Cartel lightsaber or loot lightsaber?

[Malleable]

So I purchased a cartel lightsaber because it looks pretty cool (Senya's Lightsaber Pike). I put in a mod, hilt and crystal, but it is not as good as the lightsabers I am finding for loot.

Is there a way to up the damage and stats of my cartel lightsaber? I don't know if buying the weapon parts from a vendor will give me the same damage/stats as the ones I loot.

Or do I need to start crafting parts myself?

 

Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,

Mal

[Bida]

There are plenty of ways to increase the damage and stats on a lightsaber provided that it is modifiable. Some loot weapons are not modifiable at all, so if you have one of those then the answer is NO.

 

However, provided that you actually have a modifiable saber, you can simply put in different mods with better stats as your level increases. The Vendor on the Supply side of the fleet offers green hilts, mods and enhancements every 4 or 5 levels. Or you can pull the mods, hilts and enhancements out of modifiable loot items at a cost, and then put those in your chosen saber if you like. At end game there is no shortage of items to modify your weapons and armor. That stuff just rains down from the sky it seems.

 

My preferred method is to use whatever lightsaber I loot until the next better one appears. If I like the look of one I am no longer using, and it is modifiable, I put in in my cargo hold until at some point when I modify it for my current level.

[Void_Singer]

So I purchased a cartel lightsaber because it looks pretty cool (Senya's Lightsaber Pike). I put in a mod, hilt and crystal, but it is not as good as the lightsabers I am finding for loot.

Is there a way to up the damage and stats of my cartel lightsaber? I don't know if buying the weapon parts from a vendor will give me the same damage/stats as the ones I loot.

Or do I need to start crafting parts myself?l

if you are level < 75, crafted mods will have the best stats, although you can get some from the mod vendors (Like on fleet), that should be close. but tbh it's not worth the effort and cost of continually upgrading them since you gain levels so fast.

 

at level =75, the dropped mods are best, and item rating 306 is your goal for all parts.

[phalczen]

You will notice that each item modification has a statistic called the Item Rating. This is a numerical value that is determined both by the level required to equip/install/use the item AND its relative quality (Green/Premium, Blue/Prototype, Purple/Artifact, and Gold/Legendary). Items may have the same level requirement, i.e. two lightsaber hilt item modifications require level 14 to be placed into a light saber, but they may have different item ratings because one is premium quality and one is artifact quality. Conversely, items may have the same item rating, but artifact quality items with the same item rating as a premium quality item usually require a lower character level to use. Usually.

 

Looted, unmoddable lightsabers (technically they can be upgraded with color crystals and augments) also have item ratings. Chances are that the item modifications you put into the cartel market Senya's Lightsaber originally are lower item ratings than what you are looting presently, because what you are looting presently is determined by your character level (mostly, at least at this point.)

 

Lastly, moddable gear items, including weapons, with item ratings of their installed item modifications exactly the same as a looted, unmoddable, piece of gear, can have a greater variety of stat distributions. In general, it is possible to have better damage output, healing output, or mitigation, despite identical item ratings, because it possible to optimize your combat statistics much better with moddable gear than the default loot. Default loot tends to favor endurance over stats more useful in combat.

 

It is possible to craft and purchase item modifications in addition to looting them. A full breakdown of Crafting is beyond the scope of this post, and the posters above me have outlined where you purchase leveling gear including item modifications.

[denavin]

So I purchased a cartel lightsaber because it looks pretty cool (Senya's Lightsaber Pike). I put in a mod, hilt and crystal, but it is not as good as the lightsabers I am finding for loot.

Is there a way to up the damage and stats of my cartel lightsaber? I don't know if buying the weapon parts from a vendor will give me the same damage/stats as the ones I loot.

Or do I need to start crafting parts myself?

 

Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,

Mal

 

This is the MAIN reason why we need to have weapons part of the Outfit Designer.

 

That way we can keep our appearance INCLUDING WEAPONS and change out our gear for upgraded gear without destroying our look.

[SoonerJBD]

This is the MAIN reason why we need to have weapons part of the Outfit Designer.

 

That way we can keep our appearance INCLUDING WEAPONS and change out our gear for upgraded gear without destroying our look.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with this. You can buy whatever outfit you like and use it from level 1 to 75, but if you want a weapon that looks cool, you have to constantly update the mods. Makes no sense.

[phalczen]

This is the MAIN reason why we need to have weapons part of the Outfit Designer.

 

That way we can keep our appearance INCLUDING WEAPONS and change out our gear for upgraded gear without destroying our look.

 

Not really. You and I understand how things work, but we're veterans who have multiple end game characters. The OP needed to be educated on how item ratings work, and why a looted, but unmoddable, lightsaber could have better damage than the Cartel one they upgraded. If weapons were a part of outfit designer from the get-go, the OP would not have learned this important lesson.

 

I wholeheartedly support a "weapon outfit designer" or weapon appearance tab or whatever, but not because of the OPs experience.

[JediQuaker]

So I purchased a cartel lightsaber because it looks pretty cool (Senya's Lightsaber Pike). I put in a mod, hilt and crystal, but it is not as good as the lightsabers I am finding for loot.

Is there a way to up the damage and stats of my cartel lightsaber? I don't know if buying the weapon parts from a vendor will give me the same damage/stats as the ones I loot.

The stats of your Cartel lightsaber depend upon the mods you put in it. Ideally, you'll eventually want get a 306 rating hilt, mod and enhancement, plus a +41 crystal. The mods (hilt, mod, enhancements) may have minor variations in stat balance - pick the ones that are right for you.

If you are <75, buy green mods of appropriate level from the vendors on the fleet**.

If you are 75 and starting Onslaught, start with the basic 268s you get during the story and then pick & mix mods from there**.

In some cases you may find a weapon with better "fixed" stats than what you have. You can either use it temporarily, or just not bother, if the difference is only slight.

 

** Just in case you're inexperienced. You can constantly upgrade your mod-able lightsaber (and armor) by simply adding better mods. You don't have to stick with the ones you have now. The new mods can simply overwrite the old mods, or you can remove the old mods if you want to use them elsewhere.