I've been testing on PTS and brought over with me Tau's Lightsaber off the cartel market. It was already augmented, and had a crystal off the market. I like it just like many other things off the CM.

But the gear drops I'm getting for upgraded weapons in 6.0 are non-moddable. No slots to rip stuff out of to stick in my happy little Tau's Lightsaber (ditto the augmented legacy gear I'm hauling around).

I can't use the stupid stuff because there's no mods to rip out, and crap on fleet of the level 70 mod vendor there is 220.

What am I missing here?

In five runs of veteran mode hammer station, on a tank, between the gear I earned and promptly deconstructed, I got about four drops that were actually item modifications. One was a green premium rating 270-something Warding mod (so good for me) and one lethal A (pretty useless to everyone) and two Versatile armorings (not useful for a tank). So the vast majority were unmoddable drops, 4 modifications out of the five runs. It’s possible that harder content would have more. It’s also possible that when I get higher than item rating 274 stuff I’ll start seeing more mod drops. Finally, I wonder if it’s intended at these low levels because of the change to set boni. With the set boni now being on the shells, I bet the devs think you’re not really going to be needing item modifications until you are actually in the new shells. I don’t have any set pieces in what I’ve looted so far, so I can only assume set bonus shells are only going to drop in harder content. For the record, I actually don’t expect to get a legendary set bonus shell every boss in a veteran mode flashpoint. But, I did win the loot roll on a tactical item in my fifth run last boss that is perfect for a Darkness Assassin which is what I was playing. So clearly you can get legendary items with easier content.

In other words, yeah, I think the devs intend for you to use the unmoddable stuff for a while. The only other way is to use crafted item modifications which are not really available on test right now.

I just ran PTS with a friend through Hammer Station and got a Preserver's Chestguard, 272, my current (unmoddable) chestguard was 274, so I ripped out the stuff from the chestguard and stuck in my legacy gear belt that copied over from Live. I got a few mod drops, for the first time ever, running with someone through there.

All the time I've been gettting drops, that was the first time I got mods, but I'm still walking around with a CM saber that's not fully modded to the new stuff, still have an old 244 hilt, but I"m not giving up my Tau saber even though I have two other (unmoddable) saber drops in my inventory rated higher.

We have to plow through uncountable runs of those flashpoints to make the CM weapons meaningful to use.

God knows when I'll get a hilt drop.

CM weapon use under the current system has become limited for me because grinding out weapons for each mirror Alt is a pain. So I’m only using legacy bound weapons instead. Which is sad because I’ve pages and pages of expensive CM weapons opened up.

6.0 will make this worse than it is now and will reduce people’s inclination to buy CM weapons unless Bioware plan to introduce an outfit option for weapons soon.

I just ran PTS with a friend through Hammer Station and got a Preserver's Chestguard, 272, my current (unmoddable) chestguard was 274, so I ripped out the stuff from the chestguard and stuck in my legacy gear belt that copied over from Live. I got a few mod drops, for the first time ever, running with someone through there.

 

All the time I've been gettting drops, that was the first time I got mods, but I'm still walking around with a CM saber that's not fully modded to the new stuff, still have an old 244 hilt, but I"m not giving up my Tau saber even though I have two other (unmoddable) saber drops in my inventory rated higher.

 

We have to plow through uncountable runs of those flashpoints to make the CM weapons meaningful to use.

God knows when I'll get a hilt drop.

I haven't looked at the PTS so I don't know what crafting will be like for 6.0 ... or if they've even put crafted items for 6.0 on the PTS. But maybe crafting will another avenue to get mods/hilts/etc.? It would be a step towards making crafting relevant again.

The simplest solution would be to include weapons in outfitter as Totem noted.

A less acceptable alternative, but one I would stomach, is if you are guaranteed decent mods, including hilts or barrels as appropriate, upon completion of standard quests as you progress through the main story.

Including weapons in outfitter is, of course, preferable.

Dasty

The simplest solution would be to include weapons in outfitter as Totem noted.

 

A less acceptable alternative, but one I would stomach, is if you are guaranteed decent mods, including hilts or barrels as appropriate, upon completion of standard quests as you progress through the main story.

 

Including weapons in outfitter is, of course, preferable.

 

Dasty

No, the simplest solution would be for them to make all of the new weapons modded so we can rip out those mods and use them in our CM weapons. Something they should have thought about from the beginning. They said that they have heard the requests for cosmetic weapon slots, but they've also said that it's not an easy task nor one that will be coming with 6.0. So the simplest solution is for all of the new weapons to be modded.

No, the simplest solution would be for them to make all of the new weapons modded so we can rip out those mods and use them in our CM weapons. Something they should have thought about from the beginning. They said that they have heard the requests for cosmetic weapon slots, but they've also said that it's not an easy task nor one that will be coming with 6.0. So the simplest solution is for all of the new weapons to be modded.

