[IDEA] Companion Evolution System and "Disciplines"

[lordhelmos]

Hello all,

 

After interacting with some of the companions, I see that they are a major part of the game's story. I was thinking of a system that would further expand on the companions and allow them to be more flexible with characters. I will try to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but I will reference early game companions you might get as examples.

 

I decided to post this here because the idea ties into the "story-branch" concept of the game directly and the general forums move ultra fast.

 

 

COMPANION EVOLUTION SYSTEM: DISCIPLINES

 

 

The idea revolves around "Disciplines" for companions. Disciplines are special "modes" that companions can acquire. Disciplines work like multi-class systems from other MMOs and allow companions to be swapped into dynamic and radically different roles. Companions have unique abilities for each discipline, many of which may specialized only for that companion.

 

An example of a discipline may be as follows:

 

When a Jedi Knight first acquire's Kira Carsen, she acts as a unique combat Jedi Shadow and designed to be a DPS companion. With a the discipline system, a player can gain affection with Kira or offer her a special gift that will trigger a discipline-based quest. In this discipline quest, a story driven dynamic will allow the player to adventure with Kira in a special quest which ends in unlocking a new discipline for Kira. This discipline allows her to use a completely different skillset that might be similar to that of a Jedi Guardian (tank).

 

After the discipline quest, the player will now be allowed to switch Kira from her default DPS discipline into her Guardian Discipline. Each discipline has it's own unique skills and gear window. This means that you can swap Kira into her DPS spec and gear her up with light armor, but in her Guardian Discipline you can equip her with heavy. When you switch her back to her DPS discipline the medium armor you left on her would still be there.

 

The Discipline quests should be story dynamics that center around the specific companion and how they acquire new abilities with the player's help. These disciplines can be story mechanics that increase the depth of the companion and allow them to be more useful to the player by taking unique roles that may compliment the player's playstyle more.

 

Another example of disciplines may involve the Jedi Consular companion Nadia, who might have a discipline quest that allows her to tap into force powers and learn the way of a the sage, allowing the player to effectively use her as a healer with her own unique support skills.

 

This would be a great addition to the already fun companion system and will allow players to learn more about their companions, customize them more, and swap the companions into disciplines that better match their playstyle.

Edited January 14, 2012 by lordhelmos

[Meira_Arirai]

I'm not sure how you'd implement this, but since I'm struggling with relatively low survivability against on-level content sometimes as a Sentinel, the idea of being able to swap Kira into a tankier role is really attractive.