Greetings, TORWarriors and welcome to another installment of Bounty Hunter Weekly; the column that takes a peek into Star Wars: The Old Republic’s Bounty Hunter class and what it means to be one of the Republic’s Most Wanted. This week I’ll be taking a look at acquiring Level 50 PvP gear for your Hunter, the sets that are available, and the aesthetic look of the equipment.

I feel as though my BH's current helmet makes him an ample target of Force shocking.

Acquiring the Goods

Your level 50 PvP Gear is purchased through the various PvP vendors located on the Imperial Fleet in the Combat Training section; near the Daily/Weekly PvP Quest Terminal. There are currently three ranks or ‘tiers’ of PvP gear; Centurion > Champion > Battlemaster – in that order of strength. Each tier of gear can be purchased by the corresponding vendor, e.g., the Centurion PvP Vendor.

You can purchase the various PvP sets using the corresponding Commendation or by receiving an ‘Unassembled Equipment Token’ for Champion Gear. You acquire these Commendations and tokens via Champion/Battlemaster PvP Bags. To earn the bags, you’ll have to purchase them via the PvP Vendor by the Daily Terminal or complete Daily/Weekly missions. PvP Daily missions reward one Champion Bag or one Battlemaster Bag (only usable at Valor Rank 60), while weekly missions reward two Champion Bags and one additional Champion or Battlemaster Bag of your choice.

The first of the two types of PvP gear bags is the Champion Gear Bag, which provides Centurion Commendations, Champion Commendations and a chance for an unassembled Champion item Token. Battlemaster Gear bags are the second type and are acquired specifically through PvP Weeklies/Dailies, providing Champion Commendations and a chance at a Battlemaster Commendation.

You can also purchase Champion Bags for 200 Warzone and 200 Merc Commendations. As the name implies, Warzone Commendations are gathered for participating in PvP Warzones. Mercenary Commendations can be traded for, spending 30 Warzone Commendations for 10 Merc Commendations from the PvP Item Vendor on the Imperial Fleet – a pretty harsh conversion rate, but seemingly the best option. Other then that, I hear you can also pickup Merc Commendations from chests in the PvP Area Outlaw’s Den on Tatooine, but I haven’t come across any this way, yet.

Bounty Hunter Level 50 PvP Fashion

The max level PvP gear for now, has basically two different set models for the BH, with varying color schemes. Each tier has four different sets in terms of stats for the varying type of Bounty Hunters out there, take a look at their naming convention look below:

• Combat Medic – Healing Set
• Combat Tech – Powertech DPS(Set bonuses apply to Powertech more so)
• Eliminator – Merc DPS(Set bonuses apply to Merc more so)
• Supercommando – Tanking

Each tier varies in color, but keeps the consistent models through all the tiers. You gain set bonuses for having two and four pieces of the set equipped, and one thing handy to keep in mind is that cross-tiering is okay. For example, if you have two pieces of Champion and two pieces of Battlemaster – you’ll gain the full set bonus for that set. Each type – Combat Medic, Combat Tech, Eliminator, and Supercommando share their similar set bonuses across each tier of PvP gear.

Bounty Hunter Battlemaster PvP Gear - Left to Right... Super Commando > Eliminator > Combat Tech > Combat Medic

Below you can see the set bonuses for each of the four varying types of BH PvP Sets:

• Combat Medic Set Bonuses(2/4 pieces): Increases Energy Shield duration / Reduces Healing & Emergency Scan cooldown
• Eliminator Set Bonuses: Reduces cooldown of Jet Boost / Inreases crit chance of Rail Shot
• Supercommando Set Bonuses: Reduces cooldown of Heat Blast & Jet Charge / Increases damage you deal while you’re ‘guarding’ another player
• Combat Tech Set Bonuses: Carbonize duration increases, Determination cooldown decreases / Crit chance of Rocket Punch increases

Personally, I’m not overly found of my Powertech Pyrotech Hunters current bug-eyed type helmet or the lack of variation in the current BH PvP gear. However, BioWare has recently indicated they will be adding an option to remove mods from the PvP gear to be used on other gear that one may find appealing, while still retaining the same bonuses. Good news for customization!

One final note – The Combat Tech set only has pieces for body, boots, gauntlets, helmet, and legging slots. While all the other sets not only include those pieces but also offhands, ear pieces, bracers, implants, and belts. For those BHs using the Combat Tech set you’ll just have to mix and match those missing pieces with other set pieces that fit your build.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there fellow Hunters and conquer some Star Ships!

Tip of the Week - Training for the Gold Purple

If you intend on PvPing at max level, then it’s probably a good idea to have a nice chunk of your Commendations saved and ready to spend on those beautiful ‘purples’ once you get level 50 and have access to the endgame PvP tier sets. As you level, you gain access to PvP sets at level 20 and 40 as well – and don’t fret too much if you decide to spend your Commendations on that gear, as you can easily replenish the Commendations spent on those before hitting 50.

You can only acquire a max of 1000 of each type of Commendation, and you can only carry one of the Champion Gear bags (as they are unique) at a time, so you do have a limit on how much you can save up before hitting 50. Storing up 1000 Commendations of each, plus the one Champion Bag you can carry on you will have you set for a total six bags to open, once you get 50. If you’re already 50, complete those Dailies/Weeklies and you’ll get plenty of bags in no time!

That’s it for this week, TORWarriors! Check in next week for additional insight into the Bounty Hunter and if you’re new to the class then you may be better off starting with Bounty Hunter: A Newbie’s Guide! Till next time!