Yes, I just hit 50 today with my main and I'm totally flooded with new quests and flashpoints and all the available gear.

So, I got the recruit gear from the terminal (I thought we could choose if we want the correct gear or some kind of things that we could sell?) and I have 2 WH pieces, after the next match 3. I understand that expertise is important for PvP and everything, but what about the PvE gear?

Do I NEED the Tionese gear? I took a look at it and it's not really better than my recruit/WH stuff, so, do I really need to buy it or I can go with my PvP gear into flashpoints? And wouldn't it be smarter for me to acquire the Tionese gear for my companion I'm gonna do the uh dailies with? Or should I buy Recruit for my companion(s)? Because I haven't really geared them well at all, so either is a vast improvement for my companions. (Though I'm not sure which companion I should use for the dailies.. I'm a DPS Jugg and lately I've been using Pierce to raise his affection, but it's maxed now so I started to use Jaesa again and I get Quinn for boss mobs and stuff like that and gave Broonmark the gear I've been wearing up til now.)

Oh and can I run all the lvl 50 FPs and the hardmode FPs with the gear I got just now? Because I got a ton of quests to do this and that and I understand that Lost Island is much more difficult and I shouldn't do it right now, but, uh, yeah. Totally confused about the whole PvE gear deal. Is there some kind of guide who explains it for dummies? Like, first do this daily and these FPs until you have enough comms/can get better armor, than you do this and that...

Sorry if these questions sound silly and thanks in advance!

[Oh, yeah, something which confuses me a bit, too: So, there are a lot of PvE or PvP specs, but, uhm, does that mean if I for example pick the PvE spec I cannot do PvP? Or the other way around? Is it impossibe, so to say, to do BOTH? I have fun doing warzones and flashpoints - but can you even do this without sucking at one thing?]

...

Do I NEED the Tionese gear? I took a look at it and it's not really better than my recruit/WH stuff, so, do I really need to buy it or I can go with my PvP gear into flashpoints? And wouldn't it be smarter for me to acquire the Tionese gear for my companion I'm gonna do the uh dailies with?...

This is about it right here. Use the recruit for you, use the Tionese for whichever companion you will run dailies with the most.

You can use Recruit to start in PvE but you really shouldn't use Tionese in PvP; the expertise stat makes a big difference and PvE gear doesn't have it.

As for how well Recruit works in PvE I don't know as well other than it's about the same as Tionese so it can definitely get you started till you build a specific set of PvE gear.

If you want to progress past the first little bit of PvP or PvE, you'll need to build a set appropriate to that play style.

Tionese and Recruit are both just not very good, and so one or the other will get you through the easy stuff so you can start out.

Quickly, PvP gear becomes substandard for PvE, because it has to sacrifice good PvE attributes in favor of the PvP stat.

PvE gear is universally worthless in PvP because the PvP stat is so important when fighting other players.

So, you do need 2 sets if you want to do both styles of play. It's probably best to get both recruit and tionese (they're both free) and swap gear with your companion. Companion wears the PvP gear when you're doing PvE, and he wears the PvE gear when you're doing PvP.

If you want to progress past the first little bit of PvP or PvE, you'll need to build a set appropriate to that play style.

 

Tionese and Recruit are both just not very good, and so one or the other will get you through the easy stuff so you can start out.

 

Quickly, PvP gear becomes substandard for PvE, because it has to sacrifice good PvE attributes in favor of the PvP stat.

 

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I don't think that's the case at all. Expertise seems to be added as a seperate stat that doesn't effect the others. Meaning you're not lowering things like you're main stat and endurance just because there's also expertise on it. If you compare them to their PvE counterparts there's almost exactly the same except PvP gear has expertise tacked on.

I don't think that's the case at all. Expertise seems to be added as a seperate stat that doesn't effect the others. Meaning you're not lowering things like you're main stat and endurance just because there's also expertise on it. If you compare them to their PvE counterparts there's almost exactly the same except PvP gear has expertise tacked on.

Nope.

There's definitely some differences between the two. When somebody steps into a Warzone with more than 22k health there is a good chance they have PvE gear on; but they still get slaughtered without that Expertise stat.

Meanwhile walking into the hardmode OPs with with 18k health (decent for PvP gear) makes you squishy. Again starting out the Recruit and Tionese are both about the same but as you progress you need the specific gear for your game, if you cross over you lose alot of benefit with the higher level gear.

As for swaping gear with a companion I don't know about that. For one thing it only works if your companion's main stat is the same, but also you can't take companions with you on PvP or Flashpoints so give them the Tionese for Dailies, use the Recruit for PvP and PvE, then build your own specific gear sets for PvP and PvE. Forget about companion gearing beyond Tionese unless you have comms to waste or hand-me-downs as your gear gets better.

This is about it right here. Use the recruit for you, use the Tionese for whichever companion you will run dailies with the most.

