Key Abilities and Passives

Tactical Advantage (Upper Hand) is a resource gained by using

There will be times when you are out of TAs and need to use a filler ability: either Sever Tendon (Tendon Blast), Crippling Slice (Shank Shot) or Corrosive Dart (Vital Shot). This filler window should only be equivalent to one GCD.

Your character will laugh when you gain a Tactical Advantage (Upper Hand) charge if you previously had none.

This ability can be used in 8-man warzones but not in arenas (ranked or unranked). Try to use Tactical Superiority (Stack the Deck) on cooldown.

Good combos include

and

Try to combine Tactical Superiority (Stack the Deck) with your autocrit Volatile Substance (Blood Boiler) to further increase its damage.

Adrenaline Probe (Cool Head)

Recover 50 energy over 3 seconds.

This is your emergency energy regeneration. Use it sparingly as it’s on a two-minute cooldown. They could be the longest two minutes of your life if you’re energy starved.

This is the only ability in your kit that increases the rate at which you deal damage/heal. Keep in mind that Alacrity

decreases the GCD, makes HoTs tick faster, reduces cast/channel times and reduces the cooldown of many abilities.

Stim Boost (Pugnacity) is versatile: it can be used offensively, increasing your burst potential, or as a defensive cooldown (with the Revitalizers (Surprise Comeback) utility).

Kolto Probe (Slow-release Medpac) Summons a droid that heals a friendly target for 𝑥 over 18 seconds. Stacks up to 2 times.

You should aim for 100% uptime on two stacks of Kolto Probe (Slow-release Medpac), assuming you have taken Fortified Kolto (Supplemented Medpac). This grants 6% damage reduction, which stacks with the 5% from Chem-resistant Inlays (Scar Tissue), totaling 11%.

You should typically stack Kolto Probe (Slow-release Medpac) on teammates in solo ranked. However, you generally needn’t worry about off-healing teammates in warzones.

Makes targets susceptible, increasing the damage they take from tech attacks by 5% for 45 seconds.

This is one of your main ways to get Tactical Advantage (Upper Hand) charges. It’s on a relatively short cooldown and should be used whenever available. Prioritize this before Backstab (Back Blast), which will do increased damage to susceptible targets.

Backstab (Back Blast) Ambushes an enemy for 𝑥 kinetic damage. Only usable while behind the target. If used from stealth, Backstab (Back Blast) deals 𝑦 kinetic damage and grants a Tactical Advantage (Upper Hand).

Backstab (Back Blast) also applies Acid Blade (Flechette Round), which causes an additional 𝑥 internal damage over 6 seconds and increases your armor penetration by 30% for 15 seconds.

This is one of your two main burst abilities. This will hit consistently for around 20k and has a 12-second cooldown. It should also generate a Tactical Advantage (Upper Hand) most times you use it. Combine with Volatile Substance (Blood Boiler) to maximize burst damage.

Volatile Substance (Blood Boiler) Injects a substance into the target that, after settling in for a few [3] seconds, will react when the target takes damage from one of your poisons, dealing 𝑥 internal damage and making your target assailable for 45 seconds. Assailable targets take 7% more damage from elemental and internal attacks.

Your primary burst ability. Hits like a truck and deals internal damage, making it one of the best offensive abilities in the game. Combo with Backstab (Back Blast) against a susceptible target for insane burst potential.

When your When your Volatile Substance Blood Boiler ) does damage, it marks the target with Revealing Weakness (Hot and Ready), allowing your next Backstab Back Blast ) against the target to be useable while face-to-face with the target and treated as though you attacked from stealth.

The bread and butter of Concealment. This does a decent amount of damage and you will be spamming it throughout fights.

Benefits from Collateral Strike (Flying Fists), a passive in the Concealment tree which causes Laceration (Sucker Punch) to trigger a secondary hit dealing 𝑥 kinetic damage. Additionally, Tactical Opportunity (Round Two) causes Collateral Strike (Flying Fists) to refund a Tactical Advantage (Upper Hand) when hitting a poisoned target (up to every 10 seconds).

Crippling Slice (Shank Shot) Slices the target low for 𝑥 kinetic damage and immobilizes it, preventing it from moving or turning for 4 seconds.

My favorite Concealment ability. Crippling Slice (Shank Shot) is like a stun: it not only roots targets but makes them unable to turn for the duration. Move behind them and, without a cleanse/purge, they’re wide open for 4 seconds. Great set-up for a burst window.

Sever Tendon (Tendon Blast) Throws a knife at the target, dealing 𝑥 kinetic damage and slowing the target’s movement speed by 50% for 12 seconds.

A great ability in its own right, Sever Tendon (Tendon Blast) is enhanced by the Precision Instruments (Anatomy Lessons) utility, which adds to it a 2-second root. This is another tool to catch up with and stick to targets.

Debilitate (Dirty Kick) Deals 𝑥 energy damage and stuns the target for 4 seconds.

This hard stun is your main tool to set up burst. Without a breaker, your target is at your mercy for 4 seconds.

Shield Probe (Defense Screen) Summons a probe that projects a shield around the Agent, absorbing a moderate amount of incoming damage for 10 seconds. Does not break stealth.

A potent defensive cooldown on a 30-second cooldown (or 25 seconds with the Escape Plan (Smuggled Defenses) utility). Shield Probe (Defense Screen) is versatile: it can absorb big hits or prevent you from being immediately knocked out of stealth by DoTs, etc. While best saved in anticipation of burst windows, you will get value just using it off cooldown.

Evasion (Dodge) Increases your chance to dodge melee and ranged attacks by 200% for 3 seconds. Does not break stealth.

