Apollo's Operative PvP Guide!

[Zeus]

So, I know that many of you guys have asked me in game when I would release my Operative PvP guide. Well, here it is! I’ll try to make it as concise as possible while still being informative!

So, as an Operative, you have MANY skills that can be useful, however, you only have 8 that you can actually utilize. What does this mean? The ones you pick will HEAVILY impact your playing style. Also, learning your distance of your skills and the ability to use that knowledge efficiently is a CRUCIAL skill needed to kill your opponents.

Exposition:

People ask me, what’s the best build for an Operative. The truth is, there is none. I’ll be posting my build here, but it has it’s weaknesses. I’ll illustrate them here and other builds that you can spec to in order to combat those weaknesses. Thus, I’ll be concentrating more on how you should play as an Operative rather than what your skill build should be. However, both topics will be addressed!



Play Style:

Plays style is FAR more important than your build. Cunning play style WILL make or break the player. Now, I want to address the various types of fighting styles you can pick. Pick the one that best fits you.

• Aggressive Play Style: This one typically had the DOTs (Flames of Insanity and Psychic Lash) maxed. Along with this, since Aggressive will typically lose out without some sort of defensive, the aggressive play style will usually have maxed blur. Typically, this play style will be VERY formidable in FFA, but in 1v1, it just does not compete.

• Kiting Play Style: This play style usually means kiting the other players skills/attacks. Typically, this is boring and just wastes time. Why? You waste time running and since your auto attack slows down your running, all you do is delay death/hope for a win. Granted, there are some people that can pull this off successfully, but not many can.

• The Dieting Play Style: This play style is my play style. I call it “Dieting” because essentially this play style consists of controlling your damage intake and maximizing your ability to deal damage. How does this work? It’s very fighter jet like. Stay out of range of enemy’s attacks, run in and bomb yours, and kite in little circles. It essentially combines the Aggressive Play Style and the Kiting Play Style in a nice little package. My skill build contains the essential skills needed for the Dieting Play Style. If you notice, my Heal is maxed. Why? It essentially negates the DOTs, should I get hit with them. What does this do? It renders a LARGE portion of that person’s attacks useless, especially if said opponent is an Engineer or Operative. That’s what I mean by dieting. You kite, control your damage intake, replenish with heal, and maximize your ability to deal damage. In words, it is quite simple, but it can actually take quite some time to master. Why? It’s very fighter jet like. As Muhammad Ali says, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”. That’s essentially what this style is about. You can accomplish curbing your damage intake by making small circular movements with your character. What does this do? If you’re on the outskirts, you float in and out of range. It’s very hard to catch you when you’re in range, but easy for you to determine when you are, provided that you know your skills range.

My Skill Build [Note: This SS is at L39. When you get to L41, invest all your additional skill points into Neural Shock]:

[Zeus]

Approaching Various Classes:


Operative:

For the Operative, your DOTs will be the most useful in this scenario. Since you too are an Operative, you will need to be wary as they can do the same if not more damage than you.

To approach and successfully take down an Operative, do the following:
• Before the match, fire up Amplify Pain. This is a mini damage boost skill that will add 11-12 damage for a short time. Why? When you start off, your DOTs will hit harder.

• Try to avoid using your heal in combat. Why? It adds -5 DPS. That’s a no bueno for Operatives. Thus, if you’re rooted and have sustained DOT damage, it would be wise to use it then. Why? It negates or heavily lessens the impact of the DOTs. Trust me, when Psychic Lash and Flames of Insanity are burning you faster than Paul Blart the Mall Cop is burning off calories, you will wish you had your heal to use then.

• Utilize the “Floating In and Out” technique. Lay down your DOTs, which also root/stun your opponent. What does this do? It allows you to do massive damage while you are still out of range.

• Should the Operative get within range, that’s why you save your Blur. Act calmly and simply activate Blur, pour your DOTs on him, lurch him away, and flick up your heal. If done correctly, your health bar should not be less than ¼ and your opponent’s health bar should be close to dead. Also, remember, it is up to you when you choose to utilize your activate precision. I cannot determine that for you. That requires quick thinking.

Commando:

Now, Commandos like BoeJangles will be VERY difficult to defeat, but it’s possible.

• Before the match, fire up Amplify Pain. This is a mini damage boost skill that will add 11-12 damage for a short time. Why? When you start off, your DOTs will hit harder.

• Try to avoid using your heal in combat. Why? It adds -5 DPS. That’s a no bueno for Operatives. Thus, if you’re rooted and have sustained DOT damage, it would be wise to use it then. Why? It negates or heavily lessens the impact of the DOTs. Trust me, when Psychic Lash and Flames of Insanity are burning you faster than Paul Albert the Mall Cop is burning off calories, you will wish you had your heal to use then.

• Utilize the “Floating In and Out” technique. Lay down your DOTs, which also root/stun your opponent. What does this do? It allows you to do massive damage while you are still out of range.

• Should the Commando get within range, that’s why you save your Blur.

If you can, though, before attempting any of this, try to stop them in their tracks with Flames of Insanity and Psychic Lash, followed by Lurch. This gets them out of your way without using up your Blur. Ideally, you never want to have the chance to utilize Blur. It is your saving grace, not something to be dependent on. I am not a player of luck, thus, I don’t like relying on luck to save me. I prefer to make my own luck, which is why I don’t heavily emphasize Blur throughout this guide.


Act calmly and simply activate Blur, pour your DOTs on him, lurch him away, and flick up your heal. If done correctly, your health bar should not be less than ¼ and your opponent’s health bar should be close to dead. Also, remember, it is up to you when you choose to utilize your activate precision. I cannot determine that for you. That requires quick thinking.


