Dev Post EricMusco Posted January 26, 2016 Dev Post Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) With the release of 4.0 we made a pass at focusing and streamlining Crew Skills and with 4.1 we are continuing this effort. We want crafting to remain an important alternative to Mission and Operation gear. With the release of 4.1 we are releasing an alternative to the KotFE gear. This new tier of gear will be the best craftable gear that does not require exotic crafting materials, and to support this tier, we are introducing a new grade of crafting materials and missions. With this new change, we want Crafting to remain an important alternative means to collecting the most powerful gear in the galaxy – whether you’re looking to gain an edge in combat, or turning a tidy profit on the Galactic Trade Network. There are a few terms that we will be using throughout these posts, here are the terms that you will be seeing and what their meaning is: Crafting skill – The experience you have built up with a particular Crew SkillRating – The ‘quality’ of an individual itemGrade – This refers to one of the 9 “levels” of Crew Skills; this includes Materials, Schematics, and Missions General Crafting Changes Here’s a look at some of the broader, system-wide changes we will be implementing with 4.1. We will be going into greater detail for each Crew Skill and Mission in the following sections. Crafting skill increases from 500 to 550Introduces a new Grade, Grade 9New Grade 9 crafting materials for all skillsNew Grade 9 SchematicsNew Grade 9 MissionsNew harvest nodes [*]Color Crystals All crafted Color Crystals have had their level requirement removedExpertise Color Crystals can no longer be trained, they are now sold directly from the “PvP Items” Vendor on the Fleet [*]Grade 8 – Grade 9 Transition With this update, numerous items that previously required Grade 8 crafting materials will now require Grade 9 crafting materialsTo help ease the player transition from Grade 8 to Grade 9, we have introduced a new Crew Skill vendor on both fleets that will sell Grade 9 materials for their comparable Grade 8 materials at a 1:1 ratio. *This new vendor is temporary and will be removed with Game Update 4.2 (Chapter XI)Grade 9 Materials have also been added to the Jawa Scrap Vendors. [*]Trainable Rating 208, 216, and 220 Items All existing 208 Rating crafted items are being increased to Artifact (purple) qualityTheir item rating is being increased from 208 to 212Current stat configurations will remain, but their values will be increasedCrafting 212, 216 and 220 items will now require Grade 9 materials. With the item rating increase there will be an additional Grade 9 Artifact Quality material cost for the 212 itemsThese changes are retroactive on current 208 crafted itemsThe crafting skill required to craft these items will remain unchanged [*]Augments - There will be no new augments with 4.1. However existing 200 & 208 rating augments will now be part of Grade 9, as such we will be making the following changes to the existing rating 200 & 208 Augments: All Existing MK-8 and Unassigned Augment Slots will automatically become MK-9 Augment Slots. These are specifically the slots that are created when you use an augment kit on an item.Rating 200 & 208 Augments will now require an MK-9 Augment SlotAll Rating 200 & 208 Augments will now require Grade 9 Materials to craftThe new MK-9 Augment kit will be sold by the new vendor; they can be purchased for MK-8 Augment KitsThe crafting skill required to craft these augments will remain unchanged Individual Crafting Crew Skill Changes Armormech:New Grade 9 Armor Assembly ComponentNew Rating 200 & 208 ArmorNew MK-9 Augment KitRating 200 & 208 Endurance Armorings [*]Synthweaving: New Grade 9 Synth Bonded AttachmentNew Rating 200 & 208 ArmorNew MK-9 Augment KitRating 200 & 208 Mastery Armorings [*]Armstech: New Grade 9 Arms Assembly ComponentNew Rating 200 & 208 Weapons & OffhandsNew MK-9 Augment KitRating 200 & 208 Barrels [*]Artifice New Grade 9 Artifice Bonded AttachmentNew Rating 200 & 208 WeaponsNew Rating 200 & 208 Off-handsRating 200 & 208 HiltsNew Rating 200 & 208 RelicsNew Dye ModulesNew Color CrystalsCan now only craft Rating 136 (+41 stat) CrystalsAll other Crystal Schematics have been moved to the archive section[*]All blue, red, yellow, green, and orange Crystals and Schematics have been removed from vendors. They are now trainable from the Artifice trainer at the following Grades*: Grade 1: Blue CrystalGrade 2: Red CrystalGrade 3: Yellow CrystalGrade 4: Green CrystalGrade 5: Orange Crystal [*]*All crafted color crystals have had their costs adjusted to the appropriate Grade. Their Slicing material cost has also been replaced with Treasure Hunting materials. We felt low level Crystals no longer had a purpose in the game, as such we removed them and enabled Artifice crafters to craft max level Crystals usable by all levels immediately. [*]Expertise Color Crystals are no longer trainable. [*]The following Color Crystal Schematics have had their skill requirement reduced to skill level 350: White-Purple-BlueWhite-Yellow-Orange [*]New rating 212 Relics can now be crafted by Artifice In support of the new Relics being craftable we wanted to ensure Relics found in