Companions Ruin the Game

[sangreal]

The one flaw I have with the system is how you pretty much have downtime after every single pull no matter how flawlessly you execute your skills. and God help you if you pull adds accidentally.

 

I mentioned this on the first page, but just mount/dismount or resummon. 100% health for your companion

[titanmike]

Honestly? I like the companion thing. I just wish trying to choose gear for them wasn't such a chore with the current UI.

 

Open inventory, open paperdoll, move to companion tab... and manually compare the stats. ugh.

 

Am I missing something there?

yea, incase no one said it already you can turn on compare companion gear in the menu.

[MaximusNem]

I agree the companions need alot of work. 1/4 fights my companion just sits there scratching her *** while I get mauled. Its really annoying having to rely on a broken AI and ****** *** pathing.

[VorpalK]

"How much worse would it be as a heal spec if you didn't have a companion?"

 

What? If companions did not exist we would all be grouping together and we would actually be making friends and we would have a community. I chose to go heal spec on my Operative, and since I MUST use a companion, obviously I have adopted my current playstyle.

 

How much worse without companions it just..irrelevant. What purpose does asking this question serve?

 

You're presuming everyone currently playing are going to play if they're forced to group.

 

Hint: you're wrong.

[mangarrage]

well i know this may be a news flash to alot of people especially those who like to fly solo all the time, but this is a forced grouping game and the group is you and your companion

 

You have to do pretty much everything in a group

 

I think it is awesome personally to make all those people who are anti social to actually be forced to group whether they like it or not. Kind of like poetic justice

 

But otoh my warrior can solo if he wanted to, just not orange stars, it takes him 2 years to kill anything but he has alot of problems dying

 

But the gods honest truth about what ruins a game is the players, it is almost an absolute rule in games

Edited January 11, 2012 by mangarrage

[silkforcalde]

And alts are horrible in this game but that is another subject matter. Doing those planets again in the linear order they are with their linear quests makes me want to vomit thinking of it.

 

 

This is truth here. I'm an altoholic but I can't stand leveling alts in this game and doing the same linear progression of the story. In WoW I have MANY choices where to level and I'm NEVER forced to follow some story that usually isn't even interesting and I'm never forced to travel here, there, back again, spend 20 minutes on my scooter to talk to an NPC only to travel again...

 

One thing I really hoped this game would do was improve on WoW's leveling. It doesn't even come close to matching it.

[RealAeiouy]

I agree with the OP. Every single MMO that has ever come out has had a couple of classes that have a pet. If you want to play a pet class, you play a pet class... However, not everyone wants to play a pet class. In SWTOR you have no choice. You play a pet class no matter what. I don't want a pet. I want to go in and smack stuff around without having to worry about if my pet is still alive or not.

 

And yes, it is a pet. You can call it a companion or whatever you want but it is a pet.

 

I honestly think this alone will kill the game for some people. If you have never liked pet classes you are not going to enjoy this game.... and I know a lot of people that hate playing a pet class in other MMO's.

 

Companions don't require the same kind of handling as traditional pets. So what if your companion dies, rez him.

[RealAeiouy]

Honestly? I like the companion thing. I just wish trying to choose gear for them wasn't such a chore with the current UI.

 

Open inventory, open paperdoll, move to companion tab... and manually compare the stats. ugh.

 

Am I missing something there?

 

There is a ui setting to turn on companion tool tip compare

[DarkSeverance]

I'm a 50 Gunslinger in all modded/purple/blue gear. I'm sitting at 100.58% accuracy, 39.14% crit, 60.02% critical bonus, and 6.4% alacrity. I'm not sure how good that is, but I can drop mobs in seconds.

Why would you as DPS based be using a tank companion and expect to keep him alive or that he survives more, without any healing? Why not just use a healing companion and then dps everything down.

 

Also, give us a companion heal ability.

It is called BioChem.

[Turikan]

I'm generally in agreement with most people here, I find companions to be incredibly useful, the idea is that they let you play solo, but a good human player should always be better than the companion.

 

The only real change I would like to see is some way to limit when a companion uses their abilities, Khem Val has an AoE footstomp that plays hell with crowd control abilities - I'd love to be able to tell him to not use that so that he's not constantly taking nearby enemies out of stun.

