Question about commendations

[Darcorn]

Hi guys!

 

I've recently leveled a Trooper to lvl 10, chosen an AC (Gunnery Commando) and I am leveling on Coruscant. I've been reading about basic or planetary commendations and how to spend them but my question is rather WHEN to spend them. I was thinking on spending my Ord Mantell commendations as soon as I left for the Fleet but I am not sure whether it's the optimal course of action. I've heard that you can get a full set of gear just by spending commendations. My previous tactic was getting gear from quests but the thing is that I've felt undergeared a few times and other players told me to always get commendations from quests and frankly I am a bit confused.

 

Sorry if my post sounds chaotic

[tharbison]

I'm sure you will get lots of opinions on this. Here's mine!

 

The early levels go by very quickly - I wouldn't use my planetary commendations yet. Save them. Instead, there are vendors who sell everything you need (enhancements, mods, armor, etc) on Couruscant, for CREDITS. And pretty cheap, too. You will outlevel them pretty quickly, so I wouldn't burn your planetary comms until lvl 17-20 or so when leveling begins to slow a bit.

[Darcorn]

Thanks! I've heard opinions that one should avoid buying gear from vendors for credits. I am even more confused )))

[MSchuyler]

You're not going to have many credits at lower levels anyway. Further, you usually get a choice on whether to take a piece of equipment or a commendation as a reward for finishing a quest. I always take the commendation and save it. I get gear through drops that are sufficient for character and companion up to about level 20. There's no need to spend credits on gear either.

[Ezrat]

I would save them at first if you are newer to the game. Take the quest rewards as your gear upgrades. As you get some moddable items from questing or flashpoints, then start to use comms to buy higher level mods as needed. Once you get to cap, then use them to get modded gear.

[Fidelicatessen]

The cap for Basic Comms is 1000, so it's HIGHLY UNLIKELY that you'll reach it anytime soon.

 

Get moddable gear through quest rewards, then use comms to upgrade the mods in it.

 

Also, shop on the fleet in the Supplies section. If you're a bit overleveled, you can often find better gear on the next planetary vendor from the one you're currently questing on (if that makes any sense).

 

Pick up a moddable offhand from the Nar Shadaa vendor AS SOON AS it becomes available (level 24 I think).

 

If you have a ton of comms (100+) and they are burning a hole in your pocket but you already have decent gear, upgrade your favorite companion's gear.

[Bobs_YourUncle]

The cap for Basic Comms is 1000, so it's HIGHLY UNLIKELY that you'll reach it anytime soon.

 

Get moddable gear through quest rewards, then use comms to upgrade the mods in it.

 

Also, shop on the fleet in the Supplies section. If you're a bit overleveled, you can often find better gear on the next planetary vendor from the one you're currently questing on (if that makes any sense).

 

Pick up a moddable offhand from the Nar Shadaa vendor AS SOON AS it becomes available (level 24 I think).

 

If you have a ton of comms (100+) and they are burning a hole in your pocket but you already have decent gear, upgrade your favorite companion's gear.

 

Yep this.

 

I will say my repeated and never failed strategy on gear is start off equipping drops from questing and flashpoints. When an orange/moddable item drops, use it. By level 25 or maybe earlier depending on the flashpoints you do and how oftern, you will have a full set of moddable gear. Once you get an orange, check with modification commendation vendors on fleet. If you are overleveled check the next plannets vendors as suggested, every 2 to 4 levels depending. If you are doing your daily group finder missions for the 30 commendations, you will have more than enough comms to keep your oranges updated. The price remains the same until lev 50. 2 comms for mods and enhancements, 7 for armorings and barrels.

 

That's literally all I spend commendations on, unless I want a nicer looking orange, I might browse the commendations equipment vendor.

 

When it comes to earpieces and implants, I spend credits on the GTN. I upgrade those every 2 to 4 levels as well, post lev 20 or so.

[Jedi_riches]

Well as you get better at the game you can start lengthening the time between re-gearing, I usually over level slightly but upgrade my gear (all moddable) every 10 levels so I start with level 9,19,29,39 then I start mixing and matching as I bide my time to do forged alliances which will give me 162 gear (level 55 quest).

 

Though it might be harder to begin with as I have a fully levelled cybertech to help make the armour pieces which are one of the more costly items to purchase with comms.

 

Overall I suggest whenever you start struggling against opponents, look at trying to get better gear. If you are a sub consider using the legacy gear you get in your email at the start of the game as is you rip out any mods of your gear and place it in the legacy gear you can email that over to any new characters to help gear future characters.

[JediQuaker]

. I was thinking on spending my Ord Mantell commendations as soon as I left for the Fleet

I thought at first that this must be an old thread, that's been necro'd, but I guess it's not.

 

Anywho, there are no "Ord Mantell" comms any more. Way back at the beginning there were comms for each planet and you more or less had to spend them on each planet for gear or w/e. Then, a while ago, they were changed to "Planetary comms" which would carry over from planet to planet.

Now they are all "Basic Commendations" which also carry over.

 

So, you don't need to be concerned about spending any BCs before leaving Ord Mantell and/or arriving at Coruscant. You can keep accumulating them until you need/want to use them.

 

Most people use their BCs (at lower levels) to buy blue modifications (armorings, mods, enhancements, hilts, barrels) for their equipment. You can also buy pieces of armor and weapons. You can also buy green mods from Modifications Vendors on most planets.

 

So basically, as was said above, save your comms until you need to upgrade your equipment. Exactly when to upgrade your equipment depends somewhat on your level, how much trouble you are having defeating enemies, how many comms you have, and/or how many credits you have.

