Hello,

I haven't played SWTOR very actively since lvl 65. Back then, gearing was nice and simple for PvP. I loved it. Probably my favourite gearing system for PvP in any of the MMOs I've played.

Then, I tried lvl 70, and it just seems like a mess. I initially got lost completely, after trying SWTOR again, and just quit again, mainly due to the gearing, which seemed to be an endless grind.

At this point, I believe it's clear to me how to progress through the different tiers of gear. However, that is of little concern to me. What I mostly want to know (and why I created this thread), is the following:

 

What level of gear do I need to be competitive in PvP?

How much of a difference do augments make in PvP?

What would be the difference between someone who is fully geared, and someone who has 230/236 gear in every slot?That final question is obviously in the context of instanced PvP.

Thanks.

Edited June 12, 2018 by Giliodor

You don't need top level PvP gear to be competitive (at least in regs, I can't speak for any serious ranked). There is still bolster. There's a link at the top of this thread to a spreadsheet that details how the various gear bolsters. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=941376

 

My read of that led me to just stay in 230 gear until I can put in 248. I only play regs. I guess if I wanted to really min/max all the way up, the consensus is that 236 bolsters the best.

 

If you just got your first 70, so you don't have the "coins" to even be able to get 230, then if you still have appropriate 208 (old PvP gear) you can use that (and it's listed in the spreadsheet mentioned). Otherwise, I guess you would be stuck with whatever the top level gear is you can get with credits, and I don't know how that bolsters.

 

As far as augments... I did just a bit of testing. I don't know the exact level augs that bolster gives you, but it's not bad I guess. Certainly when I put in low level augments (as in, the cheapest I could find on GTN at the time), I was better off with having none. In fact, until you are going to put augments in, you don't even need aug-kits - it will give you "augments" via bolster anyway.

 

But I also have a character with full 228 augments (the old max level), and I found that when I pulled out one and left it blank, my stats did go down a bit. So it seems that augs of that level or higher are better than bolster?

 

That's been my experience anyway. Mileage may vary.

If you install something like a 4.73 rear end you'll have massive acceleration.

This thread might be what you are looking for.

 

As for the questions specifically, the difference in number output between the top gear and any gear below the bolster is less than 10% (assuming equal skill). What is more notable is the difference in HP. Without augments you will find yourself with 115k versus people with 134k or even more if they stack HP (can quite easily reach 150k or 160k with assassins). Since the best crits in the game can reach 40k, that is significant to survival in some situations.

 

So I would say get fully 228 augmented as soon as you can. It is cheap. Of course do not waste an augment kit on a tiered gear which you are later planning to exchange for UC for a better piece, but instead augment a legacy shell and put your best mods in there. You need only the shell to exchange gear anyway. Once augmented, the difference between you and a full 248 geared and 240 augmented person are nothing game-deciding.

Edited June 12, 2018 by Rafiknoll

Thanks! From what I can gather, it seems like I should stick to my 208 gear for a while, then. As I thought, that is indeed pretty confusing.

If you install something like a 4.73 rear end you'll have massive acceleration.

 

I lol'd