So I have 3 level 50 characters, all in "end game".

 

And I hate to admit it but I've NEVER done an operation. The few times I hear of a group getting together, I usually send out a request and am then asked for my specs. I tell them I'm in whatever warhero gear, usually with mods etc. at around level 58, and they usually say "sorry, full!".

 

What am I doing wrong? How do I get started ;(?

 

- Arcada

So I have 3 level 50 characters, all in "end game".

 

And I hate to admit it but I've NEVER done an operation. The few times I hear of a group getting together, I usually send out a request and am then asked for my specs. I tell them I'm in whatever warhero gear, usually with mods etc. at around level 58, and they usually say "sorry, full!".

 

What am I doing wrong? How do I get started ;(?

 

- Arcada

 

It depends on the operation, if you've never done ANY operations before, I would start by using the GF to queue up for KP and EV Storymodes, just so you can get the feel of it.

It depends on the operation, if you've never done ANY operations before, I would start by using the GF to queue up for KP and EV Storymodes, just so you can get the feel of it.

 

Definitely--Group Finder. And if you get people vote-kicking you, then /ignore them so you don't run into elitist snobs.

Eternity Vault Story Mode can be done in pretty much straight level 50 gear, easily done in Tionese (rank 51). Easily.

All of the Story Mode Ops have been set up so that nothing more than 56 ranked gear is needed, as long as you learn the mechanics.

 

And on that note--might want to check up on the mechanics, or at least ask for an overview of what happens before each fight. There are lots of neat mechanics to each one, and they are very easy to learn and execute...but helps to have some idea of what you are looking for to speed things along.

 

You'll have no problems, though; groupfinder it and have fun~ Welcome to Ops!!

Join a friendly guild and do it with people you can chillax and kick back with :>)

IMHO the best way would be to go with a guild group or friends who will be patient with you, explain mechanics & your role if needed, answer questions and not just run through while expecting you to somehow know everything.

 

If that's not possible - the group finder for story mode operations would be a good way to quickly dip in your toes, as suggested above. Keep in mind though that a lot of over-geared people run these just for the comms. Just let the group know you haven't done it before and hopefully they will be patient and answer any questions you may have. If you encounter an impatient or rude group, it may color your view of operations. You can also watch youtube videos of EV or KP prior to the run, so you have a basic understanding of what to do.

 

Quick question though - how did you end up with 58 gear without doing operations?

What if you're new 50 in recruit gear?

Quick question though - how did you end up with 58 gear without doing operations?

 

Primarily PVP.

 

For example, my Sorcerer is decked out in a complete War Hero Force-Master's set. I've also augmented this with drops and purchases and participating in the game events. Will that armour set be worth anything in an operation?

 

- Arcada

What if you're new 50 in recruit gear?

 

You can do story mode EV and KP in full recruit gear. It is essentially as good as the tionese gear.

 

From those you can grind a set of Columi. Thus moving you into HM EV and KP to get Rakata gear.

 

Once you got a few pieces of Rakata you can start SM EC and TFB.

Edited November 20, 2012 by SPrime

If your operative or sorcerer is heal spec'd I would suggest doing the operation as them first, because it can be a lot easier to get into a group as healer and tbh EV and KP are not that hard on the healer anyway.

Primarily PVP.

 

For example, my Sorcerer is decked out in a complete War Hero Force-Master's set. I've also augmented this with drops and purchases and participating in the game events. Will that armour set be worth anything in an operation?

 

- Arcada

 

Your WH gear is the equivalent to 58 gear in pve. Keep in mind that the stat distribution is a bit lower then pure pve gear. The armouring by itself is 30 points main stat lower. But I see no reason why you would be turned down other then people saying you shouldn't bring PvP gear to pve. But keep in mind these people have a sour taste in their mouths because pvpers get mad at them for showing up in a wz with all pve gear.

Group Finder is fine 90% of the time, but an alternative is either join a guild or if you are in a guild tell an officer you want to run an Ops. We set up runs all the time in our guild for first timers. Way less frustrating especially if the guild know what they are doing. We often just run SM EV and SM KP back to back on alts with first timers. Hell on my alt they skipped SM and did HM EV and HM KP, she was geared less than you, but I had been through both many times on my main healer.

