oo. finally allowed to post. as f2p wasn't. am now.

so recently i joined. and really cannot grasp how to modify and improve the weapons. or you slot stuff and take stuff out and everything remains grey and can't edit it, haha, to cut it short,

can someone explain the process of it a bit more?

anyway

First off it has to be an orange weapon (or Navy Blue) green, blue, and purple items aren't craft able.

If it is orange you can look at the module currently in the item and replace them with the same type modification items, so replace crystals with new crystals etc.

The new item has to be within your level range, ctrl-right click the orange item to open the customization window, drag and drop the new piece and click apply. You can also remove mods first so they aren't destroyed on upgrade but don't worry about that till you hit 55.

Note that custom orange peices can be both standard custom or adpative (the item description when you scroll over will tell you if it is adpative). All that means is that apdative custom orange armour scales to what weight armour your class can take light, medium or heavy. Standard custom orange gear is set permenant to either light, medium or heavy so be aware what level of armour your class to wear if not buying adaptive. You can get custom purple, blue and there is even a few custom greens about (My companion Bowdaar has a green custom vibroword for example), but these are always set custom pieces not apdative.

The armour rating of custom/adaptive armour items and therefore the item rating in is set according the grade of the armouring mod you insert. Mods, enhanchments and crystals simply offer extra boost to your stats (Power, endurance, critical rating etc..)but will not boost the armour rating of that item. More armour rating overall you have = more damage reduction against kenetic and energy type attacks (But not internal or elemental that you get from de-buffs and magic(For want of a better word) style attacks).

Note though although armour rating increases with each upgrade of the armouring mod, that the same armouring piece on medium item will give a higher armour value than the same armouring in a light piece and on a heavy piece higher again if using the same armouring.

The same applies to weapons with hilts and barrels that give the basic min to max rating damage of that weapon which is then further boosted by power, tec/force power and your main stat. The higher the grade of barrel or hilt you insert the better the min to max basic damage range of that custom weapon. Note while weapons are not adaptive each class can only equip certian types. A Gungsliger can't equip a light saber as you would expect for example. Only some classes can equip sheilds for extra stats and damage absorption(In the from of the shield chance and absorption stat), for that classes that can be tanks basically.

Most players use planatary comms to upgrade their mods as they level you get these in quest rewards and from some random drops and also from dalies and flashpoints. Not many custom pieces drop in standard solo area's and not many mods either, so as a rule of thumb unless it a significantly better standard peice(Unlikely) that the custom one you currently have always choose the comm as a reward. Be mindful to upgrade your main companion aswell, standard level appropriate gear is fine for companions. There are comm vendors on the planets but these tend to be leveled to the base level of that planet so as you tend to overlevel easily most players buy gear after every major planet on the fleet using the comms vendors there to upgrade the mods which level up every 4 levels on average. Note all mods have a certain level requirement and blue are little better than the same level green versions and purples a little better than blues.

this is very detailed. thank you...

in my other sith inquisitor quest i got a companion, the monster.

is that the companion or can you choose others elsewhere?

this is very detailed. thank you...

in my other sith inquisitor quest i got a companion, the monster.

is that the companion or can you choose others elsewhere?

Yes all classes get the first companion towards the end of the first starter planet, you get new companions then at different stages of your story as you level up. All classes at the end of the story quest on the home planet get their own ship and with the ship also comes the ships droid which you can also use as a healer companion if you want but it is quite hard to upgrade him as droid parts are more scarce. You get 5 in total plus the ship droid, but each clasees gets these at differnent stages and you will not get them all until near level 50. To swap companions dismiss the current one by right clicking the companion potrait then dismiss then use the crew window (Diamond icon on top menu bar, forget what the shortcut is) to summon the companion you want to use using the small icon nest to their affection level bar.

Companions automatically level with you and upgrade their own abilities as you level, but their gear will still need to be upgraded as you go along so that they are effective for you. Note companions when you get then have level appropriate mainly standard gear (although they do not tend to have a head peice) to the level point when you get them.

Companions like us can be tanks(Ranged or meelle) , healers or ranged or melle DPS(Damage dealers) and their ablities and stances will tell you what type they are. If a companion like Bowdaar for example has a lot of threat generation abilities then he is best served as tank to go in first and take threat. You may also read their codex entry aswell to ensure you know what there main stat is and upgrade using the right gear according to that as you would yourself.

You get 5 in total plus the ship droid, but each clasees gets these at differnent stages and you will not get them all until near level 50.

of eight companions, eventually.

To swap companions dismiss the current one by right clicking the companion potrait then dismiss then use the crew window (Diamond icon on top menu bar, forget what the shortcut is) to summon the companion you want to use using the small icon nest to their affection level bar.

If you count HK-51 and Treek, along with the ship droid and the 5 "story" companions, you actually can have a total

of eight companions, eventually.

 

Just hit N to open the crew skill window and click the summon button for the one you want. The current one will automatically be dismissed. No need to manually dismiss him/her/it first.

