The numbers I've heard are that the best I50 companions heal for maybe 8k, and my parses say I get maybe 6k at best from Lana. A good player healer can heal for something in the ballpark of 20k in capped content. ... an HP reduction once they stop standing in stupid might be warranted, though.

I'm not asking for companions to parse better, I'm asking for them to be able to navigate basic baby mechanics with small amounts of guidance. How much DPS/HPS do you think I50 companions do, exactly?

What if it was made into a flashpoint and put in the activity finder, so you could PUG it more easily?

It's frustrating when my companions just stand in place when an enemy puts an AoE over them, but it's even more frustrating when I manage to get them out of the AoE and then they charge back in and die. Can we get some companion/NPC AI improvements? Basic level: DO NOT ENTER STUPID: If a companion is outside of a harmful AoE telegraph, they should not enter it unless the player crosses from outside to inside under their own power (i.e., not pulled by boss), and maybe even not then. STEP OUT OF STUPID: If a companion is near the edge of a harmful AoE telegraph that is not following them, and can safely step out without falling off a cliff or smth, they should. SOCIAL DISTANCE: If a harmful AoE telegraph is tracking a player, their companion should not enter it (which is really just #1) FIND A WAY OUT OF STUPID: Like STEP OUT OF STUPID, but they don't need to be near the edge -- they should attempt to exit even if they have to move a ways. This might be more complicated, though. COMPANION TACTICS MODES: Like "passive", allow players to instruct their companions to pursue certain strategies. Positioning: Follow: Companion remains close to player, but still uses abilities Hold Position: Companion does not move, still uses abilities Flank: Companion attempts to remain on the opposite side of enemies from you, particularly high-ranking (champion, elite) enemies. Melee: Get in melee range of enemies Ranged: Get out of melee range of enemies Kite: If the companion has aggro on an enemy, they move away from it Push Buttons: The companion attempts to use clickable objectives in the area (e.g.: consoles in the Sun Reactor room of Star Fortresses, kolto stations if set to heal, etc.) Take Cover: Companion attempts to LOS enemies Enemy Prioritization: (DPS) Execute: DPS the enemy with the lowest HP (DPS) Simultaneous Kill: DPS the enemy with the most HP (DPS/Tank) Focus Adds: Build threat / DPS valid enemies of the lowest rank present (DPS/Tank) Focus Boss: Build threat / DPS valid enemies of the highest rank present Commands: RALLY POINT: Places a marker on the ground that the player's companion will attempt to move to, and remain at, until the player either cancels the rally point, issues a new command, or a certain amount of time passes. DEPRIORITIZE THIS: Companion will not attack/taunt target until no non-deprioritized targets remain AVOID THIS: Companion will attempt to stay away from this target. LOS THIS: Companion attempts to LOS this target in particular.

TBH, I'd prefer it if there were more viable sets for all classes, like there are for Guardian tanks and Sage healers. Make it an actual choice where people get the option to gear more than one or two ways.

Doing this thoroughly would require a new interface, but just going for some specific common values would be almost as useful. The following numbers are based on the average number of attempts necessary to get the component: (using 175 base cost for components and 325 for left side) Capped content stuff: 313 END DPS stat enhancement R-1 or R-2 (random DPS tertiary stat): 6000 frags (5513) -- exactly R-1 would be 11k, 33k for a particular 451 tertiary DPS stat 285 END Tank stat enhancement R-1 or R-2 (random Tank tertiary stat): 6000 frags (5513) -- exactly R-1 would be 11k, or 22k for a particular 451 tertiary tank stat 366 DEF Tank mod R-19 or R-20: 6000 frags (5513) Dxun stuff: 285 END DPS stat enhancement R-10, R-14, or R-18 (random DPS tertiary stat: 4000 frags (3675) -- getting a specific stat would be 11k 431 END Tank stat enhancement R-0 or R-1 (random Tank tertiary stat): 6000 frags (5513) -- getting a specific stat would be 11k 409 END Tank mod B or BR-1: 6000 frags (5513) 409 END DPS mod B or BR-1: 6000 frags (5513) 313 END DPS mod R-2, R-3, or R-5: 4000 frags (3675) Versatile Armoring, Hilt, or Barrel R-0: 4000 frags (3675) Resistive Armoring, Hilt, or Barrel R-0: 4000 frags (3675) General stuff: SPECIFIC Sha'tek left side DPS or Tank item: 2000 frags (1950?) (e.g.: exactly "Sha'tek Relic of the Shield Matrix") Sund Tech implant with random Tank stat: 6000 frags (5850?) (exactly absorb would cost 12k) Sund Tech earpiece with random Tank stat: 6000 frags (5850?) (exactly absorb would cost 12k) EDIT: For the less picky: Initiative Enhancement (random R): 1600 frags (1575) Adept Enhancement (random R): 1600 frags (1575) Nimble Enhancement (random R): 1600 frags (1575) Immunity Enhancement (random R): 1000 frags (1050) Sturdiness Enhancement (random R): 1000 frags (1050) Steadfast Enhancement (random R): 1000 frags (1050) Vigilant Enhancement (random R): 1000 frags (1050) Lethal O Mod (not A/B, random R): 525 frags Lethal B Mod (random R): 525 frags Warding B Mod (random R): 525 frags Warding O Mod (not A/B, random R): 525 frags

