How to Become a Contender: Supplemental(Bolster, PvP Gear, and You)

[Ottoattack]

Interesting regarding the 195 formula. I will try it later today to see if it works or not. Have to admit though, upgrading one enhancement makes you lose ~ 50 expertise is rather silly.

 

I have not noticed any changes so far in the bolster. I still run the same stats is pre yesterday's update.

[Aetideus]

Interesting regarding the 195 formula. I will try it later today to see if it works or not. Have to admit though, upgrading one enhancement makes you lose ~ 50 expertise is rather silly.

 

I have not noticed any changes so far in the bolster. I still run the same stats is pre yesterday's update.

 

Does not work this way. 72 - 58 - 58 does not have full Expertise...

[StaticSilence]

Thank you, L-Randle, for doing Bioware's job.

 

This is the type of documentation I was hoping Bioware would provide when I requested a Definitive Guide on Bolster and Expertise.

 

They better sticky this and place it beside the first "Contender" article.

Edited December 18, 2013 by StaticSilence

[ClyntKeelan]

Very Helpful post, Randle: thank you for taking the time to lay it all out!

 

I have not PvPed in a while and really wanted to get back into it, but when EXPertise is so important I don't want to come into even an unranked Warzone in gear that makes me vulnerable/ineffectual and so weakens my whole team.

But my old elite warhero stuff got detonated long ago, and so what I now have is

 

i) PvP experience: I know where to go and what to do in the zones

 

ii) PvE endgame gear: all fully auged but EXP-less

 

iii) ability to produce needed stims and grenades, and some stockpiled Wzone meds and Adrenals

 

So: when my PC comes back from being fixed (arg!) I can make a PvP set for each of my 6 lvl 55 characters from orange shells strategically filled with lvl 69/63/61 stuff (fully auged) that my cybertech can probably make anyways, as well as purple lvl 53 'Experimental' earpiece/implants which again I can craft, and I can go to the PvP area of the Western Iceshelf on Ilum to check how Bolster is working on the stats. Not sure what to do about relics - I will read back over the thread

 

I agree that Bolster should never compromise the predominance of an Obroan Mainhand or stuff like that, but I'm sure it was never intended to and they'll fix it (eventually!). And I have to say that I am very glad that the bolster mechanic is there to give PvE players like myself at least the HOPE of being able to come into a Warzone as something more than just a liability.

Edited December 18, 2013 by ClyntKeelan
accuracy

[jboehm]

193 is the magic number.

 

Hence why I said 69, 63, 61 is BiS. Although I didn't think to check 69, 66, 58, it makes sense that would also bolster well, and now I'm curious which version of 193 is better. Has anyone compared a 69, 63, 61 setup to a 69, 66, 58 setup?

 

The bottom line is you want to get as close to 193 as possible (the sum of the armoring, mod, and enhancement ratings). Anything more than 193 and you're losing expertise. Anything less than 193 and you're missing out on some stats.

 

(Also note that it's scaled. As in running a 69, 61, 61 (=191) is not quite as good as 69, 63, 61 (=193), but not by that much. 69, 61, 61 (=191) is a fair amount better than 61, 61, 61 (=183), though. Get as close to 193 as you can.)

[ManiacDavis]

Everyone should upvote this thread so new players know at least the basics to bolster. Then again, who knows if BW even looks at the PvP forums anymore... it has been months since we had a yellow post.

[T-Assassin]

193 is the magic number.

 

Hence why I said 69, 63, 61 is BiS. Although I didn't think to check 69, 66, 58, it makes sense that would also bolster well, and now I'm curious which version of 193 is better. Has anyone compared a 69, 63, 61 setup to a 69, 66, 58 setup?

 

The bottom line is you want to get as close to 193 as possible (the sum of the armoring, mod, and enhancement ratings). Anything more than 193 and you're losing expertise. Anything less than 193 and you're missing out on some stats.

