This artifice is eatting my creds insanely fast I can now make purple 186 stuff but The midlithe crystals are holding me back! How can i farm these is treasure hunting the only way.

Treasure Hunting is the only way.

 

My experience shows that no matter how many of the same Mission skill one has, one will always fall short on materials eventually; i.e. I have six slicers and I still have to buy sliced parts (blue and purple) off the GTN because my crafters go through them too quickly.

 

So I watch Midlithe Crystal (and other purple materials) GTN pricing VERY closely, and when prices dip to a certain level (it is a personal preference thing so no point in stating it) I buy whether I need the materials at that moment or not because I will use them eventually. You need to find your "buy now" price and start watching.

I haven't gotten as detailed as all that, but in theory there IS a point where it's cheaper to buy them off the GTN just because the cost of missions can get really high and even then you only have a CHANCE at them. Someone smarter than me could probably do some statistical math to determine an average mission cost per midlithe crystal and then you could use that to determine when to buy from the GTN.

I haven't gotten as detailed as all that, but in theory there IS a point where it's cheaper to buy them off the GTN just because the cost of missions can get really high and even then you only have a CHANCE at them. Someone smarter than me could probably do some statistical math to determine an average mission cost per midlithe crystal and then you could use that to determine when to buy from the GTN.

 

I've done it (not really that hard either), and over the course of many missions the cost per Midlithe Crystal (or any grade 11 purple material) is only about 6k, where the typical value on the GTN is upwards of 30k.

 

The issue is time. each mission take 50 minutes to run. And if you run them in a purely optimal fashion then you are only running one mission per character (running the rich mission with a companion with a crit bonus). I go a slightly more expensive route and run both the rich and bountiful missions so in a single pass I have twice the opportunity to crit, although I get fewer results from Bountiful)

Treasure Hunting is the only way.

 

You can buy Midlithe for one [purple] jawa junk at the jawa vendors. You can get the purple jawa junk in cartel packs, being in a guild that places in the top 10 for a planet for the week (Conquest), and as a random drop from the Contraband Slot Machine (very low chance).

You can buy Midlithe for one [purple] jawa junk at the jawa vendors. You can get the purple jawa junk in cartel packs, being in a guild that places in the top 10 for a planet for the week (Conquest), and as a random drop from the Contraband Slot Machine (very low chance).

 

OK TH is the only good/consistent/realistic way .

 

Sure, Jawa Junk exists and there are several ways to acquire it, but in my experience, you are better off running missions and/or buying off the GTN.

 

I buy hypercrates of packs on a regular basis (that's 24 packs), and I get MAYBE 12 jawa junk per hypercrate. So $40 real money or 5 million credits for 12 Midlithe crystals...

 

As for conquest, the costs involved in placing top ten are FAR higher because crafting is the only way to make it happen, which means running missions and buying materials to craft War Supplies. Not to mention you are totally dependent on other guildies participating.

 

And the slot machine...first you have to get one...several hundred thousand credits. Then you have to purchase play tokens (at 750 credits a pop) and then sit and click the machine for a 1% chance. After the nerf I went through 500 tokens and got *A* (singular) jawa junk.

 

So you tell me, are ANY of these options REALLY worth it?

Edited May 22, 2015 by psandak

OK TH is the only good/consistent/realistic way .

 

Sure, Jawa Junk exists and there are several ways to acquire it, but in my experience, you are better off running missions and/or buying off the GTN.

 

I buy hypercrates of packs on a regular basis (that's 24 packs), and I get MAYBE 12 jawa junk per hypercrate. So $40 real money or 5 million credits for 12 Midlithe crystals...

 

As for conquest, the costs involved in placing top ten are FAR higher because crafting is the only way to make it happen, which means running missions and buying materials to craft War Supplies. Not to mention you are totally dependent on other guildies participating.

 

And the slot machine...first you have to get one...several hundred thousand credits. Then you have to purchase play tokens (at 750 credits a pop) and then sit and click the machine for a 1% chance. After the nerf I went through 500 tokens and got *A* (singular) jawa junk.

