Augments?

[Staleningrad]

I know augments are used to socket gear, but I have yet to see any gear that can use them, of course I'm only level 41. Are they worth selling on the GTN?

[Estei]

I know augments are used to socket gear, but I have yet to see any gear that can use them, of course I'm only level 41. Are they worth selling on the GTN?

 

Augments Slots are on Crafted gear where the crafter got a crit. So it is not on the usual orange moddable gear. Look for [Advanced] and [Mastercraft] in names of items on the GTN.

[DarthDemens]

Augments Slots are on Crafted gear where the crafter got a crit. So it is not on the usual orange moddable gear. Look for [Advanced] and [Mastercraft] in names of items on the GTN.

 

Also [Exceptional]

[Estei]

Also [Exceptional]

 

ahh yes forgot that one

[Olvera]

Also expect to pay a premium for augmented gear. Most people have them up for more than a non augmented slotted armor.

[pokota]

From selling Earpieces, I've noticed that a lot of people pass on buying slotted gear. I suppose some of that at low levels is because SWTOR does absolutely nothing to explain about augments, and most new players are confused about it or simply unaware that it exists. I've heard so many questions about augments in general or guild chat.

 

People also have color fixations. People will pass on a slotted green for a blue, or a slotted blue for a purple, even when the slotted has the potential to be a better piece. I think many people prefer simply not to bother with the extra effort of finding and buying an augment, as well.

 

I've become pretty disenchanted with how the system works at level 49+, to be honest. No one wants slotted blues or unslotted purples at that level, I assume because of daily quest rewards. I have tons of each in storage, and they just don't sell very well, even at low prices. Slotted purple Earpieces DO sell, on the other hand, but the critical crafting rate is so low, probably about 10% or less, judging from my own experiences. It's not that it would be hard to get a fair number of them, it's rather that I end up with so many unslotted versions that I have no more space for them. Soon I will start having to RE any unslotted purples, which just seems wrong somehow. That's the way the system works, however, so there is little use in complaining about it. Still, I can't help but wonder if that was what BioWare intended.

 

I think I would much rather they take the RNG aspect out so I didn't have to bother with all these unwanted purples. Just give me a straight schematic for a slotted piece that requires five times the materials, or something to that effect. Stop forcing me to waste my time producing unwanted stuff, just hoping for a lucky crit.

[Farmbuyer]

People also have color fixations. People will pass on a slotted green for a blue, or a slotted blue for a purple, even when the slotted has the potential to be a better piece. I think many people prefer simply not to bother with the extra effort of finding and buying an augment, as well.

 

Blame BioWare's choice of color scheme for that. Six years of WoW have taught the playerbase that greens cannot be improved to the level of even the crappiest blue, and blues cannot be improved to the usefulness of a purple.

 

Now, suddenly, they can. Except the game doesn't draw attention to that fact.

[Raani]

Blame BioWare's choice of color scheme for that. Six years of WoW have taught the playerbase that greens cannot be improved to the level of even the crappiest blue, and blues cannot be improved to the usefulness of a purple.

 

Now, suddenly, they can. Except the game doesn't draw attention to that fact.

 

Six years of WoW have also taught the playerbase the concept of "itemization" and "stat priority." More theorycrafting has been done for WoW than for all the other MMOs in existence, and the vast majority of people can at least interpret results and do some item comparisons on their own. Just because a blue can't be improved in other games, it doesn't mean we are incapable of basic math (blue stats + augment stats > purple stats).

 

An easier explanation as to why someone would rather grab a purple than an augmented blue lies in the poor augment supply. If they can't find a main-stat augment and the purple offers a slight increase in other stats, then they'll grab the purple. Less of a headache that way.

 

However, just based on the things I sell, whenever I put up a batch, the augmented ones sell first. I'm not talking about lv 49 mastercrafts, since I understand people want BiS, but things like blue techblades, scatterguns, etc. People sometimes mail me and ask for an augmented techblade because they think it can be crafted on demand.

