Gearing after hiatus Rakata to current tier

[Bilirubin]

Hi all,

 

Back after about a year away, and just dinged 55. I am wondering what my strategy should be to gear up. I am in fully augmented Rakata (4 piece bonus), with some MK-1 and MK-3 BH and a Campaign shield. There are mixed opinions on whether I am sufficiently geared to move into HM 55s yet, and whether I should burn the comms on basic gear or use it all to get vials of stable isotope-5 and craft a level 72 hilt/armor. As I am currently guildless I would appreciate your thoughts?

[inc_CichYBoB]

best way -y find guild that will pull y trough sm versions sv and tfb so y can get 69 so y can skip these new flashpoints.

long way- do hm ev kp ec. get some 63 gear.hit makeb and get some 66 blues maybe, then hit 55 flaspoints.

[Bilirubin]

OK assuming I am doing that what would you spend your basic comms on?

 

And assuming I remain guildless what would you spend those same comms on?

[uniz]

OK assuming I am doing that what would you spend your basic comms on?

 

And assuming I remain guildless what would you spend those same comms on?

 

66 gear. first thing would be the 66 main hand. 66 com gear requires faction I think too.

 

maybe some relics next depending on your class and role.also depending on your spec keep the armorings as they have the set bonuses. new set bonus gear is ops drop only now unless I missed something recently.

 

your largest upgrade right off are implants and a earpiece after you buy your 66 main hand. player made artifact types are fine. some class roles have really poor choices for the implants though. ie sage/sorc dps. I am talking about the basic com schematic bought ones and not the re ones people.

 

first thing I would buy with elite coms is a off hand unless you are lucky enough to get one to drop and win the roll in a 55 pug hm.

 

also get 55 augments as they give a huge bonus now. the blues are fine at first unless you are loaded and want to pay a lot for the few extra points.

 

good luck and have fun

[Memo-]

66 modifications can be crafted, and the mats for them are really cheap, so the modifications themselves can be found quite cheaply on GTN. A 66 hilt/barrel shouldn't cost more than 40k credits. Buying 66 weapons requires Makeb reputation, so in addition to it being a waste of Basic Comms, you might even not be able to buy them yet. Just buy the hilt/barrel from GTN, much easier. Basic comms gear is horribly optimized anway, I had 63 mods and enhancements even when otherwise in full 69 because of the bad optimization. So don't blindly buy 66 gear "because it's better", it might not be very good outside the Armorings.

 

If you have any warzone commendations left, you might also fill the void with a few Partisan pieces (or even Conqueror).

[NigeldeJ]

I suggest you find a nice guild, who are willing to run you through TFB and S&V sm, so you can get some 69 gear. 66 barrel/hilt for instance is really cheap on GTN, like 30-40k, and if you do some pvp, I suggest you getting 2 Partisan relics first. I wouldn't waste the basic comms on gear, since you'll be swapping that out within no-time. Better to have some Isotopes, so you can for instance get yourself a crafted Underworld Relic/Barrel/Hilt, which are kinda difficult to come by, especially if everyone needs them. (I know from personal experience )

 

Anyways good luck, and welcome back to the game

[cxten]

Buy isotopes with your basic comms. The purple 66 gear you could otherwise get with them can be crafted, and it sells cheaply, so if you want it, it's a better deal to buy isotopes with the comms, sell the isotopes, and buy crafted 66 hilt/barrel/mod/enh/etc.

 

To wit: For 35 comms, you get an isotope that sells for 150-200k. Crafted 66 mods are maybe 40-60k. So you can get an entire piece modded for 35 comms, as opposed to 80-120 comms. In addition, you get to choose the good types of mods and enhancements. Of course, check your server's GTN for prices before going through this.

 

If you have enough comms and/or enough credits, go ahead and get some 72 gear crafted as well. Hilt/barrel and offhand first, assuming you're not a tank.

 

Summary: Buy isotopes and then do some combination of selling them to buy 66 gear or trading them for 72 gear.

Edited August 5, 2013 by cxten

[OnlyNameNotTaken]

As several others have said, save your Basic comms for 5x [Vial of Stabilized Isotope-5] so you can get a crafter to make you a lvl 72 barrel/hilt.

 

Use your classic comms on Dread Guard Relics, since those are better for most classes at the moment than the ridiculous Arkanian relics.

 

Run HM 50 FPs until you have a good set of Hazmat gear (6+ pieces)

 

Run HM 55 FPs until you have at least 6+ pieces of Black Market gear.

