Recently my Vanguard hit level 50 and I started (once again) the process of gearing up a new tank at 50 to get him ready for Hard Mode Flashpoints and Operations.
Depending on the character and what my plans are for him this usually goes in two different directions (PvE and PvP). There is some overlap, just because of how difficult some things are to get quickly and you always a want to be at the "best" place you can be as fast as possible.
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| Malvolio reaches level 50! |
For a PvP character I've been thinking ahead and have max commendations saved up along with as much stuff traded in/purchased already that I can buy my starter recruit gear set and dive right in to 50 PvP - maybe with a piece of War Hero or a few BM pieces to supplement. With Tatsujin, this is how it ended up since I had initially made him strictly to PvP with.
For PvE - Finish off your class story (if you haven't already). Usually when I hit 50 I'm somewhere at the end of Voss just heading to Corellia. Normally this is because I dabble in PvP while levelling up.
Depending on how much dabbling I've done I have more or less commendations to sped on picking up a few pieces of BM gear to help with the upgrades. I pick up the bracers/belt/relics first because they're the hardest to slot - everything else you can modify to suit your needs.
Once you're done with the class storyline it's time to start doing dailys. Start doing them right away and you'll make a big difference for yourself even after the first session. Make sure to do the Heroics. Some of them can be solo'd - others not so much. Do the ones you can and find a group to do the others. Any Heroic is going to award you some kind of mod, enhancement, amoring or something to make your quality of life far better.
When you get some Daily commendations (8 of them) look for a "Mission Support Vendor" in one of the areas that award daily coms. There is one on Ilum (at the base where you first land), Belsavis (first quest area in the bonus area), and in the Black Hole area. There should be two of them, one will sell equipment and one will sell mods. The mods guy is who you're looking for, stock up on armorings and a hilt/barrel for your weapon.
If you haven't gone to the fleet to get some relics head there now. Pick up a LS/DS or PvP relic (they're easy to get to start) and/or put together a level 50 matrix cube for yourself.
Normally at this point I'll also get a recruit Earpiece, Implant and Bracers to go with my PvE gear. They are better than anything else you've likely found up to this point.
When you get some Daily commendations (8 of them) look for a "Mission Support Vendor" in one of the areas that award daily coms. There is one on Ilum (at the base where you first land), Belsavis (first quest area in the bonus area), and in the Black Hole area. There should be two of them, one will sell equipment and one will sell mods. The mods guy is who you're looking for, stock up on armorings and a hilt/barrel for your weapon.
If you haven't gone to the fleet to get some relics head there now. Pick up a LS/DS or PvP relic (they're easy to get to start) and/or put together a level 50 matrix cube for yourself.
Normally at this point I'll also get a recruit Earpiece, Implant and Bracers to go with my PvE gear. They are better than anything else you've likely found up to this point.
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| You don't want to mess with this crew - ignore the lack of color co-ordination |
I think it took me about 2 days to fill in armorings, then I started saving up to buy the Rakata implants/earpiece and campaign relics (This takes much longer). I actually thought I was doing pretty well after a few days.
I managed to pick up a few Storymode Ops runs and got a couple Columi pieces and enough Tionese coms/crystals to pick up a weapon with them. Really once you're done with daily gear you have two options. Run Hard Mode Flashpoints until your Columi gear drops, or run Operations and deck yourself out. Ops are much faster, but it's hard to find a group willing to take someone who doesn't have any gear other than daily stuff.
Actually - the guild I got in to uses a loot system called EPGP (which I've heard about, but have never been a member of previously). Apparently my current gear has some kind of bearing on when I get new gear (or something like that) so I got a once over from the guild leader. I was found lacking ... now I knew that my gear wasn't stellar, but apparently because I was still wearing recruit earpieces and implants I couldn't even be called "126 geared". Which surprised me a bit because I was in 1/2 Columi along with my other additions.
It had been a while since I was a new 50 trying to run ops, but I had to think back to what I did to really get started. I basically jumped straight in to Hard Mode Flashpoints and skipped some of the story mode stuff. At that point I was wearing full Battlemaster Gear though and it was easy to step in to it. I'd also picked up a pair of Rakata relics.
So over the next two days I decided to stop slacking and gear up. Fortunately I hadn't stopped doing Dailys with my other 50s completely so I hopped on them, topped off my commendations and had enough to buy two implants (implants are BOE not BOP - this is awesome if you have multiple characters). I got enough commendations on Malvolio to buy himself the earpiece, and dived in to some PvP to fill in with a Battlemaster Bracer and Belt. I've been debating on going for the BM chest and legs (the two pieces I'm missing Columi for) - but the change is so minor that I don't think it matters.
