[guide] what's the best crew skill for <insert class here>?

[JonnyRay]

Using the information in this guide, I analyzed how best to optimize my crew skills for my various characters. My goal was to get the best chances for a critical process on a gathering / crafting skill.

 

Image of my analysis table: Crew Skills Optimization

 

My goal was to have one (and only one) of each of the crafting skills based on who would have the best chances for a critical effect. Since neither Artifice nor Cybertech have any crew members with a bonus to critical chance, I had to pick one. For Artifice, the Sith Inquisitor does have a decent Efficiency bonus; so I picked SI for that one. For Cybertech, it didn't really matter since I would get my 2% bonus from my ship droid on anyone. However my BH is already Cybertech; so that made sense for me.

 

I left the Jedi Consular and Imperial Agent without a crafting skill since I don't feel a need to double up on anything.

 

In the Gathering skills I wanted to have at least 1 of each, and preferably 2. You could argue that it would be better to move my JK to Archaeology since that skill will provide more materials that I need. However I decided that an extra person looking for crafting missions was a better choice.

 

In mission skills, I wanted to have at least 2 of each to enhance my chances for purple materials. Given the value of Underworld Trading and Treasure Hunting materials, it made sense to put my extra efforts into those skills.

 

The good news (for me) is that I already map fairly closely to this with some of my characters. Some others will need to re-train though to get better results in the long run.

[psandak]

In the Gathering skills I wanted to have at least 1 of each, and preferably 2. You could argue that it would be better to move my JK to Archaeology since that skill will provide more materials that I need. However I decided that an extra person looking for crafting missions was a better choice.

 

In mission skills, I wanted to have at least 2 of each to enhance my chances for purple materials. Given the value of Underworld Trading and Treasure Hunting materials, it made sense to put my extra efforts into those skills.

 

Just a comment on these two bits:

 

In my experience, you need 1.3 gatherers for every crew skill that uses those materials. For example: if you have one of each crafting skill, you have three skills that require scavenging mats: AM, AT, CT, in order to maintain good supply lines you need 4 scavengers running missions (I only have three at the moment and constantly run short). that being said, the new normal of grade 11 means all one has to do is go to Yavin and farm materials for a little while to make up the difference.

 

OTOH, mission skill purple materials are all but impossible to maintain good supply lines (i.e. I have five slicers and three crafters that use those materials and I constantly run out of both blue and purple mats, I could double my number of slicers and not have enough purple mats to consistently produce purple augments); one must either spend time running missions and not crafting, or spend credits buying materials off the GTN to keep crafting. I do both. I will watch the GTN for deals on purple mats and buy them even if I do not need them right away; and I will slow production at times to allow my companions to build up my materials' stock again

[JonnyRay]

Good info, thanks Psandak.

 

Luckily I have more than 8 characters on my server; so I can do some doubling up on gathering and missions to ensure my legacy storage remains full.

[NUTMANIAC]

bump

 

Good guide

[Fhury]

Good guide and great discussion on it. Thank you for this. It helped me to understand a bit more on what path I may go.

[psandak]

I have updated this guide to reflect changes in KotFE. they have not happened yet but anyone looking at what is best crew skills needs to know what's coming.

[eartharioch]

This is another question that pops up a LOT on these forums. So here goes another guide:

Synthweaving is now king of the hill and cybertech has fallen to the bottom of the pile. The rest fall somewhere in between. The short of the story is that Synthweaving now has the most desirable augments in the game, while Cybertech lost its bread and butter and has nothing to take up the slack due to exotic material requirements. Every other crafting skill, lost something and gained something to maintain its place in my mind.

 

First, you can't really call a winner without specifying your metric. I base my position off of earning potential, under the theory [that you frequently espouse] of "make money, not things".

 

Second, while I may concede that Artifice is no longer the God-Emperor of crafting, it is still Emperor with no challengers in sight. And if we are *just* talking about money, I'm not sure how willing I would be to concede that.

 

As to your horse , while Synthweaving has definitely improved, I would consider it "relatively equal" to Armstech and Armormech, all three of which are now in better shape than before. If I *had* to rank them, I would probably go with Armormech, then Synthweaving, and then Armstech. But that would be disregarding post-endgame gear; if we count that, I would switch Armstech and Synthweaving.

 

As far as Cybertech goes, I'm not sure where I rank it. In 3.x, I considered it a distant second to Artifice and clearly ahead of the rest of the pack. Right now, I'd consider it "in the mix" with Arms, Armor, and Synth. But IMO, Bio is now the clear bottom of the pack.

