An introduction to mods
Added mid-july 2016, the mods brought more options to players to buff their characters.
As usual, you're required to unlock various stages to unlock all the basic mods. Then, a second step requires very specific squads to unlock the best mods. This is very straightforward, and not interesting for us.
What we need to know is how to deal with those 6 slots, and the multiple bonus they provide. Especially since they're random to obtain.
Don't get lost
Terminology
There are 6 slots, each with a different pattern, some authors use a number to describe a slot, most of the time the pattern is used (and 90% of discussions will focus on the arrow pattern... ;-) )
A mod has 15 levels, starting at 1. At 15 Its stats are maxed.
The mods belong to one of 8 groups, granting an additional static and known bonus (more health, damage, tenacity, potency, etc). The game is clear on that.
Each mod has a primary buff, and 4 secondary. That means a lot of combinations, thus for our sanity, only the primary buff is important as it is the strongest bonus.
Mods have a Mk value (number of dots) or tier, and a quality (the number of primary/secondary stats revealed before leveling the mod, with A all stats revealed, and E only the primary).
For instance, a Mk2 quality D mod, is a 2 dots with the first secondary stat visible.
Upgrade costs
Here's what to expect when trying to fully upgrade a mod :
Tier 1: 28,875 credits
Tier 2: 57,750 credits
Tier 3: 152,500 credits
Tier 4: 250,250 credits
Tier 5: 474,750 credits
More on patterns
At first, the patterns is the easiest to figure : 6 patterns 8 groups, they're providing additional bonuses when matched by 2 or 4. However there's some points worth mentioning :
- patterns provide different primary buff
- some patterns have more buff options than others
- ...which means that to find the perfect mod, you'll need many (many) attempts... more on that later.
A reddit user, by the name of GodKing126 provides an excellent summary of all this :
Things to remember
You won't always have all your tools and website while farming mods. However, here are some things worth mentionning :
- only arrows provide speed buffs. (ranging from +17 for 1 dot, to +30 for 5 dots mods - considering a level 15 mod)
- potency is only available on the "plus" pattern, with a nice +24% for 5 dots mods (when you really need that debuff, or turn meter reduction)
- the "plus" pattern can also provide the tenacity primary stat.
- crit damage, for your lovely droids, is found on triangles
- the circle has 2 options : health or protection. Hence, it's a nice source of protection.
- and many more, that you can find in the chart...
Drop rate probabilities and crystal values
Another website provides an in-depth analysis of the probabilities to drop a very specific mod. The article goes further, evaluating the mod price in crystal to compare with the value from shipments.
Here's the link, thanks to the Real Sith of Genius gaming community
The analysis is quite deep. I won't copy the content, but here's some interesting examples :
- You have less than 1% chance per try to find a specific primary stat on the arrow 5 dots mod (don't forget that you don't select the number of dots, nor the pattern). You found that +30 speed on an arrow mod ? lucky you !
- Haven't found it yet ? Well, in order to get a 5 dots arrow with speed bonus, spending 240 cantina energy every day, you will need almost 17 days to have a chance to get it (that means using 1 energy refresh every 2 days approximately).
But hey : at least, you'll stockpile other mods, cantina currency, some credits, etc.
So, when looking for a specific primary bonus, it may be a good idea to spend those crystals and get your bonus right away. Take a look at the final chart from the article, it'll help you figure if you'd better farm yourself or if you should loosen your crystals e-wallet*...
And I'm not meaning cash : even if you're playing F2P, don't spend unwisely your crystals, you should keep some spare for that shiny raid item, or guess what... a +speed mod ?
