Imperial Agent & Smuggler - Simple Questions and Answers

[QisaBluevixen]

I've spent hours the last couple of days looking over the skill lists at torhead.com and have learned a lot, but I still have a ton of clarifying questions. I'm just going to dump them here and hopefully I'll be able to update it at some point with all of the answers.

General Questions:
Global Cooldown (GCD) - Is the GCD 1.5s or 1s? Does it start at the beginning of an activated or chaneled ability or at the end? Do some abilities not trigger it?

Alacrity - What does this impact? GCD? Activation time (like on Snipe/Ambush)? Channeling length (like on Series of Shots/Cull)? Other?

Accuracy - I imagine this impacts ranged attacks, but does it impact melee and/or magic attacks in any way?

Looking at the various channeled abilities and DoTs we can get, it's not clear when they tick. Corrosive Dart ticks 5 times over 15s which makes me think it ticks on 3/6/9/12/15. Interrogation Probe, though, ticks 7 times over 18s which makes me think it ticks on 0/3/6/9/12/15/18. So do some tick instantly and others only after a delay? Then there's Cull which ticks every second, but not for a set number of ticks, so how would alacrity impact that?

Is there any reason to even own a knife as a Sniper?

Ability Questions:
Rifle Shot - It fires two shots. Can one of the shots miss the target independent of the other?

If you try to fire Takedown on a target over 30% health, what happens?

Headshot only works on "incapacitated targets". What counts as incapacitated and how will I know to use it?

Flash Bang says it "blinds" targets. What does that mean? Is it a stun? A sleep? A nearsight?

Sprint works when not "in combat". What constitutes "in combat"? Will DoTs ticking or debuffs you've put on a target keep you in combat? If you're running away from someone trying to attack you but they aren't able to reach you, will you be able to hit Sprint at some point to get some distance?

How close does an enemy have to be to you to get knocked back by Cover Pulse?

Does Distraction prevent all abilities for 4s or just the one they were trying to use when you hit your target with it?

Does Evasion work when you're running away from attackers?

Engineering Questions:
Cluster Bombs in T3 Engineering says that cluster bombs "explode on damage by blaster fire". Does it have to be a gun or will any damage do? Does it have to be your blaster or will anyone's damage do?

Explosive Engineering and Experimental Explosives help "area effect" abilities. I'd say that would obviously include Fragmentation Grenade and Orbital Strike, but do they also help Suppressive Fire, Corrosive Grenade, and Plasma Probe?

Lethality Questions:
Corrosive Microbes in T2 Lethality gives a chance for each tick of Corrosive Dart to "tick twice". Do the additional ticks happen on top of each other or are they added to the end?

Lethal Dose in T4 Lethality says it affects "periodic effects". Would that include attacks like Series of Shots or Orbital Strikes?

Is Cull in T5 Lethality a rifle shot? Is the secondary damage considered poison (and thereby improved by Devouring Microbes)?

Marksmanship Questions:
Sniper Volley in T4 Marksmanship adds a 6s alacrity buff to Ambush shots and also to subsequent Snipe shots (they stack up to 3 times). If I'm reading that right, that means you could keep the Sniper Volley buff up until Ambush is ready again (after 15s). If that happens and you shoot Ambush again, will it proc Sniper Volley again and, if so, will it stack? There's a note in the tooltip that says the "initial Sniper Volley cannot be gained more than once every 30s". Does that mean the 2nd Ambush wouldn't add the buff or does it mean that, if you let your last Sniper Volley buff drop, you can't start again until 30s have passed?

Rapid Fire in T7 Marksmanship "immediately finishes the cooldown on Series of Shots and makes the next Series of Shots trigger no cooldown. Does that mean you could do 3 in a row? SoS -> RF -> SoS -> SoS

[Sol]

Global Cooldown (GCD) - Is 1.5 secs and will not be lowered (confirm by gorge zoeller as it gives enough time to show the spell effects). It happens at the start of an ability activation and yes some move like do not trigger it.

Alacrity - Reduces activation and channelling time of all affected abilities. Also Cull is now an instant. What does this impact?

Accuracy - Accuracy affects all attacks.

Quote:Looking at the various channeled abilities and DoTs we can get, it's not clear when they tick. Corrosive Dart ticks 5 times over 15s which makes me think it ticks on 3/6/9/12/15

This is incorrect. DoTs always tick on 0 and then incrementally from there as it stops others from tagging your target in the first 3 seconds. Therefore 15 sec DoTs are actually 12 (0,3,6,9,12).

Quote:Interrogation Probe, though, ticks 7 times over 18s which makes me think it ticks on 0/3/6/9/12/15/18. So do some tick instantly and others only after a delay? Then there's Cull which ticks every second, but not for a set number of ticks, so how would alacrity impact that?

