Arsenal merc need gear suggestions for lvl 55

[enthrop]

Hi all,

 

I'm new to the content at 55, and have been trying to get my head around it all.. but it's a lot to digest and trying to keep in mind what gear drops where, what content, what prefixes mean what, what is purchasable by what type of currency, etc. etc. etc.

 

For the past week, I've just been randomly running FPs and doing some dailies when time permits to just start getting "something." But I don't have infinite play time, so I figured getting some type of direction might be best in terms of maximizing my time.

 

To start, I'm don't have the time commitment necessary for regular OPs. I have yet to do any of the lvl 55 OPs either, so all of that content is new to me. If I do an OP, it'll likely be in a random group I find while standing around the imperial fleet, which also means it'll likely to be SM to start.

 

Now, until the day I find a group who'll take me (everyone seems to want people who's an expert in all fights already), I figured I'll at least make the effort to maximize my gear. So, keeping mostly FPs in mind, and understanding that currency takes a while, what should I be looking at in terms of gear?

 

My first thought was "get all the black market stuff from FP." But, I really have not been a big fan of some of this itemization, nor has it been dropping for me much. Second though is to buy some items w/ basic & elite currency, but elite comes slowly, and I'm not sure what to make of basic. The sticky in this forum even says the 4-pc dread set bonus is excellent... I can't get dread now, but does that mean I keep campaign in the picture, for its 4-pc bonus?

 

Any general suggestions? There's so much gear and options out there, my head is hurting, lol.

[Ionscout]

Ditto,

 

Watching to see what the "Pro's" say.

[ArchangelLBC]

Ok so first thing that I do when I get a new 55 is look at the level 53 crafted earpieces and implants. Some of these are very good. For arsenal merc you'll find the Artifact Microfilament implants which have accuracy and power will be better than anything short of getting underworld implants so those are very good and you should get them. I forget if the earpiece is also good but look into that as well.

 

Next are relics. Completing one of the ops in SM will get you the mats needed to have an Arkanian Relic of Serendipitous Assault made, or better yet with 175 basic commendations you can buy the vials of isotope-5 to have yourself an underworld relic made. Make sure you have the quests now so you can just group finder it or jump right in when the inevitable fleet shout happens. Equalizers are cheap and I *think* both ops give you two mass manipulation generators for finishing them on SM, so you can take care of relics right there (I suggest underworld boundless ages as your other relic). Barring that DG relic of boundless ages is pretty good and decently attainable if you have the old crafting mats. Note that this also is a way to get a 72 barrels instead (or a 69 if you don't wanna grind for the Isotope-5s). 66 barrels aren't horrendous though, and it's really a question of what relics you have now. If you already have a DG Relic of Boundless ages and the PVP comms to buy a Partisan or Conqueror's Relic of Serendipitous Assault, then do that and get your 72 barrels first

 

Now from there, for enhancements you'll want the crafted Initiative enhancement 28s (accuracy/power) and adept enhancement 28s (power/surge. I think those are adept). For mods you'll want to spend comms on belt and bracers with high power mods to fill out all your slots. You'll also want to consider saving 140 comms and buying the offhand. For armorings I honestly wouldn't replace even campaign armorings with anything except DG or the full 4 piece set bonus from Arkanian. Definitely don't get armorings without a set bonus (except belt/bracers and 1 body piece which you don't need for set bonus).

 

Your priority will be accuracy to 99+% (call it 4 accuracy enhancements if you also get those implants I was telling you about), and then the rest into surge.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited August 13, 2013 by ArchangelLBC

[enthrop]

Excellent, thanks for the help. Some follow up questions if you don't mind

Ok so first thing that I do when I get a new 55 is look at the level 53 crafted earpieces and implants. Some of these are very good. For arsenal merc you'll find the Artifact Microfilament implants which have accuracy and power will be better than anything short of getting underworld implants so those are very good and you should get them. I forget if the earpiece is also good but look into that as well.

