So pre 2.4 myself (cyber) and a mate (Artifice) crafted up a set of level 66 armors/mods/enhs each and are now ready to hit the HM55's and weeklies etc etc to start collecting comms to get the next tier of gear. Now that 2.4 is here, the ceiling for non-raid gear (from comms) just got higher (yay for us casuals!). Assuming we will be getting roughly even amounts of basic and elite comms, how should we priotise spending the elites vs the basics? Elites on weapons, head, chest?

I've read somewhere, that it can be best to just buy say the wrists or boots (choose the cheapest one with correct stats) and rips the armors/mods/enhs... is this still the case?

[note - currently in reflex armors, aim/power mods, surge ear/implants, surge enh in MH/OH, alacrity enh in head/chest/gloves/legs/boots]

So pre 2.4 myself (cyber) and a mate (Artifice) crafted up a set of level 66 armors/mods/enhs each and are now ready to hit the HM55's and weeklies etc etc to start collecting comms to get the next tier of gear. Now that 2.4 is here, the ceiling for non-raid gear (from comms) just got higher (yay for us casuals!). Assuming we will be getting roughly even amounts of basic and elite comms, how should we priotise spending the elites vs the basics? Elites on weapons, head, chest?

 

I've read somewhere, that it can be best to just buy say the wrists or boots (choose the cheapest one with correct stats) and rips the armors/mods/enhs... is this still the case?

 

[note - currently in reflex armors, aim/power mods, surge ear/implants, surge enh in MH/OH, alacrity enh in head/chest/gloves/legs/boots]

Buying belts and bracers is always a good idea because they usually have the main stat/power mod in the healing version. If you're doing operations, I would advise against buying head/chest/gloves/pants/boots with comms. They have crap enhancements, you can get their mods cheaper from belts/bracers and you can't use the armorings anyway because they don't have the set bonus.

If you have the appropriate reputation, I would say buy the main hand weapon first from the Czerka rep vendor in CZ-198 because it gives you the biggest damage boost. I think it used to be 350 Elite comms for a 69 barrel and I presume that it got upgraded to Verpine or the comms downgraded to Basic. In any case, I'd check on that first. If not, then the offhand is a good first/second choice.

Then you would want to buy the items that are the hardest to get in operations (implants/ear/relics). Because each person needs two implants/relics, they are always in high demand and you have a lower chance of winning them. Try to get power/surge versions of those or at least power/alacrity. They should give you a pretty big boost as well.

Then buy as many belts/bracers as you can afford and put the mods in your gear. If you're doing operations regularly, you should get the appropriate armorings with set bonuses from tokens. Good enhancements (e.g. Accuracy/Power; Power/Surge; Power/Alacrity) are almost non-existent on commendations gear, so your safest bet is to find a crafter and do lots of dailies to be able to afford the crafting materials.

Unfortunately, I can't give you stat optimization details because askmrrobot has not been updated yet to 2.4 and you cannot yet preview the new gear there. But I would say that you'd either want the new crit proc and the old power proc relic. Or the PvE and PvP power proc relics because currently they stack with each other. Though that is likely a bug and will be corrected at some point.

Hope this helps.

Buying belts and bracers is always a good idea because they usually have the main stat/power mod in the healing version. If you're doing operations, I would advise against buying head/chest/gloves/pants/boots with comms. They have crap enhancements...

 

... buy the main hand weapon first from the Czerka rep vendor in CZ-198...

 

...Good enhancements (e.g. Accuracy/Power; Power/Surge; Power/Alacrity) are almost non-existent on commendations gear, so your safest bet is to find a crafter and do lots of dailies to be able to afford the crafting materials.

 

Unfortunately, I can't give you stat optimization details because askmrrobot has not been updated yet to 2.4 and you cannot yet preview the new gear there. ...

 

Hope this helps.

Helps a lot, thanks. Working on Czerka rep at the moment, will looking into weapon options, and if Verpine has been downgraded. Mods from belt/bracers is easy, seems like enhancements are the issue.

Unfortunately I do not get to run regular ops due to real life commitments, so that largely rules out any armor set bonuses or the need to compete for relics/implants! In fact my time in game is limited, so I am trying to work out the most efficient way of getting into 69/72 gear that has a reasonable stat distribution. doesn't need to be BiS, just as long as it allows me to be useful in HM FP's and the occasional open raid when I can attend.

