SWTOR 6.0 Lethality Operative Guide by Kamiala (2024)

Kamiala’s Complete SWTOR Lethality Operative 6.0 Guide is the Imperial Agent for both PvP and PvE. It’s suitable for both beginner players and more advanced and experienced veterans, who seek to improve their performance!

UPDATED FOR PATCH 6.1.1

This guide is written for VULKK.com by Kamiala (Darth Malgus)

INTRODUCTION TO LETHALITY OPERATIVE 6.0

Lethality operative is, probably, considered as the ‘that one’ that everyone hates or thinks that can’t do anything but that’s just because they never bothered to interact with due to the first impression it gives compared to the other, Concealment. In a lot of hands, from what I have seen, this spec has the output classified as mediocre due to the “clunky and/or boring sensation” it gives. But I am here to show that all of that is a lie and that there is more to this than it seems.

On the first picture, the survivability, compared to Concealment, is a straight downgrade and the game style is much different compared to all other classes and their specs, which is a point that won’t make people approach it.

The utility, however, that it brings to the team can be something of exceptional as , when properly handled, can make everything easier for everyone in a lot of scenario, either be it in PvE, on helping on healing while still being able to deal great damage to create a big headache to the enemy team in PvP scenario

PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS

Single target damage

Currently one of the four strongest specs in the game atdealing damage, Lethality has been buffed although the counterpart spec hasreceived the same treatment, being on par with this one. Still does not meanthat this spec is ‘crap’ or worth to be substituted by other alternatives. Itstill has its strenghts in the situations where it can outshine the others byfar. In this guide I will provide two rotations, a beginner and an intermediumrotation with their AOE focused versions, and finally the most advancedversion, which works based on priorities. The output of all rotations can stillbe pretty high although each can shine depending on the situation.

In terms of PvP, this may not exactly be the case, depending on the selection of target but I will cover later.

AOE damage

In 6.0, Leth has received a massive buff to their already strong AOE damage in the shape of Tacticals and Bonus Sets. Thankfully, they did not touch the dotspread. In fact, it was actually magnified although can still be lower than a couple of specs, at least PvP wise.

Survivability (PvP oriented):

Unlike previous patches, survivability has somewhat decreased although still manageable. Weaker heals are the main problem, since it was the main defensive point that this spec had and it got stripped away. The defensive abilities like Evasion and Shield Probe remain equally strong like previous updates but the new ability of reset in defensives does not compensate the lack of offheals that the has lost. That means that, more than ever before, we are heavily dependant on the teammates we have on the group, specially PvP wise.

Group utility:

Unlike in 5.10 or previous updates, let’s say that Lethality’s group utility has been reduced to pretty much only PvE useful, where it still remains strong. The ramp up of damage and barely any increase of offheals has pushed aside Lethality’s support down the drain, in terms of PvP as so to speak. Does that mean its pointless? No but its a significant nerf that can easily be felt to anyone who has played this spec in each update.

GEARING AND STATS

I am going to give a brief explanation on what Bonus Sets/Tacticals generally work, along with brief description how to reach the desired stats and Best In Slot on the gearing, in terms of mods and the like. I will give versions with the new augments first, and then, in case the player lacks credits/crafting materials to buy specific things, such as augments, I will also give an alternative in cheaper augments.

Caution regarding gear

1. All Armorings, Mods and Enhancements can be moved around on all characters unlike the previous patch, which is a thing that no longer needs to be careful with.
2. On the other hand, one have to be careful when buying gear. It cannot be refunded at the vendors once bought. Even with how easy it is to grind things now and same to be said about credits, it doesn’t mean that it can be just shrugged off because other details, like amps take in a credit sink.
3. All forms of Gear is now considered Legacy (Not Cartel Market or low level world drops on planets). One that has been sought for a long time but better late than never. Congratz on the dev team for it

PvE: Stats and Gear

Best and Mandatory Stats

Stats

The ‘best’ and ‘mandatory’stats for in PvE:

• 1590 for 110% Accuracy;
• 1213+ for 1st Alacrity Threshold / 3208+ for 2^nd Alacrity Threshold;
• Everything else put in Critical Rating;
• The best Mods on 6.0, at the moment, are the unlettered R-2, unlettered R-3 and unlettered R-5 but unlettered and unnumbered version work just fine;
• The best Armorings, Barrels and Hilts are the unlettered and unnumbered and unlettered R-1 versions.

Below it will be displayed how the stats can be best achieved.

Notes

• Earpiece and Implants will be considered as Enhancement as they give the same stats.
• I am using old 228 Augments from patches/updates but I will provide the BiS as much as I can, including the new 274 augments and/or later versions that may come out (I’m poor in in-game credits and not a crafter so please bear with it :D ).
• Relics will usually be the ones that give Mastery (Focused Retribution) and Power (Serendipitous Assault), although the Critical(Devastating Vengeance) can be picked on 1,3s GCD build.
• **Crystals will always be +41 critical stat (Eviscerating).**
• The player has the companion bonuses. It is highly recommended to have them otherwise some stats, most importantly, accuracy won’t be correct. In case this does not happen, adding an extra accuracy augment should mitigate the problem.

Screenshot below to check what I mean. It can be found in the legacy window on the Global Unlocks Tab, following with Imperial Classes/Republic Classes.

The example in the screenshot, Imperial Agent players (Sniper/Operative), need to finish Scorpio story companion and/or max affection to have access to the bonus from her. It gives exactly 1% extra on accuracy. It is not accumulative with other companions from other classes.

Low Alacrity with High Crit

Gear in 306 rating + Advanced Augments 74:

Accuracy 1590+

• 3 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered Version)
• 1 Accuracy Augment 74 (+108)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

It gives slightly above 110 % accuracy which is required for PvE activities.

• True Best in Slot in Accuracy (1590) is:
  • 3 Enhancements (Pick the R-X versionsthat go below R-’38‘ when added up. Example, which by chance is what I got, is this: 12 + 13 +13 -> 1x Unlettered R-12 Enhancement (+407) + 2x Unlettered R-13 Enhancement (+405) There are other builds but awareness that accuracy has to stay at 1590 must be taken into account. Some of them don’t work. )
  • Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)
  • 1 Accuracy Augment 74 (+108)

Alacrity 1213+

• 3 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered version)

It gives 1,4s Global Cooldowns.

• True Best in Slot in Alacrity (1213)
  • 3 Enhancements (Pick the R-X versions that go below R-’40’ when added up. There is one case that is 39 but its solely the only one, afaik. Anyway, example of both: 13 + 13 + 14 or 13 x 3 -> 2x Unlettered R-13 Enhancement (+405 each) + 1xR14 Unlettered Enhancement (+403) OR 3x R-13 Enhancement (+405 Each) There are other builds but be aware that alacrity has to stay at 1213 must be taken into account. Some of them don’t work )

Critical (This is already the BiS) – Rest of the stats (3319)

• 4 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered versions (These are the BiS versions))
• 13 Augments (+108 each)
• Crystals (+41 each)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+109)

Gear in 306 rating + Advanced Augments 45:

Accuracy –1590+

• Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered Version)
• 1 Accuracy Augment 45 (+96)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

It gives slightly above 110 % accuracy which is required for PvE activities

Alacrity – 1213+

3Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered version)

It gives 1,4s Global Cooldowns.

• True Best in Slot in Alacrity (1213)
  • 3 Enhancements (Pick the R-X versions that go lower than R-’40’ when added up. There is one case that is R-’39’ but its solely the only one, afaik. Anyway, example of both: 13 + 13 + 14 or 13 x 3 -> 2x Unlettered R-13 Enhancement (+405 each) + 1xR14 Unlettered Enhancement (+403) OR 3x R-13 Enhancement (+405 Each) There are other builds but awareness that alacrity has to stay at 1213 must be taken into account. Some of them don’t work)

Critical (This is already the BiS) – Rest of the stats (3163)

• 4 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered versions (These are the BiS versions))
• 13 Augments (+96 each)
• Crystals (+41 each)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+109)

High Alacrity with Low Crit

Gear in 306 rating + Advanced Augments 74

Accuracy –1590+

• 3 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered Version)
• 1 Accuracy Augment 74 (+108)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

It gives slightly above 110 % accuracy which is required for PvE activities.

• True Best in Slot in Accuracy (1590)
  • 3 Enhancements (Pick the R-X versionsthat go below R-’38‘ when added up. Example, which by chance is what I got, is this: 12 + 13 +13 -> 1x Unlettered R-12 Enhancement (+407) + 2x Unlettered R-13 Enhancement (+405) There are other builds but awareness that accuracy has to stay at 1590 must be taken into account. Some of them don’t work)
  • Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)
  • 1 Accuracy Augment 74 (+108)

Alacrity–3208+

• 6 Enhancements (+431) + 6 Augments (+108 each)

It gives 1,3s Global Cooldowns.

