He seems like a (significantly) worse version of Keel.
From what I can tell, his bronze charges just about as fast as her bronze. Both heals are worth roughly the same amount per second, but Keel’s lasts longer (6 seconds vs 4), and restores cover. Advantage Keel.
Their silver skills can’t really be compared since they do different things. Neither one is a game changer, but both are useful. I’m calling this one a draw.
Operator’s gold skill is nice, but it pales in comparison to Keel’s. Scavenge will go off pretty consistently throughout the game, and it will target whoever needs the healing, not just Operator. It’s probably one of the better passive healing skills in the game, and when you pair Keel with Baron (which is a really great pairing IMO), the amount of healing that she can unleash becomes just silly. Operator’s gold has no such synergy. Advantage Keel.
Their platinum skills are pretty similar. Keel’s added armor is probably more impactful at the beginning of the game than the relatively minor health boost that Operator provides, but it abandons players that are halfway through being gunned down by a DPS (ie when they need it most). I’m going to call this a draw.
Operator also has more or less the same amount of health that Keel does. So you can’t argue that he’s a worse healer who makes up for it by being less squishy.
So, from what I can tell, Operator fills the same role in a team that Keel does (backline mech healer that possesses some ability to heal himself, a powerful single-target heal, some minor team boost through the plat, and some minor disabling skill through the silver), but he’s just a worse version of her. I can’t tell what his role is, unless I happen to want 2 backline mech healers and need to dip really far into the player pool. Do you agree? Do you think Operator should be buffed? Let me know!
This is a good analysis. Operator is pretty universally accepted as a terrible hero, but your explanation covers exactly why that is true using a familiar point of reference - Keel.
Operator has long needed a buff, but your comparison makes a compelling argument that even after a buff, his would still be a role that is already filled in near-identical fashion. A heavy rework is probably what’s needed, with something to set him apart into his own niche. Hopefully that’s something we see in the future.
Operator is really good in my opinion. At the moment i have him at 7* currently =, but his scavange is a beast in protecting, making him last way longer than keel. No one targets operator, but everyone knows about keel ( hey lets kill her first). IN my early days i would use him all the time as a healer with my 6* moss, letting moss heal almost instantly as soon he uses transfusion. Now this is something i dont use much anymore, as i have moved to the 500k power division
I like to think of the different heroes having different roles to fill in the game.
War Gods, (e.g. Beck, Sapphyr, Lancer, etc.) high-powered heroes when maxed, making them great attackers/defenders in war.
PvP Brawlers, (e.g. Castellan, Flatline, Mandrake, etc.) characters with skills that can benefit each other given enough time and the right team compositions.
Bounty Legends, (Astrix, Savage, Siren, etc.) characters with great area attack damage or simply characters who do a nice amount of damage. Castellan would be a good example here, of a character who’s great in PvP because his turrets are amazing when given enough time but he’s ultimately useless in Bounty because of the waves and their time restraints.
Patrol Stars, (e.g. Operator, Fortress, Salvatore, etc.) the ones you send out as often as possible because they don’t really serve a purpose anywhere else.
Operator found his home in the last group, in my mind lol.
I could see myself using Operator if Keel didn’t exist, but I have a really hard time using him when I can use Keel, who seems like a better version of the same character.
TL; DR, he’s no smooth operator. Coast to coast, LA to Chicago he seems to fail…
It would be neat if Operator gave the healed hero protection from all debuffs for 6-8 seconds, perpetually cleansing them during that time. The healed hero could also gain high x attack damage per second for the duration of the ability. Basically, make the hero being healed a powerhouse.
I agree that his skill should be reworked, not just buffed.
Maybe one or some of his skills should expressly synergize with kurtz team members, that would make him different enough.
I have a PVP team called “Keep Castellan Alive” and it goes: Operator, Castellan, Fortress, Razorback, Francois. It’s very fun to use Restoration on a Recharging Fortress with Francois-buffed max health. Instant death to up to three enemies.
Since I PVP with Keel in a different loadout with Baron, Matador, and Cinder I feel I have a good place for Operator, and quite enjoy him.
Oh, and also, I agree, Operator is generally less of a fire magnet than Keel. However, I found the best players DO focus Operator first in the above team, and that sinks me when they do. Most do not, and I’ll win.
Used to have some teams where both keel and operator where used together, when healing was quite relevant in pvp, they where a real pain in the arse combo!!
IMO, if the reason Operator is better than Keel is because he’s so much worse than Keel that people don’t bother attacking him, that’s…not a strong defense of him as a character.
I think you are actually too lenient on Operator. You gave him a draw with some of Keel’s abilities when I think Keel’s are in fact much better. For example his silver is MUCH worse than Keel’s.
On paper their silver abilities seem roughly equivalent, but then you have to take into account how easy Operator’s is to dodge. Operator’s also is only a chance to stun for 5 seconds, or a disorient, while Keel’s is a guaranteed root of 4 enemies. It also does a little more damage.
I believe Operator’s self heal is a little more reliable than Keel’s. It’s certainly less conditional (no cover destruction required, always targets self and not others). He also is a slightly smaller target. IMO Operator is a little more durable than Keel (and the Operator-is-also-typically-underestimated point made earlier).
Also, Operator’s bronze seems to charge a little faster.
For these reasons Operator can be a better choice in a few situations. In my earlier example, Keel does not work as well because those frontline heroes don’t damage cover effectively, and Castellan sometimes dies before Keel’s bronze kicks in.
Keel is better most of the time, Operator is not useless.
Operator’s self-heal is definitely more reliable than Keel’s, but the fact that Keel’s gold can be used on other allies is why her ability is so much better than his.
If Operator’s bronze charges faster, it’s not by much. I’ve used both of them together, and they seem to both start healing at the same time.
I agree that if you have few cover breaking heroes, you may find Keel’s gold to be less useful than Operator’s, but this is made up for by the fact that her bronze is much more powerful than his (1.5 times the heal duration, plus cover repair).
I might be able to come up with teams where I might prefer Operator over Keel, but it would be very, very rare. It’d basically have to be a situation where I have one single-target healer (and no shielders or Drake), but the characters I’m using are all really lousy at cover breaking so I don’t believe that Keel’s gold will trigger consistently.
I do see one thing that has not been mentioned in the keel vs operator heal abilities. Once operator maxes a heroes health, he continues healing them for the duration. Keel moves on to the next person. So if she tops up one guy, she will move down the line. It makes her heal more useful imho.
Maybe they could make Operator’s bronze charge faster? That would at least be a good differentiator between him and Keel - he’s a fast response guy that you use for his bronze, whereas she’s a stronger healer (and her gold will provide random bursts of healing), but if you want consistent, small heals, you go with him.
He’s the guy you use if you somehow don’t have a properly leveled Keel (which is to say: you shouldn’t have an under-leveled Keel). The devs nerfed his insane healing about over a year ago, and now he’s just target practice. That’s said, it’s a shame that he continues healing the same target even if they’re full health.
But, he’s like a Taken Goblin from Destiny: if Operator’s healing a guy, you bet your butt you’re not putting a dent into his target’s health.
