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All creature pets have a stat on them called "vitality." You can see this by examining their info in the datapad; a new pet will have 100/100. When a pet is incapacitated, it may receive a deathblow (depending on what you are fighting) - when it does, it will lose 2 points of vitality. So, for instance, the first death a pet suffers will change the vitality reading to 98/100, then 96/100, and so forth.

Why is this important?

When the vitality reaches 75, the pet will suffer a reduction of 25% of its max HAM, leaving it with 75% of its regular life. At 50, a 50% reduction is applied, and at 25, a 75% reduction is applied. A creature pet cannot be permanently slain and can survive with 0 vitality; however, a pet with 25% of its standard HAM is generally far from formidable (i.e. on a 10K creature, it would have 2.5K).

Vitality packs are made by Bio-Engineers, in the tissues tree. There are three types of vitality packs - A, B, and C. The power ranges from low (A) to high (C), although there is some overlap. The power has a direct influence on their restorative powers.

There are two ways to do this: activating the "Use Vitality Pack" option by selecting your pet in the datapad, and by targeting your called pet and double-clicking the vitality pack in your inventory. Both methods work; however, if you have multiple vitality packs of varying strengths in your inventory, you should probably use the second method (or the game will choose for you).

The only purpose of a vitality pack is to restore lost vitality, though some vitality will be permanently lost as a result. Depending on how much vitality your pet has lost and the strength of the vitality pack you are using, you may see anywhere from 1 to 20 points of permanent vitality lost. For example, let’s say your pet is at 92/100 vitality - you purchase and apply a 13+ vitality pack A. Your pet should then have 99/99 vitality, a gain of 7 vitality - but also a permanent loss of 1 overall vitality.

There are a number of common misconceptions about vitality packs, such as "you will only lose 1 point as long as the pack’s strength is the same or higher than the current vitality lost," "1 point of permanent loss per 10 points of current vitality loss," and "if you use a strong enough vitality pack you can avoid any permanent loss."

I do not have an equation for you (although if anyone can work one out from my data, let me know and I will add it), but what I can provide for you is a guideline for minimizing permanent vitality loss for common ranges.

Overall, the most efficient means is to use vitality packs sparingly, and to use the most powerful range you can afford or find. You may or may not have an easy time acquiring the more advanced vitality packs - your best bet is to contact some of the more active bio-engineers on your server. Many do not stock the higher end vitality packs. The lower end of these ranges is fairly easily obtainable with mediocre components (~40-60% experimentation).

Here are the optimal ranges I have found for A, B, and C packs; this information is not guaranteed to be accurate, although I have yet to produce a contradiction. If you find one, I would like to hear about it.

Up to 8 lost vitality points restored with minimal loss*

Up to 18 lost vitality points restored with minimal loss*

75-100pt Vitality Pack (mid to high C):

Up to 28 lost vitality points restored with minimal loss*

*The max ranges listed above are the most you can heal with that type of vitpack before you begin losing 2 or 3 vitality (or more). So, for instance, if you use a vitpack C at 72/100 vitality, your pet should have 99/99 afterward. However, at 70/100 (30 loss), the vitpack will only restore it to 98/98. It is also important to note that there is no noticeable difference in loss over these ranges - a 13pt A will be just as effective as a 38pt A in this range.**

**I do not have the resources to produce beyond a 65pt B or 92pt C, so the 70 and 100 maximum ranges are speculative. It is possible (though unlikely) that they may have a slight increase over the listed range.

A: No, it does not - a 38 strength B will restore the same amount as a 38 strength A. However, each type of pack has a limit to how high (and low) it can go in strength. For instance, a top-notch vitality pack A maxes out at around 38 strength, while a mediocre B can be 45-50 or more.

A: Yes! You may not have an improvement if you are using them under certain circumstances, such as 8 or less missing vitality, but stronger vitality packs are generally better. See the section above or the raw data for more info.

A: No, I tested several points with full-grown CL30+ pets versus baby jax and anglers, and had identical results.

A: No, the only important factors are the current amount lost, and the strength of the pack you are intending to use. See the raw data for more info on this.

A: Your pet will be fully restored to a new permanent vitality, but the penalty for this tends to be quite high (up to ~20 pts). See the raw data for some examples.

A: No. The first pack you use will do the job, even if the pack is not strong enough, but you will suffer additional vitality loss.

A: It’s possible, but I have not seen any in my testing. I consider it unlikely.

A: Apparently, you can do this, due to the fact that droids have a vitality stat now as well. I have not personally tried this, but I have been told that it works. Same rules should apply to droids as they do to creatures.

A: No, I have tried to reproduce this and failed multiple times (including using a 92 strength C with only 2 points of loss), so I would dismiss this as a rumor.

A: No, all vitality packs are one use only.

A: My suggestion would be to get the highest vitality pack you can find. Once you go beyond the ideal range for vitality packs, the permanent loss scales upward in a nonlinear fashion, and can get very large if you exceed the power of the vitpack. See the raw data for more info.

