Acquisition Changes: Next PTS Patch

[phalczen]

Eric, when can we expect to see a similar post / thread about crafting. There has been a lot of feed back from players, but little to no responses from you detailing any changes. At least nothing as detailed as this thread.

 

Can you please give us an indication that crafting is also being substantially worked on or that you’ve heard our concerns. I specifically resubscribed to test because I think this is the most important expansion you will ever release. I’m not here to play the live game.

 

Agreed Trix. Jawa scrap cost, material requirements during crafting, and power of biochem consumables relative to their material requirement are all problematic on PTS right now.

[Kraysk]

Alright, this is a huge step in the right direction.

Dear Eric, pls answer, will GSF give us gear? Or huge amount of tech fragments to buy what we want?

In 5.10 GSF and UCs were one of the best ways to gear up.

 

What about Renown?

Will you guys completely abandon it? Or will you make it relevant?

Because in it's current state the even idea of it being in the game seems worthless.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Kraysk

[Darev]

I'm confused about why people are confused. My plain reading of what Eric wrote is the following:

 

Outside of the direct drops from the Corellia FP and the Dxun OP -- EVERY single item (minus Crafting and Rep stuff) is available for direct purchase. And while the direct drops from the Corellia FP and the Dxun OP can't be purchased, you still have a chance to acquire those select items through questing and Renown Crates. This direct purchase gearing system also excludes Amplifiers, which I'll get to in a moment. Other Set items and Tacticals can be acquired anywhere, but certain activities make it more likely. Not that complicated.

 

Most significantly, Eric noted that we can now purchase Mods directly. Prior to what Eric just posted, it was just the Shells and Tacticals that were available for purchase (either through Kai when on sale or through new vendor). Finally all weapons are now moddable which eliminates the problem of purchasing an item on the CM or GTN and having it just collect dust.

 

At risk of patting all testers and myself on the back (which I can't do since my Hutt arms are too short)...this is what the PTS was for, but now we need to focus on the FAR, FAR more salient issues..

 

Cost of items / ratio of drops / amount of tech fragments you can store.

 

For those of on the PTS (and don't want to mindlessly bash BW), it should be patently clear: We have largely won the RNG battle since there is now a direct route to purchase. The battle now is different -- it is making sure the direct purchase route is not de facto irrelevant.

 

Salute to those who read (and comprehended) what Eric wrote and I look forward to testing this on the PTS when implemented. Current costs and tech fragment storage limitations, however, severely inhibit the direct purchase route. It's one thing to be expensive, it is another to have it be so ludicrously expensive that it isn't feasible (here's looking at you crafting 258 Ossus gear).

 

Dasty

 

P.S. On Amplifiers, I agree with previous posters: 1) the costs should be capped; and 2) there should be some RNG protection. If not both, certainly one or the other.

 

P.P.S. I can fully anticipate a certain poster coming in and saying that a lot of the new Set bonuses are uninspiring. I agree, but that's a different topic.

 

P.P.P.S. I agree the Amplifier system is a bit confusing. Since Xam Xam was recently acknowledged as super awesome, I feel comfortable linking...

 

https://mmobits.com/2019/08/27/game-update-6-0-amplifiers-guide/

 

I don't see the same "plain reading" as you do.

 

Example 1:

 

Moddable Gear

We have definitely heard concerns about the lack of mods and moddable gear as you progress through the vertical progression in Onslaught. There is one thing I want to reiterate as you consider your feedback for loot acquisition. It is our goal that your vertical progression will happen very quickly and consistently. We expect you are going to replace gear pieces very often until you hit 306, let us know if that is not the case.

 

We know many of you use modded armor pieces (often with augments) and so will have a desire to move mods around through your gear. This is especially true for weapons since they are currently not in appearance designer. Here are the changes we are making:

• All weapons will now be moddable, and drop with mods included.
  
  • This includes both drops and purchased weapons.
    

  [*]Takatta will now sell mods by type.

  • 
    [*]Reminder that anything you purchase from Takatta will always be for your current Discipline and of a higher rating than your character's current average.
    

  [*]The starter gear you receive for completing the Onslaught story (full 268 set) was previously static, it will now be moddable with mods included.

  [*]More mods will be dropping in general.

