Mako feels like a bad healer currently

[TooSlo]

I know she's the best companion that I can get even at mid levels, but recently (30-32) it's felt like her ability to keep me up as Shield Spec is dwindling.

 

I've kept her gear very up to date, all upgradable gear has current armor/mod/enhancements that are handed down by my other characters, and I'm armormech and have blue quality crafted gear before I can even wear it on both my character and Mako both.

 

It seems like she is too busy DPS'ing even after I've turned off her DPS abilities, but she seems to spend most of her time plinking away at mobs instead of actually healing me. Meanwhile I'm having to pop some kind of CD every group of mobs, and even double Hard (Silver) pulls put a strain on me.

 

I'm level appropriate for all of my quests, and finishing up chapter 1 of the BH questline felt like pulling teeth instead of being enjoyable like levels 1-30 were. Am I just not cut out to be a BH?

[Gallifrayen]

Being tank spec you should try a DPS companion around that level enemies start to get a lot more powerful and having a heal companion just doesn't heal for enough compared to enemies dying faster from the dps companion.

 

You could also try switching your spec to a dps spec to see if that helps and just stay in tank stance(don't know what its called for you) if you want to keep Mako around.

[DarkenDragon]

im guessing your the type that doesnt bother with bonus series quest and/or only does the class quests.

 

well sure you'll get to new places faster and what not, but your missing out on a ton of experience and extra gear

 

i've always been out leveled for every planet and i've never had any troubles as an arsenal merc and with no defensive abilities, shes never had trouble keeping me alive. she's also mandatory for elite pulls as well.

 

now I did turn off all her dps abilities and only left her healing abilities, but did you also took away her stun? the CCing ability she has. that will cause you a lot of problems as well. the only time she should be attacking is if all her abilities are on cooldown,

[TooSlo]

im guessing your the type that doesnt bother with bonus series quest and/or only does the class quests.

 

well sure you'll get to new places faster and what not, but your missing out on a ton of experience and extra gear

 

i've always been out leveled for every planet and i've never had any troubles as an arsenal merc and with no defensive abilities, shes never had trouble keeping me alive. she's also mandatory for elite pulls as well.

 

now I did turn off all her dps abilities and only left her healing abilities, but did you also took away her stun? the CCing ability she has. that will cause you a lot of problems as well. the only time she should be attacking is if all her abilities are on cooldown,

 

I'm not sure if you read my initial post, but I'd mentioned that every planet was level appropriate. I've done around 50% of the bonus series on every planet, but considering the lack of people in most areas, it's been a struggle to find groups for heroic quests.

 

Leveling through Alderaan, I had been commenting in general that I was a tank looking for groups on heroics, as well as having gear ready before I even level. Every zone has been a ghost-town like this. I camp Champion level mobs on my level 50 characters to pick up a little extra gear as well during times that I don't have things that I can't make, or just to have some Artifact quality gear when it becomes available for me.

 

I'm hoping this helps you realize that I'm not a slouch when it comes to making sure my character is maintained, or that I'm "lazy."

 

In some ways, it feels like it was easier to level a healing specced Sorc, even when my tanking companion (Khem) wasn't very well geared, and was soloing even level Champion mobs, assuming they weren't hitting him for 1/3-1/2 of his health per swing.

 

Maybe my expectations are too high after having been the healer in a tank/heal combo while leveling, I just figured it would be easier this time around because I have access to much better quality gear while leveling.

 

I'm more than willing to accept feedback, I'd just request that my posts are actually digested before making comments that I'm some type of lazy player who only cares about leveling as fast as possible. When leveling my Sorc, it wasn't fun when I was 2-3 levels too high for zones, having quests grey out to me before I even finished an area, or picking them up when they were already green.

 

I don't know who the companion is after Galt, but maybe they will be the key to keeping my interest, as it's waning currently with how squishy I feel, even in a tank spec.

