Questions Concerning Imperial Agent: Operative

Greetings everyone! Recently, I have received a couple of questions regarding the Operative class and thought it would be a good idea to create a blog post about them. This way, everyone will be able to benefit off some of the answers. Please keep in mind that these answers are based off of my E3 play session and not Beta. Here they are:

 

Kaliyo-Djannis in ACTION!!!

Did you get to play the male or female Operative?

The operative I got to play specifically was female. However, I am aware that there was another Operative class that was male and dressed the same gear with the same skill set.

Who was the companion for the Operative? 

The companion available at the E3 demo was none other than Kaliyo-Djannis. Although not perfect (sometimes she would just hang out while I am being shot at...cute), she was adequate in her damage, providing acceptable DPS and covering fire. Her "kit" was a grenade toss that was not all that impressive when compared to her default auto attacks.

When you hear others say that the companion characters feel like "pets" in other games, this is mostly true. What really disappointed me was the lack of commentary as I traversed the land, unlike in Mass Effect 2 or Dragon Age.

What is the "look" of the Operative class?

The Operative class really does look like a Jack-of-All-Trade type in terms of designed. If any of you were disappointed that the Empire did not receive a Smuggler type character in terms of looks, be disappointed no more! The typical color pallet included a blue coat with tan inner workings and a standard white shirt accompanied with belts...lots and lots of belts.

 

Trench coats are the look for Operatives.

Is the Operative a ranged nuker or melee fighter? 

Operatives exceed at close-to-mid range combat. Although during my experience at E3 I used a lot of Stealth and Back stabs, this doesn't necessarily mean that the class absolutely has to be played this way. In fact, walking the Tatooine Developer Video, we can see that Operative used no melee ranged moves at all. If would have to describe the class in one sentence it would be: Ranged DPS with Poisons, Heals, and Survivability (Reads: Good for PvP.

Does the Operative need Stealth to be viable?

Currently at level 26, the Operative can only Stealth outside of combat and Back stab when in Stealth. While it would be nice if everyone died Assassin's Creed style in one hit, this is not the case with MMOs. Hence, for time after your opening move, you are presented with various ways to dispatch the enemy. Within the E3 demo, there were standard pistol attacks (charged up shots, barrages, double taps), poison/damage over times droid probes, bleed affects, heals, and melee. How you choose to play and spec your Operative will be determine what type play style your character will have. What is nice to know, however, is that all these options are available to you within this Advanced Class. (Respecs anyone?)

 

Oooo...all the pretty lights!

What is the Operative's "role" in PvE versus in PvP?

Everyone knows that "hybrids" are controversial in MMOs, but there is no denying that is what an Operative is. In PvE, expect to dish out consistent damage via melee or ranged, while spot healing time to time to save an ally. Depending on the way you are built, you can be the person to keep everyone alive, the one to dish out insane close range burst damage, or the person to slowly wither all enemies health through poisons. In addition to combat, the Operative is indeed a "rogue" type character who will open locked doors leading to treasure or alternative routes to within a Flashpoint. (Exciting, no?)

I can write a whole article about the "potential possibility" of the Operative in PvP, but just know this. This class is made for people who like to think on their feet and generate a plan in their head. Being given a wide variety of skills (Stealth/Cover), there is definitely an answer to everything an opponent can throw at you. With the additions of poisons and heals, expect the Operative to be a very hard person to take down. If taken down, the other team would have to sacrifice a great deal. Keep in mind that while the game will be balanced, having an answer to every situation is something not all classes can say.

E3: Imperial Agent Operative Impressions

Greetings everyone. As you may already know, this past week was E3 and many developers came to showed off their game demos to the rest of the industry. Our beloved Bioware was there with The Old Republic and presented, for the very first time, the planet of Tatooine. Being the BioFan I am, I waited for 4 hours for a chance to play the game and my wish finally came true.

After being lend into a small, circular room by our favorite British community manager, Mr Stephen Reid himself, we were treated to a 10-minute video explaining what the demo will entail. Basically, the video explained the situation the Sith Empire has found itself in on Tatooine and how the assaults from Sand People have have devastated their facilities and put strain on their personnel. As the video continued, instructions on how to play all the Dark Side classes (including Advanced Class) were shown. Trust me when I say...some people really needed this part.

Anyways, when the short film finally came to a close, we were kindly directed out into the playing area where 2/3rds of the computers for set up for Tatooine and the rest were for Jedi Origin worlds. Being unfortunately seated in the back during the video presentation, I frantically looked for the IA: Operative but could not spot the station. Eventually, I sat down at a Sith Warrior console only to stand up to see another person at the Operative station. Eager to play Operative, I kindly tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to switch. He agreed (probably because we were next to each other in line) and I secretly cheered in my head. Finally, time to see what this class can do!

