Send your companion to attack first, and don't take aggro from your companion so fast. Use your companion to kill the minions while you focus on the main guy, or vice versa. Some fights are supposed to be difficult.

...along with the current headgear toggle. Buying the dancer's outfit from the security vendors then having a klunky looking utility belt & bracers showing with it isn't cool.

Because Mako (and all companions) are NPCs, for the same reason you can't customize Master Satele Shan. Companions have to be the same on every server, every character's quest line.

I've seen people wanting to be wookies too. The problem is, it doesn't add anything to the game. The quest lines are based around the class, not the race. If wookies were in the game, people would probably complain that they couldn't be sith or jedi with them.

Artificing is one of the less stressful skills. Almost all of the others have 3 blue schematics from each green, and 5 purple from each blue. Talk about a grind to learn them all. Technically, biochem is the only "useful" class skill at 50 anyway. At that time you will get far superior gear by raiding/pvp/turnins/whatever. Nothing you craft will touch it, at this time.