Crew skills

What are Crew skills in SWTOR?
They are unique proffesions you can pick on your character. We can devide them into 3 categories:

• Crafting - You craft items from consumables to weapons/armors. 
• Gathering - Materials gained from these proffesions are used to craft items with crafting skills.
• Mission - The missions give you materials than can be used straight from the player without any procedure or for adding some items in the crafting skills.

After you have completed the main quest in your starting area, you will be prompted to move to your faction's main fleet. There you can open your map and locate all your Crew Skills Trainers. Make sure you interact with all of them, since they give you a sweet bonus of experience. Note, that you can pick only one crafting skill per character and 3 total crew skills(there are no restrictions to other type of crew skills). Make sure, when you get your skills, try having a connection between them, so you can level them up by your self and not running to the GTN.

A little more about the Crew skills categories now.

CRAFTING CREW SKILLS

 is the ability to work with hard metals, alloys and synthetic materials to construct armor for non-Force users. Vendor-purchased fluxes are used during the armor creation process to refine the materials to ensure suitability. Armormechs can reverse engineer their crafted armor and possibly discover new ways to improve armor creation.

Produces: Medium Non Force User Armor - Heavy Non Force User Armor

 is the ability to work with hard metals, alloys and synthetic materials to craft blasters and blaster modification. Vendor-purchased fluxes are used during the weapon creation process to refine the materials to ensure suitability. Crafted blasters include blaster pistols, blaster rifles, sniper rifles, assault cannons and shotguns. Blaster modifications include blaster barrels. Melee weapons include vibroblades and electrostaves. Armstechs can reverse-engineer their crafted blasters and possibly discover new ways to improve their creation.

Produces: Blaster Pistol - Blaster Rifle - Assault Cannon - Sniper Rifle - Vibrosword - Vibroknife - Electrostaff - Techstaff - Techblade - Scattergun - Weapon Barrels

 is the delicate skill of constructing lightsaber modifications, enhancements, generators and focii. Lightsaber modifications include color crystals and hilts that augment a Force user's combat attributes. Color crystals determine beam and bolt color for lightsabers and blasters. Enhancements are modification upgrades for weapons and armor. Artificiers can reverse engineer their crafted items and possibly discover new ways to improve their creation.

Produces: Lightsaber - Double-Bladed Lightsaber - Lightsaber Hilts - Lightsaber Crystals - Enhancements - Generators - Shields - Focus Crystals

 is the skill involved in crafting medical supplies, performance-enhancing chemical serums and biological implants. Biochemists can create medpacs to restore health, stimulants (single-use injections) that provide a boost to physical abilities, and biological implants that enhance combat prowess by stimulating neural networks and regulating brain stem functions. Biochemists can reverse engineer their crafted implants and possibly discover new ways to improve implant creation.

Produces: Medpacs - Reusable Medpacs - Stims - Reusable Stims - Implants

 is the skill to assemble droid armor, earpieces, grenades, armoring, mods and miscellaneous gadgets. Armoring and mods are upgrade modifications that augment combat ability. Earpieces are external mini-computers that are worn on or near the ear. They enhance combat prowess by giving audio and visual feedback to the wearer or though direct neural feedback via an external nerve relay. Cybertechs can reverse engineer their crafted items and possibly discover new ways to improve their creation. Note: Cybertech produces high grade modifications and funky explosives which can be used by anyone!

Produces: Armoring - Mods - Ear Pieces - Droid Parts - Ship Mods - Bombs - Speeders - Gadgets

is the process of fabricating synthetic materials out of crystals, various chemicals and artifact fragments to construct armor for Force users. Vendors provide premade solutions, suspensions and composites that are used during the Synthweaving process. Synthweavers can reverse engineer their crafted armor and possibly discover new ways to improve armor creating.

Produces: Light/Medium/Heavy Force User Armors

GATHERING CREW SKILLS



 is the study of crystal formations and archaeological finds. Crystal formations contain crystals that an Artificer can use to construct lightsaber modifications and armor for Force users. Archaeological finds contain artifact fragments of Force-imbued technology. These valuable items contain ancient formulas and algorithms used in the crafting skills Artifice and Synthweaving. Archaeologists can send their companions on missions to gather resources.

