Companion Preferences?

[Oakleif]

Faction for romance aside, which companion do you prefer to run with and why?

 

Elara is obviously the only healer, which complements our tanking well, and Aric (ranged damage) I've gotten used to. I've just gotten M1-4x and I'm unclear about the differences between Aric, M1-4X, Yuun, and Tanno Vik in actual play after looking at their stats and skills on various sites.

 

As I've built up faction with Aric and Elara, should I just stick with them?

[Riulassher]

Frankly, Aric and Elara are our only useful companions (and maybe M1-4X, if you desperately need a tank).

 

Tanno Vik and Yuun are melee fighters (a heapload of other problems, like AI path, etc), and on top of that you can't keep their weapons updated. There is no moddable techstaff or techsword, you can't buy them at any vendor and as quest rewards, they are extremely rare - my companions are still equipped with their default weapons. That leaves friendly Armstech crafter as the only "viable" source of their weapons.

[Sanzorz]

Frankly, Aric and Elara are our only useful companions (and maybe M1-4X, if you desperately need a tank).

 

Tanno Vik and Yuun are melee fighters (a heapload of other problems, like AI path, etc), and on top of that you can't keep their weapons updated. There is no moddable techstaff or techsword, you can't buy them at any vendor and as quest rewards, they are extremely rare - my companions are still equipped with their default weapons. That leaves friendly Armstech crafter as the only "viable" source of their weapons.

 

This entirely depends on how you build your companions. Forex and Tanno are both great dps characters provided you care to get Forex in melee all the time for his short range abilities.

Yuun does very high damage, but is far more squishy than any other companion. Keep guard on him doing long runs and this wont be an issue. As for upgrading them, then this ain't a hazzle as you likely have an Armstech in your guild able to help. You will see their damage increase tremendously with upgraded weapons.

 

The heapload of trouble you mention is nothing I've experienced, unless you fight in a very weird terrain. Yuun will hardly ever have this issue as he got a Force Jump ability much like Jedis completely ignoring terrain. Tanno might have this issue, but I'd say you should stop engaging midair falling from a cliff then.

 

As for the topic, then I always run around with Yuun. Elara for the odd massive hp Champion mob you can find on maps. Dps companions give you faster killing and less downtime compared to have Elara out, especially as Shield Spec.

Edited January 20, 2012 by Sanzorz

[LandPhil]

I agree that Aric and Elara are your bread and butter. As shield spec I use Aric for normal questing and then switch to Elara when it comes time to fight the harder mobs.

 

A couple of notes... Upgrading their weapons is pretty important. I let Elaras weapon slide for a while and she was not able to keep be alive.. I'm talking she had a rating 46 weapon on and when I upgraded her to a 104 rating she really slapped the heals around.

 

If you're armormech just craft them some armor as you are leveling up your skill... it gives you a reason to do so.

 

Elara hates it when I make awesome darkside choices... look sometimes a mofo has to die. Thats just life... If you are going darkside make sure to switch her out when you feel a big part of the story coming. Sometimes those come after a big fight when you need her to heal and its unavoidable.

 

Vik is your armoring crafting fool.. make sure to use him.

 

May the ammo be with you!

[ururururu]

elara has no downtime for me.. in your mid-late 40s you fight enough elites that you might as well keep her out.

[Kaigen]

I keep Elara out almost exclusively for the reasons others have given. When I take a DPS out, though, I prefer Yuun over Aric. Being melee means he'll be right up in the scrum with me where I can keep an eye on him and pull mobs off him easily if necessary, and this keeps enemies grouped for the sake of both of our AoE abilities. With Aric, I have to worry about melee enemies aggro'ing onto him and splitting up the pack.

 

Being a tank spec, I just don't have a use for Forex or Vik most of the time.

 

As far as keeping the weapons up to date goes, there is a daily commendation mission on Belsavis that gives you top of the line weapons for your companions as a reward. The damage rating on Yuun's staff and Vik's blade aren't quite as high as what you could get on a gun by dropping daily commendations for an advanced reflex barrel, but they're pretty close, and I'm still saving all my commendations for my own use.

[Waagabond]

Easiest to gear is Jorgen, but best companion by miles is elara dorn.

She does good damage and provides excellent healing.

And after 1.1, she is CCing ALOT and often the right targets.

 

The other companions are an awsome asset since it allows you to send out more people to farm for crew skills, but thats it.

 

As a commando medic, go with tha Tank droid or Jorgen, as a vanguard you go with Elara.

And even most commandos, especially gunnery specd, go with elara.

 

She is probably among the best companions for any class in the game.

I often hear from other classes I play with, what kind of bloody companion I have that is so good, heal like mad and can do some nice burst damage.

 

Above all: Jorgen and Elarna uses commando gear, so any gear I change, I move over to my companion. Only difference here is that Jorgen can use both assault cannon and assault rifle, and as such, he is easier to have good weapons for, but finding good blasters is not hard. Heck, you can evne buy them from pvp points since warzome commendations are so fast to farm.

Later on, she will definately wear lvl 50 epic pvp armor with a blaster.

[Liathan]

99% of the time I use Elara because she's a healer and keeps me going.

[Zeel_Aldair]

Yeah it's pretty much Aric for easier trash or if you're grouped with a healer, Elara for Elites and anything else. If in doubt - just use Elara for everything. It's slower to kill stuff, but no downtime and you'll die way less.

 

Sad but true. I didn't find any of the others more effective than those two, although I'd have liked to use them more.

[Guurzak]

Tank and Healer are the peanutbutter and chocolate of MMO's. I could swap to Aric for easy trash, but on a PVP server the risk of not having Elara out when you get jumped by an Imp outweighs any potential speed gains.