Hi guys,

 

This is my first post, I am very new to SWTOR and love it!!

 

I have a level 70 Shadow and having trouble staying alive in most cases while in groups and PVP, I have been trying to explore the mods and enhancements for armor and weapons, can someone help me with this as I am not fully understanding how to have elite armor or weaponry?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated, may the force be with you!

Edited February 23, 2017 by jbap

Same here with my 70 sage and guardian. I know you can use the galactic command system to get that cxp tokens, or the only choice I know of is to hit the GTN and buy the mods there.

 

It'll probably be really really really expensive. On my server, Harb, they sell for millions a piece

The baseline you want is level 228 gear. This can be gotten from drops, or bought off the GTN, or crafted. It also helps to add level 9 or 10 augment slots (and augments) to your armor and weapon(s).

The baseline you want is level 228 gear. This can be gotten from drops, or bought off the GTN, or crafted. It also helps to add level 9 or 10 augment slots (and augments) to your armor and weapon(s).

228-purple drops are pretty rare. I've done full 228-everywhere almost exclusively by crafting.

 

And MK-10 augment slots. MK-9s only take up to 208-purple augments, while MK-10s go up to 228. Full 14-part 228 gear with well-chosen full 14-part 228 augments is a bit scary. (You can drill all 14 pieces for augments. Seven pieces of armour, mainhand, offhand, two relics, two implants, one earpiece.)

Oh, and OP, edit your post to get that referral link out of there. You're only allowed to have it in your forum signature, and you're not allowed to make posts that look like they are there to promote your link.

Oh, and OP, edit your post to get that referral link out of there. You're only allowed to have it in your forum signature, and you're not allowed to make posts that look like they are there to promote your link.

 

Ok thanks, I wasn't sure how the referral link worked so thanks for the feedback!

To avoid headaches (and future credits) get an orange armor set (preferably bind to legacy). Like the ones from the Heroics crates. Add MK-10 augment slots to those. When you get a piece of 230+ you put the armor/mods you want in the orange shells. That way your main "cost" will be removing the armoring/mods/enhaments but you will not pay two or three times for the MK-10 slots or changing the augments you put there. Do so also with weapons/shields/focus

 

For Ear, implants and relics that is not possible

Once you purchase an augment spot can it be replaced with a higher grade ie. bought an mk-9 can I replace it later with mk-10 augmentation kit?

your gear, is largely defined by it's i-level. or ilvl

 

if you're level 70 (and a subscriber...which i'll assume since you're posting here) have access to gear up to ilvl 242

 

but. it's not really worth worrying about that.

 

at level 66 you can equip blue ilvl 220 gear. normally this does not have mods. and can be purchased very cheaply on the GTN. Heroic missions also drop this lvl gear.

 

from lvl 220. there is crafted 228 gear. basically this is the stock crafted gear, reverse engineered to be purple, and is ilvl 228

 

then you're into galactic command. from T1 you'll get 228 greens, or 230 blues, or 230 purples. you can also get 230 purple crafted items.

 

in T2 it's 236 gear. and can also access ilvl 240 crafted gear.

 

and in T3 it's top end of 242 gear in purple. but can also be 242 in blues i think as well.

 

 

so what does all this mean. not much, and again, don't stress.

 

in galactic command, you'll fairly quickly get 230 blue gear. this is perfectly fine for most SM Ops. Heroics, Vet uprisings. and any other generic content. like Flashpoints. or whatnot.

 

if you're in 230 blues. set bonus gear is the next logical upgrade. run SM Ops. you'll get gear tokens that can be exchanged for 230 purple set bonus gear. 2pc, 4pc and 6pc grant a bonus aspect. normally more damage, better healing/tanked. etc.

 

if you're in 230 blues/purples. and feel stuck. can buy 240 crafted items. pvp weeklys, and conquest grant some of the harder to get mats. same with Ops ...and i think master FP. 240 crafted items. are great for left side items. ear, implant, relic etc. can also buy item mods. these can be pricey. but often times guildmates, or crafters will trade mats for them. at parity, or cheaper rates.

 

in terms of item mods. depending on the item (armor vs weapon) it'll have a barrel/hilt or an armor plate. then potentially a mod, and enhancement. plus... weapons get crystals. tunings, are purely cosmetic as far as i know.

 

there is some overlap in terms of which mods are actual upgrades. crafted mod. vs enhancements. sometimes there's no improvement in stats. so there's wiggle room to strategically upgrade. like the 240 crafted lethal mod is the same as the 242 crate drop lethal mod (this may be wrong. but there's examples like this. off the top of my head i can't remember them. but if you're close to BiS maybe look into this. if not...don't sweat it)

 

all that being said. which stats you want in your gear, vary by class. or your specific build. you'd have to research your specific class. to get an idea of the best optimized load out of stats. but... unless you're hard core into raiding Ops. it's not worth seriously worrying about this. for dps. 110% accuracy. 40/60 ish on crit. some alacrity is the misc baseline.

 

in pvp. unranked pvp you get bolster. I think it puts you to 230 ilvl. although could be wrong on that. maybe it's 228 ilvl. or 234? not 100% sure. but basically. if you don't have that min lvl of gear it'll boost you up some. but other people can obviously be well beyond that. so. it's entirely possibly you're getting outclassed on gear. PvP enthusiasts often times chase gear hard core.

 

but in pvp. your class spec. and what utilities you have chosen. how quick you are to respond, how knowledgeable you are of your class. and if your team works together make a lot more difference than a bit of gear/stat increase. so again. worry more about learning pvp. than gear. and gear will come in time.

