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

[ManiacDavis]

We also have more responses to this thread than the main contender thread...(Sorry Maniac :-)) but I think now, I will ask them myself.

 

 

MODS, CAN I GET THIS THREAD STICKIED PLZ!!!?

 

Another sign the devs never venture to this side of the forums

[L-RANDLE]

This is some confusing stuff for a returning pvp leveling player idk what to do now lol... I'd rather just focus on pvp gear, I dont like PVE.

 

Supposedly my healing operative should be using PVE gear for PVP what is this?

 

How the hell am I suppose to get money to buy all that crap?

 

It's not really expensive. Money is easy to get, but most are not willing to do minor PvE things to get it. It is you need to decide if you want to be on par or not. I stated in the OP that Augments, stims, and a set of oranges that you can live with, are really the only "needs" for endgame PvP. If you run dailies between pvp pops from level 50-55, you would have more than enough money to do what you need..

 

If you are leveling via PvP only, you can purchase level 50 purple modifications for around 20K EA, so to fill all 27 slots its around 540K (you can make over 100K on Ilum in 30 mins). This also assumes you need to fill all those pieces, but again IF you are doing PvP only, you can easily get the PvP pieces, but your MH/OH will not be BiS.

 

The issue with the Operatives is that the PvE set bonus is "more favorable", but that isn't really an issue with bolster itself..

 

The TL:DR version is:

@ 55

Buy your BiS Obroan PvP relics (2600RWZ COMMS; 1400 URWZ COMMS).

Augment everything.

 

Then,

Buy 4EA Obroan Moddable Non-Weapon Pieces for your set bonus (or in and Operative's case 2 PvP pieces + 2 PvE pieces)(10,000RWZ COMMS, 4000 URWZ COMMS).

Min/Max those 4 pieces.

 

Then,

Replace other pieces with BiS Obroan ONLY(except for MH/OH), as that is the only upgrade, but its not by much as I showed in the last update..

 

Profit...

[L-RANDLE]

Another sign the devs never venture to this side of the forums

 

Indeed....

[Ottoattack]

This thread need to be sticked, as it makes life of someone getting to lvl 55 or starting to PvP much easier. Unfortunately, I do not see it happening cuz the thread goes into great detail of how bolster works, which I think the devs are against..

[ironhydra]

It's not really expensive. Money is easy to get, but most are not willing to do minor PvE things to get it. It is you need to decide if you want to be on par or not. I stated in the OP that Augments, stims, and a set of oranges that you can live with, are really the only "needs" for endgame PvP. If you run dailies between pvp pops from level 50-55, you would have more than enough money to do what you need..

 

If you are leveling via PvP only, you can purchase level 50 purple modifications for around 20K EA, so to fill all 27 slots its around 540K (you can make over 100K on Ilum in 30 mins). This also assumes you need to fill all those pieces, but again IF you are doing PvP only, you can easily get the PvP pieces, but your MH/OH will not be BiS.

 

The issue with the Operatives is that the PvE set bonus is "more favorable", but that isn't really an issue with bolster itself..

 

The TL:DR version is:

@ 55

Buy your BiS Obroan PvP relics (2600RWZ COMMS; 1400 URWZ COMMS).

Augment everything.

 

Then,

Buy 4EA Obroan Moddable Non-Weapon Pieces for your set bonus (or in and Operative's case 2 PvP pieces + 2 PvE pieces)(10,000RWZ COMMS, 4000 URWZ COMMS).

Min/Max those 4 pieces.

 

Then,

Replace other pieces with BiS Obroan ONLY(except for MH/OH), as that is the only upgrade, but its not by much as I showed in the last update..

 

Profit...

 

Thanks for the extra info. This is really helpful.

 

One more follow up question though, does it matter what pve gear you have for the pve bonus? What I mean is the pve bonus for operatives with the 15% bonus to aoe heal from hardmodes? I forget, its been over 2 years now since i played I believe.

[ManiacDavis]

Thanks for the extra info. This is really helpful.

 

One more follow up question though, does it matter what pve gear you have for the pve bonus? What I mean is the pve bonus for operatives with the 15% bonus to aoe heal from hardmodes? I forget, its been over 2 years now since i played I believe.

 

The 15% increase to the AOE heal is BIS by far.

[Evuo]

I've got another comparison here.