 

 

This reads as if you can buy an Armoring by itself, a Mod by itself, an Enhancement by itself.

This does not say you can buy a Versatile Armoring, or an Initiative Enhancement, or a Warding Mod.

It says, to me, you can get something to fill the spot, specific to your current Discipline, but the RNG will still be there if there are 20 enhancements to choose from for your discipline.

 

 

Example 2:

Targeting Gear

We talked about this in the last post but just to reiterate: we hear your concerns about gear dropping too randomly and so we are introducing mechanisms to work towards exactly what you want (with one change from last post). Here is what is available in this patch:

[*]New vendors will sell almost every set tactical and set bonus for tech fragments and credits.

[*]The only items not included on the vendors are set bonus and tacticals that drop directly in Corellia and Dxun, crafted sets and tacticals, and the Onderon Reputation vendor set.

 

This, to me, is "corporate" speak just vague enough to be a CYA statement.

The tactical is pretty clear, but he specifically said "set bonus" and not "armor piece" or even "armor" which, to me, suggests empty shells.

 

 

You are right, however, it is a VAST improvement over what we started with.

In terms of school work grading on a % scale, it's gone from 0% to 60% (out of 100%) specifically for gearing in my mind.

If they are going to sick with the vendors selling empty shells for set bonuses, they need to take the RNG out of the modifier vendor and make them like all of the OTHER vendors that sell leveling modifiers from 10-66.

That would push it over the edge to "acceptable" for me.

 

And yes, when PTS is updated, we will have other areas to focus on beyond the RNG gearing.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Darev

[Darev]

I probably know the answer but will the "all weapons will be moddable" be retroactive as in older gear not from onslaught? as well as things legacy binding will that extend to older gear? there is a lightsaber I have that I want to use on another character and it no longer drops so only way I can get it is to reuse. I don't expect an answer to this but hopefully I do.

 

They actually did answer this early on, I think in one of the livestreams. All new gear will be automatically legacy bound. Older items "may" be "slowly" converted down the road. It did not sound like it would be a quick process.

[Darev]

ugh....I need to work this out and explain it better

 

(had a vending machine - soda analogy that I hoped I wouldn't have to explain to get people to understand....but I re-read it and it needs polishing)

Edited September 21, 2019 by Darev

[xordevoreaux]

This really isn't all that much better and still not what players are asking for. Also why do we need so many damn sets of gear? There's just too much. At this point why not just get rid of gear sets since tacticals and amps basically seem to be the customizeable part anyways. Having a multitude of gear sets just makes balancing even more awkward.

 

It's tons better if you prefer wielding a cartel-market weapon and were worried about the lack of mods to stuff in it. That all weapons are moddable is an excellent step in the right direction.

[Jdast]

ugh....I need to work this out and explain it better

 

(had a vending machine - soda analogy that I hoped I wouldn't have to explain to get people to understand....but I re-read it and it needs polishing)

 

Well get to it! Seriously, I enjoy your posts because I believe they are constructive. Fair point above in your response to mine about what Takatta sells. We'll know (hopefully) within a week.

 

It will be interesting too to see how the whole Ear, Implant, Relic situation plays out. As of now, my understanding is that those actually are still 100% RNG, but they soften the blow by making them legacy-wide. Obviously, depending on the drop rate, that is either a blessing or a curse (or somewhere in between).

 

I do find it somewhat annoying, though, that I'm incentivized to wear a non-class suited left side item because its Ilvl is higher. This speaks more broadly to the point of vertical integration you've written about (eloquently). If Eric is right, that climb should be fairly quick. We shall see.

 

Of course, I can't end a post without applauding myself. I take full credit for them saying that the Onslaught Story Completion gear is now moddable, where before it was static.

 

As a Hutt, it is lonely being a genius in a galaxy of mediocrity, present company (meaning you) excluded.

 

Hugs,

 

Dasty

Edited September 21, 2019 by Jdast

[toomanyluigis]

Hey Eric, does this mean all gear in the game is moddable now? Even the old green gear u got from planetary drops? If so then you have made me a very happy man:D

[damonskye]

You'd be in the minority on that one.

 

People who post on this forum regularly are NOT a majority of the player base.

 

You guys do not speak for all of us.

