SWTOR: Color Crystals and where to get them

There are a rainbow of colors out there for your blasters and lightsabers, but sometimes it can be hard to figure out where to get the one you want. This is a simple guide which will give you a handy reference pointing you in the right direction to find each of the color crystals you want, including the exclusive green with black core crystal.

The Galactic Trade Network?

Before we even start, there’s an easy way and hard way to get most of the crystals out there. Some are available by specific methods and are immediately bound to your character as soon as you collect them. Others however are readily available on the GTN and only cost credits. The rarer they are the more expensive they’ll be, but unless your an Artificer it might be better to do your Dailies for a month to get that stockpile of credits you need to buy your super rare crystal. If you don’t care about color or want one of the common varieties, you can pick up a regular level 50 artifact grade +41 crystal for around 20-30k credits. The harder to get ones to make, like the Magenta crystal for example, will cost you somewhere around 250k credits. The ones like the Black-Purple you can only get from Hard Mode Explosive Conflict and will cost you millions if you choose to buy.

Types of crystals

Crystals come in two different varieties, PVE and PVE. Player vs Player crystals all have Expertise as their stat bonus and are listed as ‘War Hero’ crystals. Player vs Environment crystals come in Eviscerating for a Critical bonus, Hawkeye for a Power bonus, and Indestructible for an Endurance bonus. All of these bonuses are currently set at a maximum of +41 respectively, although that is expected to go higher when the level cap is raised in future updates.

Crystal Colors

Currently there are two basic types of cores available for crystals, the white core and the black core. The white core lightsabers are the most common out there and you see them all the way from your beginning levels to the end game content. Unless there’s a secondary color listed on the crystal, you can always assume the core is white. The black core crystals can be found through normal leveling, but you really start seeing these more when your running end game content.

White Core Crystals

• Red – War Hero varieties are available directly from the PVP vendor. PVE varieties of this crystal can be made through Artifice with the schematics found at the Daily Commendation vendor.
• Blue – Unlike the Red crystal, the War Hero version isn’t directly purchasable, although the schematics seem to drop from the Grade 6 PVP Crafting Box that’s sold at the PvP vendor. Schematics for the PvE varieties are available at the Daily Commendation Vendor.
• Green – Like the Red crystal, War Hero versions are available for direct purchase from the PvP vendor while the PvE versions are available from the Daily Commendation Vendor.
• Yellow – All schematics for yellow crystals are obtained from the PvP vendor. The War Hero schematic is inside one of the Grade 6 PVP Crafting Boxes, while the other PvE types can have their schematics purchased for Warzone Commendations directly.
• Purple – War Hero schematics for this crystal are random drops from Grade 6 PVP Crafting Box. PvE varieties are found in Columi level weapons on the Empire side and must be moved to the Republic side by Legacy Bound weapon.
• Cyan – Like the Purple Crystal, War Hero schematics for this crystal are random drops from Grade 6 PVP Crafting Boxes and the PvE crystals need to be pulled from Columi grade weapons on the Republic side.
• White – Although once available for purchase directly, this crystal is no longer available through regular methods. With the introduction of the Cartel Market, this crystal has returned as a random ultra rare drop in the packs. You can find them now on the GTN.

Black Core Crystals

• Black-Red – The War Hero variety you can get directly from the PvP Vendor for credits and Warzone Commendations. The PvE varieties are available in Rakata level Empire weapons… and oddly enough Battlemaster Empire weapons too.
• Black-Blue – Similarly to the Black-Red crystal, able to be purchased directly from the PvP Vendor for the War Hero variety, and pulled from Rakata and Battlemaster weapons on the Republic side.
• Black-Orange – You can get the War Hero crystal from the PvP vendor only if you have a PvP rating of 1500, and will also cost you some credits and Warzone Commendations. PvE versions are only available as random drops in the Explosive Conflict Operation for both Story and Hard Modes.
• Black-Purple – Like the Black-Orange, this requires credits and Warzone Commendations as well as an increased PvP rating of 2000. PvE versions only drop in Explosive Conflict’s Hard Mode.
• Black-Yellow – If you don’t have access to this one already you can’t get it. This was only available as a Pre-Order bonus. If you do have access, you can get all the different varieties from a Pre-Order Crystal Vendor on the fleet.
• Black-Green(Event) – These crystals became available in the Rakghoul World Event. Although its possible that the vendor for these items will come back so you can spend your DNA Samples on them, for now your only option is the GTN.
• Black-Green (Special Edition) – These crystals are only available if you have entered a code from one of the select Razor products that included the SWTOR branding and the code for the crystal. The crystal from the Rakghoul event might be a viable alternative if your not looking to shell out any cash. It looks really close to this only slightly darker.

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Cartel Market Crystals

With the introduction of the Cartel Market several new types of crystals have become available.

• Purple-Pink Crystal – These are new crystals that are available through the Cartel Packs, specifically the Black Market and Crime Lord’s packs, or through trade. Although not on the GTN as of this edit, its likely they will be allowed to be put up there. Each of the crystals all have +41 end game stats but are able to be equipped at level 10
• Orange-Yellow Crystal – These crystals are restricted to level 35 and above, but like the Purple-Pink crystals these have end game level stats. All four types are available directly for purchase on the Cartel Market for a current price of 900 Cartel Coins.
• Cyan-Blue Crystal – These are the latest crystals that can be found through Cartel Packs, specifically the Blockade Runner’s pack, or through trade. These crystals all have +41 end game stats and are able to be equipped at level 10

The Future

The current state of reverse engineering is that unless your working with Campaign gear you can’t break items down and get a new schematic out of it. Moving forward this is changing, meaning there’s going to be a lot more different colors on the open market. Keep in mind the GTN may still be the fastest way to get what you want, so bank some extra credits if you can.