NOTE: Since this is still going strong, I should tell you - read this entire thread. Not necessarily in one sitting, but I've got several case studies and other guides on the other pages, along with useful links. I occasionally get preachy - but if you find one of those, just skip over it.
Seriously, folks - ol' Colonel Breinhar needs to take out the ClueBat and knock some sense into some of you. I check the vendor search and planetary bazaar SEVERAL times each night looking for throwaways by y'all and I find a lot of stuff that's REed that REALLY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN.
The following is a list of what you should KEEP, because it's what *I* look for, and thus, most everyone else will, too. This'll take a bit, so bear with me. I'll learn y'all yet...of course, this might be a tad self-defeating if you learn what NOT to put on the bazaar for 500 credits.
...personally, I'd rather pay more for phenomenal loot than a pittance for the frustration of seeing crap night after night on the bazaar.
+++PART ONE+++
Level 1:
Reactors - this is about it for L1 loot - pretty much everything else is expendable. In this bracket you're looking for high-gen reactors (12-13k range). I have an L1 DXR REed to 14032.1 gen, so ALWAYS LOOK AT THESE BEFORE SELLING THEM. Most are crap, some are gems.
Also, STOP PUTTING YOUR STARTER SHIP PROTOTYPE COMPONENTS ON THE BAZAAR. They're WORTHLESS! You can't RE with them, you can't even sell them to the chassis dealer. Stop plugging up the bazaar listings with crap no one's gonna buy!
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Level 2:
Reactors - same as above - the best thing about L2s is that you can factor in mass. Anything from 1-1.2k and BELOW is good.
Capacitors - energy near to or around 950+, regen in the high 30s (38+)
Engines - keep your eyes out for high speed and high YPRs (in an L2, anything over 62 in Yaw or Pitch would be eyebrow-raising)
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Level 3:
Reactors - here you want to look for high hp in addition to high gen and low mass. Nothing else is really worth saving, but every so often you might get a phenomenal L3 cap, so always examine everything.
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Level 4: (Where it starts to get interesting, re: complicated)
Reactors - again, same principle. Reactors stay viable up to about L6. L8s are SOMETIMES good for heavy fighters/POBs (due to some phenomenal gens in the RCT-Z lines), but typically L1s to L4s are about the max you'll need in a regular ship. High gens are important here, and your masses should stick around 4k or preferably lower.
Capacitors - here's where, for the first time, reactor drain can be added into the equation. The lower, the better. To simplify this for you, there seem to be a specific "brand" of L4 cap that's good for everything you'd need:
* Gallant A1 - low masses, low drains * Gallofree LT-22 - high regens * Corellian Tuned Mark II & Special BJN-825s - high pools * Qualdex Conservator Q3 - high regens, but LT-22s are usually better bets
(These are not 'sure things,' except in the case of the A1's, they're usually very decent mass and regen-wise.)
L4 caps are extremely valuable to Rebels and JSF-flying Imperials. The 40-45+ gen rates can put out more than enough juice to satisfy two WO3ed weapons. The figures you're looking for are any drains under about 750 (I've seen and have 550s), regens over 40, and pools in the thousands (1300s exist, I have one). Mass should be right around or UNDER 3k.
Engines - you're looking for pitch and yaw over 62, speed over about 68, and allocate the last one as needed (mass, drain, roll, or HP/Armor).
Boosters - this is one of my favorite and MOST FRUSTRATING CATEGORIES OF L4 COMPONENTS. One word of advice to REing shipwrights: I KNOW there's a glut of L4 boosters out there, but PLEASE QUIT WASTING THE GOOD ONES. There are three names you need to know in this category above all else:
* Mandalmotors M-Series * Novaldex Hypernova * Sienar Special Ion Booster
These three are VERY good L4s that have the energy storage of an L8 at an L4 level (1980.x pre-RE). If I had a credit for every one of these that were wasted on COMPLETE CRAP REs, I'd be a billionaire. DO NOT WASTE THESE.
These can be PRICELESS when REed **CORRECTLY**. First off, the two most important stats in L4 boosters are mass and burn rate. The three boosters above take care of drain, energy, and regen - no other [L4] booster in the game will do better on these stats than the above. For masses, if you see a booster with a 2xxx instead of a 3xxx or 4xxx, CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY. 2xxx-range boosters are EXTREMELY NICE. There's a 24xx L4 on the bazaar now, which was REed with CRAP. I CRY every single time I pass it. Secondmost important is burn. 145 and lower is your friend. I have a 140.0 L4 and it gives me 17 pure seconds of thrust. This is very nice.
