Except for the charcter requirements, does it matter if your orange gear is light or heavy armor? Seems like there's more aesthetic options available and the stats just seem to come from the upgrades you put in. Unless I'm wrong.

Light,Medium and Heavy offer a different bonus when you add your armor mods.

 

I do not know the exact formula...but for giggles and all

 

Light = X 1

Medium = X2

Heavy = X3

 

Toss a armor mod with a value of 5 in the slot and it goes from 5,10 and 15 pending on the armor it is slotted in.

 

 

And if I am wrong....I am sure someone will correct me with the real math soon enough...

poster above has the right idea with the math.

 

i wanted to add that companions cannot use orange gear that requires a certain class.

 

example:

as a trooper all the companions use heavy armor and use aim

however, if you have a chestpiece that says "requires trooper, jedi knight", the companion would be unable to wear it because although they may have the skills and abilities of troopers, companions are in essence their very own class.

 

so companions can only wear orange gear that does not have a class requirement