Not sure if it's just me being thick or just too used to the endgame content in another game but I'm finding the armour choices and means of getting them really confusing. I think I've got my head round the PvP armour sets (recruit > BM > WH, although I did read something about crafted WH armour with augment slots!) and I've read all the guides about PvE but still can't get my head round it fully.

 

Currently I've just started doing the dailies on the 3 planets for daily comms, do quite a bit of PvP and am interested in starting some PvE content but not sure where to start. I appreciate it's probably really straight forward and a bit of a noob question but when you are used to the mechanics in a different game it can be a bit confusion.

 

Can anyone summarise what the different sets are and when i should be aiming for them or if theres a set order to aquire them in layman terms for me?

 

Which flashpoints should I be aiming for?

Should I concentrate on the orange armour from daily vendors

Should I go for black hole armour?

I've heard black talon and athlis FP mentioned but these are low level ones, is there a 50 version? And how do I get it?

Do you pick up all FP quests from the fleet droids or should I look elsewhere?

How does the armour drop in the FPs? Barter item or actual armour piece?

 

Cheers in advance for any info :-)

Edited August 24, 2012 by Eadreid

I think this pretty much explains it: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=409021

 

Look out for stickies, they are useful

Nice diagram for gearing up from patch 1.2

http://dulfy.net/2012/04/13/dailies-and-pve-gearing-in-1-2/

 

This lists the items from the hard mode 1.3 flashpoints

http://dulfy.net/2012/06/27/hardmode-flashpoint-loot-list1-3/

 

Which flashpoints should I be aiming for?

If you go using the LFG tool, so long as you don't queue for Tier 2 (that's Lost Island) you should be fine with any Flashpoint you hit. They all now drop Tionese gear and Columi tokens. If want to make your own list, go to tor-loot.com and find the Flashpoints that drop specific pieces and aim to go into them.

Should I concentrate on the orange armour from daily vendors

I don't believe there is Orange armour from the daily vendors, but the armourings you can buy for 8 daily comms are a good starting point. Put those in moddable belts and bracers along with appropriate mods and you can get some good gear in those slots.

Should I go for black hole armour?

Black Hole armour is pretty much the top tier at the moment. I would suggest only buying it if you know what you're going to be doing with it - some of the itemisation on the pieces is quite... interesting. I've spent a lot of Black Hole commendations re-jigging my gear from the stock pieces that the vendors sell.

I've heard black talon and athlis FP mentioned but these are low level ones, is there a 50 version? And how do I get it?

Atthis has no Hard Mode version at the moment, but Black Talon does. You can either get the Hard Mode quest from the quest giver or get it automatically by having it pop using the LFG Tool.

Do you pick up all FP quests from the fleet droids or should I look elsewhere?

If you're using the LFG Tool you get the quests automatically. If not using the LFG only get the quest before you go into the instance, that way you can keep your log relatively clear.

How does the armour drop in the FPs? Barter item or actual armour piece?

Some drop as actual armour pieces and some are tokens. Both are obviously class specific - an Agent wouldn't want Maraudar trousers (except maybe for looks, but that's neither here nor there).

 

Set order is:

Tionese

Columi

Rakata

Black Hole

Campaign

 

Actually that's a simplification and Columi can be better than Rakata in some instances due to how the mods and enhancements are laid out (I found on my Sorcerer that a lot of the Rakata gear had +Crit and almost no +Power, so I had to keep Columi level mods which I am lately replacing with Black Hole mods, but even then I'm having to spend a lot of Black Hole commendations). Rakata is only slightly beneath Black Hole, so with the proper mix you don't "have" to be in entirely Black Hole to still hit your stat caps and be effective.

Now that you're at level 50, check out the mission terminals in the Supplies area of the fleet. These will give you access to the daily and weekly missions. Also, Hard Mode versions of all or most flashpoints are available to level 50s. In addition, higher rated lvl50 gear will drop from the Black Hole daily and heroic missions. The best PVE gear drops occur in the Hard Mode, and Nightmare mode ops. Group finder is also a great place to start. I hope this helps.

Cheers for the replies so far, much appreciated.

 

Will the recruit armour ive bought be enough to get me through the Flashpoints SM and HM? or would you recomend getting some in the meantime?

 

Then i could spend my Daily Coms on things like Relics, Ears, Implants and Schematics is that right?

 

Will i get pieces from the SM or would i need to progress onto HM? And what can i expect from those? Columni

 

And im guessing the Rakata gear is just from the Ops?

 

Sorry to be a pain

Recuit is sufficient for flashpoints and even ops if you have a good group with you. Learn the mechanics of each fight beforehand though, because you won't have the margin of error that good equiptment gives you.

 

To help yourself out, join a guild that raids often and raid with them. Pugging is too much of a mixed bag and you could end up with a seriously inexperienced/undergeared group.

Recuit is sufficient for flashpoints and even ops if you have a good group with you. Learn the mechanics of each fight beforehand though, because you won't have the margin of error that good equiptment gives you.

 

To help yourself out, join a guild that raids often and raid with them. Pugging is too much of a mixed bag and you could end up with a seriously inexperienced/undergeared group.

 

Im trying to avoid builds at the moment. Im a member of a multi game guild on another game that does have a guild on here but to be honest i spend too much time on the other game (LOTRO) to really focus on a regular raid schedule here. Im really just after what i can focus on when i get the time and to me that looks more like Warzones and Flashpoints rather than the Ops. But yeah youre right if i was going for Ops then a guild would be my preferred choice

Im trying to avoid builds at the moment. Im a member of a multi game guild on another game that does have a guild on here but to be honest i spend too much time on the other game (LOTRO) to really focus on a regular raid schedule here. Im really just after what i can focus on when i get the time and to me that looks more like Warzones and Flashpoints rather than the Ops. But yeah youre right if i was going for Ops then a guild would be my preferred choice

 

Don't sell guilds short, many guilds don't care if you are casual. I often will join a guild flashpoint/op run just to help out casuals/new character to gear up. Often these happen just when I log on, not according to any set schedule. For my guild, regular raid schedules are a nice way for the higher geared character to hit the harder ops. There is no requirement for members to play in these ops.

Looking at this link

 

http://dulfy.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/hardmodefpdrops1.21.jpg

 

I can find most of those flashpoints on the Group Finder but cant see the following:

 

Esseles

Taral V

MP (not even sure what taht stands for)

 

How do i get these flashpoints.

 

Also, and this stems back to a different game and the fact i like immersion, how do you start these flashpoints "properl" without using the Group Finder, i only want to do this the first time, after that i understand the need for the Finder but id like to at least get to the FP start myself the first time i come to do this. Probably sounds a bit strange to most people but thats how i am

 

Oh and 1 more thing (for now): FPs like Boarding Part are obviously lower level, if i just go into the instance manually, or use the Finder, will it set the FP to lvl 50 or its current level. Same applies to Black Talon etc.

Looking at this link

 

http://dulfy.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/hardmodefpdrops1.21.jpg

 

I can find most of those flashpoints on the Group Finder but cant see the following:

 

Esseles

Taral V

MP (not even sure what taht stands for)

 

Those are Republic only - their equivalents on the Imperial side are Black Talon, Boarding Party and Foundry.

Those are Republic only - their equivalents on the Imperial side are Black Talon, Boarding Party and Foundry.

 

That explains that then