Well sure -- but we can play shoulda, coulda, woulda 'til the nerflings come home. I'm trying to come up with practical solutions that can be readily implemented. If what you say about Weapon Outfitter is true (and I believe you), then...

Rather than recode all the junk items they are spewing at us (which we are just going to turn into tech fragments regardless) -- just make sure the standard quest rewards, notably while leveling, are worthwhile if weapon outfitter is so hard to implement. Obviously then, it also becomes a question of mods, hilts, barrels, etc., dropping at appropriate, particularly max Ilvls, but that was always going to be the case.

Dasty

just make sure the standard quest rewards are worthwhile if weapon outfitter is so hard to implement. Obviously then, it also becomes a question of mods, hilts, barrels, etc., dropping at appropriate, particularly max Ilvls, but that was always going to be the case.

Apologies to Steve for borrowing their Hat of Cynicism, but I think we're more likely to see cosmetic weapons slots with 6.0 than to see worthwhile, appropriate drops. I'm willing to wait and see what happens with the next SoW update, and hopefully I'll be surprised. I was getting rather tired of getting nothing but tank gear (the one role I absolutely do not play) on my lit sorc.

adding amplifiers to all CM gear and weapon shells end.

You will get modifiable gear closer to 306.

6.0 will make this worse than it is now and will reduce people’s inclination to buy CM weapons unless Bioware plan to introduce an outfit option for weapons soon.

Can't remember where i saw it, but it's being looked in to, and hopefully implemented

Well sure -- but we can play shoulda, coulda, woulda 'til the nerflings come home. I'm trying to come up with practical solutions that can be readily implemented. If what you say about Weapon Outfitter is true (and I believe you), then...

 

Rather than recode all the junk items they are spewing at us (which we are just going to turn into tech fragments regardless) -- just make sure the standard quest rewards, notably while leveling, are worthwhile if weapon outfitter is so hard to implement. Obviously then, it also becomes a question of mods, hilts, barrels, etc., dropping at appropriate, particularly max Ilvls, but that was always going to be the case.

 

Dasty

Or just add a vendor that lets you convert the whole weapon that drops into a mod, enhancement and hilt/barrel/Armor that reflects the stats from the dropped weapon.

None of this silly converting to tech fragments x how many?? + 1 mill credits just to be able to use a weapon with stats you just picked up.

People will just use the weapon that’s dropped and not use their CM ones (at least I would to save credits and tech fragments).

I can’t see anyone not using the best weapon they can get because it will limit their damage output (especially on pvp) and they will need the best equiped to be able to “progress” (I say that sarcastically) to get a better one or better gear because of how the cross grade / upgrade system will work based on total gear score.

I don’t see any easy solution to fix the upcoming 6.0 changes. Anything they do now won’t be enough and we’ll still be dealing with them changing things to make the gear system better next March / April (usually major update time).

Xorde is right to say this will affect CM weapon usage (hence sales) and may even affect CM Armor usage for some who don’t play Barbie’s.

No, the simplest solution would be for them to make all of the new weapons modded so we can rip out those mods and use them in our CM weapons. Something they should have thought about from the beginning.

This.

Given how much CM gear is used by players, and the money Bioware get from that it is frankly insulting and arrogant of them to put in "new tier gear" that we can't strip Mods out of.

It is just one more example of how consistently and routinely Bioware treat us with utter contempt, and give no thought at all to the "gameplay experience".

All The Best

6.0 will make this worse than it is now and will reduce people’s inclination to buy CM weapons unless Bioware plan to introduce an outfit option for weapons soon.

So long as it's an option *like* outfit designer but for weapons only, that's fine.

Xorde is right to say this will affect CM weapon usage (hence sales) and may even affect CM Armor usage for some who don’t play Barbie’s.

Even the most dedicated anti-Barbie types can still stick their preferred CM-armour look into Outfit Tab One and ignore the issues of non-moddable gear and/or punitive mod-removal charges.

I don't get it. Even now you get drops that have fixed stats, but you also get items with removable mods. IF the drops continued to be ONLY what's on the PTS now, then maybe there'd be an issue, but I fairly sure that BW will not kill the CM market. 😊

In five veteran mode hammer station runs, I got one green premium moddable piece, rating 270, with a bugged no-stat Mod. So one shell, bugged, and four actual modifications, in maybe around 200 pieces as a rough estimate? Again, maybe with harder content or higher iLvl I’ll get more? But that’s just speculation on my part.

In five veteran mode hammer station runs, I got one green premium moddable piece, rating 270, with a bugged no-stat Mod. So one shell, bugged, and four actual modifications, in maybe around 200 pieces as a rough estimate? Again, maybe with harder content or higher iLvl I’ll get more? But that’s just speculation on my part.

Or maybe - just maybe - you could wait until the expansion actually goes live, to complain, instead of basing things on what happens on a freakin "test server".😀

I'd guess that the devs are working on actual gameplay functions rather than what drops are found in "test" FPs - but that's just a guess.