Alacrity simply speeds up the channel, it doesn't add more ticks of the DoTs like in WoW. Once again, Cull

Cull
Imperial Agent (Operative)

Energy: -25
Range: 10m
Activation time: Instant
Damage Type: Internal
Mirror: Wounding Shot

Executes your Tactical Advantage to fire a volley of corrosive shots, dealing (LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.135 + WeaponDamage * 1.35) weapon damage. For each of your poison effects present on the target, the target is culled for an additional (LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.066 + SpellPower * 0.66) internal damage. Requires and consumes Tactical Advantage.

is now an instant attack.

Quote:If you try to fire Takedown on a target over 30% health, what happens?

As the tooltip states ( takedown

Takedown
Imperial Agent (Sniper)

Energy: -15
Range: 30m
Activation time: Instant
Cooldown: 12 secs
Damage Type: Weapon
Mirror: Quickdraw

Attempts to take the target down with a single powerful shot that deals (LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.27 WeaponDamage * 2.7) weapon damage. Only usable on targets at or below 30% max health.

), you simply can't use it on targets above 30% so trying to use it won't work.

Quote:Headshot only works on "incapacitated targets". What counts as incapacitated and how will I know to use it?

Incapacitated targets are ones that are knocked down and stunned (maybe?). You will need to monitor this yourself and use the ability at the appropriate times. I believe that swtor needs to implement the same 'light up' function on the action bar for these abilities that wow currently has.

[/quote]Flash Bang says it "blinds" targets. What does that mean? Is it a stun? A sleep? A nearsight?[/quote]

Exactly what it says. All targets are blinded (stunned) for the duration unless they take damage in which case the blind breaks.

Quote:Sprint works when not "in combat". What constitutes "in combat"? Will DoTs ticking or debuffs you've put on a target keep you in combat? If you're running away from someone trying to attack you but they aren't able to reach you, will you be able to hit Sprint at some point to get some distance?

In combat in this game lasts a damn long time. Too long imo, especially playing a stealth class like an operative. Sprint is also always on and it toggles automatically and don't rely on it to get you out of trouble, it;s for quick travel between locations and fights.

Quote:Does Distraction prevent all abilities for 4s or just the one they were trying to use when you hit your target with it?

Only that ability as it states in the tooltip.

Quote:Does Evasion work when you're running away from attackers?

It works running in any direction.

Quote:Corrosive Microbes in T2 Lethality gives a chance for each tick of Corrosive Dart to "tick twice". Do the additional ticks happen on top of each other or are they added to the end?

Ticks will happen on top, not at the end.

[Tibbel]

I'll see what I can do.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  General Questions:
Global Cooldown (GCD) - Is the GCD 1.5s or 1s?

1.5s

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Does it start at the beginning of an activated or chaneled ability or at the end?

It starts at the beginning.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Do some abilities not trigger it?

That is correct. Laze Target, for example.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Alacrity - What does this impact? GCD? Activation time (like on Snipe/Ambush)? Channeling length (like on Series of Shots/Cull)? Other?

Directly, it affects activation speed, not time. (So 100% alacrity turns a 3-second channel into 1.5s, not instant.) Alacrity does not affect the GCD. If snipe is sped up to a 1.0-second activation time, there is a 0.5-second wait for the end of the GCD.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Accuracy - I imagine this impacts ranged attacks, but does it impact melee and/or magic attacks in any way?

If it can miss (or be dodged), then more accuracy decreases that chance. I know the base tech accuracy is 100%, and for ranged shots it's 90%. I don't know about melee.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Looking at the various channeled abilities and DoTs we can get, it's not clear when they tick. Corrosive Dart ticks 5 times over 15s which makes me think it ticks on 3/6/9/12/15. Interrogation Probe, though, ticks 7 times over 18s which makes me think it ticks on 0/3/6/9/12/15/18. So do some tick instantly and others only after a delay? Then there's Cull which ticks every second, but not for a set number of ticks, so how would alacrity impact that?

I don't know whether alacrity increases the speed at which DoTs tick. MY guess is not, but I don't know either way.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Is there any reason to even own a knife as a Sniper?

They (typically) have stats on them. Also, our Debilitate ability stuns a target and deals instant damage based on the knife's damage.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Ability Questions:
Rifle Shot - It fires two shots. Can one of the shots miss the target independent of the other?

Yes. Same goes for channeled shots' "ticks".

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  If you try to fire Takedown on a target over 30% health, what happens?

Error. It won't let us.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Headshot only works on "incapacitated targets". What counts as incapacitated and how will I know to use it?

I don't know. My assumption is stuns and our Incapacitate Droid (and similar effects) count for that. Whether knockdowns count, I don't know.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Flash Bang says it "blinds" targets. What does that mean? Is it a stun? A sleep? A nearsight?