 

I for one am thrilled that I can max out my character's gear over time by doing the content *I* want to do... vet FPs, daily quests, story content, and the occasional story mode operation. I have no interest in hardcore ops. Yet my business is just as important to SWTOR as yours is.

Edited September 21, 2019 by damonskye

[Darev]

Well get to it!

Seriously, I enjoy your posts because I believe they are constructive. Fair point above in your response to mine about what Takatta sells. We'll know (hopefully) within a week.

 

It will be interesting too to see how the whole Ear, Implant, Relic situation plays out. As of now, my understanding is that those actually are still 100% RNG, but they soften the blow by making them legacy-wide. Obviously, depending on the drop rate, that is either a blessing or a curse (or somewhere in between).

 

I do find it somewhat annoying, though, that I'm incentivized to wear a non-class suited left side item because its Ilvl is higher. This speaks more broadly to the point of vertical integration you've written about (eloquently). If Eric is right, that climb should be fairly quick. We shall see.

 

Of course, I can't end a post without applauding myself. I take full credit for them saying that the Onslaught Story Completion gear is now moddable, where before it was static.

 

As a Hutt, it is lonely being a genius in a galaxy of mediocrity, present company (meaning you) excluded.

 

 

Hugs,

 

Dasty

 

Here you go:

 

Soda slot machine

 

I feel I have to put the "map legend" here. (That’s the thing that explains what you're looking at on actual paper maps)

 

For this analogy

 

Container type = item slot (gloves/boots/implants...etc.)

Plastic / Glass / Aluminum Can = DPS / Tank / Healer

Sizes = item rating

Types of soda (Coke / Diet Coke / etc.) = item variations of stats....accuracy / crit / etc.

 

 

 

6.0 PTS version 1

 

A) The Takatta vendor sold RNG boxes for each gear slot. The boxes were 100% RNG

B) The first revamp for the Takatta vendor made the RNG boxes from completely random to "targeted" RNG. You would get an iRating item that matched your average gear rating or something the next level up. Still didn't always match your spec/discipline.

C) The proposed revamp for gear as a whole will match your current discipline, presumably even this vendor

 

 

 

So, switching to a soda vending machine

Container types = Plastic bottle / Alum Can / Glass Bottle

Sizes = 12 oz. / 16 oz. / 20 oz.

Coke flavors = Regular Coke / Diet Coke / Mello Yellow....etc.

 

 

 

When you walk up to a Coca-Cola vending machine in real life you see your choices and you buy exactly what you want.

Put your $2 in and get your 20 oz. bottle of coke.

 

With the system introduced on the first version of PTS you walked up to a vendor that was more like a slot machine.

You put your $2 in and chose a drink container, but you didn't know what you would get out of it. It could be a tiny bit of coca cola or a larger diet coke or mellow yellow or even a bottle of fair life milk. Sure, it's all useful, but if you wanted the caffeine jolt that comes with an extra-large can of SURGE...you'll walk away disappointed. When you put another $2 in you roll the die again...Simply Orange Juice (an actual Coca Cola owned drink). It's a magic vending machine, it'll never run out of product, but you'll never know that the next time, for sure, will get you what you want. The one thing you did get every time is a bottle.

 

The players didn't like that system. I feel it's obvious why.

 

 

The next system, the first revamp, is pretty similar. Only now it's "Targeted" RNG. You can still choose the container type, but now the vending machine scans your body. You still pick a bottle, only now the vending machine knows you need at least a medium size bottle and soda. It will still randomly give you Coca Cola, or Sprite, or Diet Coke, etc...But you won't get Orange Juice or Coffee.

 

Baby Steps in the right direction, but I'm not a fan of the idea of random soda dispensing. So while this option is better than the first one...it still is pretty horrible.

 

The new proposed Soda vending machine with updated body scanning technology will let you choose the container type. It will scan your body to get you the minimum amount of drink that you need, and just maybe, if it works right, regular soda, or diet. You still won't be able to choose EXACTLY what you want, but its close enough right? Is there really THAT much difference between Classic Coke and "New" coke? Regular Coke or Cherry Coke? You've got your coke and your caffeine...that's really all you need for choices right...the actual flavor can still be a little random...right?

