LordAposno, Slicing has done nothing short but make me money. And not through augments or missions (only missions I've gotten have been Slicing so far, so win-win there). 2 reasons: Lockbox missions on average, break even or return a small % profit of the cost (usually in the 10-15% profit range). Lockboxes out in the field are PURE profit. No cost to gather, and they dump credits in your lap. Opening one and getting 500 credits, on Balmorra (Empire), beats what ANY other crew skill can gather, material-wise, at that level. And that was merely an uncommon lockbox. All your claims seem to be just you fuming about bad luck. I'd honestly like for you to find anything an Artifice, outside of Color Crystals, or a Cybertech outside of Ship Parts, can sell regularly, and make money on. Given that Ilum dailies allow access to better modifications for gear than can be crafted, that removes Hilts, Enhancements, Armorings, and Mods from the list... Weapons from Armstech, and Armor from Armormech and Synthweaving, are only valued when there is a market for them. If there is no market, they are deadweight. Slicing has no difinitive market (barring Augments), to worry about, and as such, is always a profit.

Anything in the "off-hand" slot is effectively a stat stick. The damage generated by the off-hand Blasters and Lightsabers is very little (like 20-30% or something), of it's full damage. An off-hand only blaster pistol or lightsaber (which exist too), is virtually no different than a focus, shield, generator, scattergun, or vibroknife. They exist with a purpose. Yes, there is blasters and lightsabers than can be used in both main and off hands, but there is also ones that can ONLY be used in main-hand.

On a reroll toon of mine. I took Slicing/Archaeology/Underworld Trading, as a Juggernaut. Using Slicing to load me with credits while I level, and until they buff the rest of the crew skills. Once that happens, then I am gonna drop it, grab Synthweaving, and power-level it to 400 with all my banked materials. In your case, unless you need to make something with a high need for Diplomacy-sourced materials right now, I wouldn't waste the time. Wait til they do the crew skill buffs/balancing they said, and then decide. You can always roll an alt toon to level 10, give him Diplomacy, and just have em sit in the Cantina.

Well, then, maybe all healer heals should heal you more too... I mean, you got more health, all heals should just heal a percent, so it heals the same for everyone. It doesn't work that way, sorry to say. Hasn't in any MMO, and don't expect it to start now. If you are doing Flashpoints or Operations, you got 1-4 healers (at least) that are generally going to be aiming to keep YOU alive. If you need a medpac to ensure your survival, then you might wanna speak to your healers, not to BioWare about your profession perk item. If you are soloing, and your healer companion can't keep you up... it is not meant to be solo'd. If they did that, they'd have to make all damage dealt be percentage based too, and not numerical values. It would be HELL to balance, cause then the abilities a tank can take but a DPS can't, wouldn't exist. Not to mention, you could NEVER outgear older content, cause the attacks would always do the same damage regardless of level/gear, to balance against any form of healing. Example (Current Way) Big boss attack hits DPS for near-instant death. Same attack hits tank, takes out maybe 50% of his health, thanks to both large health pool and better mitigation. (Implied way with change to percentage damage) Big boss attack hits DPS for near-instant death if not outright fatal. Same attack hits tank, takes out closer to 75% health, thanks to armor and provided they get the shield chance up. Closer to the 85%-90% mark without the shield chance. (Above is all theorhetical) The name of the game right now, is the one Blizzard only had right during the start of Cataclysm: Triage. It's not about topping people off as quickly as possible, while their health plummets to near-nothing every 2-3 globals. It's about keeping people alive and functioning as long as possible, even if that means only at 75% health.

I've gotten blue lockboxes (no epic ones yet), but usually only from Discovery missions, that just bring back a ton of EVERYTHING. Kinda nice when you get 8 Lorridan Gemstones, 3-4 Perfect Yellow and Orange Crystals, 4 Corusca Gems, a Blue Lockbox (2000 Credits + Level 48-50 Blue Item), either a Grade 5 Gift or some of those Gift Fragments, and MAYBE a level 50 Relic too.

This all stems to the fact that BioWare is making changes to all the other professions, and already stated so, to bring them more in line with the end-game. I'm a 400 Artifice/Archaeology/Treasure Hunting Jedi Shadow... it is nice atm, cause so far, I've not reached Ilum's daily quests to see everything I have get thrown out the window. Once I do get there (which only requires me to finish my class quests on Voss and Corellia), well then I get to see my profession as dead weight except for the Rakata Relic I can make myself (which is nice, being Neutral and all...). Let's just hope the new crew skill changes are coming for version 1.1.2 or something else soon.

