So why pick doc over Kira?

[weezman]

Eventually you won't have a choice. You will need the heals. Doc will become a requirement instead of a choice.

 

Edit:

Unless you like making every mob pack encountered into some sort of challenge. Then hey, more power to you. Personally I look for my challenges elsewhere (FPs, WZs, etc etc) and don't seek to make levelling any more tedious than it already is.

Edited January 30, 2012 by weezman

[FalcoLombardi]

I only needed Doc once throughout my entire gameplay. I think it was on Belsavis. I played Defense Guardian with Kira

[JagerPanzer]

As a 43 Guardian with better than average mods and implants, up-to-date shield and earpiece, well-geared Kira, Doc and Scourge, making judicious use of interrupts and using a full companion quickbar worth of skills in tough fights, nearly 30% shield chance/absorption/defense and 12k hps, I call unadulterated BS to those claiming they never need or use Doc against champs or groups with multiple elites.

 

Apparently I'm doing something very wrong if I can't beat two or more silvers or golds without Doc, so please enlighten me.

[SarimRune]

There's your problem: You're at L35. Doc's value takes a while make itself manifest, because of how TOR's zone design is. As a Watchman Sentinel, I had the sentiments you did after getting Doc.

 

Errr...no.

 

Doc is immediatley valuable. I went from zero to hero after getting Doc. Pre Doc it was fight anything, stop, rest. Repeat.

 

Once I got Doc...it's go!go!go!!!

 

I end most combat with full health. The difference between having to stop and rest means that you could lose precious Focus. So many times I would have to rest with 3 Focus, only to lose 1 to resting and therefore, could not use Overload Saber.

 

That, in my books, is huge.

 

I lurve Kira but if I take anybody but Doc, it's like hitting an auto-die button.

[DJJAZZY]

I much prefer Kira for the social part of the game. But for combat Doc has made it much easier for me. Now that I'm at the level that it seems every mob has some sort of dot to put on me, I find Doc to be a must have in combat.

[matthiaskotor]

Really depends on your spec. If you are DPS, you'll want a tank or healer companion, at least for tougher fights. If you're a tank, a DPS companion will make trash pulls die faster, but a healer will make you way less likely to die on tough pulls.

 

Also, as some people have suggested, try Doc in his DPS stance. He still throws heals if you need it, but does a lot more damage.

[Dawginole]

There is a trade off and you can probably keep tabs of this if you wanted to.

 

With Doc, your fights are slower but you have no downtime. With Kira, your fights are faster, but you have to rest after almost every set of mobs past 32ish.

 

If you wanted to, you could find an area full of mobs and just create a giant circle that would allow you to continue to fight. Run the route with Kira like you normally would fight, don't change anything. Then run the route with Doc and see, for you, which companion allows you to get through the route faster.

 

Remember this is an RPG. It's xp/hr that is important, not how fast you get through one set of mobs.

[HeroMystic]

As a Vigilance Guardian, my issue with using Doc 100% of the time is he's never really needed outside of multiple Elites and Champions. Even against Elites, I learned that using Soresu form lowers the damage taken by a considerable amount to the point where I'm usually +60% of my HP at the end of the fight, and that's pretty much guaranteed if I use Saber Ward and other damage mitigation abilities like Force Stasis, Force Push, and Unremitting.

 

EDIT: And I just like Kira better.

Edited January 30, 2012 by HeroMystic

[flamezfan]

I just started using doc, but so far, while after my fights I no longer have to heal up, I feel that overall I'm going slower. I slightly perfer Kira at this point, that could change, but just how I see it.

[Lomerell]

I take Doc over Kira because (like 70% of the players I polled in a different thread):

 

If I take Kira, I have to rest between every fight.

 

If I take Doc, I don't have to rest between fights, or rarely have to.

 

Sure, the fights take longer, but if my options are:

 

1. Longer Fights
   
2. Staring at myself meditate
   

 

...then I find #1 preferable to watching my character sit still and stare at nothing between every fight. Even if the fights take longer, at least I'm DOING SOMETHING.