[penumbri]

It's a dead end money sink mission for slice to get those. I have a friend say 'what are they" and I have succeded in giving away 2. No one buys them, because just not enough items need them. I have had 1 piece of gear that needs them myself. I don't blame the player base for not understanding something they don't see much of, so have little use for.

They need to add this slot to more gear.

Edited February 12, 2012 by penumbri
added a thought

[SpankyMcFlych]

lvl 49 purple augments go for tons of money. (on my server anyways)

 

the greens and blues... not so much.

Edited February 12, 2012 by SpankyMcFlych

[Maranea]

I've stopped doing grade 6 augment missions. Can't even give those things away.

[Ravenelle]

if you have an artificer you can reverse engineer the green augments for mats they are about 50/50 on grade 5 or 6 archeology crystals/fragments.

 

The blue max level ones I sell for 8k and the purple ones for 25 to 40k depending on whether they offer a primary stat like willpower or aim or even a desired tanking stat like defense or absorption versus a weaker secondary like alacrity.

 

usually plenty of greens on the market even slotting in an extra 22 of a primarly stat is going to make a mastercraft better than a non mastercraft until you can track down a blue or purple augment.

 

The return on purple augments is really low so the items are very rare. If you get a few good ones, be sure to remove them from gear you replace and save them. It takes about 26k to remove one but they sell for more than that.

Edited February 12, 2012 by Ravenelle

[DenverRalphy]

I don't think it's a problem with BW not making them more readily apparent. I think it's more the playerbase itself doesn't make them more popular due to money management.

 

When I level up my toons, whenever I'm at the GTN to upgrade gear I always look for items with augment slots first. Unfortunately, they can be extremely hard to find most of the time. Mainly because (IMHO), a large portion of the playerbase goes straight for Biochem, and those that do actually choose a different profession usually only craft just what their own toons can use. When the players progress in levels, they repeat the process, and will rarely craft lower level gear unless they happen to have some spare mats taking up inventory space.

 

I don't fault the playerbase for it though. In SWTOR, there are way too many money sinks and the average player is always pinching every credit they have whenever possible. It's not until you get to lvl 45-50 that money isn't much of a worry anymore. But at that point, lower level gear still isn't getting crafted.

[Yrneh]

While leveling you use moddable gear which does not have any augment slots. All the non end game gear is pointless to augment because you outgrow them when you level up. I've seen epic mid 30-40s with augment gear go for over 150k on my server. Pointless to waste that much credits on something that is going to be useless in a 3-4 levels. Augments are mostly needed in end game and even then, only the epic level 49s. Even some of the epic 49s are useless (I've gotten some with accuracy and presence). The process of attaining/making augment gear needs a overhaul.

[Darth_Pernisc]

Won't the upcoming changes which allow both crit crafts on orange gear and the ability to remove armoring slots and hilts/barrels from epic gear solve all this? Once these go into effect wearing full oranges with augment slots with epic armoring,mod, and enhancements will be the new standard.

[Natarii]

Won't the upcoming changes which allow both crit crafts on orange gear and the ability to remove armoring slots and hilts/barrels from epic gear solve all this? Once these go into effect wearing full oranges with augment slots with epic armoring,mod, and enhancements will be the new standard.

 

You are correct. A crit-crafted orange item, modified with Operations-level armoring/mod/enhancement and augment will indeed be best in slot. This will also be the case of Orange lightsaber crafted with an augment slot (which already exist) once the hilt mod is removable from Operations-level gear.

[GnatB]

While leveling you use moddable gear which does not have any augment slots. All the non end game gear is pointless to augment because you outgrow them when you level up.

 

But you also outgrow the mods in slotted gear when you level up. If it wasn't for the dime-a-dozen commendation vendors (Which, IMO, is the real mistake) it would be better/easier to buy new non-moddable gear than to upgrade existing moddable gear. (from a crafting point of view, anyways. A set of mods takes ~3x the mats of a single finished item)

[Dayshadow]

Also expect to pay a premium for augmented gear. Most people have them up for more than a non augmented slotted armor.