 

(Also note that it's scaled. As in running a 69, 61, 61 (=191) is not quite as good as 69, 63, 61 (=193), but not by that much. 69, 61, 61 (=191) is a fair amount better than 61, 61, 61 (=183), though. Get as close to 193 as you can.)

 

here's the math, using main stat, power, and surge.

 

66mod - (57Aim 43End 48Pwr) 58Enh - (28End 32Pwr 51Sur) = 57Aim 71End 80Pwr 51Sur

63mod - (56Aim 34End 44Pwr) 61Enh - (27End 41Pwr 57Sur) = 56Aim 61End 85Pwr 57Sur

63mod - (44Aim 56End 34Pwr) (Hazmat a.k.a. Garbage, unless you are stacking End)

 

totals:

69/66/58 = 138Aim 138End 80Pwr 51Sur (+1Aim +10End -5Pwr -6Sur)

69/63/61 = 137Aim 128End 85Pwr 57Sur (-1Aim -10End +5Pwr +6Sur)

65/65/65 = 136Aim 146End 66Pwr 64Sur <---Conq Gear (off the shelf, no mod swap min/max)

67/67/67 = 144Aim 156End 71Pwr 68Sur <---Ob Gear (off the shelf, no mod swap min/max)

 

If you have Dread Forge 63 Mods, BiS is 69/63/61...If not, 69/66/58 is next BiS. For PvE gear.

Edited December 19, 2013 by T-Assassin

[Lundorff]

This is a great thread.

 

The next step should be to create a specific gear guide for each class and once that is accomplished BW, in all their timely wisdom, will undoubtedly change bolster completely

 

Kidding aside, this really is very great and I will hence forth refer "wrong geared individual" in this direction.

[sawtyss]

I've done some research of my own on the implants...

The results are kinda weird.

 

I've got two separate implant types, one is a lvl 53 blue and the other is as you recommend here a lvl 54 crafted purple. I've equipped the same implant in both slots and tested out the results. No other gear changes were made. Both implant sets were not augmented to make it as easy to read as possible.

 

The results are as follows:

http://imgur.com/a/pI4B2

 

As you can see wearing the blue implants gives me over 130 more mainstat, while the only benefit I get from the purple ones is the additional accuracy and crit. As for power it seems that did not get bolstered, because the purple ones had 8 less power, so all in all its 16 less. There is a difference and the blue ones seem better :-(

 

Btw. please don't tell me I have crap gear - I know. It doesn't change how bolster works when I only swap two implants...

Edited December 19, 2013 by sawtyss

[AMulls]

here's the math, using main stat, power, and surge.

 

66mod - (57Aim 43End 48Pwr) 58Enh - (28End 32Pwr 51Sur) = 57Aim 71End 80Pwr 51Sur

63mod - (56Aim 34End 44Pwr) 61Enh - (27End 41Pwr 57Sur) = 56Aim 61End 85Pwr 57Sur

63mod - (44Aim 56End 34Pwr) (Hazmat a.k.a. Garbage, unless you are stacking End)

 

totals:

69/66/58 = 138Aim 138End 80Pwr 51Sur (+1Aim +10End -5Pwr -6Sur)

69/63/61 = 137Aim 128End 85Pwr 57Sur (-1Aim -10End +5Pwr +6Sur)

65/65/65 = 136Aim 146End 66Pwr 64Sur <---Conq Gear (off the shelf, no mod swap min/max)

67/67/67 = 144Aim 156End 71Pwr 68Sur <---Ob Gear (off the shelf, no mod swap min/max)

 

If you have Dread Forge 63 Mods, BiS is 69/63/61...If not, 69/66/58 is next BiS. For PvE gear.

 

If I might suggest another test for you. Check on the 69/66/blue 66 v. the 69/66/58 (all purple). If I recall correctly, the blue 66 enhancement gives better stats than the purple 58. Not by much, but every little bit helps.