Another powerful defensive cooldown. Evasion (Dodge) is normally on a 45-second cooldown but this can be cut to nearly 20 seconds with the Evasive Imperative (Scramble) utility (if you are attacked at least every 1.5 seconds).

The Operative passive ability Preparedness (Street Tough) additionally causes Evasion (Dodge) to purge all hostile removable effects when activated.

Evasion (Dodge) is also enhanced by the Blow for Blow (Back at Ya) utility, causing it to reflect 150% of single target tech and Force attacks back at attackers for its duration.

Altogether, this makes Evasion (Dodge) an insane cooldown that can be used defensively and offensively.

Exfiltrate (Scamper) Roll forward 12 meters. Activating Exfiltrate (Scamper) a second time within 10 seconds allows you to roll again, but puts the ability on cooldown for 10 seconds. While rolling, your chance to dodge melee and ranged attacks is increased by 30%. Does not break stealth. Cannot be used while immobilized or hindered.

This ability gives Operatives incredible mobility. In Concealment, Exfiltrate (Scamper) is enhanced by the Shadow Operative Elite (Slippery Devil) passive ability, which causes you to dodge or resist all incoming attacks for 1.5 seconds after activating it. You are nigh-invulnerable for those 1.5 seconds.

Cloaking Screen (Disappearing Act) Overloads your stealth generator, immediately exiting combat and entering stealth mode. For 10 seconds, you become virtually undetectable.

A powerful and versatile cooldown, Cloaking Screen (Disappearing Act) enables you to reset combat or escape an unwinnable fight.

Corrosive Dart (Vital Shot) Fires a dart at the target that deals 𝑥 internal damage over 18 seconds.

Use only as a filler ability or to detonate your Volatile Substance (Blood Boiler) on a target out of range of Backstab (Back Blast). In unranked warzones, you can generally use this whenever. In arenas or when trying to take an objective, however, be wary of breaking or preventing an important CC.

Escape (Escape)

Purges all incapacitating and movement-impairing effects.

This is your breaker, arguably your most important cooldown. Only use it to break stuns, mezzes or, in certain situations, the hinder associated with Electro Net (Electro Net). Never use Escape (Escape) to break a root.

Typically, you should only break when you are white-barred (briefly immune to further CCs) and in danger of dying. It may sometimes be worth breaking to peel for a teammate or chase a kill but this is risky.

When Escape (Escape) is on cooldown, you are vulnerable and should play cautiously. Operatives have no defensive cooldowns that can be used while stunned and, without the support of teammates, you can be killed within one or two 4-second hard stuns.

Holotraverse (Trick Move) Supercharge your stealth generator, quickly moving you to a friendly or enemy target and increasing your movement speed by 75% for 3 seconds. Does not break stealth. Cannot be used against enemy targets in cover.

Can be used as a gap closer to keep up pressure on a target/secure a kill or to reposition/escape danger.

Only use Holotraverse (Trick Move) when you have an unbroken line of sight (no obstacles in the way). Otherwise, you’re liable to find yourself stuck in odd places, flying into space or even exploring the uncoded regions of the game.

The Circumvention (Sleight of Foot) utility enables you to use Holotraverse (Trick Move) while rooted and causes it to purge movement-impairing effects and generate a Tactical Advantage (Upper Hand). However, because Holotraverse (Trick Move) is unreliable and buggy, spending a utility point here is not recommended.

Flash Bang (Flash Grenade) Detonates a flash bang that blinds the target for 8 seconds. Damage causes this effect to end prematurely.

The Operative passive ability Preparedness (Street Tough) causes Flash Bang (Flash Grenade) to affect up to seven additional enemies within 5 meters of the target, turning it into a powerful AoE mez. It’s great for

peeling for allies, stunning enemies to cap an objective and stunning a group then isolating and killing a target.

Sleep Dart (Tranquilizer) Puts the target to sleep for 60 seconds. Damage will break the effect prematurely. Only usable from stealth and only usable on targets not in combat. Only one target can be incapacitated at a time. Does not affect droids.

Sleep Dart benefits from Cunning Competencies (Dirty Trickster). This utility causes targets struck by Sleep Dart (Tranquilizer) to suffer from Sedatives, which reduces their damage dealt by 50% for 10 seconds.

Use Sleep Dart (Tranquilizer) to

cap an objective from a defender in unranked warzones or even the odds (when outnumbered) or give your team a numbers advantage.

Player targets are incapacitated for 8 seconds, not 60 seconds.

Toxin Scan (Triage) Cleanses a friendly target of up to 2 negative tech or physical effects.

Use Toxin Scan (Triage) to

cleanse teammates of tech or physical effects, e.g., Flash Bang (Flash Grenade) or cleanse yourself of tech or physical roots in duels or when out of position in warzones/arenas.

For a more thorough treatment of cleansing, see rambol and Hottie’s Complete Guide to Cleansing in PvP.

Don’t underestimate Concealment’s powerful off-healing. In conjunction with Kolto Probe (Slow-release Medpac), Kolto Infusion (Kolto Pack) gives Concealment players and their teammates a lot of sustain. Use it on yourself in duels or to support teammates in warzones/arenas. It may not seem like much, but it can save lives and win games.

Countermeasures (Surrender) Activates countermeasures, instantly lower threat by a moderate amount.

Countermeasures (Surrender) is enhanced by the Cunning Competencies (Dirty Trickster) utility, which causes it to purge all movement-impairing effects on activation. Additionally, the Ghost (Fight or Flight) passive ability in the Concealment tree gives Countermeasures (Surrender) a 50% increase to your movement speed for 6 seconds. This makes Countermeasures (Surrender) an equally powerful tool for chasing and escaping from enemies.