It's a stun that breaks on taking damage.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Sprint works when not "in combat". What constitutes "in combat"? Will DoTs ticking or debuffs you've put on a target keep you in combat? If you're running away from someone trying to attack you but they aren't able to reach you, will you be able to hit Sprint at some point to get some distance?

Sprint has infinite duration. It can be turned on/off, but we can leave it on 100% of the time if we like. During the weekend, it seemed that any hostile action (outgoing or incoming) put/kept us in combat. I didn't very often use DoTs, so I can't speak with certainty about those.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  How close does an enemy have to be to you to get knocked back by Cover Pulse?

It seemed like it was approximately within melee range (4m), perhaps a little bit more.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Does Distraction prevent all abilities for 4s or just the one they were trying to use when you hit your target with it?

Just the one they were attempting to activate at the time of the interrupt.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Does Evasion work when you're running away from attackers?

Yes.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Marksmanship Questions:
Sniper Volley in T4 Marksmanship adds a 6s alacrity buff to Ambush shots and also to subsequent Snipe shots (they stack up to 3 times). If I'm reading that right, that means you could keep the Sniper Volley buff up until Ambush is ready again (after 15s). If that happens and you shoot Ambush again, will it proc Sniper Volley again and, if so, will it stack?

If we still have Sniper Volley up from our last Ambush, then it will already be at 3 stacks. Casting a second Ambush should not refresh or overwrite Sniper Volley. (I mean "should" in a semantic sense. We can talk about game design separately. ) If we don't have Sniper Volley and it's been more than 30 seconds since we last went from 0 to 1 stack, then Ambush will give us 1 stack.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  There's a note in the tooltip that says the "initial Sniper Volley cannot be gained more than once every 30s". Does that mean the 2nd Ambush wouldn't add the buff or does it mean that, if you let your last Sniper Volley buff drop, you can't start again until 30s have passed?

It's based on when you gain the buff, not when it falls off.

(12-03-2011 09:23 AM)QisaBluevixen Wrote:  Rapid Fire in T7 Marksmanship "immediately finishes the cooldown on Series of Shots and makes the next Series of Shots trigger no cooldown. Does that mean you could do 3 in a row? SoS -> RF -> SoS -> SoS

Yes.

[Kaedis]

I'm not super well versed on Sniper effects or IAs in general, but I've answered the ones I know the answers to:

Quote:Global Cooldown (GCD) - Is the GCD 1.5s or 1s? Does it start at the beginning of an activated or chaneled ability or at the end? Do some abilities not trigger it?

1.5 seconds, excluding certain abilities that reduce the GCD. Starts at the beginning of a cast/channel.

Quote:Alacrity - What does this impact? GCD? Activation time (like on Snipe/Ambush)? Channeling length (like on Series of Shots/Cull)? Other?

Alacrity decreases the activation and channel (conflicting reports on the latter here) time of any ability with one, but does not reduce the GCD at all. All casts at or under 1.5 seconds already, as well all instant attacks, gain no benefit from Alacrity. The formula, as far as we can tell thus far, is NewCastTime = OldCastTime / (1 + Alacrity%)

Quote:Accuracy - I imagine this impacts ranged attacks, but does it impact melee and/or magic attacks in any way?

Yes, and the same stat affects each. However, physical and special (ie. force/tech) attacks have different base miss chances. Once you've reduced your miss chance to 0, Accuracy starts affecting your chance to be dodged/parried for melee or deflected/resisted for ranged.

Quote:So do some tick instantly and others only after a delay? Then there's Cull which ticks every second, but not for a set number of ticks, so how would alacrity impact that?

Yes, some tick instantly, while others have a delay. Also, as far as I know, Alacrity has no effect on DoT tick intervals.

Quote:Sprint works when not "in combat". What constitutes "in combat"? Will DoTs ticking or debuffs you've put on a target keep you in combat? If you're running away from someone trying to attack you but they aren't able to reach you, will you be able to hit Sprint at some point to get some distance?

Sprint actually automatically handles that. You have to cast it once, right after you resurrect each time (or right after getting it for the first time), but after that it automatically disables on entering combat and automatically reactivates out of combat.

DoT ticks do not keep you in combat or put you in combat, regardless of whether they are on you or your target. Any hostile action you take or taken against you will place you in combat, as will aggroing a hostile NPC, either by attacking it or by getting to near. You will also be placed in combat and remain in combat if your companion engages or is engaged by a target.

Leaving combat has different rules depending on the type of combat. In PvE combat (any combat against an NPC), you will be placed in combat on initial aggro and will not leave combat (excluding certain odd phase changes and such) until all hostile mobs engaged in that combat session are defeat, or you are defeats. The one except to this is that mobs will "leash" back to their starting area if you pull them far enough away from it without committing any hostile action against them. They will enter Evade mode, becoming immune to all attacks and ignoring all targets while they run back to their initial aggro spot. As soon as they do this, you will drop combat.