Produces: Artifact Fragment - Color Crystals - Power Crystals

is the practice of collecting genetic material from creatures and vegetation. Genetic materials include cell fibers, bacterial strains, toxic extracts and medical fluids. Biochemists use these materials to create medpacs to restore health, stimulants (single-use injections) that provide a boost to physical abilities, and biological implants that enhance combat prowess by stimulating neural networks and regulating brain system functions. The crafting skill Biochem utilizes Bioanalysis resources. Bioanalysts can send their companions on missions to gather resources.

Produces: Biochemical Compounds - Biochemical Samples

 is the art of salvaging useful parts and base materials such as metals, alloys and synthetic Compounds from potential technological resources-junk piles, fallen droids, abandoned cargo, and broken Down vehicles. The crafting skills Armormech, Armstech, and Cybertech utilize Scavenging resources. Scavengers can send their companions on missions to gather resources.

Produces: Scavenged Compounds - Scavenged Metals - Flux

 is not a skill required for crafting. Slicing is the art of accessing secure computer systems and lockboxes to acquire valuable items, credits and rare tech schematics. Common Slicing targets include electronic safes, date stations, security mainframes and biometric footlockers. These targets contain credits, rare tech schematics used to construct Cybertech gadgets, vehicles and space upgrades, and mission discovery objects that unlock challenging missions that can potentially yield great rewards. Slicers can send their companions on missions to retrieve these valuable items. Other possible mission rewards include augments that can be slotted into exceptionally crafted items. Recommended Crafting Skills: All (for mission discoveries), Cybertech (for tech schematics).

Produces: Augments - Lockboxes - Mission Discoveries - Cybertech Schematics

MISSION CREW SKILLS

is the art of conducting and managing negotiations. Sending your companions on diplomatic missions can influence your light side or dark side standing. In addition to light side and dark side influence, possible Diplomacy rewards include medical supplies used to construct prototype and artifact implants, medpacs, stimulants, adrenals and gifts for companions to raise their Affection rating.

Produces: Light/Dark Side points - Medical Supplies - Companion Gifts

 is the skill of researching, gathering, analyzing and decoding secret information. Sending your companions on Investigation missions can yield valuable items in the form of researched compounds used to construct prototype and artifact weapons and blaster barrels, prototype schematics for all crafts, and gifts for companions to raise their Affection rating. All crafting skills benefit for the schematics.

Produces: Researched Compounds - Prototype Schematics - Companion Gifts

is the ability to track down and recover valuable items by following a series of clues. Companion characters sent on Treasure Hunting missions can return with rare gemstones used to construct prototype and artifact enhancement, hilts, color crystals, focii and generators. Other possible rewards include lockboxes that can hold contain valuable items or credits and gifts for companions to raise their Affection rating.

Produces: Gemstones - Lockboxes - Companion Gifts

entails the exchange of goods and services on the galactic black market. Sending your companions on Underworld Trading missions can yield luxury fabrics and underworld metals used to construct prototype and artifact armor, earpieces, grenades, space upgrades and weapons and armor modifications. Other possible rewards include gifts for companions to raise their Affection rating.

Produces: Underworld Metal - Luxury Fabric - Companion Gifts - Custom Schematics

Since I like to see how the game develops, this is a cool video to look!

And here is a cool Crew Skill Plan that will guide you through on how to collect and combine your crew skills.

REVERSE ENGINERING


What is Reverse Engineering? Reverse Engineering (RE) is the process of de-constructing an item in order to gain some of its crafting materials. There is also a chance of gaining a new recipe. The quality of the item determines what materials you receive You can only Reverse Engineer specific types of items you can craft yourself. You can only RE(reverse engineer) Biochem items if you got Biochem as a crafting crew skill. When an item is reversed engineered, the item is destroyed in the process. You cant turn back the effect.
Now how can u Reverse Engineer? Simply open your inventory tab and you will notice up on your right a small icon, press it and every item you can RE will be shining in additions to the others that will be faded. Click on it, and voila! Be carefull, if you RE a stack, the whole stack will be gone! Notice, you can RE everywhere, no tools needed. 