 

You can find any worthwhile gear on GTN? I figured they'd be too busy reverse engineering stuff to bother to sell it.

[Natarii]

Yes, augmented gear does indeed command a premium price, due to rarity of a crit in item creation. Case in point: I make artifact level off hands for dps casters and for strength-using tanks (Expert version for willpower offhand, and Veracity version for strength shield). Non-crits sell for 35-50K, crit versions go for 135K-160K. And yes, they do sell at these prices. Artifact rank 22 augments themselves go for anywhere from 75K-250K depending on that stat (presence only goes for 15K, and I'm not even sure they sell, I just see them up for that). Edited February 13, 2012 by Natarii

[Darth_Pernisc]

This will also be the case of Orange lightsaber crafted with an augment slot (which already exist) once the hilt mod is removable from Operations-level gear.

 

Already have mine sitting in the bank. The day we can pull epic hilts all my lightsaber components go into the orange. I suggest everyone try to get these sabers now while the community is generally unaware of their upcoming value because the price will skyrocket once the changes go live.

 

Artifact rank 22 augments themselves go for anywhere from 75K-250K depending on that stat (presence only goes for 15K, and I'm not even sure they sell, I just see them up for that).

 

My server has no concept of the value items like these should have. I have 4 pieces of gear with augments slots, all with Artifact rank 22 wp augments, all bought for the default price the GTN assigns the augment when you put it up for sale: around 1800 credits.

Edited February 13, 2012 by Darth_Pernisc

[Natarii]

I'm already using a crit-crafted Radiant Blade - the rank 23 hilt from daily comms is actually better itemized than a rank 24 (as a dps and/or healing caster) that came in a normal mode EV drop I got (Resolve 23 vs Force-Wielder 24: resolve has more will than force-wielder and I dont care about endurance as much or base dmg, since i'm a caster).

[Jenarie]

I'm making a decent profit on augments. The only ones I can't sell are presence the rest sell for about what you paid for the mission (if the low end of the level scale) to a few hundred profit. So far my slicer is only halfway leveled but I've done almost all augment missions and love them. Although I make an even better profit buying up the ones people price at default and marking them up to decent prices.

 

I make minor adjustments based on if it is a good one or a bleh one but for the most part blue is priced at level x100 (Ex Might 6 = 600 credits) with green going for about 2/3. I've only gotten a few purple but I'd probably double the blue price. I buy tons of them from other people for 90-300 and reprice them for 400-1k. I have mostly left the level 40+ ones alone but have fun with the low level market.

 

I post everything for 2 days and rarely get more than a couple back. The things do sell.

[CriticalMasses]

I don't think it's a problem with BW not making them more readily apparent. I think it's more the playerbase itself doesn't make them more popular due to money management.

 

When I level up my toons, whenever I'm at the GTN to upgrade gear I always look for items with augment slots first. Unfortunately, they can be extremely hard to find most of the time. Mainly because (IMHO), a large portion of the playerbase goes straight for Biochem, and those that do actually choose a different profession usually only craft just what their own toons can use. When the players progress in levels, they repeat the process, and will rarely craft lower level gear unless they happen to have some spare mats taking up inventory space.

 

I don't fault the playerbase for it though. In SWTOR, there are way too many money sinks and the average player is always pinching every credit they have whenever possible. It's not until you get to lvl 45-50 that money isn't much of a worry anymore. But at that point, lower level gear still isn't getting crafted.

 

I have to agree with others. The general public as a whole has no idea about augment slots and augments and how to utilize them. The ONLY people I see buy my augment slotted Shields are other crafters who understand what can be done with them.

[Hologramx]

Maybe they should show the grade of a slotted gear as one rank above, i.e. a premium becomes a prototype if it has a slot, and a slotted prototype becomes an artifact, considering you can choose what to add onto that slot, actually it can be even better than one rank above if the weapon/armor rating remains the same. Edited February 14, 2012 by Hologramx