had the sithwarrior.com guide. removed it to allow them to post the edited/formated versioin. Edited December 13, 2011 by lxtn

I'm very touched by the sentiment, thank you!

 

I have a proper version of this thread, previously posted on the previous incarnation of the SW:TOR forum, which just uses Assassin terminology (and another which just uses Shadow) and is properly formatted. When I get home this evening, I'll post it back up.

Edited December 13, 2011 by Alratan

Could you even attempt to format this please? You're taking up way more space than needed and making it flow like a melted tire.

Sith Assassin Darkness Tank Compendium

 

The base version of this document can always be found at SithWarrior.com, and is generally updated slightly more frequently and earlier than this document. The Jedi Shadow version can be found on the SW:TOR forum here.

 

This guide is aimed at PvE, especially end-game raiding, although some details (abilities and skill trees) may be of use to PvP as well.

 

I welcome any and all comments, criticism and discussion - especially on the formatting, as that's not my forté.

 

Table of Contents

[i. Skill Trees, Abilities and Rotation]

[i.a. Force and Focus]

[i.b. Skill Tree]

[i.c. Abilities]

[i.c.i. Tanking Abilities]

[i.c.ii. Situational Abilities]

[i.c.iii. Non-tanking Abilities]

[i.d. Ability Priority Order and Rotation]

[iI. Stats, Gear, Consumables and Crew Skills]

[iI.a. Stats]

[iI.b. Gear]

[iI.c. Consumables]

[iI.d Crew skills]

[App. Credits]

 

Sith Assassins rely on a mix of self-buffs, self-heals, melee attacks and short-range force effects to tank, and wield a Double-Bladed Lightsaber, and are primarily inspired by Darth Maul from Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace.

 

I. Skill Trees, Abilities and Rotation

 

a) Force and Focus

 

Whilst Assassins will use the Force, they do not use it as a resource in the same ways as Jedi Sorcerers. Assassins use the Force in the form of Focus as their general resource, which functions very much like a WoW Rogue's energy: Assassins will always have 100 maximum Focus (or 110 with Blood of the Sith) and will regenerate at a flat rate which cannot be improved by gear (but can be by up to 30% from One with the Force).

 

The base rate of Force regeneration for Sith Inquisitors is 8/s. This means that a Darkness Assassin will typically regenerate at 10.4/s, with the +30% from One with the Force. This compares to 10 Energy per Second for WoW Rogues. For ease of calculation, this is 15.6 Focus every GCD. Additionally, every avoidance or shield will regenerate 2 force. With a base shield chance approaching 50% and avoidance of 16%, we can expect to regain at least 1 GCD's worth of force every minute assuming 1 attack every 2 seconds, or closer to 2 force every second if under attack from many targets.

 

b) Skill Tree

 

To my knowledge, the most up-to-date skill trees are located http://www.torhead.com/calculator/skill#601.1

 

The primary skill tree used by tanking Assassins is the Darkness tree, with some skills within the Balance tree providing valuable benefits. For PvE Raiding, which this compendium primarily covers at present, I currently recommend a 31/0/10 build. There are some caveats for this build, however, as it assumed that:

The extra health from Shroud of Darkness does not provide a noticeable benefit (see posts 107 onwards).

The damage from Dark Charge over a fight is greatly less than the damage of Thrash and Lacerate.

The difference between the extra procs gained from Swelling Shadows and the extra proc opportunities gained from Swelling Shadows lost to the proc interval is not significant to make Electric Execution superior to Swelling Shadows (see here for discussion - worth noting that as of the latest patch the increase in proc from 2%/4% to 7.5%/15% renders this an almost certainty).

 

If any of these are not true, some changes will be required. Shroud of Darkness and/or Electric Execution are the best bets for alternatives.

