Hello. I have a few toons that I created just to get a feel of the game's mechanics. I am sorry to say that I've made quite a few more or less grave errors in the progression of my chars. I'd like you to give me some advice on how to play SWTOR properly (yes I know it's a corny question). Do you actually need to move during battles or just stand still (I know it depends on the class), do I need crew skills (I don't wanna spend too much money on expensive gear so I thought I'd make it myself), Is there a chart somewhere that could tell me what crew skills go with which class.

I also would like some advice about advanced classes. One of my toons is a Lvl 15 Jedi Sage Seer. I like the fact that he can heal in battle but I think he's a tad slow in dealing with mobs, especially elites. I am sad to say that I haven't chosen any crew skills on that toon because I don't know which ones would be beneficial for a Sage Seer.

I apologize for these extremely nooby post but I am at my wits end. I keep hearing about folks having there chars well into 50-55.

PS. I want to get to level cap doing only quests. No PVP, Flashpoints, Warzones or Starfigter battles. Speed is not the issue here. I just want to avoid as many screw ups as possible so I don't have to reroll a toon (doing the same starter planet quests gets a bit tedious after a while. I am also a solo player so I'd like to skip any heroic missions (I wish Bioware would indicate a heroic mission with an overhead icon or sth)

Thanks

Darcorn

Do you actually need to move during battles or just stand still (I know it depends on the class)

Yes. Definitely want to move. NPCs have ranged attacks that can easily be avoided simply my moving.

do I need crew skills (I don't wanna spend too much money on expensive gear so I thought I'd make it myself)

Crew Skills you can do multiple ways. You can just get gathering skills, which require very little cost with the ability to sell your goods. Or you can get gathering skills that go with your crafting skill.

Is there a chart somewhere that could tell me what crew skills go with which class.

Google your class and crew skills. [EX: Sith Sorcerer Crew Skills]. Typically you'll find lots of advice.

I also would like some advice about advanced classes. One of my toons is a Lvl 15 Jedi Sage Seer. I like the fact that he can heal in battle but I think he's a tad slow in dealing with mobs, especially elites. I am sad to say that I haven't chosen any crew skills on that toon because I don't know which ones would be beneficial for a Sage Seer.

As a healer, you'd want to focus more on your companions strengths, rather than your own. Then you just heal and keep your companion fighting.

As far as getting to level without FPs or PVP, etc. It's possible, though sometimes tedious. If you're not going to do HEROICS either, then you are going to spend alot of time killing mobs to stay leveled. Make sure you have experience boosts (and sub if you can, since you won't get an xp drop).

Want to get better with your toons?

Then enter warzones and play a bazillion matches

As for crew skills- they are the backbone of your legacy's financial strength

Check out the crew skill forums for that kinda thing

Also, don't be afraid to make mistakes- swtor is very very very forgiving and most things can be changed during the life of a toon (except your class)

To elaborate further- for a first toon with little legacy development I would choose slicing, scavenging and either bioanalysis/archaeology; if you plan to only level on planets you can farm every sinle node you see - sell the stacks of mats you acquire on the gtn- be sure to check to market price and not list at default price; don't spend on frivolous items; use planet comms to upgrade gear, etcetc

Pvp will help you immensely get better with your toon but it takes time to get acclatex if you have never pvp'd in an online environment- but you don't incur penalties when you die so get in there

Yes. Definitely want to move. NPCs have ranged attacks that can easily be avoided simply my moving.

 

 

That's what I was most afraid of. I am ashamed to admit but I am a disabled gamer (I can only use one hand) and moving while using skills is on the difficult side for me. I wish there was a toggle for auto attacking (although that could be misconstrued by Bioware as some kind of cheating.

If you use a keyboard, you can simply you the keyboard kesy ASDW for movement. Then use the number keys above for attacking.

It takes some getting used to, but it may be your best bet. Not moving isn't the end of the world, but it certainly helps in certain situations

The codex in game will tell you which crew skills go with which

Jedi sages do good dmg even as heals, you can take the increased dmg on forcequake and spam that. As you lvl up you'll get stronger abilities.

As for the gear, synth weaving sounds like the best bet for you to craft your own gear and be self sufficient, taking archeology and I think underworld trading for the fabrics.

As for the gear, synth weaving sounds like the best bet for you to craft your own gear and be self sufficient, taking archeology and I think underworld trading for the fabrics.

I would go cybertech or artifice over synthweaving for self-sufficiency -- I've found I prefer to get into moddable orange gear early on rather than staying in greens/blues.

With cybertech, you'd be able to make your own leveling armorings, mods and earpieces. Artifice will let you craft your own enhancements, hilts and crystals (although fairly cheap +41 stat crystals are typically available on the GTN if you're not picky about color). With synthweaving, even if you made your own orange shells, you'd have to spend commendations to buy vendor modifications, which are typically not optimized anyway.

Inexpensive orange gear can be found on the GTN or simply through questing if you haven't already received any as subscriber rewards.

I'm still pretty new myself, but I will say that so far the absolute bloody easiest class to solo-level has been my Sith Lightning Sorc (for your Republic mirror, that would be if you respecced your Sage to Telekinesis).

Though you don't get as many heals as a dedicated heal-specced Sage, of course, you'll still have a decent amount. And stuff dies *so* fast that you hardly ever have to worry about getting hit anyway. Plus I think it'd be easier for someone playing with one hand, since you are for the most part just hanging back and casting, it's a lot easier to see the circles of bad stuff that appear under you sometimes (as opposed to when they appear under a giant mass of bodies), so you can just move out of them and then resume casting.

As for crew skills, while the conventional advice is "get all gathering skills when you're new, you can't afford to support a crafting skill on your very first character", I will say that if you *must* have a crafting skill, I would take Biochem. You can use everything you make, having stims and adrenals at low levels is really nice (though most people wouldn't bother buying them at low levels, if you're making them just to skill up anyway, might as well!), and it takes considerably fewer mats to level than some of the other crafting professions (so if you take the accompanying Bioanalysis and Diplomacy gathering skills, you should have extra mats to sell on the GTN!).

Eesh. Sorry to blather on, heh. But I hope you find something that works for you! ^_^

Not sure what kind of budget you have, but if you only have the use of one hand, you may wish to invest in a gaming mouse. I have the MadCatz Rat 7:

http://www.cyborggaming.com/prod/rat7.htm

Logitech makes good gear as well. I haven't used any of their gaming mice, but have used other gear without issues:

http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/gaming-mice

I would absolutely AVOID Razer like the plague. Their tech support is godawful terrible and not at all interested in helping. Firmware is buggy and can brick their gear and although they've known about this for years, they've taken zero steps to correct this.

</rant>

In any event, a good gaming mouse can encompass quite a few abilities (mine allows for 19, without using a 2nd hand), and the Rat 7 has a thumbstick which would allow you to move while triggering other abilities via the other buttons.

As for crew skills, while the conventional advice is "get all gathering skills when you're new, you can't afford to support a crafting skill on your very first character", I will say that if you *must* have a crafting skill, I would take Biochem. You can use everything you make, having stims and adrenals at low levels is really nice (though most people wouldn't bother buying them at low levels, if you're making them just to skill up anyway, might as well!), and it takes considerably fewer mats to level than some of the other crafting professions (so if you take the accompanying Bioanalysis and Diplomacy gathering skills, you should have extra mats to sell on the GTN!).

Oh yeah - this too, very much. You *can*, technically, support a crafting skill on your first toon, but you'll be perpetually broke. Personally, I'd avoid it altogether or go with straight gathering skills and sell mats on the GTN.

Do you actually need to move during battles or just stand still (I know it depends on the class),

It depends on the situation. Funny story about this. My guild is struggling with an end game boss. One of our group does PvP a lot. As a result, he moves a lot. His extraneous movement was causing problems. We advised him to not move so much. We have not cleared that boss yet (for those in the know HM Bulo), but since he stopped moving so much, he has taken far less damage. The point is move when you have to (staying out of AOE, moving AOE away from group members, getting out of LoS of an attack. etc

do I need crew skills (I don't wanna spend too much money on expensive gear so I thought I'd make it myself), Is there a chart somewhere that could tell me what crew skills go with which class.

You do not NEED crew skills; they are 100% optional. As to Crafting your own instead of buying, crafting your own can be as expensive if not more so. You have to be careful. If you click the link "best crew skills" in my signature you will find lists of what skills are good for what classes and what skills those class's companions are best at.

I also would like some advice about advanced classes. One of my toons is a Lvl 15 Jedi Sage Seer. I like the fact that he can heal in battle but I think he's a tad slow in dealing with mobs, especially elites. I am sad to say that I haven't chosen any crew skills on that toon because I don't know which ones would be beneficial for a Sage Seer.

Healers and tanks have the advantage of greater survivability, but they do less damage and therefore take more time to kill mobs. My advice is to change disciplines from Seer to either Telekinetics (TK) or Balance (bal). As a Jedi Sage, you get some healing ability, so while you will lose the healing buffs and abilities from the Seer, you will still able to heal yourself as a TK or bal.

PS. I want to get to level cap doing only quests. No PVP, Flashpoints, Warzones or Starfigter battles. Speed is not the issue here. I just want to avoid as many screw ups as possible so I don't have to reroll a toon (doing the same starter planet quests gets a bit tedious after a while. I am also a solo player so I'd like to skip any heroic missions (I wish Bioware would indicate a heroic mission with an overhead icon or sth)

This is perfectly doable, and in this case I recommend a discipline change even more. To do the change, you have to go to fleet, and in the combat training area, there is an NPC with the title "mentor". talk to that NPC and you can undo your discipline choice of Seer and select a different discipline. For subscribers this is a free service.

I am ashamed to admit but I am a disabled gamer (I can only use one hand) and moving while using skills is on the difficult side for me. I wish there was a toggle for auto attacking (although that could be misconstrued by Bioware as some kind of cheating.

Don't be ashamed. You might be surprised how many people with disabilities play MMOs.

Re-evaluate your keybinds. Go into your preferences, click the keybindings tab at the bottom of the preferences window, and then make some useful keybindings for your quickslots. Ideally you would set up buttons you can reach with one hand without moving too far away from your movement keys. Personally, I don't use WASD to move, I usually use my mouse for that, or W and R for strafing left and right. If you can only use one or the other, then I recommend strafe left, strafe right, and move forward as your movement keys, then bind all the keys around those keys to action bar abilities. Use ctrl, alt, and shift modifiers if you can.

Alternatively, if it's possible invest in a gaming mouse. You can get a CM Storm Inferno (which is what I use) or similar at newegg.com for a fairly affordable price. I prefer about 10 buttons, which again if you have even limited use of a second hand you might be able to add ctrl, shift, and alt modifiers to your mouse buttons. Gaming mice usually come with software to re-map the keys to something usable in game because games don't always recognize "mouse button 9". Mine tend to be ctrl+shift+9 instead, which looks messy on quickslots but gets the job done. It's a little work but worth the time if it makes gaming more comfortable for you.

Thanks for the advice so far! What about disciplines? (example Jedi Sage Balanced). What disciplines are good for a solo quester like me?

I found leveling as a seer with Qyzen was fairly efficient. Killing things as a DPS spec was only marginally faster. Regardless of which discipline you choose I recommend taking the improved forcequake (forgot what it's called exactly) utility as soon as you can get it. You can destroy packs of hostile NPCs with one forcequake that way while questing, and it goes a lot faster that way. But I leveled as Seer from 10-55 and liked it enough. Personally for a DPS discipline I'd go with telekinetics.

Do you actually need to move during battles or just stand still (I know it depends on the class)

Yes and no. You'll want to avoid the ground indicators that let you know the enemy is about to toss something nasty at you. Even the standard cannon fodder mooks you wade through on your way to your objectives can drop some really nasty stuff that sets you on fire as long as you stand in it and will probably kill you if you don't step away. You can avoid some attacks by moving as well, a lot of stuff with a cast timer attached to it can only be used stationary and you can easily sidestep it. As a sage you can run with Qyzen and let him soak up all this stuff, because some of it doesn't damage companions.

As somebody else mentioned moving around a lot can be helpful, or it can be a hindrance. I tend to level mostly through PvP and have always done the PvP stuff in any MMO I play. I tend to prefer a lot of movement around my enemy, it's just habit, even though you can't really out-maneuver an NPC by running through them like you can a player (NPCs will turn right around, players respond more slowly). But in high damage AoE situations you could just be running right into the fire and getting yourself killed, it boils down to watching where you're going.

do I need crew skills (I don't wanna spend too much money on expensive gear so I thought I'd make it myself), Is there a chart somewhere that could tell me what crew skills go with which class.

YOu don't need crew skills if you don't want them. I recommend taking scavenging, bioanalysis, and archaeology though. They're just gathering skills so you can gather stuff while you play the game and sell it on the GTN, good way to make some credits while you level. But unless you can gather all the crafting materials yourself, crafting is more expensive than buying stuff on the GTN oftentimes, and you can use your basic commendations to buy some equipment from planetary vendors on fleet in the Supplies section. Get "Orange" gear so you can just upgrade the mods inside of it, it's cheaper than buying new gear every few levels.

PS. I want to get to level cap doing only quests. No PVP, Flashpoints, Warzones or Starfigter battles. Speed is not the issue here. I just want to avoid as many screw ups as possible so I don't have to reroll a toon (doing the same starter planet quests gets a bit tedious after a while. I am also a solo player so I'd like to skip any heroic missions (I wish Bioware would indicate a heroic mission with an overhead icon or sth)

Do every mission you see and you'll get plenty of XP this way, you can even skip heroics. As for "screw ups" the SWTOR community is, in my experience, generally pretty forgiving as long as people know you're trying. I've had some serious flashpoint healing screwups and a quick "sorry, my 5 year old decided she wanted to play the game for me" usually clears up the misunderstanding. We're usually pretty forgiving of "blonde moments" (I know from personal experience, I have them a lot) and if you can, I strongly recommend finding a good guild. You can definitely find a guild that understands you are disabled, new to the game, and that you might prefer to keep to yourself, but if you do decide to do some group content you have people readily available to ask before turning to strangers. You'll probably also be able to find guild mates willing to help you with difficult missions or craft gear/mods for you as you level. The best place to look is your server's forum here on the site.

Lastly, I recommend opening up the Interface Editor (esc key, click Interface Editor) and look at where everything is positioned. You might like to have your quick slots, unit frames, companion frames, cast bars, all that stuff more centrally located. Check out SwtorUI to see interface layouts other players have made and uploaded. They are perfectly safe to install, they don't override the default UI, and you can select them from the Interface Editor menu on your main quickbar (the tiny + icon next to it). Healing or tanking UIs might be better for a more centralized and efficient layout so everything you need to know and access is right there where you need it most.

Well-worded post and some very helpful replies!

I just wanted to throw in my 2c: you will learn more about your class and role, and faster, if you do some (actual, not tactical--i.e. the kind that requires a healer and tank) flashpoints and warzones. They are fun and challenging in a way that questing will probably never be (unless you underlevel your quests), and the rewards are nice.

As a disabled gamer, you might want to avoid warzones but flashpoints should be doable and many of them have cool storylines (which are completely aside from the main storyline, so you won't be missing anything if you skip them).

Thanks for all the replies guys!! They've been very helpful! I have to admit that I did some Flashpoints with one of my toons (Esseles) and it was actually loads of fun! I just stood back and kept healing others and we breezed thru. The group was very helpful too. I told them to be gentle with me since it's my first FP and all and they were very understanding. HOWEVER, later I've tried doing Hammer Station FP but a weird thing happened because as soon as it loaded (I have a pretty fast net connection) I've found out that I wasn't in the group anymore. Either I was booted out or sth went wrong because I could still see the group speeding away from me and then a warning (this flashpoint needs a full group). I undsrstand that group finder is a lottery but it was nice to try out Esseles

Yesterday I've rolled a trooper (after some research) and found out that it's a very strong class with all the heavy armor and stuff. I'm at level 10 with it and I think I know what subclass and discipline to choose. I want to try Gunnery Commando (since I have a tank companion already), Although I have heard that if you already have a tank then you should be a healer...

As for crew skills: I've read on one site that Armormech, Scavenging and Underworld Trading are good for troopers. The only thing I am not sure of is whether the site had that info pertaining to SWTOR 3.1 or some previous version

Yesterday I've rolled a trooper (after some research) and found out that it's a very strong class with all the heavy armor and stuff. I'm at level 10 with it and I think I know what subclass and discipline to choose. I want to try Gunnery Commando (since I have a tank companion already), Although I have heard that if you already have a tank then you should be a healer...

 

As for crew skills: I've read on one site that Armormech, Scavenging and Underworld Trading are good for troopers. The only thing I am not sure of is whether the site had that info pertaining to SWTOR 3.1 or some previous version

Glad to hear you tried out Esseles! It's a good place to get your feet wet, although isn't really one of the real ones (which start with Hammer Station)--you don't need a tank or a healer to complete Esseles. Keep giving GF a try, and don't forget to pick up your Daily and Weekly at the Priority Terminal on the fleet before you queue up! Pro tip: make sure you adjust your role selector so you're not queueing as a healer unless you're prepared to spec as and play as a healer.

Gunnery Commando is quite fun, and you can absolutely swing it with a tank companion. Just send your companion in first, and have him attack the strongest enemy. Now while he's doing that, you quickly kill all the other enemies until only the one he is tanking is left standing. Now kill that one. If you live but your companion dies, it's OK. Simply Dismiss him (rt-click on his round portrait) and resummon him to have him back at full health (faster than rezzing and healing him up). Pro tip: this is also the preferred DPS kill order in flashpoints--kill weakest first, then strongs, then finally boss/elite mobs last.

Armormech works best for a Trooper, but it's a money sink that will not yield back until top level. I'd still recommend Scavenging/Slicing/Underworld and sell everything you get, but if you love crafting then you could do worse than Armormech.

Have fun and look up Smarti or Swett if you're on Harbinger!

Next questions I want to ask about crew skills:

1. How often should I craft armor for my toon? Every 2 levels, more? less? (I always equip gear I get from quests)

2. (Very curious about this). Can I change my crew skills if I see that they are no use to me? I hope it's not the same as choosing your subclass

3. Should I look at my companion's (Aric) buffs to crew skills? (in this case 15% to Armstech so logically I should choose Armstech over Armormech for my first CS)

4. If I get a second companion should I choose a crew skill for him/her?

Do you actually need to move during battles or just stand still (I know it depends on the class),

 

I think while some classes move more in battle than others (melee needs to be close up etc) as long as you are in range to attack and as long as you don't do something silly like stand in the circle of the enemy AOE you would probably be fine.

 

do I need crew skills (I don't wanna spend too much money on expensive gear so I thought I'd make it myself), Is there a chart somewhere that could tell me what crew skills go with which class.

 

I always use http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=132015 it gives a breakdown of what different classes get companin skills wise, though a popular choice is always cybertech or biochem

 

I also would like some advice about advanced classes. One of my toons is a Lvl 15 Jedi Sage Seer. I like the fact that he can heal in battle but I think he's a tad slow in dealing with mobs, especially elites. I am sad to say that I haven't chosen any crew skills on that toon because I don't know which ones would be beneficial for a Sage Seer.

 

I cant say much about seer specced sage but I have never had a problem with the TK tree. Bear in mind that at level 15 you will only have a tank companion and whilst many people believe that a Tank/healer combo is almost invincible it will be slower as neither are renown for doing great damage.

 

I apologize for these extremely nooby post but I am at my wits end. I keep hearing about folks having there chars well into 50-55.

 

PS. I want to get to level cap doing only quests. No PVP, Flashpoints, Warzones or Starfigter battles. Speed is not the issue here. I just want to avoid as many screw ups as possible so I don't have to reroll a toon (doing the same starter planet quests gets a bit tedious after a while. I am also a solo player so I'd like to skip any heroic missions (I wish Bioware would indicate a heroic mission with an overhead icon or sth)

 

Whilst it is doable to not do flashpoints and Heroic quests, they do reward decent xp at level and you can get some decent gear from it. Plus using group finder plus relevent dailys/weeklys you can get decent basic comms to help you gear up you and your companion.

 

Thanks

 

Darcorn

Next questions I want to ask about crew skills:

 

1. How often should I craft armor for my toon? Every 2 levels, more? less? (I always equip gear I get from quests)

 

Gear tends to need upgrading every 4-8 levels depending on the quality green blue etc, however the better you get the more you can stretch this out (I tend to upgrade my blue gear every 10 levels so 9,19,29)

 

2. (Very curious about this). Can I change my crew skills if I see that they are no use to me? I hope it's not the same as choosing your subclass

 

Yes you can change crew skills but when you do you "loose" the progress on it so even if you retake it in the future it starts at 0.

 

3. Should I look at my companion's (Aric) buffs to crew skills? (in this case 15% to Armstech so logically I should choose Armstech over Armormech for my first CS)

 

4. If I get a second companion should I choose a crew skill for him/her?

 

See above link re: crew skills since you can only choose 1 crafting profession you would want the other 2 gathering professions to help you craft so armstech would also take investigation and scavenging, but if you took armormech scavenging and underworld trading are the other 2 you would pick.

 

You cant really go wrong with either of those as a trooper as all your companions (whichever you choose to use) all use aim gear and weapons.

 

See answers in yellow above

Finally Gunny commando is fairly simple and early on you only really need to use a few moves (grav round, High impact bolt, full auto and demo round for most of the game) plus when I run my gunny I use my healer and never run into "problems" while questing.

Next questions I want to ask about crew skills:

 

1. How often should I craft armor for my toon? Every 2 levels, more? less? (I always equip gear I get from quests)

Just equip gear from quests OR get Basic Commendations and upgrade the mods in any modifiable gear you have (you'll get more as you level, by doing quests). You can exchange Basic Comms for Enhancements, Mods, Armorings, Hilts and Barrels at the Planetary vendors in the Supply section of the fleet. The gear you can make with a crew skill while leveling will almost always be inferior to the gear you're getting from quests. Crew Skills are mostly for gearing up your alts. Which is another reason not to worry about Crew Skills on your first character.

 

2. (Very curious about this). Can I change my crew skills if I see that they are no use to me? I hope it's not the same as choosing your subclass

If you look in the Crew Skills window (shortcut N), you'll notice up at the top where your 3 crew skills are located, wee Xs. Click an X and you'll get a confirmation window asking if you really want to abandon this crew skill. NOTE: you will not retain any skill level you got in that crew skill--if you pick it up again it will start all over at 0. Best to stick with one and not switch around a lot, in other words.

 

3. Should I look at my companion's (Aric) buffs to crew skills? (in this case 15% to Armstech so logically I should choose Armstech over Armormech for my first CS)

15% to EFFICIENCY for Armstech. Trooper is best suited to Armormech because you get a companion that gives +5% to crit to Armormech. Efficiency only makes your companion faster at something. Armstech is best taken as a Smuggler, as they get a companion who gives +5% crit to Armstech. I'd say stick with Armormech unless you want to simply make money on this toon (which is what I would recommend), in which case switch to Scavenging/Slicing/Underworld Trading.

 

4. If I get a second companion should I choose a crew skill for him/her?

You will get 5 companions total, and you don't get to choose crew skills for them at all. Crew skills are chosen for your character, not your companions. Your companions will, of course, be actually doing the crew skills, but you only get the 3 (one actual craft, 2 gathering/mission skills) for your character itself.

Answers are in orange.

Just to reiterate: crew skills are for YOU, not your companions. The bonuses your companions give will determine which crew skill is optimal for which class, but it's not as if each companion has a different crew skill: companions don't have crew skills at all. The reason you looked at a guide for crew skills was to determine ahead of time which bonuses you'd be getting on a Trooper. Those bonuses play into Armormech quite well, with a crit bonus to both Scavenging and Armormech.

It's also important to note that you ONLY CAN CHOOSE ONE CRAFTING SKILL ON EACH CHARACTER. So, for instance, you can't do both Armstech and Armormech. Crafting skills are Biochem, Cybertech, Synthweaving, Artifice, Armormech and Armstech.

1 Crafting skill, 1 Gathering skill, and 1 Mission skill to get the rare bits that are used to make blue and purple gear.

Now, here's another piece of advice that may be hard to take: crafting skills are mostly useless, unless you're going to be heavily playing the GTN. Armormech is especially useless (it's still fun, if you like crafting). Really, the best crafting skills for a brand new player to take are Biochem or Cybertech (stims/medpacks/adrenals/implants and armoring/mods/droid bits/grenades/earpieces, respectively), but even those will wipe you out financially unless you have a rich uncle (alt) to bankroll you.

Again, I'd recommend Scavenging (pick up everything you find and sell it all on GTN), Slicing (pick up all the money you find and run Sliced Tech Parts missions to sell on GTN) and Underworld Trading (run missions for Underworld Metals and, to a lesser extent, Luxury Fabrics and sell on GTN). You will then, once you reach higher levels, be able to bankroll a crafting alt easily (or could even use a solid nest egg to finance crafting on that very character).

Wow! Thanks for the info! I was asking about crafting simply because I don't want to be pwned by mobs too often. I know that you can't just plow through class quests like a madman but sometimes I just feel a wee bit underleveled and undergeared

Do more FPs to get a few levels, and make sure you're doing all the side quests to max out XP gain on each planet.

If you have some CC to spend, you can get nearly full sets of empty orange shells. These can be filled by exchanging Basic Comms that you get as quest rewards for item mods at the Planetary vendors on fleet. Once you get into that cycle, you should only worry about upgrading your gear every 6-8 levels, or when you're feeling weak against your questing targets.