[Artifice] At 400, not a PVPer - Best use of skill?

I don't know if this will impact answers:

1) I play the game primarily on my own. Not interested in PVP and have only grouped for one flashpoint. I may do more later, but it's not a priority.

2) Jedi Knight/Guardian, currently level 41, on Hoth.

3) My Artifice just hit 400. My support skills (Treasure Hunting and Archaeology) are both high as well (one is around 375, the other is at 340-350).

Here's my question: What is the most effective use of my Artifice at this point? I have not found my equipment to be especially lacking as I go, so I guess part of what I'm asking is what's the best stuff for me to work on now to buff up my final equipment when I reach 50th level? Also, what's the best way to make money using Artifice? (Although I don't really explore the other MMO aspects, I've dabbled a little with trading and the Galactic Market).

Should I be working on breaking down high level mods? Enhancements? (Side question: Will the same enhancements work on all pieces of equipment, from guns to heavy armor, light armor to lightsabers?) Building and selling lightsabers?

Thanks for helping me explore this aspect of the game.

Here's what I did as an Artificer:

Try to look at what enhancements and crystals and such you want to use until you can get around to crafting the high-tier "stuff" you need to buy schematics for with daily comms. For Crystals, these will have a level 47 requirement, for enhancements and hilts it'll be level 49. Then, I'd say reverse-engineer the crap out of them as much as you can. Try to learn how to make Purples, then make a few purples and throw them in storage for when you hit levels 47 and 49, respectively. It won't be the "best of the best" gear, but at least you'll have those pieces as good as you can make them in the interim.

Anything past that, I'm tempted to say hold off unless you have a ton of credits, because it'll make you broke if you try to buy every single enhancement schematic and RE them all into purples or something. Do that kind of thing on an as-needed basis.

First, craft a pair of Rakata Relics for when you hit 50. Huge boost to HP and they're on use so you can get a temporary buff out of them to improve burst in whatever you're doing.

Also, reverse engineer to learn and make Enhancements,hilts, and color crystals for when you hit certain levels.

If you want to make credits with Artifice, the real money-makers are crafting end-game enhancements whose schematics only drop in Ops or can be reverse-engineered from Black Hole gear. Other than this, Artifice really doesn't make anything that really sells well.

Other than that, check out the markets for lower level crafting mats that aren't too saturated and then just sell Archeology mats (also used for Synthweaving), or Treasure Hunting mats.

Hope this helps you out.

Three words.

Dread guard relics.

There are DOZENS of very, very lazy people who don't want to do the work it takes to get 350 daily comms. Farm the dailies yourself (and farm the mats while doing them) and buy a dread guard relic, then reverse-engineer. You might get one schem out of six, but when you get the one.. 2 mil or more per relic.

I appreciate the suggestions... I should be clear, though, that I'M one of those lazy people. When I hit level 50, I may play through each operation once or twice to get a feel for the story, but I don't really have a desire to do the same operation over and over and over again. I don't even know what Black Hole equipment is!

It seems like without repeating a ton of Operations and Flashpoints (not currently on my to-do list), my best bet is trying to reverse-engineer to purple versions of the level 22 items. Is that about the size of it?

The Rakata Relics require a Biometric Crystal Alloy. What's my easiest route to one of those? Do I need to earn it myself, or can it be bought on the GMO?

There are several issues with your plan, unfortunately.


First, the purple level 22 items are basically useless, as people can craft purple level 24, 25, 26 and 27 items at this point. Spending time and effort to get those schems isn't worth it when a single hardmode flashpoint will get you better gear than that (23 tionese, 24 columi, or their non-set-bonus equivalents).

A bio alloy drops in every single hardmode flashpoint from the end boss and usually off the bonus boss.

If you don't want to grind ops or flashpoints, you don't want to grind dailies either, so you're not going to make a ton of credits. You can buy any 26 or 27 enhancement or hilt off the GTN, equip it into your gear, remove it, and then reverse-engineer for that 20% chance, but if you don't have the credits or the mats, there's not much point.

The only thing I can see you doing, if you're (by your own words) lazy, that's worth hardly any cash at all is to get the veracity shield generator schematics and sell those for companions, but that's very much a trickle.

Question about that sort of stuff - if, for example, I'm a Cybertecher, and I buy one of those armor mods with Daily Comms, and RE it, I can learn the schematic? I just want to make sure that's what you guys are getting at, because it just seems so backwards from how you normally do it (i.e. RE a blue for a purple, etc.)

I'm currently working on learning the schematics for all the Artifice crystals for my main, but just wanted to make sure that this was "how you do it." Thanks.

Nearly every mod or armoring you can pick up from the comms vendors has no schematic, so it can't be learned.

You get to learn odd-numbered schems, such as "Guardian Armoring 11" or the like, until late in the game (appx. chapter 2+) whereas the comms vendors sell even-numbered gear (Patron Mod 12) which has no schem.

It's annoying and unfortunate, but there you go.

I got that, but I was asking mainly for the people who shout about making the Might Mod 27s and such - are they finding schematics for those, or are those drops that they're REing, or what? Purely the level 50+++ stuff that's all endgame incremental boosts - sorry if it didn't sound specific. Are they getting premade 27s, breaking them down and learning schematics somehow off that (which is the odd bit, since they're purples and you're learning purple schematics) or are they actually getting schematic drops that lets them make those?

They're getting purple schematics from R-E the purples.

Careful on armorings, however. Only unbound armorings (not bound to head/feet/etc) can be R-E for a schematic.