The two lowest level Ops you can join are Eternity Vault and Karaggas Palace. Those are story Mode Ops and you can queue for that once you hit 50 but it is suggested you get at least Columi gear to start those. You can queue for them in Group Finder. They are the two at the top. Once you have completed one you are locked out for a week.

For the Hard Mode/Nightmare Mode Operations you have to join or create an Ops group who is willing to run one of those Ops. Usually done with friends or guild members if you're in a guild. Gear requirement for HM/NiM Ops is generally Black Hole or Dread Guard gear.

HM and NiM Ops include Eternity Vault (EV), Karaggas Palace (KP), Explosive Conflicts (EC) and I think there is one more for Dread Guard which I haven't done yet.

For the two lowest-level operations, the story mode versions of Eternity Vault (EV) and Karagga's Palace (KP), you can (technically) use group finder, the same way you do for flashpoints. Pops for those are very, very rare, however.

For all higher level operations - EV and KP hard mode and nightmare mode; Explosive Conflict (EC) SM, HM and NM; Terror from Beyond (TfB) SM and HM -you need to form a group manually. Usually this is done within guilds, and usually are scheduled runs.

You can also use general chat in the fleet to send LFG (looking for group) messages to try and recruit members, but people don't often like to do these in pick up groups (pugs). These are mechanics-heavy fights, and usually require a lot of group co-ordination through voice chat. They also require everyone to be on the ball. Pugging runs a high risk of getting at least one player who's incapable of handling the content, and even one player being bad or inexperienced in a higher level op is likely to cause wipes.

It should be noted that you also need a proper group composition for ops, just like in flash points. In an 8-man op, that means 2 tanks, 2 healers, 4 dps. Once you have that composition, you can head to the fleet vessel (the Gav Daragon on the Republic side or Ziost Shadow on the Imperial) from which operations are launched and just walk through the entrance to the Op.

Hi, your question is a multi part answer.

Once you hit 50 you can go on operations. Hopefully you picked up the free tionese and pv gear.

The story mode eternity vault and karagga's palace are designed for tionese/ columi gear. And you can do each once in group finder.

HM KP and EV are set for columi /rakata geared players. Once you have optimised a full set of rakata you meet the gear minimum requirements for NM KPand EV.

SM denova and astation are also set for columi gear, but most people insist on players being in optimized rakata and black hole gear to attend. After you have optimized with augments and mods a full set of black hole gear, HM denova is avilable to do. To do anything HM or NM ops you should really be in a progressive raiding guild. Most guilds will happily help you get endgame gear.

Hope that helps.

The two lowest level Ops you can join are Eternity Vault and Karaggas Palace. Those are story Mode Ops and you can queue for that once you hit 50 but it is suggested you get at least Columi gear to start those. You can queue for them in Group Finder. They are the two at the top. Once you have completed one you are locked out for a week.

Why would you get Columi gear to run an operation that drops Columi? You get a free set of Tionese gear when you hit 50, put it on, wear your pvp relics and recruit earpiece/implants, and queue for SM OP's via GF. You are more than enough geared.

Why would you get Columi gear to run an operation that drops Columi? You get a free set of Tionese gear when you hit 50, put it on, wear your pvp relics and recruit earpiece/implants, and queue for SM OP's via GF. You are more than enough geared.

I can agree with that, but remember how and where the loot drops. A fresh recruit/ tioniese equiped player can clear the SM ops. It is just easier to have some columi gear instead, not all players are on their 8th lvl 50. The OP is obviously new to the game, because if they were a veteran- this thread wouldn't exsist. A master of their class can do SM astation in recruit without getting carried. Have the fresh recruits start on EV then move to KP to get their first pve MH's. This is just flat out my opinoin, not everyone wants to be carried through a OPS.

I can agree with that, but remember how and where the loot drops. A fresh recruit/ tioniese equiped player can clear the SM ops. It is just easier to have some columi gear instead, not all players are on their 8th lvl 50. The OP is obviously new to the game, because if they were a veteran- this thread wouldn't exsist. A master of their class can do SM astation in recruit without getting carried. Have the fresh recruits start on EV then move to KP to get their first pve MH's. This is just flat out my opinoin, not everyone wants to be carried through a OPS.

I wasn't stating that they should run EC/TFB in tionese/recruit gear I was replying to someone elses post stating the should try to get Columi for SM Group Finder OPs (EV/KP). If you have full Columi they should be doing HM EV/KP. but seeing as they are fresh 50 - they can use the Group Finder and do the 2 story mode ops available to them, without having to know where they are.

Why would you get Columi gear to run an operation that drops Columi? You get a free set of Tionese gear when you hit 50, put it on, wear your pvp relics and recruit earpiece/implants, and queue for SM OP's via GF. You are more than enough geared.

Keep in mind I said "suggested". I've run TFB in a mix of BM, WH, Columi gear and did fine. But I've also been playing since early access. To not be a boon on healers and have your team carry you, ideally Columi is recommended. You notice the difference in who is dying a lot and who isn't. Especially in Pugs.

But even when you queue for SM EV and KP there is a gear recommendation. Take from it what you will.