 

And as far as which one wastes more time, I'd have to see a side-by-side video comparison to be convinced that anyone knew what the hell they were talking about.

[Themanthatisi]

I use Kira for everything except one on one boss/elite fights..

 

Also, in the Star Wars world and I like to feel I am in it, its seems more star wars like to have a Jedi companion when you are a Jedi. I did dress Doc in robes though (with mods tailored to his abilities) so he looks more like a Jedi. :-)

[Selaik]

Once i got doc , the game went in to easy mode thats all i can say , I am dps specked

[flamezfan]

I can't say the game feels easier with doc than kira. Though I find that while resting after fighting with kira that's when I send companions on crafting missions or check inventory and other mundane tasks that I won't have to do if I used doc.

[SilentKitty]

I usually switch between T7 and Doc in dps-form, have almost always played with him in healer-mode up until Belsavis but just on chance I switched to dps-mode and it was much more fun this way. Things goes down a little quicker and he still keeps my JK's health up. It's excellent to have pixel-boyfriend tagging along for most of the q's.

 

As far as Doc and Kira goes, personally I like Doc better. But really I like to play with all my comps, sometimes change them in the middle of a cave or quest area just because I feel that a certain situation might be more fun with a different comp. But T7 and Doc are the regulars.

[eatZecaai]

I call unadulterated BS to those claiming they never need or use Doc against champs or groups with multiple elites.

 

Apparently I'm doing something very wrong if I can't beat two or more silvers or golds without Doc, so please enlighten me.

 

You are doing something wrong then. You never run into "multiple elites" outside heroics, which renders that rant pointless. And if you can't beat multiple strongs without Doc while using "above average gear" you have to be randomly clicking icons without knowing what you're doing. Bringing up champs has to be a joke. They are not meant to be "solo'ed" at level. And if you claim you can do it with Doc I have to call BS myself.

[Seuria]

Hit 50 yesterday, and never even so much as brought Doc out of the medbay downstairs. I went with Kira until forced to take T7 out for the final quests (and I had the gear ready for him despite what seemed to be a considerable nerf to the whole area). I was a Watchman specced Sentinel.

 

The only place I ever had any trouble while using Kira was in the early quests of the Corellia story sections. I left, bought her a new hilt and new armor mods for her orange gear, and we came back and worked the place.

 

Honestly, if you work out a solid way of taking mob packs using Kira is not only viable, but can work quite well. If I took damage it was generally during the course of those regular mob packs until I figured out that sending Kira in first to the tightest cluster (so her AoE would grab them up) and then jumping in myself. Apply liberal amounts of Master Strike, Bladestorm, and Camo when you grab unwanted aggro and and you'll emerge with nearly full health everytime. if Kira takes a substantial amount of damage (rare for me), dismiss and resummon or mount and dismount. She's back to full.

 

I really got her to shine on elites, though, and this is easy enough if you aggro trade. Send her in, jump in yourself, hit overload, zealous, cauterize, and then grab them with stasis. By the time stasis falls off you'll have aggro so pacify them, wait for that to expire while dpsing, pop saber ward, wait for that to fall off, and then camo. Bam, Kira has aggro again, and if you've had Zen rolling across the fight she'll have a mountain of health. Haven't had that many elites really have time to beat on Kira when she has aggro the second time. They're usually dead before they do much more damage.

 

I did notice I'm in the minority, though. I'm pretty heavy into extreme soloing with my WoW hunter so rolling with a pet and no healer (except chimera shot these days) is sort of second nature. So is understanding mitigation and aggro dancing, when necessary. Part of the fun of it for me.

[Criton_Volun]

As a 43 Guardian with better than average mods and implants, up-to-date shield and earpiece, well-geared Kira, Doc and Scourge, making judicious use of interrupts and using a full companion quickbar worth of skills in tough fights, nearly 30% shield chance/absorption/defense and 12k hps, I call unadulterated BS to those claiming they never need or use Doc against champs or groups with multiple elites.

