A Basic Level 70 PvE Endgame and Gearing Guide

Written by Andynul. Edited by Xam Xam.

This Guide covers the basics of Endgame gearing for PvE answering the most commonly asked questions about Endgame and Gearing. If you’re after an Endgame Gearing Guide focused on PvP, you can check out Xam Xam’s SWTOR PvP Gearing Guide!

For Game Update 5.10 Gearing Guides, see below:


Contents


What is Endgame?

Endgame content is anything you do in-game once you hit ‘max level’. Since Game Update 5.0, once you hit Level 70 (max level) you can start gaining Command Rank Levels, which is a real grind. There are four Galactic Command Tiers.

Galactic Command Ranks

  • Tier 1: Command Rank 0 – 89
  • Tier 2: Command Rank 90 – 179
  • Tier 3: Command Rank 180 – 299
  • Tier 4: Command Rank 300

What comes from Command Ranks and Command Crates?

When you gain a Command Rank you get a Command Crate. In each Command Crate, you will receive random items depending on what rank you’re at. You get random ‘Cosmetic’ Gear without stats, Gear with stats, Companion Gifts, Jawa Scraps, Crafting Mats. You will also be granted Command Tokens that are legacy bound it comes in a set amount from each tier. Command Tokens are located in the Currency Tab of your inventory, you can have a max of 3,000 Command Tokens in your currency tab. If you max out in the currency tab you can keep the Command Tokens in you Command Stash.

Command Token Ranks:

  • Tier 1: 5 Tokens
  • Tier 2: 8 Tokens
  • Tier 3: 12 Tokens
  • Tier 4: 14 Tokens

What do you do with the stuff you get from the Command Crates?

Anything from the Command Crates that you don’t want you can Disintegrate for more Command Experience, EXCEPT for gear with stats. If you disintegrate gear with stats you get Unassembled Components which is VITAL in upgrading gear. Depending on the type of gear and which tier it came from determines the number of Unassembled Components.

Premium Gear (Green Stat Gear):

  • Tier 1: 2 Unassembled Components
  • Tier 2: 4 Unassembled Components
  • Tier 3: 6 Unassembled Components

Prototype Gear (Blue Stat Gear):

  • Tier 1: 3 Unassembled Components
  • Tier 2: 5 Unassembled Components
  • Tier 3: 7 Unassembled Components
  • Tier 4: 8 Unassembled Components

Artifact Gear (Purple Stat Gear):

  • Tier 1: 4 Unassembled Components
  • Tier 2: 6 Unassembled Components
  • Tier 3: 8 Unassembled Components
  • Tier 4: 9 Unassembled Components

Legendary Gear (Gold Stat Gear):

  • Tier 2: 7 Unassembled Components
  • Tier 3: 9 Unassembled Components
  • Tier 4: 10 Unassembled Components


How to get Unassembled Components other than from Crates?

So you want Unassembled Components? Outside of queuing for daily rewards for Flashpoints, Uprisings, the daily reward for Story Mode Operations, along with all Nightmare Mode (Master Mode) Operations Bosses, is the PvP queues.

  • Regular Warzone Win (8v8): 20 Unassembled Components
  • Regular Warzone Loss (8v8): 8 Unassembled Components
  • Regular Arena Win (4v4): 20 Unassembled Components
  • Regular Arena Loss (4v4): 5 Unassembled Components
  • Solo Ranked Win (4v4): 20 Unassembled Components
  • Solo Ranked Loss (4v4): 10 Unassembled Components
  • Group Ranked Win (4v4): 25 Unassembled Components
  • Group Ranked Loss (4v4): 10 Unassembled Components
  • PvP Regular Warzone Daily: 25 Unassembled Components
  • PvP Regular Warzone Weekly: 135 Unassembled Components
  • PvP Solo Ranked Daily: 40 Unassembled Components
  • PvP Solo Ranked Weekly: 250 Unassembled Components
  • PvP Group Ranked Daily: 75 Unassembled Components
  • PvP Group Ranked Weekly: 500 Unassembled Components


Gearing how do I gear? Where do I start?

For the rest of this guide, this will be under the assumption that you are on your main toon for PvE content looking at getting into Hard Mode(Veteran)/ Nightmare Mode(Master) operations. I will cover DPS first, then Healers, then Tanks, reason being is DPS players take the majority of the raiding team usually being four to five players.

The number one Question all players ask – WHAT’S BEST CLASS TO PLAY?

The Answer to this question is none of them. There are certain specs that will outperform others. While some underperforming specs can have the potential of outperforming in an encounter by fluffing their numbers during the encounter. If you are one of those players that want to take an underperforming spec into a raid by all means, HOWEVER when taking an underperforming spec into a raid it is 100% expected of you to know how to play the spec and for you to pull your weight during the encounters.


Role Stats Overview

An overview of the what Stats Tank, Heals and DPS should aim for.

DPS

All DPS has 3 stats to pay attention to when gearing. Accuracy, Alacrity, Critical. DPS uses Focused Retribution and Serendipitous Assault Relics. DPS use Accuracy Stims.

Accuracy Rating: All DPS Must have 110% Accuracy that is 736 points into Accuracy. Currently, there are a few different options in having Accuracy.