 

For old information check the spoiler below.

 

 

• Cybertech is far and away the best when it comes to sheer volume of possible items to sell. Every level of every armoring and mod is desired. Add to that ear pieces of all levels too. Throw in grenades, and ship parts too.
  
• Artifice is a close second. Many say it has pulled ahead of CT with regard to profitability. Lightsaber hilts are popular, but the best available are difficult to get the schematics for and most characters only need one. Enhancements are "bursty": they'll be a mad rush one day, and then you won't sell any for a week. Most dye modules sell regularly, but even they are prone to market crashing. Relics are great if you can get the materials (Midlithe crystals can be expensive on the GTN providing little net profit compared to other items)
  

 

That was true prior to 3.x -- in 3.x, Artifice had no peer.

 

4. what crew skills does the players already have on other characters?

There is now absolutely no game mechanical reason to double up (or more) on any crafting skill as reusables are gone.

 

Except the various Assemblies...for Artificer. Six companions isn't enough to keep stocking the market and making the assemblies. I chose Sorc for my free 60 and traded Synthweaving for Artifice (I had one of each prior) just to help keep up. That said, I probably wouldn't recommend doubling up until you have one of each.

 

If you are asking about your first character, the answers are debatable.

Actually, the answers are always debatable -- it always comes down to what do you already have and what do you want to accomplish. IMO, the "best" choice for your first six chars is always "one you don't already have"

 

Prior to 4.0, it could be difficult to level a crafting skill while leveling your first character (depending on your choice of skills), but with the Assembly system, it's equally easy to level any crafting skill. It really depends on how far you want to go (crafting-wise and operations-wise). IMO, Armstech would be the best for first char tech users and Artifice for first char force users who intend to go into operations, because with the changes to leveling, everything else is noise, and at the end of the day, if you do operations, those are the only two crafting skills that can make operations-grade mainhands. If you want money, go artifice.

[psandak]

eartharioch, you make some valid points and I have tweaked the "facts" of the guide and my opinions too.

[eartharioch]

eartharioch, you make some valid points and I have tweaked the "facts" of the guide and my opinions too.

 

Not seeing it, and I've refreshed a few few times. I still see you claiming Synthweaving as King. Artifice is *still* (as of 3.x) the runaway leader of the pack for money making. I'm not saying it's *easy* to get to the top of Artifice (and TBH, I only use purchased schematics), but I can't see you pulling in over what I make on Artifice daily (net, not gross) with anywhere near as little effort.

 

I could delete all of my other characters and ditch my two other skills and still make over 1M / day on Artifice buying mats off the GTN. Can you do that with Synthweaving or any other skill (using only schematics still available in game)? Spending anywhere as little time as me? Let's say 2x logins / day @ 10 min?

 

Do you think you could beat an Armortech or Armstech under the same conditions? Decisively enough to call Synthweaving 'King'? If so, should we break out server prices, because it wouldn't fly on my server. And FYI, I don't base my opinion on my server prices, my server prices confirm my opinion.

 

Edit: Just so we're clear, I'm not trying to sound antagonistic, my goal is to make sure the most accurate information is available, not tell people what they skills they should take. Given the 4.x changes, it's probably best to just retire this thread, since the topic (best crew skill for class) is pretty much irrelevant given the ease of leveling and removal of companion bonuses.

 

Basically, it comes down to "What op gear do you want to craft for money?" since most people don't start RE'ing something until after they have it. And Artifice is the clear winner (Relics), since both Artifice and Armstech can RE Comms offhands to make Mainhands, and everything else is available from comms or trainer schematics.

 

Edit2: And just so we're clear, the real #2 Crafting Skill is Slicing (for now). Laughing at MetaNZ b/c my Artificers are both Slicers, so his slicing will never beat my Artifice

Edited November 2, 2015 by eartharioch

[psandak]

I could delete all of my other characters and ditch my two other skills and still make over 1M / day on Artifice buying mats off the GTN. Can you do that with Synthweaving or any other skill (using only schematics still available in game)? Spending anywhere as little time as me? Let's say 2x logins / day @ 10 min?

 

Do you think you could beat an Armortech or Armstech under the same conditions? Decisively enough to call Synthweaving 'King'? If so, should we break out server prices, because it wouldn't fly on my server. And FYI, I don't base my opinion on my server prices, my server prices confirm my opinion.

