Star Wars: The Old Republic and crew skills.

[McDouggal]

I've started playing TOR, and I am actually enjoying it for now. Some of the grinding they threw in for FTP players is annoying, but eh.

I've reached the point now where I have characters that I need to start getting crew skills for, and don't know what I should get.

I have a Jedi Guardian - Defence specialization at about level 35 right now, and a Jedi Consular - Balance spec (with plans to change to seer when I hit lategame)at about level 40.

[gameforchild]

I wish I could be like you

[Kish]

Unfortunately, being FTP means no one character can actually craft. You need a total of 3 crew skills to completely craft anything--which a subscription player's characters can have, but a free-to-play character's are limited to 1 or 2.

If you have at least three slots, the following combinations go together:

Artifice, Archaeology, Treasure Hunting: Lets you make lightsaber parts.
Bioanalysis, Biochem, Diplomacy: Lets you make medkits, stims, implants.
Synthweaving, Archaeology, Underworld Trading: Lets you make armor and augments for Force users.
Cybertech, Scavenging, Underworld Trading: Lets you make armorings, mods, and earpieces for everyone.
Armormech, Scavenging, Underworld Trading: Armor for non-Force-users, probably useless to you if you're only playing Jedi.
Armstech, Scavenging, Investigation: Blasters, probably useless to you if you're only playing Jedi.

[Chen]

IIRC crafting via crewskills is pretty pointless until the end game anyways. Slicing gets you some credits due to the gathering part but most of the missions are break even at best, unless you crit in which case you make a bit of profit.

[LibraryOgre]

Slicing is probably the best single one to get, since it can be used for all sorts of things. I would probably go with Slicing.

[GrayDeath]

Since the changes introduced with the newest full version, early game crafting, which was good but not necessary earlier, got useless.
You level out faster than you can actually get anything really good, plus as said above, you dont profit from it as ftp due to the "3 needed" problem.

I would suggest going Slicing and Diplomacy as crew skills, for profit and L/D Side points, and ignore crafting until/unless you become Subscriber.

[Hunter Noventa]

The above posters are correct, crafting is relatively worthless for most of the game, and end game crafting means you pretty much need to be a subscriber and be ready invest plenty of time. if you're just playing the game casually, pick up on of the skills mentioned to collect and sell materials.

I'd personally suggest subscribing for a month to get all the benefits, as well as several that will spillover when the sub expires. Including the extra crew skill slot, among others.

[LibraryOgre]

Now, I will say that back in the day, you could do ADEQUATELY with Bioanalysis and Biochem... you couldn't make the high-end stuff, but the mid-tier stuff for every level was available, which could save you credits. I don't know if that's still the case.

[Wardog]

Its been a long time since I played SWTOR, so this could well be out-of-date, but what I found was:

Weapons and armour crafting (whether for mundane or Jedi/Sith classes) was pretty pointless. You could make some quite nice gear, but you could usually get equally good gear just by playing the game. (Which is a pity, because I always like the idea of making cool weapons or gear for myself, but as normally seems to be the case in MMOs, it generally doesn't seem to be worth it).

Biochem on the other hand seems more useful. Healing and buff potions will always be useful, you aren't wasting resources by crafting stuff to level up crafting, because you can use everything you make, and you can happily spam potions without worrying about wasting them.


Alternatively, just go for slicing and one of the other gathering skills, because you can use them to get extra cash (or resources to sell on the market), and you'll often find them useful in dungeons for e.g. opening up shortcuts, or activating allied NPCs.

[Spore]

If you subscribe then I agree that Diplomacy/Bioanalysis/Biochem is by far the best choice. Stims, medpacks and "trinkets" are very helpful for levelling and in endgame as well. If you don't stay slicing. If you don't want to return every 2 hours to the fleet then don't bother with anything else.


Jedi Consular - Balance spec

I think you mean Sage but I am not 100% sure since the Shadow has a balance spec too.

[Kish]

That's obsolete information, but I don't remember which they renamed in the great Patch of No Classes Share Skill Tree Names Anymore. And everything I can find online refers to the old skill trees...oh here it is, finally. Balance is Sage. The Shadow tree which was once called Balance is now called Serenity.

[Spore]

That's obsolete information, but I don't remember which they renamed in the great Patch of No Classes Share Skill Tree Names Anymore. And everything I can find online refers to the old skill trees...oh here it is, finally. Balance is Sage. The Shadow tree which was once called Balance is now called Serenity.

Oh well. Thanks for the input. I was never one for Assassin or Rogue classes. Played both stories as caster. Ironically in Balance/Madness spec. :) The stories feel more immersive as a caster dps sorcerer and a seer sage anyway.