Finally, one thing the three names above don't do best on is speed. There are 26.x pre-RE boosters out there. They're rare, but they DO exist. If you get anything UNDER 26.x, ditch it and feel content you're not giving me a migraine.
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That's all for now, because my fingers are getting tired. Next time around, we'll get into weapons in the higher levels, which is everyone's favorite subject.
Message Edited by KaylBreinhar on 08-05-200509:17 PM
Death doesn't fly a JSF anymore...he flies a Gallente Thorax in EVE Online
Excellent post. As a fellow SW its frustrating to explain this to some players, most get it, but not all. Good catch on the names, I never noticed the corellation between the name and pattern of stats. Now I can keep a closer eye out to match up even better RE stuff.
/salute
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You will find many of the truths we cling to, are from a certain point of view." -Obi Wan Kenobi "Who is more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?" -Obi Wan Kenobi "What makes a man turn neutral ... Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?" - Zap Brannigan "I hate these filthy neutrals Kif! With enemies you know where they stand but with neutrals? Who knows! It sickens me." - Zap Brannigan
Qui-Gonzalez wrote: But I liked snagging gems from the bazaars. Posts like this will make them think twice now...thanks Kayl.
As I said, I'd rather see newbies and inexperienced pilots wanting 500k for a phenomenal part than seeing the goddamned thing REed with a bunch of crap. (Note to potential newbies reading this thread: the 500k+ domain is reserved for some seriously choice pieces, not something that barely meets or exceeds the guesstimates I'll be giving you)
And you'll still get gems - according to the Gods, only about 20% of the playerbase reads the forums.......
Message Edited by KaylBreinhar on 06-06-200503:24 PM
Death doesn't fly a JSF anymore...he flies a Gallente Thorax in EVE Online
Nice start, Jotun! There should be a complete idiot's guide to SPace loot and RE'ing on the Pilot forums that should speak to these sorts of things... it takes sooo long with a new pilot to explain all of the variations on good components. I guess I'm going to have to write an e-mail and send it to myself so I always have it handy to forward to new pilots. The thought of all the nice stuff that got garbage RE'd during the first SW rush when everyone wanted to get Firespray schemes is enough to bring tears to this space jockey's eye. /sniff
Yea, shush up you! Now I cant pimp my X-Wing out on this server...
_______________________ -) §irisandir )- - I support the takeover of teh ò army. ! Quality of SWG::- Totally Awesome -----------------------------------------|---- Lame Thanks for destroying two years of work, SOE. /end two year non-stop subscription
"But I don't use armor! It takes up too much mass!" Pshaw. Armor your goddamned birds or that "pssh" sound you'll be hearing when your shields drop is money getting sucked out of your account for a new damned chassis when you decay yours down to 10/10. JTL was designed as a credit sink - never forget that.
(Aside: look at your ship's chassis the next time you're at a terminal - if it's anywhere under about 750 points, you need to either a) stop dying, or b) think about getting a new set of blueprints. Think of your chassis score as the last line of defense against death - it's like a stealth armor plate. It needs to be a high enough score that it'll soak up damage. 10/10 is asking to be fried like a shrimp at an Outback - it's doable if you're confident in your skills, but if you're confident in your skills, your damned chassis score shouldn't be THAT GODDAMNED LOW.)
There are only three levels of armor you need to concern yourselves with - L4, L6, and L8. These grades tend to drop the most phenomenal hp-to-weight ratios in the game. REed armor is suggested for MASTER PILOT USE ONLY, as understandably so, REed pieces are nigh impossible to duplicate, and using Deep Space for an Armor Body Shop is well worth the 30k prestige if you've got some nice ass sheets.
Odd-numbered armor CAN be good, but I've found you have to go through a LOT of pieces before you find ones worth keeping. Also, don't forget your local shipwright if you've got the mass to spare - it's far less taxing mentally to use THEIR stuff, since you really have to fly a different way when using REed sheets vs. crated.
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L4: can RE to over 700hp (though 600s are a better number to shoot for), and when REed in conjunction with Sienar Flight Systems Light Military Grade Durasteel, will ALWAYS be at a weight of 1986.x. Shipwrights can't be that by a MILE for that mass, which makes this PERFECT for non-Heavy TIEs. 600-700hp will soak up about 5-6 Vette-class turret hits. This crap SAVED MY ASS on numerous occasions back when I was tied to my Advanced.