 

YES! I post purple augments from my synthweaver on the GTN and within seconds they sell. in 24 hours I have made 1.5 million credits.

 

Players are buying alacrity and critical augments like there's no tomorrow.

Edited November 2, 2015 by psandak

[eartharioch]

I've made 1.9M since my last post 5 hrs ago. Just sayin

 

IMO, this guide shouldn't identify any crafting skill as "king" at this stage in the expansion (1 week into general access). Anybody who is selling end game stuff *should* be making bank in everything but maybe Cybertech and Biochem.

 

In fact, I think that *this* guide should never identify a single "King", and should focus on answering the topic -- "What is the best crew skill for <class>?" I called Artifice God-Emperor in 3.x well after the first few weeks of mad profits (after Ziost 190 gear, IIRC), but it wasn't *just* because it made the most money. It was also the best for a character/legacy for making entry-level end game gear -- 186 hilts for main hands and Relics, which were otherwise obtainable from NiM DF/DP (i.e., there were no comm or Ziost versions).

 

And just so we're clear -- it's not like I'm not making and selling Augments and making good money, it's just not *as good* as Artifice. I'm not just making a claim -- there are clear mechanical reasons for why Artifice makes more money right now, and I am actually hoping that BW makes some changes.

Edited November 2, 2015 by eartharioch

[joenewbie]

I like the changes, and it's set up to reward people with multiple toons and multiple skills. I like that you don't have to have a particular class to optimize trade skills. Only thing that I'm disappointed with is the "free" level 60 or even the token purchased insta-60 doesn't allow you to choose which trade skills you get auto-500'd, what if I already have a Synthweaver or Armormech? I needed an Armormech, so it didn't matter to me with my free one but I can think of players who it did, or even myself if I were to want to purchase an insta-60, I would have to untrain/retrain those crew skills, which seems a waste.

[psandak]

I've made 1.9M since my last post 5 hrs ago. Just sayin

 

IMO, this guide shouldn't identify any crafting skill as "king" at this stage in the expansion (1 week into general access). Anybody who is selling end game stuff *should* be making bank in everything but maybe Cybertech and Biochem.

 

In fact, I think that *this* guide should never identify a single "King", and should focus on answering the topic -- "What is the best crew skill for <class>?" I called Artifice God-Emperor in 3.x well after the first few weeks of mad profits (after Ziost 190 gear, IIRC), but it wasn't *just* because it made the most money. It was also the best for a character/legacy for making entry-level end game gear -- 186 hilts for main hands and Relics, which were otherwise obtainable from NiM DF/DP (i.e., there were no comm or Ziost versions).

 

And just so we're clear -- it's not like I'm not making and selling Augments and making good money, it's just not *as good* as Artifice. I'm not just making a claim -- there are clear mechanical reasons for why Artifice makes more money right now, and I am actually hoping that BW makes some changes.

 

Copy that changes in the works

 

And to be clear, I am working Artifice just as hard as Synthweaving, and not coming close to what you are yielding. Dye modules are selling for under 30k a lot of the time now and I am struggling to justify investing in materials to craft lightsabers and hilts and foci because I do not see the limited quantities I have made moving very well.

 

And I posted 6 purple alacrity augments augments when I signed on nd sold them within 5 minutes...that's 570k in sales

Edited November 3, 2015 by psandak

[eartharioch]

Copy that changes in the works

 

And to be clear, I am working Artifice just as hard as Synthweaving, and not coming close to what you are yielding. Dye modules are selling for under 30k a lot of the time now and I am struggling to justify investing in materials to craft lightsabers and hilts and foci because I do not see the limited quantities I have made moving very well.

 

And I posted 6 purple alacrity augments augments when I signed on nd sold them within 5 minutes...that's 570k in sales

 

2.75M at the 12-hour mark...I'll try to check as close to 24 hrs tomorrow to get a final total.

 

BTW, I'm talking profit, not sales. I just checked Harbinger, and it's pretty close to mine for adaptive circuitry. Even using the lower harbinger (IIRC, that's where you are) value of 38K per means your 6 augs took 12 adaptives you (or MetaNZ) could have sold for 456K, so you really only cleared 124K, or about 21K per augment.

