Can we talk about 258 gear?

[Jdast]

I think they're calling it Tier 5 gear, so that leads me to believe that GC 300 will now drop T5 crates. I suspect 236 will be phased out.

 

I think that's probably right. To clarify (for others)....As of now, they aren't introducing new levels of Galactic Command. So 300 is still max.

 

According to Cantina as long as you are GC 300....the crates will not drop 258 gear, but will have a very low chance to drop Masterwork Shards and 252 gear. They didn't discuss how this trickles down, as you note, about how this impacts drop rate from Command Crates of 248, 236, etc. gear.

 

As of now, you can't upgrade 252 gear to 258 gear directly, but you can disintegrate it to get a component part needed for crafting the 258 gear.

 

Dasty

 

P.S. Andryah, good catch on the expertise point.

 

P.P.S. Xor, every time I see that damn new Flair I think of Hot Dogs and curse you.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Jdast

[kukumburr]

I have 11-12 chars in 248 gear with 236/240 augs and 50k of UC stored.

 

Saying "I only do PvP, but I don't have a stock pile of UC" sounds like a BS to me.

 

The more toons you play with (PvP) the more UC you get from daily/weekly.

 

The more you play, you get more CXP and a higher % gear drop cause you get more CXP boxes to loot from.

 

Even if you dont get a drop, you get UC just by destroying the stuff you dont need.

 

You can easily be a PvPer but not play a ton. I think that's one of the overarching issues here. I have 5 characters in full 248 solely through PvPing at the moment and like 3k UCs because I was in the middle of gearing my 6th. I usually log on and do 2-3 character's PvP dailies most days and that's it. But considering match lengths are pretty short you can still be a serious PvPer and not play long hours.

 

Which is why it's not super compatible for Ops players and PvPers to share the same gear, unless they just make it all around easy to get. But I understand that they want to reward Ops players since they do put in a major time commitment and a good amount of effort. So I get why they want the best gear to be rewarded to them. The problem is if you want to be competitive in ranked PvP you also need the best gear. But since there's less of a commitment involved with that game type, if you give people a faster way through PvP to get the gear, then that becomes an easy way for everyone to get it which then reduces the value of the Ops rewards.

 

But going the other way of "make everyone put in a lot of time and effort (except for rich people I guess)" doesn't work either because like I said you can be a serious PvPer and do ranked but not play for hours every day. So you're forcing a time commitment on people who perhaps purposely only play a mode that doesn't require that kind of commitment. And it's not like I want the gear so I have an advantage in killing the next new boss that no one has killed yet, I just want the gear to get back to playing the same content I was playing before this interruption.

 

Although really if they just lowered the UC costs and put MH/OH on the shard vendor I would put up with it just fine. I'd just stick to unranked until I got a character geared. But I still think it's just all around a terrible design at the moment.

 

As of now, you can't upgrade 252 gear to 258 gear directly, but you can disintegrate it to get a component part needed for crafting the 258 gear.

 

Dasty

 

Disintegrating 252 doesn't give you anything but a couple of basic grade 10 crafting mats. You might be thinking of the Ossus Assembly Component, but that's just crafted by itself with some refined isotopes and other easy mats. 252 gear seems pretty useless at the moment, only worth getting if you happen to get a piece in a crate. You can't RE the mods in those ones either, just 258 (as of current PTS at least).

[PetersCD]

I think they're calling 258's (or 252's?) Tier 5 gear, so that leads me to believe that GC 300 will now drop T5 crates. I suspect 236 will be phased out. So hoarding T4 crates might not be worthwhile.

 

My understanding is that all the existing tiers will continue to exist, and tier 4 boxes will have a tiny chance of dropping 252 gear. I've opened ~150 tier 4 boxes on the PTS w/o a shard or 252 piece. that number is still low enough that there is a ton of room for the actual drop %. 258's will only come from masterwork shards and MM Gods (through crafting).

 

I'm guessing the devs are trying to give a test-drive for a replacement to galactic command for 6.0. I'm not terribly encouraged by how it looks at the moment.

[Rion_Starkiller]

My understanding is that all the existing tiers will continue to exist, and tier 4 boxes will have a tiny chance of dropping 252 gear. I've opened ~150 tier 4 boxes on the PTS w/o a shard or 252 piece. that number is still low enough that there is a ton of room for the actual drop %. 258's will only come from masterwork shards and MM Gods (through crafting).

 

I'm guessing the devs are trying to give a test-drive for a replacement to galactic command for 6.0. I'm not terribly encouraged by how it looks at the moment.

