None of it makes any sense, and no one from Bioware has bothered to explain it.

Crafting is randomly divided up into professions that aren't logical, so that whatever you may want, it requires several professions to get the parts from. A shell from Armormech, but not the actual armor. Armor and Mods from a Cybertech, but no logical reason why. Enhancements from an Artificer, also for no apparent reason.

If you need a piece of armor to slot in a shell, you can't get it from the market or make it for yourself (the schematic isn't available for that particular level) - You can only buy it from a vendor (and they don't tell you where that vendor is), but not for money. Only planet and level-specific tokens that become useless the instant you have moved on to another place.

This nonsense goes on and on, until you reach lvl50, where, for some inexplicable cause, crafters are taken out of the picture entirely by the quest reward system. They don't even let you have lvl50 schematics for Armor, Mods or Enhancements. Somehow, there is gear that continues on from fifty and well beyond, but only if you participate in the Operations and Flashpoint content. Good luck if you are a raw lvl50 noob with no purple gear and no experience, because the deadly serious matter of garnering loot requires that you have both before you can pug on a HM LI WTH LOL with the twelve year olds on Fleet.

The crafting/gearing system makes me feel like a cow in a chute waiting to get branded on my backside before being ejected out into the corral. What the heck is it all for?

Crafting is worthless until endgame (raid schems) which is stupid.

Flashpoints are easily run with the fresh lvl50 recruit Mk2 gear

They need to make it to where we can get some necessary armor/gear parts from the world and other necessary gear from crafting, like superior medpacks and stims and augments (like what we have right now. Biochem and augments are PERFECT examples of what crafting should provide.)

The plan, as I understood it, was to encourage players to form up a trading economy or to create alts. So, basic schematics are all available at the skill vendor, and crafters practice these to get better versions. Rare schematics drop out in the world, and from other discovery skills, and are traded to the appropriate crafter.

The thing that makes it seem so random is that there's no particularly convenient trader's market for crafting, so the exchange system sort of gets a bit muddled

None of it makes any sense, and no one from Bioware has bothered to explain it.

 

Crafting is randomly divided up into professions that aren't logical, so that whatever you may want, it requires several professions to get the parts from. A shell from Armormech, but not the actual armor. Armor and Mods from a Cybertech, but no logical reason why. Enhancements from an Artificer, also for no apparent reason.

 

If you need a piece of armor to slot in a shell, you can't get it from the market or make it for yourself (the schematic isn't available for that particular level) - You can only buy it from a vendor (and they don't tell you where that vendor is), but not for money. Only planet and level-specific tokens that become useless the instant you have moved on to another place.

 

This nonsense goes on and on, until you reach lvl50, where, for some inexplicable cause, crafters are taken out of the picture entirely by the quest reward system. They don't even let you have lvl50 schematics for Armor, Mods or Enhancements. Somehow, there is gear that continues on from fifty and well beyond, but only if you participate in the Operations and Flashpoint content. Good luck if you are a raw lvl50 noob with no purple gear and no experience, because the deadly serious matter of garnering loot requires that you have both before you can pug on a HM LI WTH LOL with the twelve year olds on Fleet.

 

The crafting/gearing system makes me feel like a cow in a chute waiting to get branded on my backside before being ejected out into the corral. What the heck is it all for?

Hmm, I don't know what to tell you. Why is Bioware obligated to justify anything as to the games workings to us? We have the same choice no matter what, we like it we do it, we don't like it we don't do it and this of course, applies to crafting as well.

I personally have come to the realization that crafting in SWTOR is basically valueless to me and I have every gathering/crafting skill maxed on at least one character. I leveled my latest alt without any crew skills.

On the other hand, I don't begrudge anyone who enjoys the system as is and I don't look for any explanation from Bioware as to why it is the way it is. As I said, we have the same choice always. I don't find crafting fun so I don't do it anymore. Your choice is the same.

I craft for friends, guildies and alts. Things I craft for level 11-49:

Armoring, mods, enhancements, shields, earpieces, focii, generators, hilts, barrels, implants, medpacks, stims.

