OK, I'm about to hit 50 and I want to completely max out my character with the best gear around. I've heard stuff like Rakata, Columni, and Tionese gear. I want to max out my Sorcerer for PvE but I have no idea what all this gear stuff is. So, I have a couple questions:

• What is the best gear for PvE?
  
• How do I get this gear?
  
• Where do I get this gear?
  
• Are there missions/bosses I have to do/kill to get this gear?
  
• How hard is it to get this gear?
  
• What sort of stats will I get from this gear?
  
• What commedations if any do I need to get for this gear?
  

This is all very confusing to me, any help reguarding these questions are greatly appriciated.

OK, I'm about to hit 50 and I want to completely max out my character with the best gear around. I've heard stuff like Rakata, Columni, and Tionese gear. I want to max out my Sorcerer for PvE but I have no idea what all this gear stuff is. So, I have a couple questions:

• What is the best gear for PvE?
  
• How do I get this gear?
  
• Where do I get this gear?
  
• Are there missions/bosses I have to do/kill to get this gear?
  
• How hard is it to get this gear?
  
• What sort of stats will I get from this gear?
  
• What commedations if any do I need to get for this gear?
  

This is all very confusing to me, any help reguarding these questions are greatly appriciated.

Look at it this way....

Tionese is Tier 1

Columni is Tier 2

Rakata is tier 3

You get Tionese and Columni from running Hard Mode Flashpoints.

You get most Rakata from running Hard Mode Operations.

You can get the Rakata earpiece and implants with daily comms from running daily missions on Belsavis and Ilum.

You will need to pick up the Daily and Weekly Hard Mode Flashpoint missions from the Fleet.

These will earn you the Tionese and Columni comms you need to purchase the gear.

You earn the Tionese crystals from the bosses in Hard Mode Flashpoints.

The final boss in each Hard Mode Flashpoints also awards 1 "pattern" for a Columni piece.

This can be turned in for the appropriate set piece at the vendors on Fleet without the need of crystals or comms.

You can also purchase the pieces with a certain amount of crystal and comms, that you earn from the bosses and the daily and weekly missions, instead of the "pattern".

Look at it this way....

Tionese is Tier 1

Columni is Tier 2

Rakata is tier 3

 

You get Tionese and Columni from running Hard Mode Flashpoints.

You get most Rakata from running Hard Mode Operations.

You can get the Rakata earpiece and implants with daily comms from running daily missions on Belsavis and Ilum.

 

You will need to pick up the Daily and Weekly Hard Mode Flashpoint missions from the Fleet.

These will earn you the Tionese and Columni comms you need to purchase the gear.

You earn the Tionese crystals from the bosses in Hard Mode Flashpoints.

The final boss in each Hard Mode Flashpoints also awards 1 "pattern" for a Columni piece.

This can be turned in for the appropriate set piece at the vendors on Fleet without the need of crystals or comms.

You can also purchase the pieces with a certain amount of crystal and comms, that you earn from the bosses and the daily and weekly missions, instead of the "pattern".

OK, Im getting it, but why the tiers? Are you only allowed Tionese Gear when you first become a 50? How do you advance through 'Tiers"? Do you just loot Rakata gear or can you get Rakata Commedations and buy some? Thanks for the help by the way.

Tiers just for which is better than which.

So Tionese<Columni<Rakata.

Since my guild has only been doing hard mode flashpoints so far, the only Rakata pieces I can accurately tell you are the implants and earpiece you gain from doing the daily missions on Belsavis and Ilum.

The rest ( not including trade skill made Rakata pieces ) are earned from Operations.

You do not need to earn a previous tier to be eligible for the next. When it comes to implants and earpiece, you should try to get the Rakata versions before the lower tiers.

The best way to start gearing up when you first hit 50 is doing the lvl 50 daily quests on Ilum and Belsavis. They reward you daily commendations which are currency to buy some PvE upgrades. With 120 daily commendations you can buy Tier 3 (Rakata) implants and earpiece. Tier 3 by the way means its the best where as Tier 1 is less powerful. Also, you can get around 25 commendations a day doing Ilum and Belsavis, plus the last Space combat mission gives 2 daily commendations too. However, rather than hoarding the 120 commendations right away, the best way to go is to get a full set of moddable gear and buy the epic level 51 mods that you can get with daily commendations. For 8 commendations, you can get epic lvl 51 armoring and barrel/hilt from the daily mission vendors on Ilum and Belsavis. Then, you can also get epic lvl 51 enhancements from the Heroic 2 daily on Ilum. Lastly, you can get an epic lvl 51 mod from the Heroic 2 Belsavis daily. So, given all these items, you can make your moddable armor and weapons all have lvl 51 mods, which makes them equal to Tier 1 raid gear, Tionese. Again, thats:

Lvl 51 Epic Armoring - Daily Mission Vendors (Belsavis, Ilum) costs 8 Daily Commendations

Lvl 51 Epic Enhancements - Ilum Daily Heroic 2

Lvl 51 Epic Mods - Belsavis Daily Heroic 2

Lvl 51 Epic Barrels/Hilts - Daily Mission Vendors (Belsavis, Ilum) costs 8 Daily Commendations

So if you hit the dailies, including the heroics, every day for around a week, your moddable armor and weapons will be equivalent to Tionese Tier 1 raid gear. Finally, after saving up 120 Daily Commendations, you can get a Rakata Tier 3 implant or earpiece, the best in the game so far. In this way you will be ready to do Hard Modes which have a chance at dropping more Tier 1 gear and Tier 2 gear tokens from the final boss. If it easy for you to organize 8 ppl are you are in a guild then the most efficient way to get geared is normal mode operations which are not too challenging and drop Tier 2 gear.

The best way to start gearing up when you first hit 50 is doing the lvl 50 daily quests on Ilum and Belsavis. They reward you daily commendations which are currency to buy some PvE upgrades. With 120 daily commendations you can buy Tier 3 (Rakata) implants and earpiece. Tier 3 by the way means its the best where as Tier 1 is less powerful. Also, you can get around 25 commendations a day doing Ilum and Belsavis, plus the last Space combat mission gives 2 daily commendations too. However, rather than hoarding the 120 commendations right away, the best way to go is to get a full set of moddable gear and buy the epic level 51 mods that you can get with daily commendations. For 8 commendations, you can get epic lvl 51 armoring and barrel/hilt from the daily mission vendors on Ilum and Belsavis. Then, you can also get epic lvl 51 enhancements from the Heroic 2 daily on Ilum. Lastly, you can get an epic lvl 51 mod from the Heroic 2 Belsavis daily. So, given all these items, you can make your moddable armor and weapons all have lvl 51 mods, which makes them equal to Tier 1 raid gear, Tionese. Again, thats:

 

Lvl 51 Epic Armoring - Daily Mission Vendors (Belsavis, Ilum) costs 8 Daily Commendations

Lvl 51 Epic Enhancements - Ilum Daily Heroic 2

Lvl 51 Epic Mods - Belsavis Daily Heroic 2

Lvl 51 Epic Barrels/Hilts - Daily Mission Vendors (Belsavis, Ilum) costs 8 Daily Commendations

 

So if you hit the dailies, including the heroics, every day for around a week, your moddable armor and weapons will be equivalent to Tionese Tier 1 raid gear. Finally, after saving up 120 Daily Commendations, you can get a Rakata Tier 3 implant or earpiece, the best in the game so far. In this way you will be ready to do Hard Modes which have a chance at dropping more Tier 1 gear and Tier 2 gear tokens from the final boss. If it easy for you to organize 8 ppl are you are in a guild then the most efficient way to get geared is normal mode operations which are not too challenging and drop Tier 2 gear.

OK that cleared things up alot for me. I think I got it down:

Tiers show how good a piece of gear is. Tionese Gear is Tier 1, costs less but has worse stats than Rakata. You get Rakata Gear by either buying it with Commedations, looting them from Hard modes/Nightmare modes, or crafting them. You can also get mods/barrels/hilts/enhancments/etc from dailies on Ilum and Belsavis. Thanks for the help!

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=176836

Read that.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=180395

Then that.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=214891

Then that.

You're welcome.

No one ever brings up purple augmented crafted gear. How does it fit in? I can only speak for tank equipment, but in my opinion, augmented crafted gear is arguably as good as T2 gear for PvE. Your hp will be less than someone wearing T2 gear, but your absorb and defense should be a lot higher.

Interested in hearing other opinions.

No one ever brings up purple augmented crafted gear. How does it fit in? I can only speak for tank equipment, but in my opinion, augmented crafted gear is arguably as good as T2 gear for PvE. Your hp will be less than someone wearing T2 gear, but your absorb and defense should be a lot higher.

 

Interested in hearing other opinions.

Not even in the same ballpark.

Not even in the same ballpark.

Please explain.

Here are my stats, with level 49+ augmented purple items, one rakata item, and the energized leggings from BT

Health: 16459 [no buffs]

Armor 50.48%

defense 16.88%

shield chance 48.75%

shield absorb 48.60%

accuracy 97.74%