A PvP a Day...

[AlrikFassbauer]

First was a huttball that we got owned in. I don't know if we fought *the* krea, who was on a sniper with a very similar name, but I saw myself killed SOOOO many times by that name that I just decided it must be.

 

Could indeed have been : http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=848961

 

Me, I had a few skirmishes ... One Arena, in which we ... wion ? lost ? Anyway, it was close. And I actually DID NOT die the first round ! Hurray !!!

 

The other match was ... an AHG ... which was close as well ...

 

To my sheer surprise I'm doing around 10k crits now from time to time ... which is astonishing compared to how BAD I am !

 

But stilll : My BADness is still shown by the fact thatr no matter what I do I ALWAYS land in the middle of all damage numbers on the scoreboard. I'm disappointed.

Best thing was that Gunslingers who was at the very top of the damage numbers bar, got 2 or 3 ? MVP votes (probably for that), but only 700something points for objectives,

meanwhile I had something around 5000 points for objectives, was plkaced in the middle of the damage numbers, and got 0 MVP votes (because of that, I assume). And, yes, no-one gurded our node ... But almost no-one attacked it, either ...

 

So sad times : Bioware has fully transformed entire WZ PvP into an damage-numbers PvP ... No objectives, please ...

 

So, well, now my Gunslinger has reached the number 40 - both in Valor and in Level.

 

I just wished I had been able to buy that cool looking PvP armor from last season (I still do have a life, so I couldn't go into level 60 that fast) - because I absolutely detest the current one, it just has no "cool look" for my taste, and even no fgood name - I just loved the name "Exhumed" because of Archaeology being my favourite hobby !!!

 

No. I don't have any intention to buy any of the current PvP gear, because it just looks awful for my taste.

But I know it will be there, because "professional PvPers" just don't have any taste.

Edited October 31, 2015 by AlrikFassbauer

[DomiSotto]

Yep, it absolutely has to be the gold tier player to slow down the dynamic duo of Banderal and I!!! Seriously though, I think Banderal might just have found his class, because his tank rocks. And, I have to say, that was an extremely fun day. We had very good teammates.

 

We, actually did win 2 out 4 arenas we were in. The second DPS was I think a sin in the one Banderal described. In the other one, we had 2 operatives, and, seriously, that's how I do not mind going into an arena on a merc, with a guard on me, and two Operatives that know their business. Tbh, the merc is finally coming together, with some interesting abilities on level 57. I got a Heroic Utility now that allows two casts to be proced as instants in a 15 sec window, so I will have one super-burst sequence where I can have both powershot and serrated shot as insta-casts. I just need to get my head around doing it. Electronetting the Consular/Inq class is also fairly fun.

 

All and all, I am still going between "I want to stick with L2DPS and try a few classes" and "I just want to be back to healing". Anyway, my VG is now level 65 through grinding the story (and I just realized he can use my healer's Dark Reaver Blaster Rifle), opening up trying level 65 PvP on the PT/VG combo. I need to work on the dummy for my L60 Sniper to compare her to my Merc.

 

Ah, Alrick, I think if you keep going on your Slinger, you will find the perfect balance of objectives vs damage play. I know you have a great experience with the class, and it is growing pretty powerful now, so you have things going for your Slinger

 

@DeLaNee: Great 4X run! Your Sage is looking awesome!

Edited October 31, 2015 by DomiSotto

[DomiSotto]

(Waves) I finally played one zone on Level 65. I took my healer operative, and it was complete faceroll over a team in... I don't know what? 208s? Because at some point I was left on a node, and laughingly healed through a sorcerer DPS, and had no problems whatsoever keeping a merc alive with just kolto and surgical probes/nanos and a couple of casts against 2 DPS (who only tried to switch to me after a good minute of that tomfoolery). Poor guys.

 

But sheesh, I felt so clumsy, I am pretty sure I will get obliterated in 5 sec flat if I pull a short straw. Gotta practice.

 

Mostly, I ran on my merc this weekend, though, 59 now. I had a brainwave, and put the old Arkanum set bonus off the vanguard on him. It gives an 8% on the railshot, which is nice. I think I needs some quality dummy time both for him and to study the Engineering, so I can compare the two chars at 60.

 

Overall though, I am starting to feel that I am just not cutting it as a DPS. But, well, it is a lot of fun. Kind of a kid in the candy-shop fun though. Still wish I could get something to click for me and make me want to play just that.