 

Apparently I'm doing something very wrong if I can't beat two or more silvers or golds without Doc, so please enlighten me.

 

 

 

Sorry but I believe you are doing some thing very wrong if you can not use kira and kill 2 silver mobs . I am vigilance speced and have used kira on every fight except 2 so far. I am lvl 50 I just have not completed all the story quests so far.

 

The only 2 fights where I had to use doc was the one where you have to use doc he is the only compaion your allowed to use and the final boss in the 2nd story arc ( caint rember his name ).

 

Are you sending kira in first on one of the mobs ? I found that if I jumped in and got all the agro from all the mobs to start things were alot more difficult then if I just sent kira in first , saber throwed a diffrent target and then jumped in .

 

Kira should be able to easy kill 1 or more regular mobs with out her taking to much damage while your killing the elite .

 

Or for 2 elites send her in on one of them while you take the other when she gets about half health taunt it off her you should be able to take them out with your ablities and hers.

 

Have you made sure to choose the ablitiy for kira that is a saber ward. I think its called blade some thing , its basicly a saber ward but it shares a cool down with one of her other ablities so you have to turn off her other one .

[JagerPanzer]

I apologize for the earlier rant. I was referring to FPs and heroics, which are quite doable most of the time, and thought some of the earlier posts were stating they were doing those with Kira. Sorry again.

[Tangenobi]

I'm level 45 watchman and I use all of my companions except T-7..My stronged

st dps comp is Rusk with Kira being a close second...Scourge is my main tsnk and Doc is my "easy button" so to speak if needed. I basically use them all depending on my situation which is what IMO bioware intended...

 

The main one I use is Rusk though he is a beast when geared!

[Dawginole]

On my level 50 guardian, I find myself using Kira 75% of the time now that I have both Kira and Doc maxed out on Affection. She makes killing stuff so much faster.

 

Does affection somehow affect their skill levels or did you just mean that now that it doesn't matter since you don't need to work on their affection you prefer Kira the majority of the time?

[TucoR]

I prefer Kira,and I miss her sarcasms and all,but that annoying bragger is mandatory.

You just can't do without him,Don't really have the choice as a Sentinel.

[All_Under_Heaven]

I prefer Kira,and I miss her sarcasms and all,but that annoying bragger is mandatory.

You just can't do without him,Don't really have the choice as a Sentinel.

 

Pretty much this. I see some Sentinels using Lord Scourge effectively, but they usually have to Introspect(Health gen.) every other fight. Doc eliminates almost all downtime and is the only surefire way I can takedown 3+ Silvers / 1 Elite & 1 Silver.

 

Loved using Kira, but had to switch permanently to Doc during Hoth. Mobs were hitting just a little too hard, and my Sentinel was just a little too fragile.

 

I should say I'm Combat spec'd, the least survivabilty-oriented spec of the three. But I'm not spec'ing Watchman just so I have a smooth run at Dailies. I shouldn't have to. When you have one spec that dominates both PvE and PvP(Watchman), one that dominates PvP(Focus), and one that is sub-par to both(Combat), that means the class isn't balanced.

 

Only heard one Sentinel that used Rusk. I don't really like him.

[CarpLTunnel]

If I need DPS I switch doc out of med watch and into his fighting stance. Turn cryo off and he is very effective at blasting things. Sure he is not a power house but he can keep you healed and damage things in that stance. Scourge is fun to play but I have to swap him out when I get to story arcs so I dont hurt his delicate Sith sensibilities.

[Veluthurk]

Interesting thread and making me look forward to getting Doc on the team.

[DralenBrand]

I think a lot of the folks who REALLY see the benefit in Doc are the combat-specced sentinels like myself who lack the watchman spec's innate healing ability or the guardian's survivability. I was doing fine with Kira on Balmorra, but then I got Doc. Then it went into extreme easy mode. I sometimes pull out Kira just to make things more interesting. With Doc, I am able to kill most mobs faster than they can do any significant damage to me.