 

I'm not sure how it will work out, but I did some very minor testing last night on Ilum and found that purple 66 armoring, purple 66 mod, and blue 66 enhancement didn't drop my expertise any. Granted, I didn't have a purple 69 armoring to see if that would affect it or reach a point of DR on expertise.

 

But I'm thinking the 193 magic number might only be for all purple pieces. I could be wrong, though. As I said, it was very minor testing on Ilum, not in an actual warzone.

[L-RANDLE]

I've done some research of my own on the implants...

The results are kinda weird.

 

I've got two separate implant types, one is a lvl 53 blue and the other is as you recommend here a lvl 54 crafted purple. I've equipped the same implant in both slots and tested out the results. No other gear changes were made. Both implant sets were not augmented to make it as easy to read as possible.

 

The results are as follows:

http://imgur.com/a/pI4B2

 

As you can see wearing the blue implants gives me over 130 more mainstat, while the only benefit I get from the purple ones is the additional accuracy and crit. As for power it seems that did not get bolstered, because the purple ones had 8 less power, so all in all its 16 less. There is a difference and the blue ones seem better :-(

 

Btw. please don't tell me I have crap gear - I know. It doesn't change how bolster works when I only swap two implants...

Are sure you have the correct purples? There should be no power loss going from blue to purple. Its should have been +8 Power on each.

 

As for the main stat difference, I am not sure, but the difference between them is 26HP. That is peanuts versus the purples giving you a new stat pool. Remember when you RE to purple quality in these, you should go from Experimental, to Overkill Experimental(Blue), to Expert Experimental(purple), be cause the accuracy and crit are just bonuses. You are looking for Power gain, but getting additional Surge on the purple is valuable.

Edited December 19, 2013 by L-RANDLE

[sawtyss]

Well I am kind of sure, because I've used exactly the same implant that you've linked in post #1. So unless you were mistaken, it is the right one. :-)

 

I went exactly the same way as you said, and both power and surge are doing fine. The issue is with mainstat. It's not getting bolstered as it should. In fact its barely gettng any strength bonus at all :-(

 

Bear in mind I'm not comparing to Obroan here. I'm comparing two different lower implants. A blue level 53, and a purple level 54. They both seem better than Obroan but the blue seems best

Edited December 19, 2013 by sawtyss

[Sentenzas]

I'm fairly new (I quit a long time ago, just came back a few weeks ago) and... and I have no idea how to parse this thread. It's like in a different language. I'd really like to understand it before I hit 55 though.

 

What I gather is that I stick purple 69/66/58 mods in everything and bolster will take me to 30k health, etc?

[Ottoattack]

I'm fairly new (I quit a long time ago, just came back a few weeks ago) and... and I have no idea how to parse this thread. It's like in a different language. I'd really like to understand it before I hit 55 though.

 

What I gather is that I stick purple 69/66/58 mods in everything and bolster will take me to 30k health, etc?

 

To make it simple:

 

1- Use PvP gear for all modable items except MH and OH. Use 58s and 61s until you can afford PvP ones.

2- You use either PvP weapons or PvE weapons as MH and/or OH, just make sure that PvE weapons follow 69/66/58 format (others are usable, but I believe this format gives the most bank for your buck).

3- Use PvP implants and earpiece. Some PvE ones are viable, such as blue 53 and crafted purple 54. I use them temporary till I get the PvP ones.

4- Augument which ever modable orange gear you want to use, and switch out armoring, mods and enhancements. Make sure you do not mix PvP and PvE armoring, mods and enhancements in the same piece of gear.

5- Use stims.

6- Use PvP relics, preferably obroan.

 

I hope this helps.

[Sentenzas]

To make it simple:

 

1- Use PvP gear for all modable items except MH and OH. Use 58s and 61s until you can afford PvP ones.