Edited November 2, 2015 by DomiSotto

[Duedroth]

LoL. I swear 90% of the time I'm in a match where I've survived long enough to get unbeatable, I die within about 5 seconds of the announcement.

 

I KNOW! Happens to me all the time. It's as if the whole other team hears that and focuses you, but you know that's not actually what's happening.

[DomiSotto]

(giggle) Same here!

 

Well, the FOREVAR stay with the Empire did not last that long, I am afraid.

 

Banderal and I started out with being pitched against leveling Tauntauns in a VS. Hey, we did manage to take the bridges. They, of course, grabbed datacore. Lol. Then, tooth and nail, we fought against the forces other than what Hoth has to offer to the Harbinger's PvP scene, and, like almost won a Novarre. Almost!!!! Then Banderal hit 65, and I swapped to Runt, to do a bit of healing. Most boring VS ever, that we won by classic impasses in front of the doors. I was like an addendum to a healing Sorc on our side, who did put out those mythological scale HPS, while I uhm, yeah, tried to cap a few times. Eh. I'll stick to healing, I promise. Sensei's words echoed in my ears and all that.

 

Anyway, since Banderal hit 65 on the Juggernaut, I am following him to the Republic to pocket-heal his Guardian if he decides to level up there.... Gonna be fun. I think he expressed a sentiment about robbing me of joy of playing a merc or something

 

EDIT: forgot to add, ran my PT in a couple of Ops and grinding my teeth at the low DPS. Did a few parses on a dummy, but not enough to be fluid. I need to be about 2000 dps higher, only putting the 3000-5000 range, well behind the ranged guys. Well, Okay, our sniper put out 16,000+ on a trash pull yesterday, but that's just insane.

Edited November 3, 2015 by DomiSotto

[Banderal]

I KNOW! Happens to me all the time. It's as if the whole other team hears that and focuses you, but you know that's not actually what's happening.

 

It's the universe's way of keeping us humble.

[Banderal]

OK, I started a new insta-60 guardian, and I gotta say... BW SUCKS! OMG, what lame decision maker came up with the idea to start you at 60 with no credits, no comms, no WZ adrenals or med paks and on and on? Basically you start with nothing but the shirt (gear) on your back. At least I have basic gear that bolsters OK, I guess, in PvP (188s).

 

Anyway, I exported my keybinds from craven, and move them over (that feature is nice!). And got going in a voidstar. Got a pretty easy win to start. Followed by a rough, but not faceroll type, loss of another VS. And then another loss in an ACW where I still wouldn't have classified it as a faceroll, but we certainly had a revolving-door-roster with lots of quitters.

 

Final game was a faceroll kind of win in a pipeball, but was pretty interesting nonetheless, because I got to see the new "swap places" teleport ability that I guess Vangaurds have? I was running the ball up the ramp towards the goal, and my team mate is standing on the other side of the acid... I'm JUST lining up the pass to him... finger going down on the keybind... and WHAM... I'm suddenly on the other side of the acid, and facing back where I just was... and I could not stop the pass in time and ended up passing right back to where I was for an interception.

 

Later in the game we had a similar experience where I was on the ground getting ready to leap up to him, and he did the swap again. I did not leap back down, but I was running, and after the swap I was facing the edge of the ledge ("standing on my head at the edge of the ledge, trying to figure out how to keep my family fed..." anyone? anyone? ) and I just ran right off it and back down to "ground level". Fortunately there was a nice red-man standing back up there that I could leap back up to and score.

 

Anyway, I figure that move will be REALLY awesome for huttball for people who are used to it, or who are on VOIP and know it's coming!

 

But wow, I think getting mod-able gear is going to be a slow process. I have a wopping 60K creds after the 5 games.

[DomiSotto]

The BH and rak events should be coming any time. If you want we can grind you a free set of Legacy gear from either of them (should only take a 15 or so min per mission), so Craven and your New Guy could share a set of PvP gear. I've been away yesterday & grinding my teeth for all the re-gearing I still have to do!

 

Need to level Mando to level 55, so she can get the old Arkanum bonus set off Merc ('cause it's a waste not to, I tell ya, a WASTE!), and rebuild her old set as a new set for him in 190 flavor. Just in case I would feel a sudden uncontrollable urge to play a Merc/Mando.

 

And then, of course, I have to rebuild a 190 generic healer set for sage and scoundrel to share, while the second former Darke reaver set becomes the new Operative's 65 healer T1 set. Leaving PT/VG for now. Too MUCH! My HEAD HURTS!!!! Can't handle it!

