Crafting at level 50.

[Ash]

I must say that I was slightly miffed yesterday when it became apparent that my
best armour modifications (cybertech) were not equivalent to the daily commendations version available at Ilum.

So what is the point of unlocking the artifact (purple) version??

I'm not sure how it relates to implants etc, but for armour modifications it appears that you forget your crafting
and just grind daily commendations.

pfft



PS... just needed to vent

[M.Steiner]

Are there no mods you can craft which you don't get from the dailies that would be worth using?

I'm still using a pair of modded artifact implants which I crafted. I alternate between those and my Battlemaster ones for the expertise. The implants available from the dailies were slightly better in places but not in others, overall not enough of an upgrade.
I use my reusable medpac & stims constantly too and will be able to craft the Rakata versions when I get a BoP drop from the hm flashpoints when we do them.

[SSX-Andy]

At the moment I think most crafting at end game is lacking, with the exception of Biochem and Cybertech. The solution Bioware seems to go with is nerf Biochem, which they have started to take small steps towards doing, instead of making the other crafts viable end-game.

I hope they realise that the way to go is to boost end-game crafting so that all are viable, otherwise I think crafting will continue to be sub-par to what you can get from other sources, without the investment in credits and time.

[Ash]

I noticed that Biochem has started being nerfed although they are also lifting certain usage restrictions to allow selling on the Exchange.

Also I checked the supply vendor at both Ilum and Belsavis, and they stock the same equipment,
one is implants etc, whilst the other stocks barrels, Hilts and Armour Plating.

Atleast for me this means that Cybertech is not completely wasted as weapon/ armour
modifications (and also enhancements for you articifers) are not available via the daily commendation route
so investing in reverse engineering those items may be worthwhile for both myself, guildees and the Exchange.

I do hope Bioware put time and effort into improving the viability of crafting, as a good player driven market can turn a good MMO into a great MMO.

[M.Steiner]

Those of you with Artifice. Who can make [Advanced Adept Enhancement 24] please?

A lot of my battlemaster gear is stacked full with mods that give alacrity like [Advanced Insight Enhancement 25], [Advanced Volition Enhancement 25] & [Advanced Savant Enhancement 25]. It seems the Rakata pve gear is the same except they give a ton more endurance & cunning.
I'm thinking of swapping a few of these enhancements with mods that give stats like power/surge/crit instead but unfortunately a 25 version of the adept enhancement ([Advanced Adept Enhancement 25]) is an operation loot drop so if I do go ahead with this I would have to make do with the 24 one I linked above, which is a craftable item.
Not decided whether I actually will or not yet but just wanted to see which of our Artifice crafters can actually make these first as the GTN didn't have any when I looked?. I can make a ton of stuff with Biochem so if there's anything I can make you in return just ask and if I don't have it I can learn & reverse enginner until I do. Alternatively I could give credits instead if I decided that I definitely did want a few of these.

[M.Steiner]

Actually I have another option for this now so shouldn't need a crafter if I go ahead

I have since been checking through Torhead and realised that some of the other champion gear for the other classes use the exact enhancement 24 mods I was thinking about swapping my alacrity 25 ones for. Tiny downgrade for endurance for example (but I could boost back up on other pieces) and it's annoying that none of the battlemaster pieces seem to use these so the 25 versions are still operation only but it's nice to be able to choose my secondary stats like crit, power & surge and even those out to my liking instead of having alacrity shoved in my face on every piece. I don't see why there's so much of it.
So I can basically buy these other champion pieces, strip the enhancements from them and stick em in my battlemaster gear instead of some of the alacrity ones they came with.

For anyone interested in doing this with another class or operative healer in the future;

My plan was to swap enhancements like:
[Advanced Insight Enhancement 25] & [Advanced Savant Enhancement 25]
Which come with many battlemaster pieces for the operative

For a mixture of:
[Advanced Adept Enhancement 24] (Can be extracted from Champion Enforcer's Headgear & Gloves - Agent Vendor)
[Advanced Efficient Enhancement 24] (Can be extracted from Champion Eliminator's Helmet & Gauntlets - BH Vendor)
For some power/surge instead

and
[Advanced Battle Enhancement 24] (Can be extracted from Champion Force-Master's Headgear & Gloves - Inquisitor Vendor)
[Advanced Assault Enhancement 24] (Can be extracted from Champion Field Medic's Headgear & Gloves - Agent Vendor)
For crit/surge.

