choice between main stat and endurance. which do you choose?

[MSchuyler]

I've been crafting barrels in armstech. You are allowed to craft two per level up to item level 14, then four per level. The first two are skill and reflex which have some endurance and some main stat such as cunning or aim. Once it branches to four per level you still get the same two stats, but reversed. Just as a made-up example:

 

Barrel A = 14 endurance, and 20 aim.

Barrel B = 14 aim, and 20 endurance.

 

So there are four schematics to learn instead of two. Given the cost of leveling up, the price doubles at level 14 because there are twice as many to learn and twice as many to RE to blues. What would be the best to craft and/or use? Would you always choose more endurance, which translates to HP, or would you always choose your main stat, such as aim or cunning? What are the trade-offs here?

 

Thanks for any help.

[Ezrat]

For levelling I would always favour the main stat. You may want to lean a bit more the other way if you tank and do run flashpoints.

[DogeDandolo]

For levelling I would always favour the main stat. You may want to lean a bit more the other way if you tank and do run flashpoints.

 

This. Essentially, your main stat increases the damage / healing you do. Endurance only increases your durability. Now you might say they both sound like great deals, but the thing is that Endurance won't help you much if you're not a tank -- having 5 more points of END translates to 50 more health, or 0.2 more seconds you stay alive. All DPS and healer characters are somewhat squishy -- some more than others -- and rely on killing stuff before it kills them to stay alive, rather than eating the damage. In addition, when you run flashpoints and later operations, you will be expected to fulfil your role. The role and job of the tanks is to make sure nothing hits you and everything hits them, so endurance is wasted here for non-tanks.

There's a school of thought according to which even tanks should focus on mainstat over endurance, but I tend towards mitigation > endurance > mainstat which helps survive mitigation failure.

[JediQuaker]

Roughly speaking, I'd say, if you are a tank, you would want to use higher endurance. If you are some other melee class, such as a Sentinel, you might want to balance the two - that is, have one hilt/barrel with more main stat and one with more endurance (if dual wielding). If you are ranged dps, going with extra main stat is generally best.

This can also apply to other "mods" as well.

 

But the main thing to consider, while you are leveling, is that it only makes a very small difference that may not really matter.

Edited March 7, 2015 by JediQuaker

[Damask_Rose]

Jug tanks get solid benefits from strength over endurance.

[Fidelicatessen]

It is almost always better to go mainstat over endurance.

[Marstrike]

Even if you were leveling as a tank i would still recommend (and personally) pick main stat. Hell i would probably pick power over endurance given the choice. Killing things as fast as possible is what leveling is all about lol.

 

Anyway the actual best advice i could give you is to just use the best items you find. The one's that you craft yourself? i would recommend reverse engineering them for not only a chance at an advanced schematic but also to save money (you get some of the materials back which can be used to craft even more hence speeding your leveling of crafting too).