 

Congrats, you're ready for 55 Ops.

 

Also, don't forget, if you're DPS, crit sucks now (with rare exceptions), stack power for mods/enhancements.

Stack main stat for augments, ESPECIALLY if you have taken the 9% main status bonus talents. Try to find a crafter in your guild who will make the 66 purple augs for you and buy the Thermal Regulators in bulk for 25-28k each if you can.

 

Also, a full set of 12 MK-9 augmentation kits, plus installation costs, plus the augments is going to set you back about 3 million, so make sure you've got a set of gear you like the looks of before you start augmenting for endgame content.

[Bilirubin]

66 modifications can be crafted, and the mats for them are really cheap, so the modifications themselves can be found quite cheaply on GTN. A 66 hilt/barrel shouldn't cost more than 40k credits. Buying 66 weapons requires Makeb reputation, so in addition to it being a waste of Basic Comms, you might even not be able to buy them yet. Just buy the hilt/barrel from GTN, much easier. Basic comms gear is horribly optimized anway, I had 63 mods and enhancements even when otherwise in full 69 because of the bad optimization. So don't blindly buy 66 gear "because it's better", it might not be very good outside the Armorings.

 

If you have any warzone commendations left, you might also fill the void with a few Partisan pieces (or even Conqueror).

 

Thanks for this, its very helpful (as are all the posts). I just picked up a few Conqueror/Partisan pieces (ear implant bracers IIRC) so I will also see how they compare. Going to go get a hilt now.

[Bilirubin]

Anyways good luck, and welcome back to the game

 

Thanks

[Bilirubin]

Buy isotopes with your basic comms. The purple 66 gear you could otherwise get with them can be crafted, and it sells cheaply, so if you want it, it's a better deal to buy isotopes with the comms, sell the isotopes, and buy crafted 66 hilt/barrel/mod/enh/etc.

 

To wit: For 35 comms, you get an isotope that sells for 150-200k. Crafted 66 mods are maybe 40-60k. So you can get an entire piece modded for 35 comms, as opposed to 80-120 comms. In addition, you get to choose the good types of mods and enhancements. Of course, check your server's GTN for prices before going through this.

 

If you have enough comms and/or enough credits, go ahead and get some 72 gear crafted as well. Hilt/barrel and offhand first, assuming you're not a tank.

 

Summary: Buy isotopes and then do some combination of selling them to buy 66 gear or trading them for 72 gear.

Thanks. I am a tank as my main spec and balance dps off so how would that change your advice?

 

Seems I went shopping last night before some of this excellent advice came in, so oops but the dailies and warzones (and beer) were all good

[Bilirubin]

Oh one more thing--did thy ever move the set bonus of Rakata gear off the shell and onto the armor like the rest of the sets? I'd kinda like to keep wearing this outfit.

[cxten]

Thanks. I am a tank as my main spec and balance dps off so how would that change your advice?

 

Seems I went shopping last night before some of this excellent advice came in, so oops but the dailies and warzones (and beer) were all good

 

No big change, just the 72 hilt/barrel is no longer the most important purchase if you're a tank.

[cxten]

Oh one more thing--did thy ever move the set bonus of Rakata gear off the shell and onto the armor like the rest of the sets? I'd kinda like to keep wearing this outfit.

 

Yes, it's now on the armorings for everything.

[sithBracer]

I actually had a tough time getting into the black market gear bracket from my black hole gear and my guild was pretty much useless even though they were all very overpowered and could've easily helped me. Also it was my first character so no legacy escalator for me. And I didn't have a lot of money because I haven't been playing that long. It was a tough road but I got over it by buying the cheapest 28 mods, crafting some 28 enhancements and of course using stims until I got a few lucky drops in 55hm fps. And it became a lot easier from then on.

[Bilirubin]

66 armor was cheap, have upgraded all of my gear that is upgradable. Enhancements were also cheap, but mods not so much, esp for useful stats.

 

At what point are 55 HMs doable?

[LukeTheGeek]

If you take up Cybertech, you can craft ADvanced skill armorings/mods 28, or alternatively, buy them at 40k per piece off the GTN. That will give you 156 item rating and will be sufficient for Story Mode operations at endgame and make you more than equipped for 55HM Flashpoints.

[Bilirubin]

If you take up Cybertech, you can craft ADvanced skill armorings/mods 28, or alternatively, buy them at 40k per piece off the GTN. That will give you 156 item rating and will be sufficient for Story Mode operations at endgame and make you more than equipped for 55HM Flashpoints.

Excellent, thanks!