 

Still have PvE set to finish for my Sorc and my PT (I think I will give up on the Operative for PvE for now). And augments, augments, and more augments. At a price of only 22,000 credits I now know that I cannot RE old 186 augments into materials (I was sleepy, so took 2 tries to ascertain it!). So much for that plan. Well, on the bright side, it saves time.

Edited November 4, 2015 by DomiSotto

[Cox_The_Beast]

Last week I dusted off my Guardian Tank, to earn M1-4X. Because, why not? I was at a mid-low Valor (20s or 30s, can't remember) so no way to skip the 20 WZs...

 

Well, it was quite an experience considering I haven't PvPed on that charater ever since SoR was launched...

Some WZs were bad. Others were great. I saw lots of ppl hiding in corners to avoid engagement, and that was a sad view... Then again, when I mentioned wins count twice for the mission, most actually entered the fray.

 

Anyway, there's a particular WZ I'd like to share, as it was most likely one of the best I've had in general in the last month. As I said, I was on my Guardian Tank. PvE geared, because I never got to grind a full set on him, since I play him sparingly - focus is on Imp Side...

At any rate, we entered the designated WZ. Huttball! Classic Huttball, no less... Well, we got mid, but the opponents grabbed the ball, and managed to score. Not without a bit of struggle inbetween, though, we did our best to keep them away from our score line, but without healers or healing classes (me, 2 GunSlingers, rest Sents or Vanguards ) and against a team composed of 4 healers (2 Sorcs, a Merc and an Op) it's not like we had much of a way to deal with it...

At any rate, they managed to score 5 times quite fast, I gotta say. Then, I decided it was yolo time. I went mid, used my Awe to mezz a second before the ball came along, grabbed it... Then I went berserk! I managed to score using my jumps: ally jump to an ally on the top level, jump to an opponent that came from respawning to avoid the fire trap, pushed the poor guy back and jumped back in, then I used the new lightsaber sweeping charge. Hell yeah.

After that the team began being coordinated, actually. I returned mid and guarded a Sent that grabbed the ball using my same method. Awe, grab, jump away. I escorted him almost till the score line, but he was pushed down by an opponent. He passed me the ball, I scored again.

 

This happened another 4 times, as in the end we won that WZ 6-5. I scored 5 of the 6 times, but that was thanks to the awesome teamwork the group was able to dish out after being so roflstomped before. The other score was a Vanguard that I took on the score line ledge by pushing an opponent close enough for it to be a target for the Vanguard's brand new charge.

 

I managed to get some insane stats out of that WZ. Almost 350k Protection. Which for a Huttball is some serious value.. 250k Heals. Gotta love Focused Defence, I guess. And about 300k dmg too, which is nice. 12k Objective points. And 20 Medals too. Never died. 3 kills.

My goodness, now I remember why I like that class... It's surprisingly easy to get medals. Still, I don't think I'll use that regularly in PvP, so I sent the comms to my main Sorc. Now halfway to a top PvP set.

 

We'll see in he upcoming weeks wether I decide to take other characters through what we have of KotFE or not, because otherwise I'll just stick to my main... I'm considering the idea of waiting a few months to start KotFE fresh with other characters, two at a time, one per side. Likely mirrors, from now on, though.

[DomiSotto]

OMG, that's an awesome story!

 

Cox the Beast, if you are still around, any tips on when and how place the Phase Walk on a Sage/Sorc? Do you just run to the closest medical station and channel it there before engaging into combat?

[DomiSotto]

OMG, Banderal and I finally starting working the tank+healer routine, destroying the balance as we know it.

 

At first it did not went all that well, us getting split-up and losing each other in the fray, but slowly we managed to stick by one-another's side. Once we did, we were quite hard to take down. I think we managed a 2 vs 5 for a while (though we did lose the 3rd person that was with us, 'cause we are not all awesome yet!). We were in a couple of Alderaans, and a Voidstar where our Republic troops were destroyed (OMG) despite me being a totally Op Healer Sage, but then we got a really cool Classic Huttball, and finished up with winning an Arena (OMG, we had trinity vs 3 DPs+ Heals).

 

Well, the thing is, we were queueing with a Shadow that spoke the language of the Sins, so we went over to the Empire, and just worked the same routine on level 65, only I was on a less overpowered Operative heals. In the very end, we ended up with a 4M premade of the PvP gods, who directed us to hold our pylon while they would take theirs. And, so gods help me, they did. 5 to 6 while we worked 3 vs 2.

