Leveling with mods/orange gear seems insane

[Mashugana]

I've read that leveling with Orange gear is the best way. However, I rerollled when I cam back to swtor so I have zero cash and my highest level character is level 20. If I give myself and my companion Orange gear it seems like I need a gazillion mods, hilts, etc. to keep all our slots geared. Or am I doing it wrong?

 

At the low levels (before 30) I am trying to use orange weapons for me and my companion since I have a +41 Power crystal in my collection. I can keep up the barrel and mods on the weapons.

 

For all other gear I am taking the green quest reqard gear, ignoring planetary tokens, and using the GTN to buy cheap green gear to fill in the slots on me and my companion.

 

It seems to work as long as I stick with zones that are no more than +1 to me. I seem to tear up anything that is level -1 to me. And I'm building up some cash.

 

Would I be better off in all orange gear? Or does my approach make sense for building a new main on a new server?

 

Thanks

[scarlet_magpie]

the best thing to do in your position is to aqccuire the gear as you go, and use planetary comms to keep your mods up-to date.

If you make sure that you regularly run Flashpoints and Heroics, and pick up your daily/weekly priority missions getting comms won't be a problem at all.

 

A nice little tip for your level is to go back to your starter world and run the heroics solo as often as possible to start building up comms, but the heroics you run will generally reward you with orange gear that contains current level -specific mods anyway. Flashpoints provide good orange gear as well (except the tacticals), so there should be no reason at all for you to have any difficulties.

 

Good luck and enjoy!!

[Bstr]

If I give myself and my companion Orange gear it seems like I need a gazillion mods, hilts, etc. to keep all our slots geared. Or am I doing it wrong?

 

Would I be better off in all orange gear? Or does my approach make sense for building a new main on a new server?

 

Thanks

 

The secret is to use the Planetary Commendations to buy the mods you need. Also, drops from certain missions and Flashpoints will give you modifiable gear that you can rip the mods out of and put in gear you like. Certain missions will give you mods. That way, you never need to pay for any mods, except to rip them out.

 

Personally, while leveling, I only use modifiable gear on myself and just use a modifiable weapon for my companion and maybe 1 other modifiable armor. I also tend to skip the belt and bracers and just use regular armor for those. With that setup, you only need 5-6 Armorings, 1-2 Hilts/Barrels, 7 Mods, and 7 Enhancements to do a full upgrade of your character once every 4-6 levels or so. If you would use just Planetary Comms, it would take about 70 Planetary Commendations to upgrade. I tend to get about 80-90 every 4-6 levels or so.

 

NEVER buy green or blue gear on the GTN while leveling. Save those credits for ability upgrades, a speeder, and Legacy Unlocks and Perks. You will need them.

[scarlet_magpie]

Also, if you were looking at starting a new main and would consider Empire side on Red Eclipse, I can help out crafting your mods and running you through stuff etc just till you'r eup and running.

[Darkelefantos]

Modded gear is, simply put, superior to your leveling greens. And vastly so. To put this in perspective, if you fill out a

complete set of gear with mods from Balmorra/ Taris (lvl 16-20 planet), the leveling greens you get from questing will be worse (/not better) untill you reach Alderaan (lvl 28-32 planet). You can also use a moddable set you really like for the entire game as opposed to switching your greens on every planet and generally having your outfit look like a complete mess

 

Filling them out is also not problematic. To completely fill an orange armor set, an orange main-hand and an orange off-hand, you need about 95 planetary commendations. You can get commendations for basically any quest if you don't pick the green equipment it offers as well as by completing Flashpoints regularly. And then you just switch out your mods every 2-3 planets and you're golden. And every now and then you'll get some good loot in a Flashpoint or a decent armoring/mod/enhancement from quests so you won't even have to spend 95 comms.

