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New Player Guide: Collections


DocDAM

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Hi, I thought I'd give an overview of the "Collections" system. Seems many newer players are unaware of this powerful perk. Or are unsure how to utilize it.

 

[Please let me know if missed something, correct, or clarify]

 

What it is

The Collections system allows you to get unlimited, free copies of most gear items you purchased, or originated from, the Cartel Market (CM), for this character. And with a one-time account unlock fee, extend that to any character on any server.

 

For example, you buy one of those awesome Advanced Blood Red level 10 +41 critical eviscerating crystals off GTN (everyone should have these!!). Do NOT buy another of that type. Just find it in the collections page, and click the button which gives that toon another copy. Click as many times as you want, it's free!

 

But wait, there's more! Go to one of your alts. From the Collections menu, you have an option to pay a one-time Cartel Coin (CC) unlock fee. That enables unlimited free copies of that crystal on any toon, any server! You never have to pay for another +41 crit crystal again (unless you want another color).

 

That's one of the reasons you want to buy a Speeder/mount off GTN. They (almost?) all originated from the CM and you can buy one, unlock, and never need to buy another mount again.

 

Procedure

But from CM or on GTN (look for items with the funny CM symbol in the lower left corner). Note: you can transfer to another toon before binding.

 

First you must bind the item (i.e. put it on your character or companion)

Note: For armor, you must have, and bind the complete set on that one character

(I'm guessing it works if you put it on that toon's companions, but not sure. Play it safe and put on your character)

 

Now, go to the Collections window:

From Inventory, lower left, click “Collections”

Or from Cartel Market, click upper right “Collections”

 

Look through the Categories for your item. Or use the search box they finally provided! Link at bottom to a spreadsheet that helps you find it.

 

Find the item in the Categories. If you own it, it has a brighter background.

Mouse over the symbols.

In the lower left corner of that items box, you’ll see a little container symbol with two arrows pointing at it.

“Transfer a copy of this item to your inventory”

Click on that and you’ll download a FREE copy to that character. Click for as many as you want.

 

To unlock account-wide:

After doing above ...

You have to switch to another character (“alt”) and go to the same item and you’ll see a CC symbol and an upward arrow.

“You have added this item to your Collection from another character. You may purchase the ability for all characters on your account to claim copies of this item.”

Click the symbol and it takes you to the CM and shows how many CC it will take to unlock account-wide.

The amount varies from 60 CC to sometimes over 600 CC, but the majority are based on rarity (bronze = 60 CC, Silver = 240 CC, Gold/Platinum = 400 CC).

 

Addendum

Generally, if an item has the Cartel symbol in the lower left corner, it is unlockable. But not always the case. Also, the unlock cost is not shown.

For that info, I use the following site:

http://tor-fashion.com/collections-unlock-costs/

 

For armor, you also want to know how many pieces are in that set. See the following excellent post for a spreadsheet with that info and references location within the Collections window:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=778315

 

Possible bug: Many items are listed multiple times in the Collections menu. One of my mounts didn't unlock from one of these listings. So if your item won't unlock, try finding it elsewhere in the list.

Edited by DocDAM
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Nice guide.

 

I was actually fumbling around trying to figure this out last night.

 

I learned about it quite by accident after buying a crystal that was on sale. This would have been great it should help a lot of people understand collections better

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I'd just add that since most of the new players play as damage dealers, endurance crystals are useless to them(and even Treek would benefit from Hawkeye ones more), so it''s best to buy one Hawkeye crystal from GTN.
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I just used the Endurance, and blood red, as an example,. But on that topic, I would suggest eventually buying both an Indestructible (Endurance) and a Hawkeye (Power) crystal. I use the standard approach of equipping tanks with endurance and DPS/Healers with power. But early on, I sometimes use endurance on both. Maybe it isn't backed by the parses, but I just like the feel of 410 extra health over 9 dmg :)

 

Plus, there are some Endurance crystals with a 60 CC unlock cost. If I'm not mistaken, no Hawkeye unlock is under 200 (240?) CC. And Endurance crystals usually go for less on GTN.

 

But again, I'd eventually get both. And yes, Hawkeye is apparently the crystal of choice for most.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Good post. I would add that the items recalled from collections are bound.

 

Also the embargoed items vendors sell rep related embargoed items and they too can be mixed and matched with the cartel items to unlock full sets (and toys like the Malgus and Shan holo trainers) in collections.

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Ah, just what I was looking for. One question though, does this go for a mercenary contract as well?

Yes. From Bioware

I purchased the contract from the Cartel Market, and unlocked via Collections. From above, you can also do this if starting with the contract you purchase for 1M credits from the vendor in the Cartel Bazaar (which requires Legacy level 40).

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