Critical (This is already the BiS in Critical Rating) – Rest of the stats ( 1378 ) :

• 1 Enhancements (+431 – Unlettered and Unnumbered version)
• 7 Augments (+108 each)
• Crystals (+41 each)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+109)

Gear in 306 rating + Advanced Augments 45

Accuracy – 1590+

• 3 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered Version)
• 1 Augment (+96)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

It gives slightly above 110 % accuracy which is required for PvE activities.

Alacrity –3208+

• 6 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered version) + 7 Augments (+96 each), or
• 5 Enhancements + 10 Augments

It gives 1,3s Global Cooldowns

Critical (This is already the BiS in Critical Rating) – Rest of the stats ( 1198 ) :

• 1 Enhancements (+431 – Unlettered and Unnumbered version)
• 6 Augments (+96 each)
• Crystals (+41 each)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+109)

PvP: Stats and Gear

Gearing in PvP comes in tastes. One can stack low Alacrity, high Critical and others stack high Alacrity with rest dumped into Critical. Although I will give what is generally needed:

Stats for PvP

• +3300 for Critical Rating as it gives easily above +42%;
• +1213 for 1^st threshold in Alacrity or +3208 for 2^nd Alacrity threshold;

Below it will be displayed how the stats can be achieved, in different stats.

• The best Mods on 6.0, at the moment, are the unlettered R-2, unlettered R-3 and unlettered R-5 but unlettered and unnumbered version work just fine;
• The best Armorings, Barrels and Hilts are the unlettered and unnumbered and unlettered R-1 versions.

Notes:

• All sets can be used effectively in every environment: Duels, Regs, Solo Ranked or Team Ranked; but I will, however, tell why I have a preference on different builds
• Accuracy, in general, is recommended to be close to 105% on the builds which would lead to have certain benefits like:
  • Negating the Defense rating from the opponents as much as possible: the usual being 5% accross most classes, with Assassin and Sorcerer being exception with 10% Defensive Rating;
  • To minimize the effects from certain classes/specs. F.e. Powertech’s Oilslick and Sniper’s Diversion. It doesn’t do much about it but still. Still, it is up to the player’s choice to take, or not.
• Earpiece and Implants will be considered as Enhancement as they give the same stats.
• I am using old 228 Augments from patches/updates but I will provide the BiS as much as I can, including the new 274 augments and/or later versions that may come out (I’m poor in in-game credits and not a crafter so please bear with it :D ).
• Relics will usually be the ones that give Mastery (Focused Retribution) and Power (Serendipitous Assault), although the Critical(Devastating Vengeance) can be picked on 1,3s GCD build.
• **Crystals will always be +41 critical stat (Eviscerating).**

Low Alacrity with High Crit

Gear in 306 rating + Advanced Augments 74

Accuracy+650 – It gives slightly above 105 % Accuracy

• 1 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered Version but, perhaps, the R-20 version for this case)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

Accuracy 264 – It gives slightly above 102.7 % Accuracy

• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

Alacrity1213+ It gives 1,4s Global Cooldowns

• 3 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered version)

• True Best in Slot in Alacrity ( 1213)
  • 3 Quick Savant Enhancements (Pick the R-X versions that go below R-’40’ when added up. One case example is the one I’m going to give, which is what I also have: 13 + 13 + 14 or 13 x 3 -> 2x Unlettered R-13 Enhancement (+405 each) + 1xR14 Unlettered Enhancement (+403) OR 3x R-13 Enhancement (+405 Each) There are certainly other builds but awareness that alacrity has to stay at 1213 must be taken into account)

Critical (This is already the BiS) – Rest of the stats (3317)

• 6 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered versions (These are the BiS versions))
• 5 Augments (+108 each)
• Crystals (+41 each)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+109)

Note: If one decides to take no enhancements on Accuracy, the Crit build should look like this:

• 7 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered versions (These are the BiS versions))
• 1 Augments (+108 each)
• Crystals (+41 each)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+109)

Mastery

• 9 Augments (+108 each) (If Accuracy Enhancement was taken)
• 13 Augments ( +108 each) (If Accuracy Enhancement was not taken)

Gear in 306 rating + Advanced Augments 45

Accuracy +650 – It gives slightly above 105 % Accuracy

• 1 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered Version but, perhaps, the R-20 version for this case)

• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

Accuracy264 – It gives slightly above 102.7 % Accuracy

• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

Alacrity1213+ – It gives 1,4s Global Cooldowns

• 3 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered version)

• True Best in Slot in Alacrity ( 1213)
  • 3 Quick Savant Enhancements (Pick the R-X versions that go below R-’40’ when added up. There is one case that is 39 but its solely the only one, afaik. Anyway, example of both: 13 + 13 + 14 or 13 x 3 -> 2x Unlettered R-13 Enhancement (+405 each) + 1xR14 Unlettered Enhancement (+403) OR 3x R-13 Enhancement (+405 Each) There are certainly other builds but awareness that alacrityy has to stay at 1213 must be taken into account)

Critical (This is already the BiS)- Rest of the stats (3163)

• 6 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered versions (These are the BiS versions))
• 6 Augments (+96 each)
• Crystals (+41 each)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+109)

Note: If one decides to take no enhancements on Accuracy, the Crit build should look like this:

• 7 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered versions (These are the BiS versions))
• 1 Augments (+108 each)
• Crystals (+41 each)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+109)

Mastery

• 8 Augments (+96 each) (If Accuracy Enhancement was taken)
• 13 Augments ( +96 each) (If Accuracy Enhancement was not taken)

High Alacrity with Low Crit

Gear in 306 rating + Advanced Augments 74

Accuracy +650 – It gives slightly above 105 % Accuracy

• 1 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered Version but, perhaps, the R-20 version for this case)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

Accuracy 264 – It gives slightly above 102.7 % Accuracy

• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

Alacrity 3208+ – It gives 1,3s Global Cooldowns

• BUILD 1: 6 Quick Savant Enhancements (+431) + 6 Augments 74 (+108 each)
• BUILD 2: 5 Quick Savant Enhancements (+431) + 10 Augments (+108)

Critical (This is already the BiS in Critical Rating) –Rest of the stats (2348)

• 3 Enhancements (+431 – Unlettered and Unnumbered version) 8 Augments (+108 each)
• Crystals (+41 each)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+109)

Note: If one decides to take no enhancements on Accuracy, the Crit pool will go up to 2779.

Gear in 306 rating + Advanced Augments 45

Accuracy +650 – It gives slightly above 105 % Accuracy

• 1 Enhancements (+431 each – Unlettered and Unnumbered Version but, perhaps, the R-20 version for this case)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

Accuracy 264 – It gives slightly above 102.7 % Accuracy

• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+264)

Alacrity 3208+ – It gives 1,3s Global Cooldowns

• 6 Enhancements (+431)
• 7 Augments (+96 each)

Critical (This is already the BiS in Critical Rating) –Rest of the stats ( 2156 )

• 3 Enhancements (+431 – Unlettered and Unnumbered version)
• 7 Augments (+96 each)
• Crystals (+41 each)
• Advanced Kyrprax Proficient Stim (+109)

Note: If one decides to take no enhancements on Accuracy, the Crit pool will go up to 2587, which is the build I tend to go for if 1,3s GCD.

Amplifiers

Tech Wizardry vs Periodic Intensity

Right from the get go, I will say that if anything outside of these two Amplifiers is picked, there will be a loss of potential DPS. Now the debate. Which one is better? The bonus of Amplifiers on this one can go up to 2.20% to Dots exclusively, while Tech Wizardry gives 1% to all Tech/Poison abilities. In total, its a maximum of 19.8% Periodic Intensity versus a maximum of 9% Tech Wizardry.

Technically, for Leth specific, Periodic Intensity is thebest one, although when compared to Tech Wizardry, the difference remainsbetween 2% and 5% higher in over all DPS, theoretically.

Now, why would I put this debate? Reason is simple: In case one plays Concealment, as well, where Tech Wizardry is the Amplifier to go for, one can just save time to make one set for both specs instead of two but it is up to the player’s choice.

Set Bonuses

I am going to only talk about three sets, those being the Tactician, Debilitator and The Authority, and a small description of what each does.

Tactician

• 2p : +2% Mastery.
• 4p : Tactical Overdrive additionally resets the cooldown of Sever Tendon and Toxic Scan. Gaining a Tactical Advantage increases your critical chance by 10% for 10 seconds. Can only happen once every 18 seconds.
• 6p : Tactical Advantage gets an additional stack. Having a Tactical Advantage increases your damage and healing by 5%.

The mandatory bonus set for PvE. The change from 15% to 10% critical chance was not a big deal. The big impact came from the fact that it is no longer a buff of 10 seconds for every 10 seconds, whenever gaining a Tactical Advantage. Now it is 10 seconds for every 18 seconds, whenever gainign a Tactical Advantage, meaning that the player can no longer have the buff being permanent. Still, it remains the best one for PvE nonetheless.