You can use Recruit to start in PvE but you really shouldn't use Tionese in PvP; the expertise stat makes a big difference and PvE gear doesn't have it.

 

As for how well Recruit works in PvE I don't know as well other than it's about the same as Tionese so it can definitely get you started till you build a specific set of PvE gear.

Great, thanks!

If you want to progress past the first little bit of PvP or PvE, you'll need to build a set appropriate to that play style.

 

Tionese and Recruit are both just not very good, and so one or the other will get you through the easy stuff so you can start out.

 

Quickly, PvP gear becomes substandard for PvE, because it has to sacrifice good PvE attributes in favor of the PvP stat.

 

PvE gear is universally worthless in PvP because the PvP stat is so important when fighting other players.

 

So, you do need 2 sets if you want to do both styles of play. It's probably best to get both recruit and tionese (they're both free) and swap gear with your companion. Companion wears the PvP gear when you're doing PvE, and he wears the PvE gear when you're doing PvP.

I see! Yeah, I know I need better gear if I want to do anything else than the first HM FPs, but I was confused if I really needed the Tionese or not, since it's not really better than my recruit/WH stuff.

But what if I'm gonna use a companion who needs different stats than I? Then this wouldn't work.

There's definitely some differences between the two. When somebody steps into a Warzone with more than 22k health there is a good chance they have PvE gear on; but they still get slaughtered without that Expertise stat.

 

Meanwhile walking into the hardmode OPs with with 18k health (decent for PvP gear) makes you squishy. Again starting out the Recruit and Tionese are both about the same but as you progress you need the specific gear for your game, if you cross over you lose alot of benefit with the higher level gear.

 

As for swaping gear with a companion I don't know about that. For one thing it only works if your companion's main stat is the same, but also you can't take companions with you on PvP or Flashpoints so give them the Tionese for Dailies, use the Recruit for PvP and PvE, then build your own specific gear sets for PvP and PvE. Forget about companion gearing beyond Tionese unless you have comms to waste or hand-me-downs as your gear gets better.

Yeah, of course, I wouldn't think about going with Tionese or higher PvE gear into a warzone.

Alright, thanks.

And I probably should pick a PvE spec over a PvP spec, right? Since my role in HM FPs seems much more important than in some wzs, especially since it seems I'm gonna facerolled nonetheless for a while. (Played my first few matches yesterday.. didn't know you can even die that fast.)

you can have 2 separate talent specs for pve/pvp if you dont mind respeccing all the time

or you can get away (esp as a fresh 50 and jsut starting to get your better gear) a hybrid pve/pvp which can suit both functions for a bit until other players want you to really min/max as you start the more difficult content

stick with your recruit pvp gear and add your better gear to this as you advance

dont forget to get your red shard matrix cube either-- this tends to keep the pve party poopers off your case as you explain you are just getting started on your gear progression

For new 50's gear, it's really just about getting whatever boosts your stats more. Most of the time the Recruit gear you get free can replace a lot of the gear you have when you just hit 50, so feel free to use it for both PvP and PvE.

You can definitely take Recruit gear into early HMs, but do try to swap it out once you start getting Columi gear and getting into harder HMs. That said, try not to take Tionese or Coumi into PvP if you can avoid it. The Expertise really does help, although there are times when it's hard to deny that replacing a Recruit gear with Coumi wont help you out better.

For the early HMs, using the gear you have just as you hit 50 mixed with the Recruit gear you get for free is perfectly fine. By 'early HMs' though, try to just do the very early ones like Black Talon and Boarding Party. Once you get the Columi drops from those two, then you can start moving into the other HMs.

As for certain specs, I suppose it would depend if you are a subscriber or not, since if you aren't then respeccing all the time would cost you a lot. I'm not sure how it works with a DPS Jugg, but there are usually skills in the skill tree that generally work better in PvP than PvE (an example might be adding a speed reduction to an attack, something that doesn't help in PvE since most bosses are immune to that but in PvP can be quite useful). I would suggest going to the Jugg part of the forums and asking how people who PvP set their spec. Sometimes it can be just a simple moving of two or so skill points to a different ability, and sometimes it can be much more than that. I will say though, that if it isn't a drastic change then you are probably fine with taking a spec that has some PvP skills into PvE combat. For example, my Operative has a few skill points in abilities that reduce the cooldown of a CC, something that really isn't needed in PvE, but as a whole it doesn't to totally break my Op in PvE. Hope this all helps!!

you can have 2 separate talent specs for pve/pvp if you dont mind respeccing all the time

or you can get away (esp as a fresh 50 and jsut starting to get your better gear) a hybrid pve/pvp which can suit both functions for a bit until other players want you to really min/max as you start the more difficult content

 

stick with your recruit pvp gear and add your better gear to this as you advance

dont forget to get your red shard matrix cube either-- this tends to keep the pve party poopers off your case as you explain you are just getting started on your gear progression

No, that would probably annoy me a lot.

Uh, matrix cube? What's that?