Until they fix the other crew skills (which they said they are working to do, it wasn't doable for Patch 1.1 however), Biochem is the clear winner. I'm holding onto my Artifice for now. Given it let me upgrade my own lightsaber to be better than the crafted one that takes 3 Biometric Crystal Alloys to make, AND covers a fair bit of modding for me and many in my guild (Crystal, Hilt, and Enhancement), it's been enjoyable so far, though we are not even doing Hard Mode flashpoints really yet (We tried Esseles, consider our gear decent to good (all level 48+ stuff), and that first boss rolled us over HARD). I'm willing to wait it out, and see what they do, to bring the rest into line. And I won't be surprised if they make the Artifice Relics require Artifice to use, if they start seeing people level it up, make them, and drop it after.

It is an utter blast once you get the healer companion. Almost right away, you can start soloing Heroic 2s. By the time I was on Balmorra (albeit a little over leveled), I was soloing the Heroic 4s. The biggest bit of fun is this: Mind Maze (from Stealth humanoid CC, lasts 1 min, any dmg breaks it), Kill a couple, if being overwhelmed, pop Force Cloak (instant-stealth, drops you out of combat) and let them reset, with fewer to kill. Re-Mind Maze, and clean em up from full health again You get to do so much you shouldn't be allowed to. Tanking + Stealth + Healer Companion = Worlds of Soloing Fun The major buff to Combat Technique's self-healing is great too. Pre-1.1: 50% chance (65% with skill points) to deal 29 damage to target and heal you for 49 health, cannot occur more than once every 1.5 seconds. (That is the level 50 values) Post-1.1: 50% chance (65% with skill points) to deal 113 damage to target and heal you for 425 health, cannot occur more than once every 4.5 seconds. Battle Readiness not only increases the healing by 300%, but also shifts it down to every 3 seconds for the duration.

Right now, all crafting skills that make modifications are stuck at rank 22 upgrades, when stuff from elsewhere is superior. BioWare has stated they got plans for all crew skills, to bring them up to par, but no details given.

Okay, what is currently known about colour crystals: Red/Blue/Green/Yellow/Orange/Magenta are craftable by Artifice. Schematics from trainers or items exist to teach Artificers how to make them. White/Purple/Cyan/Black-Blue/Black-Red do NOT have any known method to acquire. The Sith PvP weapons are purple blades, but have no mod slots, are just raw stat weapons, so you can't remove it. Black-Blue or Black-Red is apparently part of the Rakata-level Weapons (unsure myself directly). White and Purple have a TON of actual crystals in the game's database, but not ONE is acquireable in-game. There is also NO schematics to find them (that is based on torhead.com's datamining, there is NOTHING to teach how to make them). There is however, Crafting Materials listed in both White and Purple too (if you search either colour on torhead.com, you will see them in the list of actual crystals), so they were planned at some point. Until then, BioWare holds these under wraps. Personally, Colour Crystals should NOT be stat-based, but strictly visual, and require some solo/upwards-of-4-man effort to acquire. They should not be power-defining.

The colour crystals are gapped big, cause there is only 6 qualities of colour crystals, so you get 6 tiers of them. Grantedly, all they are is visual and a small single stat bonus (even at Level 50, the best we can make, not counting the Magenta ones, is +31, until someone figures out how we get the Mastercraft crystals...) You will get more, just takes some time. At skill 400, you even get a couple Orange colour crystals.

On-topic: White, Purple, Cyan (and far less likely Black-Blue and Black-Red), currently have NO schematics for an Artifice to make them in-game. Sites like torhead.com datamine the game's database, and if you search any of those colours, there is no "schematic" tab in the results, meaning there is no way to craft them at this time. However, equally, there is TONS of actual crystals, with stats (especially for White and Purple, which look like they were supposed to be in the game, but weren't... they even HAVE unique crafting materials listed, like "Small Perfect White Crystal"), they are completely and totally nowhere to be found so far. My assumption lies in the fact they were added to the database in beta, never implemented, and now it rests with BioWare. But as of right now: No way to craft it, the assumption is they are a drop (that would be, the actual crystal you put in the weapon). Personally, I still feel colour crystals should never have been made stat-variable, meaning that certain ones will be limited to much harder content (See: Magenta patterns only drop from world bosses). They should have been stat-less, and been an intrepid 1-4 person journey across multiple planets to acquire (kinda like how the Magenta Adegan Crystal is acquired). Colour is such a huge cosmetic matter for many people, it shouldn't be tied to stats.