Things I craft for endgame:

Augments (all of them), medpacks, stims, L6 ship parts (rarely, but it does come up), earpieces/implants for brand new 50s, and the #1 most requested endgame item: Augment Kits

I've crafted >300 augment kits since 1.3 dropped.

The crafting system is fine except endgame.

One major issue is that the materials for crafting decent gear are somewhat expensive or time-consuming to obtain, so not a lot of people spend time crafting for the GTN. Let's just say it would be very difficult to fully gear a toon at any given level using only the GTN.

Another main issue is that very few items are actually worth crafting at endgame since almost everything you need is easily obtained doing HM FPs. You can fully gear your people with loot drops except for augments and stims.

In the time it takes you to craft or assemble a halfway decent set of artifact custom crafted gear you could have probably just got the highest tier of raid gear from loot (which would have better stats anyways).

Good luck if you are a raw lvl50 noob with no purple gear and no experience, because the deadly serious matter of garnering loot requires that you have both before you can pug on a HM LI WTH LOL with the twelve year olds on Fleet.

My question to you is why is "a raw lvl50 noob" queuing for HM LI in the first place? SM FPs generate Tionese gear, HM tier 1 FPs generate Tionese and Columi. A "raw lvl50 noob" should be doing those FPs not HM LI. Heck, I have the gear and the experience and even I do not pug HM LI anymore.

As a matter of fact, just the other day I ran an LFG HM False Emperor where the Jedi Sage got a TON of upgrades. Every boss dropped willpower gear. Even at the top end of Tier 1 HM FPs that "raw lvl50 noob" could hold his own.

Getting back to the topic at hand...

I disagree with your assessment of "crafters are taken out of the picture entirely by the quest reward system. They don't even let you have lvl50 schematics for Armor, Mods or Enhancements."

In fact, if you compare the stats, crafted, non-moddable, artifact quality armor is slightly BETTER than Tionese equivalent. I have both Armormech and Synthweaver, and skipped over Tionese on my level 50 characters because I could craft better.

Yes, after that point, it is all about HM FPs and all Operations, but ask again, that is not good enough?

Yes, Yes I know that in SWG a lot of the best gear available was crafted. Just because one game does it that way does not mean ALL games have to do it that way too.

They don't even let you have lvl50 schematics for Armor, Mods or Enhancements.

False.

Good luck if you are a raw lvl50 noob with no purple gear and no experience, because the deadly serious matter of garnering loot requires that you have both before you can pug on a HM LI

How is it the fault of the crafting system that you're a noob trying to pug the hardest flashpoint in the game without even attempting to work up to or prepare for it?

 

If you need a piece of armor to slot in a shell, you can't get it from the market or make it for yourself (the schematic isn't available for that particular level) - You can only buy it from a vendor (and they don't tell you where that vendor is).

You made so many mistakes in 1 paragraph that I've got my work cut out for me but, okay here it goes:

1. You can get Armourings off the GTN

2. You can craft Armourings, Mods and Enhancements, and Crystals and Hilts and Barrels and Implants and Earpieces, and custom gear. This part really stands out since it makes me wonder if you've ever actually crafted in SWTOR:confused::confused: Heck, this is how I keep my alts geared as I level (Cybertech, Armormech, Biochem...) so... in this case you are really really wrong. I mean if being wrong was on a scale of 1-10, you'd be at 11. That's how wrong you are.

3. Finding the planetary vendor is easy, aside from Quesh ALL of them are on fleet. You ever go to fleet?

This nonsense goes on and on, until you reach lvl50, where, for some inexplicable cause, crafters are taken out of the picture entirely by the quest reward system. They don't even let you have lvl50 schematics for Armor, Mods or Enhancements. Somehow, there is gear that continues on from fifty and well beyond, but only if you participate in the Operations and Flashpoint content.

