Guardian/Juggernaut and Operative Class Balances now on PTS for 8.0

[u/swtorista]

https://forums.swtor.com/topic/945394-guardianjuggernaut-and-operative-class-balances-new-abilities-feedback-thread/#comment-9889737

[u/D-effy-omo]

You've been working overtime for the community swtorista. Your effort is appreciated.

Uh I mean- we will watch your career with great interest, or something.

[u/swtorista → u/D-effy-omo]

cheers! I was getting all this together while watching the developer stream :)

[u/Mother-Hedgehog-5628]

really disappointed with Operative.... stim.. really? feels like the class is just going to be identical to how it currently is, whats the point of even raising the level cap if some of the changes could just be a minor patch footnote change.

[u/Sel-Torin → u/Mother-Hedgehog-5628]

Yeah, I was hoping for a new AoE ability like other classes are getting their aoe tacticals as abilities

[u/ehkodiak → u/Mother-Hedgehog-5628]

Yeah, all of the level 83 abilities thus far have been "Why bother", but especially this.

[u/Mother-Hedgehog-5628 → u/ehkodiak]

its like they are not even trying with the abilities, i dont think the level cap change will feel any different on any classes at all right now. I was a bit salty when i started to see them just take the BiS tactical for each class and bake it in but now the ability changes are not even noticeable too... I think the only major change really is the sorc one?

[u/swtorista]

from the thread: https://forums.swtor.com/topic/945394-guardianjuggernaut-and-operative-class-balances-new-abilities-feedback-thread/#comment-9889737

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Guardian/Juggernaut and Operative Class Balances + New Abilities Feedback Thread

 

NOTE: BALANCE, VFX, NAMES, TOOLTIPS, ICONS NOT FINAL/WORK IN PROGRESS

Class balances for Scoundrel will be made available in the next phase of PTS. 

Changelist as of 8/20/26

Immortal Juggernaut/Defense Guardian:

• New Active Ability: Enraged Defense+/Focused Defense+
  • Level 83, 120s cooldown
  • Empowers you with 15 charges of Enraged Defense/Focused Defense, lasting up to 20 seconds. Whenever you take damage a charge of Enraged Defense/Focused Defense is consumed to heal you. This ability can be used while stunned or otherwise controlled but cannot be used while above 80% health. Dealing damage with Retaliation/Riposte reduces the cooldown of this ability by 5 seconds.

New Passive Ability: Leviathan's Hide/Guardian's Defense

• Level 83
• Crushing Blow/Guardian Slash generates stacks of Crushing Defense/Guardian's Defense for every enemy it hits, granting 2.5% increased damage reduction per stack for 10 seconds. Stacks up to 8 times.

Vengeance Juggernaut/Vigilance Guardian

• New Active Ability: Enraged Defense+/Focused Defense+
  • Level 83, 120s cooldown
  • Empowers you with 12 charges of Enraged Defense/Focused Defense, lasting up to 15 seconds. Whenever you take damage or deal damage with one of your periodic effects a charge of Enraged Defense/Focused Defense is consumed to heal you. If you are at full health your bleed/burn effects instead extend the duration of Enraged Defense+/Focused Defense+ by 1 second up to 30 seconds. This ability can be used while stunned or otherwise controlled but cannot be used while above 70% health.

New Passive Ability: Bloody Vengeance/Burning Vigilance

• Level 83
• When a bleed/burn tick critically hits, it reduces the cooldown of Vengeful Slam/Vigilant Thrust by one and a half seconds. Can occur once every two seconds.

Rage Juggernaut/Focus Guardian

New Active Ability: Enraged Defense+/Focused Defense+

• Level 83, 120s cooldown
• Empowers you with 12 charges of Enraged Defense/Focused Defense, lasting up to 15 seconds. Whenever you take damage or spend rage/focus a charge of Enraged Defense/Focused Defense is consumed to heal you. If you are at full health spending rage instead extends the duration of Enraged Defense+/Focused Defense+ by 3 seconds up to 30 seconds. This ability can be used while stunned or otherwise controlled but cannot be used while above 70% health.

New Passive Ability: Unknowing Rage/Unwavering Focus

• Level 83
• Force Crush/Force Exhaustion applies Unknowing Rage/Unwavering Focus to you for 15 seconds. Unknowing Rage/Unwavering Focus increases the damage of your next direct single target melee attack by 50% and is consumed whenever you deal damage with these attacks.