 

Another build worth considering is a more hybrid build, 23/0/18. The trade-offs are:

31/0/10

Wither (+30% damage)

Force Lightning +75% damage + self-heal

15% damage to Discharge

+3% damage to Dark Charge

23/0/18

Death Field (-50% cost)

Free, instant Crushing Darkness on melee crit

+50% crit damage on Thrash

Instant activation for Whirlwind and 2 second stun on early break

 

Without more firm figures on damage/threat out-puts, we can tell by eye that 31/0/10 has more survivability than 23/0/18 against a single strong target (due to Wither, and to an extent due to Force Lightning), but less against large amounts of trash (due to the drain from Death Field).

 

The 23/0/18 build front-loads the threat far more, with Death Field dealing a larger amount of threat than a single Wither, and without needing to wait for several charges for Force Lightning. However, threat against single-targets likewise is far less due to the lack of Force Lightning.

 

The 23/0/18 build also has utility due to instant activation and stunning Whirlwind, although this is obviously of little use against bosses.

 

From all this, it seems fair to say that the 23/0/18 build is most likely superior in Flashpoints and add-tanking (especially for picking them up), whilst 31/0/10 pulls ahead on single-targets and bosses in operations. Additionally, if the -5% damage debuff from Wither does not stack from multiple Assassins, having more than one 31/0/10 is less attractive.

 

Finally, entries in the Infiltration tree should not be taken for reasons described in the Stealth ability, below, and additional selections in Balance under the ability descriptions of other abilities, below.

 

c) Abilities

 

Below is a list of all Assassins abilities which will see frequent use during tanking. Those with only situational use or not used for tanking are at the end. Charges/Techniques other than Dark Charge will not be mentioned, as they are of no value whilst tanking.

 

c i.) Tanking Abilities

Spoiler

Crushing Darkness - The 2s Activation time renders it a liability when tanking for any purpose other than pulling if 31/0/10, but is a staple of the rotation if 23/0/18 whenever the proc is up.

Dark Charge - Techniques function a lot like a stance or weapon imbue. Dark Charge gains an extra +20% armor from Stasis, an extra 3%/6%/9% damage from Electric Execution and an extra 7.5%/15% proc chance from Swelling Shadows. Note: It is unknown exactly how Dark Charge's damage/healing scales, at this time.

Dark Ward - This means that 10 Focus and free action should always be possible at the time of the final charge expiration, so do not use abilities which would cause a GCD during the time in which the final charge is likely to expire. Note that it has a cooldown of 12s and a duration of 20s, so it need not be cast every cooldown. A Assassin should prevent any attacks from occurring whilst Dark Ward is down, which may mean that against particularly hard and rapidly hitting enemies, Dark Ward should be refreshed even when a charge is still present. This ability does not trigger the GCD.

Discharge - Dischargees are abilities which damage a target enemy, with damage and potential debuffs based on the Dark Charge used. With Darkness, it deals AoE damage and debuffs enemies for -5% hit c hance.

Deflection - Deflection provides a 50% increase to melee and ranged defence for 12s.

Force Lightning - With the recent addition of the Harnessed Darknesss skill, Force Lightning is potentially quite powerful, and it has been confirmed that it allows avoidance during the channel.

Force Pull - Naturally, this seems to be a Assassin tank's pulling ability, and will be very good for picking up adds mid-fight. May be good mid-fight with no adds depending on force per threat and if the Assassin is away from the boss for any reason.

Force Shroud - The removal of hostile effects makes this fantastic for tanking, situationally. With good timing, it might even be of used during scripted attacks.

Force Speed - Improves movement speed by 150% for 2 seconds. This is very useful for picking up adds, a teleporting boss, kiting, or the like.

Guard - Whilst the benefits of this ability are fantastic, the range requirement of 15m means that it must be used carefully in most raid situations, quite probably on a high dps melee character. This ability should always be active on someone in your party/raid, as its benefits are enormous and there is no drawback.

Lacerate - Melee AoE attack, with a chance to proc Energize. At a cost of 40 Focus, this will most likely be used only in AoE situations. It is reasonable to assume that Lacerate has a chance to proc Dark Charge's healing effect on each hit against an enemy, as long as the proc interval is not triggered.

Mass Mind Control - This ability functions as a taunt for 6s on all enemies within 15m.

