My Beef With Orange Items...

[Kheldras]

OP, your head may be exploding, but take a second to notice something in the pictures you posted. Do you notice that the comparison is not showing that you will gain or losing armor rating (like it does the other stats in the first pic) by equipping the item? I believe the problem is that the tooltip isn't updating the true armor rating of the unequipped piece, even though the comparison tooltip (and the game) is recognizing them as equal armor rating.

 

 

Hes Right... i guess its really just a display bug.

 

So if it's orange it can be used forever? (Without penalties)

 

Yes cause the Item itself is only the "Shell", the look. its the first Mod "Barrel, Hilt, Armor etc" that counts as the base Item. a Lev 9 - look Jacket can be a level 50 Item, with the right, rare mod in it.... I think this is, what makes the System cool.

Edited December 17, 2011 by Kheldras

[Klaphood]

I just want to thank you all so much, especially both the OP and mightygaz, for continually discussing this through until we could finally solve this issue that's also driving me mad ATM (in terms of what crew skills to learn in my case).

 

I think it should really be clear now that in fact orange equips DO fulfill their purpose completely, without any disadvantages.

 

So now that this problem has been solved, there's another question coming up to my thoughts: "Where's the point of choosing Synthweaving/Armor-/Armstech now?"

I don't know how hard it is to find orange equip for all your slots.

But once you get one of every, you should just have worry about new, better modifications from that moment on, don't you?

So you could just dismantle all parts better than those you have on your stuff off of random equips you get/find and you're done!

 

So one should be really better off choosing a profession that can craft those mods. <- Opinions?

[Soultranna]

As I understand it, the Crafting professions allow you to create mods as well as items, and once you get to the point of being able to make orange items, then you can cater to pretty much anyone's needs - not only can you make level-appropriate mods, but you can also tailor the look and feel component to their preferences.

 

I'd have LOVED this system in WoW, because a lot of the high-end raid-capable armor looked like absolute crap, while armor I found/bought in the 20-30 range was absolutely beautiful. This meant I had one set for raids, and another set for wandering around socializing.

[Bigbazz]

Can't believe this hasn't been worked out after 8 pages. Equip the lower quality item, the armour will change to the same as the currently equipped one.

 

8 pages.... Hahahah.

[Vodalus]

Can't believe this hasn't been worked out after 8 pages. Equip the lower quality item, the armour will change to the same as the currently equipped one.

 

8 pages.... Hahahah.

 

Umm, it was worked out. The discussion has continued with stories from beta, clarifications on armor in general (ie: purple end game compared to moded orange), and economy of crafting.

 

The solution actually wasn't one of equipping. That didn't solve the issue in this case (though it has in other cases of the tooltips not updating). This time it took logging out and back in to get the tooltip to display correctly.

[erichough]

So now that this problem has been solved, there's another question coming up to my thoughts: "Where's the point of choosing Synthweaving/Armor-/Armstech now?"

I don't know how hard it is to find orange equip for all your slots.

But once you get one of every, you should just have worry about new, better modifications from that moment on, don't you?

So you could just dismantle all parts better than those you have on your stuff off of random equips you get/find and you're done!

 

So one should be really better off choosing a profession that can craft those mods. <- Opinions?

 

Basically you have 2 choices on how to advance your gear:

 

1) you can try to get orange gear and improve the mods, either through crafting or by buying mods with commendations, etc.

 

2) You can stick with normal, non-moddable gear and advance it through crafting, quest drops, commendation purchases, etc.

 

Both paths should be equally viable, at least in theory, it remains to be seen in if it will in practice. Also, I am not sure if ALL gear slots are moddable - I know you can get moddable weapons, chest pieces and leg pieces, but I haven't seen other equipment slots that are truly moddable (although you can craft exceptional items that take augmentations). The orange armor path lets you find a look you like and stick with it, the other path is going to vary your look as you swap pieces in and out.

 

In practice so far I have been able to mix both - my sorcerer has a mod-able chest piece, and has been updating that, his light saber and a mod-able weapon I got for my companion buy buying mods with commendations. But I also took synthweaving and have had good luck making a lot of nice blue gear for most of my other slots and for all of Khem Val's equipment, since he basically wears heavy jedi armor.

[Fdzzaigl]

But I'm staring at two orange chest pieces with the exact same mods in all slots - and they both have different inherent armor. The RATING is the same, because of the mods being the same, but one HAS more armor than the other.

 

And THAT'S what I'm talking about. There is no way to change the inherent ARMOR of the item. Thus my orange is inferior to his - even if it's so little a thing as armor.

 

Don't know what you're looking at, but if you insert a mod with "armor rating 44" into an item, it will have the same armor value as a more recent orange or other item with armor rating 44. That's what happened to me anyway.

 

Some orange items have more slots than others however.

 

If anything, they're not going far enough into this, even though they would need a way to make sure crafting new armor stays relevant.