Edited February 17, 2012 by TooSlo

[Celerian]

I think part of the issue is Mako doesn't have a spammable heal (she doesn't really have a spammable anything, but you don't generally bring her for her DPS). Odds are she's pew-pewing because that's all she has available. Just taking a guess since I don't generally keep my expanded companion bar up, so I'm not watching her ability use (except to grump about the fact that she electroshocks targets that are taking or are about to take damage, i.e. what I'm hitting or what I've thrown a dart at).

[Doozzer]

If you're a shieldtech, then you should have benched Mako the minute you got Gault.

 

Gault is a murder machine and he scythes through mobs like a wheat thresher.

 

You're approaching shieldtech from the wrong perspective- it isn't your job as an ST to kill people. Its your job to occupy and control them, and you're very good at it. It's your companion's job to put the nails in the coffins.

 

You have to decide for yourself here, what's more important?

 

-losing fights with Mako because you aren't killing anything

 

or

 

-having to recharge and reload after fights while you loot.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm telling you right now, I leveled a shieldtech and a jugger, its the same for every tank class- you take the DPS pet, and you never ever look back. You'll outkill and outlevel everyone who still uses Mako. A well equipped DPS pet saw through mobs 3 times as fast as you and your heal pet alone would, and nothing is going to kill you if its dying 3 times faster.

[teambff]

i felt the same untill around level 35 or so i'm not sure the exact level but somewhere around there it felt like she healed me better and then i removed all her dps skills and just checked her healing and that tazer shock and i do all the dps.. it's worked extremely well.

 

one thing i learned around this level also was to use my utility skills alot more, a well timed taser dart can make all the difference, also move around and don't stand still.... use jet boost, get on the moove a bit and let mako shock him... all the while your heat goes down and you can settle and unload a bit.. most of the time the enemy can't heal themselves so moving around, using utility skills and tactics can really take you to victory.

 

it's worked really well for me from around 35 onwards.. before that i was having a harder time and mako didn't seem to hold her end of things very well.

 

this is as a merc. dps however, it might be quite different for a powertech's style of play.

 

if there is multiple mobs always make sure to use some tactics like concussive missile to stun the strong one while you take out the weak ones and then heal up for the tough guy.

 

that's all i can say really, it got alot better for me 35 onwards.

[Kunovega]

If you're a shieldtech, then you should have benched Mako the minute you got Gault.

 

Gault is a murder machine and he scythes through mobs like a wheat thresher.

 

You're approaching shieldtech from the wrong perspective- it isn't your job as an ST to kill people. Its your job to occupy and control them, and you're very good at it. It's your companion's job to put the nails in the coffins.

 

You have to decide for yourself here, what's more important?

 

-losing fights with Mako because you aren't killing anything

 

or

 

-having to recharge and reload after fights while you loot.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm telling you right now, I leveled a shieldtech and a jugger, its the same for every tank class- you take the DPS pet, and you never ever look back. You'll outkill and outlevel everyone who still uses Mako. A well equipped DPS pet saw through mobs 3 times as fast as you and your heal pet alone would, and nothing is going to kill you if its dying 3 times faster.

 

^this

 

take your cunning/crit gear off mako and put it on gault. you wont need another companion. my gault snipes for 3 to 4k with crits

 

the healer companions (mako or the droid) are mainly for dps spec bh. they can only heal well for a couple of casts though so you need have your own dps to kill targets quick, the healer companions arent going to sustain anyone in long fights

 

the tank companions (blizz and skadge) are mainly for healer spec mercs (and not even all that useful for them, they are typically better off with a dps pet unless they are pairing up and rounding out a 4man group with a tank companion)

 

the dps companions (gault and torian) are for any fight you need to end quickly and really shine when paired with a tank. your down time between fights may feel a touch longer when using them, but the fights will be over noticably faster to make up for it

[Humankeg]

If you play as a full fledged tank, in full tank gear, mako can keep you alive against very strong NPC's. If you are going as a dps though, Mako has trouble keeping you alive against 2 silver elites.

 

She is not meant to replace a human healer in terms of strength of heals.