A: You will need a food & chemical crafting tool, the proper ingredients, and at least Novice Bio-Engineer with Tissues I (for Vitality A). You MUST also be near a private crafting station (or personal medical crafting droid) for the schematic to show up in the list. Vitality Packs are in the Tissues tab under Pharmaceutical (you may need to use the arrows to get to the Tissues tab).

A: There are three types of vitality packs: A, B, and C (in order of strength).

C - Master Bio-Engineer - 32 Endorian flower fruit, 24 Unknown radioactive, 3 identical liquid suspension (made by a factory, and with identical serial #s), 1 biological effect controller

A: The extent to which you can experiment on vitality packs depends very heavily upon the resources you put into it (like most crafted items). In the case of vitality packs, the resources are weighted based on Overall Quality(66%) and Potential Energy(33%), so look for good stats in those two categories if you are seeking good vitality packs. Note that unlike stimpacks, the liquid suspension and bio-controller currently have no impact on the end product, so you do not need to focus on them.

A: ALS and ABEC will work, but they currently offer no advantage. This is because the LS and BEC components have no effect on the strength of vitality packs; they are only required as components. This provides you with the option of making vitality packs more cheaply by using regular components; however, it may be changed at a later point.

A: Known reactive gas can be surveyed using a gas survey tool - the only gas usable for vitality pack B’s is anything in the category "Known Reactive Gas." Be careful to avoid Unknown reactive gas and Inert Gas of any type, these will not work. Reactive gas is fairly common and not tied to any one planet (it shifts around), so if you can’t find some, try some other planets. They are gathered with the standard gas harvesters.

A: You can survey radioactives with a mineral survey tool. Unknown radioactives are an uncommon resource - do not mistake them for the much more common Known radioactives which will not work. Like gas, they vary from planet to planet, so you may need to do some searching to find some. Often, none will be available at the time, and you will simply have to wait & keep an eye out. Radioactives can be gathered with a mineral harvester or a fusion generator - generators are more expensive, but much more efficient and cheaper (13-16+kg per hour w/maintenance cost, 0 power needed) than mineral harvesters (7-10+kg per hour w/power and maintenance cost).

A: Yes, you will need a food and chemical factory to do so. At the second to last step in creation, select manufacturing schematic (rather than create prototype), and then insert it into your factory using the radial menu*. Put the ingredients in the input hopper, add the power and maintenance as necessary, and start it up.

*If the schematic does not come up in the list when you access the factory, you will probably need to redeed the factory (this occurs when it was placed before the large October patch).

A: First, make sure you have a food and chemical factory. Second, you cannot currently use schematics involving DNA or clones. Third, if neither of those is the problem, you probably need to re-deed your factory (see the * in the previous question).

A: First you must factory produce some liquid suspension (LS) and biological effect controllers (BEC), so the serial numbers on them are identical. Next, make a schematic with those ingredients, and run your vitality pack schematic with all of your ingredients (including enough LS and BEC for the amt. of vitality packs you desire). Keep in mind that vit B take 2 LS, and vit C take 3 LS, so with 1,000 identical LS, you will be able to produce no more than 499 vit B or 332 vit C in any single production run (you lose at least one to make the schematic).

A: This is something you will have to figure out for yourself - look at your costs and the ingredient availability and go from there. Ask other BEs on your server what they charge, or see what your customers are willing to pay. If you absolutely must have something to compare, my general scale is 1k for A, 2k for B, 3k for C, though it varies a bit.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to gather this data, which is probably why it is hard to find any solid information on vitality packs. This left me with no choice but to do things the hard way, sacrificing pets for the sake of science.

So yes, many animals were harmed in the making of this guide. Specifically, 13 pets suffered a combined 862 deaths to produce the data, upon which this guide is based on. If SWG had an organization akin to PETA, they would be horrified.

Most were helpless, innocent baby jax, although there were a number of baby anglers and some grown pets in the mix. I would like to thank the huurtons of Dantooine for assisting with a huge portion of my tests, as well as many of the denizens of Endor.

Before you ask, no, I do not treat my pets like I did these guys. Although I must admit I am guilty of abusing my poor Kliknik for a couple tests, to ensure HAM was not a factor.

Well, mainly because I enjoy figuring things out, and this was a puzzle I have not seen solved. I am posting it here because there is not much point to gaining knowledge unless it is shared. The lack of solid information, as well as numerous erroneous facts and theories I have seen, many of them by knowledgeable CH and BE, convinced me that some concrete tests were needed. Originally, I was just going to provide my data and conclusions, but I decided to incorporate it into a guide encompassing all aspects of vitality packs.

Due to the formatting and restrictions on this board, I am not going to try and post the raw data here (tried and it was not turning out well). However, you can view it as either HTML or an Excel spreadsheet at:

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jebradf1/swg/vitdata.htm

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jebradf1/swg/vitdata.xls