[scarlet_magpie]

modded gear is, simply put, superior to your leveling greens. And vastly so. To put this in perspective, if you fill out a

complete set of gear with mods from balmorra/ taris (lvl 16-20 planet), the leveling greens you get from questing will be worse (/not better) untill you reach alderaan (lvl 28-32 planet). You can also use a moddable set you really like for the entire game as opposed to switching your greens on every planet and generally having your outfit look like a complete mess

 

filling them out is also not problematic. To completely fill an orange armor set, an orange main-hand and an orange off-hand, you need about 95 planetary commendations. You can get commendations for basically any quest if you don't pick the green equipment it offers as well as by completing flashpoints regularly. And then you just switch out your mods every 2-3 planets and you're golden. And every now and then you'll get some good loot in a flashpoint or a decent armoring/mod/enhancement from quests so you won't even have to spend 95 comms.

 

bingo!

[ConcreteRyder]

Okay, I think everyone here missed the point. Yes modded orange gear if far better then your quest greens. Is it at all REQUIRED to level your character. Absolutely not. If you do all your quests and use the xp boosts you get from quests, you will be out leveling your content by the time you leave your home plant at around level 18-19. And the gap will continue to grow. Even more so if you run Flashpoints. Yes you will need help with heroics. So, be social and get help. I say keep going on the way you are doing. But have a set of orange gear on hand that can be upgraded if you get to a fight you just cannot get past.

 

Oh and never by greens/blues off the GTN. Almost never worth it. Save you money for the mods you will need eventually, or invest in Cybertech and make your own mods.

 

That's my opinion anyway. And it's worked for me... so far

[Darkelefantos]

Okay, I think everyone here missed the point. Yes modded orange gear if far better then your quest greens. Is it at all REQUIRED to level your character.

 

That's not the question the OP asked. They asked if using orange gear is a better approach to leveling than what they are currently doing. Not if it was the only way of doing it. And it is better. So that's that.

[Forgettableone]

The key to this is the Heroics on DK - once you can comfortably solo them (usually around lvl 25 for the H4s), you never need to worry about planet comms - 30 mins work a day = 15 comms (not counting any you loot) - which soon mounts up to fill any gaps you might have after leaving a planet.

[tharbison]

I guess it depends on your playstyle...I only have about an hour or so a day to play. I usually either

 

a) do a flashpoint to get the daily 10+ comms, or,

b) advance my class story

 

Doing this, I've never had a problem buying mods with comms. Acutally, I have the opposite problem - I find I reach the 100 comm limit before I am able to spend them.

[Kulyok]

There's an alternative cheap strategy: a barrel/hilt for the main hand every two levels, blue level armorings for your chest, pants and helmet every four levels, and nobody cares for the rest. Not as good as "all blues", but it's still more valid than greens. The old barrel/hilt for the main hand goes into the off hand.

 

But "all blues" is viable, too. Maybe I've been playing flashpoints too much, but I recently noticed that I'm frequently hitting the limit of 100 comms.

 

Let me give an example of how I(and lots of other people, probably) do it:

Level 10. Introduction to Group Finder + Black Talon/Esseles = 20 comms.

Level 11-12 Weekly Searching for Allies + Black Talon/Esseles = 20 comms.

(repeat if daily cap is not met)

Then one daily run of Hammer Station/Athiss/Mandalorian Raiders for 10 comms +5 comms from extra Daily mission = 15 comms.

And certainly every weekly run.

 

That's more than enough to buy all you need and get extra equipment from the drops. And I try to browse GTN every day for barrels and hilts - sometimes I can get them cheaply enough and I don't waste commendations.

 

Also, I update mods and enhancements every 8-10-even 12 levels. Of course, more often is better, but I just forget.

 

(That's all for the new server I'm on. For the old server, I just craft everything myself and don't bother with flashpoints, just play the class+planetary story).

[AlixMV]

FWIW, OP, Orange gear with all mods up-to-date for your level is probably the easiest way, but in all the other commenters' post, I didn't see an argument as to why it's the 'best' way. The cost of doing that, in your time, in game credits or comms, should also be a factor into what's best for you.

