I am planning on playing a tank and I found some awsome robe pants that are orange but I noticed on inspecting the raid gear from the vendors do not have armor modds. Does this mean to compete/have the raid level armor I will have to lose my custom gear to get the highest stats?

Or is it a sure thing that doing the raids will have a quest or different gearing path to put in raid level armor mods in our custom gear?

I am planning on playing a tank and I found some awsome robe pants that are orange but I noticed on inspecting the raid gear from the vendors do not have armor modds. Does this mean to compete/have the raid level armor I will have to lose my custom gear to get the highest stats?

 

Or is it a sure thing that doing the raids will have a quest or different gearing path to put in raid level armor mods in our custom gear?

Raid gear is Purple. Your item is org. Only org item are completely custom. if you notice to the right of the armor rating you will see an item score.

Example the purple item has an item score of 80. if you find a armor mode with an item score of 80 you org item will have the same armor value as the purple item. The other stats are just there for you to make your guy how you want. The only stat that is important as far as making an effecting item is the item level of the mod.

Orange items have no stats beyond what mods are put into them. You don't have an Orange item with 250 armor. You have an orange item with 0 armor with an armor mod inside it that is providing 250 armor in the same way it's providing the rest of the stats. An orange item you found at level 10 is the same with no mods in it as a level 50 orange. You can keep an orange item until 50.

Purple items do not have an armoring mod so you will outlevel them eventually. An orange item with all purple mods of the same level as the purple itself will have equal stats. For all intents and purposes, purple items are orange items that have their armoring mod locked and cannot be modified.

For armor, the base armor is determined by the Armoring mod.

For weapons, the base damage is determined by the Hilt for lightsabres or by the barrel for blasters.

This is listed on the Armoring/Hilt as Armor Rating or Damage Rating. The actual damage or armor amount will be based on the type of item. For example an Armoring Mod with a rating of 66 will provide more actual armor when slotted into heavy armor then it will when slotted into light armor. The level of the item make no difference, a rating of 66 in a level 10 medium armor orange will provide the same amount as a rating of 66 in a level 50 medium armor orange.

It's somewhat confusing that Mod could refer to any modification that goes into slotted armor, or it could specifically refer specifically to Mod modifications, which are stat items that plug into armor and provide stat bonuses.

For all intents and purposes, purple items are orange items that have their armoring mod locked and cannot be modified.

Not entirely true.

Purple items can also have inherent bonuses that are in addition to the mods. Check out the raid gear vendors on the station and look at the stats on the gear. For example one piece might give you +75 to Endurance, but 50 of that is from the mods, and the remaining 25 is inherent to the purple armor piece.

The big question is.......

Is there Orange armor that has 4 slots? I have not seen any, but maybe an orange item can be caft-critted to create the "4th slot"?

There's a couple threads about crit-crafting oranges, and the general consensus is that it can't be done. Several people have said they've crafted dozens of orange items and not a single one has been a critical success.

it is still early so I will hold out to see. I don't think they would gimp org items like that based on posted that bio-ware agents have put up about the org items they want them to be just as viable as high end raid items. In that some raid bosses will drop mods and stuff to put into your equipment.

Now that I write it down it may be true since they don't want org to be any better then raid items and they cant be crit either since they are dropped not made.

So great I am in the same place I started in and have no idea until I see it.

The mod is what makes the armor sadly =/

Sadly? That is a huge plus in my opinion. Have you seen some of the ugly armor you would be forced to wear if you couldn't strip the mods and put it in the stuff you like?

For a piece of wearable orange armor the armor rating is driven by the Armoring modification. That mod has an armor value attached, along with some bonus stats, that drive the armor value of the piece in which you use the mod. The armor value is what's really important though as that is what the orange piece uses to determine the final armor rating. Light/Medium/Heavy armor types will modify the armor rating on your Armoring so that heavy orange armor becomes "heavy" while light armor is still light even with the same Armoring mod.

 

Barrels and hilts do the same thing for guns and light sabers as an Armoring mod does for armor. They control the DPS of the weapon in which they are inserted. Every time you upgrade to a higher level barrel or hilt you get more DPS. Barrels and hilts have other stats besides the damage rating, but that damage rating is what is important.

 

Orange gear also has other slots (1-2, depending on piece) that let you add other stat enhancers. Armor, for example, has Enhancement and Modification slots. These don't control the armor rating of the piece, but they do let you add other stats. You don't have to upgrade these slots to keep the armor value of the piece "up to date" but you will get more stats if you do keep them upgraded. Nice, but not as necessary as the Armoring mod. Weapons perform similarly...other slots add extra stats, but the barrel/hilt is what keeps the piece 'up to date'.

 

Once you find a look that you like you can keep that orange piece of gear up to date indefinitely. My Agent currently has fully moddable gear in every slot except wrists and boots, and he's only L28.

Thanks for this. Wow. Glad I stumbled upon this thread. My Shadow has already acquired 3 Orange items. So this means he can use those forever if I choose as long as he swaps out the mods as needed.

So glad I stumbled upon this thread. lol

Yeah, the critical question at endgame will be if you can critically craft orange gear, so that it gets an augment slot. If that isn't the case, the whole moddable gear system breaks down and we'll get the clone army other games have.

Pardon, I mean "had", because even the developers at WoW finally recognized how much a lot of people hate being forced into all wearing the same endgame sets and so they invented the transmogrification system.

I recommend posting concerns about appearance customization in this thread. Before launch, we had accumulated 25.000 posts on the topic there, over the course of 1 1/2 years. I just restarted it on the forums a few days ago, but it gets buried under the avalanche of complaint posts we have right now.

Yeah, the critical question at endgame will be if you can critically craft orange gear, so that it gets an augment slot. If that isn't the case, the whole moddable gear system breaks down and we'll get the clone army other games have.