In terms of PvP, however, things have changed. The lack of the permanent buff is a big loss, and this means that the spotlight will be given to Debilitator ‘automatically’. It doesn’t mean its useless but it still is felt. It is recommended to use only in group since one will suffer from lack of Control/Defensive gameplay that the Debilitator offers.

Debilitator

• 2p : +2% Mastery.
• 4p : Exfiltrate’s recharge time is reduced by 2 seconds.
• 6p : Debilitate gets two ability charges

The bonus set that is to be used for PVP environment since the descriptions of its atributes scream for it to be used only in this way. The nerf on the Tactician has brought this set more into being more relevant and truly its the recommended one, regardless if you are playing alone or in group.

The Authority

• 2p : +2% Mastery.
• 4p : Toxic Haze refunds a Tactical Advantage
• 6p : Activating Noxious Knives reduces the cooldown of Toxic Haze by 3 seconds. Every enemy affected by Toxic Haze takes 20% more damage from Noxious Knives.

The worst set of the three. Why do I say its the worst? Well, it was bolstering not only Noxious knives but also Toxic Haze (probably an unintended bug) and now its just Noxious Knives that would make it worth the while for cleave damage, that could be abused in both PvE and PvP content. Does that mean one shouldn’t bother with it? Not saying such but the given inconsistency of Noxious knives at hitting targets, makes it a gamble that is most likely not worth the take.

Tacticals

On this topic, only five Tacticals will be covered, as the others, class specific or not, are generally useless for Lethality and, of course, a small description of each.

Synox Shots

• Effect: Sanguinary Shots / Toxic Blast does 75% more damage. Whenever a Sanguinary Shot / Toxic Blast critically hits, it restores 2 energy.
• Source: Increased drop chance from defeating Flashpoint bosses

Pretty much the tactical to use for PvE but not so desirable anymore in PvP. The nerf on it is felt in numbers, since it was changing the priority of certain attacks… however, it will remain the one to go for since it possesses the energy regeneration and still gives the best single target damage for Lethality.

Viral Elements

• Effect: Bushwhack / Toxic Haze spreads Sanguinary Shot’s / Toxic Blast’s effect and Point Blank Shot / Lethal Strike does additional damage to all nearby targets affected by Bushwhack / Toxic Haze.
• Source: Increased drop chance from defeating Operation bosses.

This tactical can be an absolute monster if one knows how to cleave. Its prowess is mostly demonstrated during heavy AOE based fights or in matches where players stack up a lot. If anything, I could say that there’s only two or three specs that can surpass in damage. Still, its only useful when one can accomplish this, otherwise, just run Synox shots.

Catalyzed Toxins

• Effect: Sanguinary Shots / Toxic Blast finishes all your bleed/poison effects on the target and deals their remaining damage immediately. Sanguinary Shot’s /Toxic Blast’s cooldown is extended by 9 seconds.
• Source: Increased drop chance from defeating Flashpoint bosses.

Straight useless tactical. It was probably the tactical I was looking forward to the most during PTS as it was actually balanced and good, even though it had a lot of disadvantage, yet it got gutted to straight being useless on Live while keeping the same disadvantages.

The damage is ridiculously low, the cooldown it adds to Toxic Blast is insane long (at least when one needs to have it there, then it is), the fact that its still bugged, where Dots are consumed but deal no damage occasionally, or the fact that Toxic Blast has a tendency to miss a lot, given its weapon damage based. All these are problems even though its just a quarter of them that I can list.

The Life Warden

• Effect: Taking damage below 20% health will rapidly heal you for a large amount. 10-minute cooldown.
• Source: Increased drop chance from Conquest Equipment Crates.

This tactical is useful in both PvP and PvE. Low health? Combat stealth, swap tacticals into this one and rejoin fight if one is confident that it is possible to use combat stealth later again. Or start the fight with it from the get go and swap it to the main dps tactical. The point of this tactical is pretty much to keep the player alive and it does its job well by healing quite the significant amount, almost full health actually. I’d say its a must have.

Overwhelming Offense

• Effect: Dealing damage increases all damage done for 2 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.
• Source: Increased drop chance from Daily Mission reward crates (and their respective Weekly Mission)

This tactical is straight simple. Increase in damage on all abilities for a short duration. 2 seconds might seem low but this happens every time damage is dealth. That means that if Dots are thrown on the target, it will continuosly refresh until dots run out and/or when the player stops attacking.

It is not superior to Synox shots in any way but if it happens to be dropped, keep it. Plus, since all of them are Legacy based, once Synox shots is adquired, one can just give it out to another character.

UTILITIES

Skillful

Recommended (PvE and PvP):
-> Chem-Resistant Inlays: Increases damage reduction by 5%
Damage reduction for everything is always nice, even if it is a small amount, still affects in every type of damage taken.
-> Nanotech Suit: Reduces all area of effect damage taken by 30%
Specifically, good for PvE and, in PvP, against players/teams that deal a lot of AOE damage (Tanks, Engineer Snipers, Lightning Sorcerer and the AOE spams from others.)

Recommended (PvP) / Situational (PvE):
-> Slip Away: Reduces the cooldown of Debilitate by 15 seconds.
It is always useful to have good control on the opponents actions and to create DPS opportunities for the player and the team.

Useful (PvE) / Situational (PvP):
-> Imperial Weaponry: Noxious Knives deals 25% more damage
Only way this is useful is if the opponent team is basically composed of melee or when the player can lure the opponents next to each other and deal the AOE damage but usually it is hard due to push backs, changes of position and kiting, it will render this useless if it is the case. In PvE it can be a great potential to kill adds, if everything is stacked up.

Situational (PvP) / Useless (PvE):
-> Hit and Run: Striking a target with Shiv or Veiled Strike grants Hit and Run, increasing your movement speed by 50% for 3 seconds
Benefit versus players with kiting habits (mostly Sorcerers and Mercenaries) but that’s it.
-> Precision instruments: Reduces the energy cost of Debilitate and Sever Tendon by 5 and makes Sever Tendon immobilize the target for 2 seconds
It can useful to root healers or opponentss trying to escape to heal back to full or LoS to avoid damage but other than than that, there’s nothing. Corrosive Grenade has the slow debuff on it, making it more effective and the spec itself has no energy issues to take the cost reduction of Debilitate. I’d dare to say it is useless, if not for the root effect.
-> Curbing Strategies: Overload Shot and Noxious Knives reduce the movement speed of targets they damage by 40% for 6 seconds. In addition, when Flash Bang ends it leaves behind Flash Powder that reduces the target’s accuracy by 20% for 8 seconds
Only the accuracy debuff is the useful attribute in this utility. Otherwise, it is useless since Corrosive grenade giving a speed debuff is pretty much the same.

Almost Useless (PvP) / Useless (PvE):
-> Infiltrator: Increases movement speed by 15% and effective stealth level by 3 Only useful in guarding cap points or to approach and steal when noticing that the guarding player is distracted. Otherwise, it’s completely useless. Even the added speed bonus doesn’t affect much since Hit and Run is better.

Masterful

Recommended (PvP and PvE):
-> Med Shield: Your Shield Probe heals you for 5% of your maximum health when it collapses
Aside from mitigating damage, player receives a small healing when it wears out.

Recommended (PvE) / Useful (PvP):
-> Advanced Cloaking: Reduces the cooldown of Cloaking Screen by 30 seconds and activating Cloaking Screen increases movement speed by 50% for 6 seconds
A shorter CD in Combat Stealth can be useful when focused, as the opportunity to escape comes earlier, have an increase DPS, from gaining an extra Tactical advantage when using Lethal Strike from stealth, or to revive someone ‘earlier’ out of combat, during raids.

Recommended (PvP) / Useful or Situational (PvE):
-> Fortified Kolto: While your Kolto Probe is active on yourself, your damage reduction is increased by 3% per stack
A big controversy on this one since Off-heals were nerfed, in general. Lethality should still pick this so that when doing selfheal, the added ‘bonus’ Damage reduction is always good. Even in PvE, there is a slim change that this could useful.
-> Cunning Competencies: Countermeasures purges all movement-impairing effects when activated. Additionally, when Sleep Dart wears off, the target is struck by Sedatives, reducing all damage dealt by 50% for the next 10 seconds
It is especially useful against basically everything with the constant rooting and movement debuff/root. I’d classify this as recommended if it gave a buff that would last some time and not just in that instant but still don’t underestimate this, as it can save the player’s life. Also, do not forget that the 50% damage nerf for 10 seconds, as it can allow to prepare the burst and stack the heals and defenses before major damage is taken.