Mind Control - A 6s, single-target taunt which costs a mere 5 focus. When used against players, it instead applies a 30% damage debuff to them against all players other than the Mind Controlling Assassin for the duration.

Overcharge Saber - With the T4 Darkness skill Hollow, this heals the Assassin for 10% of their total health. The 2 minute cooldown means that it should be used very carefully.

Recklessness - This is potentially very useful for rapid threat generation at the start of a fight, especially if pulling adds. It also increases the range of Force Lightning to 30 ft., making it fantastic for initial pulls. This ability does not trigger the GCD, and currently causes all 4 ticks of Force Lightning to crit.

Saber Strike - This ability is three quick, basic attacks dealing 100% weapon damage between the three, with no cooldown and no focus cost. It is the filler ability within the rotation/priority order, for when there is no force to use on a better ability.

Shock - This is a short-range ability with reasonable damage-dealing capabilities, which is massively buffed by various Assassin skills, providing -6 focus cost, 15% increase damage and threat and making it always crit.

Thrash - This ability provides two quick hits from the melee weapon, with bonus damage. Additionally, the cost is reduced by the T2 Balance skill Psychokinesis, and its role when combined with Energize makes it invaluable.

Wither - This ability provides high threat, both single- or multi-target, also providing an outgoing damage debuff on targets. Wither should be cast every 15 seconds at minimum, as well as at the beginning of any fight, in order to ensure maximum uptime of the outgoing damage debuff.

 

 

c ii.) Situational Abilities

Spoiler

Assassinate - This requires the target to have 30% or less health, which renders it only useful in such events. Whether this is effective in terms of threat per second remains to be seen.

Electrocute - A CC ability with potential use in emergencies or add-pulls, but with limited use in a tanking rotation unless Nerve Wracking is viable.

Force Slow - Whilst potentially useful for slowing trash/adds, this is unlikely to be of much help against a boss.

Jolt - Whilst useful for interrupting boss abilities with an activation time (if present), it's not part of the normal tanking rotation.

Overload - This ability may have some merit if overwhelmed, but will not be part of a standard rotation due to it pushing targets away, rendering further threat generation slowed.

Spike - This skill has little tanking-specific merit, but it may be useful to provide temporary CC against a melee opponent, such as to reduce incoming damage. This skill will be re-evaluated if Nerve Wracking affects bosses. If Nerve Wracking is taken for whatever reason, it may be of great use when attempting to burn down high-health adds more quickly.

Unbreakable Will - As an ability which frees the Assassin from CC once every 2 minutes, this is unlikely to be useful in most boss fights, but may still come in handy from time to time.

Whirlwind - This is of little use during boss tanking, for tanking's sake, but may be useful during the pull for adds/trash, or mid-tanking for adds in some scenarios.

 

 

c iii.) Non-tanking Abilities

Spoiler

Blackout - This requires and boosts stealth, thus rendering it unsuitable for a tanking Assassin.

Channel the Force - Restoring 2% of maximum health every 3 seconds for a minute is very useful, but the lack of Companions in Operations renders it only useful against world bosses and perhaps Flashpoints.

Assassin Strike - This attack can only be made from behind, thus rendering it unsuitable for a tank.

Mind Trap - A very good CC, but being used only from stealth means that it is only useful for trash pulls, and not something used during actual tanking time.

Sacrifice - Whilst a very nice emergency ability, the lack of Companions in Operations renders it only useful against world bosses and perhaps Flashpoints.

Stealth - Unlike in other games, stealthed players are very easy to spot by bosses, even from behind. Stealth will have almost no value in boss situations for a tank.

 

 

d) Ability Priority Order and Rotation

 

Due to the low total Focus amount, the Assassin rotation is based on a hierarchy of abilities which are off cooldown, have Focus available for its use and are required (see ability descriptions, above). It is assumed that Dark Charge will be kept up permanently. The only reason to drop Dark Charge will be to deliberately lose threat temporarily, such as during a tank swap, due to the threat boost of Dark Charge.