 

So you tell me, are ANY of these options REALLY worth it?

 

I wasn't saying that they were better/cheaper options, just pointing out that they exist. While I wouldn't recommend people use them in lieu of running as many [Wealthy/Rich/Bountiful] TH missions as possible, if you have access to the purple JJ, there is nothing (on my server) worth more than Midlithe (on a consistent basis), they can easily shore up a run of bad RNG. Specifically:

 

1) JJ was added to packs (replacing specific mat drops) well before the vendors were updated to include Midlithe, so OP may not have known that they were added.

 

2) OP may or may not be in a guild doing Conquest, and if not, might want to consider joining one that routinely places. At least when Conquest first came out, it wasn't hard to place in the Top 10, and I was in a small guild.

 

3) You don't have to buy a slot machine to use it, you'd just have to be crazy (with the current drop rates) I wasn't advocating using it, I was just listing it to be complete.

 

FWIW, I buy most of my Midlithe from the GTN because I only have two TH alts, and they barely make a dent in my supply. I can usually get it for <= 30K per, and I charge 55+K per for crafted items.

My apologies. Plain text never conveys emotion/intent properly. I was under the impression that you were posing Jawa Junk as a viable alternative to running missions and/or buying off the GTN.

 

And when I was drafting my initial response, I thought about mentioning jawa junk (and in fact I wrote about it), but then thought better of it since it is not a viable method (as we have both shown), and indicating a "free" alternative would muddy the waters.

 

I personally sock away every bit of jawa scrap I get from packs (green, blue, and purple), on the off chance I run out of some material and am unwilling to pay GTN prices. And I do use it, but very rarely. The last time I did so was simply because I had too much of it (I had an entire cargo tab full; only two stacks of which were purple).

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the mission discoveries you get from Slicing yet. That's how I get almost all my grade 11 purples.

 

I have multiple Slicers myself and so I get a fair number of mission discoveries that way, but it's always a crapshoot what kind I'll actually get. So I actually get the bulk of them off the GTN.

 

I make a habit of checking the GTN for Treasure Hunting and Underworld Trading 500 missions every time I'm near a kiosk and, while the "usual" price is anywhere from 30k to 50k (I don't buy those), you'd be surprised at just how often I manage to snag one or two at 5-10k (almost every day, and sometimes multiple times in one day). There are always going to be people who have no idea how to price things and don't think to check the market before posting, and for some reason they seem to under-value level 500 missions far more often than anything else.

 

Keep in mind that, while these missions do cost 5k to run and take 3-4 hours, they net you a guaranteed three purple materials, and five if they crit.

Edited May 23, 2015 by Timorelle

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the mission discoveries you get from Slicing yet. That's how I get almost all my grade 11 purples.

 

I have multiple Slicers myself and so I get a fair number of mission discoveries that way, but it's always a crapshoot what kind I'll actually get. So I actually get the bulk of them off the GTN.

 

I make a habit of checking the GTN for Treasure Hunting and Underworld Trading 500 missions every time I'm near a kiosk and, while the "usual" price is anywhere from 30k to 50k (I don't buy those), you'd be surprised at just how often I manage to snag one or two at 5-10k (almost every day, and sometimes multiple times in one day). There are always going to be people who have no idea how to price things and don't think to check the market before posting, and for some reason they seem to under-value level 500 missions far more often than anything else.

 

Keep in mind that, while these missions do cost 5k to run and take 3-4 hours, they net you a guaranteed three purple materials, and five if they crit.

 

I cannot argue with you, because I do the exact same thing . Discovered missions are a good investment.

....

 

I make a habit of checking the GTN for Treasure Hunting and Underworld Trading 500 missions every time I'm near a kiosk and, while the "usual" price is anywhere from 30k to 50k (I don't buy those), you'd be surprised at just how often I manage to snag one or two at 5-10k (almost every day, and sometimes multiple times in one day). There are always going to be people who have no idea how to price things and don't think to check the market before posting, and for some reason they seem to under-value level 500 missions far more often than anything else.