Recommended or Useful (PvE) / Useless (PvP):
-> Endorphin Rush: Adrenaline Probe now immediately restores 15 addition energy
There is absolutely no reason to pick this as the energy management in this spec since is still rather easy, even after the nerf, in PvP terms. In regards to PvE, this may also be ‘useless’, depending on what the player will use in terms of Bonus Sets and Tacticals.

Useful (PvP) / Situational (PvE):
-> Evasive Screen: When activated, Cloaking Screen grants 2 seconds of Evasion
The reason this is set as useful and not recommended is the other utility from Heroic Tier (Evasive Imperative), which nullifies the purpose of this one. I have not seen it heavily useful unless the player’s team is terrible and him/herself is constantly being focused and bombarded with dots/effects (which can be avoided by the regular use of Evasion.) It can be useful for duels, however, as to cleanse dots that might have been recasted. Best used if coupled with Advanced Cloaking, if the player is focused hard.

Useless (PvP and PvE):
-> Imperial Tactics: Sever Tendon will now grant a Tactical Advantage
This ability is useless for Lethality and the rotation itself does not demand for the player to be desperate enough to take this utility.
-> Jarring Strike: When used from stealth, Backstab and Lethal Strike interrupt and knock down the target for 3 seconds. Player targets are immobilized for 3 seconds, rather than being knocked down
It would be a good utility if not for the long time on the cooldown on the stealth escape.

Heroic

Recommended (PvE and PvP):
-> Evasive Imperative: Every time you get attacked, the active cooldown of your Evasion is reduced by 3 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 1.5 seconds
I’d say that it’s obligatory yet still some people don’t take it. It simply is unthinkable not to. Having a constant reducing on the cooldown allows constant removal of dots/effects + sure way to avoid direct damage (weapon/melee, unless the player stunned) is always good.
-> Escape Plan: Reduces the cooldown of Escape by 30 seconds, Shield Probe by 5 seconds, and Infiltrate by 60 seconds
Shield comes more often which means more damage mitigation through heals, in case Med Shield was picked, plus reduction on stun break.

Recommended (PvP) / Useful (PvE):
-> Blow for Blow: Activating Evasion grants Blow for Blow, returning 150% of direct single target tech and Force damage taken back to the attacker while Evasion is active. Note: This does not trigger with Evasive Screen
This is basically a must-have as it is a great tool to make the opponents think twice. Sometimes they are caught off-guard by this, specially when it is in effect and followed with the player being stunned, thinking they have the upper-hand yet it is a death-trap set for them, even if by accident. And even better as Lethality as the spec offers have extra second duration, allowing to easily fit 3 GCDs from the opponent in its duration but it should not be forgotten that damage is also taken. I will give more details on this topic later.
-> Revitalizers: Stim Boost now additionally grants Revitalizers restoring 5% of total health every 3 seconds and reducing damage taken by 20% for the duration
Heals 25% of the health along with having damage reduction by 20%, along with TA and extra alacrity. I’d say it is imperative to take this. Even with its long CD, it is extremely useful, as it can relieve the player from wasting a few precious global cooldowns on attempting to mitigate/healing the damage taken, giving the opportunity for a more aggressive approach.

Recommended (PvE) / Situational (PvP) :
-> Circumvention: Reduces the cooldown of Holotraverse by 10 seconds and allows it to be used while immobilized. When activated it purges movement-impairing effects and grants a Tactical Advantage.
Highly underestimated as a root breaker and really good DPS increase ability PvE wise-. Also requires a good sense of opportunity to use this.

Useful or Situational (PvP) / Situational (PvE):
-> Mobile Strategies: Exfiltrate grants a charge of Mobile Strategies, reducing the energy cost of your next Overload Shot by 100%, increasing its maximum range by 20 meters, and making it knock the target back. Each use of Overload Shot consumes a charge of Mobile Strategies and grants 10 energy
Free overload shots with increased range and knockback effects can help push opponents off the player or other teammates, especially true on the part where one can punt Snipers off their cover. Another use is to ward off the ball carriers in Huttball away from line or pushing them off the path. It is underestimated yet overestimated. Requires a good sense of opportunity to use this at its best. It can also be used as interrupt towards targets (players or NPCs) that can be affected by knockbacks.

Situational (PvP and PvE) :
-> Curative Agent: Countermeasures grants Curative Agent, causing your next Kolto Probe on a new target to immediately grant two stacks. Additionally, Countermeasures heals you for 1% of your maximum health every second for 10 seconds and Kolto Infusion now initially restores more health, but no longer restores health over time. Plus, if adding this to the Cunning Competencies utility, the player is forced to make a choice between the two of them
Revitalizers does a much better job than this even if the CD is longer, plus, if one decides to take Cunning Competencies, it can lead to a forced decision depending on the situations, as the player may want to use it for heals in one moment and later not be available to use it as a root/speed debuff breaker or the other way around. Regarding PvE, it can be taken as to help healers maintain a teammate alive.

Situational (PvE) / Useless(PvP):
-> Augmented Shields: Increases the amount of damage absorbed by Shield Probe by 30%
This is not bad but would be much better if it was in a lower Tier and offering a much bigger mitigation. The fact that is in HeroicTier is why I categorize as Useless. Wasted potential here.

ABILITIES

Key Abilities

[table id=51 /]

Defensive Abilities

[table id=52 /]

Tool Abilities

[table id=53 /]

ROTATIONS

PvE

On this topic, I will present about 3 rotations (Starters’ rotation, ‘Middle ground’, and the advanced one (oriented towards end gamecontent) on PvE and a ‘general’ priority system for PvP. A small improvement that I had from a few friends allowed me to expand further in comparison to the last patch.

For Starters

This opener and default rotation is for starters when using this spec for the “first time” as it helps to get the hang of rhythm on how Lethality works. It won’t incorporate the combat-stealthed Lethal Strike to generate extra Tactical Advantage. So, please, refrain from saying that this rotation is HORRIBLE. If anything, this is meant for the first days and the transition to the next ones is fairly easy.

Rotation (generally used for mostly single target):

1. Corrosive Grenade
2. Corrosive Dart
3. Shiv
4. Toxic Blast
5. Lethal Strike
6. Corrosive Assault x3
7. Holotraverse’d Corrosive Assault / StimBoosted Corrosive Assault / Overload Shot or Fragmentation Grenade (If multiple targets are nearby) / Rifle Shot (If short on energy)
8. Shiv
9. Corrosive Assault x2
10. Overload Shot or Fragmentation Grenade / Rifle Shot
11. Shiv
12. Corrosive Assault
13. Overload Shot / Fragmentation Grenade / Rifle Shot
14. Back to Start

“Middle ground” (“static”) rotation

This rotation is to give more use of the abilities and to gain the awareness of when cooldowns come off GCD, allowing for later improvisation, specially in the more advanced version, which will work differently than these two I will show. Like the first rotation, it won’t have an opener with Lethal Strike, as this one is more oriented to grasp the timings of cooldowns and the like. There will be lack of Holo traverse with Tactical Advantage proc but it can be added in between, if the player feels like. It is all about the opportunity. I have a personal preference to use this rotation is most type of content so I can have the leisure to focus on things that are happening around.

Step 0. Holotraverse

Can be used to gain an additional tactical advantage from the start to gain immediately the 5% bonus damage that Tactician bonus set gives and in the case one uses the utility for Holotraverse to give one stack of Tactical Advantage

1. Corrosive Grenade
2. Corrosive Dart
3. Shiv
4. Toxic Blast
   • (4.5) Tactical Overdrive should be used here when Stim Boost has been used on a previous rotation, unless the intention is to have immense burst charge right from the get go. Don’t use this on the first rotation, as this ability can reset Stim boost which is crutial for later in the fight
5. Toxic Haze
   • (5.5) Combat Stealth can be used before Lethal Strike to proc Tactical Superiority, unless some other Operative on the same group already did it. Or simply keep the Tactical Advantage gained here, in order to maintain the permanent extra 5% damage, as one will never end up using it anyway, in case one uses Tactician Bonus set.
6. Lethal Strike
7. Shiv
8. Corrosive Assault x3
9. Shiv
10. Corrosive Assault x2
11. Lethal Strike
12. Toxic Blast
13. Corrosive Assault or Toxic Haze
14. Corrosive Grenade
15. Corrosive Dart
    • (15.5) Stim Boost should be used here, after Corrosive Dart, as it allows for an extra ability within the duration of the dots, as its duration, of Stim Boost, will end right before both Dots finish
16. Shiv
17. Corrosive Assault x2
18. Lethal Strike
19. Shiv
    • (19.5) Extra Corrosive Assault, if one used Stim Boost as 15.5 indicates, otherwise skip this.
20. Corrosive Assault
21. Toxic Blast
22. Corrosive Assault or Toxic Haze
23. Shiv
24. Corrosive Assault x2
25. Lethal Strike
26. Shiv
27. Corrosive Assault
28. Back to Start

Advanced Rotation (Priority System)

Not exactly my preference to go with this rotation due to the fact that it takes the attention away from things that may happen around, during the raids and other content but it is, without a doubt, the highest in DPS terms and, unlike the one I called “Middle ground”, its completely based on sustained damage over “burst” moments.

