Hello,

So, I have five characters and I had this idea of supplying myself with gear via crafting. I'm finding it really difficult... Of course I try to make sure everyone has at least blue colored gear. I'm finding this really difficult for a few reasons, for example by the time you've gathered up all the mats you need, you're already leveled past what you were already shooting for ... plus the long wait for some mats, etc...

 

Just wondering if anyone else is having success doing this and what their strategy is like?

My approach in this case is to have my first character set up as a gatherer - pulling in resources mostly from the resource nodes in the world, supplemented with Gathering missions.

The excess mats that I gather are sold on the GTN to fund the missions.

Subsequent characters then match up with the crafting skills their early 1 or 2 companions best support, taking the most relevant mission skill plus usually Slicing - both for a little extra credits and for the occasional schematic.

When crafting, I focus on the specific schematics that I want for the characters, rather than trying to do everything.

 

The approach is not perfect, and I spend less time adventuring than I might like, plus I tend to find that with the exception of my first character, everyone levels at a similar rate... so when I am adventuring, I am leveling 6 characters through the same planet - kind of boring after a while.

I'm doing ok with this kind of thing. My strategy is to try to upgrade my gear every 5 levels or so. And I start making the "next set of gear/mods/weapons" at least 3 levels in advance, because those 3 levels go very fast when you're trying to accomplish all the things you mention (gathering mats, learning blue recipes through RE, hoping for the purple mats from critical mission results, etc).

 

I find that it's pretty easy to keep my characters in blue items, this way. Getting them into purple items is a lot harder, though. So I don't generally try for purples unless I already know the plan (from a previous alt) or if someone else (friend/guildmate) can also use the item and is willing to help me gather mats.

Hello,

So, I have five characters and I had this idea of supplying myself with gear via crafting. I'm finding it really difficult... Of course I try to make sure everyone has at least blue colored gear. I'm finding this really difficult for a few reasons, for example by the time you've gathered up all the mats you need, you're already leveled past what you were already shooting for ... plus the long wait for some mats, etc...

 

Just wondering if anyone else is having success doing this and what their strategy is like?

 

I have been successful thus far, but not in the way you are asking, if I read that correctly.

 

I have been able to keep current with my crafting, with blues for both myself, and my main companion. I have not been able to keep current while trying to have blues of every type. It just costs too much for one character that is not 50 to maintain.

 

My strategy so far:

 

Get my first character to 50, and max out my crafting profession (Synth, in this case) as cheaply as possible. I gather moddable gear like it's going out of style, so I really only needed bracers, for the most part.

 

Second character (BH) has funds from the first, and went Cybertech. I levelled it as I went, using mostly what I gathered while in the field. I have blues for myself (level 21, 25, then even numbered Armorings/mods after that), for Mako, and now for the Sorcerer I just started pushing. When I am getting ready to push a character that uses mods that I don't have blues for yet, that is when I will start crafting/RE'ing so that when said character is ready, the mods will be too.

 

Third character is the aforementioned Sorcerer, who has Artifice, and is funded by the first two. I will level this as I go, trying to keep myself in blue hilts and Foci. If I can, blue Shield Generators for Khem. Once I hit 50, I will start working on appropriate hilts/Foci for the Sentinel that I will make in the future. I already have a Juggernaut (the first 50), so it's unlikely that I will make a Guardian or Marauder, so I don't need the others. I have a 50 Shadow on another server, so I don't need those hilts, either. As a secondary protocol, I will try to keep myself in blue color crystals, both quality, and color, though I will not push really hard on it because I have my 50 crystal already in the bank waiting. You might notice that I did not mention Enhancements. I will RE some low level blues for alts, but I don't think I am going to make them a priority because since I have blue Armorings, Mods, and Hilts, I can easily get Enhancements (blues) from the planetary Commendation vendors.

 

Every character I make (except for the Juggernaut) has had Slicing until they reach 50. At that point, I drop Slicing, and pick up one of the gathering skills that require missions. Underworld Trading, Treasure Hunting, Diplomacy, etc. I will keep at least one 50 with Slicing, for sure, but the rest will be somewhat evenly distributed between those gathering professions. I do it this way because it's much more effective with a character that can run 5 missions at a time, than with a character that can run 1 or 2. It also helps in self-gathering some of the more pesky materials that some of the blues require without getting gouged on the GTN.

 

At this time, I do not have any intention of going Armstech, or Armormech. I just don't have need of what they provide. One character will be Biochem, just because, and probably just in time for the reusable stuff to be phased out completely.

 

I've done a lot of yapping here, which can be distilled down to this; crafting is expensive if you are trying to bear the cost(s) on single characters who are not 50. It also takes much, much longer to skill up. It also tends to be more expensive, in the long run. Wait until you have a 50, and that 50 has a sizable bankroll (at least 1M, preferrably 2-3M credits). At that point, you can just get some characters to 10, and powerskill anything you want in a matter of hours (provided the GTN has the materials), instead of days, or weeks.

 

I hope this was what you were looking for.

 

Riôt

Honestly, orange gear is what is most important. The mods you can get with your planet commendations will keep you in better gear than crafting will. You're going to spend a lot of money REing greens and blues and spend a lot of time trying to get the next tier of the schematic, when you could already have an orange piece that wlil last the whole game with mod replacements. Once you get to 50 and have 400 synth/armormech then you'll have different orange schematics that you can use as well as rakata belt/bracers that are BoP. The problem with crafting while leveling is that you'll outlevel the gear that you have before you get the blue/purple level of any schematic.

 

If you're dead set on doing this though, then keep making the highest level green you can in order to raise your crafting skill up at the maximum rate without having to find blue/purple mats. Once you are maxed out, then you can start making gear that is a higher level than your toon and might be able to use it when you're at that level.

Thanks all, very helpful tips... It is really difficult/frustrating... I'm waiting for the day when there's the giant crafting overhaul (that there inevitably is in all these games) and suddenly I'm sitting on five killer craftsmen toons

Hello,

So, I have five characters and I had this idea of supplying myself with gear via crafting. I'm finding it really difficult... Of course I try to make sure everyone has at least blue colored gear. I'm finding this really difficult for a few reasons, for example by the time you've gathered up all the mats you need, you're already leveled past what you were already shooting for ... plus the long wait for some mats, etc...

 

Just wondering if anyone else is having success doing this and what their strategy is like?

 

On my first character I was a synthweaver myself and that early in the game the AH was not at all established so I was mostly on m'own. I found that 4-5 orange pieces upgraded by way of planetary commendations while the other pieces (belt/bracer/occasionally boots if I had good enough RE luck for it to outpace my orange ones) this half and half strategy worked quite well for me, I think if I tried to RE every class-applicable pattern to the point of being solid upgrades without the help of several orange items it would be a royal pain.

Greetings everyone!

 

Thank you for the awesome tips regarding crafting!

 

We wanted to provide you with some more information regarding crew skills which you can find in our Crew Skills sub-forum in the Crew Skills Guide Directory which may be of some assistance:

 

• Crew Skills by Goshee
  
• Reverse Engineering by Slaign
  
• Crew Information (Skills, Gear, Affection) Spreadsheet by Copperhamster
  

 

We hope this helps!