[Anteros]

Oh well. Thanks for the input. I was never one for Assassin or Rogue classes. Played both stories as caster. Ironically in Balance/Madness spec. :) The stories feel more immersive as a caster dps sorcerer and a seer sage anyway.

I have to agree with you here. I normally like rogue type classes, but there's something lacking both aesthetically and in the gameplay in SWTOR's rogue classes. Sentinel plays like a much more satisfying version of the rogue class (except without stealth) and it's basically a straight rip of WoW's old fury warrior tree.

[Spore]

The answers are given.I might as well derail the thread now.


I have to agree with you here. I normally like rogue type classes, but there's something lacking both aesthetically and in the gameplay in SWTOR's rogue classes.

I feel the Scoundrel and Operative classes melee trees encapsulate the feeling of a scifi rogue much more than any sith could. Assassins and Shadows should've maybe be compared to some kind of magical rogue, like D&Ds arcane trickster.

A "rogue" uses all the tools available. Guns, knives, poisons, kicks in the soft parts. Whereas a force sensitive trained in the arts of subtle combat trains his fighting style to accommodate his lightsaber and force powers, the classical rogue adapts to the environment.

[Mutazoia]

Since the changes introduced with the newest full version, early game crafting, which was good but not necessary earlier, got useless.
You level out faster than you can actually get anything really good, plus as said above, you dont profit from it as ftp due to the "3 needed" problem.

I would suggest going Slicing and Diplomacy as crew skills, for profit and L/D Side points, and ignore crafting until/unless you become Subscriber.

Even as a subsriber, crafting is hardly worth the effort. You level faster than any gear you can create, so you don't use anything you craft (except maybe by throwing in your legacy storage and using on a new character for a level or two). Biochem is okay for the reusable medpacks, but they are less effective than the ones you can buy. Crafting dye modules used to be lucrative...haven't looked at the GTN lately to see how they are selling now though.

Slicing and treasure hunting will give you lockboxes for pure cash, and a few of the other skills require sliced tech parts, in addition to mats from their two suggested gathering skills.

[GrayDeath]

Those you canc raft without ridiculous amounts of rare stuff sell for omething between 10k and 70k, so yeah, not really lucrative no.

Again trhowing in Diplomacy: L/D Sifde points for money, what more can you want (unless you only want the exact number your Characters decisions cause of couse ^^).

[Anteros]

I would just say don't even worry about it if you're not subscribing unless you just like the way some of the crafted gear looks.

Whether you craft or not, you're going to hit the credit cap by about level 40 or so just from selling junk. I would pick up slicing to help in the early game when credits are rarer, pick up the money drops in the world, and then just forget it.

[GungHo]

The last time I was playing this was some time ago (when the first expansion hit). I only retained the gathering skill on the folks that had already leveled a gathering profession and sold off the materials. I otherwise converted to slicing or diplomacy. The thing worth making at that time, as far as armor, guns, or lightsabers was honestly the "containerized" equipment that let you slot mods. Standard equipment was useless.

I also did much the same with WoW after awhile and just gathered materials for sale. The economy in these games is more or less Soviet. Finishing goods subtracts value from constituent materials. You're already adventuring so you might as well gather metal/leather/cloth/whatever and feed the rubes who haven't figured out that they're wasting their time and money crafting anything but broad-use goods like bags, and even then, the investment needed is extreme.

[Anteros]

The last time I was playing this was some time ago (when the first expansion hit). I only retained the gathering skill on the folks that had already leveled a gathering profession and sold off the materials. I otherwise converted to slicing or diplomacy. The thing worth making at that time, as far as armor, guns, or lightsabers was honestly the "containerized" equipment that let you slot mods. Standard equipment was useless.

I also did much the same with WoW after awhile and just gathered materials for sale. The economy in these games is more or less Soviet. Finishing goods subtracts value from constituent materials. You're already adventuring so you might as well gather metal/leather/cloth/whatever and feed the rubes who haven't figured out that they're wasting their time and money crafting anything but broad-use goods like bags, and even then, the investment needed is extreme.

Given the itty bitty credit cap in SWTOR for free players, it's not even really worth it for this sadly. 200k credits is like one bag full of vendor trash at high levels.

[FreddyNoNose]

Since the changes introduced with the newest full version, early game crafting, which was good but not necessary earlier, got useless.
You level out faster than you can actually get anything really good, plus as said above, you dont profit from it as ftp due to the "3 needed" problem.

I would suggest going Slicing and Diplomacy as crew skills, for profit and L/D Side points, and ignore crafting until/unless you become Subscriber.

Pretty much this is what you should do.