Opener

1. Lethal Strike
2. Corrosive Dart
3. Toxic Blast
4. Corrosive Grenade
5. Into the Rotation

Rotation – Priority System

1. Lethal Strike
2. Corrosive Dart / Corrosive Grenade
3. Toxic Blast
4. Shiv (with Fatality Proc)
5. Corrosive Assault
6. Shiv (without Fatality)

Rotation for AoE Only

This is where the player will grow a massive smile as it (maybe) can be compared to a birthday cake since Leth can just reach insane numbers with this.

1. Corrosive Grenade
2. Corrosive Dart
3. Toxic Blast
   • (3.5) Shiv – This is used here instead of Toxic Blast, in the case that Toxic Blast is still on cooldown while Toxic Haze is not but requires a Tactical Advantage to be able to cast it .
4. Toxic Haze
5. Lethal Strike
6. Fillers on regular rotation on Main Target / Noxious Knives Spam

**Refreshing Toxic Haze and Lethal Strike is important**

PvP

Curiously enough, the rotation for PvP is similar as the PvE advanced one, based in priorities. The difference is that the utilities taken won’t be the same. On this one, the player will, most likely, be forced to do improvisation, even with the priority system, instead of just following all the time what is displayed. Again, these will be based on dealing damage in high damage ‘bursts’ since, in PvP, the player has no real other choice but to do this due to the “sustained rotations” being vulnerable to constant interruption that come from stuns, knockbacks, LoS and other factors, thus preventing from using them.

Priority System

1. Keeping Corrosive Dart / Corrosive Grenade up
2. Lethal Strike to increase damage of both CD and CA
3. Toxic Blast on main target
4. Shiv to gain Tactical Advantage for Corrosive Assault
5. Corrosive Assault

Notes for Efficiency in PvP

1. Keep the Dots up on targets preferably all the time, unless there are teammates that want to CC someone. In that case, it is required for the player to be aware on how and who to cast dot on.
2. Keep teammates alive with the heals. Everyone loves heals, after all. Since the spec is based on dot damage, that task can be easily done. Specially since there is the ability to make Kolto Infusion energy free and is an instant cast. Even if they aren’t as efficient compared to previous expansions, do not discard this.
3. Never use Lethal Strike without dots being on target and with less than 2 Tactical Advantage. Corrosive Assault is the main attack that forces dots to tick, after all. Using increased damage on dots without them being on target and with just 1 or no Corrosive Assaults avaialble, is a waste of opportunity to deal damage. The player will not want to open any fight with this ability either. Trading 1 TA for increased damage is never good unless its mid rotation. The only case one is allowed to use a dry Lethal Strike is when the opponent is low HP. Also never open a fight with Lethal Strike. It is wasted damage potential for the dots.

Rotation for AoE Only (Priority)

1. Shiv (on main target)
2. Corrosive Grenade ( Spread to all as fast as possible and once done, go to the next )
3. Corrosive Dart
4. Toxic Haze ( AOE Dot that also spreads Single Target Dot to others within it. Make sure to make this efficient and able to affect as many targets as possible)
5. Lethal Strike (Increases Crit chance and Crit damage by 30% of: Corrosive Grenade, Corrosive Dart, Toxic Haze and Noxious Knives)
   • (5.1) Tactical Overdrive into Lethal Strike -> ( Only when using Viral Elements Tactical and in case the player feels bold enough to do it. Or rather when its worth to increase the AOE damage a lot)
6. Two options
   1. Noxious knives ( To attack everything/everyone that is in front)
   2. Corrosive Assault ( On main target to kill it faster while also dots do the work)

The AOE is only composed of these abilities. Noxious Knives spam, in PvP, could be included but the damage is considered to be non-existant so if 3+ players don’t stack when using this ability then iit is better, most of the cases, to follow this into focusing a single target as a followthrough to this rotation. Also avoid Tactical Overdrive from the get go as defensives might be needed to be reset later.

Fatality Proc

This topic has been mostly covered in the PvE Guide, by Praise, as every detail of this is explained.

Still, I will try to explain in the best way I can on how this mechanic works and how to take advantage of it as best as possible, as it will allow the player to keep the energy stable and maximize the damage output.

Fatality allows the player to use Corrosive Assault for no energy cost while refunding 1 Tactical Advantage.

Every time Shiv is used and the Fatality proc comes, the player will have to wait at least the duration of, approximatedly, 10s or in the way I prefer, 6 or 7 GCDs for Shiv to proc again.

The previous rotation I have given will allow to proc it twice, at least, within Corrosive Grenade’s and Corrosive Dart’s duration, along with fitting two of them, if lucky, inside Toxic Blast duration.

REGS, RANKED AND TARGETS (PVP TOPIC)

Regs

As anOperative, the player will be asked, most of the times, to guard since theclass is a stealth one, has strong survivability due to the big variety andavailability of heals and many tools to stall the cap points from being stolen.

When someone else is determined toreplace the player on the team’s cap point, he/she can also be useful by goingto the opponent’s node to defeat/sap the defender and cap or hold the node frombeing taken. The same tools that the Spec gives, also allow to last pretty longduring these attrition battles. Far longer than expected, actually, that itbecomes quite the annoyance to the enemy team.

The other role is to be on the main fight, as the player canoffer help by dealing great DPS to the enemy team and support the teammates,keeping them alive, together with the healers.

Lethality,at the current stage, can be considered the best Off-Healer, by a small margin, as it can provide quite the amount of heals, without sacrificing theirEnergy, unlike Mercenary and Sorcerer. These two can do higher but they have toover extend on resource to do so.

Nevertheless, the player should not forget that DPS can never be as good as true Healers. Great Off-Healer but never a Healer.

Mastering this “switch” between DPS and Heals is vital to exceed when wielding this Spec.

Ranked

On ranked games, it is best that the habit ofswitching between offheals and attacks should be perfected to the bestabilities, as the player can have a gigantic impact this way.

Setting up the Dots, Toxic Blast and Lethal Strikeproperly can cripple the opponent with the follow up of Corrosive Assault. Evenif predictable, the dots last quite the fair amount of time, and spreading themis rather easy, which is, usually, a problem for the other team, and still, theplayer will end up dealing massive amounts of damage, if playing properly.

Usually, the Operative will be tasked to DPS thetargets chosen by the team(insight, to what the player and the team are capableof, is essential.) It is the role that the player chose, after all, but healingthe team when the opportunity arises is also benefitial. Denying possibledamage focused on a single ally by helping with the healer’s task on theteammate that is currently under attack or stunning the enemy team todelay/nullify the opportunity.

The player will need to know what is happening andwhat’s around, being aware of which abilities his/her own team has includinghis/her own, and those of the enemies, and the ones used to take advantage andpredict, to the best of the player’s capacity, the different outcomes of thematch.

Lethality does not have Concealment’s defensive buffs, such as the immunity to basically “everything” when using roll, so the opponents, once they notice, will probably pick the player as their target which will force this one to be in a defensive position, forcing him/her to rely on having a good sense of opportunity to switch between using offensive and defensive abilities.

One more note is that, by using this spec, the player may end up being heavily dependent on how the rest of the team works but it can go both ways.

Targets for Regs/Ranked games, Duels and Tips

Out of many specialization of all classes I defined 3categories of targets that will influence on what the player should pickwhenever facing the possible opponent, or at least what is more confortablewhen using Lethality.

When outnumbered, the player will want to prioritize ranged classes over melee ones as it is somewhat easier to deal with, depending mostly how comfortable he/she and the team feel when facing this situation. This selection is also applied to duels with these specs/classes.

Important: The brackets with stars, such as “(***)”, relate to additional notes further down the article.

Easy: Low capacity to mitigate/resist Lethality’s attacks, even with all of opponent’s defensives that heal them up. The player will, usually, not find difficulty facing them.

DPS Spec: Madness Sorcerer, Arsenal Mercenary, Vengeance Juggernaut, Pyro Powertech(****);

Moderate: Player has to pay attention to what the opponent will cast in terms of abilities as they will have freedom to choose the time to cast them whenever they want, but usually they can’t avoid but actually ending up using them. Other abilities such as debuffs (like Obfuscate from Marauder), stun/mez and heal after like Sorcerer, Mercenary, other Operatives and Assassins can disrupt the DPS on them. Usually it is easy to avoid but never hurts to be cautious.

