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Three for one?


Rhyzen_

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****SPOILER ALERT***

Hello,

 

I have finished my starting planet as a Sith Marauder and upon looking into crew skills it appears that the game is designed to promote playing other classes. One case is it seems advantageous to use skills that your crew posses aptitude in.

 

Thus, I plan to use the Sith warrior, inquisitor and imperial agent to get the "best of three worlds.' Lieutenant Pierce for cybertech, Khem Val for Artifice, and Doctor Lokin for Biochem. I got a lot of good info from both this board and the one on gamefaqs. plokolplok is the one that gave the most clear cut answers in this thread: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=526671

 

Is using three characters for the crew skills sound?

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited by Rhyzen_
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What exactly do you mean? You can choose any crew skill you like for any char you have.

 

If you have a marauder, he or she can choose all 6 crafting skills or any gathering skill. Free choice. :)

 

Nevertheless, of course are 3 chars with 3 x 3 crew skills better than 1 char with 1 x 3 skills. ;)

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I guess the OP means using the companions that have the best bonuses for a given crew skill. This is a good idea - but you're basing your skill & companion choice according to the efficiency bonus. This makes the companions take less time in crafting, which is nice. But in my opinion, it's better to look for companions that have a critical bonus. As you know, a critical "hit" while crafting an item will make it augmented if it is wearable (like Cybertech earpieces, Artifice lightsabers or Biochem implants), and will make two of them otherwise (armorings, hilts or stims). This is huge, particularly when making items that have a high price tag from expensive materials. You get little or no profit from the materials vs. end price difference, but if you get an additional item from a critical success, whatever you sell it for is pure profit.

 

Unfortunately there are no companions with an Artifice critical bonus - except for HK-51, who has a +1 crit to any crafting skill. I don't know off the top of my head which comps have crit bonus for Cybertech or Biochem, but you can check this fantastic post: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=132015

 

Also, if you have a high enough legacy level (10-12 I think), you can buy a sensor for the ship droid that gives him +5 crit to Cybertech, which instantly converts him from annoying to awesome :D

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I guess the OP means using the companions that have the best bonuses for a given crew skill. This is a good idea - but you're basing your skill & companion choice according to the efficiency bonus. This makes the companions take less time in crafting, which is nice. But in my opinion, it's better to look for companions that have a critical bonus. As you know, a critical "hit" while crafting an item will make it augmented if it is wearable (like Cybertech earpieces, Artifice lightsabers or Biochem implants), and will make two of them otherwise (armorings, hilts or stims). This is huge, particularly when making items that have a high price tag from expensive materials. You get little or no profit from the materials vs. end price difference, but if you get an additional item from a critical success, whatever you sell it for is pure profit.

 

Unfortunately there are no companions with an Artifice critical bonus - except for HK-51, who has a +1 crit to any crafting skill. I don't know off the top of my head which comps have crit bonus for Cybertech or Biochem, but you can check this fantastic post: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=132015

 

Also, if you have a high enough legacy level (10-12 I think), you can buy a sensor for the ship droid that gives him +5 crit to Cybertech, which instantly converts him from annoying to awesome :D

 

Thanks for all the info and yes, my question was is it a good idea to use characters with the highest crew skill bonuses as they should preform better?

 

Obviously I will needs to give them gifts and have high influence to reap the greatest benefits. It seems that crit skills are more hit and miss though right as in no guarantee? When looking at guides no clear path gives what *I would want so I think I will stick to my plan for now and see how it goes.

 

Getting to level 10-12 on legacy sounds like a lot of playthroughs, hopefully I can get there before I finish all three. It does seem that certain skills are more effective once one reaches level 50 such as Biiochem from the guides I have read.Thanks again.

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I think I reached Legacy level 10 before getting my first character to 50... I have one 55 and 3 other 50s now so it's been a long time. ;) But I'm fairly sure the first few levels of Legacy are easily reachable.

 

Yes, higher crit chance means higher probability of achieving a critical success, but there's no guarantee when the dreaded RNG is involved. Efficiency on the other hand is a surefire improvement - crafting time will always be shorter. Actually, shorter crafting time = more items crafted in the same amount of time = more chances of getting a crit, so if you craft a lot of items, both values are more or less equivalent.

 

Companion affection improves both craft/mission time and crit chance, so it is very important if you are serious about crafting.

 

Good luck and happy crafting!

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Yes, higher crit chance means higher probability of achieving a critical success, but there's no guarantee when the dreaded RNG is involved. Efficiency on the other hand is a surefire improvement - crafting time will always be shorter. Actually, shorter crafting time = more items crafted in the same amount of time = more chances of getting a crit, so if you craft a lot of items, both values are more or less equivalent.

On the other hand, when crafting item modifications or stims, more crits = more items crafted for the same materials. That's pretty significant when you craft endgame items with materials for one item costing a million credits. Time is much less of a problem, since you can send your companions to craft when you go to bed or work. Similarly for getting materials from missions, where the limiting factor is usually the availability and/or price of mission discoveries.

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shorter crafting time = more items crafted in the same amount of time = more chances of getting a crit, so if you craft a lot of items, both values are more or less equivalent.

 

a couple of points,

1: crafting some purple items takes >45mins each (blues take ~20mins)

2: artifact materials are, usually, rather expensive to buy on the GTN for most crafting skills, especially the Grade 9 materials. there quickly comes a point where it would have been cheaper to just craft one item and buy the augment slot kit from the GTN rather than crafting multiple items in the hope of a critical.

 

critical success bonuses have a much bigger payoff in both the short and long term, although you're at the mercy of the RNG lords.

 

back to the OP, yes, IMHO, it IS worth choosing crewskills for your 'toons based on their companion critical bonuses and structure your legacy accordingly.

 

myself, for example, have a BioChem Juggernaught with Slicing and Bioanalysis (+2crit) gathering skills. Diplomacy (needed for biochem) is on my Agent (+5crit) who also has Slicing and Cybertech (+5 crit coming from droid sensor). The Scavenging and Underworld trading (+1 crit) needed for Cybertech are on my Shadow along with yet more Slicing.

Edited by dancezwithnubz
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Choose your crew skills based on companion CRIT BONUSES, not EFFICIENCY BONUSES. Efficiency is a joke because, as has been said before, time is irrelevant. Crit bonuses, however, can make a huge difference at endgame.

 

If I pay $100k for materials for, say, a level 53 barrel and craft it, would I rather have a higher chance of getting two? Or have it take 5 minutes less time? Obviously, only you can answer this question, but I know what my answer is...

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