 

If you have the appropriate reputation, I would say buy the main hand weapon first from the Czerka rep vendor in CZ-198 because it gives you the biggest damage boost. I think it used to be 350 Elite comms for a 69 barrel and I presume that it got upgraded to Verpine or the comms downgraded to Basic. In any case, I'd check on that first. If not, then the offhand is a good first/second choice.

 

I checked a few days ago and those weapons weren't upraded. 350 elite comms were still giving 69 stuff. A shame. Maybe an oversight ?

Also, the warrior legs with comms have BiS power/alacrity enhancements, so that's one good choice for comms. And you get to send a BiS mod for warrior/j. kinght dps alt you have somewhere

Also, the warrior legs with comms have BiS power/alacrity enhancements,

Nice find.

The Devs have stated that the Czarka weapons are not an oversight at 350 Elite comms. Since it's the strongest main hand you can buy with comms they feel the cost is justified. I think it's a sucker's bet. Those 350 comms will buy you 3-4 L72 pieces, including your off hand. Don't buy the Czerka main hand. Save some cash, buy a barrel and build your own.

As for armor there are no set bonuses here. You are free to buy some DPS (Boltblaster) pieces as well. My suggestions would be as follows...

Head: Medtech [Crit/Alacrity]

Chest: Medtech [Crit/Surge]

Gloves: Boldblaster [Power/Surge]

Legs: Boltblaster [Power/Alacrity]*

Boots: Medtech [Power/Surge]

Belt and Bracers: Medtech [Power]

Off-hand: Medtech Pistol [Power/Alacrity]

Implants: Medtech [Power/Surge]

Ear: Medtech [Power/Alacrity]

* More Endurance than the Enhancement in the Warrior pants, but you get usable Armoring and Mods as a tradeoff.

I like having a little crit. If you do not and want to tweak the helmet and chest then you can get extra pants for Power mods and Power/Alacrity Enhancements. Boots are the cheapest way to get a Power mod with a Power/Surge enhancement if you want more of that instead. Feel free to tune things to taste.

You will have leftover bits from moving mods or buying extra pants to build a full 72 main hand. Stuff good mods and enhancements in with your 66 barrel until you can get that crafted barrel upgrade.

As for shooting for 'Best in Slot' or optimizing I honestly wouldn't sweat it too much. L72 gear is complete overkill for everything below a HM raid. A not quite perfect Alacrity Enhancement isn't going to be noticed. You will be more than geared enough for HM Flashpoints and SM Operations. Augment your gear (preferably something that looks good, the stock stuff is fugly) and you're good to go.

Lastly, be sure to pick up the quests for TFB or S&V then do a story mode Op. Each quest hands you two Mass Manipulation Generators, the most expensive part of crafting that L72 Barrel.

Yeah, 350 elite comms for 69 weapons is a definitely a crappy deal. I problably wouldn't spend those in a 72 weapon tbh. Getting a crafted weapon is easy.

350 comms should be something that's hard to get. I would spend that amount on an armoring with set bonus for example....

The Devs have stated that the Czarka weapons are not an oversight at 350 Elite comms. Since it's the strongest main hand you can buy with comms they feel the cost is justified. I think it's a sucker's bet. Those 350 comms will buy you 3-4 L72 pieces, including your off hand. Don't buy the Czerka main hand. Save some cash, buy a barrel and build your own.

 

As for armor there are no set bonuses here. You are free to buy some DPS (Boltblaster) pieces as well. My suggestions would be as follows...

 

Head: Medtech [Crit/Alacrity]

Chest: Medtech [Crit/Surge]

Gloves: Boldblaster [Power/Surge]

Legs: Boltblaster [Power/Alacrity]*

Boots: Medtech [Power/Surge]

Belt and Bracers: Medtech [Power]

Off-hand: Medtech Pistol [Power/Alacrity]

Implants: Medtech [Power/Surge]

Ear: Medtech [Power/Alacrity]

 

* More Endurance than the Enhancement in the Warrior pants, but you get usable Armoring and Mods as a tradeoff.

 

I like having a little crit. If you do not and want to tweak the helmet and chest then you can get extra pants for Power mods and Power/Alacrity Enhancements. Boots are the cheapest way to get a Power mod with a Power/Surge enhancement if you want more of that instead. Feel free to tune things to taste.

 

You will have leftover bits from moving mods or buying extra pants to build a full 72 main hand. Stuff good mods and enhancements in with your 66 barrel until you can get that crafted barrel upgrade.

