What's the quickest way to reach Dark V alignment?

As with most things im gonna guess at running flashpoints.

 

Be safe

technically it's diplomacy crew skill, but any crew skill mission is a close second... after that it's whatever triggers the most cut scenes with alignment options.

I am going to combine the first 2 answers and add some mind-numbing detail. So grab some coffee

 

The fastest way to Dark V is to take the Diplomacy crew skill, make sure you have selected "Commit to the Dark Side of the Force" (there is a Dark/Light UI panel specifically for this, with just those two buttons on it), and also make sure that you have at least 2 (6 would be perfect) companions.

 

Send all but 1 of your companions off on the highest level Diplomacy missions you can get.

 

With the remaining companion, run through the Black Talon (if you are Imp side) or Esseles (pub side) flashpoints and select the Dark side options for an extra 200-300 Dark points per run. If you speed-run the FPs, you can get through them in 15-20 minutes, and while you will earn more from running Diplomacy missions the FPs can definitely rack up the numbers.

 

Note that running missions with companions whose Influence level is higher will not affect the Dark side points gain for the mission, and afaik (someone please correct me if I am wrong) you will still get the Dark points if the mission fails. But higher Influence companions finish the missions more quickly, at Influence level 50 (the Influence cap), your companion will run the mission with a 75% time bonus, so they return from missions in 25% of the time that an Influence lvl 1 companion will take.

 

As you run the Diplomacy missions, your Diplomacy level will increase, unlocking higher level Diplomacy missions. As soon as the higher level is unlocked, check the Dark gains on the Moderate level missions for that higher level and run those if you get more Dark points per minute, based on the mission length of Moderate missions at the higher level versus Rich missions at the lower level.

 

If you run the Black Talon/Esseles FPs with the first companion your character gets at the end of the starter planet, then you can raise their Influence level quite quickly by taking the conversation choices in those FPs that the companion likes, and you can both raise their Influence level (which also makes them a more powerful companion in a fight) and grind Dark points at the same time. Running the FPs will also give you a handful of level-appropriate prototype gear pieces and help with leveling.

The only(?) drawback with this is the boredom that comes from running the same content over and over again to grind Influence and Dark points.

 

For other companions after the first one (and it works for the first one too, if credits are not a problem), buying the types of tier 1 or 2 (and for higher Influence levels, the tier 5's) Companion gifts that the companions love from the Companion Gift vendors on the fleet will bump your companions to high Influence levels, and make the Diplomacy grind MUCH quicker.

 

Dulfy has a great Companion Gift guide, so if you Google "Dulfy companion gift guide" you will get the details of exactly what gifts to buy for what companions.

 

With the remaining companion, run through the Black Talon (if you are Imp side) or Esseles (pub side) flashpoints and select the Dark side options for an extra 200-300 Dark points per run. If you speed-run the FPs, you can get through them in 15-20 minutes, and while you will earn more from running Diplomacy missions the FPs can definitely rack up the numbers.

 

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Just to add, if you are a stealther, you can miss most mobs, and complete faster, but still get the same DS/LS points.

Just to add, if you are a stealther, you can miss most mobs, and complete faster, but still get the same DS/LS points.

Actually, no, you won't get the same DS/LS points.

 

You get Alignment Toggle (this thing: https://i.imgur.com/aMQdyc6.jpg ) points for conversations, for character-missions completed, for crew-missions completed (with a bonus for critical success *and* for right-theme Diplomacy(1), or a penalty for wrong-theme Diplomacy(1)), and also for killing foes of any weight. (Yes, you can rank up to Light V by murdering refugees.)

 

In the long run, the points from mission-completion (of any type) and foe-killing will far outweigh anything you can achieve by completing conversations.

 

(1) Diplomacy missions all have a theme that gives light or dark points depending on the mission. Before 5.0, Diplomacy was the only crew skill that gave alignment points of either type, but Diplomacy missions *still* give those old-style points. The themes are light if they are altruistic and involve rescuing people, helping them and so on, or dark if they involve lying, cheating and/or stealing. Unfortunately, it's not very reliable as a means of distinguishing them, but...

 

Point the mouse cursor at the alignment symbol on any crew skill mission, and you'll get a tooltip that shows how many points you'll get for a normal success. On an opposite-theme Diplomacy mission, it will show both alignments of points, and it means it. You will get both kinds of points, and the theme-sourced points will double on critical success.

 

EDIT: key point: in a normal mission, you get toggle-type points for completing the mission and conversation-type points for conversations, and you receive in the end the difference. Wrong-theme Diplomacy points really give you both sets of points, not the difference.

Edited April 5, 2020 by SteveTheCynic

I still gotta go with PvP being the fastest. I've never paid much attention to how much I get from crafting (doesn't hurt to have companions doing this to help either), but I know you can expect about 1k per warzone. I hit dark/light V very quickly. Although I do craft on all toons so that might be speeding things up too.

Actually, no, you won't get the same DS/LS points.

 

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I mean, when you run the BT mission, you get the same DS/LS points, as they come from the two choices, so skipping the mobs in stealth won't matter.....lol, Sorry, I should have been clearer, sounded clear in my head..lol

Edited April 5, 2020 by DarkestMicheal

I still gotta go with PvP being the fastest. I've never paid much attention to how much I get from crafting (doesn't hurt to have companions doing this to help either), but I know you can expect about 1k per warzone. I hit dark/light V very quickly. Although I do craft on all toons so that might be speeding things up too.

You don't get any dark/light points from crafting, but you do get them from crew skill missions (sending companions out to gather stuff by doing missions, although some of those mlssions sound more interesting than some of the proper character missions, frankly, and I'd quite like to go along).