OK, so from memory, I remember I had some lvl 50 Black Hole earpiece, and a Black Market Implant w/ power/surge, and a Arkanian implant w/ power/surge as well (from Czerka FP last week)... I'm not in game now, so I can't compare against the crafted earpiece/implant you're mentioning.

 

Next are relics. Completing one of the ops in SM will get you the mats needed to have an Arkanian Relic of Serendipitous Assault made, or better yet with 175 basic commendations you can buy the vials of isotope-5 to have yourself an underworld relic made. Make sure you have the quests now so you can just group finder it or jump right in when the inevitable fleet shout happens. Equalizers are cheap and I *think* both ops give you two mass manipulation generators for finishing them on SM, so you can take care of relics right there (I suggest underworld boundless ages as your other relic). Barring that DG relic of boundless ages is pretty good and decently attainable if you have the old crafting mats. Note that this also is a way to get a 72 barrels instead (or a 69 if you don't wanna grind for the Isotope-5s). 66 barrels aren't horrendous though, and it's really a question of what relics you have now. If you already have a DG Relic of Boundless ages and the PVP comms to buy a Partisan or Conqueror's Relic of Serendipitous Assault, then do that and get your 72 barrels first

Wow, this is a lot to digest. I'm going to have to re-read this a couple of times to figure this out

 

Now from there, for enhancements you'll want the crafted Initiative enhancement 28s (accuracy/power) and adept enhancement 28s (power/surge. I think those are adept). For mods you'll want to spend comms on belt and bracers with high power mods to fill out all your slots. You'll also want to consider saving 140 comms and buying the offhand. For armorings I honestly wouldn't replace even campaign armorings with anything except DG or the full 4 piece set bonus from Arkanian. Definitely don't get armorings without a set bonus (except belt/bracers and 1 body piece which you don't need for set bonus).

So I have a lot of random black market pieces from doing HM FPs last week, but many of the mods/enchantments are crit/surge, or crit/alacrity. From what I understand, lower level enhancements/mods (28s), but with the stats I want, will be better than the 30s from black market. That makes sense.

 

It's an eye opener that the campaign armorings is still better, with it being so "old" by now. Unfortunately, I don't have any, so it sounds like I actually need to run many lvl 50 HMs to get basic comms, so I can buy the full campaign set.

[ArchangelLBC]

Excellent, thanks for the help. Some follow up questions if you don't mind

OK, so from memory, I remember I had some lvl 50 Black Hole earpiece, and a Black Market Implant w/ power/surge, and a Arkanian implant w/ power/surge as well (from Czerka FP last week)... I'm not in game now, so I can't compare against the crafted earpiece/implant you're mentioning.

 

The crafted implants I'm thinking of are better than anything shy of underworld implants. They're really good. I'll get back to you on actual names.

 

Wow, this is a lot to digest. I'm going to have to re-read this a couple of times to figure this out

 

It's really all about what's most important to you. Being able to have your 72 barrels crafted will do wonders for your damage, while my experience has led me to believe that relics are somewhat of a premium if you just try to get the drop. Either way doing the daily for the new FPs takes 10-15 minutes and nets you 16 basic comms, and since they're role neutral you won't even wait long in queue for them. That's 3 vials of isotope-5 a week, so if you can get regular access to mass manipulation generators you can have yourself a good set of 72 gear in time just by having the stuff crafted.

 

So I have a lot of random black market pieces from doing HM FPs last week, but many of the mods/enchantments are crit/surge, or crit/alacrity. From what I understand, lower level enhancements/mods (28s), but with the stats I want, will be better than the 30s from black market. That makes sense.

 

Yes. you definitely want Initiative 28 and Adept 28 over most of the crappy enhancements you'll get from black market drops. Occasionally you get lucky, but most of the time they're crap.