Not getting rid of all alacrity ofc, just so I don't have tons of it. I just don't really see it as being next in line personally when power will help increase my overall heals and since my crit rating is already quite sufficient (so I'd probably go with the top 2 mostly), the surge should go hand in hand with that. Alacrity on the other hand... and yet my regen rate stays the same. So, min-maxing in a way I suppose.
Also you might be able to extract those mods from elsewhere but that's the list I made for myself.


Anyone else thought of doing similar at all?. Maybe those of you using custom gear decided to change mods out for different stats like this rather than simply upgrading to a higher level version of a mod that was already installed? Pretty cool that stuff like this is even possible imo.
I just hope I have the right idea as it'll cost a bomb to extract all of these lol, though doing some research it does seem that Crit/Power/Surge are more desirable stats for operative healers with alacrity last so I mustn't be the only one heh.

[Lee]

enhancements (crafting) only go to 22. they have obviously brought in the higher mods to raise the more elite pvp/raid items above what is normally acheivable. Which i suppose is fair enough.. crafting being 'almost' what you can get at top end..

though personally i would prefer if they added the BoP alloy from HM's to make better gear, artifice isnt anything special at all.....

edit: daily armour is lvl51 which is ever so slightly higher than crafting, mods and enhancements are the top teir of crafting. I have all moddable gear (except wrist) and with daily/craftable peices in have gear that is slightly over Tionese but without set bonus (stat wise).

[SSX-Andy]

I haven't even looked at the crafting enhancement, or the daily ones. Only focused on the PvP gear so far, but have some Columni coms now so will probably look at them too.

As for crafting I've found Biochem to be very viable at 50. Made my [Rakata Medpac] yesterday. Hadn't noticed the 15% increased max health for 15 seconds before. That in combination with the health boost from Endure Pain gives me roughly 27000 health for a short period of time. Great for enraged bosses or carrying the huttball.

[M.Steiner]

Biochem has been great all the way through leveling and still is long after I capped, really glad I chose that from day1. With the couple of alloys I got from 2 of our flashpoint runs I made myself one of those medpacs too and also a [Rakata Skill Stim] both of which I use all the time and are extremely useful for both our flashpoint runs and my pvp too. I'll probably make a [Rakata Attack Adrenal] when there's an alloy going spare again but no rush. The extra power from that coupled with my [Columi Relic of Boundless Ages] should increase my healing quite nicely in tight situations.

Dunno if you guys read the recent Q&A btw but:

TrueDND: Currently, the incentive to choose other Crew Crafting Skills outside of Biochem is minimal due to the fact that, once you reach max level, all gear that is acquired through PvE and PvP is better than all crafted equipment and mods (mostly through the Commendation and token vendors). Is this being looked in to?

Georg Zoeller: Absolutely. With the upcoming Game Update 1.2, we are adding endgame crafting for all professions. This includes augment crafting, the ability to crit-craft custom (orange) gear with augment slots, new endgame schematics, new color crystals, expanded and improved research and reverse engineering and much more (we're up to 4 pages of crew skill related patch notes in 1.2. alone)

Combined with new features such as the ability to extract base-mods from purple items (including the set bonus) and the improved color matching feature, crafters of all professions will find themselves in a lot of demand once the update hits.

I still really like the crafting system and it's a shame that that as it currently stands a lot of the crafting skills stop benefitting so much after you hit 50 and start getting better equipment, besides Biochem that is. So it's great to hear that they're adding so many improvements to these. Crafting should be just as important and worthwhile after someone hits 50 than it is before.
Seems to be a ton of exciting changes coming in 1.2.

[SSX-Andy]

Glad to see that they are boosting the other crafts and not nerfing Biochem. More high-end crafting is needed.

Really like the part about the set-bonus being transferable. Now, someone make me some armour with extra enhancement slots so I can transfer my set gear bonus to it.

[Chaos]

I'm looking forward to 1.2. I'm collecting schematics and mats for armormech in preparation. And I'm really looking forward to being able to transfer expertise and set bonuses because BH pvp armor is downright fugly.

[Ash]

BH pvp armor is downright fugly.

Amen to that