 

As for shooting for 'Best in Slot' or optimizing I honestly wouldn't sweat it too much. L72 gear is complete overkill for everything below a HM raid. A not quite perfect Alacrity Enhancement isn't going to be noticed. You will be more than geared enough for HM Flashpoints and SM Operations. Augment your gear (preferably something that looks good, the stock stuff is fugly) and you're good to go.

 

Lastly, be sure to pick up the quests for TFB or S&V then do a story mode Op. Each quest hands you two Mass Manipulation Generators, the most expensive part of crafting that L72 Barrel.

Thanks heaps Boba! that is so helpful!

Agree I am not sweating on best in slot, just trying to be efficient in how I spend comms. I am working on augmenting my adaptive orange set I have, and yes I won't be using the fugly stock stuff!! I will just strip the bits out of the shells and ditch them (I don't think you need to keep the shells for any upgrade reason?). And yes, 350 comms on the Czerka weapon is not worth it. I already have +41 power crystals, so only need the barrels.

Currently in L66 gear I don't really have any crit - all mods are power, I have surge on ear/implants/weapons and alacrity on head/chest/gloves/legs/feet. I'd be looking to keep a similar balance as progress into 69/72 gear, but certainly can add one or two crit mods to round things off (I do like big numbers!)

I'll have to check prices when I am next online, but for power/surge you say boots are cheapest, so I'll get a few of them and spread those around. (e.g. I could use the armor/mod in my belt/wrists and the enh in my weapons). For Power/alacrity seems we are a bit stuck in sub-optimal distribution with the legs, but it probably doesn't really matter. Get a few of them, maybe two helms for the crit/alacrity stats and should be good. Later on when I have excess comms and don't need the armor's, I could get a few warrior pants for the better enh to balance things.

So summary, the below (in order of priority) should allow enough mods/enh to upgrade a full set of gear with a reasonable stat balance. Obtain new barrels, get augments and laugh all the way through the HM flashpoints!

- 3x boots (power/surge), then

- 3x legs (power/alcrity) , then

- 2x head (crit/alacrity)

I notice AskMrRobot lists a MK-1 and MK-2 option. Since I am at work, I can't check if both are available from the vendor, but I assume we want the MK-1 as it has the unlettered mod in it?

PS, while I would love to get a run through TFB or S&V, as mentioned my game time is limited and I'll just have too see if I can find an open raid at a convenient time, at this stage I'm not counting on them... they would be a great bonus to save credits on the mats you mentioned

In order to get a full set of gear you need to buy at least one piece of armor for each slot, even if the guts are not your ideal choice. The armoring in each piece is locked to that type of armor. You can't buy a pair of boots and use the armoring for anything except a pair of boots. As a result you will want to buy one of each armor slot first, then use extra comms to buy something for the Mod/Enhancement you prefer. Mods and Enhancements are not locked in any way. This holds true for weapons you buy with comms as well. You can't buy an off-hand pistol and use the barrel in your main hand as it's locked to off-hand weapons.

Things didn't use to have that restriction, but they do now. As a result you need to start with 'one of everything'. That will get you a full set of armor. After that you can tune as you see fit, but you'll need all the armorings for each slot so that's your first order of business.

Mk-1 vs Mk-2: The vendor only has one choice, there aren't two different Med-tech Off-hand Pistols (for example). You're stuck with whatever letter they have when it comes to comms purchases.

Ugly Shells: Nope, there is no use for them once they are empty. Vendor them for credits unless you want a companion to look silly.

...Things didn't use to have that restriction, but they do now. As a result you need to start with 'one of everything'. That will get you a full set of armor. After that you can tune as you see fit, but you'll need all the armorings for each slot so that's your first order of business...

Oh ...

I guess that makes sense, stops people like me trying to save a few comms here and there

OK, so one of each piece as you suggested originally, then play with tuning as extra comms allow.

I take it the MK-1/2 which are not sold at the vendor are obtained through random drops in HM FP's (or lower level raids). Guess you get what you get depending how things roll...

Either way, new gear is always nice.

Thanks again for all the help!

Just a quick note of thanks to those who contributed here, and on the merc healing guides. I'm now in full 72 with purple augs, have a 78 oh and enjoying the big heal numbers. A few more raids and I might even get a 4 set bonus. (also have a 69 dps set). With some good advice, it is surprisingly easy to gear up in this game.

Looking forward to the 2.6 change to multiple kolto shields.