Guide to the differences between SWTOR Gear vs Outfit. Find out how to wear one item for its stats pool and another for its visual appearance!
The guide is up-to-date for Patch 7.4
There is a popular term in MMO games today (but not only) – Transmogrification. It is also often referred to astransmog,tmog,xmogor simplymog and provides the ability to replace the appearance of your armor and weapons with those of other items, or to hide certain pieces of armor.
So, how does the Gear Transmog work in SWTOR? In SWTOR the appearance and gear actually populate different tabs in the Character Sheet. You can have one item slotted in the gear piece of your character to give you the best stats you need for your build and also have a completely different item in the outfit slot to give you the appearance and look you desire.
Quick overview of the Character Sheet window
As with every MMO game SWTOR has its own Character Sheet window with its own features stuffed inside. This guide will take a deep look into the Gear and Outfits sub-tabs in the Character Tab.
The “Gear” Tab in the Character Sheet tab was updated with a new visual for SWTOR Game Update 7.0. On the left side you see numbers that represent your current default performance values in combat and a detail button where you can see all stats with much greater detail.
On the right side you see your currently equipped gear. This includes your armor pieces, imlants, earpiece, relics, tactical items and weapons slots.
For a more general and complete overview of the Character Sheet, check out the Complete SWTOR User Interface Guide.
The Currently Equipped Gear Tab
There are fifteen gear slots. You should aim to populate these with the highest possible Item Rating gear pieces you can get. The items you place in these slots are the ones that give your character’s stats pools and power to defeat your enemies and survive or help others survive (if you are a healer) during your adventures.
If you need a hand with the gearing progression, check out the Complete SWTOR 7.0 EndGame Gearing Guide.
You can choose to have your current gear show as you play if you are pleased with its visuals. To do that, make sure the “Activate” button at the top is activated/clicked.
You have limited visual appearance modification controls in this tab. If you are using your current gear as an outfit, you can still choose to hide your helmet, if you are a Subscriber.
The Outfits Tabs
Outfits are gear pieces that you use to alter your character’s visual appearance without this affecting the actual gear that you were for stats. Every armor piece can be used for both gear and outfit, based on your personal preferences.
In SWTOR this is done with the Outfits Tabs in the Character Sheet window. You can have one armor piece slotted with the highest and best stats for your character’s role and spec, but a different item slotted as an Outfit.
With Cartel Coins you can purchase more Outfit Slots for the character you are on or for the whole account. With Credits you can only purchase per-character slots. To do so, click on the plus sign next to the last number of Outfitter Slot you have available. On the image example below I have two Outfitter Slots and after “2” you will see the small “+” symbol.
To the right of the character you see seven gear slots. These are outfit slots. You can place any armor pieces in them to use as an active visual representation for your character’s appearance while playing.
On the left side of the Outfit tab you see how many Outfit Tabs you currently have unlocked. The maximum you can have is sixteen.
At the bottom you have a few additional options to further modify your appearance, such as “Unify Colors”, which matches the color of all your equipped armor pieced to the color scheme of the Chest Piece; Show on and off your Dark Side Corruption, if you play as a Dark Side character; Enable Dynamic Mount Colors, which will match the colors of some mounts in the game to your currently active outfit.
When you are using a gear piece as an outfit it doesn’t matter what stats this gear piece has attached to itself. They will not be used in any way to affect your combat performance. The gear piece can be an empty shell of a chest piece, leggings, gloves and so on. You don’t need to insert mods in the empty slots if you are using the item as an outfit.
Taking your Outfit to the next level
The following few paragraphs will give you a few tips on how to take your character’s outfits to the next level!
Using Dyes to create unique colorful outfits
The little square-ish buttons on the left side of each outfit slot allow you to match the color of each item to the color scheme of the Chest piece.
To get the color scheme you most desire, you can use Dyes, which you can craft, loot or purchase from the GTN and the Cartel Market. The image below shows a simple search for “dye” from GTN (Galactic Trade Network).
Dyes are inserted into a gear piece and modify the color scheme of that item. If you do that to the Chest Piece and then place it as an Outfit, you can match all other items in the same outfit tab to the chest piece and have a complete color-matching armor set.
To place a dye into an item press the CTRL button and right-click on the item. This window will open:
In the example above I have a Life Day Vestments, which is by default full red. I placed a Dye with a black color for the primary and secondary color zones of the item, making the chest piece full black.
Hide Head Slot Feature
If you like the style of your character’s hair or if you just can’t find the best possible helmet/cap for your outfit, you can opt to “Hide Head Slot”.
Clicking the square button with a number will quickly display a preview in the Outfit Tab of what your character would look like with or without the item in the helmet slot.
Experiment for most unique results
My Sentinel has been running with the same outfit and appearance since 2013. I cannot even remember when I created it. The outfit is a combination of items from several different sets. I am not sure if I am that proud with it or I just have an issue with changing outfits once I find the one I like the most.
In the video below you will see detailed break-down of each armor piece and how they all fit together.
Even if you end up not being a fan of the Battle Monk appearance for my Sentinel, this outfit is a good example of how items from totally different armor sets can fit together to create a unique appearance.
Experiment with color dyes and different items from various sets to create your own perfect and favorite appearance that will be only yours! Stand out from the crowd.
When SWTOR launched there were three types of armor – heavy, medium and light. Each one was designed for a specific set of classes and roles that can wear it.
Today all armor sets in the game are Adaptive. This means that even if you play a heavy tank Vanguard, for example, you will be able to use the Outfit system to make your character appear as if they were “paper armor”, which is a slang term for lighter armor pieces such as cloth pants, shirts and robes to name a few.
Weapons in Outfitter now available in SWTOR
BioWare, the developers of SWTOR, hinted several times in the past few years that they want to include weapons in the Outfits system as well.
Since the release of that system back in Game Update 3.2, the Weapon slots have been missing in the Outfit Tabs. This has always been a big demand in the quality of life department from the community, yet the devs still haven’t gotten around to actually implement it into the game.
You can check out the dedicated Weapons in Outfitter Guide to learn more about this feature – what it is, how it works and what requirements and limitations you need to know about. The feature was released in SWTOR Patch 7.0.2 in April 2022.
We have a dedicated in-depth guide designed to help you create a unique and original outfit in SWTOR. Check it out for valuable tips on how to stand out from the crowd.
If you are looking to change your character species or make any facial and physical/body modifications, check out my guide on what the SWTOR Appearance Designer is and how it works.