 

Keep in mind that, while these missions do cost 5k to run and take 3-4 hours, they net you a guaranteed three purple materials, and five if they crit.

 

I guess it is funny how pricing varys from server to server. On Shadowlands TH 500 missions go for 84K when you can find them which makes sense since the crystals go for about 30K each. The UT missions are plentiful at about 29K to 30K each.

 

If I there were TH missions at 30K to 50K I would buy and run all of them, just on spec.

I guess it is funny how pricing varys from server to server. On Shadowlands TH 500 missions go for 84K when you can find them which makes sense since the crystals go for about 30K each. The UT missions are plentiful at about 29K to 30K each.

 

If I there were TH missions at 30K to 50K I would buy and run all of them, just on spec.

 

Which is a bit of a flip from 2.0 when UWT was as or more desirable than TH...which isn't surprising given cybertech lost the ability to make unlettered mods (as well as the over-stat budget crafted ears from 2.0) while artifice gained the only level 60 relics outside Operations, multiple new color dyes, and retained the ability to make optimized enhancements.

Edited May 23, 2015 by DawnAskham

My apologies. Plain text never conveys emotion/intent properly. I was under the impression that you were posing Jawa Junk as a viable alternative to running missions and/or buying off the GTN.

 

And when I was drafting my initial response, I thought about mentioning jawa junk (and in fact I wrote about it), but then thought better of it since it is not a viable method (as we have both shown), and indicating a "free" alternative would muddy the waters.

 

I personally sock away every bit of jawa scrap I get from packs (green, blue, and purple), on the off chance I run out of some material and am unwilling to pay GTN prices. And I do use it, but very rarely. The last time I did so was simply because I had too much of it (I had an entire cargo tab full; only two stacks of which were purple).

 

No prob -- I tend to be a little AR, so I usually try to err on the side of completeness. I probably should have been clearer about JJ being a supplemental (as opposed to primary) source of Midlithe. Like you, I save my jawa stuff (not sure what the appropriate collective noun is) as a soft cap to my supply pricing.

On Harbinger it's the 450 TH missions that sell for the most lately 70K+ usually and I am paying about 40-50K on average for the 500's. I tend to always be running TH missions discoveries off all levels as they are all profitable in the end.

 

Hard to work out exactly how much profit I make as I tend not to care too much anymore and there are factors like the individual MD cost when I run it, crits, list price when I sell my stack etc.

 

TH has come very far since 3.0 launched for some reason. Yesterday there wasn't any grade of purple material selling for less than 12K ( mytag's listed around 40K each and not many listed at the time so assume they may be selling at that point though it drops also ) which is a bit of a jump from where it used to be.

You can buy Midlithe for one [purple] jawa junk at the jawa vendors. You can get the purple jawa junk in cartel packs, being in a guild that places in the top 10 for a planet for the week (Conquest), and as a random drop from the Contraband Slot Machine (very low chance).

 

For PvP Commendations one can get crafting materials as well ... Would this PvP Commendations CRate be able to contain purple junk, too ?

 

( Oh, how this sounds ! "Purple junk" ! )

For PvP Commendations one can get crafting materials as well ... Would this PvP Commendations CRate be able to contain purple junk, too ?

 

I don't know, I've never really looked into the PVP vendor lock boxes.

As for conquest, the costs involved in placing top ten are FAR higher because crafting is the only way to make it happen, which means running missions and buying materials to craft War Supplies. Not to mention you are totally dependent on other guildies participating.

 

Depends on the guild, and I guess on the server. For a small guild that is not doing GF, not doing WZs, not doing GSF, it is true I guess. Otherwise flat out wrong on all 3 servers that I am active on. Even small guilds can get into top ten rather easily these days, without using crafting to achieve it.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Nazdika

Depends on the guild, and I guess on the server. For a small guild that is not doing GF, not doing WZs, not doing GSF, it is true I guess. Otherwise flat out wrong on all 3 servers that I am active on. Even small guilds can get into top ten rather easily these days, without using crafting to achieve it.