For new 50's gear, it's really just about getting whatever boosts your stats more. Most of the time the Recruit gear you get free can replace a lot of the gear you have when you just hit 50, so feel free to use it for both PvP and PvE.

 

You can definitely take Recruit gear into early HMs, but do try to swap it out once you start getting Columi gear and getting into harder HMs. That said, try not to take Tionese or Coumi into PvP if you can avoid it. The Expertise really does help, although there are times when it's hard to deny that replacing a Recruit gear with Coumi wont help you out better.

 

For the early HMs, using the gear you have just as you hit 50 mixed with the Recruit gear you get for free is perfectly fine. By 'early HMs' though, try to just do the very early ones like Black Talon and Boarding Party. Once you get the Columi drops from those two, then you can start moving into the other HMs.

 

As for certain specs, I suppose it would depend if you are a subscriber or not, since if you aren't then respeccing all the time would cost you a lot. I'm not sure how it works with a DPS Jugg, but there are usually skills in the skill tree that generally work better in PvP than PvE (an example might be adding a speed reduction to an attack, something that doesn't help in PvE since most bosses are immune to that but in PvP can be quite useful). I would suggest going to the Jugg part of the forums and asking how people who PvP set their spec. Sometimes it can be just a simple moving of two or so skill points to a different ability, and sometimes it can be much more than that. I will say though, that if it isn't a drastic change then you are probably fine with taking a spec that has some PvP skills into PvE combat. For example, my Operative has a few skill points in abilities that reduce the cooldown of a CC, something that really isn't needed in PvE, but as a whole it doesn't to totally break my Op in PvE. Hope this all helps!!

Yeah, I've been reading a bit and know that if you hit a certain expertise number (was it 1200 or 1300?) you could swap some pvp pieces with other gear for the better stats and everything. But that's not an issue yet.

Oh, alright. So I have to do the hardmore FPs for the Columi gear and afaik I'll get BH comms and I should use those to get the.. what was it.. the implants or something which cost like 350 BH comms but are supposed to be BiS?

Yes, I'm a subscriber. Or else I wouldn't really do PvP much with the restriction. And I couldn't even post here, I think.

Yeah, I when I spend my skill points I noticed how some talents may be much more useful for PvP and not so much for PvE; like one thing generates Rage if I'm stunned or something which is probably more useful for PvP since you will get stunned all the time and I guess it's not so bad in PvE. Guess I'm gonna head into the Jugg forum and ask there about the best spec, thanks.

Uh, matrix cube? What's that?

You may have heard about datacrons: cubes marked on the game world by a colored light shaft, usually in out of the way or hard to reach places, that you can collect. Most of them give you a small, permanent stat boost, like +2 Strength or +4 Endurance). But a few of them are matrix shards. These sit in your mission items inventory until you go to the matrix assembler (there are one in the Jedi Temple Ruins on Coruscant and another one in the Dark Temple on Dromund Kaas) and make a matrix cube - which is an equippable Relic.

Depending on your level and which matrix shards you use, you can get different cubes. The one you can get at level 50, with the stats appropriate to your class, is actually a very good PvE piece of gear.

You can find how to make the matrix cube relevant to your class here:

http://www.republictrooper.com/matrix-cubes-relic-items/

You'll probably need a guide to find the datacrons. For instance:

http://www.ign.com/wikis/star-wars-the-old-republic/Datacron_Locations

You may have heard about datacrons: cubes marked on the game world by a colored light shaft, usually in out of the way or hard to reach places, that you can collect. Most of them give you a small, permanent stat boost, like +2 Strength or +4 Endurance). But a few of them are matrix shards. These sit in your mission items inventory until you go to the matrix assembler (there are one in the Jedi Temple Ruins on Coruscant and another one in the Dark Temple on Dromund Kaas) and make a matrix cube - which is an equippable Relic.

 

Depending on your level and which matrix shards you use, you can get different cubes. The one you can get at level 50, with the stats appropriate to your class, is actually a very good PvE piece of gear.

 

You can find how to make the matrix cube relevant to your class here:

http://www.republictrooper.com/matrix-cubes-relic-items/

 

You'll probably need a guide to find the datacrons. For instance:

http://www.ign.com/wikis/star-wars-the-old-republic/Datacron_Locations

Oh, I see! Yeah, I've stumbled upon one datacron on Korriban but it seemed too much of a hassle to look for all of them so I didn't. Guess I'm gonna get the green matrix cube then, thanks.

Oh, I see! Yeah, I've stumbled upon one datacron on Korriban but it seemed too much of a hassle to look for all of them so I didn't. Guess I'm gonna get the green matrix cube then, thanks.

Actually, I wouldn't recommend even using the matrix cubes for PVE or PVP anymore. You can get the WH Relics of Boundless Ages which gives you 113 power which is a huge dps boost over any of the matrix cubes. They are also extremely cheap now, only 550 warzone comms.