 

if you're dying in groups or Ops. read up on the Op. it's much more likely you're doing something wrong, or not familiar with a Op mechanic or standing in stupid. there are sites with reviews of Op dungeons, and most flashpoints/uprisings. learning the fight mechanics along with your class and what it should be doing in those situations. should alieviate this. I've done every SM Op in 230 blues. several in 220 blues. ...am i doing the most dps possible in that gear. no. but i'm fine. and the Ops are complete-able in those gear ranges.

 

item mods can be removed from most gear. sometimes crafted gear, or loot drops from heroics don't have mods. but anything with mods should be removable. set bonus gear. the bonus part is tied to the armoring. but save the armor shell itself. as you need that to upgrade via the galactic command upgrade dynamics. you can also give mods you've grown out of to your other characters via legacy storage/legacy gear. so... is your main in 230 purples now. could conceivably pass along 230 blues to an alt. moving to 240 gear? get a command crate with a duplicate item... take it anyway. strip the mods. and use them in other gear slots. or for other characters.

 

 

hope some of that helps

your gear, is largely defined by it's i-level. or ilvl

 

if you're level 70 (and a subscriber...which i'll assume since you're posting here) have access to gear up to ilvl 242

 

but. it's not really worth worrying about that.

 

at level 66 you can equip blue ilvl 220 gear. normally this does not have mods. and can be purchased very cheaply on the GTN. Heroic missions also drop this lvl gear.

 

from lvl 220. there is crafted 228 gear. basically this is the stock crafted gear, reverse engineered to be purple, and is ilvl 228

 

then you're into galactic command. from T1 you'll get 228 greens, or 230 blues, or 230 purples. you can also get 230 purple crafted items.

 

in T2 it's 236 gear. and can also access ilvl 240 crafted gear.

 

and in T3 it's top end of 242 gear in purple. but can also be 242 in blues i think as well.

 

 

so what does all this mean. not much, and again, don't stress.

 

in galactic command, you'll fairly quickly get 230 blue gear. this is perfectly fine for most SM Ops. Heroics, Vet uprisings. and any other generic content. like Flashpoints. or whatnot.

 

if you're in 230 blues. set bonus gear is the next logical upgrade. run SM Ops. you'll get gear tokens that can be exchanged for 230 purple set bonus gear. 2pc, 4pc and 6pc grant a bonus aspect. normally more damage, better healing/tanked. etc.

 

if you're in 230 blues/purples. and feel stuck. can buy 240 crafted items. pvp weeklys, and conquest grant some of the harder to get mats. same with Ops ...and i think master FP. 240 crafted items. are great for left side items. ear, implant, relic etc. can also buy item mods. these can be pricey. but often times guildmates, or crafters will trade mats for them. at parity, or cheaper rates.

 

in terms of item mods. depending on the item (armor vs weapon) it'll have a barrel/hilt or an armor plate. then potentially a mod, and enhancement. plus... weapons get crystals. tunings, are purely cosmetic as far as i know.

 

there is some overlap in terms of which mods are actual upgrades. crafted mod. vs enhancements. sometimes there's no improvement in stats. so there's wiggle room to strategically upgrade. like the 240 crafted lethal mod is the same as the 242 crate drop lethal mod (this may be wrong. but there's examples like this. off the top of my head i can't remember them. but if you're close to BiS maybe look into this. if not...don't sweat it)

 

all that being said. which stats you want in your gear, vary by class. or your specific build. you'd have to research your specific class. to get an idea of the best optimized load out of stats. but... unless you're hard core into raiding Ops. it's not worth seriously worrying about this. for dps. 110% accuracy. 40/60 ish on crit. some alacrity is the misc baseline.

 

in pvp. unranked pvp you get bolster. I think it puts you to 230 ilvl. although could be wrong on that. maybe it's 228 ilvl. or 234? not 100% sure. but basically. if you don't have that min lvl of gear it'll boost you up some. but other people can obviously be well beyond that. so. it's entirely possibly you're getting outclassed on gear. PvP enthusiasts often times chase gear hard core.

 

but in pvp. your class spec. and what utilities you have chosen. how quick you are to respond, how knowledgeable you are of your class. and if your team works together make a lot more difference than a bit of gear/stat increase. so again. worry more about learning pvp. than gear. and gear will come in time.

 

if you're dying in groups or Ops. read up on the Op. it's much more likely you're doing something wrong, or not familiar with a Op mechanic or standing in stupid. there are sites with reviews of Op dungeons, and most flashpoints/uprisings. learning the fight mechanics along with your class and what it should be doing in those situations. should alieviate this. I've done every SM Op in 230 blues. several in 220 blues. ...am i doing the most dps possible in that gear. no. but i'm fine. and the Ops are complete-able in those gear ranges.

 

item mods can be removed from most gear. sometimes crafted gear, or loot drops from heroics don't have mods. but anything with mods should be removable. set bonus gear. the bonus part is tied to the armoring. but save the armor shell itself. as you need that to upgrade via the galactic command upgrade dynamics. you can also give mods you've grown out of to your other characters via legacy storage/legacy gear. so... is your main in 230 purples now. could conceivably pass along 230 blues to an alt. moving to 240 gear? get a command crate with a duplicate item... take it anyway. strip the mods. and use them in other gear slots. or for other characters.

 

 

hope some of that helps

 

Definitely helps, very overwhelming though. How do you obtain Tier 2 or Tier 3 gear, I noticed it at one of the vendors and clearly do not have enough to purchase any of the items, how can I obtain these?

Definitely helps, very overwhelming though. How do you obtain Tier 2 or Tier 3 gear, I noticed it at one of the vendors and clearly do not have enough to purchase any of the items, how can I obtain these?

Tier 2 gear drops from Tier 2 command crates, and Tier 3 from Tier 3 crates.