 

Obviously we are on different servers (which is why I'm saying this comparison has no real value)-- I'm rarely selling dyes lower than 50K, my best sellers are usually around 100K still. With no purples required currently so crits cancel out my mat cost, that's all profit. That means you have to sell 2x as many augs as I do dyes to make the same money. Even on my own server it's not much better (for augment sales). And I'd have to monitor constantly for relisting, whereas I don't for Artifice.

 

I sell relics for 200+ K (cost to make: 24K) and Crystals for 200K-300K (no real market for Grade 6 Slicing, but even at 50K, that's a lot of augs you have to sell for each crystal I sell. I've been selling about one relic and a few crystals a day (in addition to dyes), but that's a lot of profit to try to match at 21K per augment. That why my synth, which can make about 40K per on my server, still doesn't get that much play.

 

Also, I don't bother with the static statted stuff -- I'm pretty much +41 crystals, dyes, and 186 relics. Nobody wants static stats b/c they aren't augment friendly and bolster makes the 208s pointless.

Edited November 3, 2015 by eartharioch

[psandak]

2.75M at the 12-hour mark...I'll try to check as close to 24 hrs tomorrow to get a final total.

 

BTW, I'm talking profit, not sales. I just checked Harbinger, and it's pretty close to mine for adaptive circuitry. Even using the lower harbinger (IIRC, that's where you are) value of 38K per means your 6 augs took 12 adaptives you (or MetaNZ) could have sold for 456K, so you really only cleared 124K, or about 21K per augment.

 

Obviously we are on different servers (which is why I'm saying this comparison has no real value)-- I'm rarely selling dyes lower than 50K, my best sellers are usually around 100K still. With no purples required currently so crits cancel out my mat cost, that's all profit. That means you have to sell 2x as many augs as I do dyes to make the same money. Even on my own server it's not much better (for augment sales). And I'd have to monitor constantly for relisting, whereas I don't for Artifice.

 

I sell relics for 200+ K (cost to make: 24K) and Crystals for 200K-300K (no real market for Grade 6 Slicing, but even at 50K, that's a lot of augs you have to sell for each crystal I sell. I've been selling about one relic and a few crystals a day (in addition to dyes), but that's a lot of profit to try to match at 21K per augment. That why my synth, which can make about 40K per on my server, still doesn't get that much play.

 

Also, I don't bother with the static statted stuff -- I'm pretty much +41 crystals, dyes, and 186 relics. Nobody wants static stats b/c they aren't augment friendly and bolster makes the 208s pointless.

 

Yeah...dyes on the Harbinger are high priced at 50k, and the markets are pretty well flooded (Black and Light Gray, one guy had posted 30 yesterday).

 

Out of curiosity What relics? I had two 186 rating relics left over and I sold them early for 185k each.

 

And crystals, I do not have many patterns at the +41 level, so that's a problem.

 

As for adaptive circuitry, I have yet to buy any off the GTN, so my price is far lower, I have six slicers that I run both rich and bountiful sliced parts missions on, and my main is a slicer so while playing I can run many passes.

 

This morning, all the augments I posted last night sold, and the four I posted this morning, sold before I logged off. I am currently crafting more but will not be able to post them until tonight.

[eartharioch]

Just over 4M in 24 hrs

 

Yeah...dyes on the Harbinger are high priced at 50k, and the markets are pretty well flooded (Black and Light Gray, one guy had posted 30 yesterday).

 

That happens here, too, but since Harbinger has so many more players, I think what happens is that prices "normalize" faster. A good number of times that I list something, there are no others on the GTN, so that gives me better [in]flexibility in price

 

Out of curiosity What relics? I had two 186 rating relics left over and I sold them early for 185k each.

The new Midlithe ones -- most have the same same name and stats as the old ones, but the ones in our archive still cost four Midlithe, so unless you want to make one that doesn't have a new version, it's better to just learn the new schems. I haven't bothered making any old ones, I just sold out the old stock as well. IMO, the tank relics sell better (and for more credits), but that's not exactly news. Anyway, I don't expect 186 relics to take off, since you can get 216s running bolstered operations, I only sell them b/c schems start at blue with a 60% Re chance, so the investment in time, mats, and money was small.

 

And crystals, I do not have many patterns at the +41 level, so that's a problem.

I was never really into crystals before 4.x. For amusement, I sold a few tri-colors during 3.x (maybe 1/ every 2 weeks), but in order to justify 10 Midlithe, I charged over 600K (and was often the only seller); very few people wanted those colors badly enough to pass up CM crystals at 100K.

 

Fortunately I picked up the rest of the tri-color schems before 4.x, since they are no longer on the trainer. Other than than a Magenta schematic (hardly ever sells), that was it for me. After MetaNZ brought up the crystal schematic changes, I picked up the the RGB crystals from the comms vendor (pretty sure they're still around) for IIRC 50 Basics.

 

As for adaptive circuitry, I have yet to buy any off the GTN, so my price is far lower, I have six slicers that I run both rich and bountiful sliced parts missions on, and my main is a slicer so while playing I can run many passes.

It's not whether or not you buy from the GTN, the reason I use GTN price (when available) is that regardless of how I acquired the mats, it's how much I could make if I sold them as mats. I measure the profitability of a craft by how much more I can make by crafting instead of just selling the mats.

[psandak]

The new Midlithe ones -- most have the same same name and stats as the old ones, but the ones in our archive still cost four Midlithe, so unless you want to make one that doesn't have a new version, it's better to just learn the new schems. I haven't bothered making any old ones, I just sold out the old stock as well. IMO, the tank relics sell better (and for more credits), but that's not exactly news. Anyway, I don't expect 186 relics to take off, since you can get 216s running bolstered operations, I only sell them b/c schems start at blue with a 60% Re chance, so the investment in time, mats, and money was small.

 

OK thanks. I too got the purple schematics, I just have not tried crafting for sale. I have in fact started working at getting the low level relics to purple since they might prove a good seller because they do not have alignment attached.

 

I was never really into crystals before 4.x. For amusement, I sold a few tri-colors during 3.x (maybe 1/ every 2 weeks), but in order to justify 10 Midlithe, I charged over 600K (and was often the only seller); very few people wanted those colors badly enough to pass up CM crystals at 100K.

 

Fortunately I picked up the rest of the tri-color schems before 4.x, since they are no longer on the trainer. Other than than a Magenta schematic (hardly ever sells), that was it for me. After MetaNZ brought up the crystal schematic changes, I picked up the the RGB crystals from the comms vendor (pretty sure they're still around) for IIRC 50 Basics.

 

Problem is those schematics are BoP and my artificer is an alt I do not play often, so getting those schematics would prove difficult to acquire - I would have to stop playing my main and primary alts (on the faction I typically play to boot) for a LONG time to get those schematics.

 

It's not whether or not you buy from the GTN, the reason I use GTN price (when available) is that regardless of how I acquired the mats, it's how much I could make if I sold them as mats. I measure the profitability of a craft by how much more I can make by crafting instead of just selling the mats.

 

True enough, but I think the math is more complex than that:

I have two Adaptive Circuitry, that cost me 6k to acquire

I can turn around and sell them for 35k each

net profit 58k

 

I again have two Adaptive Circuitry, that cost me 6k to acquire

Using additional materials that cost me (overly conservatively) 10k to acquire

that is a 22k investment to craft an augment that I can sell for 100k

net profit 78k

 

As you point out: which path nets me more credits? And I have not included crits.

[Khevar]

As you point out: which path nets me more credits? And I have not included crits.

Just as a note on this. The fact that the 4.0 companion crit chance goes as high as 40% can have a significant impact on margins.

 

For example, comparing the base 15% crit chance to 40%. Raw costs (running missions for raw materials)

 

Obtaining Adaptive Circuitry goes from 5600cr each to 2032cr

Crafting Components goes from 3200cr each to 2592cr

Driving the overall base augment 40 costs from 17762cr each to 9246cr

 

Of course, it's a bit silly to drive costs "down" by spending umpteen-millions getting a companion to rank 50. But if one raises companion affection through normal gameplay (e.g. conversations, alliance gift rewards, etc) it has the potential of benefiting greatly.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Khevar

[eartharioch]

OK thanks. I too got the purple schematics, I just have not tried crafting for sale. I have in fact started working at getting the low level relics to purple since they might prove a good seller because they do not have alignment attached.

I'm thinking about doing that with my second artificer. I'm selling about 1/day of the 186s (probably less) on average, and I don't expect sales to pick up, but I work on a shotgun theory, so as long as they are wildly profitable when they do sell, I'll keep them in my rotation. Prices are dropping towards the 150K range, but that's still more than 100K profit just because Midlithe is so cheap.

 

Problem is those schematics are BoP and my artificer is an alt I do not play often, so getting those schematics would prove difficult to acquire - I would have to stop playing my main and primary alts (on the faction I typically play to boot) for a LONG time to get those schematics.

