Droid Engineer Archive

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O-Jen wrote:

First, am I wasting my time? Do any of you old masters who aren't MAs have problems buying crates of parts? If you do have trouble with that, have you ever had problems getting an MA to make you a schematic so you can go mass produce the stuff you need? Just wondering since I would like to have some combat capability. So much of this game's content is focused on combat.

It depends. Some people will swear that you have to be a Master Artisan in order to be an effective Droid Engineer, but others swear that that's not the case. I'm a Master Artisan, but that's only because I'm lazy and don't want to have to go buy the MA parts or a schematic every time I need them. There are several extremely successful Droid Engineers who are regulars here who are not Master Artisans, so it is by no means required.

Second question. Does the quality of the sub-components make a difference to the final quality of the droid? I've gotten mixed messages here. I guess the big question is, can I make subcomponents with grinding material and save my quality resources for when it counts.

Currently, no it does not. Or rather, the difference (if any) is so subtle that it is practically meaningless. The only difference that it might possibly make, as near as we can tell right now, is that higher quality sub-components *might* lower the chance of failure on later combines. MAYBE. Virtually every study that someone has done has appeared to indicate this, but the studies have all been small enough that the apparent bonus is well within the margin of error.

Last question. I've seen several posts indicating that many of you leave out the personality feature. Is that because it's buggy and/or screws up the droids capability, or is it just because it's a pain to provide the feature and it provides little more than entertainment value?

I put them in, but they really don't do much of anything. And since there's a "default" chip that is automatically installed for you, there's really not much point.

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O-Jen wrote:

Hi, its me... the new Novice on the block. I havea question for all the old masters, if you please.

I'm just a few apprentice points from master artisan and I know that there are several MA parts that droids use. I didn't really plan to be a MA, it just sort of worked out that way. But, HEY, since I'm there I was going to make myself a warehouse full of crates of parts for droids. I have a few questions about that.

First, am I wasting my time? Do any of you old masters who aren't MAs have problems buying crates of parts? If you do have trouble with that, have you ever had problems getting an MA to make you a schematic so you can go mass produce the stuff you need? Just wondering since I would like to have some combat capability. So much of this game's content is focused on combat.

Well, I burn at least 1000 GP and EMM's per week. The level 6 mods each take 3 EMM's and one GP. An advanced droid takes four of each (and advanced R3's take two advanced droid brains). Personality chips take multiple. The list goes on...

Personally, I would find it a major pain to not have MA. It should be noted that I do mass produce fully loaded droids in my factories. However, if you have an MA friend, you can get away with outit... but it would be yet another time sink.

Second question. Does the quality of the sub-components make a difference to the final quality of the droid? I've gotten mixed messages here. I guess the big question is, can I make subcomponents with grinding material and save my quality resources for when it counts.

There is some debate here. Yes, in the sense that materials, sub components, and skill will affect experimentation. However, the only noticible results on experimentation are minor variations on the probot.

Now, there is a debate going on that the devs started about crit fails and experimental results. The devs are looking into this issue right now, and are planning on making changes.

Personally, I always mine the best resources around, and always experiment. It can't hurt, and if the devs ever retroactively change how things work, my customers will be happy.

Last question. I've seen several posts indicating that many of you leave out the personality feature. Is that because it's buggy and/or screws up the droids capability, or is it just because it's a pain to provide the feature and it provides little more than entertainment value?

Actually, it is the droid itself (e.g., the surgical droid) that is bugged. It just happens to be that the droids that can talk have bugs - it doesn't matter if the personality chip is in the droid.

The personality chips are ear-candy - but a lot of people like them.

Many, many thanks to you for helping me with these questions. I hope to grow into a thriving, contributing member of the DE community.

O-Jen

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Some will tell you it's no big deal to buy parts or hire an MA to make schematics. Others will strongly disagree with that. I was a Master Artisan before I became a DE, so I can't really compare the two.

I have not really seen subcomponent quality making a difference, but as a matter of course I try to use quality components. Right now there are only a few items DEs make where experimentation has any real effect, those being probot final assemblies, and the lower level modules.

The personality feature is not really worth doing, because it doesn't make the droid say anything, except when you're actually programming it.

Not having MA is a pain until you smooth out your demand for the MA parts. For me to make my crates of R3s requires an initial run of 1000 EMMs/EGPs (which translate to 249 adv brains), and then another run of both to make Lvl 6 storage. I end up with quite a few EGPs left over, which combined with a small run of EMMs allows me to crate up some seekers and arakyds. If you plan carefully, you can make the most out of limited MA time.

I don't buy the crates off vendors b/c I would have no place to put them. I have a lot of factories and I have the ability to drop two extra factories for MA stuff for the 36 hour MA part runs for braaaains. Output hoppers are immensely useful storage. I leave 11 crates of droid sensors in the output hopper and 1 crate in my house or inventory.

Regarding sub-components, I go for about 50% quality, arbitrarily. For most things, I run one large (risky) experiment of 6 or 7 experimentation points, b/c I usually succeed, and it keeps the complexity low. This cuts down on factory time. Anecdotally it cuts down on CFs, but I craft mostly schematics, so my CF rate is way down. Hand-assembly is for custom droids.

I always put a personality chip in my converse droids. First, b/c it entertains me to do so. Second, because it gives me a sink for odd leftover crates of EMMs and EGPs. I don't like to destroy a crate of 21 EMMs, so I combine it with my constant excess of EGPs to make a small run of some random personality chip. I always have too many, actually. My converse droids for the last month have all been Worshipful.

Don't underestimate entertainment value. Why else does SWG exist if not for entertainment value that people are willing to pay for?

Good luck and welcome to the fold.

Errr...I meant to say anecdotally it INCREASES CFs. I haven't done enough crafting to know. Every once in a while I CF on a loaded R3 ADV, which hurts.

O-Jen: Take it from me, man. Get Master Artisan. You can do without it, but its a major pain to constantly be making MA parts.

You can also order them: Send email to smiley on Intrepid. Tell him I recomended him. He has SUPER low prices for MA parts.

Welcome to the Mad-House

Word to the wise..definitely get MA, I tried the alternative way without it and it's a pain waiting to happen..regularly.

Queue Jenden......... yell at us all again about how successful you are without ithehe

It's a requirement for sanity really.

Welcome again

Thank You, kind sirs.

I look forward to the day when I can join you as a master of this profession.

O-Jen