You can get purple mats from them, just not as common. For Treasure Hunting anyways, I've had 10+ mission long dry spells, and at Rank 6, that is an hour per mission for Gemstones. However, every now and then, I get 2-3 Corusca Gems. If I go for a 340-skill Discovery mission, 3-4 Corusca Gems are pretty much assured, along with piles of other stuff. I just won't pay over 20,000 credits for one discovery.

Did you ever consider, instead of burning ALL your abilities with cooldowns right away, perhaps staggering them out a bit, with a Flurry of Bolts in between each one? Might see your DPS remain sustained a bit more, in you go into a rotation, rather than a burst-dump and sit on nothing afterwords.

How about making crafting equal to the daily stuff? Cause as others have mentioned: 8 daily commendations, and the BEST craftable hilt/barrel/etc modification is outclassed. THAT isn't even balanced, by any measure. That is outright a kick in the teeth for any crafter.

I'm with folks on this, but not directly for myself. Moreso for my sister, the Gunslinger smuggler who wants her purple blaster bolts. Personally, myself, I want my White crystal for my Neutral Jedi Shadow (hey, who knows, maybe White will be one of the Neutral/Grey Path rewards when that gets implemented...), but anyone who references me to the Alderaan world boss drop about a White Crystal... that isn't end-game viable in the least. I'm fine with them being difficult to get the materials for. Putting all the schematics on world bosses or in Operations (Though I doubt this has been done), is mildly cruel though to people who play in smaller circles. I can accept that I can't make a crystal that is equal to the Rakata or Columi gear, without getting the schematic from a source equal to that gear. But why not have 2-3 tiers of level 50 crystals, of ALL colours available, to be obtained through various means. We got Red/Blue/Green/Yellow/Orange at Level 47. This is the first time you can make Orange. Why not add in patterns for Purple, White, Cyan and Magenta (and any other colours lying around not yet found/noticed/implemented), but make them have to acquire the materials in similar ways to that of the Magenta. Then, the Columi-level Colour Crystals could be world boss drop and/or Operation Boss drop schematics (or maybe have a rare chance to get said schematics from a Treasure Hunting lockbox mission). Ensure all colours are represented of course. And lastly, for the Rakata-level ones, you'd have your Nightmare-level Operation drops, which I think would be fair. I wouldn't advocate them being bought with any form of PvP currency, unless it is the upcoming Battlemaster or current Champion commendations, ones you can't get a large volume of quickly.

Tradable maybe, but all the Reusables REQUIRE Biochem of an appropriate skill level to use. As to the topic as a whole: The professions really feel unfinished. I'm a skill 400 Artifice, and not impressed by much I can make. The lightsabers are literally 1 ilevel higher than world drop blue lightsabers (the Hilts, Mods, and Enhancements are rating 52 in the crafted, 50 in the drops), not very impressive since I need to get 3 Biometic Crystal Alloys to make 1 lightsaber. Crystals cap out (short of the Adegan-based ones) at +31 to a stat. Any moddable, level 50, purple-quality weapon will have higher. Enhancements and Hilts stop at Rank 22, while gear exists with Rank 24 and 25 in those slots. The only thing that Artifice has going, is the BoP Relics... only an on-use effect with ZERO passive stats, level 50, and require 1 Biometic Crystal Alloy to make too. Supposedly, I could critical them to get the Augment slot added to them too... but not a cheap prospect. Oh, and they get out-classed by the Columi and Rakata ones, AND are equal to the Level 50 ones from Lockboxes (or from Treasure Hunting), with the exception that the crafted ones do not have Light/Dark side requirements. So yeah... not so impressed here right now with the unfinished job of most crafting skills. Makes the hundreds of thousands of credits sunk into it seem kind of wasted. [Edit] Oh yeah, forgot to mention... shields/focus/generators... Level 48 are the best ones, can reverse-engineer up to purple quality, maybe crit for an augment slot, but still quickly outclassed. AND you can't even make Shadow/Assassin tanking shields. (All this is based on trainer-taught schematics, not additional drop ones).

If it is for any Missions skill (that yields Blue/Purple materials), I'll pay up to 10-15k for the mission. If it is a Gathering skill, no more than 3k. The yield is just not worth what people ask for them. All gathering ones are doing is just giving you a large volume of materials in a single mission. The mission skill ones help alot, cause they pretty much always return purple-level crafting materials.