 

http://imgur.com/kuoXJN6,QePx7Vw

 

Blue Microfilament Implant (first image) vs Obroan Implant (second image)

+3 endurace

+2.1 ranged bd

+A slight crit gain from bolstered mainstat

 

In favor of the Blue Microfilament.

 

Of course it just depends on your class/spec if the tradeoff of the secondary stat is worth it (in this case surge vs accuracy).

 

(The purple microfilament drops expertise by 44 so I did not include it).

 

EDIT: It is the same (stat gains with no expertise loss) with the Microfilament implants vs Obroan

Edited December 29, 2013 by Evuo

[Caiphus]

What happens with old WH, EWH mods? Does bolster still consider it PVP gear even though the EXP has been removed?

[Evuo]

What happens with old WH, EWH mods? Does bolster still consider it PVP gear even though the EXP has been removed?

 

It is affected by bolster.

[L-RANDLE]

What happens with old WH, EWH mods? Does bolster still consider it PVP gear even though the EXP has been removed?

 

Specifically, old WH/EWH had its native EXP removed because bolster followed the same notion as in the OP. If there was EXP present on gear, no bolster EXP was given. Even a full set of WH/EWH only yielded about 1500EXP total, so when bolster was introduced, nude and green geared players curbstomped WH/EWH. Since that was what most people were wearing, BW removed the EXP so old WH/EWH would get full bolster. The WH/EWH Relics were not changed due them having a large secondary(power, Defense, etc) stat to offset the slight bolster decrease on those slots..

 

Please note, WH and EWH were the ONLY, what I will call "Legacy PvP Gear", that was transitioned in this manor. ANY other gear lower than WH still has EXP on it and should not be used. Its actuall better to not equip anything in some cases (old champion relics were awful).

Edited December 30, 2013 by L-RANDLE

[AMulls]

Hugely helpful thread. Just bumping to help the case for a sticky.

[funkiestj]

We also have more responses to this thread than the main contender thread...(Sorry Maniac :-))

 

It is not that this thread is "better" than the main contender thread, it is that bolster is the most inscrutable part of the game and consequently needs more discussion.

 

If we are going to have separate PvP and PvE gear progressions is it too much to ask to have PvP gear be BiS for PvP warzones? Oy vey!

 

MODS, CAN I GET THIS THREAD STICKIED PLZ!!!?

 

mods are asleep at the wheel ...

[Ariak-]

I've got another comparison here.

 

http://imgur.com/kuoXJN6,QePx7Vw

 

Blue Microfilament Implant (first image) vs Obroan Implant (second image)

+3 endurace

+2.1 ranged bd

+A slight crit gain from bolstered mainstat

 

In favor of the Blue Microfilament.

 

Of course it just depends on your class/spec if the tradeoff of the secondary stat is worth it (in this case surge vs accuracy).

 

(The purple microfilament drops expertise by 44 so I did not include it).

 

EDIT: It is the same (stat gains with no expertise loss) with the Microfilament implants vs Obroan

 

I have confirmed this. Please update your front page Randle. This is BIS over obroan. The loss in secondary stat is miniscule. In my case, around .03 surge loss vs the gains mentioned above.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Ariak-

[DarthOvertone]

Great guide Randle. I plan on following the 193 benchmark for all alts that hit 55 at least until the next gear change.

 

And that's probably why this thread hasn't been stickied. With Bolster changing seemingly in every update, a lot of the information contained here will become outdated rather quickly. However, I think you have successfully identified some of the underlying mechanics of how Bolster changes impact our gear when they do happen. In that regard, the Bolster chase will simply be finding that magic number each time an update occurs.

 

Now I just need to actually log into the game and play. lol

 

Edit: neglected to mention regarding Augments and Augment Kits; Each time I roll a new alt, I find an Adaptive Gear look that I really like and score that gear. Usually it's something off the Cartel Market, but you don't necessarily have to buy it there. You can buy most of that Cartel Market gear with credits off the GTN if you have the coin. After that, I just throw MK-9s on all of the pieces and update augments as I level toon.

Edited January 3, 2014 by DarthOvertone

[sithBracer]

I have confirmed this. Please update your front page Randle. This is BIS over obroan. The loss in secondary stat is miniscule. In my case, around .03 surge loss vs the gains mentioned above.

 

Did you change this in the wz, or out of the wz?

[funkiestj]

Did you change this in the wz, or out of the wz?

