Endgame gearing

[ChroniKill]

I'm working over the double XP weekend to get my PT to 55. Ultimately I want her to end up a tank rather than a DPS, although will likely DPS for PvP.

 

The question is, will dread guard gear with a 4 set bonus be better (if I put 66 mods and enhancements in) than 66 without set bonus? I know that usually I will forego a 72 for a 69 with a set bonus, but does the same apply between 63 and 66?

 

Alternatively should I just get the 66 gear from Oricon and roll with it?

 

Thanks a lot.

[cxten]

Yes 63 (or 61) with set bonus is better than 66 without.

 

The enhancements in the 63 may also be better than the ones you get from Oricon, as those tend to be poorly itemized.

 

I wouldn't necessarily go out of your way to get the 63 set, though, as you'll soon replace it with a 69 set (and you can't mix 61/63 set pieces with 69+ set pieces).

[TACeMossie]

Yes 63 (or 61) with set bonus is better than 66 without.

 

The enhancements in the 63 may also be better than the ones you get from Oricon, as those tend to be poorly itemized.

 

I wouldn't necessarily go out of your way to get the 63 set, though, as you'll soon replace it with a 69 set (and you can't mix 61/63 set pieces with 69+ set pieces).

 

Well the mods might be, but with enhancements you can just buy Immunity/Sturdiness enhancement 28's from the GTN and they'll be good until 72 (or maybe even 75) bulwark/bastion ones. On the bright side, you can safely use the 78 vigilant enhancements till you get the 75 or 78 bulwark/bastion ones because they are comparable to the 72s (the Vigilant ones come on multiple ultimate-comms gears. Cheapest option is boots)

 

Oh and I am still using my 69 set bonus despite having the ability to grab 78 non-bonus armorings because I like it.

 

And for earpiece/implants, get crafted ones that have Veracity in the name (I forget the specific items) as they are as good defensively as Kel Dragon ones (slightly more defensive stats, but no where near as much endurance. And our self-heals are based on our health)

 

Anyway, I have a specific set of gear that works nicely for any SM Operations for an entry-level tank. Ill link it here (link to be added):

http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/ecf1dcfb-7ca5-4798-a18a-b4dbf579e92b

 

Shells used are set bonus, I personally say 61s cause I couldn't be bothered running through EC HM to get the 63s set bonus. The 28 Unlettered weighted mods can only be found on the [Artifact TT-31A] Elite Vanguard Helmet - which there should be a ton on the GTN. Be prepared for about 300k in fees to get some. In addition, the only thing out of everything I linked you that isn't available without basic comms is the mainhand, but you can get the parts for it off the GTN

 

And I didn't use augments because I didn't feel like it. You don't really need augments unless doing HM ops, so why bother shelling out 2 mill when you have to change it as your gear gets better anyway?

Edited March 16, 2014 by TACeMossie

[cxten]

All very good advice from TaCeMossie. My response above was just a quick bare-bones response.

 

Here's a response I wrote earlier to another tank asking about gearing up, with more details (much of the same advice as Tace, but with a different focus). Also, the player in question had saved up tons of basic comms, so I hewed toward how to use them in that response, but much of the advice is good generally.

Edited March 16, 2014 by cxten

[ChroniKill]

Thanks for the advice.

 

I got myself a 4 set campaign bonus at 50 and will just be levelling through dailies so will hopefully have enough credits built up to get decent 66 mods and enhancements from the GTN. Thankfully it should be possible for the guild to carry me through s SM op or two like this so can get 69 fairly quickly.

 

Edit: has anyone tried mixing in the 2 set pPvE with the 2 set PvP? It looks to me as if a 1.5s CD reduction on heat blast (and therefore greater uptime on your absorb boost) would be better than 2% defence (which will damage heat management and procs of heat shield).

Edited March 16, 2014 by ChroniKill

[TACeMossie]

Thanks for the advice.

 

I got myself a 4 set campaign bonus at 50 and will just be levelling through dailies so will hopefully have enough credits built up to get decent 66 mods and enhancements from the GTN. Thankfully it should be possible for the guild to carry me through s SM op or two like this so can get 69 fairly quickly.

 

Edit: has anyone tried mixing in the 2 set pPvE with the 2 set PvP? It looks to me as if a 1.5s CD reduction on heat blast (and therefore greater uptime on your absorb boost) would be better than 2% defence (which will damage heat management and procs of heat shield).

 

I did some maths, and even with an average 20% defense rate, you only lose about 4 dps mitigation per 1000dps taken due to defenses blocking shield procs. The 2% defense is about a 12 damage reduction per 1000dps taken, while the -1.5 secs on Heat Blast is about half of that. Overall, I'd recommend sticking with the 4-piece.

 

That and the PvP armoring gives significantly less health an armor, making it inferior in the damage reduction department anyway.