[rgdelta]

most all orange (artifact items is the term) are items with guranteed slots it makes you decide you look at most of the bases are the same (at least at higher levels) so if you find an artifact item you like the look you can just mod it to make is usable as you level.

[Vodalus]

Don't know what you're looking at, but if you insert a mod with "armor rating 44" into an item, it will have the same armor value as a more recent orange or other item with armor rating 44. That's what happened to me anyway.

 

Some orange items have more slots than others however.

 

If anything, they're not going far enough into this, even though they would need a way to make sure crafting new armor stays relevant.

 

The issue has been resolved. It's a bug in which the tooltip does not properly update. It required the OP logging out and back in to get it to update.

 

As for the variance in number of slots, I have to admit, I've not heard of this. Or are you referring to orange crit-crafted items?

 

most all orange (artifact items is the term) are items with guranteed slots it makes you decide you look at most of the bases are the same (at least at higher levels) so if you find an artifact item you like the look you can just mod it to make is usable as you level.

 

Artifact is not orange. Custom is the name of the orange tier. Artifact is purple.

Edited December 17, 2011 by Vodalus

[Sojo]

I'm wondering if Orange gear with the right mods are going to be the best gear in the game bar none? Is it possible for Orange gear to be better than operation gear later on? If so whats the point in synthweaving or armortech?

[Vodalus]

I'm wondering if Orange gear with the right mods are going to be the best gear in the game bar none? Is it possible for Orange gear to be better than operation gear later on? If so whats the point in synthweaving or armortech?

 

Orange gear, with operation mods, according to the dev blog on the system, are equivalent to the purple operation gear that has two mod slots and fixed stats (basically, the armoring mod stats are fixed, rather than being a mod).

 

If anything, the purple gear will be BIS since it previously had set bonuses and there are indications that it still does.

[Slaign]

I'm wondering if Orange gear with the right mods are going to be the best gear in the game bar none? Is it possible for Orange gear to be better than operation gear later on? If so whats the point in synthweaving or armortech?

 

Orange gear can be the equivilant of operation gear with operation level mods in it. Synth and Arms make the majority of the orange gear.

[AngelousWang]

I'm wondering if Orange gear with the right mods are going to be the best gear in the game bar none? Is it possible for Orange gear to be better than operation gear later on? If so whats the point in synthweaving or armortech?

 

It will be equal to purple operation gear, if you fill it with purple operation mods.

 

There are essentially two methods of gearing.

 

1. Use standard gear and get new standard gear as you progress (this is easy as they are normally main story quest rewards).

 

1. Use orange gear and then get higher level mods and switch them out as you progress (mods are easily acquired from commendation vendors, commendations are everywhere).

 

Both are designed to be equal methods, both produce equal end game status, you just choose which works best for you.

 

Personally I find it's best for me to have and orange weapon and mod it, and use standard Armour.

[Sojo]

Orange gear, with operation mods, according to the dev blog on the system, are equivalent to the purple operation gear that has two mod slots and fixed stats (basically, the armoring mod stats are fixed, rather than being a mod).

 

If anything, the purple gear will be BIS since it previously had set bonuses and there are indications that it still does.

 

So your saying that you could have BIS gear with Orange gear? Except for the 4 piece bonus for the armor pieces. Seems to be the opposite of what my friends are saying but the majority of forum chatter is this line of thinking. Thanks for that

 

Orange gear can be the equivilant of operation gear with operation level mods in it. Synth and Arms make the majority of the orange gear.

 

If Synth and Armortech make most the orange gear then does the crafting skills such as armstech(barrel), artificer(enhancement/hilt), cybrtech (mods/armoring) give operation level mods/enhancment since syth and armortech basically give the equivalent operation level through orange armor?

 

 

It will be equal to purple operation gear, if you fill it with purple operation mods.

 

There are essentially two methods of gearing.

 

1. Use standard gear and get new standard gear as you progress (this is easy as they are normally main story quest rewards).

 

1. Use orange gear and then get higher level mods and switch them out as you progress (mods are easily acquired from commendation vendors, commendations are everywhere).

 

Both are designed to be equal methods, both produce equal end game status, you just choose which works best for you.

 

Personally I find it's best for me to have and orange weapon and mod it, and use standard Armour.

 

This sounds great, I like the option to run end game for fun and fill in the couple pieces that I don't have the equivalent Orange pieces for. It also keeps the Economy for crafters in a good place if they can sell gear to those that don't run end game. Hope this really is the way it works.

 

Thanks for the answers guys, it's taking me a bit to wrap my head around the way swtor is handling progression with the orange gear in the mix

[Klaphood]

As I understand it, the Crafting professions allow you to create mods as well as items, and once you get to the point of being able to make orange items, then you can cater to pretty much anyone's needs - not only can you make level-appropriate mods, but you can also tailor the look and feel component to their preferences.

 

You could either create mods or armors (per character), not both things at the same time as they're all made by different schematics, the crew skills you can only have one of at a time.