I can solve that problem for you: PVP vendor sells the PVE Blue and Yellow crystal schematics for 450 WZ comms each. They are BoP, but the PVP vendor also sells 100 WZ, 500 WZ, and 1000 WZ BoL gift boxes for 100 WZ, 500 WZ, and 1000 WZ. You'd need 2700 WZ comms to get your alt all six of those schems.

 

I'm not sure why you think it would take along time to buy the other schematics -- assuming you have access to a ship, you can get to Ilum (I just checked, the RGB are still there for 50 CDCs each). I know somebody else was saying the Makeb vendor, which (without Guildship Summons) is gated at 47. It's not like your alt needs the comms for gear It would be 450 to get all nine, or 300 to get the Red/Green if you get the Blue/Yellow at the PVP vendor.

 

And if you have the Travel to Outlaw's Den unlocked, you can often pick up 20-80 WZ comms in a few minutes without PVPing.

 

True enough, but I think the math is more complex than that:

I have two Adaptive Circuitry, that cost me 6k to acquire

I can turn around and sell them for 35k each

net profit 58k

 

I again have two Adaptive Circuitry, that cost me 6k to acquire

Using additional materials that cost me (overly conservatively) 10k to acquire

that is a 22k investment to craft an augment that I can sell for 100k

net profit 78k

 

As you point out: which path nets me more credits? And I have not included crits.

 

Actually I do count crits -- as long as the "non-purple" mat cost is less than my expected profit from a crit, I ignore both. I'm not saying that this is the best or only valid way of doing things, it's just how I do things. I avoid markets where majority (if not entirety) of the profit comes from the crit, so this simplification works for me. If you are in a highly crit-dependent market (which I consider augments and kits), this simplification might not be as appropriate.

 

Another way of saying this is that prices approaching the crit point indicate that the market is becoming saturated (supply is close to, or higher than, demand). That's when I usually go look for another market (one where supply is lower than demand).

[psandak]

I'm not sure why you think it would take along time to buy the other schematics -- assuming you have access to a ship, you can get to Ilum (I just checked, the RGB are still there for 50 CDCs each). I know somebody else was saying the Makeb vendor, which (without Guildship Summons) is gated at 47. It's not like your alt needs the comms for gear It would be 450 to get all nine, or 300 to get the Red/Green if you get the Blue/Yellow at the PVP vendor.

 

And if you have the Travel to Outlaw's Den unlocked, you can often pick up 20-80 WZ comms in a few minutes without PVPing.

 

I do not PvP much and for the most part I HATE Dailies. I will do *A* set on, one planet, one day, on a lark, and then I remember why I do not do them more regularly. To actively do them on an alt that I only play for the story.../shudder.

[eartharioch]

I do not PvP much and for the most part I HATE Dailies. I will do *A* set on, one planet, one day, on a lark, and then I remember why I do not do them more regularly. To actively do them on an alt that I only play for the story.../shudder.

 

I was assuming your alt was still leveling -- I haven't done 4.x class missions, but 50 comms was pretty easy in a short time during 12x -- actually leveling, not Dailies. I suspect I run Dailies about as often as you (unless I need the rep for a dye, and they're almost all at Legend )

 

For Outlaw's Den, you just zone in (on any char, since WZ comms are transferable) and make a circle -- in five minutes, you'll find 0-4 chests (you do need to know where they spawn, but it's not hard to figure out) with 20 WZ comms each. The respawn is random (there are more than four possible locations) and is every 15 min, so not worth waiting for. Useful if waiting for a queue on an active character or if you just have a few minutes to kill.

 

AFAIKT, that's a pretty low-impact way of getting the schems. And 2700 PVP comms didn't take that long last time I was playing (early 3.x) if you actually PVP. If you have ever PVPed, and have WZ comms on your chars, you can send them all to your alt with the boxes.

[psandak]

I was assuming your alt was still leveling -- I haven't done 4.x class missions, but 50 comms was pretty easy in a short time during 12x -- actually leveling, not Dailies. I suspect I run Dailies about as often as you (unless I need the rep for a dye, and they're almost all at Legend )

 

For Outlaw's Den, you just zone in (on any char, since WZ comms are transferable) and make a circle -- in five minutes, you'll find 0-4 chests (you do need to know where they spawn, but it's not hard to figure out) with 20 WZ comms each. The respawn is random (there are more than four possible locations) and is every 15 min, so not worth waiting for. Useful if waiting for a queue on an active character or if you just have a few minutes to kill.