  • Option 1: The Most Optimal option most raiders do at the moment is 5 236/240 Accuracy Augments and an Accuracy Stim. This gives you 109.999999% Accuracy or 735 Points while it’s not 110% exactly in encounters the system rounds it up to 110%
  • Option 2: Use 1 Accuracy Enhancement or Ear/Implant with 3 Accuracy 236/240 Augments with and Accuracy Stim which will give you 110.58% or 790 Points. This option I personally use.
  • Option 3: Use the stock Gear which is 1 Accuracy Enhancement in your Gloves and 1 Accuracy Enhancement in your Boots plus 1 236/240 Accuracy Augment and an Accuracy Stim which is 110.88%ish or 845. I have swapped to this option in preparation for the use of Option 4 come 5.10 update.
  • Option 4: Come GAME UPDATE 5.10 (DECEMBER) if you use the Stock 258 gear which is 1 Accuracy Enhancement in your Gloves and Boots plus an Accuracy Stim you will get 110.10% Accuracy or 746 Points which will be BiSed. This Option will be standard for players working into full 258 gear and more than likely how Bioware intends to move forward in gearing when GAME UPDATE 6.0 arrives.

Alacrity Rating: At GAME UPDATE 3.0 Bioware reworked how Alacrity behaved. It wasn’t until GAME UPDATE 5.3 Theory Crafters and players parsing noticed very different Alacrity builds. Thanks to those who posted it on Reddit and a good friend of mine Rambol wrote an article about how Alacrity works in the Modern SWTOR.

There are three GCD breakpoints:

  • 0 – 702 Points in Alacrity = 1.5 Second GCD
  • 703 – 1859 Points in Alacrity = 1.4 Second GCD
  • 1860+ Points in Alacrity = 1.3 Second GCD

Basically, you’re wanting to hit either the 703 or 1860 Alacrity. Try stick to one the numbers as close as you can otherwise you’re just wasting your Stat budget.

There are some specs that require separate levels of Alacrity because of the passive Alacrity they gain if the player runs the correct rotation for the spec. Theorycrafting also is looking at the numbers and seeing what works in a perfect setting, this does NOT take into account LAG, a Player’s skill Level, a player’s play style, and the never-ending battle between Clickers verse Keybinders. While the high Alacrity build has become a favourite among players in the Nightmare Community it might not be optimal for all players. So choose which build of Alacrity that suits you and your play style then you can spend the rest of your points into Critical.

Critical: Depending on how you chose which Alacrity build you wanted will determine how much you put into Critical. However the soft cap for Critical Diminishing Return which is about 2,000 points.

If you have met your target numbers for Accuracy, Alacrity, and Critical and you still have stats leftover in terms of augments use Mastery Augments.

Healers

Healers are among the easiest to gear. Get Alacrity to a minimum 1860 then stack Critical. Healers use Focused Retribution and Serendipitous Assault Relics and Versatile Stims.

Tanks

So you want to gear a tank hmm? Correctly gearing a tank is much harder than what most people think and a lot more complex. Unlike DPS and Healers only needing one set of gear and BiS (Best in Slot) that one set, Tanks need to not only have their tank set with BiS’ed mitigations but also have a DPS set that is geared enough to do the content that they are in.

The Concept of tanking among all games is similar if not the same. You are the person that the bosses you will sit there and take heavy/harder hits that the rest of your team can’t. However, every game is different on how tanks gear and work but the CONCEPT stays the same. In SWTOR tanks want to have the highest threat above all the DPS WITHOUT using a taunt. To do this the tanks have to produce a solid open rotation and have high DPS. How do I get high DPS if I’m stacking Shield, Absorb, and Defense? The answer is you remove the Defense.

Relics: Tanks must have EQUIPPED Focused Retribution and Serendipitous Assault relics.
Tank Relics: Reactive Warding, Shield Amplification, and Shrouded Crusader
NOTE: If there is a Sorcerer Healer in the raid and you need to use tank relics Do not use Shrouded Crusader. The Sorcerer Static Barrier and the effects of the Shrouded Crusader will cancel each other out. Most Powertech Tanks will drop a DPS relic in favour for Shrouded Crusader Relic for an extra DCD.

Mods: All Tank gear comes with Warding Mods, which is the bulk of your defence stat. You replace the Warding Mods with either Lethal Mod or Lethal Mod B. All DPS gear comes Stock with Lethal Mods for Lethal Mod B you have to have them crafted. The difference between the Mods is non-lettered Lethal Mod has higher power, while Lethal Mod B has higher endurance. While using Lethal Mod B gives you a nice health pool of 140k HP over Lethal Mod health pool of 128k-132k HP. The only time a tank has to worry about their health outside of a one-shot is Dread Palace Hard Mode Raptus’s Driving Thrust into an Assassin Tank that taunted outside of a 5 Meter range that deals 120k Damage. A lot of tanks go back and forth on the two Mods some like using non-lettered because it’s easier to obtain.

Mitigation: Get Shield Rating to 1,800 – 2,000 Points and Absorb Rating to 1,300 – 1,400 Points. The higher your Shield Chance is the better your going to Shield oncoming attacks. The higher your Absorb is the better chance you will Absorb an attack.

Tanks with DPS Gear: Along with getting a Tank set BiS’ed and ready for a raid you must also have a DPS set that complies with all the DPS rules and you must be able to swap to a DPS spec and pull your weight while you’re in a DPS position. Not all fights require two tanks and some fights are over-tuned to have higher DPS required checks.


Andynul wrote this Guide for his Guildmates of the various Guilds he’s in to help them understand Endgame Gearing and to answer the most frequently asked questions he gets about Endgame in The Old Republic. He gave me permission to edit and publish the Guide here.

If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask them!

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