 

In order to keep proper (de)buffs up, Dark Ward should be used every 20 seconds or when there is only 1 charge left, Discharge every 18 seconds and Wither every 15 seconds, at minimum. This is reflected in the priority orders, below. When opening, please note that Dark Ward should probably be used before a pull, and Force Pull or another ability then used to make the pull itself. Depending on the force cost and threat of Force Pull, it may be worth adding to the standard single target rotation if no adds are imminent.

 

If there is not enough Force to use an ability in the below priority orders at any point, use a Saber Strike (or Force Lightning if there are 3 charges) in order to regenerate rather than moving to the next step. Care should also be taken that there will be available Force ready for steps 1-3, so that (de-)buffs are always up.

 

Single target priority order (31/0/10):

1. Dark Ward iff <2 charges of left, or <1.5s left on duration

2. Wither iff 5% damage debuff is not applied to target

3. Discharge iff 5% accuracy debuff is not applied to target

4. Force Lightning iff 3 charges up && < 98 Focus

5. Wither

6. Shock

7. Thrash

Single target priority order (23/0/18):

1. Dark Ward iff <2 charges of left, or <1.5s left on duration

2. Discharge iff 5% accuracy debuff is not applied to target

3. Force Lightning iff 3 charges up && < 98 Focus

4. Shock iff Energize is up

5. Crushing Darkness

6. Thrash

Remember that both Wither and Discharge have AoE components, so should be skipped if that would be problematic (e.g. breaking CC). If survivability is not a concern, steps 1-3 may be skipped if 31/0/10 and steps 1-2 if 23/0/18.

 

Multi-target:

1. Dark Ward iff <2 charges of left, or <1.5s left on duration

2. Wither iff 5% damage debuff is not applied to target

3. Discharge iff 5% accuracy debuff is not applied to target

4. Wither

5. Discharge

6. Lacerate

If 23/0/18 is taken, skip step 2 and replace step 4 with Death Field. If survivability is not a concern, skip steps 1-2.

 

Shock and Force Lightning are not present in the multi-target rotation, as they only affects one target, but they may be added after step 3 if they would deal more overall threat due to low number of nearby targets. It may also be used with that priority if there is one main target to focus on with several adds. If survivability is not a concern, steps 1-3 may be skipped.

 

In addition to the above, Overcharge Saber should be used whenever the healing boost is needed, as should the other survivability/utility buffs such as Deflection, Force Shroud, Force Speed, and the taunts, Mind Control and Mass Mind Control. All of the skills in this paragraph are off the GCD.

 

Finally, as Recklessness does not incur GCD and has no focus cost, it should probably be used whenever it is off cooldown, unless there is a specific reason to save it (e.g. aggro wipe, adds). At present, Overcharge Saber can cause all 4 ticks of Force Lightning to crit.

 

II. Stats, Gear, Consumables and Crew Skills

 

a) Stats

 

The base stats of interest are Endurance, Strength and Willpower. I ignore Aim, Cunning and Presence as they are of no use to a raiding Assassin.

Endurance improves health, and is an auxiliary stat for Sith Inquisitors, increasing by 3.5 Endurance per level on average. Every point provides 10 health points, and every 5 points provides 1% health regeneration.

Strength improves melee attacks, and is an inferior stat for Sith Inquisitors, increasing by 0.9 Strength per level on average.

Willpower improve force attacks, and is the dominant stat for Sith Inquisitors, increasing by 4 Willpower per level.

 

It is unclear if a Sith Assassin will gain any benefit from bonus healing from Willpower to abilities such as Overcharge Saber and Dark Charge.

 

Further stats of interest are Absorption, Accuracy, Alacrity, Armor, Critical Chance, Defense, Shield and Surge. (Note: Armor Rating is an indication of the relative worth of an item, analogous to the item level/ilvl, not the amount of armor provided by the item.)

 

Note that the effectiveness of stats reduces as more of the stat is gained, so the relative weighting of stats changes depending on how much you currently have.

Absorption increases the % of damage improved by a successfully shielded/blocked attack, and is analogous to block value in World of WarCraft.