Engineer:

These babies are pretty much a no brainer to defeat. What do you do? Essentially, you want to hit them with your DOT’s first, followed by a Neural Shock, so their DOTs don’t hit you, followed by a lurch. Also, remember, before doing any of this, fire up Amplify Pain, Precision, and Blur in that order. Remember, it is up to you to make a smart decision on the timing. It’s not something I can teach you through the text. Now, Engineers have VERY powerful DOTs, so you will need to flick up your heal when they hit. If you do it right, you should be able to walk off the battlefield with no less than half health remaining per fight.


Hope you guys enjoyed!

[Silentarrow]

Nice guide Apollo .

[Piosidon]

Nice guide so far!

[Kahlua]

I feel like a lot of people are overlooking Mind Wrack in their pvp builds.
I play with the aggressive style on my 30 Op, and have fared very well thus far.

like the class description you have though!

[Zeus]

I feel like a lot of people are overlooking Mind Wrack in their pvp builds.
I play with the aggressive style on my 30 Op, and have fared very well thus far.

like the class description you have though!

It's overlooked, yes, but I keep mine out of my build for good reason. If you utilize the skills I have said, you won't find yourself missing it.

Guide is practically finished. I'll put the finishing touches on it tomorrow, it's not something I can do here. Anyways, back to my party! I hope you guys like it!

[ProSophist]

Props to Parth for a great guide

It is definitely not wise to rely solely on luck as it will let you down more often than not. The best way to play PvP is having a plan when going against your opponent, specially during the worst case scenarios.

[Kakatoa91]

Boe is insane yea. Didnt had chance to fight him back since new cap.

But com seems tougher in general now to beat. Need to recheck as soon I finish custom my gear.

[Bene]

Great guide Apollo! Really enjoyed it, well written.

I concur with what you've said about engineers. I've tested and tested, and as it stands I always come back to the same conclusion. We are quite easy to defeat at this stage, and once a comm or op knows what they are doing (which will be more evident now with your guide) we stand almost no chance at all!

[Kahlua]

hmm question. Why waste amplify pain BEFORE the match? Is this assuming you're going to be able to attack within 5 seconds? Because amplify pain lasts hardly any time at all. Also, wouldn't it be beneficial to have the attack fired AT the opponent, since it lowers armor?

[Zeus]

hmm question. Why waste amplify pain BEFORE the match? Is this assuming you're going to be able to attack within 5 seconds? Because amplify pain lasts hardly any time at all. Also, wouldn't it be beneficial to have the attack fired AT the opponent, since it lowers armor?

It boosts your damage, thus allowing your skills to hit harder. Then, when you're attacking, it's already up again, allowing you to "stack" the effect.

I believe I also explained why right after saying to fire up amplify pain before the match, in the post regarding how to approach various classes.

[Garvhoz]

Hm...scary op

[morfic]

A+

Excellent guide written by an excellent Operator. Keep up the good work Apollo, and I will keep working on a way to beat you more than one or two lucky times out of 20. lol

[Kahlua]

It boosts your damage, thus allowing your skills to hit harder. Then, when you're attacking, it's already up again, allowing you to "stack" the effect.

I believe I also explained why right after saying to fire up amplify pain before the match, in the post regarding how to approach various classes.

yeah but a -120 armor debuff and added crit chance/added damage right off the bat in actual combat just seems more productive. I dunno how long your fights last at capped levels, but in the high 20's/low 30s, the fights last mere seconds. That 120 armor debuff is extremely helpful, especially when stacking DOTs

[Zeus]

yeah but a -120 armor debuff and added crit chance/added damage right off the bat in actual combat just seems more productive. I dunno how long your fights last at capped levels, but in the high 20's/low 30s, the fights last mere seconds. That 120 armor debuff is extremely helpful, especially when stacking DOTs

Yeah, but it's nothing when your opponent just rooted you with flames and then you wasted your chance to attack with armor break. I realize the math involved, but math isn't the most logical approach in PvP since there are other variables that you have to account for.

[Kahlua]

Yeah, but it's nothing when your opponent just rooted you with flames and then you wasted your chance to attack with armor break. I realize the math involved, but math isn't the most logical approach in PvP since there are other variables that you have to account for.

but...but...but...MATH

I wish I had put "have YOU ever played SL PvP???" as an answer on my Calc final




*side note - Can't you still attack while rooted in PvP? Wasn't that like, one of the biggest issues thus far? That stuns, roots, etc only stopped movement but not attacking?

[Zeus]

but...but...but...MATH

I wish I had put "have YOU ever played SL PvP???" as an answer on my Calc final




*side note - Can't you still attack while rooted in PvP? Wasn't that like, one of the biggest issues thus far? That stuns, roots, etc only stopped movement but not attacking?

Yeah, you can, but it's rather difficult to when your opponent is out of range and you can't attack, hehe. That's why after the roots, I move out of range, set myself up, and then swoop in, do a lot of damage and get out. Like I said, it's kinda like a fighter jet style . You're floating on the outskirts of their attack range and swoop in, damage them and get out.

[Kanozaki]

very nice guide , we should pvp again later some time (:

[Zeus]

very nice guide , we should pvp again later some time (:

Definitely! If I see you on, I'll PvP you again

[Zolum]

This thread is good and all, but what is the use of copying play styles and builds. I saw apollo's build but chose to make my own. Turns out I make pretty good builds. I was pvping and saw a lvl 36 with legendary gun and full 35 armer. I was lvl 34 with lvl 30 items and I decided to fight him. With my new custom build I won!!!!! It is in the build not nessesarily the weapons and armer. I give out no builds. I keep it to myself. I suggest that more players make there own. There are so many possibilities!