 

I'm quite new to the crafting stuff, but after hours ( =/ ) of trying to comprehend the basics I think with most common combinations you can't craft both simultaneously (with hacking being an exception, because you should be able to get a few enhancements through it, but hacking isn't a basic collecting mission type that's tied to one or two specific schematics, which all the other ones are).

 

But regardless, your point to be able to customize the requested armors to the customers' wishes is pretty good and true. =)

 

 

(Am I going off-topic? >.< If so, I'm sorry but this should probably be my last reply on this)

 

EDIT: Oh, @erichough, thank you very much for your helpful and interesting post!

Edited December 18, 2011 by Klaphood

[LagunaD]

Just a note, in my experience going back to Beta, and so far in EGA, the tooltip will update as long as you de-equip the item before changing the stats. I think the problem is with changing the stats of an item while it is equipped.

[darth_balur]

The UI in this game is not fixed, and does not update a plethora of things, from guildmates in your guild window, to stats on modded items, to a hundred other things.

 

The simple fix for all these problems is: CTRL+U+U

 

This is the thousandth time this exact argument has appeared in the forums over this topic, and the solutuion has not changed in all that time (see above line).

[Rtwozero]

All 'bugs' aside... The orange items are a great idea and also the experience of finding out that they can be constantly upgraded. I don't believe BW needs to explain anything more than what it has. Let us learn ourselves and let the community work together to help each other. The more they spoon feed us the more this will be like other stupid easy games made for 12 year olds who like cuddly black and white bears.

 

Maintain the learning curve.... we are better for it

[InterestingJohn]

Thanks for bringing some clarity to this everyone, I was super excited about the prospect of the custom items, but my friends were telling me that it didn't work the way I thought it did. I'm working long hours right now and have precious little time to play, so I didn't really have a way of figuring it out for myself.

 

My only major questions now are how easy are orange items to get, and is there a lot of variety? Obviously, I only need to find the one chest armor that I like and I'll be set, but how hard will that be to find?

[Rhinoplat]

But do you see what I'm saying?

 

Basically, with the way the system currently is, Orange items are the EXACT same as blue or purple items - we just have to work twice as hard to have them (i.e. finding comparable mods to have competitive stats)....just for the look of the armor piece?

 

That's ********.

 

This was the whole intent of the system. In Beta they stated that Orange gear would need twice the work to keep up with drops. It's working as expected.

 

Also you have 1 chest piece actually on. So are your character stats affecting the armor number? Take both pieces off, with all mods out and look at and compare the 2 oranges.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Rhinoplat

[InterestingJohn]

To some people, it's worth looking good.

[DavidHunt]

In case there is still confusion on this issue:

 

1) Armor Rating and Armor Value are linked. Armor Value is a combination of the Rating and the Weight of the armor. Rather than list out the possible armor values for each armor type, or have different mods for light/medium/heavy, the armoring just lists the armor rating. If you compare two items with the same weight and rating, they should have the same value.

 

2) The case where one orange item is showing lower value with the same mod is because of a display refresh bug. You can also try to unequip everything except the one item and look at your armor in your character sheet.

 

3) Orange items are not intended to have any inherent properties. You should be able to upgrade them fully.

[Temet]

This was a useful thread, I'd actually been selling my orange items due to running into this bug repeatedly. I'm now dressed in an ugly mismatched mess, but I'm glad to hear I can fix it.

[Wren_Atticus]

I understand what the OP is saying and wondered that myself. Let's say you have a lvl 9 chest piece and a lvl 45 chestpiece. Both orange, heavy, and no mods. The level 9 has 45 armor and the level 45 has 900 armor. That is a big difference.

 

People are saying this is a display issue now and that they are equal? Am I reading that correctly. Do we have some sort of proof on this?

 

I ask because I want to buy the Imperial trooper armor for my Merc from the CE vendor. It is all orange with empty mods. However, I looked at the base armor on the pieces and it was VERY low. Are you saying if I buy that and equip it, then the armor will match an orange chest piece I got in an instance?(assuming mods and all other factors are equal)

 

If this is not the case, then the reason behind the orange fails. Because no one will keep an inferior armor for the look.

[Tachyonsaint]

I understand what the OP is saying and wondered that myself. Let's say you have a lvl 9 chest piece and a lvl 45 chestpiece. Both orange, heavy, and no mods. The level 9 has 45 armor and the level 45 has 900 armor. That is a big difference.

 

People are saying this is a display issue now and that they are equal? Am I reading that correctly. Do we have some sort of proof on this?

 

I ask because I want to buy the Imperial trooper armor for my Merc from the CE vendor. It is all orange with empty mods. However, I looked at the base armor on the pieces and it was VERY low. Are you saying if I buy that and equip it, then the armor will match an orange chest piece I got in an instance?(assuming mods and all other factors are equal)

 

If this is not the case, then the reason behind the orange fails. Because no one will keep an inferior armor for the look.

 

 

With a chorus of singing Gungans, "YUP".