Operations are still superior to crafted and Mission Relics. As such we have changed the stat allocations of Relics found in Operations. The abilities of these Relics remain unchanged, however they now have an additional stat added on to them. DPS & Healing Relics have lost a little bit of endurance to gain Critical Rating, and Tank Relics have lost a little bit of Mastery to gain some Shield Rating. [*]Cybertech New Grade 9 Cyber Assembly ComponentNew Rating 200 & 208 EarpiecesRating 200 & 208 Mods & EnhancementsNew Grade 9 Grenades [*]Biochem New Grade 9 Cell GraftNew Rating 200 & 208 ImplantsNew Grade 9 Stimpaks, Adrenals, & MedpaksA new Grade 9 Accuracy Stimpack will now be trainable, this Stimpack grants Accuracy and Critical Rating.There will be no Grade 9 Accuracy Adrenal, the existing Accuracy Adrenal will remain unchanged to be replaced by the aforementioned Accuracy Stimpak. [*]All existing Shield/Absorb Adrenals have changed. They all now grant a shield that absorbs 20% of damage, up to a large amount of damage for 15 seconds. The shield ends either when the damage threshold is reached, or the duration ends. Mission Crew Skill changes With the release of 4.0 we unlocked all Crew Skill Missions. While this made it easier for players to run the specific Missions they wanted, it also exposed how redundant and unorganized these Missions were. With 4.1 we made a pass to both simplify and organize these Missions so that you have less Missions, but they are more focused on the things you really need. For reference in this section, order of result from best to worst: WealthyRichBountifulAbundantModerate General Changes: Wealthy, Rich, and Bountiful are the only result of Missions that can provide Artifact (purple) quality crafting materialsProsperous level Missions no longer exist. All existing prosperous Mission Schematics that are currently in players inventories will be converted to Wealthy Schematics with the release of 4.1All non-material specific Missions, such as lockboxes and vendor materials, now have only one result level. For example there are no longer any Moderate or Rich Companion Gift Missions, they are now simply “Companion Gift Missions”Companion Gift Missions are now only available in Grade 1-5, in order to be consistent with the Companion Gift Ranks. Example, Companion Gifts of Rank 4 are only available from Grade 4 MissionsCompanion Gift Missions no longer reward Premium (green) Quality. These Missions now reward Protoype (blue) quality, or Artifact (purple) quality on a critical resultThere are now Moderate, Abundant, Bountiful, or Rich Material Missions for every Grade.Most Mission skills have two Missions, per Grade, per Yield. In the future, we will look to address any instances where there is only one Mission.[*]Mission credit costs have been standardized. Mission costs are now based on the type of Mission and its Grade. [*]Missions will now progress in the following order as the skill is improved: ModerateVendor MaterialsAbundantCompanion GiftsBountifulLockboxes / Color CrystalsRichWealthy [*]To accommodate these changes, a number of Missions have been moved between different Grades. A small amount of Missions have been removed altogether, but we will look to reintroduce them in the future Investigation: Two Moderate, Abundant, Bountiful, and Rich Missions per GradeThree Companion Gift Missions per GradeMissions have a chance to reward a craftable armor or weapon Schematic if a critical result is achieved Treasure Hunting Mostly two Moderate, Abundant, Bountiful, and Rich Missions per Grade; there are some gaps we hope to fill in the futureThree Companion Gift Missions per GradeTwo Lockbox Missions per Grade that drop new lockboxesLockbox Missions will reward two lockboxes when a critical result is achievedLockboxes now always drop a small amount of creditsLockboxes now drop a single item from the random drop tables appropriate to the Grade of the lockbox Diplomacy Mostly two Moderate, Abundant, Bountiful, and Rich Missions per Grade;there are some gaps we hope to fill in the futureThree Companion Gift Missions per GradeCompanion Gift Missions no longer grant light or dark side pointsWealthy Missions no longer grant light or dark side points Underworld Trading Mostly two Moderate, Abundant, Bountiful, and Rich Metal Missions per Grad;, there are some gaps we hope to fill in the futureMostly two Moderate, Abundant, Bountiful, and Rich Fabric Missions per Grade; there are some gaps we hope to fill in the futureThree Companion Gift Missions per Grade Slicing Mostly two Moderate, Abundant, Bountiful, and Rich Missions per Grade;there are some gaps we hope to fill in the futureTwo Lockbox Missions per Grade that drop new lockboxesLockbox Missions will reward Mission discoveries when a critical is achievedLockboxes contain a sizable amount of credits that sometimes offset the cost of the Mission. Archaeology Mostly two Moderate, Abundant, Bountiful, and Rich Missions per Grade, there are some gaps we hope to fill in the futureOne vendor material Mission per Grade.One Color Crystal Mission per Grade Scavenging & Bioanalysis Mostly two Moderate, Abundant, Bountiful, and Rich Missions per Grade, there are some gaps we hope to fill in the futureOne vendor material Mission per