2- You use either PvP weapons or PvE weapons as MH and/or OH, just make sure that PvE weapons follow 69/66/58 format (others are usable, but I believe this format gives the most bank for your buck).

3- Use PvP implants and earpiece. Some PvE ones are viable, such as blue 53 and crafted purple 54. I use them temporary till I get the PvP ones.

4- Augument which ever modable orange gear you want to use, and switch out armoring, mods and enhancements. Make sure you do not mix PvP and PvE armoring, mods and enhancements in the same piece of gear.

5- Use stims.

6- Use PvP relics, preferably obroan.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Thank you! That helps a great deal. I shall follow this to the letter.

 

So, once 55 I should buy Conqueror stuff, augment it, and I'll be good?

[Sir_Galapagos]

step one to winning pvp do not roll scoundrel dps. If you follow this simple step at least you will never be the worst.

[eartharioch]

Thank you! That helps a great deal. I shall follow this to the letter.

 

So, once 55 I should buy Conqueror stuff, augment it, and I'll be good?

 

NO!

 

In order to upgrade to Obroan from Conqueror, you have to trade in the Conqueror shell, so if you augment it, you lose the augment kit and augment.

 

When you upgrade, the Conqueror shell can be empty, so pick whichever piece of orange gear you like best, pull the armor/mod/enh from the Conqueror gear and put in in your preferred orange piece and augment that.

 

Then, when you upgrade, trade in the empty shell, get your Obroan gear, pull its armor/mod/enh out and put in your (already-augmented) orange gear. Your call as to whether or not to remove the Conqueror mods or just overwrite them with Obroan (some players want to use their lower tier gear for companions in OWPvP).

 

If, for some reason, you like the look of a specific Conqueror piece, you can augment it, but you'll want to buy a duplicate to use as trade-in so you don't waste the augment/kit (which can easily be over 200K for MK-9 kit + purple augment).

[Nevullis]

Can someone link what crafted implants you're using for bolster because my [Artifact] Microfilament Reflex D-Enhancer are not bolstering at all. Forgive me but i'm a tad bit new to adjusting to this.

[Mubrak]

If, for some reason, you like the look of a specific Conqueror piece, you can augment it, but you'll want to buy a duplicate to use as trade-in so you don't waste the augment/kit (which can easily be over 200K for MK-9 kit + purple augment).

 

Well, you can remove the augment just like all other mods, so you waste just the kit. and if you have an alt with armstech, you have an endless supply of them as long as your main has scavenging, and does just a little bit of PVE once in a while. (The gree event is like the Mythra and Turadium bonanza don't let all those droids go to waste)

Edited December 20, 2013 by Mubrak

[Hatori_Hanzo]

Where in the world you all finding 63 rating mods? Is it level 50 fp and ops?

[eartharioch]

Well, you can remove the augment just like all other mods, so you waste just the kit. and if you have an alt with armstech, you have an endless supply of them as long as your main has scavenging, and does just a little bit of PVE once in a while. (The gree event is like the Mythra and Turadium bonanza don't let all those droids go to waste)

 

True, but Sentenzas (the person to whom I replied) was asking about when he hit 55, so I was trying to advise him of the consequences of augmenting the Conqueror before he made the purchases. If that's his first 55, he might not have a lot of extra money or a wide variety of crafting skills from alts.

 

If he's buying things, an MK-9 goes for about 70K, and it's 36K to install the kit. If he puts in blue augs (about 15K each), it's cheaper just to buy a new aug, but you're right, if he has purple, he'd probably pay to pull it out. Still, if he's paying for everything, that's well over 100K per piece, so 1.4M if he augments all his Conqueror.

 

Personally, I have Conc Op and PT with Cybertech and Armormech, along with Scavenging, Slicing, and Underworld Trading, so I'm pretty self-contained -- cheapest augment kits, and I can make purple cunning, aim, shield, and absorb mods Based on how well I do selling MK-9 kits, I'm pretty sure that a lot of 55s aren't similarly situated.