 

When I go to a vendor, in game and in real life, I want to be able to choose the 20 oz. plastic bottle of Surge and have it give me that every single time I buy it. If I want the 12 oz. aluminum can of Diet Coke, I want to get that every time I press that button.

That's what vending machines do, that's what I want in game vendors to do.

 

You can have RNG pretty much everywhere else in game, but if you implement vendors to be a more expensive option to counter act RNG, make sure there's no RNG involved.

 

Please.

[Darev]

People who post on this forum regularly are NOT a majority of the player base.

 

You guys do not speak for all of us.

 

I for one am thrilled that I can max out my character's gear over time by doing the content *I* want to do... vet FPs, daily quests, story content, and the occasional story mode operation. I have no interest in hardcore ops. Yet my business is just as important to SWTOR as yours is.

 

Nothing I've read says you'll be able to get "BIS" gear from doing "everyday" content.

Just like you can't get 258 drops from Black Hole dailies now, I don't expect that to happen starting with 6.0

 

You'll still need to break things down into tech fragments and work your way up the gear grind to get to 306.

 

What many of us posting here are trying to fix is taking RNG out of that system.

 

See my post just above this.

[Lundorff]

I have been away for awhile, but came back with the understanding that 6.0 would bring a better gearing system. That, however, does not seems to be the case, as I think BW generally misunderstands how to make gearing enjoyable. Most people are okay with BiS taking time for PvE, but there is no reason to make it overly convoluted and random.

 

I would much rather collect 50000 tokens over 150-200 hours doing whatever, and then exchange those directly for BiS gear, than spending 150-200 hours with a random and frustrating system. The former would be the exact same time-wize, but it would be much easier to understand and much less annoying.

 

But I guess that isn't going to happen at this point. They are obviously not going to scrap this system and start over. I accept that, and I am not going to waste my time complaining, as it has never accomplished anything here. I will simply test it out for awhile and see if I can work with it and then leave for good if kills my patience.

 

With that in mind...

 

ELI5:

I have a nice dps jugg I would like to play in ranked for 6.0, but I want to be BiS with the correct tacticals / amps before entering. To archive BiS I am only going to play Veteran FPs. This part is important. Please don't suggest that I do this or that, as it is not going to happen. Veteran FPs will be the only path for me, and if that somehow prevents me from reaching BiS then kindly tell me now, and stop me from wasting any time.

 

Assuming Veteran FPs will be a viable path, someone please maps this out step by theoretically step:

 

Step 1) Do the Onslaught quest for 268 gear?

Step 2) ?

Step 3) ?

-

-

-

Step 3500) ?

[Raansu]

If simple is what you are looking for, maybe you should skip the step where you give us gear that we don't want, and go directly to the part where we can just buy what we do want.

 

That would make too much sense, and BW loves doing to opposite of it.

[Raansu]

People who post on this forum regularly are NOT a majority of the player base.

 

You guys do not speak for all of us.

 

I for one am thrilled that I can max out my character's gear over time by doing the content *I* want to do... vet FPs, daily quests, story content, and the occasional story mode operation. I have no interest in hardcore ops. Yet my business is just as important to SWTOR as yours is.

 

Ya, and that's great for you and that system should be there for players like you as a supported system. The main way to gear though? Hell no. This system should be supplementary and that's it.

[phalczen]

I have a nice dps jugg I would like to play in ranked for 6.0, but I want to be BiS with the correct tacticals / amps before entering. To archive BiS I am only going to play Veteran FPs. This part is important. Please don't suggest that I do this or that, as it is not going to happen. Veteran FPs will be the only path for me, and if that somehow prevents me from reaching BiS then kindly tell me now, and stop me from wasting any time.

 

Assuming Veteran FPs will be a viable path, someone please maps this out step by theoretically step:

 

Step 1) Do the Onslaught quest for 268 gear?

Step 2) ?

Step 3) ?

-

-

-

Step 3500) ?

 

I don’t think anyone knows for sure yet. I think it will be possible to get optimal gear for ranked arenas doing veteran flashpoints. But...

- We know that flashpoints will have a last boss bonus drop that will be from a short list of set boni and tactical items. But, I get the impression that’s a bonus item that the group members will roll on. Therefore, even if it’s something you need you may not get it.