4. Crafters are not useless at 50, in fact pre-50 I always relied on my own crafts and never bought anything off the GTN, at level 50 I started buying crafted gear off the GTN (14 Augment Kits and Augments per endgame character). I also bought Prototype Ultimate Medpacs (better than wasting my exotech mats) and Exotech stims/adrenals whenever I ran out of mats. I sell +41 crit Magenta crystals on the GTN for 225k, about 1 a week (not much profit, but the market is fairly saturated as of late). Overall, I make about 800k/week on the GTN, and I'm one of the lazier crafters. If you're not making +500k/week then you aren't trying.

P.S: It is not my intention to insult you in any way shape or form, but we need to stop the spread of misinformation on forums, people are easily confused WITHOUT false info, adding false info to forums makes them really confused.

You made so many mistakes in 1 paragraph that I've got my work cut out for me but, okay here it goes:

1. You can get Armourings off the GTN

2. You can craft Armourings, Mods and Enhancements, and Crystals and Hilts and Barrels and Implants and Earpieces, and custom gear. This part really stands out since it makes me wonder if you've ever actually crafted in SWTOR:confused::confused: Heck, this is how I keep my alts geared as I level (Cybertech, Armormech, Biochem...) so... in this case you are really really wrong. I mean if being wrong was on a scale of 1-10, you'd be at 11. That's how wrong you are.

3. Finding the planetary vendor is easy, aside from Quesh ALL of them are on fleet. You ever go to fleet?

 

 

 

4. Crafters are not useless at 50, in fact pre-50 I always relied on my own crafts and never bought anything off the GTN, at level 50 I started buying crafted gear off the GTN (14 Augment Kits and Augments per endgame character). I also bought Prototype Ultimate Medpacs (better than wasting my exotech mats) and Exotech stims/adrenals whenever I ran out of mats. I sell +41 crit Magenta crystals on the GTN for 225k, about 1 a week (not much profit, but the market is fairly saturated as of late). Overall, I make about 800k/week on the GTN, and I'm one of the lazier crafters. If you're not making +500k/week then you aren't trying.

 

P.S: It is not my intention to insult you in any way shape or form, but we need to stop the spread of misinformation on forums, people are easily confused WITHOUT false info, adding false info to forums makes them really confused.

Alright, fine, be excruciatingly pedantic and condescending. You are technically correct - I have a lvl50 Cybertech at 400, and all the Armorings are easily made and bought. The schematics skip even levels, but that is just splitting hairs. My post was made late at night, and I am old and cranky.

Now say we exchange the word Armor for the word 'Mod', or the word 'Enhancement'. Then perhaps my intentions are made more clear? For some ineffable reason, Armoring and Mod and Enhancement schematics are not available on the same level. Craftable Mod Schematics and Enhancement Schematics skip four levels at a time, but not the same four levels. Maybe those missing levels are available on a Vendor somewhere? Sometimes they are, but often enough, they aren't, and to make it all the better, the absence is in no way predictable. Maybe they have 12 and 13 Guardian mods but not 12 and 13 Commando mods, or something similar to that (This is just a for instance, so please don't go to the effort of writing out another sardonic screed explaining to me exactly how stupid and wrong and ignorant I am. Thank you, but enough.)

Armoring schematics are available for every odd-numbered level (9, 11, 13, 15). Mods and Enhancements are available for alternating odd-numbered levels (mod: 9, 13, 17; enhancement: 11, 15, 19). These are all available from your Crew Skills trainer.

The commendation vendors are a different story and don't always have exactly what you want. For instance, the Balmorra vendor sells almost all 6 and 7 (levels 17 and 19) armorings, barrels, and hilts, except for Might and Reflex, where you can only by the "6" version. That makes no sense to me but I don't let something like that ruin my day.

IMO, the single biggest screwup in the crafting system (with the possible exception of reuseables):

Cybertechs getting armoring.

The str/wis ones should have been synthweaving. The agi/cun ones should have been armormech.

As it stands, the "armorers" don't actually make armor anymore. Only thing they make is augments.

But, yeah, I'll agree with the cybertechs that it's probably too late to fix it now, though they COULD do something like add existing armorings to the armor crafters lists, and going forward, only add them to the armor crafters, and not add them to the cybertechs.