uprade your favorite companion with armor for their main stat (Mako is cunning, Vette is aim, etc). I've been slowly getting modded gear for Mako and then modding it out for her as best i can. 1. you can make them look pretty cool 2. the better the gear/mods the better they will be 3. if you get them fully modded gear then you never have to worry about GEAR and onlyworry about upgrading the mods for their gear as they level up (ie: only need 1 blaster and just upgrade the mods in it all the way to 50) Mako now is a pretty decent powerhouse in her own right even if I switch her to Offensive stance. I could imagine Vette gets pretty awesome with fully modded gear on her. Could get expensive if you try that for EVERY companion. Usually I just pick one that I want to mod out. Cheapest way to grab modded gear for them is use your Planet Commendations to buy rewards that your companion can use (instead of you). Also maybe buy them PvP equipment which has fully modded gear. Either way both of those don't really cost you credits and I've found I usually already have better gear than the stuff offered on the commendations vendors once I find the modded gear look that i like and want to stick with.

seems the same for me. only about 8 even though i feel like i've accomplished more than the titles would indicate at level 31.

Level 30 is fine for Tatooine. The world boss is level 30 (a fun fight). the bonus series Heroics are TOUGH. A group of level 25s would definitely get slaughtered if they tried to do those (or be very organized). I had a strong group of 28-31 and barely got past one heroic (Blood and Sand) and we probably died 5 times in there. Pulling 3-5 elites at one time is tough to control. For normal quest content I guess you can be level 24-28 but the bonus series is crazy hard.

which ones? all of them? each planet has commendations and you can turn those in at certain vendors on the planet (or the fleet station) for items, gear, modifications, etc. PvP has commendations and those work to get PvP gear and rewards/items Same with starship commendations this is a good way to constantly upgrade your gear as you quest on planets or move to the next. you cannot exchange planet commendations so you just spend them as you get them for something you find useful. if NOTHING is useful then you can always buy the "lockboxes" which give a random reward depending on the level of the lockbox. PvP commendations get a bit complicated but essentially they work the same way.

If you do the daily PVP and a couple extra queues. Then go do some starship dailies. Then go do a flashpoint daily. Then go quest. you level damn fast. the dailies of each is about 10-12k per. Add that to the normal xp you get by entering and playing it adds up fast. Plus, PVP rewards are GOOD. Maybe some of the earliest available modable outfits like pants and such.