- We also know that war zones will have bonus drops from a different short list of set boni and tactical items. Whether this drop occurs with the completion of a daily or weekly or a match itself is unclear so far.

- We also know that you will gain tech fragments with all sorts of activities, including war zones and flashpoints; as well deconstructing any gear you are getting rid of. Tech fragments will be the currency with which you can buy gear, along with Galactic Credits, that you might be missing from loot drops and renown crates.

- We know that in the next patch of PTS there should be vendors that will sell everything* ... for a price. This vendor will have everything* except stuff that is exclusive to the Dxun operation and the new Corellia flashpoint that will be part of 6.0, but in the future those things will be added to the vendor.

We also know that Kai Zykken will show up at various points over weekends and have a short list of items for a cheaper price than normal.

I do not know if the vendor Takatta that sells random items by gear slot will be going away entirely or will be in addition to the non-random vendor.

- We also know that everything you kill will drop personal loot for you, and you could get anything and everything from that.

- Finally, no one has fully worked out which tactical items or set boni will be optimal for PvP, or even per warzone type. It’s very possible that there are some tactical / set bonus combos that will be better for objective war zones vs arenas, and vice versa. It’s possible that the “ideal” or BiS tactical/set bonus for ranked arenas will be on the short list of dedicated bonus drops in, for example, a flashpoint. However, I think it’s probably much more likely that the BiS tactical items and set boni for PvP will be on the short list of bonus drops from PvP, rather than something else.

[Lhancelot]

I have been away for awhile, but came back with the understanding that 6.0 would bring a better gearing system.

 

Hi Lundorff, welcome back. We still got time. Cross your fingers.

[Lundorff]

This vendor will have everything* except stuff that is exclusive to the Dxun operation and the new Corellia flashpoint that will be part of 6.0, but in the future those things will be added to the vendor.

 

By future, do you mean it is not added to the PTS vendor but is intended to soon. Or is the plan to keep it gated to OPS in the live version until a future unspecified date? That later would prevent people like me along with all PvP'ers from getting BiS.

 

Hi Lundorff, welcome back. We still got time. Cross your fingers.

 

Thank you Lhancelot. I guess there is still time, but I don't want to waste my time trying to affect change. I could 100% create a much better gearing system than this, but as we both know BW never listen. My plan is simply to gather a bit of info, and see if I can accept it as is.

[Sandrosw]

Assuming Veteran FPs will be a viable path, someone please maps this out step by theoretically step:

 

Step 1) Do the Onslaught quest for 268 gear?

Step 2) ?

Step 3) ?

-

-

-

Step 3500) ?

 

From what I saw on PTS:

- the vet FPS are scaled (your level goes down) and many of them are easy to solo or duo even in "old" 258 gear or Onderon story 268 gear

- when you have for example all 268 gear equipped and kill a boss (or adds, as they also sometimes drop items) you will get a drop of at least one, usually more items. It can be anything - armor, weapon, relics, mods, enhancements, barrels... whatever.

- the dropped item will have either same item level (268), or usually it will be one tier better (270) - I think this got changed in last patch, that now you usually get the higher tier, before you got same tier more often.

- knowing that, you can check your inventory after each boss dies (or after FP completition if you have some impatient rushers in party, but after each boss is better) and just equip any new items that have better item level. Remember that when you are in most vet FPs, you are scaled down a lot, so your mastery, power etc. is capped anyway, even if you use several pieces that are not for your discipline (like using tanking relic) - on jugg just make sure that you have some accuracy if possible, use accuracy stim and don't care much about anything else *yet*.

- once you get some more drops, yout item level will rise to 269 and 270 and you will start getting 272 items. Once you get to 271 and 272 tier, you will start getting 274 drops etc.

- deconstruct anything that you won't use or stopped using to get some more tech fragments and jawa scrap

- repeat those steps until you get to higher tiers, where you will start seeing moddable items, purple and gold items - then start checking if the items that have mods happen to have 306 mods somewhere (take out the mods and keep them) before you deconstruct them.

- if you get a set item, keep it if it is a set you plan to use on you or an alt, so you can save a few tech fragments this way

- use tech fragments to buy empty set shells from vendor for the set you are specifically looking for - keep them in legacy or private bank until you can fill them with best mods

- once you get to highest tier of gear (306), start optimizing - rip out the mods and enhancements you like and put them to the empty set shell in your legacy bank, equip the set with 306 armoring/mod/enhancement in it, change your relics to the correct ones, maybe start rerolling amplifiers.