So... you want stuff to do with former Revanites?

SWTOR has a scale problem. Almost nothing feels big because it's all scaled for giants, so there's no human-scaled reference frame for architecture. The ~100m (300ft) player ships even manage to look smaller than the ~35m (100ft) Millennium Falcon, IMO! I don't know if there are any mere 10ft (3m) ceilings anywhere in this game! Maybe a small doorway or something?

I don't understand what problem you're getting at. A guild with 30 legacies and 1500 characters is smaller than a guild with 300 legacies and 300 characters in terms of active player capacity, conquest capacity, and so on. What mechanism do you see by which the 30-legacy guild dominates the 300-legacy guild other than waving a big number of characters around for bragging rights?

Why would Revanites (at least the SoR kind, not sure what they were like before) join you? It's a major plot point that they don't play well with others.

What aspects do you have trouble with (e.g.: where do you die), that could be made easier in the intro ops? Also, for comparison, what level of flashpoints are you comfortable with in groupfinder? VM level 50 flashpoints (Hammer Station, Maelstrom Prison, Battle of Ilum, etc.) VM level 60 flashpoints (Blood Hunt, Rishi) VM level 70 flashpoints (Umbara, Chiss, Nathema) MM level 50 flashpoints (HS, etc) MM Lost Island MM level 60 flashpoints (Blood Hunt, Rishi) MM level 70 flashpoints (Umbara, Chiss, Nathema)

... your post makes it sound like you don't know the specs I'm talking about. My suggestion DOES NOT increase the number of Balance/Madness abilities that can be cast/channeled while moving, it just REPLACES one with another. Balance/Madness have two abilities they cast/channel: * Telekinetic Throw or Force Lightning (channel) * Force Serenity or Force Leech (cast) AS IS, the utility "Force Mobility" allows Serenity/Leech to be cast while moving MY SUGGESTION is that the utility should REPLACE its effect on Serenity/Leech with a similar effect on Throw/Lightning

Balance Sage and Madness Sorcerer are generally considered to have a mobility problem, due to the need to stand still to channel Telekinetic Throw and Force Lightning The Force Mobility utility currently allows us to cast Force Serenity / Force Leech while moving. That's nice, but it would be nicer if it let us channel Telekinetic Throw and Force Lightning while moving instead. (This would work like the Kinetic Combat Shadow's Cascading Debris and the Darkness Shadow's Depredating Volts, which can currently be channeled while moving) For comparison, Telekinetics Sage and Lightning Sorcerer get to instant-cast their filler ability while moving twice after each Force Speed (which, in my experience, is most of the casts).

Yup. Just like Reusable Stims. Purple Kyrprax Proficient Stim: lasts for 2-3 nights of raiding, for 158k on GTN Gold Kyrprax Proficient Stim: reusable, for 6,000k on GTN. Assuming you're only using one proficient-stimmed character a night, It takes over two and a half months of raiding 4 hours a night every night for the reusable to pay itself back, assuming you're using Kyrprax stims. Advanced Polybiotic (-24 ACC, -10 Crit vs Advanced Kyrprax) is currently about 20k for purple and 5mil for gold (reusable), and lasts the same amount of time, meaning it takes a year and a half of raiding four hours a night every night to pay itself back! ... on the other suggestion, +1 max crew skill slots and +1 crafting skill allowed is something I would almost certainly like, but it's a different idea from this.

You're not actually forced to get Biochem, just encouraged, and you're mainly encouraged because there isn't any comparable advantage for other things. Reusable stims aren't actually necessary, at least in PvE -- any content hard enough to require a stim in the first place is more than worth burning a purple stim on. It's just a convenience thing. If every skill has a comparable but different advantage, then the "forcing" (as you put it) pretty much ceases to exist. Yes, you have to give up something, but since you no longer have the option of not giving up anything, it's no more "forcing" than people having to choose between Ruffian and Scrapper.

