Bio Engineer Archive
Thread: Bio-engineer FAQ's and info
This is a collection thread of FAQ's and other useful info for Bio-engineers.
What's currently in here:
- FAQ ....by SOF
- This Master BE says,"Get a Doctor to craft your petstim subcomponents" ...by Sumorex
- Vitality Packs:Fact and Fiction ...by Zephreus
- Making good pets - a guide from a fallen master ...by Mattakar
Message Edited by Talthazar on 11-25-2003 11:40 AM
Bio-Engineer FAQ v0.2 by SOF
The purpose of this FAQ is to answer many of the questions that are frequently asked about the BE profession (doh!). Most of this information here is taken directly from the BE forum and from the most popular BE websites: Bio Engineering 101 and GASP Bio-Engineering Sub-Site. Both are great sites with all the ingredients listed in tables for all BE products. The GASP BE site also has a quick guide and coordinates of all the BE trainers.
Please read through and provide feedback.
Lets Get Started!
Q: Where in this FAQ is the answer to my question?
This FAQ is separated into sections:
-General Questions
-General Clone Questions
-General Tissue Questions
-General Pet Med Questions
-Novice BE Questions
. . .
General Questions
Q: What does a BE do exactly?
A BE creates Creature Clones, Tissues, and Pet Meds.
Q: What does it take to become a BE?
Novice BE requires Organic Chemistry from Medic, Creature Knowledge from Scout, and 10k additional Medicine Crafting experience.
Q: What is the profession in a like?
In a nutshell, the BE profession involves heavy crafting but can also involve heavy adventuring for those who seek out the best DNA. It can be lucrative but it's still buggy.
Q: My holocron told me to master BE. How can I do this quickly?
Three of the BE lines use what's called BE exp. For this make a crafting macro for Micronutrient Supplement, a tissue given at Novice BE, and grind out around 5000 of them (about 80k meat and about 200k grain). The other line requires DNA sampling exp. There are several methods commonly suggested to master this line, but you basically want to sample DNA from the highest lvl creature you can get samples from for the best exp.
General Clone Questions
Q: What is a BE creature clone?
BE clones are essentially deeds for creatures that can be tamed by anyone with the proper skills, much like droid deeds (barring those that are currently broken).
Q: Can non-CH tame Creature Clones if they have no CH skills?
Yes! Creature clones within non-CH limits (CL 15 now, CL 10 later on) are tameable by anyone.
Q: I'm a non-CH and a tamed a BE creature clone, but it wont do anything I tell it to... Is it broken?
No, it just doesnt know ny commands because nobody has trained it. Take it to a friendly CH for training - non-CH clones do not need to know the transfer command to be traded.
Q: Can a BE make me a Cowardly Gurreck, Rock Beetle, Graul Mauler?
No, a BE can only make the clones that he has schematics for, given to him through the leftmost skill line called Clone Engineering.
Q: Ok, so what creatures can BE make?
A Master BE can make 27 creatures that work properly: Bearded Jax, Eopie, Kaadu, Dewback, Gualama, Kahmurra, Krahbu, Carrion Spat, Choku, Gurrcat, Pugoriss, Kusak, Zucca Boar, Bantha, Bolma, Brackaset, Falumpaset, Ronto, Angler, Dalyrake, Guf Drolg, Gurreck, Narglatch, Razor Cat, Torton, Rancor, and Veermok.
There are also 7 broken clones that cannot be tamed at all, giving an incorrect message when trying to tame.
Q: Which clones are broken?
Blurrg, Tybis, Bol, Bolle Bol, Snorbal, Kimogila and Fambaa.
Q: What the heck are any of these creatures? I've never heard of any of them!
You can find pictures and stats of all BE creatures at the websites listed above.
Q: Will you ever be able to make more than that?
The last time the BE developer contacted the community he said that he had more than doubled the amount of creatures on the clone list, however the new clones have not made it to the Text Center yet.
Q: What exactly can you do to make the clones better than wild versions of the animals?
We can alter 5 “profiles” – Physique (health pool), Prowess (action pool), Mental (mind pool and chance to hit). Psychological (still unknown), Aggression (damage and attack speed).
Note: there are several theories about what the Psyche profile does (courage and dependability?), but nobody has been able to prove or disprove any of them.
Q: How much better are we talking here?
A Master using good DNA and placing it properly with decent resources can routinely get a 10-15% increase over wild versions HAM and chance to hit.
Q: What about damage?
This is a tricky subject. The answer is: yes clones can be made with higher damage, but it is at the cost of speed, so clones of the same type all do the same damage-per-second as each other as well as wild versions. That being said, damage can be increased up to 25% higher than wild versions.
Q: That sounds reasonable. Why do BE’s complain that their clones are weaker than wild animals?
Because there are always better creatures that can be tamed in the wild at any given CL.
Q: Is there anything coming up that will change BE clones?
Yes, a lot. BE’s will have the ability to drastically change the stats of all their clones and the CL and physical size of their creatures will no longer be set, but it will be based on the stats. This means that a BE will be able to make weaker versions of strong pets and stronger versions of weak pets. BE’s will also gain the ability to give any creature armor and special attacks as well as alter their color.
Q: Cool! When?
No idea. It was supposed to be this publish , but it hasn't been mentioned yet.
General Tissue Questions
Q: Ok, enough about clones, tell me about tissues!
There are two types of tissues: tissues for food and tissues for clothes.
Q: What's the difference?
Food Tissues can enhance the duration and effect of foods when a chef uses them in the food crafting process. Similarly, Clothing Tissues can enhance the skills of the wearer of the clothing when a tailor uses them in the clothing crafting process.
Q: Why don't I see enhanced foods everywhere?
1) There are few chefs
2) Several require obscure resources that are very hard to collect in any amount.
2) Food Tissues often take as much, if not more, resources than the foods themselves for only a fractional increase in effect, so the cost the chef would have to charge for the food does not balance the cost of the Food Tissues.
Find info about specific food tissues at the websites listed above.
Q: What are Clothing Tissues?
Clothing Tissues are components that BE’s make that can be used in the creation of clothing.
Q: How does this work?
Well, many clothes require components called “Synthetic Cloth” and “Reinforced Fiberplast Panel” to make. BE Clothing Tissues can be used as an optional component in the making of those clothing components (did you get that?).
Q: So I can't put a BE tissue into a clothing socket?
Sorry, no. BE tissues are different from skill tapes.
Q: Which tissues can be used in what clothes?
Each tissue will only work in one of the two components – SC (“casual wear”) or RFP (“field wear”) as labeled on the tissues description. Certain clothes use certain amounts of one or the other component and some even use both.
Q: How many tissue enhancements can be fitted into one outfit?
Currently, multiple enhancements from two components of the same type (both SC or both RFP) will not stack on the same item of clothing yet (this is supposedly being fixed also), but everything else stacks properly (between items of clothing or on one item of clothing with an enhanced SC and an enhanced RFP). The total bonus for any one skill mod granted by tissue enhancement is +25.
Q: You're a dirty liar! My friend has enhanced clothes and his skills are showing a +58 bonus!
Sorry, the cap is +25. There is a display bug that makes it look like you are getting more, but according to the Dev's, you aren't.
Q: Enough with the technical stuff, I want to know what Clothing Tissue can do for me!
There are 8 different classes of Clothing Tissues each with a higher level and a lower level version. The 8 classes are: intimadation/warcry, injury treatment/wound treatment, bleed defense, stun defense/melee defense, cover, maskcent/camoflauge, taming wild creatures/taming viscious creatures, and dancer/musician wound healing. The higher versions in each class enhance the same skill mods, but they enhance for a greater amount each. Several tissues cannot be currently made in bulk because they also require rare and obscure resources. A complete list of all the tissues and their purposes can be found at the websites listed above.
General Pet Med Questions
Q: What Pet Meds can a BE make?
There are 2 types of pet meds: Pet Stimpack and Pet Vitality Medpack.
Q: What is special about Pet Stimpacks?
Well, not only do they not require medicine use (i.e. anyone can use them regardless of medic skills) but they also heal the mind pool, which normal stimpacks, or “people stims,” cannot do. Pet Stims also run on a seperate timer than people stims, meaning that you can heal with both at the same time.
Q: Why is it that the highest level Pet Stim I can find is Pet Stim C’s?
Simply because D’s require fish which is very hard to collect in any amount, especially with good quality..
Q: What do Pet Vitality Medpacks do?
Pet Vitality Medpacks do not heal wounds. There is a fourth stat on creature pets called “Vitality” that is a condition stat and is lowered by a certain amount every time a pet is incapacitated by an enemy that normally deathblows. When this stat reaches below 75 the creature suffers a 25% reduction from its fully grown healthy HAM, when it reaches below 50 it is increased to a 50% reduction, and below 25 vitality is a 75% reduction from adult healthy HAM.
Pet Vitality Medpacks work like repair kits for armor and weapons by refilling the vitality of the pet at some cost to the maximum vitality. Using higher grade vitality packs results in a lower reduxtion of a pet's max vitality.
Novice BE Questions
Q: How do I make creatures?
Creature schematics all have 3 slots: Creature Food, Flora Food, and a DNA Template.
Q: What the heck is "creature food"?
Meat! I think eggs and milk technically count also, but dont waste those in a creature.
Q: Ok, so I guess flora food is wheat, beans, anything that sounds edible?
Yes! Berries, flowers, rice, stuff like that.
Q: Whats a DNA Template?
A DNA Template is a component that every creature requires. They all look exactly the same except for their names ("Kimogila DNA Template," ect.) and each take 5 DNA samples from any creature.
Q: How do I sample DNA? I didnt get a button for it!
The command is /sampledna. You can make a macro for it and put it on your toolbar for easy access.
Q: I made the button... now what?
You have to be within 15m of your target and hit your /sampledna macro. Your target must be a creature, must not be in combat, and not leave your 15m range before the process is completed.
Q: I made my first creature! What do I do with it?
Sell it, tame it, drop it in your house, or sample it for more DNA via the radial menu.
END
Message Edited by Talthazar on 11-25-2003 11:31 AM
Message Edited by Talthazar on 11-25-2003 11:44 AM
This Master BE says,"Get a doctor to craft your petstim subcomponents" by Sumorex
Okie I said I'd find time tonight to do this and I did it for once. Here is an analysis of Advanced Components vs Regular Components for pet stim construction.
All pet stims were crafted with the same fiberplast (908 OQ / 323 UT) and talusian fungus (826 OQ / 769 PE). Few things of note. First, all experimentation points were spent maximizing the heal on the pet stims. This particular combination of Fiberplast and Fungus worked well for this because 9pts of great successes maximized the power, leaving 1pt to spend on charges- which ended up NOT raising the charge count on the pet stim as it would take a minimum of 2pts to accomplish this. Second, the range from beginning power to ending power was IDENTICAL for every single combination (the components figure into the BASE power/charge)... meaning the components did NOTHING to effect the expenditure of xp points. Last, an Adv before a component denotes an Advanced version of the component was used and the relevant statistics are in ( )'s.
- AdvBEC (15p/17c) + AdvCRDM (62p) + AdvLS (168p) = 29c / 908p
This is going to be considered the Maximum Pet Stim for our argument. The charges were 29, though this could be pushed to 30 with an amazing success in the power experimentation as it was right on the bubble of hitting 30 by spending 1xp pt in charges. The power was 908. The only way to increase power higher would be to use a higher power rating in any of the three components, which was done just to see what would happen with a 17p/17c AdvBEC pushing the power of the final pet stim to 911.
- AdvBEC (15p/17c) + CRDM (18p) + AdvLS (168p) = 29c / 863p
- The differences were dCRDM=44p
- dPS=45
Anear perfect 1 to 1 ratio. From previous experience that 1pt of difference (also seen in the 911 version) occurs randomly. There seems to be a 0-1pt range on components.
- AdvBEC (15p/17c) + AdvCRDM (62p) + LS (36p) = 29c / 775p
- dLS=132,
- dPS=133,
Again nearly 1 to 1 ratio.
- BEC (3p/3c) + AdvCRDM (62p) + AdvLS (168p) = 16c / 895p
- dBEC=12p/14c
- dPS=13p/13c
Again nearly a 1 to 1 ratio.
- BEC (3p/3c) + AdvCRDM (62p) + LS (34p) = 16c / 760p
- dBEC=12p/14c
- dLS=134p
- dTotal = 146p/14c
- dPS=148p/13c.
Again nearly 1 to 1 ratio.
- AdvBEC (15p/17c) + CRDM (18p) + LS(30p) = 29c / 725p
- dCRDM=44p
- dLS=138p
- dTotal = 182p
- dPS=183p.
Yet again almost 1 to 1 ratio.
- BEC (3p/4c) + CRDM (18p) + AdvLS (168p) = 17c / 851p
- dBEC=12p/13c
- dCRDM=44p
- dTotal = 56p/13c
- dPS=57p/12c
See the trend? Nearly 1 to 1 ratio.
- BEC (3p/3c) + CRDM (18p) + LS (29p) = 15c / 709p
- dBEC=12p/14c
- dCRDM=44p
- dLS=139p
- dTotal=195p/14c
- dPS=199p/14c.
Nearly 1 to 1 again on power (notice -1-1-1=-3? for using all normals?).
Now to draw some conclusions from all these numbers. The first thing I notice is that the medical subcomponents are obviously figured into the calculations before experimentation. In almost every case there is a 1 to 1 reduction in power/charge of component to the power/charge of the final pet stim. Of the three subcomponents only the BEC effects Charges of the pet stim. Of the three components the LS has the largest impact on the power of the pet stim, the CRDM has the second largest, and the BEC is almost meaningless for power.
You have to consider the economic costs of the advanced components, but rather than break these down I'll speak from experience (if it is necessary, I'll do that too in another post). AdvBEC's are relatively easy to craft because there is ALWAYS some kind of Tatooine Fiberplast and Lokian Wild Wheat in existence, so there really isn't any excuse to not use these as a poor AdvBEC is still better than a well crafted BEC. Advanced Liquid Suspension's components, Talusian Water and Dantooine Berry Fruit, are also both always in existence. Both the AdvBEC and AdvLS are also 100% collectable using a harvester.
The AdvCRDM though is different because Herbivore meat has to be hand harvested and the Class 4 Liquid Petrochem Fuel does NOT always exist in the galaxy. So a component that only adds around 44power to a stim, yet has often rare or difficult to obtain resources, can be substituted for a regular version with a minimal impact on the final stim. This is unlike the HUGE difference AdvBEC (charges) and AdvLS (100power) would make in a pet stim.
SoI will rank the Advanced medical subcomponents in order of most necessary to produce the galaxies finest, or better pet stims. If for economic reasons you can't afford all Advanced components, then concentrate top to bottom, you WON'T be disappointed in the word of mouth and return customers:
- Advanced BEC (a *MUST* item)
- Advanced LS (I consider this a MUST item)
- Advanced CRDM (a luxury item, I only use them in Pet Stim C's and D's)
Few closing notes. Get a Master Doctor to make all of your schematics. Bio Engineers stink at making these because at Organic Chemistry IV our assembly skill stinks and we only have 5 experimentation points. You'll NEVER get anywhere near what a Master Doctor can make for ya. If you don't have a friend or PA member to craft these schematics for ya, approach a well known Master Doctor about creating them for cash, pet stims, or resources.... you'll find most are willing to do this for ya as long as they know you aren't using them in regular Stimpacks or reselling the fruits of their labor.
Pay attention to our base resources. Don't throw away AWESOME AdvCRDM's on poor Fungus or poor BEC's or any other poor ingredient. I always try to match the quality of every component. Great stuff with Great stuff, Good with Good, and poor with ... well.. if you're dealing with poor stuff, like I was dealing with horrible fungus for B's for six weeks, make the best of what ya can but try to save your good and great resources for when you finally get that great fungus or fiberplast or insectmeat or fish!
Addendum on Vitality packs:
The power and/or charge rating on your Liquid Suspensions and Biological Effect Controllers make ZERO difference in the strength of your vitality packs. Using the same raw materials, an AdvLS 168 + AdvBEC 13/18 will make the EXACT same vitality packs as a LS 1 + BEC 1/1.
SOOOOO:
- Do not use advanced LS or BEC in vitality packs (waste of resources and factory run time)
- Do not use good resources to make the LS or BEC (waste of resources)
- Do not experiment on the LS or BEC (waste of factory run time)
By Kiso of Starsider
Version 1
Note: This is both a basic and an advanced guide. If you know the basics, skip to section 6. I have tried to proofread this to avoid any fiction on my part, in the form of typos or bad info... if you see any please let me know. I know the title sounds kind of cheesy, but I see an awful lot of false info about this subject (thus the name).
Contents:
1. What is "vitality"?
2. What is a vitality pack?
3. How do I use a vitality pack?
4. What do vitality packs do?
5. How do vitality packs work?
6. So what vitality pack should I use, and when?
7. General Q&A
8. Bio-Engineer Q&A
9. About this guide [collection methods]
10. Raw Vitality data
1. What is "vitality"?
All creature pets have a stat on them called "vitality." You can see this by examining their info in the datapad; a new pet will have 100/100. When a pet is incapacitated, it may receive a deathblow (depending on what you are fighting) - when it does, it will lose 2 points of vitality. So, for instance, the first death a pet suffers will change the vitality reading to 98/100, then 96/100, and so forth.
Why is this important?
When the vitality reaches 75, the pet will suffer a reduction of 25% of its max HAM, leaving it with 75% of its regular life. At 50, a 50% reduction is applied, and at 25, a 75% reduction is applied. A creature pet cannot be permanently slain and can survive with 0 vitality; however, a pet with 25% of its standard HAM is generally far from formidable (i.e. on a 10K creature, it would have 2.5K).
2. What is a vitality pack?
Vitality packs are made by Bio-Engineers, in the tissues tree. There are three types of vitality packs - A, B, and C. The power ranges from low (A) to high (C), although there is some overlap. The power has a direct influence on their restorative powers.
3. How do I use a vitality pack?
There are two ways to do this: activating the "Use Vitality Pack" option by selecting your pet in the datapad, and by targeting your called pet and double-clicking the vitality pack in your inventory. Both methods work; however, if you have multiple vitality packs of varying strengths in your inventory, you should probably use the second method (or the game will choose for you).
4. What do vitality packs do?
The only purpose of a vitality pack is to restore lost vitality, though some vitality will be permanently lost as a result. Depending on how much vitality your pet has lost and the strength of the vitality pack you are using, you may see anywhere from 1 to 20 points of permanent vitality lost. For example, let’s say your pet is at 92/100 vitality - you purchase and apply a 13+ vitality pack A. Your pet should then have 99/99 vitality, a gain of 7 vitality - but also a permanent loss of 1 overall vitality.
5. How do vitality packs work?
There are a number of common misconceptions about vitality packs, such as "you will only lose 1 point as long as the pack’s strength is the same or higher than the current vitality lost," "1 point of permanent loss per 10 points of current vitality loss," and "if you use a strong enough vitality pack you can avoid any permanent loss."
I do not have an equation for you (although if anyone can work one out from my data, let me know and I will add it), but what I can provide for you is a guideline for minimizing permanent vitality loss for common ranges.
6. So what type of vitality pack should I use, and when?
Overall, the most efficient means is to use vitality packs sparingly, and to use the most powerful range you can afford or find. You may or may not have an easy time acquiring the more advanced vitality packs - your best bet is to contact some of the more active bio-engineers on your server. Many do not stock the higher end vitality packs. The lower end of these ranges is fairly easily obtainable with mediocre components (~40-60% experimentation).
Here are the optimal ranges I have found for A, B, and C packs; this information is not guaranteed to be accurate, although I have yet to produce a contradiction. If you find one, I would like to hear about it.
13-38pt Vitality Pack (A or a low quality B):
Up to 8 lost vitality points restored with minimal loss*
50-70pt Vitality Pack (mid to high B or a low-mid quality C):
Up to 18 lost vitality points restored with minimal loss*
75-100pt Vitality Pack (mid to high C):
Up to 28 lost vitality points restored with minimal loss*
*The max ranges listed above are the most you can heal with that type of vitpack before you begin losing 2 or 3 vitality (or more). So, for instance, if you use a vitpack C at 72/100 vitality, your pet should have 99/99 afterward. However, at 70/100 (30 loss), the vitpack will only restore it to 98/98. It is also important to note that there is no noticeable difference in loss over these ranges - a 13pt A will be just as effective as a 38pt A in this range.**
**I do not have the resources to produce beyond a 65pt B or 92pt C, so the 70 and 100 maximum ranges are speculative. It is possible (though unlikely) that they may have a slight increase over the listed range.
7. General Q&A
Q: Does the type of vitality pack matter?
A: No, it does not - a 38 strength B will restore the same amount as a 38 strength A. However, each type of pack has a limit to how high (and low) it can go in strength. For instance, a top-notch vitality pack A maxes out at around 38 strength, while a mediocre B can be 45-50 or more.
Q: Does the power really matter?
A: Yes! You may not have an improvement if you are using them under certain circumstances, such as 8 or less missing vitality, but stronger vitality packs are generally better. See the section above or the raw data for more info.
Q: Does it matter what type of pet I am using it on?
A: No, I tested several points with full-grown CL30+ pets versus baby jax and anglers, and had identical results.
Q: Will my pet lose more vitality if his max is lower (i.e. 82/90)?
A: No, the only important factors are the current amount lost, and the strength of the pack you are intending to use. See the raw data for more info on this.
Q: What happens when I use a vitality pack that is lower than my pet’s current lost vitality?
A: Your pet will be fully restored to a new permanent vitality, but the penalty for this tends to be quite high (up to ~20 pts). See the raw data for some examples.
Q: My pet lost 50 vitality. Can I use two vitality packs, one after the other, to heal him?
A: No. The first pack you use will do the job, even if the pack is not strong enough, but you will suffer additional vitality loss.
Q: Is there any randomness in the amount lost?
A: It’s possible, but I have not seen any in my testing. I consider it unlikely.
Q: Can I use a vitality pack on a droid?
A: Apparently, you can do this, due to the fact that droids have a vitality stat now as well. I have not personally tried this, but I have been told that it works. Same rules should apply to droids as they do to creatures.
Q: I’ve heard you can avoid permanent vitality loss if you use a good enough vitpack, is this true?
A: No, I have tried to reproduce this and failed multiple times (including using a 92 strength C with only 2 points of loss), so I would dismiss this as a rumor.
Q: Can I use a vitality pack more than once?
A: No, all vitality packs are one use only.
Q: What should I do if my pet loses a LOT of vitality (30+)?
A: My suggestion would be to get the highest vitality pack you can find. Once you go beyond the ideal range for vitality packs, the permanent loss scales upward in a nonlinear fashion, and can get very large if you exceed the power of the vitpack. See the raw data for more info.
8. Bio-Engineer Q&A
Q: How do I make a vitality pack?
A: You will need a food & chemical crafting tool, the proper ingredients, and at least Novice Bio-Engineer with Tissues I (for Vitality A). You MUST also be near a private crafting station (or personal medical crafting droid) for the schematic to show up in the list. Vitality Packs are in the Tissues tab under Pharmaceutical (you may need to use the arrows to get to the Tissues tab).
Q: What kinds of Vitality packs can I make?
A: There are three types of vitality packs: A, B, and C (in order of strength).
A - Tissue Engineering I - 20 organic, 18 inorganic, 1 liquid suspension, 1 biological effect controller
B - Tissue Engineering III - 28 berries, 22 Known reactive gas, 2 identical liquid suspension (made by a factory, and with identical serial #s), 1 biological effect controller
C - Master Bio-Engineer - 32 Endorian flower fruit, 24 Unknown radioactive, 3 identical liquid suspension (made by a factory, and with identical serial #s), 1 biological effect controller
Q: Why can I only experiment up to xx%?
A: The extent to which you can experiment on vitality packs depends very heavily upon the resources you put into it (like most crafted items). In the case of vitality packs, the resources are weighted based on Overall Quality(66%) and Potential Energy(33%), so look for good stats in those two categories if you are seeking good vitality packs. Note that unlike stimpacks, the liquid suspension and bio-controller currently have no impact on the end product, so you do not need to focus on them.
Q: Can you use advanced liquid suspension (ALS) and biological effect controllers (ABEC)? Do they make my vitality packs stronger?
A: ALS and ABEC will work, but they currently offer no advantage. This is because the LS and BEC components have no effect on the strength of vitality packs; they are only required as components. This provides you with the option of making vitality packs more cheaply by using regular components; however, it may be changed at a later point.
Q: What is known reactive gas?
A: Known reactive gas can be surveyed using a gas survey tool - the only gas usable for vitality pack B’s is anything in the category "Known Reactive Gas." Be careful to avoid Unknown reactive gas and Inert Gas of any type, these will not work. Reactive gas is fairly common and not tied to any one planet (it shifts around), so if you can’t find some, try some other planets. They are gathered with the standard gas harvesters.
Q: Help! I can’t find unknown radioactives!
A: You can survey radioactives with a mineral survey tool. Unknown radioactives are an uncommon resource - do not mistake them for the much more common Known radioactives which will not work. Like gas, they vary from planet to planet, so you may need to do some searching to find some. Often, none will be available at the time, and you will simply have to wait & keep an eye out. Radioactives can be gathered with a mineral harvester or a fusion generator - generators are more expensive, but much more efficient and cheaper (13-16+kg per hour w/maintenance cost, 0 power needed) than mineral harvesters (7-10+kg per hour w/power and maintenance cost).
Q: Can I make vitality packs in a factory?
A: Yes, you will need a food and chemical factory to do so. At the second to last step in creation, select manufacturing schematic (rather than create prototype), and then insert it into your factory using the radial menu*. Put the ingredients in the input hopper, add the power and maintenance as necessary, and start it up.
*If the schematic does not come up in the list when you access the factory, you will probably need to redeed the factory (this occurs when it was placed before the large October patch).
Q: My factory won't take my schematic!
A: First, make sure you have a food and chemical factory. Second, you cannot currently use schematics involving DNA or clones. Third, if neither of those is the problem, you probably need to re-deed your factory (see the * in the previous question).
Q: So how do I run a lot of vitality packs at once?
A: First you must factory produce some liquid suspension (LS) and biological effect controllers (BEC), so the serial numbers on them are identical. Next, make a schematic with those ingredients, and run your vitality pack schematic with all of your ingredients (including enough LS and BEC for the amt. of vitality packs you desire). Keep in mind that vit B take 2 LS, and vit C take 3 LS, so with 1,000 identical LS, you will be able to produce no more than 499 vit B or 332 vit C in any single production run (you lose at least one to make the schematic).
Q: What should I charge for vitality packs?
A: This is something you will have to figure out for yourself - look at your costs and the ingredient availability and go from there. Ask other BEs on your server what they charge, or see what your customers are willing to pay. If you absolutely must have something to compare, my general scale is 1k for A, 2k for B, 3k for C, though it varies a bit.
9. About this guide [or "How did you get this information?"]
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to gather this data, which is probably why it is hard to find any solid information on vitality packs. This left me with no choice but to do things the hard way, sacrificing pets for the sake of science.
So yes, many animals were harmed in the making of this guide. Specifically, 13 pets suffered a combined 862 deaths to produce the data, upon which this guide is based on. If SWG had an organization akin to PETA, they would be horrified .
Most were helpless, innocent baby jax, although there were a number of baby anglers and some grown pets in the mix. I would like to thank the huurtons of Dantooine for assisting with a huge portion of my tests, as well as many of the denizens of Endor.
Before you ask, no, I do not treat my pets like I did these guys . Although I must admit I am guilty of abusing my poor Kliknik for a couple tests, to ensure HAM was not a factor.
Why did I make this guide?
Well, mainly because I enjoy figuring things out, and this was a puzzle I have not seen solved. I am posting it here because there is not much point to gaining knowledge unless it is shared . The lack of solid information, as well as numerous erroneous facts and theories I have seen, many of them by knowledgeable CH and BE, convinced me that some concrete tests were needed. Originally, I was just going to provide my data and conclusions, but I decided to incorporate it into a guide encompassing all aspects of vitality packs.
10. Raw Vitality Data (63 total)
Due to the formatting and restrictions on this board, I am not going to try and post the raw data here (tried and it was not turning out well). However, you can view it as either HTML or an Excel spreadsheet at:
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jebradf1/swg/vitdata.htm
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jebradf1/swg/vitdata.xls
Both files are ~25kb, a very quick download. The spreadsheet is a lot more readable, but you will need Microsoft Excel to view it.
Making good pets - a guide from a fallen master by Mattakar
[Note: It seems this will be outdated with the December Publish but for now it's still usefull info]
I'm not sure how long this information will be useful, because of the upcoming changes to pet crafting. However, since I'm about 99% certain I'm not coming back to the game now, I thought I'd post this before tthe knowledge is lost.
I'm at work, so I don't have the proper names of things in front of me. However, any BE should be able to understand what I'm talking about.
When making the template, there are 5 slots to put DNA into. These relate to Health, Action and Mind slots, and a psychology slot and a slot that relates to combat power.
Health and Action ONLY seem to increase those particular HAM slots. Mind will increase the creature's to hit number. For this reason, and because of all the mind damaging PVP action, I generally try to max the mind value during contruction and experimentation.
The value of Psychology is nebulous. I suspect that it may relate to how quickly the creature responds to commands, and how likely it is to run away, but both of these things could also fall under the combat slot values. I had made two creatures with near identical templates, except one had a 30% psych template and the other had an 80% psych template. I never ran the experiments because I ran out of interest in the game.
There are ten values on DNA samples, with each pair of values going down the list relating to a particular slot on the templates you construct. Going down the line, The first pair is for health, the second for action, the third for mind, the fourth for psych, and the fifth for combat. When picking a DNA sample to put into a slot you want the pair of sample traits relating to that slot to add up to the highest number as possible. For example, when trying to make a very elite creature, I try to make sure that each slot gets DNA with 1800+ as a combined score for the trait pair that goes with that slot.
However, that is only half of the battle. The HAM bar traits require that the DNA samplebe from a creature with a higher level than the creature you are making. However, there is a limit to how much better a creature can be made -essentially, it is a waste to use dna samples from a creature which has 10 levels over the one you want to make. A Razor Cat (level 22) made from Level 50 DNA will be no better than one made from level 30 DNA. If you use gnort DNA (<8)for the action slot of your Narglatch template (21), even if it has a 1900+ trait pair for it, it will still have a sucky action pool.
This is very important, because I have not seen it mentioned here before - the Psychology and Combat slots DO NOT REQUIRE high level DNA. A Rancor with an 1800+ in its combat DNA pair using gnort DNA will have just the same combat damage as one made from Kimogila DNA.
Now, there may be a slight bleed over effect between DNa in different slots. For instance, if you make a rancor using all gnort DNA, except for one kimogila with 1800+ in the action slot, you will get a 40% experimentation bar for action, but also the Health and Mind will be higher (4-6%) than if you had just used gnort DNA across the board. It isvery hard to determine how much this bleed over works, so there may be a slight advantage to have kimogila DNA in the combat andpsychologyslots of your rancor - but again it won't be much, and you won't see it reflected in the values of those stats - you might see it int he values of the hams though.
There may also be a slight degradation in using DNA sampled from your clones as opposed to wild DNA. This is hard to determine accurately, but suffice it to say, you can make very strong creatures using clone DNA samples, and the wild bonus is probably less than 10% if it exists.
So what does this mean for a creature maker right now. Assuming you are not a master ranger and can't get dna from level 50 creatures, you have one good option for making strong gurrecks and rancors. Harvest DNA from crappy creatures, make Kimogila's, then sample them to get good DNA for the HAM slots of your gurreck and rancor templates. Save the very high trait pair for Psychology and combat from the crap creatures, because they are perfectly suited for making gurrecks and rancors already.
For instance, I take some muon gold, and collect 30 or so samples from the trash outside of Mos Entha. I sort through it, separating the DNA that has 1800+ trait pairs in psych and combat. The rest I make into kimo's, which are in turn sampled for DNA. Those Kimo DNA'swhich have at least one1400 trait pair I keep for making average creatures, those with at least one 1800 trait I keep for making superb creatures. Those without a viable trait pair get recycled to make more Kimos.
A question here is whether the Kimos need to be any good to get good DNA - to put another way, would a second generation Kimo with made from kimo DNA give better samples than one made from nuna DNA. the answer as near as I can determine is no, it does not matter. Both are equally likely to give good DNA. If there is a difference, it is too slight to determine, and probably not worth the resources it takes to make second generation kimos.
Using the right 1800+ dna in a give slot does two things, it gives you a higher base score on assembly, and it allows you to experiment the value higher. To make truly stand out creatures, you want to put 1900+ trait pairs in - these will let you increase the creature to 75%-100% of max stats.
Where to put your experimentation is a tough question. Psychology is of dubious value and has no way of being shown in the creatures you sell, so if you are wanting to make a creature to sell for a lot of money, I wouldn't worry about psych. If you believe Psych has an effect on the frequency of special attacks, then you might want to put a lot of points into psych and not much into combat improvement, because increasing combat slows down your attacks even as it adds damage.
I've found that buyers respect damage, even knowing that the DPS doesn't change much. For pvp, having a rancor hit for 700 does offer advantages over one that hits for 500, even though the DPS is the same. Players hit by the first rancor will be down in two hits (one combat delay), while those hit by the second may require 3 hits (two combat delays). That is significant for them. For PvE, it is not as critical because the front loaded damage does not matter much when the fight is lasting for 20+ attacks.
So, I generally try to max the combat and mental stat lines (for the to hit bonus). I then raise Health and Action equally.
Once you have your template, you want to have very high quality foods to make the creature. All of the stats on a the final creature depend 50% on the overall quality, 30% on the Potential Energy, and 10% on the other two stats (I think one is not named right, so it is possible this last trait is never used in teh algorithm). You want to use food and meat with as close to 1000 in OQ and PE as possible. This will give a good boost to all of the traits and let you experiment better on them.
Experimenting in the creature construction craft sucks. It is broken - the bars don't move correctly and reset oddly, essentially meaning you cannot get more than one great success in a given trait line before maxxing out (with 950+ in both critcal food traits both in meat and flora, you might be able to get 2 out of it). You are advised to only experiment one point into a given trait at a time, because one failure should not reduce you to 0 preventing correction to the trait (once an experimentation bar hits zero, it can never be raised). An important note here also is that a failur in psychology can lower other traits - it can lower Combat and HAM traits. None of the others seem to affect each other on an experimentation failure. If you succeed after a failure in Psych, it will improve the psych, but NOT fix the damage to the other traits that may have been affected by the failure. It is unclear whether subsequent successes in a combat damaged by psychology failure can repair the damage, but I recommend experimenting on psychology FIRST if you you are going to experiment on it at all, just in case you can repair the damage.
Note that the experimentation in this section will at most get you a 7 or 8% bonus to a given trait, so the gain is slight but it is what can push your creature into a stand-out specimen. One of the major reasons we cannot make truly exceptional creatures is because the experimentation in this phase is so screwed up - if we could put 4 experimentation points into a HAM slot we probably could make gurrecks with 14000 HAM's.
In deciding what to make, here is my advice. Kamurrahs are about 90% of the effectiveness of rock beetles, and you can buff up their damage to 200+ making them look like the nastiest non-CH pet. Many non-ch's like guamalas (they are pretty), gurrcats (they are cats) and the ape things I can't think of the name for. I wish we had a good dog for non-CH.
Razor Cats are the best level <25 creature we can make, with torton a close second. Narglatches look very cool, as do anglers. Teh anglers have a poison attack, but it is only 60 points, so who cares. The tortons will do dizzy attacks, and the razor cats and narglatches do posture down and stun attacks. The two cats are very fast runners, and thay can make a big difference.
Nothing else matters until the Gurreck and Rancor. People like rancors because their damage gets upwards of 700, and they look cool, but the gurrecks is still better for combat because of speed and armor. Both sell very well when you knock their damage and hams up.
I hope that helps those of you who are sticking this thing out. they would have to do an exceptional job at improving the game to bring me back, and nothing so far done after the release indicates to me that they are capable of exceptional improvements.
I purchased a Blurrg from the bazaar that a BE put up there.
Since Blurrgs are currently broken and can't be tamed will this ever be fixed or am I just out of luck?
Just add a question there (list of the skin that can be lowered to CL10 / Non-CH) and still looking for an answer, thanks :
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=bio-engineer&message.id=38119
Just a quick thank you for compiling all this .. was an excellent read and confirmed a few things that some of us goofing off here at work had =)
Maybe u could put some lvling q&a on here like im a novice BE and i wonder what i can sample with +30 sampling is just just cl30 creatures or can i go higher but wont have a good chance of getting it?