- one most important thing to remember - do not equip anything that is lower item tier than what you have. You want to get to the highest tier as soon as possible, so just equip anything with higher tiers so you get higher tier drops.

- don't forget that gear is legacy bound, so you only do this once - your alt can equip gear from your main and start getting 306 drops immediately, no need to run through lower tier levels anymore. You will have to rise through the various item levels only once, after that you no longer need to do it again (unless, of course, you choose to do so)

- if you have free spots in your guild bank, consider saving up renown crates until you hit highest item tier and open them afterward - they are no longer based on your renown rank, they give items based on what you have equipped, so you can as well open them when you reach highest tier to get most of them.

 

I would maybe compare the gearing to time when I level up an alt doing only heroic quests to level it up - you do heroic (in your case FP), get some drops, check if the drops are better than what you have - if so, equip it, if not, sell it (in case of 75lvl gear deconstruct it, as it is better). Repeat.

[Timeris]

Hello,

 

Having left the game at 5.0 mainly because of his loot system. I can only congratulate the changes that will be made, although I share your concerns on some points.

 

Personally what scares me and that is the other main reason that stopped me was the credit system and unfortunately, from what I read, it will be much worse with the 6.0.

 

Currently, the cost of some services is disproportionate. Like repairs. I left in operation in master mode yesterday, we blocked on the 2nd boss, the cost of the evening for me was 500K credits. It's unbearable for a new player, or even a subscriber to spend 500K credits a day, just to repair his equipment.

The credit gains are ridiculous, even by doing all the daily group searches, one can expect to earn about 150K credits.

 

I do not even speak of the galactic market whose prices are not accessible for a large part of the F2P players, privileged and subscribers.

 

It was already very frustrating to finish a week having lost 2 times more credits than what we won. And that, simply because we want to play the most difficult content and not be content with the normal mode.

 

If you now double the cost to change his equipment and optimize, you will encounter a large number of players who can not or will not want to play in the high level.

 

Conversely, reducing credit costs or increasing the longevity of equipment would be very popular especially with the addition of new systems that will still cost more credits.

 

Sorry if some of my comments are hard to understand. I tried to best explain my point of view in a language that is not mine. The FR forum is never read and the community manager has disappeared since the release of the game in 2011.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Timeris

[phalczen]

By future, do you mean it is not added to the PTS vendor but is intended to soon. Or is the plan to keep it gated to OPS in the live version until a future unspecified date? That later would prevent people like me along with all PvP'ers from getting BiS.

 

Well it’s in Musco’s post that started the thread but basically there will be a short list of set boni and tactical items that only come from the new content. That’s where it will be on PTS and on LIVE for a while. At some future unspecified date they plan to move/copy everything on that vendor onto the direct purchase non-RNG vendor that contains everything. I do not know if items from that short list have a chance to show up on Kai Zykken’s discount vendor or not, but I presume they could based on developer statements on live-streams. I also presume they have a chance, like everything else, to be in your personal loot or renown crates.

 

However, there is nothing to suggest the stuff on that vendor is going to be BiS for ranked. The goal with all these multiple set boni and tactical items is to give players choices of how to modify their abilities to fit the way they like to play. As I indicated in my original answer, it is possible that a PvP-oriented set bonus or tactical item is a bonus drop from PvE content, but I think that is less likely. And when I say PvP oriented I just mean, by it’s description, it sounds like it would be more useful in PvP, just like there are utilities that are more useful in pvp than pve and vice versa.

 

Even if there are sets/tacticals that seem to be more PvP or pve oriented, an individual player might be attracted to a particular set or tactical because it fits the way they like to play regardless of the content.

[Lundorff]

From what I saw on PTS: [snip...].

 

Thank you, that explains a few things for me. Do you have any idea how long it would take to be BiS with a new character? How many tech fragments do you get for deconstruction? I mean, does a single Veteran FP yield enough tech fragments to buy a gear piece directly?