 

Nothing much against group finder, but a guild run is a safer run for a first timer (expect way less knowledge on your part), never seen anyone kicked from a guild run and you are more likely to get more gear from a guild run.

 

What if you're new 50 in recruit gear?

To me it would depend on the rest of the group and your role while considering the rest of the group. However, if you were a guildmate, I would take you provided you at least had your matrix cube (I want to know you have at least put some effort into gear and not just expecting the group to carry you. The cube is easy and fast, but I can't believe how many new 50's don't take the 30mins to get it. )

But I see no reason why you would be turned down other then people saying you shouldn't bring PvP gear to pve. But keep in mind these people have a sour taste in their mouths because pvpers get mad at them for showing up in a wz with all pve gear.

 

Ah, politics a surprising amount of politics I'm not aware of!

 

- Arcada

If you are the sort of person who will not ask questions for the fear of whatever(ppl shoutinga t u, laughing at you, being fools), read up on guides on the net. The starting ops ev/kp are so old that you can find comprehensive guides+ videos on all.

 

This will give you the mechanics and when people in the OP for example say "Click the left console" on EV, you know what they mean. learn the puzzle on both ev/kp, groups value those who know mechanics and puzzles.

 

As for full warhero gear, We cleared TFB HM with some people in some WH augmented gear. We are on last boss Nim EC and still have one of the DPS using some WH augmented gear. WH = BH easily. but as you have never done ops, dont try and stem into HM EC/TFB straight away.

 

The reason most people dont want to take someone who has never done content is because it takes ages to explain everything, and if you cause wipes they can cost someone decently geared arnd 5k a wipe.

 

Carrying a dps is easier than carrying a tank/heals, SO even if you are one of these classes, convert to DPS for first few runs.

 

Next time someone asks for a DPS, reply with I am new to running ops but have a full aug WH gear and know most fights, except boss X for example.

 

Also, Learn the first 2 boss fights, mechanics etc asap. Once you know that you have to stay still for bonethrasher and run and stand in the puddle for Annhilator, you will get through first boss, and the group will carry you through even if you contribute a lot because finding replacements can be a pain.

Thanks guys.

 

Successfully executed my first OP last night; Eternity Vault.

 

I used the group finder. I used my DPS as suggested. As a distance DPS I basically stood next to the group leader (our healer) and shot at what she told me to shoot at.

 

Only screwed up the group once, but didn't cost anybody their lives.

 

They were more or less tolerant of me .

 

So what OP should I try next?

 

- Arcada

To get a feel of the ops, run in this order like 2 times:

 

EV/KP SM, EC SM, TFB SM

 

In terms of gear progression:

 

EV/KP HM, EC/TFB SM, EC HM, TFB HM, EC NiM

Thanks guys.

 

Successfully executed my first OP last night; Eternity Vault.

 

- Arcada

 

Congratulations!

They were more or less tolerant of me .

 

It's easy to be tolerant of a DPS who actually follows directions when it comes to fights and makes an active effort to do his job.

 

Seriously, you did very well for a guy who'd never seen the content before (though it helped that the tanks knew the drill) and you should have no trouble continuing if you keep up at that rate.

 

That was kind of an amazing run, since we had several people who were new to Eternity Vault, but no wipes.

Thanks for the thread, very useful. I've been on since before the beginning and STILL haven't made 50...lol But I found this to be useful information for the future.

Thanks for the thread, very useful. I've been on since before the beginning and STILL haven't made 50...lol But I found this to be useful information for the future.

 

Thanks Shubsathoth. I think there are a lot of us who have been plugging away for some time but still don't know all the ins and outs of the game. I have three Level 50s and feel there is this entire group of people who hit 50 -- probably in January of 2012 -- looking down on me .

 

Honestly, I really enjoyed that OP and I think it (more than the 1.5 expansion) is responsible for my renewed interest in the game (let me be clear, I'm here for the long-term, but I'm capable of losing interest in it for extended periods of time). I know all the work they've put into the group finder, and that was definitely helpful, but BW may consider finding someway of rewarding advanced-50s for doing newbie runs.

 

e.g. Getting rewarded extra whatevers for being an op-leader or Lt. of an OP with players who are doing the mission for the first time.

 

e.g. Getting a title for being an OP leader or LT. and doing all the ops with at least one new player .