In PvP, you will drop combat after a certain period of time (I believe 10 seconds) after the last hostile action you took or received or the last helpful action you took against a target already in PvP combat.

Taking a helpful action against a friendly target in combat (PvE or PvP) will also place you in combat, subject to the normal terms of dropping combat. Receiving a helpful action from a target in combat will not place you in combat, however.

You can tell if you're in combat or not by the icon above the center of your action bars. If it's absent, no enemies are around. If it's a yellow eye, you are out of combat, but enemies are near (perhaps only PvE enemies, or maybe it's simply a marker of zone type). If it's a red blaster pistol, you're in combat.

Quote:Does Distraction prevent all abilities for 4s or just the one they were trying to use when you hit your target with it?

Only the ability they were trying to use, so choose carefully which you interrupt.

Quote:Lethal Dose in T4 Lethality says it affects "periodic effects". Would that include attacks like Series of Shots or Orbital Strikes?

I'm inclined to say no. It appears that according to the SWTOR engine, only effects normally considered DoTs (ie. you apply a debuff to the target, that doesn't require you to channel to maintain it, the deals damage at regular intervals). Neither Series of Shots or Orbital Strikes fits this definition. That talent may possess odd behavior, though, I've not empirically tested it's effects.

---

Quote:This is incorrect. DoTs always tick on 0 and then incrementally from there as it stops others from tagging your target in the first 3 seconds. Therefore 15 sec DoTs are actually 12 (0,3,6,9,12).

This is incorrect. For example, the SI DoT Affliction (5 ticks, 15 seconds) first ticks at 3 seconds in, and last ticks at 15 seconds in. I'm willing to bet Corrosive Dart works similarly. Your design would be counter-intuitive (the last 3 seconds the DoT was on you don't do anything) unless they did a Rift-style system (a 15 second DoT would have 6 ticks, not five).

[QisaBluevixen]

Wow, you guys are amazing! Thank you very much for clearning up so much. Glad to see there are some questions even you guys don't know, though.

[Sol]

(12-03-2011 10:48 AM)Kore Wrote:  

Quote:This is incorrect. DoTs always tick on 0 and then incrementally from there as it stops others from tagging your target in the first 3 seconds. Therefore 15 sec DoTs are actually 12 (0,3,6,9,12).

This is incorrect. For example, the SI DoT Affliction (5 ticks, 15 seconds) first ticks at 3 seconds in, and last ticks at 15 seconds in. I'm willing to bet Corrosive Dart works similarly. Your design would be counter-intuitive (the last 3 seconds the DoT was on you don't do anything) unless they did a Rift-style system (a 15 second DoT would have 6 ticks, not five).

I asked this very question months ago was told the contrary. My apologies for the mislead and try for clearing it up!!

[Albinoassamite]

A simple question that may have a very complex answer. With the IA energy regen scaling, how is the formula affected by the "Energy Tanks" talent?

[Kaladris]

As mentioned in the Marksman-Thread, the formular is working with %-Brackets and works therefore straighforward that it extends every bracket.
Starting Numbers:
100%-80% Energy: 100% Reg (Basis:5)
80%-60%: 80% Reg (5*0,8=4)
60%-40%: 60% Reg ( 5*0,6=3)
40%-20%: 50% Reg (5*0,5= 2,5)
0%-20%: 40% Reg (5*0,4=2)

Energy Tanks does not give you 10 "free" energy points ontop of your normal hundert, it just gets into the same pool like it would behave if you just had 100 energy.
Note that there are some ways of altering your energy management apart from the basic reg like skilling some talents or using Stim Boost as an Operative/Scoundrel.

So long,
Kala

[Akio]

I was under the impression that the energy regen rate was based on 3 segments.

Energy >= 60%: 5 energy/second
20% <= Energy < 60%: 3 energy/second
Energy < 20%: 2 energy/second

Can anyone confirm exactly what the regeneration rate is for the IA? This was the last update I saw in a post on 11/20/2011.

Regardless, it does work as percentages like Kaladris said. Energy tanks adds 10 energy to your total pool, so 60% = 0.6*110 = 66, and 20% = 22.

[Tactician]

(12-07-2011 06:57 AM)Akio Wrote:  I was under the impression that the energy regen rate was based on 3 segments.

Energy >= 60%: 5 energy/second
20% <= Energy < 60%: 3 energy/second
Energy < 20%: 2 energy/second

Can anyone confirm exactly what the regeneration rate is for the IA? This was the last update I saw in a post on 11/20/2011.

Regardless, it does work as percentages like Kaladris said. Energy tanks adds 10 energy to your total pool, so 60% = 0.6*110 = 66, and 20% = 22.

The UI looks like it supports what you say, but Kore looked into the XML files and found that it's 5 brackets like Kaladris mentioned