Accuracy is improved by Accuracy Rating, and determines the chance for our melee and force abilities to hit the enemy. After a certain breakpoint (when 100% hit is achieved), it instead reduces the likelihood of deflection and resists. If we do not have perfect Accuracy (which seems likely), then Accuracy Rating will be the most valuable stat on gear until we reach the breakpoint, as it reduces the possibility for our threat-generating attacks to have no effect due to not hitting the enemy.

Alacrity is analogous to Haste in World of WarCraft, reducing activation and channeling times. This stat will be of no value to us unless it also reduces the Global Cooldown (GCD), as all of our effects are instants. As the other effects have been stated explicitly and GCD reduction has not been, I have assumed that it does not do this (at present), although this will hopefully change. More information regarding Alacrity is not yet available.

Armor is a valuable stat, providing Kinetic and Energy damage reduction. Generally speaking, we will not need to focus on this, and will acquire it naturally by improving our gear. Due to Dark Charge, even small bonuses from Armor on gear will provide very large bonuses in the final Armor value Assassins have. Consequently, items with Armor which are not traditionally armor pieces, such as modifications, will be of greater benefit for Assassins than they will be for Juggernauts or Powertechs. Note that like Sorcerers, Sith Assassins wear Light Armor. They do not wear Medium Armor, despite some claims.

Critical Chance is the chance to score a critical strike, which improves the damage/healing of an ability by 50%, and is improved by Critical Rating and the dominant stat. Critical Chance is less useful for us than it might be for some other classes, as we have no abilities/buffs which depend on criticals for their activation, and thus Critical Chance merely provides a small amount of threat.

Defense increases our chance to parry/deflect melee/ranged attacks, and is analogous to parry in World of WarCraft and similar games.

Power increases damage dealt by the relevant prefix - Attack, Force or Tech. As we use a mixture of melee and force attacks, specific Power stats are of little use, but generic stats may be useful.

Shield increases our chance to shield/block attacks, and is analogous to block chance in World of WarCraft.

Surge increases the magnitude of critical effects, improving their extra damage/healing beyond +50%. Given that we are guaranteed crits for all uses of Shock, a high Surge rating is valuable for threat.

 

Our stat priority from gear is most likely along the following lines when it comes to threat, not taking relative item weighting/value and coefficients into account, nor the possible weighting of Accuracy Rating past the breakpoint:

 

Accuracy (until breakpoint) > Willpower > Power > Surge Rating > Critical Rating > Force Power > Attack Power > Strength

 

For survivability, the deliberately poor scaling of stat stacking makes this difficult to determine with absolute certainity without further experimentation. We can establish, however, that Armor from modifications is of great use for Assassins due to the large +% gained from Dark Charge, Assassins having the lowest base DR of all tanks, and DR/armor providing superior damage smoothing (as established in other MMOs). Sadly, Armor no longer seems present on items as additional buffs.

 

Finally, Shield is also of great use for this purpose, as shielding as many attacks a possible will provide the smoothest incoming damage, as well as capitalising on the Assassin's already high base shield chance. As all tanking gear comes with large amounts of Endurance by default, this suggests a rough stat priority order of the following until diminishing returns prevent it being viable:

 

Shield > Defense > Absorption

 

b) Gear

 

Reserved for endgame gear lists. The stats weightings above are a guidance on what to look for in gear. This list is deliberately left slim at present due to the lack of reliable, non-travial information regarding gear at present.

 

Modifications

The useful Harnesses will be Force Wielder harnesses, such as:

Mastercraft Force Wielder Armoring 25 - +61 Endurance, +57 Willpower

 

The useful Augments/Modulators will be Absorb, Fortitude, Redoubt or Shield for survivability, and Accuracy and Resolve for threat. Examples are:

 

Advanced Absorb Augment 25 - +34 Absorption

Advanced Fortitude Augment 25 - +34 Endurance

Advanced Redoubt Augment 25 - +34 Defense

Advanced Shield Augment 25 - +34 Shield

Advanced Accuracy Augment 25 - +34 Accuracy

Advanced Resolve Augment 25 - +34 Willpower

 

The useful Power Crystals will be Indestructible crystals, such as:

Advanced Purple Indestructible Crystal - +41 Endurance

 

The useful Lightsaber Hilts will be Endurance and Force Wielder hilts, such as:

Mastercraft Force Wielder Hilt 25 - +61 Endurance, +57 Willpower

Mastercraft Resolve Hilt 25 - +49 Endurance, +68 Willpower

 

The useful Overlays will be Aptitude, Reinforced and Robust. Examples are:

Mastercraft Aptitude Mod 25 - +32 Endurance, +53 Willpower, +41 Power

Mastercraft Reinforced Mod 25 - +32 Endurance, +53 Willpower, +41 Defense

Mastercraft Robust Mod 25 - +32 Endurance, +53 Willpower, +41 Absorption

 

There are a lot of Supports which may be useful, with Endurance and varying amounts of Absorb, Accuracy, Defence, Shield and Willpower. List:

Astute, Bastion, Bulwark, Cognizant, Immunity, Intuition, Kinetic, Lucid, Protection, Steadfast, Sturdiness and Vigilant.

 

c) Consumables

 

The consumables function similarly to other MMORPGs. There are Adrenals, which provide 15s buffs with a 180s cooldown), Stimulants, which provide a 120 minute buff and Medpacks, which restore health over 15s with a cooldown of 90s. Below are the suggested items for use by Assassin tanks.

 

The following 3 Rakata items are Bind on Pickup, meaning that you must be a Biochemist to use them:

Rakata Absorb Adrenal - Increases Armor by 1725 for 15 seconds. (Cooldown: 3 minutes)

Rakata Fortitude Stim - Increases Endurance by 136 and Defense by 56 for 120 minutes. Only one stimpack can be active at a time. This effect persists through defeat.

Rakata Medpack - Restores 5050 to 6175 health and an additional 2245 health over 15 seconds. (Cooldown: 90s)

 

These items are usable by anyone:

Exotech Absorb Adrenal - Increases Armor by 1675 for 15 seconds. (Cooldown: 3 minutes)

Exotech Fortitude Stim - Increases Endurance by 128 and Defense by 52 for 120 minutes. Only one stimpack can be active at a time. This effect persists through defeat.

Exotech Medpac - Restores 4875 to 5950 health and an additional 2165 health over 15 seconds. (Cooldown: 90s)

 

d) Crew Skills

Bear in mind that at present, there is a confusing mess of Bind on Equip and Bind on Pickup items amongst craftables, so it is not clear which ones are specific to those who made it or can be given to anyone.

 

The the most useful Crew Skills known would immediately seem to be Archaeology and either Artifice or Synthweaving. As only one crafting profession may be chosen, the decision between Artifice and Sythweaving will be heavily influenced by the end-game suitability of these crafting skills.

 

If Artifice is chosen, Treasure Hunting provides high-end craft materials, with Underworld Trading being beneficial for Synthweaving.

 

The unique items for Artifce are the Rakata versions below, compared to the non-exclusive Columni versions below them:

 

Rakata Relic of the Shrouded Crusader - Use: Increases Shield Rating and Absorb Rating by 235 for 20 seconds.

Rakata Relic of Imperiling Serenity - Use: Increases Defense Rating by 380 for 20 seconds.

Columi Relic of the Shrouded Crusader - Use: Increases Shield Rating and Absorb Rating by 220 for 20 seconds.

Columi Relic of Imperiling Serenity - Use: Increases Defense Rating by 355 for 20 seconds.

 

The unique items for Synthweaving are more difficult to establish at this time.

 

Alternatively, Bioanalysis and Biochem will be useful for those wishing access to the more powerful adrenals, stims and medpacks, with Diplomacy functioning to gain high-end craft materials.

 

Finally, Cybertech may allow access to specific mods.

There you get the whole game, as a TANKASIN, in one post, VIOLA!

 

section.