There are two set paths reverse engineering an item can take. This is determined by the item type and can be split up accordingly. I will list both types of reverse engineering with the items that fall into the category shortly after it.

1. LINEAR - Item Modifications & consumables

[PREMIUM] -> [PROTOTYPE] -> [ARTIFACT]

Linear reverse engineering is exactly that, one path with one final outcome. Let's say you learn how to make a basic premium quality Medpac from your Biochem trainer. You make several and decide to reverse engineer them. If you are lucky, you will learn the improved version of the schematic. This will mean you can now make a prototype quality Medpac. Successfully reverse engineering this item has a chance to give you a new artifact quality schematic, you will then be able to craft an artifact quality Medpac. This is the end of the road for that item, as it can no longer be improved. There have been no reports of being able to reverse engineer an artifact schematic into a legendary schematic.

2. PREFIX - Crafted Armour & Weapons

This is where things start to get a little tricky to fully understand. Prefix crafting only applies to items such as crafted armours and weapons, for these are the only crafted items which can branch out into various stats.

It follows the same basic rule of a linear path, except it has more outcomes rather than one solid ending. Loose ends if you will.

Let's say you start with a premium schematic you learnt from your crafting trainer. Successfully reverse engineering this item has a small chance to grant you an improved version of it.

This new schematic will (as with the linear path) fall into the prototype quality. However this is where things start to differ!

You could end up with either one of three different schematics of the same prototype quality. This schematic will fall into the Tier 1 prefix list. Falling in to one of these categories:

TIER 1 PREFIX LIST [T1]

• [T1] CRITICAL - Grants you an item with +Crit

• [T1] OVERKILL - Grants you an item with +Power

• [T1] REDOUBT - Grants you an item with +Defence

Now you might be thinking, "what if I don't get the one I need?" and the answer is simply, tough luck. You will have to keep reverse engineering more items until you get the Tier 1 Prefix you want. Unfortunately (this is the part you are going to hate) you can still learn the same tier 1 prefix schematic after having already learnt it... which is a bit silly but that's just the way it is.

Having managed to successfully learn a prototype Tier 1 prefix schematic. You can now advance on to the Tier 2 prefix list. This is again, done by reverse engineering your prototype item.

You will eventually end up with (as with the linear path) an artifact schematic. Now, depending on what Tier 1 prefix you reverse engineered from, will determine what Tier 2 prefix item you will get.

The below list shows the Tier 2 prefix underneath the Tier 1 prefix it came from.

TIER 2 PREFIX LIST [T2]

• [T1] CRITICAL - Grants you an item with +Crit

• [T2] FERVOR - Crit & Accuracy
• [T2] SUPREMACY - Crit & Alacrity
• [T2] LEADERSHIP - Crit & Presence
• [T2] TEMPEST - Crit & Shield
• [T2] ENDOWMENT - Crit & Surge

• [T1] OVERKILL - Grants you an item with +Power

• [T2] HAWKEYE - Power & Accuracy
• [T2] VEHEMENCE - Power & Alacrity
• [T2] COMMANDER - Power & Presence
• [T2] RAMPART - Power & Shield
• [T2] EXPERT - Power & Surge

• [T1] REDOUBT - Grants you an item with +Defence

• [T2] EXACTITUDE - Defence & Accuracy
• [T2] N/A - Defence & Alacrity
• [T2] GENERAL'S - Defence & Presence
• [T2] VERACITY - Defence & Shield
• [T2] ANTI-ARMOR - Defence & Surge

And that is pretty much how it works. Same thing applys if you learnt the prototype version of the item from your trainer.It follows the same rules as if starting from a premium schematic, the only thing is the [T1] prefix will be of artifact quality and so will the [T2] schematic that comes from it.