Gearing in 8.0 SWTOR developer post

We appreciate all the feedback we’ve received from players on gearing during both the Spoils of War and Legacy of the Sith expansions. The gearing system for Masters of the Force aims to address many of the issues with past gearing systems while keeping the positive aspects.

What is gear in Masters of the Force (summary)

• Gear is upgraded through a new UI system
• Gear carries over Augments, Color Crystals, and/or Tunings to the next upgrade
• Tertiary stats can be changed at certain item ratings
• Gear is Bind on Pickup
• Catchup vendors help alts gear up faster

How do I upgrade my gear?

In Masters of the Force, gear upgrades will be done by using our new Item Upgrade System. This station will be found on the fleet and will allow players to use materials to increase the item rating of their gear. Initially players will purchase base Kalikoran gear from supplies vendors on the Fleet. Afterwards Kalikoran gear will be brought to the Item Upgrade System to increase the item rating.

 

What is included in an upgrade?

When you upgrade gear, it will increase in item rating and will carry over anything slotted into the item. This includes augment kits, augments, dyes, color crystals, and tunings.

How do I customize my stats?

In Masters of the Force we will be moving away from the Modification system, and will be removing the modification vendors on the fleet including Hyde and Zeek. Historically the modification system has primarily had the goals of allowing visual and stat customization. Now that Outfitter handles the goal of visual customization, we’re moving the goal of stat customization to the Item Upgrade System.

When players reach the item rating ceiling (at 8.0 release this will be 380), the items they’ve been upgrading can be used in the Item Upgrade System to swap their tertiary stat. This means damage and healing combat styles can choose if the item has Alacrity, Crit or Accuracy. Tank combat styles can choose between Absorb or Shield. This will allow players to upgrade and customize their gear all in one place.

What does it cost to upgrade?

Upgrading gear will require a combination of credits, Tech Fragments, and 2 currencies new to Masters of the Force, Force Imbued Fragments and Force Harnessing Shards. Force Imbued Fragments are a currency that can be obtained from any repeatable content, such as Heroics, Flashpoints, or PvP. Force Imbued Fragments will be the primary currency used for upgrades. At certain item ratings, Force Harnessing Shards will also be required. Force Harnessing Shards are rewarded from Weekly missions such as your Weekly Heroic missions, Conquest, Weekly Flashpoint Missions, and Veteran or Master Operations.

How do I gear up alternate characters?

Gear in Masters of the Force will be bind on pickup. The team is focused on making sure that players are appropriately geared for success in completing content, and this requires limiting how much gear can be passed around.

We know that one of the benefits of Legacy bound gear is the ability to easily get an alternate character geared up, so we have developed the Gear Catchup Vendor for this purpose. The Gear Catchup Vendor will sell gear at higher item ratings, based on the item rating of your strongest character. To put some numbers out as an example, Kalikoran gear can first be purchased at item rating 352. When a character reaches average item rating 362, the catchup vendor will sell gear at item rating 358. The catchup vendor unlocks are legacy wide, so once you’ve unlocked the item rating 358 gear then any of your characters can purchase it. The Gear Catchup Vendor will allow all of your alts to have an appropriate set of gear for them without needing to pass items back and forth across your Legacy Bank.

New gear progression mission

New to Masters of the Force is a gearing progression mission. This will be granted to all players when they reach level 85 and will introduce the new currencies and where to obtain them, how to upgrade items, give goals to unlock the new tiers of the Gear Catchup Vendor, and explain customizing stats once you’ve reached Item Rating 380.

Does any gear drop?

At launch, no. We want to see how effectively the upgrade system works when there is no way to jump ahead. In the future, while completing content during Masters of the Force it will be possible to have gear items drop from enemies under certain conditions. Gear found during content will evaluate your character and provide an upgrade to your lowest equipped item, saving time and currency. Gear will never be guaranteed to drop so bring your lucky coin when you join that EV farming run after that future update.

What about Legendary Implants?

Legendary implants will remain, and can be upgraded alongside your gear at the Item Upgrade Station. Legendary implants will require Tech fragments and credits to upgrade and can have their tertiary stat customized when you reach the item ceiling.

What’s going away with 8.0

With the release of 8.0, we will be removing Legacy of the Sith gearing currencies:

• Conquest Commendations
• FP-1 Stabilizers
• OP-1 Catalysts
• WZ-1 Accelerants

Make sure to purchase any remaining items using these currencies before the 8.0 launch.

We’re excited for players to get their hands on the gearing system, and to follow you all along your journey to power in Masters of the Force.

Public Test Server Notes

All current costs and caps associated with 8.0 Gearing are for testing purposes only and are not final. This is to allow testing the entire feature and all the gear. The actual costs and caps will be updated for launch along with the new currencies added to rewards.

During the PTS the starting gear and the currencies will be available from the PTS Vendor. A reminder, you can purchase a larger stack of an item from the vendor using Shift+Left Click.

Special notes:

• Caps are not final, they are set very high for testing purposes
• Costs are also not final, actual costs will be applied in the future

Answer the following questions:

• How does the Upgrade Process feel?
• Is it clear and understandable?
• Is there anything you feel is missing or confusing?
• Any other general feedback?