will function as a healer, but when he transforms into his Rhakghoul alter ego he becomes a formidable melee DPS/Tank. For Operatives the Rhakghoul form is almost always more usefull as you wont be needing any heals if he’s keeping the enemies at bay, or if you're a healer already.
Ensign Raina Temple
Another fellow agent and long range DPS to boot. Unless you’re looking to sacrifice survivability in the name of damage you’ll want to steer clear of Temple. You pick her up on Hoth around lvl 36.
Scorpio
Scorpio can be found on Belsavis at around lvl 40, which is unfortunate as she is one of the better suited companions for the Operative. A melee tank, she carries an electrostaff and shield generator into battle. You’ll definitely want to have her along for your last ten levels as her threat generating abilities will keep you out of the Crosshairs during many a heated battle.