... And you can't just add some more mechanics and call it new content. It's not unreasonable to expect two full operation zones, see: DF and DP, in an expansion cycle.

You want Reactive Warding and Shield Amplification.

Very nicely done! I bet this guy's a real hit at parties.

I remember in 1.0 when LI had a different daily filter in group finder. It also dropped significantly better loot than the rest. That would also work well here. Until something happens, I've stopped doing Flahspoints entirely through GF.

As of 4.0, the +41 red / green / blue crystal schematics can be found in your faction's base in the Black Hole. For the Empire side, it is in the southern room with all the other common data crystal vendors. The other rarer colors like solid purple or the black variants I have seen drop in Scum and Villainy (might be HM only) from Warlords and Styrak. I imagine some would drop in TFB and EC as well.

I entered a pick up Ravagers GF the other day. The three DPS that survived the door boss couldn't finish Sparky before she enraged and wiped us out. If only I could have replaced them with my companions.

I just finished the Heroic Voss version on my Assassin with an alternate set of gear and healing companion rank 30. Figured this was the hardest one to do so I gave it a shot. I didn't stealth around through the trash and did kill just about everything. I fought two paladins and did one mini event with the walker. The trash clears were fine. No problem there. On one of the paladins, I had to use my 30% damage reduction from AoE taunt and heroic moment to survive. I just noticed its recast is now five minutes and the abilities are one minute. Neat! No issues on the other two. On the ring leading up to the boss fight, the first ambush was easy. I did hit my AoE deagro defensive buff when the swarm targeted me but no big deal. On the next station, I fought the two gold and clicked the console. For the third part I ran into some trouble as I found my companion stopped healing me when there was nothing up (everything was dead, waiting on respawns) so I had to dance a little bit. For the last station, I wised up a bit and manually healed myself via companion abilities during the downtime. The final fight with the boss was straightforward. Got about 15M away and planted the turret then beat on him. At some point I used the healing ability from Oggurobb and I hit the force damage relic when he started healing. Went down fairly easy. I'm sure I could have used heroic moment to make things simpler either here, below, or in both spots. Overall, it was doable with some effort. I imagine it will be difficult to impossible for some and I certainly won't go back to do any more for fun or for the weeklies, which is a shame. Time is better spent doing planetary heroics or operations. But on the subject of companions, yes, I do believe they went overboard with the nerf bat here. It was fun seeing 5-6k DPS on over world trash at level 65 and 20k heals, but this after effect isn't even half of that.

Here's to hoping KP is the next priority target!

I bet she pulls a Revan and comes back from the middle of nowhere to wage war against the Eternal Empire. That's my apprentice!

Go to fleet and check the area with the commendation vendors. The very first one sells some level 10 modifiable starter gear which includes a main hand and offhand.

I, for one, welcome the flood of 224 items without having to set foot into Nightmare.

Interesting. Thank you.

dipstik, thank you for getting this together. I used your numbers during 3.0 and I (and my raid group!) was very happy. I've been mulling over two ideas for a while now and wanted to bounce them off of you. First, it's been established that 220 B mods are best for that tier. I'm sold on this, no problems there. What are your feelings on going from 220 B to 224 unlettered? Is it better, worse, or situational? I won't go into tanking styles and ideologies, but I feel that the gain in Defense may not be worthwhile, especially in harder difficulties where there are more shieldable or unresistable attacks. Second, I've noticed there are three varieties of tank enhancements this time around instead of two. I'm not in game so I can't get their names, but I can give a synopsis. There are standard token enhancements with the "best" stats and the endurance heavy ones from the commendation vendors. However, there is a new variety from the non-token drops in raids that has a very nice balance in stats and endurance. I am very tempted to use these right now and am hoarding them. What are your thoughts on these compared to token or even 224 enhancements? Thanks.

For 220 rating gear (Hard Mode), you want to shoot for the following stats on average using B mods. Assassin / Shadow use Reactive Warding and Shield Amplification relic. Defense = 2506 Shield = 1367 Absorb = 1355 Juggernaut / Guardian use Reactive Warding and Shrouded Crusader relic. Defense = 2506 Shield = 1333 Absorb = 1369 Powertech / Vanguard use Reactive Warding and Shrouded Crusader relic. Defense = 2506 Shield = 1564 Absorb = 1138

There are a few quests in that line that aren't active since 4.0 for whatever reason. Two others that come to mind on the Imperial side are the Esh-Kha weapons and the droid cores.

Now that's dedication. The highest I've pushed a "no best gift companion" is 25.