 

TANGENT: Are there still any bolster bugs relating to when gear is changed (i.e. inside a WZ vs outside and then entering WZ)?

 

If yes, do these same bugs manifest in the Gree area of Ilum?

[Lord_Masty]

Thank you for this thread. I was at full conqueror working on getting obroan when I read this and took the advice of using 69/63/61 weapons and found those to be MASSIVE upgrades compared to conqueror.

 

So for someone who is already in full conqueror for my non-weapon pieces, should I keep using them until I can upgrade to obroan or would replacing them with PVE gear now be an upgrade to conqueror already?

 

If so, is there a formula for what's optimal? (like adding up to 193 for the weapons) or should I just wear blues?

[KandElAbr]

Does a 72+63+58 format for MH/OH provide full expertise?

[georgemattson]

So here's a silly question that I'm sure is extremely basic for everyone else. However... after coming back and reading through this thread and a number of others, and also looking through the PvP & PvE gear vendors on the fleet I'm honestly thinking I have to be missing something. If I understand this all correctly:

 

- There are only two levels of PvP gear available on the fleet: 65 and 67.

- If the sum total of my mods on any given item total over 193 (e.g., 67+67+67= 201), my expertise boost for that item gets nerfed.

- If there is expertise on any mod on a given item, no expertise boost for that item is given; you get what you have via your mods, and that's it.

 

- There are four levels of PvE gear available on the fleet: classic, basic, elite, and ultimate, corresponding (usually) to 61, 69, 72, and 78)

- Assuming a given item has no expertise on it at all, your expertise level gets the maximum possible boost.

 

I read the comment in the original post that Obroan gear is the best option available for non-weapon gear; however, I'm looking at the level 78 gear on the PvE side and while it doesn't always compare exactly, the stat bonuses appear significantly higher.

 

My questions, then, are:

- Will bolster take my stats just as high on a piece of PvE gear with no expertise at all as compared to a piece of PvP gear with exactly 193 points worth of cumulative rating?

- Are there other PvP vendors at the 72/78 rating equivalent somewhere?

- Is there any benefit whatsoever to using PvP gear in warzones, if the alternative is level 72 or 78 PvE gear that gets bolstered to make up for the lack of Expertise on the gear itself?

- If all of the above is true, would it make sense to completely abandon the PvP gear grind and instead grind out top end PvE gear, if one's goal is to become more powerful in warzone PvP?

 

As I'm looking at things now, it would seem as though dumping the PvP gear and shooting for lvl 78 PvE gear across the board would make me significantly stronger in warzone PvP and PvE, while presenting a modest handicap (by way of comparison) to open world PvP.

 

Is that assessment accurate, or am I completely missing something?

[georgemattson]

Does a 72+63+58 format for MH/OH provide full expertise?

 

Oh, and this reminds me...

 

I've seen recommendations along these lines in a number of areas, with regards to mixing rating on gear (i.e., each particular mod on a piece of gear being at a different level, such that their sum total adds up to 193). However, I'm not at all clear on where to get any kind of PvP gear (as in, something with expertise on it) other than 65 or 67. Where would I find these mods, or the gear that has them?

[TheDanski]

Great information in this thread. As much clarity as I've come across regarding bolster...requesting sticky.

[Ottoattack]

So here's a silly question that I'm sure is extremely basic for everyone else. However... after coming back and reading through this thread and a number of others, and also looking through the PvP & PvE gear vendors on the fleet I'm honestly thinking I have to be missing something. If I understand this all correctly:

 

- There are only two levels of PvP gear available on the fleet: 65 and 67. Correct.

- If the sum total of my mods on any given item total over 193 (e.g., 67+67+67= 201), my expertise boost for that item gets nerfed. PvP gear is exception. Obroan is 67*3 = 201 but still gets full expertise. Samw with Conqueror.

- If there is expertise on any mod on a given item, no expertise boost for that item is given; you get what you have via your mods, and that's it. Yes. If there is expertise on a single mod/enh/armor the entire piece does not receive expertise, making a mix and match of PvP and PvE mod/enh/armor a very bad idea.

 

- There are four levels of PvE gear available on the fleet: classic, basic, elite, and ultimate, corresponding (usually) to 61, 69, 72, and 78)

- Assuming a given item has no expertise on it at all, your expertise level gets the maximum possible boost.