 

It's an eye opener that the campaign armorings is still better, with it being so "old" by now. Unfortunately, I don't have any, so it sounds like I actually need to run many lvl 50 HMs to get basic comms, so I can buy the full campaign set.

 

As far as I know, Dread Guard stuff only drops from HM EC. Basic comms won't get you what you need. Your time would probably be spent doing current 55 ops and building a 4 piece set bonus that way. The two piece is honestly the most important given how much you should be using Tracer missile.

[enthrop]

The crafted implants I'm thinking of are better than anything shy of underworld implants. They're really good. I'll get back to you on actual names.

OK thanks. I looked on GTN last night but didn't see much, so I couldn't figure out what you were referring to.

 

It's really all about what's most important to you. ...

Yep, I re-read that paragraph a few times last night and figured it out. I actually went ahead and got the Serendipitous Relic made last night.. cost me 1.7 mil including mats & "service fee." I'll do my barrels next, and then worry about 2nd relic.

 

Yes. you definitely want Initiative 28 and Adept 28 over most of the crappy enhancements you'll get from black market drops. Occasionally you get lucky, but most of the time they're crap.

Understood.

 

As far as I know, Dread Guard stuff only drops from HM EC. Basic comms won't get you what you need. Your time would probably be spent doing current 55 ops and building a 4 piece set bonus that way. The two piece is honestly the most important given how much you should be using Tracer missile.

This is the main part I'm looking for clarification on. I actually tried to do two OPs last night (after weekly reset), and both times, the groups faltered after the weekly quest was done (ninja DC's, lost of interest, etc.) So while I would like to build a set via 55 ops, I think that's going to be a longer term goal for me.

 

In the meantime, based on how good the previous 4-piece set is, basic comms would buy me campaign gear. That was my train of thought in thinking I need to run 50 HM to get basic comms to get campaign gear. Elite comms from 55 HMs buy me black market equivalent items, which doesn't seem to be good, or have a set bonus.

Edited August 14, 2013 by enthrop

[ArchangelLBC]

Hmmm I thought basic comms could only buy you artifact gear, not campaign gear. I thought for that you needed classic commendations.

[enthrop]

Hmmm I thought basic comms could only buy you artifact gear, not campaign gear. I thought for that you needed classic commendations.

 

Wow sorry, I think you're right! As I said in my first post, all these currencies and where they come from confuse me, lol. I think I was just thinking about lvl 50 HM though, which drop classic currencies on bosses I believe. And basic comm from doing group finder.

 

Although, that means classic comms come very slowly :X Time to break out my Rakata pieces, lol.

Edited August 14, 2013 by enthrop

[ArchangelLBC]

Wow sorry, I think you're right! As I said in my first post, all these currencies and where they come from confuse me, lol. I think I was just thinking about lvl 50 HM though, which drop classic currencies on bosses I believe. And basic comm from doing group finder.

 

Although, that means classic comms come very slowly :X Time to break out my Rakata pieces, lol.

 

Doing level 50 ops gives you classic comms a lot quicker, and you can reasonably 4 man them.

[enthrop]

For mods you'll want to spend comms on belt and bracers with high power mods to fill out all your slots.

 

Quick follow up on this. Since I was shopping for Adept/Initiative 28 Enhancements, I took a look at buyable mods as well, and see the Adept Mod 28A, which is 70 Aim & 26 Power. Comparatively, I see this:

Basic Comm -> Items with mods having 56 Aim & 48 Power, or 70 Aim & 26 Power (which tells me these are lvl 28 Mods). No belt/bracers, so these are from full armor pieces.

Elite Comm -> Belt/Bracer with Mods having 63 AIM & 52 Power

 

So basically, in terms of ripping out mods, I'm comparing 70 AIM & 26 Power vs 63 AIM & 52 Power (which is a higher level as well). If I'm right.. I can go ahead and use Adept Mod 28A to begin with, and as I build up more elite comms, buy the bracer/belt to rip out the slightly better 63 AIM/52 Power.