Or even, say, open up each Flashpoint via group finder the way it was prior to 4.0 but keep each older one available with level sync. BT, Hammer Station, Mando, and so on. A new one is added every few levels.

The group finder tooltip says 212 gear but I'm unsure where 212 gear comes from. The trash bosses drop blue 208 gear and the bonus and final boss drops purple 216. I'm sure the blue story 200 gear is good but I wouldn't walk in with less than 208 commendation gear or old raiding gear. As for anyone 50-64, I would strongly recommend against doing Hard Modes right now, at least in a PUG setting. I'm sure some of them would be easy enough to be carried through, but if you are just looking for a random group it's entirely unfair for everyone else in my opinion. I anticipate many people will find the 4.0 HMs to be quite a step up in difficulty from 3.0 and 2.0. Those familiar with doing them in 1.0 will feel right at home. For example, the trash in Lost Island hits fairly hard and the bosses are no slouches. My group who was 7/10 and 8/10 from 3.0 had several wipes. Standing in stupid hurts. People need to be on the ball and not just expect to face roll them. Everyone needs to do their job.

I have enjoyed doing Flashpoints in group finder since they first appeared in the 1.0 era. Back in that time, or perhaps from server to server, there was something known as HM etiquette. With the reintroduction of many different Flahspoints in 4.0 and the influx of new players I feel some things should be reiterated. This is not story mode. This is hard mode. Things hit harder, have more health, and have mechanics that need to be followed. When you click group finder, expect to do any of the Flahspoints selected. That includes Lost Island and Blood Hunt. And please, when in a cut scene use your space bar to skip it. We've all seen it in our story and solo modes. There is a gear recommendation and it is there for a reason. Unless you are a veteran from the previous expansion, I would recommend gearing up from the game story and dailies. Personally, I have never entered a HM FP without achieving that base line, be it the old armorings from Belsavis or what is available on the Common Data Crystal vendors. Tangentially related to the above, unless you are very sure of what you are doing, be at max level. It's really not hard to do, and missing key abilities skills and gear really sets others back. More so when you have higher checks on DPS and healing. Understand your class and your role. There are many great guides out there on how to be a better player. As a tank, I expect the healer to be able to keep me alive and the DPS to be able to kill things in a timely manner. Also, be aware of what roles you select when you join the group finder. I cannot count how many times someone has the wrong role selected, forcing the group to boot them and continue waiting. If you are not familiar with the Flashpoint, be it the trash or the bosses, ask. I cannot emphasize this enough. There is no shame in not knowing what to do. We've all been there. Thank you for your kind attention. If you have any suggestions or questions, please add them below.

Remember in 3.0 when PUGs had trouble with Rishi and Blood Hunt? This will be true horror. Also, this was my first HM at 65. Luckily I did it with three other guildies and we completed it but it was quite an adventure! I am disappointed in the loot, however, as I remember some nice stuff dropping the last time I did this at 50. All we got were some blue gifts, gear, and two 216 pieces.

Both: HK-51, Koth (No Artifact rank 6 available from Odessen, only through Cartel Market) Republic: Qyzen, Elara, Kira, Doc, Risha. Empire: Ashara, Malavi Quinn, Jaesa (Light). Also, I've found that companions that have a "best" gift preference when romanced (Ashara, Kira...) have lost that preference in 4.0. For example, giving a Courting gift to one of them will result in 0 influence gain.

No go there. I gave her a ton of different classic purple gifts and the best ones gave around 300 affection. On the other hand, Andronikus got 900 per gift. I imagine this is going to be a problem with numerous companions who have always been stubborn like that. HK for both sides., On Empire, Quinn, Ashara, and Light Jaesa . For Republic that would be Qyzen, Elara, Kira, Doc, and Risha. http://dulfy.net/2015/10/21/swtor-fallen-empire-companion-influences-guide/

I still think Shield / Absorb should be combined into one stat just like Crit / Surge.

The primary reason I have not done any FPs for the past month or two is quite simple: the loot sucks and there is nothing to buy with the commendations anymore. In 1.0, they dropped nice gear and you could buy things with your comms. In 2.0, one boss and the bonus dropped okay gear and you could buy mods with your comms. In 3.0, one boss and one bonus dropped okay gear and you could buy tank mods with your comms.

For the first time in I don't know how long I decided to go guard the healers in AHG instead of defend like I always do. It didn't end well. Other team double capped because nobody took ours. Then the operative DPS who stays in the middle the whole time cusses everyone out and quits.