 

I've done it both ways and, personally, I think your approach is fine. I've just rolled toons on a new server and I'm having to start from scratch; without a ton of time to queue for Flashpoints or a strong desire to do Heroics, I've taken your approach to gearing--gear from quest rewards (but only if they're an upgrade to what I already have), world drops, buying greens or cheap blues off the GTN every 2-4 levels or so, and rounding things out with Planetary Comms (mostly to keep my weapons up-to-date).

 

Using all Orange gear to level is nice if you're established, have the crafters in your Legacy to make everything, the credits to buy them, or the time to grind out the PCs to buy them. I have all that on my primary server, and I've done that on the last *mumblemumble* toons I've leveled.

 

But I think 'best' is a subjective label.

[Loc_n_lol]

Really depends how many flashpoints you do...

If you do a lot, it's very easy to hit the commendations cap and have nothing to spend them on because you're already in full blue mods. Flashpoints drop gear too (*), so that's more free stuff.

But... maybe not at level 20. That's still very low. Give it 10 more levels.

 

* Kuat is not a real flashpoint

[DomiSotto]

As someone who can't do Flashpoints due to machine limitations on solo characters, the way I did it so far was by having my first 3 alts crafts to be Cybertech, Artifice and Armstech. I craft the pieces that cost 7 comms (or are expensive on my server) and buy the cheap modifications with comms every 4 levels.

 

I have the the setup 9-8-8 or 9-7-8 for each pair in the running and just stop the play for 're-equip'... I am developing the remaining 3 crafts on my lower level toons now, so I can supplement the modded pieces with the 'ready to go' blues. And, I religiously send around all blue drops between the alts, and check the locker for something to use every level up ('cause I don't remember what everyone have).

 

I also obsessively kill everything I come upon, in hopes of a random blue drop or a comm.

 

It is a hard way of doing it. The easier way is through repeated heroics and flashpoints. And the higher you get, the easier it is to re-run the earlier heroics for more comms. Boring, and takes time, but easy.

Edited June 20, 2014 by DomiSotto

[Mashugana]

Great advice - thanks so much all

[phalczen]

Really depends how many flashpoints you do...

If you do a lot, it's very easy to hit the commendations cap and have nothing to spend them on because you're already in full blue mods. Flashpoints drop gear too (*), so that's more free stuff.

But... maybe not at level 20. That's still very low. Give it 10 more levels.

 

* Kuat is not a real flashpoint

 

The irony though is that doing Kuat Drive Yards, especially during double xp periods, because of its pve bolster, lets you save up commendations and buy modifications even less frequently than every 4 levels.

[Fidelicatessen]

The irony though is that doing Kuat Drive Yards, especially during double xp periods, because of its pve bolster, lets you save up commendations and buy modifications even less frequently than every 4 levels.

 

The real irony is that KDY awards no planetary commendations. So now you're level 48 and you have no comms and level 17 gear. Brilliant!

[Forgettableone]

The real irony is that KDY awards no planetary commendations. So now you're level 48 and you have no comms and level 17 gear. Brilliant!

 

It doesn't award them, but they do drop as loot. Last double weekend I ground out my sage from 37 to 52, and I know he started with 40 comms (I keep track on a spreadsheet) - He'd maxed before the end of the weekend (bought a coupla mods for alts) and still hit max again.

[DomiSotto]

Well, I find that I play for the sake of seeing the story, and level/equip as a necessary evil to support that rather than leveling to bring the character to the end game or competitive content Edited June 27, 2014 by DomiSotto

[MSchuyler]

Well, I find that I play for the sake of seeing the story, and level/equip as a necessary evil to support that rather than leveling to bring the character to the end game or competitive content

 

Good for you. You're special, but tell me: What is the difference, exactly?

[ScarletBlaze]

Leveling with orange modable gear can be difficult if it is your first toon.

 

I have 3 level 55 with 3 fully max crafters, including the gathering and mission skills so it is a bit easier for me on my lower characters. Having the level 55 maxes helps in two ways I have mission and gathering skills that I can use to gather materials that I can send to my alts that are crafting items we need or I can purchase the mats we need.

 

I craft all mine and my boyfriend's armoing, mods, enchancements, barrel and hilts that we need so we usually wind up with comms to use on other things, such as the artifact boxes.