 

Pardon, I mean "had", because even the developers at WoW finally recognized how much a lot of people hate being forced into all wearing the same endgame sets and so they invented the transmogrification system.

 

I recommend posting concerns about appearance customization in this thread. Before launch, we had accumulated 25.000 posts on the topic there, over the course of 1 1/2 years. I just restarted it on the forums a few days ago, but it gets buried under the avalanche of complaint posts we have right now.

See. I see it differently.. the moddable armor lets you do your min/max for endgame, but choose the aesthetic you want, essentially you can look completely different from a player of the same class, but have comparable stats..

I'm pretty sure that mods will be where the "gear progression" comes in.

See. I see it differently.. the moddable armor lets you do your min/max for endgame, but choose the aesthetic you want, essentially you can look completely different from a player of the same class, but have comparable stats..

 

I'm pretty sure that mods will be where the "gear progression" comes in.

The question is without augment slot, will orange gear be on par with raid drops ?

See. I see it differently.. the moddable armor lets you do your min/max for endgame, but choose the aesthetic you want, essentially you can look completely different from a player of the same class, but have comparable stats..

 

I'm pretty sure that mods will be where the "gear progression" comes in.

Oh, I know that this is how it should be. The problem is augment slots. If orange gear can't have them, it cannot compete at endgame.

Oh, I know that this is how it should be. The problem is augment slots. If orange gear can't have them, it cannot compete at endgame.

You have compared raid drop to 3 slot orange piece of armor ?

You have compared raid drop to 3 slot orange piece of armor ?

That's my question as well.. we don't know what's there in the operations.. whether the "Loot" is mod-pieces (which is my guess), and perhaps unique appearance custom items..

I would expect high quality mods, high end crafting recipes and materials, with some rare Custom outfit pieces.

The only thing that orange cannot do so far is have augment slots. If they do get that, then they are comparable to epic "loot".

Also don't buy an orange item that is above your level from a vender. Even if you remove and/or replace every single mod with something your level or lower, it will still be unusable.

I tested this last night with a few pieces of PvP armor.

I'm away at the moment so can't really check but, purple raid gear and orange custom gear may still be comparable given the same number of slots.

Here is my reasoning:

Purple items have 3 slots - enhancement, mod and augment

Orange items have 3 slots - enhancement, mod and armour

Whilst purple items cannot change level they can be augmented. They Will also have built in stats.

Whilst orange items cannot be augmented they can have armour mods. The armour mods will also have additional stats on them.

The question then becomes; do the additional stats on an armour mod designed for orange gear compare to the base stats on purple items plus an augmentation.

As I said before, I'm away for a week or so and can't check, however if this is the case and armour mods of the same level as purple gear have stats comparable to the purple gears base stats plus augments, orange gear should remain on par.

I am hoping this is the case as it not only gives players greater range for customization but should lead to an interesting mix of outfits when people reach higher levels.

... If this is the case, that's pretty cool on one level, but I might want a change of scenery once in awhile.

There are many sets of orange gear plus the green, blue, and purple drops. Many options to "change the scenery" when the mood strikes you.

I'm away at the moment so can't really check but, purple raid gear and orange custom gear may still be comparable given the same number of slots.

 

Here is my reasoning:

 

Purple items have 3 slots - enhancement, mod and augment

 

Orange items have 3 slots - enhancement, mod and armour

 

Whilst purple items cannot change level they can be augmented. They Will also have built in stats.

 

Whilst orange items cannot be augmented they can have armour mods. The armour mods will also have additional stats on them.

 

The question then becomes; do the additional stats on an armour mod designed for orange gear compare to the base stats on purple items plus an augmentation.

 

As I said before, I'm away for a week or so and can't check, however if this is the case and armour mods of the same level as purple gear have stats comparable to the purple gears base stats plus augments, orange gear should remain on par.

 

I am hoping this is the case as it not only gives players greater range for customization but should lead to an interesting mix of outfits when people reach higher levels.

This is how I see it the two will be on par if equal mods are available.

Where i think Orange gear shines is that once you have your look, you can maintain it, and as new tiers of raiding are added your orange gear can be modded past the current tier.

I've read a dev post explaining the modification system and you will be able to find purple mod drops that allow you to upgrade orange gear to be equivalent to purple gear drops.

The problem you may run in to is that there is something called crit crafted or mastercrafted orange gear which will have an extra augment slot. The stats on that will be better than something you get now that isn't mastercrafted simply because it gets an extra slot.

On a side note if you want to match... you can run flashpoints and get social points. Find a social vendor in a cantina and check out their sets. Check out the pvp sets.

I've read a dev post explaining the modification system and you will be able to find purple mod drops that allow you to upgrade orange gear to be equivalent to purple gear drops.

 

The problem you may run in to is that there is something called crit crafted or mastercrafted orange gear which will have an extra augment slot. The stats on that will be better than something you get now that isn't mastercrafted simply because it gets an extra slot.

 

On a side note if you want to match... you can run flashpoints and get social points. Find a social vendor in a cantina and check out their sets. Check out the pvp sets.

Can orange crafted be critted? If so those will be worth a ton.

Mod slots definitely make it hard to tell if something is an upgrade or not. I would assume that a level 40 orange with 3 slots and no stats would be better than an otherwise identical level 15 orange, but who knows? Have to get both, mod them, and see.

You can change the settings so that you can see what bonuses come from mods.

Can orange crafted be critted? If so those will be worth a ton.

I've yet to see someone have confirmation on that. So, unless someone can bring evidence with screenshots, I fear I have to say no.

I myself crafted about 20-30 of one particular orange item and had not one crafting crit. But of course my Synthweaver is still pretty low level.