[Sentenzas]

True, but Sentenzas (the person to whom I replied) was asking about when he hit 55, so I was trying to advise him of the consequences of augmenting the Conqueror before he made the purchases. If that's his first 55, he might not have a lot of extra money or a wide variety of crafting skills from alts.

 

If he's buying things, an MK-9 goes for about 70K, and it's 36K to install the kit. If he puts in blue augs (about 15K each), it's cheaper just to buy a new aug, but you're right, if he has purple, he'd probably pay to pull it out. Still, if he's paying for everything, that's well over 100K per piece, so 1.4M if he augments all his Conqueror.

 

Personally, I have Conc Op and PT with Cybertech and Armormech, along with Scavenging, Slicing, and Underworld Trading, so I'm pretty self-contained -- cheapest augment kits, and I can make purple cunning, aim, shield, and absorb mods Based on how well I do selling MK-9 kits, I'm pretty sure that a lot of 55s aren't similarly situated.

 

Wow, 100% right on all things. I'm 54 now with about 400k. Looking to augment stuff is going to be pricey, and since last time I played Biochem was the greatest thing ever, i'm still Biochem (was it really almost 2 years ago? Wow... ). I've just maxed out at 2750 warzone thingies, but most of my stuff is PvE level 50 stuff (the fp's you run from 50-54). The trudge ahead looks daunting. My roommate, who has an Assassin that turned 55 last week, has 4 pieces of Conqueror and has 25k health in Warzones. That kind'a worries me.

 

This thread needs the 'Treat Me Like an Idiot, I'm Either Drunk or Have 2 Small Kids' version that just gives instructions to people like me. Could Bioware have made Bolster more obtuse?

[Ottoattack]

Where in the world you all finding 63 rating mods? Is it level 50 fp and ops?

 

If you have Elite War Hero Gear and Dread Guard Gear, these are 150 quality. If you do not, you can still get Dread Guard from operation explosive conflict HM and NiM modes. I am not sure if you can get them from doing NiM Eternity Vault and Kippro's Palace. 50 HM FPs drop 146 quality gear.

[Ottoattack]

Wow, 100% right on all things. I'm 54 now with about 400k. Looking to augment stuff is going to be pricey, and since last time I played Biochem was the greatest thing ever, i'm still Biochem (was it really almost 2 years ago? Wow... ). I've just maxed out at 2750 warzone thingies, but most of my stuff is PvE level 50 stuff (the fp's you run from 50-54). The trudge ahead looks daunting. My roommate, who has an Assassin that turned 55 last week, has 4 pieces of Conqueror and has 25k health in Warzones. That kind'a worries me.

 

This thread needs the 'Treat Me Like an Idiot, I'm Either Drunk or Have 2 Small Kids' version that just gives instructions to people like me. Could Bioware have made Bolster more obtuse?

 

The reason that stims and augments are so important in PvP is that they do not get bolstered; they add additional stats, thus are significantly more important than the gear it self. If you have PvE gear lvl 58 ~ 61 gear, focus your resources on getting PvP relics with PvP comms. They have no rival in the PvE world (as they do not proc in PvP) and are the strongest PvP pieces, as the proc does not interact with the bolster, so it is always an additional stats. Your assassin friend unfortunately is going around the gear incorrectly.

 

As a poster before me mentioned, do not augment conqueror pieces as you will have to eventually trade them in for obroan.

 

You are neither drunk or a small kid.. The bolster and gearing are so f****** confusing. I guess the devs though having the bolster is supposed to make things easier. Right

[L-RANDLE]

Here is another combo for MH/OH. This is better than Obroan, but not sure how it compares to the 69/63/61.

 

With this, however, you don't need to pay through the nose, or do Ops. Just HM FPs for basic comms and a Artificer..

 

66 purple hilt, 69 purple power Heavy mod., 58 power Heavy Enhancement