Yeah I forgot abot the two extra ones you can get Treek via the mercenary contract (1 Million credits I belive at legacy 40 (I am legacy 11 long way off) or Cartel market purchase unlock) and HK-51 from the finding the parts missions at level 50 or Cm unlock again. I bet the CM unlocks for Treek on GTN must go for massive bucks 2mill plus no doubt, not something I will be able to get soon anyway as a newish player. Thanks for the shortcut info.

The impression I have gotten is that any orange piece of equipment has exactly 0 base stats, and as long as you keep the mods updated you can use the same piece from 1 to 55 and it will be about as good as green/blue equipment of that same level? And then is it mostly mods that drop in endgame content?

Yes that is the gereral idea you can keep an adaptive/custom gear set so keeping the look you like right till level 55 if you wish by upgrading mods. Custom is often better than standard blue of same level if you have good mods once you reach a certian level stage, early on there is not much difference between blue and custom of same level.

I think though that the very best amourings and mods will NOT make you equal to the very best set gear at end game, you only get that from the set bonus gear that drops in Hard mode and Knightmare mode lvl 55 ops as far as I am aware.

Just curious. Do all lightsabers (all upgrades removed) have the same base damage?

No all custom weapons even without mods have some base min to max damage rating and will usually have a varying tech power bonus depending on level of item even without any mods, so do not all start out equal in the base damage range. Same with guns, although these small differences are not that noticable real terms;)

No all custom weapons even without mods have some base min to max damage rating and will usually have a varying tech power bonus depending on level of item even without any mods, so do not all start out equal in the base damage range. Same with guns, although these small differences are not that noticable real terms;)

so some light sabers do differ in damage even with the same mods.

so some light sabers do differ in damage even with the same mods.

Yeah that proves my point the differnce would be its difference base damage min to max range without any mods inserted, like I say the base tech or force power ratings vary depending on level of weapon item on a custom peice without any mods when you buy it also.

Yeah that proves my point the differnce would be its difference base damage min to max range without any mods inserted, like I say the base tech or force power ratings vary depending on level of weapon item on a custom peice without any mods when you buy it also.

thanks. i apreciate the help.

i found this old thread while trying to understand customizable items.

would this apply for armor as well?

different level gear = different armor rating?

The level of the armoring / barrel / hilt determines the amount of armor / weapon damage.

So let's say you have two different pieces of heavy armor, and you slot them both with the same armoring (let's say a might armoring 25, rating 140), they will give you the same amount of armor. Of course a piece of medium armor would give you less armor with the same armoring.

There's really no difference between moddable weapons and armors of the same type. Some items have a higher level requirement, even without mods, but that does not make them better once you mod them. You can perfectly use an armor and weapon you obtained at level 10 until end game and not be any weaker for it, if you properly upgrade them.

So whenever you find some moddable armor or weapons with better stats than your current gear, but you don't like how they look, rip out the mods and put them in your favourite gear to keep it up to date.

All classes at the end of the story quest on the home planet get their own ship...

Actually, that's not true. There's at least one class that does get their own ship until later into the class quest on the 2nd planet.

No all custom weapons even without mods have some base min to max damage rating and will usually have a varying tech power bonus depending on level of item even without any mods, so do not all start out equal in the base damage range. Same with guns, although these small differences are not that noticable real terms;)

There's really no difference between moddable weapons and armors of the same type. Some items have a higher level requirement, even without mods, but that does not make them better once you mod them. You can perfectly use an armor and weapon you obtained at level 10 until end game and not be any weaker for it, if you properly upgrade them...

Okay, I'm confused... the two of you seem to be contradicting each other. I'm going to have to take a look when I get home (at work atm), but I could have sworn I've seen orange items at level 15 that were identical to level 54 orange items. Of course, I'm old, blind, and not very good at this game so I'm guessing I probably missed something painfully obvious.

After googling this and looking at these two links:

http://www.torhead.com/item/gllE52b/custom-built-lightsaber

http://www.torhead.com/item/b2xmy1m/elegant-modified-lightsaber

...I'm thinking I need to really look closely at what I'm equipped with.

Intersting links you got there. Maybe it's from an older version of the game, or just a mistake.

Unslotted these items are both rating 8, dealing 26-38 energy damage.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18255580/swtor/lightsabers.png

But even if you can find an item with a higher rating than 8, once you put a barrel/hilt/armoring inside, the item's rating and damage/armor will follow that of the mod, so it won't be better than any othe item with the same mod.

Intersting links you got there. Maybe it's from an older version of the game, or just a mistake.

Unslotted these items are both rating 8, dealing 26-38 energy damage.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18255580/swtor/lightsabers.png

 

But even if you can find an item with a higher rating than 8, once you put a barrel/hilt/armoring inside, the item's rating and damage/armor will follow that of the mod, so it won't be better than any othe item with the same mod.

That explains a lot. Like I said, I could have sworn that I saw orange items at different levels with identical stats, so I've never bothered to upgrade any of my orange gear; just the mods. Was thinking I might have missed something, though.

Thanks for the screenshot.