Keep in mind that you will want to save some comms to get 186 gear when you get to level 60.

[Darcorn]

Well as you get better at the game you can start lengthening the time between re-gearing, I usually over level slightly but upgrade my gear (all moddable) every 10 levels so I start with level 9,19,29,39 then I start mixing and matching as I bide my time to do forged alliances which will give me 162 gear (level 55 quest).

 

Though it might be harder to begin with as I have a fully levelled cybertech to help make the armour pieces which are one of the more costly items to purchase with comms.

 

Overall I suggest whenever you start struggling against opponents, look at trying to get better gear. If you are a sub consider using the legacy gear you get in your email at the start of the game as is you rip out any mods of your gear and place it in the legacy gear you can email that over to any new characters to help gear future characters.

 

Thanks for the advice. I have a question about the drops. Logic suggests that I should skip the light blue drops (take only credits for example) while taking the green drops, dark blue, orange and so on. Is that ok??

[Adric_the_Red]

Thanks for the advice. I have a question about the drops. Logic suggests that I should skip the light blue drops (take only credits for example) while taking the green drops, dark blue, orange and so on. Is that ok??

Not sure what you mean by "light blue drops", but...

 

Always pick up all loot drops. If the stuff is better than what you have, use it. If not, sell it to a vendor or on the GTN. The exception is "orange" gear. If you like how it looks, keep it, whether or not it's "better", and mod it up as often as you feel you need and can afford to. Otherwise, sell it.

[georgemattson]

I'd agree with pretty much what everyone else said, while adding my own two cents:

 

To clarify, any orange gear (including the starfighter gear, if you have that) is "moddable," in that you can add armor, mods, enhancements, crystals, barrels, and hilts to them, depending on the piece. This makes it much easier to upgrade, since you're only upgrading 1-4 modifications at a time and usually only 1 or 2. Those modifications are also (typically) a lot cheaper and also allow a lot more customization. Your goal should be to fill every item slot you can (everything on the right side, your MH and OH, and your bracers) with orange gear.

 

Personally, I found that 10-20 or thereabouts was laughably quick, so I'd normally blow off upgrading unless I got a piece of gear that had a lot of additional stats to it. Even then, I wouldn't bother if I already had an orange piece of gear in that slot, but if I had green pants (for example) and another pair of green pants dropped with a bunch of additional stats, I'd swap that out instead of getting the commendation. That's really a judgment call, though. The orange gear was absolutely a priority, though.

 

You might also consider crafting. I'm not wholeheartedly recommending it, per se, given that it'll suck up 95% of your free credits, but given enough time and attention, you can potentially craft all your own gear that way. I did this with my first toon (although I picked the wrong crafting skill for him), and for the majority of my time playing, I've always been extremely well geared; whether in orange gear with purple mods within 2-4 levels, or at the very least with blue mods within 2 levels. It's definitely very credit-intensive, though. Also, as I've rolled more alts (I have 12 now, and every crafting skill covered, with the gathering skills covered multiple times), I've gone back to just using basic comms because I don't want to spend the time and trouble with crafting (or, to be more accurate, gathering all the mats so that I can craft stuff for each new alt).

[tharbison]

Lots of great suggestions! In my experience the consensus, for someone starting out, is generally...

 

1) take the basic comms for mission rewards, unless, there's an orange piece of armor you like

2) loot everything! If you can't use it, sell it

3) if needed, you can gear up pretty cheap using credits at vendors on the starter planets

4) once you hit level 20ish things will slow down. That's when I would start looking to use my comms to get gear or mods for my orange armor.

5) Crafting mods can be very useful starting out - the tradeoff is it does take a bit of time and credits to craft. But having one that can supply many of your armor mods for all of your characters is very handy.

6) Just starting out, probably the biggest obstacle is making credits. They will come - be thrifty early on. Sell everything you can't use either on the GTN or to vendors.

 

Have fun!

[TrooperSteg]

I would like to add that for quest rewards, mostly take the comms yes, but as I did it was take Orange gear. Keep if you like the looks, if not get the mods out if they are better then what you had and put it in an orange piece you already have.

What I also did was take any gear for the companions if offered from quests, it saves gearing up your companion, and you can usually get by with that gear just fine. (I played Commando and had Elara Dorne (healer) with me, so it might be that healer comps are a bit better suited for that tactic..)

Also I did pick up Cybertech and Scavaging (as preferred could only have 2 without the unlock) and without buying any mats just keep my moddable gear updated with the green Armorings and Mods and just buying the Barrel (or Hilt depending on class) and adding to that some enhancements when needed, but got some blue stuff from other orange gear that I didn't like and kept pretty up to date to reach level 60.

[SelinaH]

Pick up a moddable offhand from the Nar Shadaa vendor AS SOON AS it becomes available (level 24 I think).

Level 22. The offhands cost 14 comms apiece.

Not sure what you mean by "light blue drops", but...

 

Always pick up all loot drops. If the stuff is better than what you have, use it. If not, sell it to a vendor or on the GTN. The exception is "orange" gear. If you like how it looks, keep it, whether or not it's "better", and mod it up as often as you feel you need and can afford to. Otherwise, sell it.

This. Loot everything and sell what you don't need; it adds up over time. If you have Scavenging or Bioanalysis, some mobs can also be "harvested" for crafting materials after they've been looted (many Strong/silver and higher droids for Scavenging, many Strong/silver and higher non-sentient creatures for Bio).