Specifically, as per the loading screen tooltip: Accuracy over 100% will REDUCE a target's change to parry/deflect/resist an attack made by you. Basically, if you want WoW terms: Accuracy = Hit + Expertise (when you break 100%). A Sage/Sorceror does not require any accuracy for 100% hit chance with force abilities (if you wanna run up and melee, you only got a base 90%). HOWEVER, this does not rule out the enemy Resisting your force attack. 100% Hit Chance = All Force/Tech attacks will Hit, but the enemy still rolls to Resist. 110% Hit Chance = All Force/Tech attacks will Hit, but the enemy still rolls to Resist, if they have more than a 10% resist chance. And obviously, this is irrelevant for healers. Healing doesn't miss.

Given no player can make modifications (Crystals, Hilts, Barrels, Armorings, Mods, Enhancements, Augments) that match those from Heroic Flashpoints/Operations (and I think PvP), the value of crafting crew skills is horrendously low in the long run right now. As it stand, BioChem and Slicing are about it for long term, with how the current crafting stands. Slicing cause it is pure profit. BioChem cause consumables will always be wanted. Beyond that, I've yet to see a schematic for any weapon/armor/modification that can't be out-classed by a drop/commendation vendor item. And I say outclassed, it's not even a matter of comparable, when the armor comes with Rank 25 Modifications, and the highest we can CRAFT is Rank 22. Especially given a large chunk of the nice Level 48-50 stuff REQUIRES a material (Biometic Crystal Alloy) that only drops from Heroic Flashpoint/Operation Bosses... yeah, backwards much?

Artifice DOES make Off-hands items, which can have Augment slots (Of course, BioWare conveniently forgot to let Artifices make Jedi Shadow/Stih Assassin Shields from the trainer. There is some from schematics, but not 1 from a trainer), so that is one we can do... Otherwise, yeah, not so impressed. Then again, very very few companions have a bonus to Artifice anyways (if I recall, I think Lord Scourge is one of the only).

And BioWare has remained silent on the matter I take it?

I'm curious as to how many crew skills even hold value to most people come Level 50. Personally, as an Artifice, I am far from impressed... I can make level 48 lightsabers, but need a material from Operations/Heroic Flashpoints (Level 50), to make them... hmmm, losing value there. I can make Crystals, Hilts, and Enhancements... cept any moddable gear you get from PvP or Ops (possibly Heroic Flashpoints, not checked yet), is superior in it's modifications, making them irrelevant. Oh, I can make a few Level 50 Relics, with just the click effect, no passive stats. But at least they don't have Light/Dark Side requirements. I can make shields (for Strength and Aim, but NOT Willpower Tanks)/foci/generators, but again, inferior to anything from a Heroic Flashpoint/Operation/PvP. I know Biochem holds some value, since consumables are just that: Consumed. Cybertech has a LITTLE bit of novelty value, thanks to the vehicles they can make (not sure how many of them are BoP though). But really, was it intended that the best stuff we can make, is sub-par to the places we have to go to get them in the first place, to acquire the needed components? A strong review of the crew skills at 50 needs to be done, cause right now, as a 400 Artifice/400 Archaeology/400 Treasure Hunting, I'm looking at what I can make, and thinking "Well, after a few Heroic Flashpoints, with any luck, my whole profession will be a moot point to me". So, does anyone feel their crew skill was even worth the credits invested?

This right here, is a big problem. Knowing what I do right now, I feel like all the time spent as an Artifice, is wasted, if I can't even craft comparable Crystals, Hilts, or Enhancements. At least Cybertech gets things like mounts/vehicles. This is seemingly VERY similar to that of other MMOs: Crafting can make you okay stuff, but unless you do the hardest content available, you do not get anything worthy of note. Not what I would call diverse paths of progression. If there was honestly a disclaimer of "Nothing you can craft will ever measure up even close to what PvP/Ops award", I would have taken up Slicing instead, and just hoarded credits.

I'm still wondering why Purple, Cyan, and (seemingly) White have no way to be crafted. Magenta, I've seen the schematics. Orange is trainer taught at skill 400. I know it was a totally different thread, on the availability of a few colours, but it is a matter that has yet to been addressed in any way, shape, or form, and is somewhat relevant here, too, since they all seem to be mysteries too (Black-Blue and Black-Red too, I suppose).