 

Interesting. Do you think T4 will continue to drop when 5.10 goes live? Or could it be something the devs haven't updated on the PTS yet?

 

I can hoard T4 crates if I need to, but I will really have to clear out some cargo hold space.... ugh.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Rion_Starkiller

[Darevsool]

My understanding is that all the existing tiers will continue to exist, and tier 4 boxes will have a tiny chance of dropping 252 gear. I've opened ~150 tier 4 boxes on the PTS w/o a shard or 252 piece. that number is still low enough that there is a ton of room for the actual drop %. 258's will only come from masterwork shards and MM Gods (through crafting).

 

I'm guessing the devs are trying to give a test-drive for a replacement to galactic command for 6.0. I'm not terribly encouraged by how it looks at the moment.

 

Those drops from the tier 4 boxes might not be implemented on PTS yet.

[PetersCD]

Those drops from the tier 4 boxes might not be implemented on PTS yet.

 

Yep, i misinterpreted a screenshot at dulfy and assumed that they had been implemented. i now have no tangible evidence the change has been made

[xordevoreaux]

 

P.P.S. Xor, every time I see that damn new Flair I think of Hot Dogs and curse you.

 

LOL fair enough!

[Jdast]

Disintegrating 252 doesn't give you anything but a couple of basic grade 10 crafting mats. You might be thinking of the Ossus Assembly Component, but that's just crafted by itself with some refined isotopes and other easy mats. 252 gear seems pretty useless at the moment, only worth getting if you happen to get a piece in a crate. You can't RE the mods in those ones either, just 258 (as of current PTS at least).

 

Requoting for emphasis for two reasons:

 

1) It's accurate; and 2) Credibility on forums matters, including the ability to admit when wrong. Kukumburr is right that I was thinking of Ossus Assembly Components.

 

I want to be very, very careful how I phrase the next sentence. My guildmates and I played the game young kids called operator and we went from "likely" to "certainty" which was a mistake and we were wrong. Dulfy said "likely" which we morphed into " certainty." We should, I should, have not done so. This is not the fault of Dulfy, but our reading skills, and we should and I do own it.

 

Now that I have admitted I am wrong, it does raise the broader question that Kukum raises of ...

 

What is the poiint of 252 gear?

 

Dasty

 

P.S. Raise Bolster to 252, lower purchasing reqs, everyone is happier (not happy, but happier).

 

P.P.S. Do I get a spanking for quoting Dulfy incorrectly? <<please>>

Edited November 3, 2018 by Jdast

[kukumburr]

Now that 258 vendors are on Odessen I checked out what each crafting skill can RE for a schematic.

 

Armormech: Resistive Armoring

Armstech: Versatile and Resistive Barrels

Synthweaving: Versatile Armoring

Cybertech: All enhancements and mods, can also RE earpieces but no learned schematics

Artifice: Versatile and Resistive Hilts, can also RE relics but no learned schematics

Biochem: Can RE implants but no learned schematics

 

All of the schematics currently cost the same: 2 Ancient Tomes, 1 Superior Resource Matrix, 5 CMTs, 2 Ossan Assembly Components, 1 Forgotten Curio.

 

All of the schematics research has 60% chance to succeed, and I did fail a couple of times. Imagine how annoying that would be on live.

 

So it seems a lot cheaper than making the full crafted piece. To make a full belt is 2 Forgotten Bindings, 5 Ancient Tomes, 6 Superior Resource Matrix, 24 CMTs, and 4 Ossan Assembly Component vs. making an armoring and a mod which would be 4 Ancient Tomes, 2 Superior Resource Matrix, 10 CMTs, 4 Ossan Assembly Components, and 2 Forgotten Curio.

 

But I guess the caveat is that you have to get a piece first and then RE it and pray you get the schematic? That does not sound fun.

[Andryah]

Now that 258 vendors are on Odessen I checked out what each crafting skill can RE for a schematic.

 

Armormech: Resistive Armoring

Armstech: Versatile and Resistive Barrels

Synthweaving: Versatile Armoring

Cybertech: All enhancements and mods, can also RE earpieces but no learned schematics

Artifice: Versatile and Resistive Hilts, can also RE relics but no learned schematics

Biochem: Can RE implants but no learned schematics

 

All of the schematics currently cost the same: 2 Ancient Tomes, 1 Superior Resource Matrix, 5 CMTs, 2 Ossan Assembly Components, 1 Forgotten Curio.