 

Index

XA. Introduction

XB. Classification of Crew Skills

XC. Crew Skills In-depth

XD. How they work together

XE. Crew Skills bonus usage

XF. Companion Crew Skill Bonuses

 

XA. Introduction

 

SWTOR's crafting system names the crafting skills "Crew Skills". You may have a maximum number of three skills with one caveat, only one can be a crafting skill. You progress through crafting by sending your companion(s) to create the items while you continue doing what you want.

 

Crew Skills are classified into three different categories: Mission, Crafting, or Gathering. Crafting and Gathering are self-evident. Mission skills seem to be somewhat like the "Dispatch" mechanic in GBA Final Fantasy Tactics games. You can send your companions on missions and you'll receive *something* based on the success or failure of such ventures, completely out of your control.

 

When you send a companion out to complete a task that companion is unable to be used until it is complete. Sending companions out do complete Mission or Gathering tasks costs credits. There is no way to avoid this credit fee for Mission tasks, but you can gather while you are questing (for free!).

 

For informational purposes, and in case you can't use the link due to firewall, here are the professions and a short description from SW:TOR Crew Skills

 

XB. Classification of Crew Skills

 

Gathering:

¦Archeology – The ability to seek out imbued items like Lightsaber crystals and ancient artifacts.

¦Bioanalysis – The practice of collecting genetic material from creatures and plants.

¦Scavenging – The art of recovering useful materials and parts from old or damaged technology.

¦Slicing – A skill in accessing secured computer systems and lockboxes to acquire valuable data and rare schematics.

 

Crafting:

¦Armormech – The ability to work with hard metals and electronic shielding to construct all types of personal armor.

¦Armstech – The skill of constructing blasters, blaster rifles and upgrades.

¦Artifice – The delicate work of constructing Jedi and Sith artifacts.

¦Biochem – The engineering of performance-enhancing chemical serums and biological implants.

¦Cybertech – The technical expertise to construct gadgets and components for Droids and high-tech armors.

¦Synthweaving – The art of creating lighter outfits and armors that are imbued with supernatural qualities.

 

Mission:

¦Diplomacy – The art of conducting and managing negotiations.

¦Investigation – The skill of examining evidence and following clues to discover valuable secrets.

¦Treasure Hunting – The ability to track down and recover valuable items by investigating a series of clues.

¦Underworld Trading – Expertise in the trading of illegal goods and services.

 

XC. Crew Skills In-depth

 

Below is what each Crew Skill brings to the table. Each crafting skill is able to make general mods in addition to their own special ones.

 

¦Archaeology: Color crystals and artifact fragments.

¦Armormech: You can create medium and heavy armor, as well as armor mods. This is better for non-force classes.

¦Armstech: You can create weapons of all types and weapon mods.

¦Artifice: You can create color crystals for weapons, generators, shields, lightsabers, as well as hilt mods.

¦Bioanalysis: Biochemical samples.

¦Biochem: You can create stims of various types (potions, flasks, and elixers for lack of a better term), adrenals, med packs, reusable stims, as well as augmentation mods.

¦Cybertech: You can create parts for droid companions, transport beacons, earpieces, grenades, relics, ship parts, and utility mods.

¦Diplomacy: Medical supplies and lightside/darkside points.

¦Investigation: Research compounds, and you can find schematics for (all?) other crafting Crew Skills.

¦Scavenging: Scavenged compounds and metals.

¦Slicing: Lockboxes, augmentations, and you can find extra schematics for Cybertech. You can also open lockboxes.

¦Synthweaving: You can create light, medium, and heavy armor as well as armor mods. This is better for force classes.

¦Treasure Hunting: You can find gemstones, lockboxes, and companion gifts.

¦Underworld Trading: Underworld metals, luxury fabrics, as well as being able to discover schematics for custom (orange quality) armor. Custom armor is fully moddable.

 

XD. How they work together

 

This is the best combination of Crew Skills in order to avoid using the Galactic Trade Network.

 

¦ Synthweaving: Archaeology + Underworld Trading

¦ Armormech: Scavenging + Underworld Trading

¦ Armstech: Scavenging + Investigation

¦ Cybertech: Scavenging + Underworld Trading

¦ Biochem: Bioanalysis + Diplomacy

¦ Artifice: Archaeology + Treasure Hunting

 

It has been discussed that Slicing may be worth picking up over a gathering skill, as it apparently makes enough credits to overcome using the GTN. I havn't tried it myself, so if anyone knows comment and I'll update it.