L6: can RE to over 1300hp with masses under 6k. These are IDEAL for new ships like the JSF and Bell - the Corellian Triplate always has a nice little hp of 1269.x that REs to the 1320.x range. Even if you just put *one* of these up front to provide a little turret insurance. These will take about 8-10 hits, maybe 11. I use L6 now to give myself a "dual-shielded" edge - it's like having a single-use shield under my already pretty substantial L8 reward. Not that I'd want to test it, but I should be able to take a Borstel-level hit with my setup as it is now with no component damage, thanks to this armor.
L8: Nym's starmap quest rewards a nice 1920.x L8 sheet. L8 is far too damned heavy to fit to even a heavy fighter (except in rare circumstances). HOWEVER, you CAN find *phenomenally* low-mass L8 pieces (I've personally found a 9.5 and 12.7k piece), which make them IDEAL for new Heavy fighters, even if it's just a front-half piece.
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I'll get to L5+ part guide soon enough, but figured I'd extoll the virtues of REed armor because I have a feeling people just pitch this stuff most of the time. Also, this keeps me from having to write about armor in the next and final part.
Message Edited by KaylBreinhar on 06-06-200505:11 PM
Death doesn't fly a JSF anymore...he flies a Gallente Thorax in EVE Online
...guys, your USED (un-REed) PLATES with decay aren't worth 15-20000 credits. I'd buy them for 250-500 credits as RE fodder as you only really need two pieces for ANY armor (barring L1, but that stuff is crap anyway). When you put a 0.0/210.2 L4 piece on the bazaar for 20k, you're making the Baby Jesus (and more importantly, ME) cry.
The only exceptions to this rule are used (again, un-REed) low mass pieces.
Again, these are:
L4: Any Sienar Flight Systems Light Military Grade Durasteel. These are always ONE weight and no L4 slabs can beat it.
L6: Anything right around or (preferably) under 6k (3 and 4k pieces are rare, but exist).
L8: Anything preferably around 12-13k and under (yet if you've got a four-digit L8 piece, KEEP that baby for yourself and run the first phase of the Starmap quest, you'll thank me later).
Message Edited by KaylBreinhar on 06-06-200505:14 PM
Death doesn't fly a JSF anymore...he flies a Gallente Thorax in EVE Online
Normally I'd say reactors here, but they pretty much cease to be useful until L8 after L4 due to a kind of law of diminishing returns. Simply put, they just get too damned heavy and don't put out as much power as their lower-level counterparts for the weights they start packing.
No, the L5s you need to watch out for are...
Weapons:
"Huh? Are you high, Jotun? L5s?!?!" No, I'm not high. A good REed L5 weapon (or two) can make a nugget pilot's second (and sometimes third) tier grind a LOT less painful. However, there's really just a simplistic form to follow for these (since it takes about seven guns to make an ideal weapon RE, and you only get five here):
Drain - anything under 2000, the lower, the better. WO3 might well be bugged, but one thing it DOES do as-intended is increase the drain of your current equipped weapon by about 1/3. (NOTE: THIS INCLUDES 'WEAPONS' SUCH AS MISSILE AND CHAFF LAUNCHERS - FACTOR THEM IN WHEN LOADING MULTIPLE WEAPONS) Put two 2300+ drain guns on a newbie's ship with a dinky reactor, and you're gonna get one unhappy flier when he tries to run WO3. That's 1/5.
Damage - I USED to say mass here, but that's not really a concern for ANYONE anymore with the new heavies. If you're putting twin L5s on a Dunelizard, mass MIGHT be a concern, but probably drain will be a bigger one. You want at least a 1k min with a 1.5-1.8k max. There's 2/5 (possibly 3/5 as well if you have to mate two guns to get the ideal spread).
Effs - on an odd level weapon, anything over .6xx is worth keeping. If you can't get one that excels in both, go for vs. Shields over vs. Armor. There's 3&4/5. Reason for vs. Shields is given the choice, it's quicker to de-shield and disable than destroy outright - the more damage that's dealt through the shields, the quicker you get to the components.