 

I think we got mildly criticized by the opposition in that zone for bringing in 3 tanks and 2 healers....

 

Feels good being on heals again. But I will keep trying DPS.

Edited November 5, 2015 by DomiSotto

[Cox_The_Beast]

OMG, that's an awesome story!

 

Cox the Beast, if you are still around, any tips on when and how place the Phase Walk on a Sage/Sorc? Do you just run to the closest medical station and channel it there before engaging into combat?

 

The Phase Walk placing depends a lot on the WZ and the opposing team's composition and behaviour.

 

Considering Sorc as played class, let's have Quesh Huttball as an example.

If the opposing team tries to control the lower level and carry the ball up with a Healer+Tank+Ball Carrier team, best thing you can do is stay away from there and be close to ledges so you can push them down... But what if they take the route to the opposite side from where you are? Phase Walk there when they least expect it, then use what you can to buy time.

Or, if your team is great at getting the ball from the lower level, but struggles to take it away from there because the opponents are all gathered DPSing ppl down, well... Best thing you can do is place Phase Walk as high as possible on the side ramps to the opposing score line and stay on a ledge, ready to pull the ball carrier up. Then Phase Walk, catch the pass and Force Speed to the score line.

 

Normal Huttball is similar to Queshball, in the sense that you want to move where you can help your team avoiding obstacles, but you don'w want to be theer 100% of the time so you can also help where needed. A few nice places for Phase Walk are the ramps beyong teh firetraps towards the opposing side, or even the opposing side ledge. That way they can't really prepare for your arrival and ally pull unless htey have forces stationed there beforehands.

 

In general you want to us Phase Walk to buy time, LoS your opponents and, if possible, put enough distance between you and them to selfheal until a decent HP level.

 

Other WZs are a bit more complicated, and depend even more on team ccomposition, so hard to say where it's best placed...

 

Still, just a few ideas, there are more I'm experimenting now. Still, enjoying hte addition a lot, even though it's still not worth changing my old Utility build more than picking the Speed Bonus on Dark Heal instead of the splash healing on Overload...

Edited November 5, 2015 by Cox_The_Beast

[Rekkakuski]

Sad story of pvp at Red Eclipse

 

http://i.imgur.com/ho7Ot9V.png

[DomiSotto]

Oh, zut, one of those. It happens. But holy cow, that sin tank carried. And they had a merc healer they must have sheltered well.

 

@Cox - thank you for the thoughts! I am going be level 61 shortly, so will need to start thinking about using it. In PvE I usually drop it and then totally forget about it. Pfft. New toy. And, OMG, I LOVE the speed buff on the Benevolence!!!

[Banderal]

I finally geared Craven, getting the ranked "tank" gear, but swapping out all the mods and enhancements that had the worthless defense stat. I put in various power/crit things, but all with top endurance. And then got all advanced fortitude 40 augs. I ended up with 81.5K health! I suspect I may have gone over the top a bit. Not sure. The highest health I'd noticed before that was about 77K.

 

I queued up after that and had a couple AHG where we got owned by the dual threat of a premade, and 1/2 our own team quitting. Staggered In between 2 ACW, one a pretty good game and the other too easy a win. But nothing really felt any different than before I was geared that way. The premade still focus fired and brought me down in seconds. The pugs I could still survive for a very long time if I had my DCDs ready to go.

[DomiSotto]

81.5 K sounds pretty crazy.

 

I geared Runt today as well (and stripped the Dark reaver from Sage in favor of 190), though in a modest T1 set with the 5 Exemplar pieces & all crit augs. Got a couple of losses with Tec's Mara & other two guildies, then we finally won a zone, and that was it. I have to say, playing with a tank is much more fun I was not happy about my heals. When someone gets focused off, I tunnel-heal, and do not have time to keep the probes on the rest of the folks, and healing through burst is not happening either even with the insta-cast.

 

Anyway, during my re-gearing exercise, I was mailing comms off my merc, so I had to play a tiny sidequest at his L60 to finish an area, and boy, did I love the merc on 60 with those unbelievable insta-casts! So, I powered my mando through a few levels, to 49 I think. Only 6 to go, then I can re-gear the merc and see if he is as awesome in the zones as he was on Voss! (You wish!)

 

EDIT: and, of course this was the first time the game seriously bugged out on me. After resetting a certain class quest twice, and no dice... Well, I guess, Makeb it is, while I wait for Bio to respond to my ticket (best time ever to submit it, yep). I hope Makeb is still bolstered in terms of gear.