(*)TANK Spec :Darkness Assassin, Shield Powertech;

DPS Spec : Innovative OrdenanceMercenary, Hatred Assassin, Advanced Prototype Powertech (***), RageJuggernaut, Fury Marauder, Annihilation Marauder and Carnage Marauder,Virulence Sniper, Engineer Sniper;

(**)HEALER Spec : BodyguardMercenary;

Hard: This category has the specs where the player will have the most difficulty to fight against and defeat as these tend to have strong defensives, placing the player in a position to play majority of the time on the defensive with small gaps of DPS opportunity or because they will simply deny getting killed.

(*)TANK Spec : Immortal Juggernaut;

DPS Spec : Lightning Sorcerer (***) , Deception Assassin, Marksmanship Sniper, LethalityOperative, Concealment Operativer;

(**)HEALER Spec : Corruption Sorcerer, Medicine Operative.

(*) Details on Tanks:

I place Darkness Assassin andShield Powertech as easier to defeat over Juggernaut due to the fact that,despite the big tools it has and the usefulness andavailability of these, they are still ‘inferior’, somewhat in overall capability.

The new ability of Powertech to mitigate damage is also afactor that doesn’t botherLethality even one bit since its based on increasing armor rating and not rawdamage reduction, and armor is a thing that most of Lethality’s damage can ignore. The DPS of this spec though has beensignificantly increased so that is one thing to watch out for.

The double stealth tactical for Assassin is a major buffbut I doubt they’d beusing it for the matches unless they are THAT desperate to have key abilitiesto survive.

Immortal Juggernaut became tankier, or feels that way, and its damage is relatively high, so I rank it as the strongest when compared to the other two, although proper AOE pressure can take it down at a moderatedly ‘fast’ pace. Of course, there is also the fact that they can be using the Force Bound Bonus Set and Grit Teeth Tactical, and these two gives them increased survivability for themselves and more utility for the opponent team.

(**) Details on Healers:

No DPS Spec, at the current update, can 1v1 healer (agood one.) This is a fact. The choice of placing Mercenary as“easier” compared to Operative and Sorcerer is because of their“weakness” to take care of multiple targets at same time, and theirdefensives are rather limited, or at least the mechanics of them, making themeasy to work with.

Responsive Safeguards only works if the player isattacking, where obviously must stop to not further hurt itself. About theKolto Overload (with Trauma Regulators) is basically about using a mez (stunthat breaks upon taking damage) and let it run out, making it easier to counterlater.

On the Energy Shield, it is a matter of either catchthe opponent without it (after its us, it is the best chance to defeat them,specially when the other two are also exhausted.) A Mercenary without thesethree and under the stress of healing multiple targets, is vulnerable forattacks.

Now moving to the other heal classes.

Corruption Sorcerer:

It is simple to explain. Strongest kiting capability out of the 3 Healers specs, Phase walk, Bubble. All these can disrupt the DPS just too easily.

It doesn’t mean the player shouldn’t try to defeatthem but rather means that he/she will have a hard time to make it happen.

It can handle multiple target healing rather easier compared to Bodyguard Mercenary which alllowing the healing to reach everyone with better efficiency.

Medicine Operative:

It is Lethality’s personal annoyance and “nightmare” as it can cleanse dots as if they were nothing, forcing the player to reset the rotation every time this happens. (Lethality can give the lowest CD on Evasion possible, which is between 18-21s)

The best way to deal with them is stunning rightbefore they use it again, to increase uptime of dots on them.

It is also the spec that can heal multiple targets at same time with relative ease. It is best if the DPS focus on it alone as hard as possible, instead of focusing multiple targets target.

(***) Details on these two specific specs

They can be Lethality’s personal nightmare if the player allows them to have their way. Player should try the best to disrupt by using defensive abilities and/or countering their attacks.

Lightning Sorcerer

Lightning Sorcerer alone is easy to deal with but when in numbers, the player can count on being on the defensive all the time with barely any chance of attacking. Separating them, LoS’ing one of them or mez/stun one while fighting the other is the best way to take this action, or just wait for one to leave or a teammate to appear.

Advanced Prototype Powertech

On Advanced Prototype Powertech case, DPS potential in short amount of time can be too much, for the player go for an aggressive push. Stunning, reflecting defensively, kiting and mitigating as much damage as possible is the best thing to be done against them while setting up Dots and other abilitiesto DPS him as the opportunity as it arises.

This is even more true when they are using the updated Powerlode Tactical.

(***) Details on this specific specs

Pyro Powertech on this patch, is one of the strongest cleave specs in the game right now but I still categorize it as ‘easy’ to kill due to only having two defensives that can be tunnelled through easy, unless the player behidn it has decent support.

Tips

Assassin

1. Force the opponent to pop Force Shroud as early as possible. It is important since there is a long CD on this defensive (unless when facing a Darkness Assassin, which can reduce the CD of it, but still is a long CD), giving the player a good control on what damage they can deal, until the opponents decide to stealth away.
2. If the opponent stealths away, stealthing away as soon as possible or use Toxic Haze and/or Noxious Knives. Trying to “pop” them out of stealth, or at least enter in combat to not get caught under the Mind Trap mez, preventing them from healing up or straight up delay some cap. Depends on the situation. Although if the opponent uses the double stealth Tactical, which most likely will, do try to stealth, at same time.
3. Always keep dots on them, no matter what spec the opponent is using.
4. The force speed utility is something people should keep a mind on as it can reduce somewhat the damage they take. Used to be stronger but still should watch out for it.

Powertech

1. Regarding AP PT. Early stuns or kiting breaks/delays their burst(specially if under Explosive Fuel, as they will have the upper hand when its up). There is also the new buff, Power Yield, that when in conjuction with Powerlode Tactical, which can make things a nightmare for everyone taht is against it, given how Energy Burst will always be be a critical attack.
   • If Power Yield is up, its best to avoid triggering and refreshing it, and that coems in the form of them taking damage, any form of it, and if the damage is counted as a critical hit, they’ll gain stacks, and it has no internal cooldown on gaining these. in other words, if given the chance, they can gain 4 stacks every GCD and be able to use just the same way.
2. Always stay out of the Oil Slick when facing Shieldtech PT. It disrupts the player’s movement speed and accuracy by a good amount.
3. If PT comes with the Stun effect on the Grapple, the player should never attempt using the stunbreak on it. It is a bad decision that can cost heavily later.
4. Smart usage of stunbreak /stealth out will decide the fight against them, if the player gets caught offguard, bad positioning or breaking will usually cost the duel.
5. Pyro PT now has a big attack from the tactical Firefall. Its AOE based, so if one encounters one of these, the best ways to deal with it is to predict when they will use it to dodge or have defensives ready for it.

Marauder

1. The player should not attack if under Obfuscate. There’s 80% chance the opponent is also using the Ruthless Aggressor. Best and safest bet is to kite and heal/mitigate damage taken and prepare for when the debuff ends.
2. Kite or use defenses wisely against Marauders as much as possible when the DPS setup isn’t prepared.
3. Take advantage of every reflect when facing Fury. It costs them hard whenever they take one or more of them.
4. Flashbanging a Marauder while Cloak of Pain is on to make it run out is vital, preventing the small acumulated damage it deals to the player and also the damage reduction.
5. PvP wise, some Marauders, even though it is more common with Juggernauts, may be carrying this bonus set, Force Bound. Their mez/cc, Fear, provides a huge debuff to the Accuracy, after it runs out or when its broken via taking damage or on using stunbreak, that affects ALL TYPES of damaging abilities. If by chance, the player is affected, the best course of action is to kite and refresh self heals or heal teammates. Its 6 seconds but it will mostly void all the damage that could be done. This means it can also be played around from staying/running away when it is used.

Juggernaut

1. Bursting through Enraged Defenses is not a bad idea, sometimes, if the opponent is DPS. The reason is that it can proc them too fast, and most likely not letting the opponent take advantage of it.
   Example of a situation: We say the opponent is under the effects of Corrosive Grenade, Corrosive Dart and Toxic Blast. If the player follows with Corrosive Assault, it will proc 1 from CA, 2x from TB, 1 per dot, and if lucky, it is also possible to get a double tick on the dots (10% chance of double ticking).
   The worst case scenario is none if CA is missed but if it hit, then its 5 and best scenario is up to 7 per one Corrosive Assault, meaning it healed him between 6k x 5 up to 6k x 7, using them too fast (We are discarding the missed CA case).
   If the opponent reaches 100% health and there’s still stacks left, it means he’s not using the full potential of Enraged Defense. Each stack of ED usually heals around 5k up to 6k. I am using the higher numbers for the more disadvangeous situation to demonstrate my reasoning.
   In case of Immortal, do not let this happen. It will just allow them to drag the fight for extensive periods of time.
2. Immortal Juggernauts have 4 stuns {3 hard stuns: Backhand, 4s Duration, CD of 60s; Force Push, 3s Duration, CD of 60s(45s if utility); Force Choke, lasts 3s, CD of 60s(45s if utility); 1 mez, Intimidating Roar, 45s – 60s CD.} Pay attention as they are rather easy to spam over a short period of time and can easily disrupt the DPS and/or deal massive amounts of damage.
3. PvP wise, most Juggernauts, if they can afford, will be carrying this bonus set, Force Bound. Their mez/cc, Fear, provides a massive Accuracy debuff after it runs out or when its broken via taking damage or using stunbreak, that affects ALL TYPES of damaging abilities. If by chance, the player is affected, the best course of action is to kite and refresh self heals or heal teammates. Its 6 seconds but it will mostly void all the damage that could be done. This means it can also be played around from staying/running away when it is used.
4. If the Juggernaut possesses the Tactical Grit Teeth, it means that they’ll have their Enraged Defense coming earlier than usual. Assuming they have the dots on them all the time, the cooldown will come down to about 45 seconds on average. The best way to handle this is, like mentioned on tip 1, burn through all the stacks, as fast as possible. Casting both dots, sanguinary shots and spamming Flurry of bolts until all of the stacks are gone. Save the big damaging abilities after they are gone.