 

I guess I have been out of the Conquest game for so long, I've lost touch. I remember a time not too long ago when I would sign in at 5am server time and see top ten lists for all planets filled with 100k+.

 

Even if that is no longer the case, you do have to admit that banking on Conquest means being 100% dependent on your guild, and your and their consistent participation in aspects of the game that help your guild place in the top 10 every week. Aspects of the game you personally may not enjoy. And for what? 10 Jawa Junk (iirc)? My point is that the SPECIFIC reward being sought is not worth the investment.

 

Not saying it is not an option. Just saying, to each his own.

To add to that though I find overall I tend to make a profit out of conquest when I take into consideration what I pay for mats to craft with ( rarely pay over 1K and only aim for the 24 material war supplies, usually fund it via mission discoveries, regular missions and blue JJ ) for holocrons and crystals.

 

I then wait until they have the repeatable invasion force weeks ( I think there is 2 of them? The Titans of Industry next week is the better though ) and I can on sell those war supplies I've hoarded over previous weeks crafting for conquest at 30-40K+ each as people scramble for the repeatable invasion force. I guess I'll see next week if it's still as popular but it worked a few weeks back anyway.

 

Granted I don't do ALL the conquest events, it depends what planet my guild takes and if I get a bonus each time to my crit and I also tend to skip the 50K point ones as it's becomes a bit much.

 

Still I find I can clear a good 30 to 40+ million during repeatable invasion force weeks though they are quite big gaps between each other and the pure profit is nowhere near that much but that is profit before taking into consideration each week's rewards for completing conquest and getting top 10.

 

Also I think 1 or maybe 2 weeks have those repeatable rewards for crafting just your prefab's which is great for profit too since they are easy to sell for big profit ( though not during the repeatable week itself due to high supply ).

 

All in all I find conquest a fairly good diversion and something to help supplement my already large income ( and something to use all my blue and green JJ on that I get from opening packs I get from the GTN ).

I agree with you, at least now its going for 30k by peace while the same level doonium which is underworld material goes for 8k, why this one is so expensive?

I mean i can make a lot of armor and mods while enchantments are pain to make.

I agree with you, at least now its going for 30k by peace while the same level doonium which is underworld material goes for 8k, why this one is so expensive?

I mean i can make a lot of armor and mods while enchantments are pain to make.

 

supply and demand: low supply high demand for midlithe crystals = high value, higher supply lowe demand for doonium = low value.

 

The primary difference is: midlithe crystals are used to make dye modules, something that will ALWAYS be in demand (even the crafted dyes that use grade 6 materials are still in demand); OTOH, doonium's primary use is making cybertech rating 186 armorings and mods and demand for those fluctuates. Furthermore, maybe someone has flooded the market with doonium (maybe they are using some of the jawa junk they got when the slot machine was a JJ printing press; maybe there is a "white knight" on your server who believes that the value of items should be lower than what they are).

 

I certainly hope you bought up all that cheap doonium and reposted

Edited July 14, 2015 by psandak

Buy materials when theh conquest guilds need them for their posts, done right you can make a fortune there and eaily grind up your traadeskills to your intended level.

I agree with you, at least now its going for 30k by peace while the same level doonium which is underworld material goes for 8k, why this one is so expensive?

I mean i can make a lot of armor and mods while enchantments are pain to make.

 

Quite a spread - I've seen crystals at 25K and under the past week while I've unloaded a bit of excess UWT metal for around 18-19K each.

 

Also...

 

Crystals make dyes (no other option for those specific colors), relics (no other options outside Operations), optimized enhancements (optimized versions not available from equivalent Basic comm gear), hilts (MH hilts not available outside WB on Ziost and Operations).

 

UWT metal makes armoring (same armoring in Basic comms gear), non-optimized mods (same mods available in Basic comms gear), and ears (similar ears available for Basic comms).

 

EDIT: Today (7/16) across a number of servers, Midlithe crystals can be had for ~20K while Doonium is going for about the same. Looks like lots of people are dumping stocks of crystals / jawa junk.

Edited July 16, 2015 by DawnAskham