Grade. Thank you all for taking the time to read through all of the changes we have planned for Game Update 4.1. As always, these changes are subject to change and you should review the 4.1 Patch Notes for the final changes. Edited January 26, 2016 by EricMusco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirUrza Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 What about the Magenta color crystal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RikuvonDrake Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Happy I don't have to re-augment the gear on any of my 40 characters! Edited January 26, 2016 by RikuvonDrake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XiamaraSimi Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Are the new Armormech and Synthweaving armors going to be like you cheaped out on in SoR? As in they will all look -exactly the same aside from different color tinting-? All being light, medium, and heavy, for both professions. That was very cheap, and very dissapointing. Also, if your going to be adding in even -more- mats to stockpile, will you be adding in any more purchaseable legacy/cargo bays to let us store them in? Edited January 26, 2016 by XiamaraSimi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeristash Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Give different variants of armor for light, medium & heavy in each craftable tier like the old days. My marauder is a warrior and shouldn't have to fight in a sorcerers skirt for the power stats. It's shameful. Edited January 26, 2016 by Aeristash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerba Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Nice to see we don't have to pay any credits for new augments, and that the 224 gear remains exclusive to operations and is not craftable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xkcurtisx Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 where are the tanking mods and enhancments?? We want absorbtion mods, shield/absorb enhancements! Death To all Defense gear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teclado Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 [*]Augments - There will be no new augments with 4.1. However existing 200 & 208 rating augments will now be part of Grade 9, as such we will be making the following changes to the existing rating 200 & 208 Augments: All Existing MK-8 and Unassigned Augment Slots will automatically become MK-9 Augment Slots. These are specifically the slots that are created when you use an augment kit on an item. Best news I've read all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Kaitou-Kid Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I love the changes to Artifice, that's my main's crafting skill so I'm glad to see it getting some love in regards to the color crystals and relics. Removing the level restriction on the +41 crystals is an awesome move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireFoxed Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) [*]Prosperous level Missions no longer exist. All existing prosperous Mission Schematics that are currently in players inventories will be converted to Wealthy Schematics with the release of 4.1 Wow, a HUGE nerf to slicing since prosperous missions are the only ones that give guaranteed purple mats - not just on crit. I know with the mission speed reduction grade 8 purple mats may have been too easy to come by, but this change will make getting grade 9 purples entirely rng based (and terrible for anyone with low affection companions). Please consider increasing the time to complete prosperous missions rather than removing them entirely. Edited January 26, 2016 by FireFoxed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halinalle Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Artifice finally getting some love? Is this dream? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master-Nala Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 These seem like all solid changes, looking forward to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying-Brian Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 To account for the increase in crafting grade and items. When will more storage be made available for players? We've been going on 4+ years with the 5 cargo bays that the game launched with. Legacy storage can only do so much. Don't you think it's time to add some more cargo bays to help out QOL issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rankyn Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Can we expect to see achievements for hitting 550? We got achievements for 400 and again when the cap was raised to 450, but they were omitted when the cap was raised again to 500. Pretty much the same thing happened when the level cap was raised to 65. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamtas Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Wow, a HUGE nerf to slicing since prosperous missions are the only ones that give guaranteed purple mats - not just on crit. I know with the mission speed reduction grade 8 purple mats may have been too easy to come by, but this change will make getting grade 9 purples entirely rng based (and terrible for anyone with low affection companions). Please consider increasing the time to complete prosperous missions rather than removing them entirely. I'm trying to understand how changing a prosperous mission into a wealthy is a nerf? Wealthy (current purple mission discovery) is guaranteed purple mat drop Edited January 26, 2016 by Jamtas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenomitrosis Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 This new tier of gear will be the best craftable gear that does not require exotic crafting materials Does this mean that strategic and dark matter materials aren't used, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docbenwayddo Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 This sounds like a huge nerf to Companion Gift missions, or am I missing something? As it stands now I can send out 6 companions on Rich rank 5 gift mission and be guaranteed at least a blue prototype quality rank 5 gift with possible purples, but post change I'll only have 3 possible rank 5 missions and they have no "Rich" quality so even the greens will be possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydocs Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 ... Also, if your going to be adding in even -more- mats to stockpile, will you be adding in any more purchaseable legacy/cargo bays to let us store them in? I would pay real money for more tabs in the legacy/cargo bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenKatarn Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Color CrystalsAll crafted Color Crystals have had their level requirement removedExpertise Color Crystals can no longer be crafted, they are now sold directly from the “PvP Items” Vendor on the Fleet Interesting to hear. But what of Cartel Market crystals? Why aren't their level requirements removed? Specifically, why are White color crystals still the only ones that require Level 50? If all other crystals will require no more than level 10, why will White crystals remain at 50? Edited January 26, 2016 by BenKatarn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devlyne Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) This sounds like a huge nerf to Companion Gift missions, or am I missing something? As it stands now I can send out 6 companions on Rich rank 5 gift mission and be guaranteed at least a blue prototype quality rank 5 gift with possible purples, but post change I'll only have 3 possible rank 5 missions and they have no "Rich" quality so even the greens will be possible? Companion Gift Missions no longer reward Premium (green) Quality. These Missions now reward Protoype (blue) quality, or Artifact (purple) quality on a critical result. If I'm understanding your question correctly, the answer I have is: There are no greens at all, only blue or purple. Yes, you will only have 3 possible rank 5 missions for rank 5 companion gifts. (Or rank 4, or rank 3, or rank 2...) If I'm not, well...I tried. Edited January 26, 2016 by Devlyne Problems! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Kaitou-Kid Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 This sounds like a huge nerf to Companion Gift missions, or am I missing something? As it stands now I can send out 6 companions on Rich rank 5 gift mission and be guaranteed at least a blue prototype quality rank 5 gift with possible purples, but post change I'll only have 3 possible rank 5 missions and they have no "Rich" quality so even the greens will be possible? As he mentioned in the post, there won't be a possibility to get green companion gifts from these missions. The standard is a blue companion gift with purples possible with a crit. Companion Gift Missions are now only available in Grade 1-5, in order to be consistent with the Companion Gift Ranks. Example, Companion Gifts of Rank 4 are only available from Grade 4 MissionsCompanion Gift Missions no longer reward Premium (green) Quality. These Missions now reward Protoype (blue) quality, or Artifact (purple) quality on a critical result You can't have 6 companions out for rank 5 gifts anymore, that's true, but you're also guaranteed blue quality gifts or better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DomiSotto Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Eric, thank you for the detailed post. One important question, please! Where are the new Level 9 nodes located. I.e. which planets? Thank you!!! Edited January 26, 2016 by DomiSotto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shwarzchild Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Relic question: The relics we've already crafted from reverse engineering the relics found in operations....will those be included in the changes so they no longer mirror the (for example) 220 mk1s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarackian Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 What about schematics for old armor sets? The last post on crafting said you would be bringing back the old looks for crafters, but it isn't mentioned here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exly Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Where will the new gathering nodes be located? Edited January 26, 2016 by Exly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts