Bio Engineer Archive

Note: Hats off to Sintrosi, the DE correspondent, who thought up the idea of stickying a thread like this on the DE forum. Maybe I'll get lucky and Talthazar will sticky this .

Since you're just marching through on your way to Jedi, here are the answers your looking for. Please don't post questions on our forum unless you discover you enjoy what you're doing and want to contribute meaningfully to the forum. First a little rant and then a little bit on how to level. Read on:

• Frankly, we don't care if you're unhappy during your stay in our profession, so skip beleaguring us with posts telling us how stupid and foolish we are to be BEs. Power-leveling doesn't show you how great the profession is or what the nuances and subtleties are that make this one of the most mysterious and most interesting professions in the game. And, many of us are excited about where the profession is going. You chose to pursue Jedi, we have chosen to pursue this.


• Unlike other crafting professions, you will actually have to go beyond basic macros a bit to do DNA sampling to obtain the >150,000 experience points you'll need to climb that ladder. The mind expense for sampling will ultimately mean any macro you write will still take you considerable RL time (just remember that completely afk macros may violate the EULA). There are no short-cuts to this, so brace yourself.

For the skill ladder, the only thing you really need to level in all but the DNA line is micronutrient supplements. Here's an example of one macro you may find helpful in this regard (it's not the one I use, but it's close...I don't have my laptop with me and can't login, so this will have to do):

/ui action toolbarSlot12
/selectDraftSchematic 28
/pause 4
/nextCraftingStage
/nextCraftingStage
/createPrototype no item
/createPrototype no item
/pause 2
/ui action toolbarSlot13
/selectDraftSchematic 28
/pause 4
/nextCraftingStage
/nextCraftingStage
/createPrototype no item
/createPrototype no item
/pause 2
/ui action toolbarSlot14
/selectDraftSchematic 28
/pause 4
/nextCraftingStage
/nextCraftingStage
/createPrototype no item
/createPrototype no item
/pause 2
/ui action toolbarSlot15
/selectDraftSchematic 28
/pause 4
/nextCraftingStage
/nextCraftingStage
/createPrototype no item
/createPrototype no item
/pause 2
/ui action toolbarSlot16
/selectDraftSchematic 28
/pause 4
/nextCraftingStage
/nextCraftingStage
/createPrototype no item
/createPrototype no item
/pause 2
/ui action toolbarSlot17
/selectDraftSchematic 28
/pause 4
/nextCraftingStage
/nextCraftingStage
/createPrototype no item
/createPrototype no item
/pause 2
/ui action toolbarSlot11

Not that the /selectDraftSchematic line needs to be altered to whereeverthe micronutrient supplement appears in your datapad. If you're not familiar with how to write or edit a macro, there are many websites out there that will help you. I would recommend:

• http://www.starwarsgalaxiesonline.com/content/guides-macros.php(free)


• http://swgguide.com/x340/ (pay site, but has excellent macros there)

You will need to purchase a ton of organic food (wheat, beans, etc.) which can be then used in the first two slots of the schematic. The last slot requires meat which has been expensive lately. But that's pretty much it: veggies and meat.

As for DNA sampling, be aware that there is no "practice" mode and that each successful DNA sample will be placed in your inventory. That really puts the kabash on your sampling as you'll need some weapon for dealing with aggros unless you've got unhanded skill trees semi-mastered and are naked. There is a debate on how to do this best for the XP. The three major techniques are:

• Outside cities, sample all the trash. It regenerates quickly. It's widely available. It's low risk. It can have a macro written that could, reliably (I'm told...I only use crafting macros so don't know personally) help you sample from this group of critters, but mind the note above that your inventory will rapidly fill. XP is slowly accumulated (about 50-100xp/successful sample).


• Adventure planets, sample aggros. This is not recommended until you've made it up the ladder a bit since your success rate will be lower in the begining and your risk of aggro is much higher. Aggro equals decay now, so be cautious. There is a cap on CL sampling, though; avoid anything >CL 70 (I think that level is correct). Death is common, but the reward per successful sample is great (>300xp/successful sample).


• Running missions is a third option that has become viable courtesy of creature mounts and soon-to-be vehicles. You get a lot more creatures to spawn at a consistent CL and get money as well.

Good luck on your pursuit. I hope this helps in some way.

bah...I started to grind through it, but started having fun

Couple of minor additions.

1) Buy several crates of muon gold. It will dramatically help your rise through the DNA tree. It gives your a couple of minutes of uniterrupted sampling. (Barring of course aggro and the like)

2) If sampling "trash" get yourself a guard trained pet and use it. Don't bother trying to sample anything tougher than "trash" until you get to Sampling 2/3. Then I'd suggest Picket Longhorns on Dantoinne. With longhorns always for for the non-females first as they are social and the females are not. In addition I'd suggest running over fighting. They don't DB and generally you'll waste less time being knocked unconcious than trying to kill a lair full. (They don't DB)

3) A crate of camps is also a good idea. Pull out the camp and a crafting droid whenever your inventory is full. Turn the samples into templates. In the old system make blurrgs if you can. In the new system make generic templates. If you don't want to be bothered making creatures you may be able to find a MBE who wants them. They can turn them into creature which gives you UXP without costing you meat. (clones are about ~50% meat as opposed to "coffee" [micro-nutrient suppluments] which is ~30% meat). It also helps you find a MBE who will train you and help you out. Heck if its made of decent DNA they may even pay you for them.

4) You need ~80K meat and ~125K flora. Other people will give you slightly lower estimates. These ones are slightly higher because they consider critical failures. It will takes2 heavy flora's about 5-6 days to pull that for you at a good concentration. Try to get the worst/cheapest meat you can. You'll want to practive so why pay extra for good stuff. Especially as you'll be competing with masters in proffessions like doctor and BE who are paying a lot for the good stuff. I'd suggest becoming good friends with people trying to level in CH. They are trying to take down prey as quickly as possible. Help them do that and they may help you harvest meat.

5) Get Explore 4 if you don't already have it. Faster travel and mask-scentare bothvery useful. Even non-aggro's seem to be easier to sample when you have mask scent on. Pay attention to what your sampling. Calm not moving creatures are easier to sample. This means that any type of flying creature is very difficult to sample. Creatures by the main entranceways to cities also tend to be constantly disturbed. I'd suggest walking at least a little way out from the city before beginning sampling. Also if you can sample through an obstical, as it can give you an extra second to get away. Make sure you have hotkeys for both sample and burst run.

Bravo! 5 stars!

Talthazar, please, please, make this thread sticky!

=-Adun

Another 5 stars just for grins, very well put Xanda.

As a master BE i agree, if you want to get in and get out this is how you do it, follow these steps and youll be through the trees as quickly (i use the term loosely) as is possible. No need to make any new post asking how to grind, and PLEASE for the love of god stop telling us how hard it is (we already did it remember?) or how crazy we are for sticking with this profession (i prefer the term Mad Scientist) or whats broken (were way ahead of you on that list, and it seems were getting somewhere finally).

All the professions easier to master than:> chef DE Bio Engineer &pikeman. You drew the short stick, this guys shown you how to get it over with the quickest, godspeed.....may your next draw be master pistoleer.

TY for those who have 5-starred me . I'm genuinely appreciative for the kind thoughts...

Mirrl has some awesome additions. Perhaps Talthazar could then post the final rendition (rereading it now that I've posted it, naturally, I've found a few typos and the usual stuff I wish I'd mentioned as well. I'd kill for an edit button .

I would also add:

• Muon gold is fabulous. During withdrawal I sit and craft out the templates I later use to make my uber critters . Another option (one that is almost a non-option since it requires knowing a chef) is the combination of Correlian Fried Ice Cream and <something> Fishak Surprise<or somesuch> which together have the combined effects of muon gold but without any withdrawal side-effects. Last of all, though expensive, I often use dancers to give mind buffs. They last longer, have no withdrawal, and allow >1/2 hr of sampling.


• With the schematic I listed above, critical failures do not occur . But neither can you experiment. The benefit is that the schematic allows100% success rate. Since I'm home now, I can provide my actual schematic. A couple of quick notes: the following macro should be saved as a .txt file (from the notepad program) into your main SWG folder on your hard drive as "macros.txt". Then, in game, type: /load macros.txt. Then, in a blank toolbar, place 8 food/chemical crafting tools. They need to be on the top row for this macro to work verbatim (note that you still need to find your draft schematic number). You can increase or decrease the duration of time you have to "fill" the schematic by adjusting the time. Also note that when you fill the schematic instead of going to the experimentation screen, it will say "Your crafting station has now ended" but you will see the time clicking off in over your crafting tool and the XP will appear in your skill bar. I did not author this, don't know how to support this, but find it a great macro Sorry I can't do more.

AutoCraft1: /ui action toolbarSlot00; /selectDraftSchematic 7; /pause 6; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no item; /pause 2; /AutoCraft2;
AutoCraft2: /ui action toolbarSlot01; /selectDraftSchematic 7; /pause 6; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no item; /pause 2; /AutoCraft3;
AutoCraft3: /ui action toolbarSlot02; /selectDraftSchematic 7; /pause 6; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no item; /pause 2; /AutoCraft4;
AutoCraft4: /ui action toolbarSlot03; /selectDraftSchematic 7; /pause 6; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no item; /pause 2; /AutoCraft5;
AutoCraft5: /ui action toolbarSlot04; /selectDraftSchematic 7; /pause 6; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no item; /pause 2; /AutoCraft6;
AutoCraft6: /ui action toolbarSlot05; /selectDraftSchematic 7; /pause 6; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no item; /pause 2; /AutoCraft7;
AutoCraft7: /ui action toolbarSlot06; /selectDraftSchematic 7; /pause 6; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no item; /pause 2; /AutoCraft8;
AutoCraft8: /ui action toolbarSlot07; /selectDraftSchematic 7; /pause 6; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no item; /pause 2; /ui action toolbarSlot08;

Any other thoughts/additions? Talh...what do you think?

Very Good job Xanda.

I also think its funny when novice (holo BE's) try to tell me how to build a creatureand such . not just that if i knew that some were broke!

But on to what i was really going to comment on . i have a sample macro .. its minimal . BUT it will target your prey . run to it sample it until your mind wears out (Granted would need to be adjusted according to player some) sit, stand and start over . its really quite easy.

Now the trick is since u won't be sitting during the sampling (which if done by hand is advised) you almost have to have Muon gold, i'm a Zabrak with 700 will and only 1k mind and it taps fast, and doesn't recharge as well as i'd like . but with Muon gold, u don't run out of Mind before the muon gold wears off.

The servers have just gone down so i'll have to get my macro in a few .

Talthazar should make a post like:

For Holocron Bio-Engineers: Grinding Method or something like that.

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MasterRondo wrote:

Talthazar should make a post like:

For Holocron Bio-Engineers: Grinding Method or something like that.

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Definitely agree...many other forums have done this to minimize the signal:noise ratio .

I specifically used the word holocron and grind in my subject so that anyone who actually does use the search function is able to find the email rapidly.

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Kaustix wrote:

i have a sample macro .. its minimal . BUT it will target your prey . run to it sample it until your mind wears out (Granted would need to be adjusted according to player some) sit, stand and start over . <deletia> Now the trick is since u won't be sitting during the sampling (which if done by hand is advised) you almost have to have Muon gold, i'm a Zabrak with 700 will and only 1k mind and it taps fast, and doesn't recharge as well as i'd like . but with Muon gold, u don't run out of Mind before the muon gold wears off.

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Totally agree Kaustix...When I created my character in June I wanted to be a Zabrak 'cause they're cool looking. I then became attached to my character, but have to admit that other than /equilibrium I shoulda picked another race. Nevertheless, I agree with your point well. The AFK macro is unlikely to provide big success 'cause most people would rapidly fill their main inventory and usually carry at least 10 items (backpack, clothing, weapon, etc.) limiting the sampling to about 40 (or less samples). If you're AFKing, and hoping for reliable spawns, that leaves you with city trash...and so for any given inventory we're talking probably <4k max XP until you're full.

I think Mirrl mentioned in a different post that people should also then empty their inventory while using practice mode for DNA templates. I have a silly question: which DNA template (for now) gives the max XP (is it difficulty-related?). In the next patch it won't matter since all will be replaced by the generic template. Still: the practice mode is a great way to empty your inventory and for those 40 or so samples, you'd net another 2500 or so xp for the other lines.

Good stuff guys. Thanks for the contributions!

Very nice, I've never seen someone manage to say 'and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out' without it sounding nasty. Congratscause you pulled it off nicely

LOL...TY Tal...high praise coming from you.

You should have seen the first draft. LOL

One thing I noticed is that sometimes the Schematic number of micronutrient supplements changes as you level through the Cloning and Tissues trees, as more schematics get added and I found they were renumbered occasionally...

I could be wrong, just a heads up.