Edited November 6, 2015 by DomiSotto

[DomiSotto]

Wanted to fess up that the 174--> 190 gear was an advantageous move. Saw a huge heals increase. Well, for me. Still have not hit the 4K marker, but was in the 3-3.5K on both Operative and Sage. Having troubles using the new abilities still. The Sage is almost at level 64, so it won't be long till I get to step into the really hard battles of the end game on her. I dearly hope I can do it.

 

But, oh, well, eyes on the road, eyes on the road.

 

I ran parses and a couple of ops on my PT, and no, not ready to try PvP on her. Did not have time at all for my Merc/Mando, let alone the Sniper.

[AlrikFassbauer]

I still wish Exhumed was anywhere to get ... I really don't like the current PvP gear much at all. But I admit that this is of course a matter of taste.

 

Domi and I queued a few matches together, which was quite some fun ! I was defending the mid node in "Explosive Conflict" ( the map could be called that, couldn't it ? ) with everything I had - and I mean with EVERYTHING ! It was an absolutely terrible fight ! And I had GREAT support !

Only much after that I saw that we had held all 3 nodes ...

 

We've had our share of "get facerolled" as well. Very good imperial side teams.

Plus, I absolutely HATE it when I become the primary target of a single player through several matches !

 

On the positive side, I had an absolutely great talk with 2 PvP players ! They told me a few things (not about better class play, but about PvP in general), and I found them very friendly and polite as well.

And : This was on Republic side !

Edited November 9, 2015 by AlrikFassbauer

[Banderal]

Domi and I queued a few matches together, which was quite some fun !...

...And I had GREAT support !

...On the positive side,

...I found them very friendly and polite as well.

 

All that positivity! Who are you and what have you done with Alrik!? (Just kidding man, good to hear you had some fun! )

 

As for me, I end up getting my new guy all the way up to 65 JUST as Domi logged in. But she's still 63, so we could not group anymore.

 

My final midbies game was a riot. NC. We took south and west. Then, after not responding to an inc call at west in time, we lost that. We mass rushed there to get it back, and then a few of us got back to south *just* in time to stop them from taking that one from us.

 

After that was a LONG fight at south, when them inching ever closer to taking it. I tried a few times to inch it back our way, but they put a stop to any attempts really fast (I dunno why they were watching me so closely ). Eventually they managed to flip it (they had about 20% left at that point I think). But just as they did, one of our guys managed to defeat their defender at east, and grab that one!

 

We rushed to east and west to defend those. But we overrotated to east, and ended up losing west! I was heading back to west to try to stop them finishing the cap, but they Cc'd me before I could get close enough to leap or throw saber at the cappers.

 

However at that point I still had all my defensive cooldowns ready to go... you know, a guardian/jugger with all defenses ready can last a LONG time. They already had 4 people there, and for some reason they sent even more. So I typed into chat that they had 5 at west with me, and everyone else should go south to cap! I've been taken down pretty fast by 3 or so people who know how to deal with my abilities, but this team wasn't that accomplished, so I tied them up for quite a while. I think one other team mate did come over to help. And by the time I died and was exiting respawn we'd taken back south!

 

And then we defended that for the win. Really fun, actually pretty evenly matched game. Good one to end my midbies "career" with.

[sentientomega]

Well, I made a marksmanship sniper yesterday, the last character I'm ever going to make from level 1, at least, for a good long while.

 

And, I've been getting sooo many comms and so much Valour it purely side-splitting, although, having a Valour boost helps. Although some of the matches have been an utter nightmarish shambles (too many stealthies camping the spawn point, plus this one scoundrel that wouldn't stop camping me), especially for me, most of them have been kind enough to give me the Highly Decorated debuff.

 

As of right now, my sniper is Valour 30 (aiming for 40 for the Pierce mission, though frankly, I'd rather have to do a daily's worth of PvP missions to get it done, especially at 65), and level 41, with over 3600 WZ comms. Hopefully, I should be able to get Valour 40 by the end of the week. That doesn't necessarily mean, if I achieve that, that I will cease to PvP on that character, or any. Though, that is likely. I do have, however, quite a few chars that fit into the 41-64 bracket. Some 60s, mostly 58s.

 

Not exactly a PvP per day, but it's already been quite an adventure. Though, I have to say, I'd be a lot happier if it were more similar to the Battlefront style, where we'd have the option to pick our own character, or some stock-appearance version in order to insulate our chars from being hands-down humiliated. Not that that's such a big issue but when it happens for several matches in a row...