 

All of the schematics research has 60% chance to succeed, and I did fail a couple of times. Imagine how annoying that would be on live.

 

So it seems a lot cheaper than making the full crafted piece. To make a full belt is 2 Forgotten Bindings, 5 Ancient Tomes, 6 Superior Resource Matrix, 24 CMTs, and 4 Ossan Assembly Component vs. making an armoring and a mod which would be 4 Ancient Tomes, 2 Superior Resource Matrix, 10 CMTs, 4 Ossan Assembly Components, and 2 Forgotten Curio.

 

But I guess the caveat is that you have to get a piece first and then RE it and pray you get the schematic? That does not sound fun.

 

Very helpful information, and credit to you for providing this for our collective benefit.

 

I'm personally fine with the 60% RE chance. It's way better then back in the day when it was 20%. Yeah.. you are still able to be victimized by RNG in some RE attempts... but 60% has worked pretty well in the last few years in my view. I don't think it should ever be 100% on RE as there should be risk, and hence investment, in gaining a BiS recipe through REing.

Edited November 3, 2018 by Andryah

[Totemdancer]

 

What is the poiint of 252 gear?

 

Dasty

 

P.S. Raise Bolster to 252, lower purchasing reqs, everyone is happier (not happy, but happier).

 

That makes the most sense. Making gear Bolster to 252 in pvp is the way to go.

Then they could let everyone keep grinding 248 and it still makes it valid in pve.

Then people can work towards 258 at the same time when they get to the new area.

 

It’s shame this way of doing it wasn’t posted day one of it being announced. Maybe Bioware would have seen it and changed direction a little bit towards it.

It certainly makes a hell of s lot more sense than what they are doing .

[Totemdancer]

Now that 258 vendors are on Odessen I checked out what each crafting skill can RE for a schematic.

 

Armormech: Resistive Armoring

Armstech: Versatile and Resistive Barrels

Synthweaving: Versatile Armoring

Cybertech: All enhancements and mods, can also RE earpieces but no learned schematics

Artifice: Versatile and Resistive Hilts, can also RE relics but no learned schematics

Biochem: Can RE implants but no learned schematics

 

All of the schematics currently cost the same: 2 Ancient Tomes, 1 Superior Resource Matrix, 5 CMTs, 2 Ossan Assembly Components, 1 Forgotten Curio.

 

All of the schematics research has 60% chance to succeed, and I did fail a couple of times. Imagine how annoying that would be on live.

 

So it seems a lot cheaper than making the full crafted piece. To make a full belt is 2 Forgotten Bindings, 5 Ancient Tomes, 6 Superior Resource Matrix, 24 CMTs, and 4 Ossan Assembly Component vs. making an armoring and a mod which would be 4 Ancient Tomes, 2 Superior Resource Matrix, 10 CMTs, 4 Ossan Assembly Components, and 2 Forgotten Curio.

 

But I guess the caveat is that you have to get a piece first and then RE it and pray you get the schematic? That does not sound fun.

 

Are the armor pieces BiS with bonuses or just the stats?

[kukumburr]

Are the armor pieces BiS with bonuses or just the stats?

 

I don't know for sure since I can't actually craft one. In the schematic it doesn't show the set bonus: https://i.imgur.com/kUjc7bI.png

 

I'm not sure how it would work logistically for applying set bonus even, since it wouldn't know which bonus to put on it. So I'd guess it probably doesn't get it.

 

Also just something else I discovered since the latest patch: the UC trade-in for MWS seems to only be doable once a day now.

Edited November 4, 2018 by kukumburr

[Totemdancer]

 

Also just something else I discovered since the latest patch: the UC trade-in for MWS seems to only be doable once a day now.

 

What does that actually mean?

500 UCs a day will get you 1 Crystal a day or each day of the week the the cost doubles even if you don’t buy one?

[kukumburr]

What does that actually mean?

500 UCs a day will get you 1 Crystal a day or each day of the week the the cost doubles even if you don’t buy one?

 

The cost resets weekly. So first day of a week that you purchase one will be 500 then you can't buy anymore that day. Next day you can buy one for 1000, then have to wait until the next day to buy another. At the weekly reset I assume the price will go back down to 500. Not sure yet if the price is still staying at 1000 or continuing to go up every time you purchase.

 

Prior to the current PTS patch you could buy as many as you wanted in a single day (but the same pricing). That was probably never the intention though, I'm guessing it was always meant to have a daily lock.

