PvP Gear- Starting at Lv. 20?

[Jedi_Knight_Jess]

Took my lv. 17 sage to get some pvp gear- an it turns out.....unless I'm totally reading it wrong...you have to be at least level 20 before you can buy pvp gear?

 

I have a little over 500 wc's right now

 

 

also...is there something about converting your wc's to something called mercenary credits?

[Hei_Atzfel]

Do NOT buy any pre-55 PvP gear (AKA anything with Expertise on it). You will only harm yourself.

[AlrikFassbauer]

It looks good, though. Some pieces of this gear is unique and can not be bought anywhere else, as far as I know. Edited March 11, 2014 by AlrikFassbauer

[Numerii]

Just get any piece of gear with modification slots, trade in your WZ comms for planetary comms and then go buy the modifications for your gear from the planet vendors.

[Capt_Beers]

PvP gear below 55 isn't PvP gear. It's just normal gear you buy with WZ comms. You're better off either saving them or buying medpacks and adrenals. Level some more and go back to your starter planet and do the Heroics there for planetary comms to buy gear from the comm vendors.

[LouLouJ]

Pre-55 pvp gear has no expertise, meaning its not really pvp gear. However the level 20 vendors sell decent quality armor, as well as implants and ear pieces which can be annoying to find in the lower levels. think of it as a way to get modifiable gear pieces without doing heroic quests/GTN.

[AdrianDmitruk]

Pre-55 pvp gear has no expertise, meaning its not really pvp gear. However the level 20 vendors sell decent quality armor, as well as implants and ear pieces which can be annoying to find in the lower levels. think of it as a way to get modifiable gear pieces without doing heroic quests/GTN.

 

Actually some of it DOES have just enough expertise to screw up the bolster mechanic that is supposed to set everyone's gear to 55 in lowbie warzones.

 

If you buy lowbie "PVP gear" and wear it inside a warzone, the bolster engine will see a token amount of expertise (like 7 expertise on an enhancement) and conclude that that entire piece does NOT require bolster. You'll be left with the lowbie stats on the gear.

 

If you want the look of the gear, you can re-mod it to take ALL expertise out and then (and only then) will it bolster.

 

That lowbie PVP gear vendor is a relic from the time from before Bioware introduced bolster to 55 warzones in 2.0. Before 2.0 the expertise on the lowbie PVP gear was actually useful because lowbie bolster did not "pass over" gear with expertise on it at the time. Now it will ignore such gear and leave you with lowbie stats for that piece of gear. So check it for expertise and mod that expertise out if you intend to buy it for the looks.

Edited March 11, 2014 by AdrianDmitruk

[teclado]

Ignore the mercenary comms. Those are a relic from the past. They are only at the vendor in case some people still have some and need to convert them to warzone comms.

 

Because of bolster, you don't have to concern yourself with gear until 55. If you are doing PVE, you of course will need to continually gear up for that. Just use whatever you use for PVE. Like others have said, you should have zero expertise outside of a warzone and 2018 or close to it inside a warzone. That's really all that matters.

 

Here's what you can do with your warzone comms: buy warzone medpacks or credit boxes until you hit valor 40. You cannot achieve a valor level higher than your current level, so you will hit valor 40 at level 40 if you pvp a fair amount. Once you are at valor 40, you can start converting your warzone comms into ranked warzone comms at one of the two vendors next to the pvp mission terminal on the fleet (name is "Corr" if repub fleet). As you level closer to 55, work on maxing out your ranked comms so that you will build up a reservoir of comms that you can convert back to regular comms and purchase pvp gear with when you hit 55. If you level from about 50-55 using only pvp, you can use the weapon trading trick to get a full set or nearly a full set of pvp gear immediately upon hitting 55.

[Vodrin]

Do NOT buy any pre-55 PvP gear (AKA anything with Expertise on it). You will only harm yourself.

 

Not true. It's a waste of comms if you have other means of updating your mods, but the level 20 and 40 sets have 0 expertise. It's the 42 and up weapons that can hose you.

 

Actually some of it DOES have just enough expertise to screw up the bolster mechanic that is supposed to set everyone's gear to 55 in lowbie warzones.

 

None of the level 20 or 40 PvP armor available at either of the capitals has any expertise on it. Only the level 42 and up weapons available at the fleet do, and those you can swap out the enhancement to lose the expertise.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Vodrin

[jaytdasme]

Do NOT buy any pre-55 PvP gear (AKA anything with Expertise on it). You will only harm yourself.

 

fresh 20 and 40 "PvP" gear has decent stats so i think it's worth getting. especially if you PvP a lot and will gain the comms right back. Not to mention that's a good way to get earpiece, and implants . beyond crafting it yourself, you'd pretty much have to go to GTN if you want earpiece and implants and waste Credits. I'd much rather waste WZ comms then an unreasonable amount of credits for gear that will be obsolete a couple level later.

[varindas]

Agreed the level 20 and 40 gear sets can definitely be worth investing in. As others have said it doesn't have expertise and is a better deal than converting warzone coms to planetary and buying level 20 or 40 mods. Every piece of the level 40 gear has accuracy though so the whole set isn't necessary. Level 20 may be the same situation. I usually have what I want from the level 40 set in my cargo hold waiting before I hit level 30. This way its easy to be capped on coms when you hit valor 40 at level 40 and start converting to ranked. That's how I roll on any of my pure PvP toons anyway.

[jaytdasme]

Agreed the level 20 and 40 gear sets can definitely be worth investing in. As others have said it doesn't have expertise and is a better deal than converting warzone coms to planetary and buying...

 

By the way a lot of people suggest doing this and i would only if you are strictly a Pvper or if your trying to top off your gear for every new planet. I recently started a new toon and they give you more than enough opportunity to overload on planet comms. I often find myself hitting cap nearly every day and end up start gearing up my companions with the planet vendors. I guess what most people do is every time they reach a new planet they make sure they have the best mods equipped in all gear which is totally unnecessary pre 50. to be competent pve you can often get away with using mods for 3-7 levels or just updating a couple pieces here and there. PvE is fairly easy and PvP will bolster you well enough regardless.

[Capt_Beers]

Agreed the level 20 and 40 gear sets can definitely be worth investing in. As others have said it doesn't have expertise and is a better deal than converting warzone coms to planetary and buying level 20 or 40 mods. Every piece of the level 40 gear has accuracy though so the whole set isn't necessary. Level 20 may be the same situation. I usually have what I want from the level 40 set in my cargo hold waiting before I hit level 30. This way its easy to be capped on coms when you hit valor 40 at level 40 and start converting to ranked. That's how I roll on any of my pure PvP toons anyway.

 

I wouldn't suggest trading WZ comms for anything besides ranked comms. When you are lvl 20 you can go back to DK/Coruscant and solo heroics for planetary comms. A much better trade off IMO, keep all your comms and get the planetary comms.

[Vodrin]

I bought the level 40 gear on 2 of my toons, but only because I liked the look and ended up using the shells at 55.

[Capt_Beers]

I bought the level 40 gear on 2 of my toons, but only because I liked the look and ended up using the shells at 55.

 

I did that on my VG but that was back in the day. I had the 2 exp. crystals and a bunch of the enhancements with exp too lol. I was a wrecking ball back in the good old days of Assault spec.

[ByeToWoW]

Do NOT buy any pre-55 PvP gear (AKA anything with Expertise on it). You will only harm yourself.

 

There are only a very select few items that still have expertise on them and are sub-55.

[varindas]

I wouldn't suggest trading WZ comms for anything besides ranked go back to DK/Coruscant and solo heroics for planetary comms. A much better trade off IMO, keep all your comms and get the planetary comms.

 

That's cool and all if you want to be capped on war zone coms by level 20. You gotta spend the coms on something. You have plenty of time to have coms recapped by 40. I usually have stacks and stacks of medpacks/adrenals, buy some gear with them and still easily cap coms by 40.You guys that dont advise spending them on anything must not pvp as much as some of us........or you aren't earning that many medals one or the other.

[Capt_Beers]

That's cool and all if you want to be capped on war zone coms by level 20. You gotta spend the coms on something. You have plenty of time to have coms recapped by 40. I usually have stacks and stacks of medpacks/adrenals, buy some gear with them and still easily cap coms by 40.You guys that dont advise spending them on anything must not pvp as much as some of us........or you aren't earning that many medals one or the other.

 

I PvP exclusively. The trade off of planetary comms is terrible. Buy medpacks/adrenals or PvP weapons and trade them back for refund to reset the timer. I have maxed out ranked comms about an hour after I hit 40. I have a full set of normal PvP gear about a day after hitting 55.

[Jedi_Knight_Jess]

I picked up my 31 knight the other day, I have about..600 or so zone coins.....gear is like....expensive...so tips?

[Ridickilis]

I picked up my 31 knight the other day, I have about..600 or so zone coins.....gear is like....expensive...so tips?

 

Go to the GTN, narrow the search fields to heavy armor, green quality and up, level 27-31 and sort by cheapest to most expensive. Do that for each slot. You should be able to get all your items upgraded for about 12k or so. Oh and don't buy anything until you see how much all the other slot pieces are selling for at the time. Sure that orange quality-fully modded-level 31 boots will be a great upgrade at 12k credits but if you're on a fixed budget with say 20k to spend you may not have enough left to update the rest of your slots. So you'd be better off settling for level 31 green quality boots at 1200 credits and have plenty of coin left to get wrists, gloves, legs, waist, etc. Look for bargains.

[Capt_Beers]

Go to the GTN, narrow the search fields to heavy armor, green quality and up, level 27-31 and sort by cheapest to most expensive. Do that for each slot. You should be able to get all your items upgraded for about 12k or so. Oh and don't buy anything until you see how much all the other slot pieces are selling for at the time. Sure that orange quality-fully modded-level 31 boots will be a great upgrade at 12k credits but if you're on a fixed budget with say 20k to spend you may not have enough left to update the rest of your slots. So you'd be better off settling for level 31 green quality boots at 1200 credits and have plenty of coin left to get wrists, gloves, legs, waist, etc. Look for bargains.

 

Definitely don't do this. Buying green gear off the GTN has got to be the biggest waste of creds. I can think of.

 

If you are lvl 31 go do heroics on Coruscant, Tython, Ord Mantell and Taris. Do only the ones that award 3 planetary comms. You should be able to steam roll through them at your level and you will be able to gear up via planetary comm vendors no problem. You aren't saving any money buying green since it will have to be completely replaced every 3 levels. You can replace mods piece by piece as you get them as rewards or through buying them with planetary comms or crafting them.

[Ridickilis]

Definitely don't do this. Buying green gear off the GTN has got to be the biggest waste of creds. I can think of.

 

If you are lvl 31 go do heroics on Coruscant, Tython, Ord Mantell and Taris. Do only the ones that award 3 planetary comms. You should be able to steam roll through them at your level and you will be able to gear up via planetary comm vendors no problem. You aren't saving any money buying green since it will have to be completely replaced every 3 levels. You can replace mods piece by piece as you get them as rewards or through buying them with planetary comms or crafting them.

 

Meh, between all the loading screens, travel time between outposts, quick travel on a 30 minute CD and whatnot I find it takes far too long (and tedious) to do those lower level heroics for only 3 comms each. I did think of that and tried it already but I didn't feel the comm reward was worth my time invested. I guess I don't mind shelling out 1-2k credits every 4 level for a green piece (talking about the stuff people are practically giving away) when mods/enhancements are selling at 12k+ on most servers. Obviously getting moddable gear and doing each planet's general pve missions is better because the comms add up faster.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Ridickilis

[Capt_Beers]

Meh, between all the loading screens and whatnot I find it takes far too long (and tedious) to do those lower level heroics for only 3 comms each. I did think of that and tried it already but I didn't feel the comm reward was worth my time invested. I guess I don't mind shelling out 1-2k credits every 4 level for a green piece (talking about the stuff people are practically giving away) when mods/enhancements are selling at 12k+ on most servers. Obviously getting moddable gear and doing each planet's general pve missions is better because the comms add up faster.

 

There should be at least 3 or 4 heroics on each planet that award the 3 comms. That's enough to completely update one piece of moddable gear which will give you much better stats. Plus whatever comms you get as drops, which in heroic areas can be pretty good. I have been doing the Shadow spawn one on DK for the past few days along with normal class quests in between WZ pops and I usually end the day with about 15 planetary comms.

[Ridickilis]

There should be at least 3 or 4 heroics on each planet that award the 3 comms. That's enough to completely update one piece of moddable gear which will give you much better stats. Plus whatever comms you get as drops, which in heroic areas can be pretty good. I have been doing the Shadow spawn one on DK for the past few days along with normal class quests in between WZ pops and I usually end the day with about 15 planetary comms.

 

I suppose.

 

I guess I looked at it as that 31 guardian can just go to Alderaan and complete half the planet's pve content in the same amount of time. Getting the same if not more planet comms, more XP (he/she would be unlikely to get any XP as a level 31 on those lowbie planets) and far more credits as well.

[varindas]

I PvP exclusively. The trade off of planetary comms is terrible. Buy medpacks/adrenals or PvP weapons and trade them back for refund to reset the timer. I have maxed out ranked comms about an hour after I hit 40. I have a full set of normal PvP gear about a day after hitting 55.

 

I was talking about the level 20 and 40 sets of gear not planetary com exchanges. Also running heroic quests like you are preaching about elsewhere in this forum is not exclusive PvP.