To start, I clicked on the holo display to get my first "quest" telling me to find a Sith Lord who was out in search of secrets within a ruin and hasn't returned. The conversation was something else and I must say that having convincing voice actors in place of a page of text is well worth it. Finishing the dialogue, I frantically searched by two bars of skills of the speeder bike, determined to beat others to the quest. Despite my enthusiasm, finding the skill was much harder than I thought and it was not until someone showed me was I able to take off.

With the 20 minute clock ticking away, I fought the urge to explore and sped along all the way to my quest waypoint. The map was very helpful in this aspect as it automatically becomes transparent as I began to move, allowing me to navigate accordingly while in transit. Once I became stationary, it would solidify, granting me a clear view of the map. Upon arrival, I saw my enemies: Tusken Raiders, some alone, some with group of frees. Oh boy this is gonna be fun...

Now before combat actually began, there were a few things I had to consider: Should I open with a melee attack? Should I go in gun blazing? What about my companion...what will she do? Will I have to heal during combat? Well, the best way to answer is to jump head first in with my level 26 Operative.

"Being the badass she is, she shrouded herself and her companion in a Stealth field as they slowly made their way towards a group of unsuspecting Tusken guards. A moment of surprised caught the Tuskens offguard as they began to realize someone was among then. It was too late however as this moment of panic was all she needed. She quickly Backstabbed one of the guards causing him let out a scream as her companion unleashed a deadly Barrage of suppression fire upon another guard a little further away. As the first guard flinched back in pain, he caught himself and pulled out a stun baton ready to land a devastating blow with his weapon. Luckily, back at the academy, she had learned the skill art of melee Evasion and carefully dodged out of the way. 

As the Tusken tried to regain his footing in the aftermath of blow, her hands were already on her rifle. A couple quick Debilitating Shots later, he began to bleed out. The gasps in his breathing told her that he was done for and all that was left to do was to finish the job. She approached him slowly, took out her electroblade and with a quick Shiv, the Tusken crumbled to the ground. As the electricity coursed through his lifeless body, she looked up to check upon her companion, only to see the last laser bolt strike through the remaining guard's chest. The battle was over and they had won."

Back in the real world, I began to greedily search the bodies for some epic loot and of course the quest item only to find some rubbish that was definitely NPC vendorable (yes I just made up this word). Eventually after several more battles, I was able to find the "quest item" but had trouble navigating the inventory window only to realize there is a "Quest Item" tab where the Sith Lord's Locator was...located. After feeling like a complete newbie, I traveled onwards through a cave where more Tusken Raiders would awaited. By the time I got to the Sith Lord, the demo time was up.

Being herded out the room, we were compensated by a generous selection of loot which included T-shirts, baseball caps, and posters. I couldn't resist taking a red T-shirt with a Sith Empire's logo on it as well as a poster with Darth Malgus directing a battle. All in all, it was definitely worth the wait and trip to E3. If you had to ask me if SWTOR was ready for launch, I will say the following:

The Old Republic is 80% more polished than most of the games on the show floor and even more polished that some games that are going to be released before it. It is a good time to have hope.

5 Updates Before E3!

It is less than one week away from E3 and the Bioware Austin Team has some interesting updates going out that you should be aware of. The first of which is their Advanced Class breakdown, allowing you to see some of the specialize movies in the Old Republic. The display of the advance classes are very visual and provide compelling insight into the gameplay style of each class. Be sure to check out the website especially if you are looking for information on some lesser advance classes.

Building on the idea of advance classes, MMORPG.com also has an exclusive interview with Georg Zoeller on the impact of advance classes, when you make them, and exactly how they will provide a different experience from each other. Here is an except in case you are interested:

"Advanced Classes are introduced once a player has reached level 10 and left the relative safety of their Origin World. Their class quest will lead them to the capital planet of their faction (Dromund Kaas for Imperial players, Coruscant for Republic players) where they can make their Advanced Class choice. This choice is not optional."

The 3rd update comes in the from of E3rd...I mean E3 where Bioware continues to tease show attendees about new content which appears to be another Flashpoint and some cool looking costumes and NPCs. Check out the image below:

Now for some of the lesser updates: A new comic based on the adventures of eventual Grand Jedi Master Satele Shan is also available. A finally, SWTOR will come out with special box versions but will only be exclusively downloadable through EA's new service cutely dubbed "Oracle". This should hint into some release planning going on internally =).