 

XE. Crew Skills bonus usage

 

In some Flashpoints you can use your crew skill to take shortcuts through the dungeon. Here are some examples:

 

The Hammer:

¦ A Scavenger can repair the drill and create a passage straight to the first boss.

¦ A slicer can repair an elevator to go up a level and skip trash mobs.

 

Athiss:

¦ Instead of a long process to open a door, an Archaeologist can simply open the door.

 

If you guys know more examples, comment and I'll add them.

 

XF. Companion Crew Skill Bonuses

 

Republic:

Trooper:

Tanno Vik: +5 Armormech crit, +1 Underworld Trading crit

Aric Jorgan: +10 Armstech, +2 Diplomacy Crit

Elara Dorne: +10 Bioanalysis, +10 Biochem

M1-X4: +5 Scavenging crit, +5 Cybertech

Yuun: +10 Slicing, +10 Investigation

 

Smuggler:

Bowdaar: +10 Scavenging, +10 Cybertech

Corse Riggs: +5 Armstech crit, +5 Underworld Trading

Risha: +1 Slicing crit, +15 Diplomacy

Akaavi Spar: +2 Bioanalysis crit, +10 Armormech

Guss Tuno: +10 Archaeology, +2 Treasure Hunting crit

 

Jedi Knight:

T7-01: +10 Bioanalysis, +2 Slicing crit

Kira Carsen: +5 Synthweaving, +1 Investigation crit

Doc: + 5 Biochem crit, +5 Underworld Trading

Sgt. Rusk: +10 Scavenging, +10 Armstech

Lord Scourge: +10 Archaeology, +10 Artifice

 

Jedi Consular:

Qyzen-Fess: +15 Archaeology, +5 Bioanalysis

Tharan Cedrax: +10 Slicing, +10 Cybertech

Zenith: +15 Investigation, +1 Underworld Trading Crit

Lt. Iresso: +2 Scavening crit, +2 Armstech crit

Nadia Grell: +10 Synthweaving, +2 Diplomacy crit

 

Empire:

Bounty Hunter:

Mako: +15 Slicing, + 5 Cybertech

Gault Rennow: +2 Biochem crit, +10 Underworld trading

Torian Cadera: +2 Bioanalysis crit, +10 Investigation

Blizz: +15 Armormech, +1 Armstech crit

Skadge: +10 Scavenging, +2 Treasure Hunting crit

 

Sith Warrior:

Vette: +5 Treasure Hunting crit, +5 Underworld Trading crit

Malavai Qiunn: +10 Armstech, +10 Diplomacy

Jaesa Wilsaam: +5 Archaeology, +5 Synthweaving crit

Lt. Pierce: +10 Cybertech, +2 Investigation crit

Broonmark: +2 Bioanalysis crit, +10 Scavenging

 

Sith Inquisitor:

Khem Val: +15 Artifice, +5 Investigation

Andronikos Revel: +2 Slicing crit, +2 Underworld Trading crit

Ashara Zavros: +10 Synthweaving, +10 Diplomacy

Talos Drellik: +5 Archaeology crit, +5 Treasure Hunting

Xalek: +10 Bioanalysis, +2 Scavenging crit

 

Imperial Agent:

Kaliyo D'jannis: +10 Armstech, +2 Underworld Trading crit

Scorpio: +2 Slicing crit, +10 Cybertech

Vector Hyllus: +5 Bioanalysis, +5 Diplomacy crit

Dr. Lokin: +15 Biochem, +10 Investigation

En. Temple: +10 Scavenging, +2 Armormech crit

 

If you know the bonuses for HK, let me know and I'll add them.

 

If you see any mistakes I made, let me know. I'll keep this thread updated as I go along.

This is now properly put back on the forum here. I have an update regarding priority orders planned this weekend, but whether I manage that depends on how much I am sucked in.