Kippps Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I'm level 39, about to hit 40, and still on Hoth. I'm still with Kaliyo and she's well geared, as am I. The gear I use is all within two levels of my current and is mostly blue, with some modded and purple gear as well. I'm concealment spec'd and Kaliyo is acting as and geared for tank. Despite all of this, whenever i'm in a boss fight with any gold elite, around my level or a little higher, i'm almost exclusively having to play healer and only able to use the occational backstab and stun with corrosive dart, but i'm otherwise using Shiv to rack up tactical advantage points for the purpose of the T.A heal for my companion. It just isn't fun having to be a babysitter and spam healer just to try and keep my companion alive. Some bosses are really tough, even when I am hitting Kaliyo with regular heals and often rallying damage up on bosses at my level. Is soloing elites and bosses just not a strong point for the operative? Dealing with mobs is immensely fun and I can often deal with four or five person mobs without suffering a scratch just because of the way I manage stun abilities and the melee attacks, so i'm wondering whether ineffectiveness in boss battles is our compromise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamay Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Elites just take a little time to kill because Kaliyo's dps is *** and I normally don't have to spam heal her unless a lot of DoTs are involved. Champions I don't even both with when I am soloing because for the same reason above, I don't have 4 hours to kill 1 mob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRedPigeon Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I stopped using a tank companion the moment Vector's dps skills became available. I simply found it easier to slap on some HOTs and interrupts while Vector (or, later, any other DPS companion) wailed away on the gold. Operatives apparently are pretty good on the PvP scene, but DPS isn't something they're good for in standard PvE play. I simply found it easier to level above the planet's suggestion so I could avoid crashing and burning at boss battles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainsfords Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I'm not sure if you have Lokin yet, but I switched to him right away. Even on golds, opening with an acid blade hidden strike gives you some time to wail on them. As soon as backstab comes up again, use flash bang to get behind them and reapply acid blade. Once it's done again, use debilitate to repeat. As long as Corrosive stays up you should be able to burn anything really fast, and Lokin will keep you up without an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokt Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I havent encountered this at all. I managed a two gold, one silver pack 2 levels above me with Kaliyo and myself - full concealment. I think you should take a look at your ability rotation and make sure you are using all the Tools you have available to you. I posted a detailed list in another thread for leveling request, I'll break it out onto the main topic board for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkPony Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Only started to use Lokin at around 48 but I love him. Much more fun not having to healbot with a non-healing spec. In that sense Kaliyo suits a healer much more. Wish I had picked Lokin earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spifnar Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 The OP needs to tell us his spec. It sounds like you're DPS spec, in which case you'll want to use Lokin (you got him on Taris). With self heals, he takes much more of a beating than a non-healed tank. This frees you up to to DPS. And your DPS is much higher than your pet's In general, using the 1.5s heal is a poor use of TA for almost every spec. It's one of our worst abilities. Kolto Injection with 2 points in medicine is better and gives you a Laceration. Allowing you to Injection, Shiv, Laceration, Laceration, repeat. Lead with Acid-Hidden-BS, after 9 seconds stun-acid-bs and elites should be easy-mode All specs should be in range to use their interrupt. Interrupting mob abilities saves you or your pet from taking a ton of damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSwab Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Healing spec and 46; I use Vector almost exclusively. I put KP's on him and me, then we take turns with the mobs attention for standard boss fights, or I'll just hang back and heal him for tougher ones. I've found he has some issues with stealth, though. There is a hallway with two furry walking things on Hoth right in front of a quest objective, and I swear Vector got me killed like 8 times because they would see us after a rez or see through his sneak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahebish Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) I'm not sure if you have Lokin yet, but I switched to him right away. Even on golds, opening with an acid blade hidden strike gives you some time to wail on them. As soon as backstab comes up again, use flash bang to get behind them and reapply acid blade. Once it's done again, use debilitate to repeat. As long as Corrosive stays up you should be able to burn anything really fast, and Lokin will keep you up without an issue. If he's 39, he may or may not get lokin yet. 2nd. He's not a healer. So any heal spec operative comments aren't going to help him. Utilize your CC's more, and don't use your dots. take the time from flash bang to heal your companion... It helps. One thing people seem to forget a tank is only a tank with a healer and under no other circumstances. 3rd. You should be using all orange gear on yourself at this level. 4th. Ding 40 first... if you haven't PVP'd already, buy the full 40 PVP Powertech BH armor set for kaliyo and watch the magic happen. 5th. Again if you haven't pvp'd yet... I had my level 40 PVP armor set at level 32. And had Kaliyo's and Lokins at level 40. Edited January 13, 2012 by Ahebish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windezz Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I'm concealment spec'd and Kaliyo is acting as and geared for tank. There's your problem. You should have an easier time if you use a DPS companion for regular questing, and switch to Doc on boss/elite fights. You are spec'd in damage, so you either try to kill fast, or have some healing support in prolonged encounters. Kaliyo can't help with either approach. She simply doesn't do enough damage to help you, and once her HP runs low she can't heal herself. Also, on tougher fights it's better to save your stun and interrupt on the more powerful boss abilities. The elite casting Ion Shot? Let him. But if he's winding up a Firebomb you would want to interrupt on that. Distract has a 12 second cd, with Debilitate you should be able to stop at least 3 abilities before the boss gets the 4th off. Leave Kaliyo/Scorpio with the medics and their better heals. You should maximize your spec not to play catch up with untalented heals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotIceHunter Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 There's your problem. You should have an easier time if you use a DPS companion for regular questing, and switch to Doc on boss/elite fights. I disagree, companion damage is fairly limited either way, but having a companion with a taunt means two things: 1) You can backstab without having to use a CD. 2) You don't need to waste time using the out of combat heal. Companions are healed to full when you jump on a speeder, but if you are damaged, you have to heal, which takes time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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