Eric Musco just informed the community that BioWare intend to ad some changes to Command Ranks in Patch 5.2. Below are all the details
Tier 4 Gear in Game Update 5.2 | 03.03.2017, 08:14 AM
Hey folks,
In Game Update 5.2, we will be introducing a new tier of gear to Galactic Command. Tier 4 works a bit differently than other tiers and so we want to provide you with insight about why we’re implementing it. Additionally, we know our social post raised a few concerns and so we want to tackle those first.
Why add 100 more Command Ranks?
The 100 new levels were simply a logical next step for adding Tier 4 gear. However, since it’s already possible to rank up at Command Level 300 indefinitely we decided to take your feedback and keep the current cap. So, starting in 5.2, Command Crates dropped at Level 300 will contain Tier 4 gear (going forward Tier 3 will stop being provided at Rank 299).
Why a new Tier of gear?
We have two main goals in mind for the addition of Tier 4: The first is to act as a benefit for players who put in the time and effort to level up to Command Rank 300. The second goal is giving the most skilled PvE players in SWTOR a worthwhile reward for their coordination and gameplay mastery while also introducing gear drops needed for taking on Tyth in Veteran Mode and other Master Mode Operation bosses. PvP players will also be able to purchase Tier 4 gear for Unassembled Components as they do for other Tiers today.
Now let’s talk about what sets Tier 4 apart from previous gear upgrades. Perhaps the best way to start is to read up on how Command Crates are changing in 5.2.
Tier 4’s biggest difference from previous Tiers is every gear drop from a Command Crate will be Prototype (Blue) Artifact (Purple), or Legendary (Gold); there are no Premium (green) items. Additionally, Prototype quality items in this Tier all have set bonuses. This means every piece of gear coming from a Command Crate in Tier 4 will have a set bonus (where applicable) and be of Prototype or better quality. It’s also important to note every piece of gear in Tier 4 is better than gear from previous tiers, including Tier 3 Legendaries. As Legendary Tier 4 items are best-in-slot, they will remain fairly rare from Command Crates.
Tier 4 is primarily for our most hardcore players who have maxed out their Command Rank and are working on getting best-in-slot gear for their character. Now, with Galactic Command, every player has an opportunity to get a complete set of the best gear offered in SWTOR.
Does this mean Tier 5 and/or more Command Ranks are coming in the future?
We certainly have explored the idea of adding more Command Ranks (as you know) and Tier 5 has been actively discussed as well. While we do have plans for new items in the future, these may or may not come with additional Ranks or through a new Tier level. Once we determine the appropriate delivery mechanism, we’ll let you know, but more than likely that’ll be much later in the year!
Let us know your thoughts, thanks everyone.
-eric
| Tier 1 – 3 Changes Coming in 5.2 | 03.03.2017, 08:15 AM | |
|
Hey folks,Coming with Game Update 5.2 we are making substantial changes to how Command Crates work, specifically focusing on drop rates for gear. Perhaps the single-most repeated comment about Command Crates is they do not feel rewarding due to the random nature of the contents of the crates. To resolve most of these issues, we’ve added ways for both PvP and PvE players to target specific gear slots and obtain those items directly.For players looking to gear up through Galactic Command working through a Tier can feel like a grind since your rewards don’t change. You can get that same Premium belt at Command Rank 70 that you got at Rank 1, which is frustrating when you are trying to complete your class set. Starting with Game Update 5.2, drop rates of better quality items (Legendary and Artifact) will get higher as you gain Command Ranks in a given Tier, while lower quality items’ (Premium and Prototype) drop rates will go down. What this means is you are encouraged to continue increasing your Command Rank as your drop rates of more desired items get higher as your Rank increases. Let’s look at a Tier 2 and 3 example. Right now this is an approximation of gear drops for the entire Tier:
After 5.2, gear drops get much better as you progress through the Tier. Let’s say you were getting close to the top of your Tier, this is what your drop rates will look like:
As you can see from the above example, after 5.2 you will be able to get higher quality gear for your characters more consistently as you progress through each Tier. This will also help in addressing concerns about the inability to get set bonus gear from Command Crates (in addition to the Operations drop changes we are making at the same time). Keep in mind, these drop rate changes apply to Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3. Tier 4 works a little differently and is discussed in more detail in this thread. These are the improvements we are making to Command Crates in Game Update 5.2. Let us know what you think. -eric |
|
| Changes to Operation Drops in 5.2 | 03.03.2017, 08:16 AM | |
|
Hey folks,If you haven’t read it yet, we recommend you head over to the “Tier 4 in Game Update 5.2” thread and learn about the new Tier of gear coming next Update. Along with the new Tier of gear, we are making quite a few changes to what gear drops in Operations. For endgame PvE players we know there is a desire to gear primarily through Operations.The first change we are making is specific Unassembled Gear Pieces will now drop on each Operation boss in the game (except Golden Fury and Colossal Monolith). This means when you kill a boss in an Operation, you will know exactly what is going to drop and you can plan to run specific Operations if you are seeking a specific slot. Click the spoiler tag(s) at the bottom of the post for a full list of what drops where. The second change is bosses will no longer have a random chance to drop Unassembled Gear Pieces. Each boss in an 8-player Operation will drop 1 piece and the last boss will drop 2; this number is doubled to 2 and 4 respectively in 16-player. Previously with Game Update 5.1, each boss except for the last boss only had a chance of dropping gear pieces. The third change is with the introduction of a new Tier (Tier 4), we needed to ensure Operation players had a way to acquire this gear directly. This is especially true since Tier 4 will help substantially in being able to clear Veteran Mode Tyth along with future Gods from the Machine bosses, and all other Master Mode bosses. Here is a basic breakdown of where the gear will drop: For existing Operations (Tier 1 will no longer drop in Operations)
For Gods from the Machine Operations:
As you can see there a lot of changes with Operation gear drops in 5.2! Let us know your thoughts on these changes. -eric |
|
| Tier 4 Gear in Game Update 5.2 | 03.03.2017, 08:55 AM | ||
|
Quote:
Your guess is correct! Continue to open any crates that you earn until that time. -eric |
||
|
||||
| Changes to Operation Drops in 5.2 | 03.03.2017, 09:23 AM | |||
|
Quote:
They will drop Tier 3 gear! Quote:
|
|||
| Changes to Operation Drops in 5.2 | 03.03.2017, 09:39 AM | ||
|
Quote:
Good question! PvP players will be able to buy Tier 2 pieces outright, without upgrading from Tier 1. This largely leaves their progression untouched from today as they can buy gear, and upgrade it twice, they just start 1 Tier higher than before. -eric |
||
| Tier 1 – 3 Changes Coming in 5.2 | 03.03.2017, 09:43 AM | ||
|
Quote:
I understand that there isn’t full clarity without all of the details, but let me see if I can get one step closer. In the example from above, if there are 3 item grades each with a medium’ish drop rate, you could make infer that medium in that context means around a 33% drop rate (since there are 3 and they are relatively equal). Again, that isn’t the 100% actual drop rate, things are subject to change, and my other community manager disclaimers. Still, that walks one step closer to the actual drop rate line for you! -eric |
||
| Tier 4 Gear in Game Update 5.2 | 03.03.2017, 10:08 AM | ||
|
Quote:
|
||
|
|||
