SWTOR Tank Gear

If you are new to Star Wars The Old Republic, the gearing of your character can seem quite daunting because the system seems quite complicated at first.

In this guide we’ll help you to go from no gear all the way to the 336 Gear Rating cap with information on how to obtain and upgrade all the gear you need to succeed at Tanking in SWTOR!

Gearing your Tank is fairly straightforward in SWTOR when you know how, here is what you need to know.

For help and information about Tanking in Star Wars The Old Republic, join The Tank Club Discord

Begin your journey by collecting gear from Veteran Flashpoints once you reach level 80. Acquire a full set of 324 Item Rated green gear to bolster your tanking capabilities. Ideally you’ll want to be using the Bulwark gear. If you want Blue gear then complete Master Flashpoints or buy it from the Vendor, however these are much harder to complete.

Next go to the Republic or Imperial Fleet and speak to Zeek who will give you a mission to deconstruct certain item level piece of gear to unlock the ability to purchase mods. If you just do the last quest (336 Prototype) this is the most beneficial one to complete. This quest requires you to deconstruct one piece of gear that has a item level of 336, this gear must be blue quality. Any gear of lower quality will not count for this quest.

Participating in Flashpoints will earn you FP1-Stabilizer, which can be used, along with Credits to further enhance your gear’s strength. Speak to Zena Horne, the Flashpoint Gear Upgrade vendor, on the Republic or Imperial Fleet. Utilize your FP1-Stabilizer to upgrade the item rating of only one piece of gear, choose the cheapest one to upgrade such as Armguards, Belt, Boots or Gauntlets.

You’ll need to obtain quite a lot of FP1-Stabilizer to upgrade one piece of gear from 324 to 336, so keep running Flashpoints until you achieve this. Once you have upgraded one gear piece, simply deconstruct it and return to Zeek.

When you speak to Zeek you’ll now be able to buy Mods.

Next you’ll need a set of Adaptive Gear. This can be found on the GTN, Cartel Market, Crafted or you can buy it from Darthyn at the Republic or Imperial Fleet. Adaptive gear is basically empty gear that you fill with Mods to give you the benefits you need the most. Try to use a set of Adaptive Gear that is “Bound to Legacy”, this will allow you to use it on all of your Tanks.

You will now need to buy and insert Mods to your Adaptive Gear. Speak to Hyde who is usually stood next to Zeek. The mods you’ll need to buy for a Tank Build are:

• 9 Warding Mods 103B
• 1 Resistive Hilt 103
• 7 Bastion Enchantment 103
• 8 Resistive Armoring 103

Simply hold CTRL + Right Click and it will open your mods menu, insert the mods into each piece of gear and you’ll now have a set of 336 gear!

This method of gear upgrading doesn’t include your Ear or Relic slots. You’ll want to obtain Ear and two Relics from Flashpoints or the Vendor. If you want purple quality then you can also complete Operations and obtain these to gain slightly higher stats, however its much more difficult to complete Operations and farm the OP-1 Catalyst, so using purple Accessories should be more of a long term goal.

You’ll then need to upgrade these the same was as we did at the start of this article, complete Flashpoints to earn FP1-Stabilizer or complete Operations to earn OP-1 Catalyst. Use these materials to the upgrade the Ear and Relics to 336.

• Ear: Use a Bastion or Bulwark ear
• Relic 1: Relic of Avoidance
• Relic 2: Relic of the Shield Matrix

This is where things start to get difficult or expensive. To enchant your gear further you’ll need to firstly input a Augment Kit and you’ll want the MK-11, this will allow you to slot high level Augments. The Augmentation Kit MK-11 can be crafted if you are high enough level in Synthweaving, Armormech or Armstech and bought from the GTN.

You then also need actual Augments, you can always start off with lower quality Augments to begin with and upgrade them as you increase in capability with crafting or have enough credits to buy better Augments.

For a Tank you’ll want to use Absorb or Shield Augments depending on whether you have met the necessary shield rating.

To input Augments you’ll need to visit a Item Modification Station which are located all over the Republic or Imperial Fleet.

Augments can be applied to every piece of gear so you’ll need 14 Augmentation Kit MK-11 and 14 Absorb or Shield Augments.

If you are still in the process of upgrading gear, do not upgrade it while your Augments are slotted or else they will get deleted! Remove your Augments before upgrading gear, when upgrading gear you’ll always lose your Augmentation Kit so if you are strapped for cash, don’t slot an augment into your gear that hasn’t been fully upgraded such as Ear, Relics and Implants.

In your quest to strengthen your character in Star Wars: The Old Republic, one of the key accessory gear pieces you shouldn’t overlook is the Implants. These  items offer a wide range of benefits that can significantly enhance your character’s performance.

To obtain the coveted Legendary Implants, head to the Republic or Imperial Fleet and seek out the esteemed Lonndar Eadwinn after reaching level 80. Lonndar will entrust you with a crucial mission called “Technological Advancements.” Completing this mission will grant you access to the Implant Vendor SN-4RK, where you can purchase and upgrade your Implants. It’s worth noting that all of the best-in-slot Tank Implants can be found here, making this mission particularly valuable.

Obtaining these powerful Implants requires a lot of Conquest Commendations and Tech Fragments, so be prepared. Initially, you’ll need to acquire two Implants. Once you have them, you can then return to the vendor and keep an eye out for the Implant with the green up arrow, indicating the option to upgrade your currently equipped Implant. Of course, performing upgrades will require additional materials.

Each Implant upgrade not only increases the rating by +2 but also enhances the associated stats. Therefore, it’s advisable to focus on acquiring two Implants first before diving into the upgrade process.

Implants can be upgraded to a maximum level of 334.

Guardian and Juggernaut Implants

• Force Resistance Package
• Retaliator Package

Shadow and Assassin Implants

• Dynamic Force
• Force Resistance Package

Vanguard and Powertech Implants

• Mandalorian Armaments
• Shock Trooper

Tacticals are extraordinary accessories that offer immense benefits to your character, empowering them.

To acquire these Tacticals, pay a visit to Sabacc Sav, the Tacticals vendor at the Republic or Imperial Fleet. Each class will require a different tactical and most of these cannot be shared.

Most of the best Tacticals for Tanking can be bought from the Vendor which is extremely convenient. There is only one Tactical that cannot be bought and it’s Grit Teeth for the Guardian/Juggernaut, this will need to be crafted or bought from the GTN.

The good news is that Tacticals are relatively more affordable than Implants when purchased from vendors. You only need one Tactical, and obtaining it requires Tech Fragments and Credits, and they also don’t need to be upgraded. This means you can quickly boost your character’s capabilities with your first Tactical.

• The Life Warden – Tactical that can be used by all classes

Guardian and Juggernaut Tacticals

• Grit Teeth – Crafted or Purchased from Galactic Trade Market
• Leviathan’s Hide

Shadow and Assassin Tacticals

• Two Cloaks
• Friend of the Force
• Shroud of a Shadow

Vanguard and Powertech Tacticals

• Superheated Fuel
• Thermal Screen

If you’ve gotten this far then you will now know how to obtain the most accessible gear in SWTOR.

The best gear in Star Wars The Old Republic is 340 Item Level gear, but this is incredibly hard to obtain and you’ll need to complete the Operation R-4 to obtain tokens which can be redeemed for gear pieces. If you’re reading this guide then it could be a while before you reach that point but using the 336 gear from this guide should help you on your journey through the Star Wars Universe!