 

AFAIKT, that's a pretty low-impact way of getting the schems. And 2700 PVP comms didn't take that long last time I was playing (early 3.x) if you actually PVP. If you have ever PVPed, and have WZ comms on your chars, you can send them all to your alt with the boxes.

 

Yeah, my artificer was level 55 before 12x so the comms I got were from SOR, but now that I think about it, I may have a few hundred from Forged Alliances final reward. I will have to check.

 

What WZ comms I get I spend on PvP gear - I only PvP on one character and I do not PvP that much. Running around a circle in Outlaw's Den sounds even more boring than doing dailies so that ain't happenin'

[DawnAskham]

Actually I do count crits -- as long as the "non-purple" mat cost is less than my expected profit from a crit, I ignore both. I'm not saying that this is the best or only valid way of doing things, it's just how I do things. I avoid markets where majority (if not entirety) of the profit comes from the crit, so this simplification works for me. If you are in a highly crit-dependent market (which I consider augments and kits), this simplification might not be as appropriate.

 

Another way of saying this is that prices approaching the crit point indicate that the market is becoming saturated (supply is close to, or higher than, demand). That's when I usually go look for another market (one where supply is lower than demand).

 

I generally evaluate markets the same regarding crits, and will move to other markets if the only profitability above mat sales is in selling crits.

 

And for me augments are still well above 'will work for crit' prices, especially considering I pull all my own mats using a dozen slicing alts, and selling the materials would result in much less profit as well as several characters with idling companions as outside of crafting augments, I don't see much use for synthweaving or armormech.

 

One thing I haven't fully math'd out though is the compounding of crits across characters with high rank influence, from slicing materials to the assemblies to the finished goods - lots of ways to improve returns at every step now.

Edited November 4, 2015 by DawnAskham

[eartharioch]

I generally evaluate markets the same regarding crits, and will move to other markets if the only profitability above mat sales is in selling crits.

 

And for me augments are still well above 'will work for crit' prices, especially considering I pull all my own mats using a dozen slicing alts, and selling the materials would result in much less profit as well as several characters with idling companions as outside of crafting augments, I don't see much use for synthweaving or armormech.

 

One thing I haven't fully math'd out though is the compounding of crits across characters with high rank influence, from slicing materials to the assemblies to the finished goods - lots of ways to improve returns at every step now.

 

Right now (early into 4.x) augments and kits are fine, but if 2.x and 3.x history repeats itself, they will become "commodity items" much earlier into 4.x than many other markets. But the other markets have been seriously disrupted by the changes, so we'll see. Anyway, I was just explaining my logic -- currently augments (I haven't really done kits yet this expansion) are well above the "crit point", so I am actively in that market.

 

TBH, after gifting so many comps to 10K and only getting a 1:1 conversion to influence, I'm really in no hurry to right-click them up to 250K. As long as the +5% from 10K let's me clear my non-purple mat cost, I'll just get there when I get there And the cost in credits (in addition to time) to increase influence is something to consider -- when does your ROI break even?

Edited November 4, 2015 by eartharioch

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Just as a note on this. The fact that the 4.0 companion crit chance goes as high as 40% can have a significant impact on margins.

 

For example, comparing the base 15% crit chance to 40%. Raw costs (running missions for raw materials)

 

Obtaining Adaptive Circuitry goes from 5600cr each to 2032cr

Crafting Components goes from 3200cr each to 2592cr

Driving the overall base augment 40 costs from 17762cr each to 9246cr

 

Of course, it's a bit silly to drive costs "down" by spending umpteen-millions getting a companion to rank 50. But if one raises companion affection through normal gameplay (e.g. conversations, alliance gift rewards, etc) it has the potential of benefiting greatly.

 

Thanks I was hoping someone would do the math on this, got any more?

 

I got one comp to 50 so far just for giggles, not sure what it cost but probably quite a lot using LOVE grade 6 legendary gifts at I think average of 15K each ( looks more expensive now I type it out ).

 

It would take quite some time to get a profit back getting all 6 to 50 but then again I'm not spending as much this week as hypercrates go up in price due to supply and the gold packs are sitting a bit beyond the price I'm willing to pay for them and inflation seems to be starting to kick in ( or supply of CM items drying up from the CM changes - hard to say which ) as I'm selling things for more than I ever have and quite quickly too.