 

Wouldn't be incredibly hard to track and I'm sure there are a whole host of us who'd love to hear: "Hey, doing terror from beyond, any newbies wanna come along?.

 

Aahhaha.

 

- Arcada

Edited November 22, 2012 by Nydus

Question to add onto this. I have a combo of tiones/columi/rakata gear and have the following specs on my sorcerer DPS spec...... 1624-Willpower 1381 Endurance. Should I still be doing HM FP's or can I move on to OPS at this point? I'd try to queue up but I would hate to be THAT GUY that shows up totally undergeared and ruin someone's OP.

Question to add onto this. I have a combo of tiones/columi/rakata gear and have the following specs on my sorcerer DPS spec...... 1624-Willpower 1381 Endurance. Should I still be doing HM FP's or can I move on to OPS at this point? I'd try to queue up but I would hate to be THAT GUY that shows up totally undergeared and ruin someone's OP.

 

You should be fine for story mode EV / KP for certain. Those are easily do-able in recruit or tionese, and running them once in SM to get the mechanics down is good practice before moving on to HM and getting on with your gear progression.

Question to add onto this. I have a combo of tiones/columi/rakata gear and have the following specs on my sorcerer DPS spec...... 1624-Willpower 1381 Endurance. Should I still be doing HM FP's or can I move on to OPS at this point? I'd try to queue up but I would hate to be THAT GUY that shows up totally undergeared and ruin someone's OP.

 

That is sort of the whole problem isn't it. I'm not exactly a "newbie" to MMOs or TOR, have semi-decent gear, and I've been avoiding a huge and fun part of the game because of the lack of patience of *some* people at the top.

 

And quite frankly, watching the whole thing on youtube before hand does not in the least appeal to me.

 

People complain about a lack of end-game content. I completely disagree now. There seems to be tonnes of fun stuff to do. The only problem is other players not making this particularly accessible.

 

- Arcada

That is sort of the whole problem isn't it. I'm not exactly a "newbie" to MMOs or TOR, have semi-decent gear, and I've been avoiding a huge and fun part of the game because of the lack of patience of *some* people at the top.

 

And quite frankly, watching the whole thing on youtube before hand does not in the least appeal to me.

 

People complain about a lack of end-game content. I completely disagree now. There seems to be tonnes of fun stuff to do. The only problem is other players not making this particularly accessible.

 

- Arcada

 

Well, that's your problem then TBH. Why should an entire group of 7 people have to sit there and wait/explain stuff to you when you yourself is unwilling to put any effort into learning it? Looking up guides may not be fun for you, but having to explain is hardly fun for the rest of the group either, but you are the one that needs to learn so it's on you to take responsibility for it.

 

I'm in a guild that consist of pretty much just me and a few RL friend that doesn't play much at all, and yet I've never had any issues getting into ops. I watch those youtube guides, and I'm honest with the potential groups about being a first timer but that I've looked up the tactics on my own, and the result is that I've now cleared every op in the game trough pugging, and they usually add me to friends list after so that they can get in touch with me if they need more help in the future.

 

Put in the effort and it will pay off, or get stuck being unable to advance. It's your choice.

...And quite frankly, watching the whole thing on youtube before hand does not in the least appeal to me....

- Arcada

 

Hmmm I may get where Arcada is coming from though.

Sometimes it's not that you're too lazy to look up guides/ videos, it's that looking it up before seeing it for the first time kills some of the joy of seeing & experiencing the content in game for the first time.

 

I like to experience new content by myself without guides or tips or hints, usually with a group of friends who are new to the content as well. That way I can admire the scenery, listen to conversation choices, examine bosses and figure out how they work without knowing beforehand.

 

But this pleasure is only usually possible when running with friends for whom the content is new as well and who want to explore. If the group has done it 20 times already and wants a fast run, you'll be holding them back.

 

Oh and BTW I also know some people who really like to explain mechanics, tactics, etc and really enjoy taking new people on runs rather than running the same old same old with experienced people.

[..] operation [..]

[..] warhero gear [..]

 

What am I doing wrong? How do I get started ;(?

 

- Arcada

 

Its a serious question?

 

Get pve set

 

War hearo is probably enought for EV/KP Story Mode from group finder, but people just dont like to run ops with someone who uses pvp gear.