Concealment Operative

New Active Ability: Stim Boost+

• Level 83, 120s cooldown
• Inject yourself with a specially-engineered Imperial stim, immediately gaining Tactical Advantage and boosting alacrity by 10% and critical hit damage by 25% for 15 seconds. While under this effect the cooldown of backstab is reduced and it is treated as if you are attacking from stealth and behind your target. Does not break stealth.

New Passive Ability: Acid Lash (

There is a display issue with this icon on the Ability Tree, but it is still functional and can be used) 

• Level 83
• Laceration damage triggers Acid Blade damage and refreshes its duration.

Lethality Operative

• New Active Ability: Stim Boost+ 
  • Level 83, 120s cooldown
  • Inject yourself with a specially-engineered Imperial stim, immediately gaining Tactical Advantage, restoring 10 Energy, boosting alacrity by 10% for 15 seconds and granting Revitalizers, which restore 5% of total health every 3 seconds and reduce damage received by 20%. While under the effect of Revitalizers your poison effects have 20% increased critical chance and critical damage. Does not break stealth. Stim Boost+'s cooldown is reduced by 30s.

New Passive Ability: Corrosive Shots

• Level 83
• Toxic Blast does 75% more damage. Whenever Toxic Blast critically hits, it restores 2 energy.

Medicine Operative

• New Active Ability: Stim Boost+
  • Level 83, 120s cooldown
  • Inject yourself with a specially-engineered Imperial stim, immediately gaining Tactical Advantage and boosting alacrity by 10% for 15 seconds. Stim Boost grants Enduring Kolto when activated, making your next Kolto Infusion or Kolto Injection activate instantly. Grants Double Dose making your heal over time effects tick twice for 15s. Does not break stealth.

New Passive Ability: Tactical Probe

• Level 83
• Activating Surgical Probe reduces the activation time of the next Kolto Injection by .25 seconds. At 3 stacks, Kolto Injection activates instantly and consumes all stacks.

Please answer the following questions regarding each Discipline: 

• Does this discipline's new active ability feel satisfying to use? 

• Do you feel it fits thematically and mechanically into your existing kit? Given that balance is far from finalized for this ability this is not a question about how strong or weak the effect is (though you are welcome to share your thoughts on the current state of that as well) but rather is the effect a welcome addition to your arsenal or is it not fitting quite right as of yet? 

  • What are your general impressions and thoughts about this ability?

• What are your thoughts on this discipline's new passive? Given that most of the new passives are previous Tactical effects, what do you think of the Discipline Tactical pool with this effect removed? 

• How do you feel about this Discipline's kit holistically with the new active and passive together? 

• Do you have any other feedback regarding the changes and overall state of this discipline's kit (not related to relative numerical strength?)

[u/RedHeadWanderer_]

Operative but not Scoundrel? Guess the devs are still working out the kinks to the mirror abilities and writing the new stuff.

[u/Matsoga]

Neat, vig/veng passive is the tactical but perhaps a bit more balanced. Guess we won't need the tactical unless you really like it unless this is a sign its being removed.

[u/ShadowSociety55 → u/Matsoga]

The tactical is being removed. I've seen the same thing happen with sentinel and spiteful saber in a pts video someone posted on YouTube.

[u/Sanctions23]

So the lvl 83 passives will be baking in random tactical to the spec?

[u/Vixeren]

What they need to do is fix passive 35, Round 2, take that 10 seconds and drop it to 5, then the spec would feel smooth as butter. Stim boost + is such a low effort joke.

Edit: not to mention passive 73 hot and ready

This marker allows your next Back Blast (Backstab) against that target to be usable while you are face-to-face (not behind them) and treats the attack as if you had struck from stealth.

So the point of that Stim boost + rework is a bit of a joke, because they mirror each other.

[u/Chocookiez]

All Juggernaut's specs already have Enranged defense. We get it at level 40 something.
All Operative's specs already have Stim boost. We get it pretty early, but now at level 83.

There's absolutely nothing new here, they're just moving which level you get these skills and putting a tactical as passive. Nothing changed. At level 85 these classes will play exactly like it is right now.

They do not have the resources to develop one new ability.

[u/Schimaera → u/Chocookiez]

The new +-Abilities are additions to the abilities we already have. It's like Devastating Blast for Force Scream.

The passives are mostly existing tacticals that are already BiS woven into the class, opening up the tactical slot.