 

Running heroic missions can help and like someone said you can go back to the lower planets and run the heroics and get the comms since they are not restricted to certain planets like they first were.

[RVallant]

Just to ask (since it's related);

 

In theory then:

 

1) Get yourself a set of Orange awesome-sauce.

2) Spend Planet Comms on Mods and armouring and so on and keep it all up to date.

3) Profit.

 

But, if you're starting a-new, would you suggest:

 

a) Picking cybertech and making your own mods/whatever as you go along

b) Picking biochem and investing in healing (re-usables and whatnot)

 

Reason I ask is because I see a lot of comments that Biochem 'saves' a new player a ton of money and in some ways boosts their survivability through re-usables and so on.

 

Yet on the crew skills forums the only time cybertech gets its moment in the spotlight is for 'PvP' and 'grenades' - very little is said about the mods and stuff.

 

Am I to assume that planetary comms armour/mods are better than cybertech's?

[tharbison]

Am I to assume that planetary comms armour/mods are better than cybertech's?

 

Cybertech is great to have while leveling since the 'armor' item modifications cost 7 planetary comms each. Depending how many orange shells you have, that can add up very fast. Cybertech will make both 'armor' and 'mods', so can save you lots of planetary comms, but, may cost you credits in the context of money spent to get the crafting materials. If you have or will have a lot of alts, it makes sense to have a Cybertech on your roster early on.

 

Biochem is amazing for the reusables. Almost every new alt I roll now is bichem for that reason. But, I also have the other crafting professions covered. Once you have one of every crafter, or at least a Cybertech, going forward your new alts should probably go biochem for the reusables.

[eartharioch]

Just to ask (since it's related);

 

In theory then:

 

1) Get yourself a set of Orange awesome-sauce.

2) Spend Planet Comms on Mods and armouring and so on and keep it all up to date.

3) Profit.

 

But, if you're starting a-new, would you suggest:

 

a) Picking cybertech and making your own mods/whatever as you go along

b) Picking biochem and investing in healing (re-usables and whatnot)

 

Reason I ask is because I see a lot of comments that Biochem 'saves' a new player a ton of money and in some ways boosts their survivability through re-usables and so on.

 

Yet on the crew skills forums the only time cybertech gets its moment in the spotlight is for 'PvP' and 'grenades' - very little is said about the mods and stuff.

 

Am I to assume that planetary comms armour/mods are better than cybertech's?

 

If you know you will never roll a second character and you don't care about crafting to make money, pick Biochem. Otherwise, pick Cybertech (CT).

 

Cybertech has a variety of armorinngs and mods (and earpieces), but the initial versions will be green (or occasionally blue for earpieces) and require time and money to upgrade them to purple (the standard comm quality). So if this is your first character, and you are leveling CT as you level your char (which is normal, and sounds like what you plan to do), you will get most of your gear from drops and comms and use CT to supplement them. The other crafts (Artifice for hilts and enhancements, Armstech for barrels, Biochem for implants) would be the same -- you'll occasionally make something better than you can find or buy, but not often.

 

Biochem only saves you money if you would otherwise spend it -- you shouldn't need to spend much (if any) money on stims or med kits while leveling (they are only really necessary at endgame). Reusables aren't quite as good as the nonreuables, so when you *need* to use stims and medpacks, you'll want the nonreusables. Resusables can make dailies a bit faster, but that's usually another endgame concern.

 

So either CT or BC can provide a few extras if you use it while leveling, but nothing to make much of a difference. If you never level another character, and don't plan on crafting for profit, than CT will pretty much go to waste at endgame and BC will still be useful. But if you roll a second char, BC can't do much to help (implants), but with a CT covering armorings and mods (about half of your gear), you'll won't need to rely on drops, as your planetary comms should cover the rest -- not that drops aren't nice, they just aren't predictable.

 

And if you want to enter the market, CT makes about half of the crafted stuff in the market. Any craft at endgame can make money, it's just easier with Cybertech.