 

If anybody has any hints or tricks or any other suggestions or simply words of encouragement, please, don't hold back.

Edited November 10, 2015 by sentientomega

[DomiSotto]

Oh, now you are not capped on valor it will accumulate it quickly. And, as your levels increase, you will find yourself in that overpowered state, so it will be easier to play for a while. The easiest thing to do is to switch your character & bracket, if you feel you have acquired a nemesis or whatever.

 

@Alrick: something was tagging at my memory after you've mentioned gearing your Slinger heavier, then I remembered! Cryyk was running the high Endurance build way back when from what I gleaned when I was just starting to get interested in the stars. So you are following a pretty darn awesome example

 

@Banderal - I just dinged 65 on my sage, and assembled the gear set. Just need to wait on the Augments. Now the comm aquisition begins to get the left side on my Sorc and to upgrade to the Exemplar sb. Getting low on comms now. Should have enough for the Pt/VG basic set up (T1 sb + T2 left/MH/OH).

 

The only 2 wins yesterday from all things were 2 arenas. In the first one I had a wonderful vanguard tank who peeled and swapped guard & a sage who knew how to DPS, so we actually won the 3 vs 4 in the first round vs 1T+3DPS (I guess their tank did not know how to swap guard). Then we got a mando on board, and facerolled.

 

In the second one, things were not so shiny, as I got two Shadows, a tank and a DPS (sigh), vs 3 DPS (op, merc and jugg) with a sorc heals. That was a game of which 3 will kill the other healer first. In R1, I got tossed, did what any sage would do - bravely let go if two insta heals and bubbled. My hotshots finished off my poor counterpart.

 

In R2, the merc let the net out fast enough, so I cleanesd, and as I was going to toss a grenade to cool down the melees, the op stunned. So, yeah, without the 30% DR utility on L63, dead. No time to break & bubble. The tank inquired about why 'the healer did not bubble'. I had a tough time just saying 'electronetted' So, in R3, I simply phasewalked from the middle of the arena (it was Tattoine) back to the ledge to break the focus and the tank had a change of heart and came to help (amazingballs). So, we won in the end, but argh, reminds me why I dislike playing with a lot of Shadows/Sins.

Edited November 10, 2015 by DomiSotto

[sentientomega]

Oh, now you are not capped on valor it will accumulate it quickly. And, as your levels increase, you will find yourself in that overpowered state, so it will be easier to play for a while. The easiest thing to do is to switch your character & bracket, if you feel you have acquired a nemesis or whatever.

 

It's just this one character I'm trying to get valour 40 on, so I doubt I could avoid it, it really should be a legacy thing, since WZ comms are now legacy-transferable (really great move by BW:A, this ) then they could all get the PvP-only-obtainable companions, or, if they wanted an extra excuse to do WZs, they could still avail themselves of the 20- WZ conversation option.

 

How do I get the most out of my WZs, Valour-wise? In case I've missed anything, what should I be doing to earn the most of it I can, per WZ? Also, isn't it already capped with the Highly Decorated debuff?

 

As far as I recall, it caps the number of medals gained to 8, and although you can gain more medals, the amount of valour and commendations would seem to be capped as indicated by the debuff.

 

Well, my character is 41 now, so I suppose I'll soon find out what mid-level PvP is like.

 

Interesting thing is, the highest level gear I have, is less than 20, all my gear's parts are at about level 8, rating 32.

[DomiSotto]

You are not capped after level 40, prior to that your valor can only be equal to your level. So, you will get your valor well before you can do your story line for Pierce You will need to start upgrading your gear, as the bolster can only carry you so far. Once the secondary stats become important, you do need to max them out. Check out Icykill's post about it. Edited November 10, 2015 by DomiSotto

[sentientomega]

You are not capped after level 40, prior to that your valor can only be equal to your level. So, you will get your valor well before you can do your story line for Pierce You will need to start upgrading your gear, as the bolster can only carry you so far. Once the secondary stats become important, you do need to max them out. Check out Icykill's post about it.

 

Well, as that char's 41, lvl 38-42 mods sound good. Also, what post of Icykill's?

 

I'm too tired to look it up right atm, but if I could have some salient google details (I don't trust the forum's search engine that much, sorry BW:A), that'd be nice thanks.

Edited November 11, 2015 by sentientomega

[DomiSotto]

This one, it basically walks you through gearing process:

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showpost.php?p=8017954&postcount=1