So - that's my current gear up story. I'm honestly not sure if that will top me out at 126, but I'm hoping it was enough to get me considered for more of the raids since Story really doesn't do it for me - I need to gear up somehow ... I really want to get back to EC.
I managed to pick up a few Storymode Ops runs and got a couple Columi pieces and enough Tionese coms/crystals to pick up a weapon with them. Really once you're done with daily gear you have two options. Run Hard Mode Flashpoints until your Columi gear drops, or run Operations and deck yourself out. Ops are much faster, but it's hard to find a group willing to take someone who doesn't have any gear other than daily stuff.
Actually - the guild I got in to uses a loot system called EPGP (which I've heard about, but have never been a member of previously). Apparently my current gear has some kind of bearing on when I get new gear (or something like that) so I got a once over from the guild leader. I was found lacking ... now I knew that my gear wasn't stellar, but apparently because I was still wearing recruit earpieces and implants I couldn't even be called "126 geared". Which surprised me a bit because I was in 1/2 Columi along with my other additions.
It had been a while since I was a new 50 trying to run ops, but I had to think back to what I did to really get started. I basically jumped straight in to Hard Mode Flashpoints and skipped some of the story mode stuff. At that point I was wearing full Battlemaster Gear though and it was easy to step in to it. I'd also picked up a pair of Rakata relics.
So over the next two days I decided to stop slacking and gear up. Fortunately I hadn't stopped doing Dailys with my other 50s completely so I hopped on them, topped off my commendations and had enough to buy two implants (implants are BOE not BOP - this is awesome if you have multiple characters). I got enough commendations on Malvolio to buy himself the earpiece, and dived in to some PvP to fill in with a Battlemaster Bracer and Belt. I've been debating on going for the BM chest and legs (the two pieces I'm missing Columi for) - but the change is so minor that I don't think it matters.
So - that's my current gear up story. I'm honestly not sure if that will top me out at 126, but I'm hoping it was enough to get me considered for more of the raids since Story really doesn't do it for me - I need to gear up somehow ... I really want to get back to EC.
Man that gearing system kinda sucks, what about loot council? If you are a tank (and I presume they would like to make you main tank) shouldnt you get prio on gear?
ReplyDeleteI actually still have no idea how the gearing system works. It looks like you accumulate points for showing up and use them for buying gear. So when there is a conflict the person with more points (read "who has been around longer") gets the gear.
DeletePersonally I've never liked systems like this - and I'm actually not looking forward to running EC where I'll be competing with everyone for the same drop. I forsee not getting anything there for a long time ... which really isn't fair, if you're there and putting in the same effort you should have the same chance at gear.
I've (luckily) never had to deal w/ DKP systems. In my guild, the guild I run ops with on the Emp side, and in the multiguild 16man's I've run (KP normal, KP HM), it's pretty cut and dried. For the first two, roll need if it's an upgrade for current spec, greed otherwise. Need on purple crafting mats, greed on blues. People are honest and there's no need for master looter.
ReplyDeleteFor the 16man's, it's master looter, /roll for need primary spec, if no one, /roll for off spec, if no one, /roll for companion, if no one, random assignment. Everyone rolls on vehicles (if they don't have it), crafters on schems, and crafting mats are randomed. I suppose we're not hard core, since we're still a mix of tionese, columi (T+C for HM FP and normal ops typically), and rakata (R/C) geared folks, but people have fun and get gear.
I hope you're able to either have fun, or find a guild where you can raid how you want to raid and not deal with bs like attendance points. TBH, if we had an item that 2 folks needed and only 1 person regularly attended, it's 90% certain the other guy would say, "you roll more often than me and will get more use out of this, take it." The day I need a formula to figure out loot is the day I find a new guild or game.
Thanks for continuing to blog. Nice to see a tank out there :)
That's also been my experience. I play with people that have the same philosophy as I do and don't take things too seriously. They're also good people are are more than willing to sacrifice a bit of personal goodness for someone else. I like running on the philosophy that people are generally good and will get along instead of worrying about a complicated system to make things fair.
DeleteSo far I've been having fun, hopefully we'll continue on that path. I was lucky to get invited to the HM runs last night and got some new gear so I'm not the absolutely low man on the pole anymore.
Thanks for your comments, don't be a stranger.