[Sandrosw]

Unfortunately I have no no recent data, as I did most FP runs before the latest change where the gear started to drop in better tiers more than what you have equipped on you. I think that about 2 runs of vet HS would give me enough tech fragments from deconstruction to buy a piece from random tech vendor. But it was before patch that added set items vendor, so I could spend them only on random gear or on Kai Zykken. Also iirc the higher tier gear gave a bit more tech fragments on deconstruction, so maybe it will also depend on what tier of gear you have - it will be slower at the beginning and faster you are at top tier.

After the latest patch I did 2 or 3 runs of HS vet and went up about one tier (274-276) just using the drops from bosses. They drop so much gear that getting from one to next tier is not going to take long, I would say less than one evening - in fact if you can run the FPs fast, you can get more than one item tier increase per day.

I think I saw someone posting that they got to 306 tier in less than a week on PTS just by running the FPs - so the highest tier will not take too long if you focus just on getting to it, but on the highest tier you might take much longer time to fully optimize everything, as there are so many more options now. And in PvP the optimal stats might look very different from what PvE will need (as for PvE it is kinda static), so the "best" mods and enhancements can vary as people discover new builds to use new tacticals and sets and one more utility point and new skill...

So for me, I will focus on getting one character to the highest tier asap, and then start hoarding stuff in my legacy bank, while waiting for the smartest theorycrafters to finish math on the new gear and treshold and scaling (as my focus will be gearing for nim opses, so I can run them gain soon). I am still not decided if I will push the gearing to 306 on my jugg dps or sorc healer first, or even if I just start on one and then switch around all gear via legacy bank to the other (since they both use same weapon and focus). But I am decided to not spend tech fragments on random item tech vendor, as the tech parts feel better spent on non-random things like set shells or tacticals - at least at the beginning, as I want to have the more important bonuses from tacticals and sets before I start chasing a mod that would give me 10 more mastery and 10 less power than what I have currently.

I am also still waiting if there will be any changes to crafting - as currently it is not really possible to craft even a piece of basic 270 gear without doing month of conquest first. If the crafting changes and 270 items are easier to craft (like using only the harvested materials and maybe materials from missions), it might be even possible to craft some 270 items so you "skip" one tier when running FPs. It probably wont save much time though.. but it is something to consider, if there will be changes to crafting.

[Flying-Brian]

Thank you, that explains a few things for me. Do you have any idea how long it would take to be BiS with a new character? How many tech fragments do you get for deconstruction? I mean, does a single Veteran FP yield enough tech fragments to buy a gear piece directly?

 

No one knows. While gearing from iLevel 270 - 306 will be fairly quick, getting to BiS after that is blocked up a lot of RNG. Before the PTS was taken down, the only way to get lvl 306 mods with the correct optimized stats was to buy a piece of set bonus gear from the Kai vendor for 1500 tech fragments and 1 mil credits. After buying, you could check the mods, 1st to see which of them where at lvl 306, and then to see if they had the correct stats. If the piece had a usable mod, pull and move on. If not, you were playing RNG roulette with buying/returning/rebuying the same piece over and over until you got a usable mod again. Now repeat this for every single mod you need to get to BiS for your gear.

[phalczen]

Thank you, that explains a few things for me. Do you have any idea how long it would take to be BiS with a new character? How many tech fragments do you get for deconstruction? I mean, does a single Veteran FP yield enough tech fragments to buy a gear piece directly?

 

Sandrosw and Flying-Brian sort of already answered, but I'll just add this. I fully expect the non-RNG vendor to be more expensive than the vendors we saw in the latest version of PTS because you will be able to buy exactly what you want. Deconstruction of a piece of 270-something green premium gear gave single digit tech fragments, and an RNG offhand box from the Takatta vendor cost 375 tech fragments. Those numbers came from my experience on the last version of PTS I played on 9/13 and 9/14, and that version was active until Friday 9/20. I probably got 3 pieces per boss per time I ran VM Hammer Station, so about 9 pieces overall. Based on that version, the answer to your question is no, a single VM FP gave no where near the amount of tech fragments you will probably need to buy an exact gear piece in which you're interested.

[well]

TBH this is not going to work for some people. Unless they get DeWoWafide I can't see how this will work. The crafting is ridiculous as is the Jawa junk. It should go back to the old way. Not by level like some suggested.

This 20 purples for green? Serious. If the object is to drive some people off this will work.