Currently, almost everyone wants their mains to have Biochem for reusable stims and medpacks and adrenals. I absolutely love those things, but I think there should be exclusive items in other skills to draw people to put those on their mains. e.g.: Cybertech: Reusable grenades (for Cybertech characters only) Artifice: Accuracy and defense crystals (for Artifice characters only) Armstech, Armormech, Synthweaving: "improvised" augments that require less mats to manufacture (same stats as normal augs), but can only be used by characters with the appropriate skill. None of these (except defense crystals, which might not even be good) give characters access to things they couldn't get otherwise, they just make it easier/cheaper to get those things reliably.

This almost exists and it is called Master Mode Flashpoints.

Elite Defenders in KDY should drop boss loot if killed before completing their scenario (for the bonus objective). This would bring KDY in line with most Vet flashpoints by having three bosses that drop boss loot.

Self-quoting because it all seems to be coming back to this: General Problem: Slicing + Protorp combo General Solution: Make slicing counter protorps instead of comboing with them Specific, Simple Solution: Instead of locking out the target's engine ability, have slicing lock out the target's ability to lock missiles on anyone, or increase the target's lock-on time by a large number.

Even if you aren't going to remove it, at least design it to not interfere with play -- assume it is always going to be there at all times, because it persists a long time sometimes, and make sure that doesn't obstruct anyone's view of the world or user interface, or ability to click on either.

... is there any under-60 gear that's actually better (stat-wise) than purple flashpoint drops or blue heroic drops? I assumed people were buying the under-60 stuff for the looks (I'm not super-interested, but some of my much richer guildies are very eager for certain low-level world-drops). The prices are obviously because it's legitimately scarce, due to people leveling out of its drop-range very quickly. If you're in the process of leveling up, your right-side and hands can easily be filled by buying cheap legacy-bound moddable gear at the adaptive gear vendor and putting components in from the vendors in the supplies quadrant of the fleet. Left-side is the only mildly difficult part, and for that I recommend heroics (from the combat quadrant, drops blue gear)

The numbers you give for guild size are useless. A well-organized guild of 300 players (each with one in-guild character) could beat any conquest number I've seen on Star Forge without too much effort. If you want to divide things by size, I'd do it logarithmically: One leaderboard for highest single character conquest (guilded or unguilded) One category for all guilds A second for guilds under 100 characters A third for guilds under 10 characters It would also be neat to show, for guilds/characters in the top 10, what percentage of their points came from what types of objectives (e.g.: Crafting, Groupfinder, GSF, Advancement, Heroics, Event, Miscellaneous...)

Having just used Slicing+Protorp in a deathmatch... I can see why people find it incredibly unpleasant. It was basically, "Hi, I have a missile lock, you're dead because you can't use the DCD intended for this very purpose" As for what it should be like... I think it would be thematically appropriate for it to do things like: Make it harder for the target to lock missiles instead of making it harder for them to break missile locks Mess with the target's sensors (disable communications and possibly reduce sensor range) rather than engines and shields Possibly convert mines/drones from foe to friend if it needs to be stronger than that I feel like the first two things would make it more of a support ability rather than a third weapon.

I'm kind of torn on this issue. On the one hand, tools that allow new or low-skill players to meaningfully impact a conflict between experienced or high-skill players is a good thing that makes the game more accessible. On the other hand, I don't like abilities that lock players out of playing the game. These are obviously miserable. The general idea of how to solve this is simple and obvious (make the low-skill abilities things that don't lock players out of playing), but I don't have any complete implementation to propose.

TBH, if a guild isn't exceeding a billion (with a B) conquest, they're obviously not cheating enough to matter for planetary invasions. With six fully-unlocked strongholds, it isn't terribly hard to get over a million conquest on one character[1], and a guild can have a thousand members. A thousand members each pulling a million conquest is a billion conquest. The highest guild conquest totals I've seen on Star Forge are in the hundreds of millions. Thus, unless I've failed basic arithmetic or missed a guild hitting several billion conquest, nobody is, yet, botting enough to be a problem for conquest, at least on Star Forge. [1]: Useful daily conquest goals (Numbers are with six fully-unlocked strongholds, which costs about 36 million credits total): Increase any reputation by any amount (+43k, really easy, do any reputation mission) Increase companion influence by one rank (+17k, easy on a relatively new character) Reassign a utility point (if under 70?) (+35k, takes two seconds) Do any three group-finder tasks in a day (+30k) Do the Toborro's Courtyard operation in story mode (+18.9k) (infinite) Do a group-finder veteran flashpoint (+6.5k +8.7k) (infinite) Do a group-finder master flashpoint (+6.5k +12.2k)