Finally, go with EPS over refire for #5 if in a two-gun ship, and refire over EPS if in a one-gunner. Better yet, you're not going to be using these long, so in a two-gunner, it's best to mix-and-match an EPS and refire-specialized gun to make it easier on a capacitor.
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Level 6:
This is the first "biggie" level, yet in one category, it's only "big" for older (and new, richer) pilots.
Engines:
I've seen more good L6 engines wasted than pretty much any other piece of loot in this game. It makes you cry, seriously.
Simply put, the only way you're getting a pre-nerf L6 reward engine nowadays is by being very lucky, very miserly, or very friggin' rich. What takes skill (and immense PATIENCE) is finding the right loot to match up with one of these pretties.
Drain: You're looking for 1300s and 1400s. Remember EO3 and EO4 boost these values by a factor of 3x and 4x respectively - so the lower, the better. It's not fun when you overdraw a reactor.
Mass: Anything under about 9300 is a keeper. There's a certain someone with an 8510.5 pre-RE L6 out there who knows I'd give a one of two vital reproductive parts for it, so if you loot an L6 with an "8xxx" vs. "9xxx" or "1xxxx," you've got a VERY nice piece.
YPR: You want to reach 70.x, and to do that, you need an ABSOLUTE MINIMUM of 67.4 for a pre-RE value. If the drain and mass suck, and NO values are at/above 67.4, by all means, get rid of it. Obviously, higher is better, and 67.4 YPR engines aren't worth big bucks. 69 and 70.x+ pre-RE engines, on the other hand...... :/
Speed: The L6 speed CAP appears to be 79.9 now. You probably won't find better, and if you do, you didn't loot it - someone else did, a LONG time ago. If you want a nice pre-nerfish engine nowadays, you have to look two levels higher (more on that later).
Capacitors:
L6s make EXCELLENT caps for heavy (not the newbie Heavies - I'm talking Kimos/X-Wings/etc.) fighters. As I'm probably running out of room for this section......
Drain: Again, you want at, around, or under 700. Reactor drain is bugged and doesn't RE, so it behooves you to look for the lowest drains possible on ANY part that requires power.
Mass: Nine words - Mon Calamari Modified Heavy and Qualdex Heavy Capacitor Array. These two "brands" seem to give the best masses of the L6 line - 8000s and 7000s (the latter half being rarer than hens' teeth). 6xxx's might be out there, but I've never seen one.
Energy: This is pretty self-explanatory - the higher, the better. 1200s or better, keep high 1100s, ditch the rest.
Regen: Qualdex Conservator QX2s seem to [usually] have the best regens of all L6s. Keep anything over 46.x.
Weapons:
L6 weapons are, unit for unit, the most underappreciated/underrated weapon grade in the game. These things can be AMAZING support weapons for ANY class of fighter. They can kick the everloving crap out of an L7 on effectiveness, and give it a good run in the damage realm as well. These weapons go great with an L7 *or* L8 main. Where else are you going to get a 17-1800 to 25-2700 damage blaster with near .7xx effectiveness ratings with a mass under 10k? It's gravy that there are so many of these, too - which should satisfy you ship ricers who like "all the purdy colors."
Drain, once again...shouldn't be over 2k if you can help it. 1/6 - this is non-negotiable, because you'll want to keep this for a two-gun ship.
Mass, anything under 10k. Again, less important with Privateers and Rebels, but you don't want to half-ass this if you can help it. 2/6.
With regards to damage, usually high-damage L6s are respectable on the mins as well. Given a choice, though - go with a high damage and try to find a high-min with another desirable stat to lessen the sting. 1700s and above for min, and 2600s and above for max are definite keepers here. 3&4/6
Effs run along the same lines as the L8s I mention in the next post - you want .64x or higher, but again, if you've gotta make a sacrifice, go for vs. Shields. over Armor.
L6s are ideal for "mate" weapons, so EPS is a little less important if you're using a Borstel or low-EPS L7. If you're using a 40+ cap and WO3, you could fire both weapons until the Second Coming and never run out of juice.
Refire is the S.O.S. - .40x or lower, or if you want a non-forced "staggered fire" effect, find a high-refire weapon and mate it with a .30x L7 or .37x-.38x L8. You won't be sorry.
Message Edited by KaylBreinhar on 06-07-200504:35 PM
Death doesn't fly a JSF anymore...he flies a Gallente Thorax in EVE Online
Posts like this will make them think twice now...thanks Kayl.