[ZeroPlus]

Check if she has Electro-Stasis turned on. She gets it around level 30 if I am not mistaken. She will spend all her time trying to use this ability against mobs that are immune to it, or that you are hitting on.

 

Turn it off and she will go back to keeping you alive as she should.

Edited February 17, 2012 by ZeroPlus

[Wisz_Rethon]

yes, turn off auto electrostasis but do make her use it. It saves lives

 

And purple her up and add presence augments if you can. It turns her into a megahealer

[Syrellaris]

As a full shield spec at lvl 30 I was soloing appropriate champion levle mobs with just mako. I would always finish the fight with around 40% health left.

 

Mako is one of your best companions, Together with gault (my gault sucks, i didnt gear him) and Torian (Love this guy! he's better in dps then gault if you ask me) i own packs of mobs.

 

Hell I solo Heroic 2+ and even several 4+ at lvl 50 with just mako and Torian.

[Sipkos]

To be honest, the companions greatly scale with gear. I am now 50 lvl and got Mako or Thorian by my side. Thorian is in my old columi gear set, Mako full in purple. And now I am able to solo all daily q except 4 - Old enemies. Equpied Thorian does TONS of damage a very fast.Gault is aslo great at DPS i just like the idea of 2 BH ) As i am Merc Arsenal we kill thing together so fast, they dont know you were there )).. As for Mako, i regularly use her as a healer for some harder fights and she can pull of nice healing. It is all about gear. Through the leveling process i got all the equipment from quest ment for companions and NEVER had any issue with Mako. She always kept me alive.

 

But as mentioned, very important is to choose the active abilites for companions. Electrostatic for Mako must be off and used manualy, or she makes you mad )))))

[ManiacalShen]

Am I the only person that lets Mako decide when to use Electro-stasis and is happy with the decision?

 

If I don't want her to hold that mob, I smack it. If I do, yay, free CC!

[Ejja]

Am I the only person that lets Mako decide when to use Electro-stasis and is happy with the decision?

 

If I don't want her to hold that mob, I smack it. If I do, yay, free CC!

 

Nope. I do this as well. Never had a problem. I can easily solo appropriate level +2 heroics and even some +4 heroics if the mobs are spaced right (not having 5 golds in a group). I can take down champions fairly easily. I turned off all her dps and left the electro static on. Works fine for me. I just don't hit the mob. It is the same as playing with a PC who CCs.

[Celerian]

Am I the only person that lets Mako decide when to use Electro-stasis and is happy with the decision?

 

If I don't want her to hold that mob, I smack it. If I do, yay, free CC!

My only issue with it is sometimes she decides to taze the guy I'm on instead of one of the loose mobs. On the plus side, it does at least set me up for Shoulder Slam if I notice before it breaks. And watching her try to cc HK-47 was kinda funny.

[deathstorm]

I used Mako till around mid 20s. I then read a few posts in the forum about the chatty droid and gearing him up. I got him modable gear early on and kept his mods in step with mine, sometimes crafted or whatever i would discard.

 

His heals are pretty decent. I did some stuff a few levels above me and it seemed to be not too bad. I kept to a full tank spec the whole way thru, except at one point I went a level as Carolina Parakeet build.

 

If you can learn to ignore his chattiness he's a good option. I actually like it sometimes. lol! Selective hearing ftw.

 

Made it to 50 with him no problem.

 

Hint+ Learn to time his AoE heal so that your not kiting and missing out on it, a well timed stun, oil slick, shield etc works well.

[Sasheria]

I usually turn off the electro statis (she ALWAYS seem to target my mobs) I'm shieldtech. I like her as healing (she is not bad as DPS either)

 

BUT all companions are GEAR dependent. ALWAYS keep your main* companion gear upto date.

 

Main*: the companion you always take on mission. the other companions' equipment doesn't have to be up to date, but the main should always be up to date with the latest gear/mods.

[PlatorPRIME]

I levelled my shield spec'd BH from 1-50. I paid very little attention to gear for mako and I rushed alot of content. I was usually doing quests a level or two above my own and I never had any problems with Mako's healing. Maybe your expectations for her are too high?