Mercenary

1. Don’t panic when under Electro Net. In fact, the opponents will have a tendency to become more aggressive, offering the player the opportunity to turn the tables, through reflect or interrupt opportunities.
2. If possible, attempt to keep them under the Flashbang mez if they have the Energy Shield/Kolto Overload up.
3. When the buffed up Kolto Overload is triggered and Flashbang mez is on CD, it is best to LoS, as the player will not have enough DPS to burst through it, unless the opponent is extremely low on health or when the player are accompanied with a DPS teammate.
4. The player should NOT use Toxic Blast if Responsive Safeguards or Energy Shield (with Trauma Regulators) is on. It ticks on both of them, reflecting or building aditional stacks across its duration. Dots by themselves do not build but Toxic blast ticks on each dot, so keep that in mind.
   Flashbang can prevent this temporarily as it forces the dots not to tick thus not allowing TB to proc.

Sorcerer

1. Beware if Sorcerer has the flash mez on the Static Barrier. Avoid getting caught by it. They will take advantage to kite and/or heal up during that short time, or prepare an attack. Wasting a stunbreak on this never ends well.
2. Evasion works well both defensively, forcing almost a full rotation reset from the opponent’s part; Or offensively, as to reflect on Force Leech, Thundering Blast and other attacks. Opponents have a tendency to underestimate the damage that gets reflected back by these 2 abilities.
3. Attempt to find the spot where Phasewalk is, before the fight start. Usually it will be easy since the player will be covering the opponent in dots, making it easy to find through the wall, but never hurts to have that knowledge ahead.
4. If the team does not have them as the first target to pick down, it is extremely recommended to keep them mezzed/cc’d up. The less time it has to do damage, the better, given how its one of the powerhouses in the game as of right now. The damage it can do should never be underestimated.
5. Proper positioning is important due to how Sorcerer can knock players around. F.E. being knocked out from a bridge or a ledge, forcing the player to go all the way around to rejoin the fight, or having to wait to be pulled back in it.

Snipers

1. Keep attention to when the Sniper opponent pops Evasion. Use tech/poison abilities(Fragmentation Grenade, Corrosive Grenade/Dart, Toxic Haze and Noxious Knives) to damage. Try to not disrupt the rotation (if possible), to come back strong.
2. Planning things ahead benefit, specially if the player has knowledge of the opponent’s abilities and cooldown, which in return enables to make clever usage of Evasion’s reflect along with setting up to DPS the opponent. It is crucial to know as it can mean the difference between staying alive or be defeated. No one likes to take an unavoidable Ambush/Explosive Probe after being stunned by Flashbang.
3. Know the surroundings and positioning. Awareness is viral when fighting them. Specially now that they also have a form of phasewalk that can be used to escape. There is also the fact that they can use other abilities that can knock the player far from the team ( for example from a bridge or an edge to down below forcing the player to travel all the way around to go back up or waiting on a teammate so that one can use translocate or pull the player back in the fight ).
4. Sniper Specs have the following characteristics (in my view):
   • Virulence: Easy energy management, Sustained Damage, especially good on the long run {usually the easiest to deal with compared to the other two as it can give the player the most frequent Evasion (Rather friendly for Evasion as it will take between 18s up to 24s to have another ready) but should not be underestimated.} The spec got significantly buffed from the Tacticals, but in theory it should remain the same level of difficulty as previous patch;
   • Marksmanship: Easy energy management, Burst Damage, especially good on the short and good on the long run {the most dangerous out of the 3 due to being the slowest Evasion CD reduction (Slowest Evasion CD reduction. Usually the player will have Evasion ready after 33s up to 42s since the use of it)}. The tactical that allows to have insta cast on Ambush after the roll is something that the player should watch out for. It is the hardest of the 3 specs to duel against;
   • Engineering: Hard energy management, Burst and Sustained Damaged, both especially good on the short and long run (its the middle one but the player can make things easier on himself/herself with wise use Evasion, forcing a reset on the rotation. It is as friendly as Virulence for being able to reduce the CD on Evasion almost as fast.)
     If an Engineering Sniper casts Explosive Probe, cast Evasion right away, if inside or close to a Plasma Probe, unless they have the tactical that only allows to explode this bomb on EMP and not just any type of damage. In that case, prepare the shield probe for it. Of course, depends on the player’s health, as well. Still an easy reflect that can cripple them no matter the stage and time of the duel.

Operative

1. Related to this class, keep in mind to always reapply dots whenever cleansed (Evasion).
2. If the opponent stealths away, using stealth is also a smart idea, if managed to do so but it is also possible to use Toxic Haze or instantly spam Noxious Knives to pop him/her out of the stealth or at least to enter in combat, to avoid getting caught in a mez (Sleep Dart), depending on the situation, of course.
3. Mind when the best opportunities for reflect come when facing Concealment. Timing the Evasion just before the Backstab,or Veiled Strike, after Volatile Substance has been apllied, can turn the tables on the duel and this is useful as it is the hardest matchup vs Lethality.
4. When facing another Lethality, it comes down to who can the best advantage of the DPS windows and best management of defensives.

EVASION REFLECT (PVP TOPIC)

Regardingto decide when to use Evasion offensively or defensively will depend mostly onthe situations and how much knowledge a player possesses about other classesand its specs. I will cover the abilities and some of the tacticalsthat I found worth mention (only on Reflects)

Usually reflecting is a good thing as they will takemore damage than the player will yet on certain cases that is not exactly idealas it is best to save it for defensive purposes only.Nevertheless,the list of targets will be categorized in 4 categories.

• Easy: Arsenal Mercenary, Lightning Sorcerer(*);
• Frequent: Rage Juggernaut and Fury Marauder, Advanced Prototype Powertech(*);
• Situational: All Assassin specs, Madness Sorcerer,Pyrotech Powertech, Vengeance Juggernaut, Carnage Marauder, Innovative Ordenance Mercenary, Engineering Sniper, Concealment Operative;
• Hard/Impossible: Lethality Operative, Virulence Sniper, Marksman Sniper, Anhihilation Marauder, Immortal Juggernaut and Shield Powertech

Thespecializations under the category of Easy and Frequent areopportunities where it is possible to use Evasion more frequently as an attackthan as a defensive.

Obviously it can depend on the situation, but themajority of times it can work this way. Perhaps better when the opponents knowthat they will take the reflect, making them stop attacking the player whilethe DCD is on effect.

It requires the player to know what are and how theattacks work, as well how the rotation works majority of the times.

Theother two categories are more oriented to make the player use Evasion in a moredefensive style, as the attacks are hard to reflect, impossible, or becausethey just deal too much damage to risk the chance of punishing.

Thespecific specs tagged with (*) are the ones that are unpredictable onwhat they can use next or have too much burst to risk a punish, as they cancontrol the player’s gameplay, rather than the other way around, even ifit seems easy to go for them.

In these cases, the player must have knowledge howthey work.

I apologize in advance as I am limiting myself in only leaving the abilities on Empire version but I do believe that is easy to understand which ones are on Republic side classes.