 

You can simply disable it. Although I would much prefer that companions 'check to see' if a mob is CCd before they use any aoe abilities, but I'm willing enough to let this one slide for now.

 

I also wish It wasn't such a commitment to get your companion in fighting shape. I just picked up my third companion and she hardly compares to the one I've been using from the start and have geared out and learned to work with. It's just no contest, I'd like to hang out with the new crew member but it's a choice between constantly being near death in fights or wiping the floor with the mobs.

[RealAeiouy]

I'm generally in agreement with most people here, I find companions to be incredibly useful, the idea is that they let you play solo, but a good human player should always be better than the companion.

 

The only real change I would like to see is some way to limit when a companion uses their abilities, Khem Val has an AoE footstomp that plays hell with crowd control abilities - I'd love to be able to tell him to not use that so that he's not constantly taking nearby enemies out of stun.

 

You can toggle off abilities you don't want them to use. Click the plus on their mini bar then click on the aoe skill and he will stop using it. Hit the - on the bottom bar to put his mini bar back

[Red_Vs_Blue]

sounds like you just need to l2p.

[Democratus]

This is a BioWare game. Companions are to be expected. It's the sequel to a Star Wars game with companions that is itself a sequel to another Star Wars game with companions.

 

The other Sci-Fi game put out by the same company has companions.

 

To expect anything different is a tad silly.

[Seeiphiel]

Best answer: No, companions don't ruin the game. In fact, they make it even more interesting and increase the replay value.

[Kubira]

I play a level 50 bodyguard BH, 32 immortal Jugg and 27 concealment Operative. That's heals, tank and dps past level 25. My BH uses Blizz, Torian and Gault. My Jugg uses all three of his companions and my Operative uses his one companion. Different skills, different companion roles and different playstyles.

 

If my BH opens with Power Shot, Torian leaps to the enemy. There is no three second delay as the OP claims. If I am doing something precise (like capturing Esh-Kha seers on Belsavis), I turn off Torian's Burn ability so that the DoT doesn't kill them before capture. That is just a little tweak and most of the time I don't need to manage them at all.

 

For my healer and dps, I turn off every companion's AoE abilities. This gives me greater control over what creature has aggro on each of us. On my Jugg, I let Vette bomb away because I am picking up all aggro anyway. The self heal takes like 10 seconds. It is such a convenience that I am amazed some folks feel the need to complain about the 10 seconds.

 

This is not a ton of micromanagement. Just a few settings at the beginning (on or off) and the occasional command to attack or go passive.

 

As has been stated, there are companion med packs and there is an UI option for auto-comparing companion gear. You can expand the companion bar, decide which options fit your playstyle and then never touch it again.

[Jesmcalli]

You can toggle off abilities you don't want them to use. Click the plus on their mini bar then click on the aoe skill and he will stop using it. Hit the - on the bottom bar to put his mini bar back

 

Except that those abilities randomly turn back on for no apparent reason. Having to stop and check every time they come back from a mission, or vendoring grays, or change zones or....you get my point? Not bring up WoW, but even the pets in that game don't attack CC'd targets.

[Amatic]

My main point of this was:

 

You HAVE to have a companion. I bought the game without Beta testing (my mistake) and from what I gathered from reading, companions were an option, not a necessity.

 

You have to have him to do quests. I can't just go out on Ilum and do dailies without Monkey Boy following me around Wookie Smashing mobs around.

 

The biggest problem with this is they FORCE you to use these companions and then make them horrible. The tanks are squishy as hell, even in good gear. My Wookie is stacked with 50 custom/purple gear and it's like he's in level 20 greens. My Fish-Head can't heal enough to keep me alive because I'm so squishy. I'm worse than the Wook-master.

 

So herein lies the problem - They force me to use a companion and then make them stupid, slow, weak, and generally awful.

 

The companion tanks need a major buff. They can't hold aggro, can't be healed in combat unless you're a healer and then you can't do much damage, and they get beat down like they're not wearing armor.