 

I read the comment in the original post that Obroan gear is the best option available for non-weapon gear; however, I'm looking at the level 78 gear on the PvE side and while it doesn't always compare exactly, the stat bonuses appear significantly higher.

 

My questions, then, are:

- Will bolster take my stats just as high on a piece of PvE gear with no expertise at all as compared to a piece of PvP gear with exactly 193 points worth of cumulative rating? Yes. I do this on all my toons PvP gear. I only use PvE weapons in that format. I also use it for my sorc on 2 pieces for the set bonus. I have full expertise in WZs.

- Are there other PvP vendors at the 72/78 rating equivalent somewhere? No. Obroan, lvl 67 gear is top PvP.

- Is there any benefit whatsoever to using PvP gear in warzones, if the alternative is level 72 or 78 PvE gear that gets bolstered to make up for the lack of Expertise on the gear itself?

PvE gear outside the format of 193 and not including anything above 69 lose huge amount of expertise that significantly outweigh their benefit.

 

For example, my full geared obroan toon with PvE weapons run 1,481 bonus damage in WZs and full expertise, which gives 60% bonus to damage against players. Full 78s with mid 1600s bonus damage, run around mid 800 expertise, which is roughly 25% bonus damage against players, thus I roughly deal 15% more damage than someone in full DF gear. The ratio is significantly worse for HP as the bonus 8K damage means little when they do not have the 37.5% (around 15%) damage protection, and armor is adjusted to the level of 78 gear regardless of what you are wearing. Healing also loses on the bonus healing, but is not as significant as dps and damage received.

 

- If all of the above is true, would it make sense to completely abandon the PvP gear grind and instead grind out top end PvE gear, if one's goal is to become more powerful in warzone PvP? this is an absolote no Just based on the example above for dps comparison, there is about 15% advantage in damage and about 20% in damage received for someone in full obroan compared to top PvE gear. If lets say we duel inside a WZ, I am at roughly 35% advantage over the PvE gear. This ratio is lower as you PvE gear approaches PvP gear level. There is no question that if you want to PvP reguarlry you should never wear high end PvE gear in WZs.

[/color]

As I'm looking at things now, it would seem as though dumping the PvP gear and shooting for lvl 78 PvE gear across the board would make me significantly stronger in warzone PvP and PvE, while presenting a modest handicap (by way of comparison) to open world PvP.

 

Is that assessment accurate, or am I completely missing something?

 

I responded to your questions in red above to the best of my knowledge. For open world PvP there is no bolster, so PvP gear gets 60% more damage and receive 37.5% more damage and around 27.5% more healing (I cant remember the exact number), making even attempting to atk someone in PvP while you are in PvE a suicide. However, since there is no bolster as well, BiS gear is full PvP gear with 78 hilts/barrels and armoring in MH and OH is the strongest composition, because you gain about 250 bonus damage for a sacrifice of 80 expertise.

 

The purpose of bolster was to make things easier. How did this work out?

Edited January 7, 2014 by Ottoattack

[Ottoattack]

Great information in this thread. As much clarity as I've come across regarding bolster...requesting sticky.

 

Multiple posters (including me) requested this multiple times in the thread. It is either the moderators dont read PvP forums or the devs do not want forums explaining bolster.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Ottoattack

[georgemattson]

I responded to your questions in red above to the best of my knowledge. For open world PvP there is no bolster, so PvP gear gets 60% more damage and receive 37.5% more damage and around 27.5% more healing (I cant remember the exact number), making even attempting to atk someone in PvP while you are in PvE a suicide. However, since there is no bolster as well, BiS gear is full PvP gear with 78 hilts/barrels and armoring in MH and OH is the strongest composition, because you gain about 250 bonus damage for a sacrifice of 80 expertise.

 

The purpose of bolster was to make things easier. How did this work out?

 

Thanks so much for the information; this is extremely helpful. It does seem a bit strange, though, that there's only the two levels of PvP gear. Maybe it's just me and my of appreciation for repeatedly grinding raids, but it does seem as though it's significantly easier to get BiS PvP as opposed to BiS PvE.

[Ancaglon]

Gah. I wish I'd read this post about the MH/OH before I used my rolled-over PVP weapons to kit up my new gunslinger with Obroan MH+OH+SA relic, I could have used the 7k ranked comms on the blasters to much better effect. Ho hum...