Operations

Operations is a simple game mode in which a hero can be assigned to "operations" for a set period of time. Beyond the initial assignment, Operations do not require further player input, and they do not consume Stamina. Heroes are unable to be put on teams or used for other game modes while they are assigned to an Operation.

There are 3 Operation slots; only 3 Operations can be undertaken at once, even if you have more heroes. There are minimum Threat ratings required for all Operations except the first. Once your hero has returned from an operation, tap the operation slot to gain the rewards - and you can choose to "continue" to close the window, or "repeat" to immediately send the same hero to the same operation again.

Operations have a chance of yielding level 1 gear, gems, and Firestorm shards.

Catwoman and Master Thief Catwoman's passives give them 6%/7%/8%/9%/10% and 6%/7.5%/9%/10.5%/12% bonus credits on Operations, stacking multiplicatively with Operation upgrades.

Shorter operations offer more credits and experience per hour, although they are more of a hassle. Additionally, doing multiple short operations instead of a long one allows you to complete the Operations level Achievements faster.

Operation	Threat required	Credits earned (lvl 0)	Credits Earned (lvl 20)	Duration (lvl 0)	Duration (lvl 20)	XP yielded (lvl 0)	XP yielded (lvl 20)
Patrol: Metropolis	1	260 (8.67/min)	325 (13/min)	30 mins	24 mins 59 secs	160 (5.33/min)	200 (8/min)
Direct Action: Arkham Asylum	1,000	500 (8.33/min)	625 (12.5/min)	1 hr	49 mins 59 secs	300 (5/min)	375 (7.5/min)
Strategic Recon: Gorilla City	2,000	715 (7.94/min)	894 (11.92/min)	1 h 30 mins	1 hr 14 mins	425 (4.72/min)	531 (7.08/min)
Internal Defense: Atlantis	2,300	950 (7.92/min)	1188 (11.88/min)	2 hrs	1 hr 39 mins	550 (4.58/min)	688 (6.88/min)
Search and Rescue: Kahndaq	2,500	1,355 (7.53/min)	1694 (11.29/min)	3 hrs	2 hrs 29 mins	785 (4.36/min)	981 (6.54/min)
Investigation: Fortress of Solitude	3,000	1,715 (7.15/min)	2144 (10.72/min)	4 hrs	3 hrs 19 mins	995 (4.15/min)	1244 (6.22/min)
Retrieval: Red Sun Prison	3,600	2,445 (6.79/min)	3056 (10.18/min)	6 hrs	4 hrs 59 mins	1415 (3.93/min)	1769 (5.89/min)
Search and Destroy: Argo Labs	4,000	4,645 (6.45/min)	5806 (9.67/min)	12 hrs	9 hrs 59 mins	2690 (3.82/min)	3363 (5.6/min)

Upgrades

Operations can be upgraded a total of 20 times, each upgrade increasing by 5% one factor in all operations (credits yielded, XP yielded, the chance of dropped gear, the chance of dropped gems, completion speed).

Level	Gem Cost	Total % Factor Modified
1	25	+5% Credits
2	25	+5% XP
3	50	+5% Completion Speed
4	50	+10% Credits
5	75	+10% XP
6	100	+15% Credits
7	100	+10% Completion Speed
8	100	+15% XP
9	125	+15% Completion Speed
10	125	+5% Gear Chance
11	150	+5% Chance of Gems
12	150	+20% Credits
13	200	+20% XP
14	250	+20% Completion Speed
15	250	+10% Gear Chance
16	250	+10% Chance of Gems
17	250	+25% Credits
18	250	+25% XP
19	250	+15% Gear Chance
20	250	+15% Gem Chance

It is recommended that you upgrade your operations as early as possible, as it seems getting gems without any gem upgrade is rare, and it will happen noticeably more frequently with even just the first upgrade. (Likely this means that the default chance* is low and that each stated increase in drop chance is an additive increase, i.e. 1% becoming 6%.) Each upgrade to completion speed is also functionally an upgrade to gem yield for time-savvy players.

(*It's possible that different duration operations have different base rates. In any case, a longer duration operation that yields gems will not on average yield more gems than a shorter operation that yields gems. Confirmed possible yield amounts are 10, 20, & 30, 30 being rare.)

Operation rewards are calculated when opened, not when the operation was started. For instance, it is possible to obtain new hero shards even if the operations are started before their release.

Prior to Heartbreaker Harley Quinn, operations have a chance to yield Master Thief Catwoman shards instead. The latter has since been moved to the Basic Chest and is the only gold hero whose shards can be found in it.

Firestorm now has shards appearing in Operations, completely replacing Master Thief Catwoman and Heartbreaker Harley Quinn.

Here is the video showing 100 operations. At the end it shows the experimental probability of each.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