Reflects

Assassin:

• All Specs: Discharge, Spike, Shock, Force Slow, Electrocute
• Deception: Ball Lightning, Surging Charge, Discharge
  Tactical: May Cause Injury: (only if main target)
• Hatred: Eradicate (first tick), Creeping Terror (first tick), Discharge (first tick)
• Darkness: Depredating Volts

Powertech:

• All Specs: Flame Burst, Shatter Slug (if main target), Shoulder Cannon, Rocket Punch, Electro Dart, Jet Charge, Grapple(if utility is on)
• Pyrotech: Flaming Fist, Immolate
• Advanced Prototype: Magnetic Blast, Thermal Detonator, Energy Burst, Retractable Blade (first tick)
  Tactical: Flame Detonation (only if main target)
• Shieldtech: Heat Blast

Marauder:

• All Specs: Force Scream, Force Choke (first tick)
• Fury: Raging Burst
• Carnage: Devastating Blast, Ataru Form {if stunned – I cannot explain how this happens as I have tried with Juggernaut and Sin, that can also reflect, and such thing is not replicated. Mercenary’s Safeguards reflect everything, so, no need to test it. Seems to be sort of an operative excluse. Even though it shouldn’t since its a melee weapon attack(white damage)}
• Anhihilation: —- None —-

Juggernaut:

• All Specs: Force Scream, Force Choke (first tick), Force Push
• Rage: Raging Burst
• Immortal: Backhand
• Vengeance: Shatter (dot; first tick; if stunned), Impale (dot; first tick; if stunned)

Sniper:

• All Specs: Fragmentation Grenade (if main target)
• Engineer: Interrogation Probe (first tick), EMP (requires Interrogation Probe to be reapplied), Explosive Probe
• Virulence: Lethal Shot dot (if stunned)
  Tactical: Ultraviolet Blast – Corrosive Dart and Corrosive grenade that are placed and then used by Weakening blast will reflect, if reflect prior if stunned previously (Almost unrealistic scenario given how short the duration of Evasion has)
• Marksmanship: —- None —-

Mercenary:

• All Specs: Explosive Dart, Missile Blast, Fusion Missile(if main target, first tick), Unload(if stunned)
• Arsenal: Tracer Missile, Heatseeker Missile
  Tactical: Thermonuclear Fusion ( only if main target)
• Innovative Ordenance: Incendiary Missile(first tick), Thermal Detonator

Sorcerer:

• All Specs: Force Lightning, Force Slow, Electrocute, Crushing Darkness (first tick), Lightning Strike, Shock
  Tactical: Elemental Convection: Volt Rush
• Lightning: Lightning Bolt, Lightning Flash, Thundering Blast
  Tactical: Stormwatch: Stormwatch, ticked by the three attacks (Affliction, Crushing Darkness and Thundering Blast will also reflect), will also reflect on top of these.
• Madness: Demolish (first tick), Force Leech

Operative:

• All Specs: Shiv, Backstab, Fragmentation Grenade, Debilitate
• Concealment: Veiled Strike, Laceration, Volatile Substance (if triggered), Crippling Slice Lethality: Lethal Strike
  Tacticals: Explosive Cells (only if main target)
• Lethality:Lethal Strike
  Tacticals: Catalyzed Toxins: Corrosive Dart and Corrosive grenade that are placed and then used byToxic Blast will reflect, if reflect prior if stunned previously (Almost unrealistic scenario given how short the duration of Evasion has)

No Reflects

Sorcerer:

• All Specs: Force Storm, Static Barrier (if utility), Affliction
• Lightning: Chain Lightning (even as the main target)
• Madness: Death Field, Creeping Terror
  

Assassin:

• All Specs: Maul, Saber Strike, Lacerate, Assassinate, Thrash, Lightning Charge, Discharge
• Deception: Voltaic Strike, Reaping Strike, Low Slash
• Hatred: Death Field, Leeching Strike
• Darkness: Wither

Powertech:

• All Specs: Railshot, Rapid Shots, Deadly Onslaught, Flame Sweep, Searing Wave,
• Advanced Prototype: —- None —-
• Pyrotech: Scorch, Incendiary Missile
• Shieldtech: Firestorm

Marauder:

• All Specs: Force Charge, Ravage, Vicious Throw, Assault, Battering Assault, Dual Saber Throw, Cloak of Pain, Crippling Slash, Sweeping Slash, Mad Dash, Vicious Slash, Smash
• Fury: Obliterate, Furious Strike, Force Crush
• Carnage: Gore, Massacre
• Anhihilation: Anhihilate, Rupture, Force Rend, Deadly Saber

Juggernaut:

• All Specs: Force Charge, Ravage, Vicious Throw, Saber Throw, Sweeping Slash, Vicious Slash, Smash, Mad Dash, Sundering Assault, Retaliation, Saber Reflect
• Rage: Obliterate, Furious Strike, Force Crush
• Immortal: Crushing Blow, Aegis Assault
• Vengeance: Hew, Vengeful Slam

Sniper:

• All specs: Snipe, Series of Shots, Maim, Takedown, Rifle Shot, Orbital Strike, Corrosive Dart
• Engineering: Plasma Probe, Cluster Bombs (unconfirmed), Electrified Railgun
• Virulence: Lethal Shot, Weakening Blast, Cull, Corrosive Grenade
• Marksmanship: Ambush, Penetrating Shots, Followthrough

Mercenary:

• All specs: Railshot, Death From Above, Rapid Shots, Sweeping Blasters, Electro Net, Power Shot
• Arsenal: Blazing Bolts, Priming Shot
• Innovative Ordenance: Serrated Shot, Magshot

Operative:

• All Specs: Overload Shot, Rifle Shot, Noxious Knives, Toxic Haze, Corrosive Dart
• Concealment: —- None —- Lethality: Toxic Blast, Corrosive Assault, Corrosive Grenade

RegardingReflects, as well, I also extended a bit here to speak about a three conditionsthat I got suggested and upon trying them out, I figured that these can impactheavily the game, as I am not sure if they are intended or it is completely, onthemselves, a bug.

1. This is probably the most expected and obvious. If the Lethality player is being guarded while using Evasion and taking damage, the reflected damage will subsequently be halved.
2. If the Lethality player is under barrier and being attacked and by chance decided to use Evasion while a team mate Sorcerer’s barrier is still on, the opponent will still take full attack that he did, regardless of how much the Barrier absorbed. I will describe a situation here to simplify what I mean. Lethalty Player has barrier gets attacked by a Mercenary with a Heat Seeker Missile. The Heat Seeker Missile deals 30k damage. The barrier manages to absorb 20k, letting the operative take 10k damage, while Lethality player is using Evasion, as well. The reflect will still be 150% of the 30k Seeker Missile.
3. If the opponent player, that has a Sorcerer barrier, attacks the Operative that has reflect on Evasion, he will take damage directly and the barrier won’t stop the damage. An example of this will be a Mercenary deals another 30k Heat Seeker missile against the operative and gets reflected. This Mercenary can have a barrier on him, butit won’t do a thing. If this player was on 85k health, he will take 150% of the 30k attack while the barrier stays on. It does not break. It is simply ignored. I am not sure if Juggernaut and Assassin’s reflect also work this way but in case they don’t, well, it is another perk that Operative has from Blow for Blow.

I’d not be surprised if the two last conditions to be changed in the near future.

CONCLUSIONS

Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank Vulkk for the opportunity to show my guide again. People at SWTOR Theorycraft Discord channel for the help provided regarding multiple topics, more specifically Nyyah, for wasting time making tests on rotations and over topics and Dot, for the more pesky questions I made. Also would like to thank all the ones that ‘wasted’ their time to allow me to completely finish the guide, specially on the gearing and the reflect topics and the many friends of mine for pushing me this far and help me improve to what I am today.

Also would like to thank many friends of mine for pushing me this far and help me improve to what I am today.

About the Author

Myoperative’s name is Kamiala. Lots of people know me that by that char. Camefrom The Progenitor server, now Darth Malgus.

Been playing Lethality since the first time I got to play as Operative, back in 2.X) although I was switching to Concealment from time to time. Although the 100% dedication to this came after the update on 3.0 (I believe it was on this one) as I couldn’t adapt regarding the change of Hidden Strike to Volatile Substance.

There were bumps on the way like other players saying that the spec wasn’t reliable at all, nevertheless, I still decidedin continuing on playing it and I do not regret and it made me become better.

From Vulkk

I would like to thank Kamiala for this very extensive PvP and PvE Guide on Lethality Operatives for SWTOR Update 6.0 Onslaught.

Kamiala’s 5.0 Guide was mainly PvP-centril. This time the guide offers a much more balanced mix between the two aspects of the game with absolutely zero compromises on anything.

I have used Jedipedia and TorCommunity’s databases for the abilities icons. All the gearing and recommendations in the guide are 100% personally tested and researched by Kamiala.

If you are skilled with a Class and Discipline that has not yet been covered with a guide on VULKK (check the list here), and you want to provide one for the SWTOR Community, contact me via email or wherever you see Vulkk present. PMs on Twitter and Facebook are an option too.

Related content:

• SWTOR 6.0 Class Guides List
• SWTOR 6.0 Ruffian Scoundrel Guide by Kamiala

How is the Class and Spec changing with SWTOR 7.0

In Update 7.0 BioWare is introducing a new term “Combat Styles”, which will replace the traditional class-specific disciplines. If you are curious and want to get a head-start, check out theSWTOR 7.0 Class Changes Previewsavailable on thePublic Test Server.

And if you are behind on the news, find outwhat the SWTOR Legacy of the Sith Expansion will have to offer.