Cartel market will continue on with 6.0. The quality of textures in armors/weapons are improving. More holograms and animations are being added. People are vain and will pay for their vanity. Vanity sells.

The point wasn't for the armor slots specifically, but mainly the weapon slots.

If you spent 100 million + credits on a saber because you like how it looks/sounds you're going to want to use it.

Like the CM armor, they're moddable.

MANY of the weapon drops on PTS are not moddable, so you won't be able to advance in gearing while using your CM weapons.

Gearing, on PTS, takes your average gear score into account before you start to get drops for the next level. If your saber is "stuck" at 258 you won't get 272 / 274 / 276 anything.

You could, however, just use the 270 saber you pick up from a mob...but that defeats the purpose of spending 100 million or more on a vanity saber that you can't really use.

MANY of the weapon drops on PTS are not moddable, so you won't be able to advance in gearing while using your CM weapons.

MANY of the weapon drops in the real game are also not mod-able, but I can still advance my gearing.

And, as I said earlier, the current drops on the PTS probably don't indicate all that will drop in 6.0.

Not only that, but because of RNG, my Guardian has 3 fully modded (except for augments) 252 lightsabers. One is equipped and 2 are in my inventory. All three are placed on a skillbar and I can switch between them simply by clicking on them. I switch them to match my outfit. (Actually, 1 sword, 2 lightsabers.)

I've been testing on PTS and brought over with me Tau's Lightsaber off the cartel market. It was already augmented, and had a crystal off the market. I like it just like many other things off the CM.

 

But the gear drops I'm getting for upgraded weapons in 6.0 are non-moddable. No slots to rip stuff out of to stick in my happy little Tau's Lightsaber (ditto the augmented legacy gear I'm hauling around).

 

I can't use the stupid stuff because there's no mods to rip out, and crap on fleet of the level 70 mod vendor there is 220.

 

What am I missing here?

Yeah, just more proof they develop the game with absolutely no logical sense or understanding of their own game. I mean it's their own game that makes it's money from the CM which is the main source of funding for SWTOR.

Who came up with the idea of not having the gears moddable? Why do we have to tell them this? Just lol.

Storymoders and RPers appear to be the next players pushed away. The devs already ruined gearing, PVP, and PVE. Next is to make outfits including weapons completely non-customizable so RPers and storymoders get pissed off.

MANY of the weapon drops in the real game are also not mod-able, but I can still advance my gearing.

And, as I said earlier, the current drops on the PTS probably don't indicate all that will drop in 6.0.

 

Not only that, but because of RNG, my Guardian has 3 fully modded (except for augments) 252 lightsabers. One is equipped and 2 are in my inventory. All three are placed on a skillbar and I can switch between them simply by clicking on them. I switch them to match my outfit. (Actually, 1 sword, 2 lightsabers.)

You know what...that's actually worthy of a separate post.

The point wasn't for the armor slots specifically, but mainly the weapon slots.

If you spent 100 million + credits on a saber because you like how it looks/sounds you're going to want to use it.

Like the CM armor, they're moddable.

 

MANY of the weapon drops on PTS are not moddable, so you won't be able to advance in gearing while using your CM weapons.

 

Gearing, on PTS, takes your average gear score into account before you start to get drops for the next level. If your saber is "stuck" at 258 you won't get 272 / 274 / 276 anything.

 

You could, however, just use the 270 saber you pick up from a mob...but that defeats the purpose of spending 100 million or more on a vanity saber that you can't really use.

Point taken. Let's see what happens when 6.0 releases. Worse case, use your slightly gimped 100m credit saber and accept the loss.

Or maybe - just maybe - you could wait until the expansion actually goes live, to complain, instead of basing things on what happens on a freakin "test server".😀

I'd guess that the devs are working on actual gameplay functions rather than what drops are found in "test" FPs - but that's just a guess.

MANY of the weapon drops in the real game are also not mod-able, but I can still advance my gearing.

And, as I said earlier, the current drops on the PTS probably don't indicate all that will drop in 6.0.

 

Not only that, but because of RNG, my Guardian has 3 fully modded (except for augments) 252 lightsabers. One is equipped and 2 are in my inventory. All three are placed on a skillbar and I can switch between them simply by clicking on them. I switch them to match my outfit. (Actually, 1 sword, 2 lightsabers.)

Except for two things.

1. Loot acquisition is implemented for Hammer Station and Karagga's Palace.
   
2. They have specifically asked us to test the loot acquisition and provide feedback.
   

Maybe - just maybe - because this is a freakin "test server" where they have asked for our feedback on these systems as they are on the test server before they hit live the devs are working on these systems and your guess is wrong. Now, admittedly, they have already made changes based upon feedback, and they have announced that addition changes are coming in the next build, so I am willing to wait and see how they respond. But they are not going to respond at all if there is no feedback such as this thread.