 

And by Attack on Command, I'm not referring to where you force him to attack with Ctrl-1, I'm talking about when I attack a mob, he automatically starts attacking that mob as well. He will only attack if I'm struck back.

Edited January 11, 2012 by Amatic

[kyoseki]

Open the companion ability bar (by default the ~ key) and turn off the AoE ability.

 

Thanks!

[Ganadorf]

Have you tried from switching to more endurance items? o.o

 

I mean..Built like a glass cannon -> works like a glass cannon

 

Like..instead of using skill armoring, use patron ones.

 

Why would a Ranged DPS/Healer Class stack Health?

[Valkanisar]

I consider the companion system to probably be one of the best features released in any MMO in the last 10 years.

 

Companions are part of your class balance. It is a fantastic system that lays the foundation for a lot of future expansion.

 

Everyone I play with loves the companion system as well.

 

 

everquest was the first mmo to add a companion system.

[ManuNegra]

If they were part of your class balance, they would be playing Huttball with you.

 

....they make it so that a class like, say, sorc, can be designed SOLELY around the dynamics of being a ranged caster, so that come 50 they're designed to fit into a group and NOT be solo monsters...

[ManuNegra]

My main point of this was:

 

You HAVE to have a companion. I bought the game without Beta testing (my mistake) and from what I gathered from reading, companions were an option, not a necessity.

 

You have to have him to do quests. I can't just go out on Ilum and do dailies without Monkey Boy following me around Wookie Smashing mobs around.

 

The biggest problem with this is they FORCE you to use these companions and then make them horrible. The tanks are squishy as hell, even in good gear. My Wookie is stacked with 50 custom/purple gear and it's like he's in level 20 greens. My Fish-Head can't heal enough to keep me alive because I'm so squishy. I'm worse than the Wook-master.

 

So herein lies the problem - They force me to use a companion and then make them stupid, slow, weak, and generally awful.

 

The companion tanks need a major buff. They can't hold aggro, can't be healed in combat unless you're a healer and then you can't do much damage, and they get beat down like they're not wearing armor.

 

And by Attack on Command, I'm not referring to where you force him to attack with Ctrl-1, I'm talking about when I attack a mob, he automatically starts attacking that mob as well. He will only attack if I'm struck back.

 

my companion generally switches to whichever target i'm attacking, and he's not very slow about it either. not to mention, all of your complaints center around the levelling/soloing part of the game, if you think the levelling process in this game is THAT bad just bc you need to use companions to solo most of it...well, i almost wonder if you're not just trolling?

[Hiramas]

My main point of this was:

 

You HAVE to have a companion. I bought the game without Beta testing (my mistake) and from what I gathered from reading, companions were an option, not a necessity.

 

You have to have him to do quests. I can't just go out on Ilum and do dailies without Monkey Boy following me around Wookie Smashing mobs around.

 

/QUOTE]

 

In the pvp update i think they were talking about banning companions from Ilum. There you go.

[andrew_b_gross]

I agree with the OP. Every single MMO that has ever come out has had a couple of classes that have a pet. If you want to play a pet class, you play a pet class... However, not everyone wants to play a pet class. In SWTOR you have no choice. You play a pet class no matter what. I don't want a pet. I want to go in and smack stuff around without having to worry about if my pet is still alive or not.

 

And yes, it is a pet. You can call it a companion or whatever you want but it is a pet.

 

I honestly think this alone will kill the game for some people. If you have never liked pet classes you are not going to enjoy this game.... and I know a lot of people that hate playing a pet class in other MMO's.

 

Um, I hated pet classes in WoW but I love the companion system. My healer companion and my DPS companion both require absolutely zero effort or monitoring from me. I never think about either of them, they both do exactly what I expect them to do.

 

If your companion is at 25% after every single normal pull, that's a player issue, not a game design issue, because neither I nor any competent player in my guild has ever experienced anything like that, and we're far from elite.

[Hingster]

i too was really not impressed that i had to have a full time companion. no word of it when i looked at the game before purchase. i played a sith warrior lvl 50 and found myself healing even with a healer after every pull yikes BW what were you thinking that everyone would like a companion. and for that matter a totaly needed companion. sorry thats not the way i want to roll with a npc at my side 24/7.