Edited November 4, 2018 by kukumburr

[Totemdancer]

The cost resets weekly. So first day of a week that you purchase one will be 500 then you can't buy anymore that day. Next day you can buy one for 1000, then have to wait until the next day to buy another. At the weekly reset I assume the price will go back down to 500. Not sure yet if the price is still staying at 1000 or continuing to go up every time you purchase.

 

Prior to the current PTS patch you could buy as many as you wanted in a single day (but the same pricing). That was probably never the intention though, I'm guessing it was always meant to have a daily lock.

 

OMG, even worse than before.

 

It looks like Bioware aren’t listening at all to pvpers, I can’t see why we even bother giving them feed back. They never listen and most of us are just sick of it and the philosophy to grind us to death.

BIOWARE - GRINDING ISNT FUN - when will you understand that,

This continued disregard for what players want or find fun is what’s destroying this game and making people leave. It boggles the mind that they don’t get this?

[kukumburr]

The cost resets weekly. So first day of a week that you purchase one will be 500 then you can't buy anymore that day. Next day you can buy one for 1000, then have to wait until the next day to buy another. At the weekly reset I assume the price will go back down to 500. Not sure yet if the price is still staying at 1000 or continuing to go up every time you purchase.

 

Prior to the current PTS patch you could buy as many as you wanted in a single day (but the same pricing). That was probably never the intention though, I'm guessing it was always meant to have a daily lock.

 

Actually a bit of a correction to this: On a freshly copied character I was able to buy one crystal for 500 and one for 1000 on the same day, then was locked out. On a character I had bought crystals on previously in the week I was only able to buy one at 1000 today. So I'm not sure exactly what triggers the lockout, maybe one at a particular price then locked?

[Totemdancer]

Actually a bit of a correction to this: On a freshly copied character I was able to buy one crystal for 500 and one for 1000 on the same day, then was locked out. On a character I had bought crystals on previously in the week I was only able to buy one at 1000 today. So I'm not sure exactly what triggers the lockout, maybe one at a particular price then locked?

 

So maybe legacy price locked and buy locked?

 

Do you have other Alts you could copy over and test it. I’ve not downloaded the latest update.

[kukumburr]

So maybe legacy price locked and buy locked?

 

Do you have other Alts you could copy over and test it. I’ve not downloaded the latest update.

 

Each character has their own pricing, legacy doesn't seem to matter. I did try another new character and I could buy one for 500, one for 1000, and then I was locked out.

 

The character I could only buy one at 1000 with had bought some already earlier in the week before the new patch so I guess it still remembered he had bought the 500 one already.

 

Also this morning I checked the two characters I got locked out on yesterday and I still can't buy more... so the lockout might be longer than a day, unless it resets at a different time from normal dailies or is bugged. I'll check again tomorrow I guess.

[Totemdancer]

Each character has their own pricing, legacy doesn't seem to matter. I did try another new character and I could buy one for 500, one for 1000, and then I was locked out.

 

The character I could only buy one at 1000 with had bought some already earlier in the week before the new patch so I guess it still remembered he had bought the 500 one already.

 

Also this morning I checked the two characters I got locked out on yesterday and I still can't buy more... so the lockout might be longer than a day, unless it resets at a different time from normal dailies or is bugged. I'll check again tomorrow I guess.

 

Maybe it’s a once a week lock out and you can only buy 2.

[olagatonjedi]

We really need expertise back. That way, BiS pvp gear is obtainable by doing pvp and BiS pve gear is obtainable by doing NiM.

This method isnt a good idea because it segregates players, queuers, time spent, and competitive balance.

[kukumburr]

Maybe it’s a once a week lock out and you can only buy 2.

 

Could be, yeah. The one character I had that could only buy one for 1000 made me think it was daily but that might have just been a fluke of the patch that changed it happening after I had already bought some.

 

That seems a bit different from what they said in the livestream about the price continuing to increase if it's just 2 for 1500 every week.

[Totemdancer]

Could be, yeah. The one character I had that could only buy one for 1000 made me think it was daily but that might have just been a fluke of the patch that changed it happening after I had already bought some.

 

That seems a bit different from what they said in the livestream about the price continuing to increase if it's just 2 for 1500 every week.

 

It’ll be interesting to see if you can buy another one today. If not, then I guess it’s 2 per week.

[kukumburr]

It’ll be interesting to see if you can buy another one today. If not, then I guess it’s 2 per week.

 

Still locked out today. So yeah it looks like 2 per week at the moment.

[TrixxieTriss]

Still locked out today. So yeah it looks like 2 per week at the moment.

 

OMG. PVP gearing will be terrible