Companion impressions, from a soloing Immortal spec point of view.

[KatonTory]

Hey all.

 

I'm writing this for two reasons, one just as a note of my experiences and two as anecdotal information for those with newer juggernauts who are wondering which companion would best compliment their style of build - essentially a tank build out in PvE, questing and soloing.

 

One quick proviso:

My character Balt on Lord Adrass has only reached 35 at the point I've written this due to a case of alt-o-holism, and life being life - as a result I won't be able to comment on companions past Jaesa at this point.

 

For me, I wanted a character that was built to run the important role of keeping aggro and staying the team and myself alive through experienced play and survivability. I was very glad to see that companions made this also a viable role for reasonable speed solo play in SWTOR. Its not that you can't do this in other MMOs, but it tends to be a very slow progression. So, 1 point for Bioware here.

 

Anyhow, on with the show. My impressions of the companions in two parts - initial impressions, and my feeling on which one suits solo immortal players the best, and why as best as I can state. I am assuming all the companions are reasonably and comparably geared for the point of discussion.

 

Vette

When you first acquire Vette as an active companion, she should feel OverPowered. Its terrific. The two of you are hell on Korriban, good times. You notice quickly that she can pull aggro, and will likely inspire you to put to some use your aggro gathering skills.

 

Quinn

Your first healer. Again, for the first few levels after you acquire him, you feel unstoppable, like bounty hunters as soon as they get Mako pre-10.

 

Jaesa

Close range dps, psychotic combat statements if you have her as a dark side version. I didn't get that 'juice' I did from the previous two when I acquired her, it was more of a style change, the OP nature of the others had indeed started to feel less dramatic as I progressed to new planets.

 

I'm on Taris now, so I'll soon be getting the range tank fella I hope, but either way I don't have him yet. Onto which best suits solo immortal quest runners.

 

A little background before the punchline.

 

I noticed by Alderaan(sp?) that the game was starting to step up more stiff opponents, with more strong mobs, elites not being too uncommon and champions(uber elites) hanging about in various spots. By the time I reached Taris, it felt as it had leveled off, but I shouldn't fall asleep at the controls, as my targets weren't all papier mache' anymore.

 

So, here it is.

 

In my opinion, Vette is the champ.

 

Why?

I find when I play with Vette, I have the lowest downtime of all three.

 

Why is that?

With Quinn, his healing quite frankly isn't terribly strong, and fights go on a long while - I often would still need to channel hatred after a mob cluster scrap to heal the last bit.

 

With Jaesa, I was thinking she might be superior to Vette as a dps companion because she was generally close, and I could keep track of what she was doing, and bail her out a bit faster than when I had to turn around, run back to 'peel' aggro off Vette.

 

In practice, Jaesa was getting herself into much more trouble than Vette was, attracting multiple mobs to say hello to her face with their fists. I found I was spending more time per fight using aggro gathers then when I used Vette, which slows down the battle a bit.

 

Vette generally only aggro's one target, which is manageable. She can get into bad spots, but generally if she's got one threat after her, you have time to wrap up what you're doing, THEN go bail her out - and she'll very likely be at a safe enough health point that there's plenty of time to 'peel' aggro back to you.

 

In conclusion, while Quinn can keep you going you should expect longer fights, Jaesa can do solid dps but gets herself under fire a bit more than you may like. Vette is my winner because she makes up for what you lack as an Immortal Juggernaut - 'teeth' when it comes to strong dps, AND keeps herself generally safe.

 

I'm not an elite player, but these are my impressions and recommendations. I hope this helps other part time players with immortal spec Juggernauts who are wondering about this.

 

Now, back to play with my wiseacre companion!

[JediKabuto]

A pretty accurate summary. However, there are just some things you cannot kill without Quinn. Proper Champions, Double Elites and so on.

[Soapland]

I've been lvl 50 on my jugg for one and a half months now and I do the belsavis and ilum dailies everyday. For those who don't know, the dailies are a good mix of every quest type, heroics and normals. The below is some of the things I've learnt,

 

Quinn is always your safest bet when it comes to any fight whether you are dps or tank. Although if you arent up against champion lvl or more than one elite mob, I'd suggest you take jaesa or vette, cos its much faster.

 

Vette does slightly better damage but is somewhat more squishy then jaesa, which seems strange since jaesa is light armour and vette medium. How I know this is cos I've sent both these girls against various strong mobs 1v1 and jaesa always comes up with significantly more health. I have both equipped with similar lvls of gear(15.5k hp for both).

 

As for your two tank companions, they both are subpar as tanks and you'll steal threat away from them more often then not. In broonmark's case, his damage mitigation is lacking as well (I have him geared in columi equivalent). A case could be made for taking turns to hold aggro against champ mobs, thereby allowing you to solo them, but I don't see why you wouldn't just use Quinn in the first place, cos there's less micromanaging involved.

 

One thing I like to use broonmark for is as mobile storage for my tank gear as he can wear most of your gear, barring lightsabers.

 

Also jaesa looks awesome in a slave bikini and a pink saber.

[KatonTory]

Thanks for the insights and feedback, appreciate it.

 

I'll keep Quinn's gear up to date and try him again against multiple elites or a champion. I must be doing something incorrectly, perhaps there was an ability of Quinn's that I wasn't high enough in level to have up for him.

 

As you both stated he's the one to use against champs/dbl elites I'd like your input on tactics, abilities of quinn you prefer on or off and his mode or 'stance'.

 

Hope to hear back from you both!

 

Balt Kilwinning

35 Sith Warrior Immortal

Lord Adrass

[urborror]

I like that Jaesa pulls half the aggro (vs. Vette.) On those occasions where Jaesa goes down, obviously something's gone wrong--but it's better than me going down.

 

It's nice to have a companion alive and putting out DPS--it's nicer to have a companion putting out DPS and taking some hits too.

 

Usually you can toss out a "threatening scream" if Jaesa's low on health and pull the aggro right at the end. This is almost foolproof if you're quick on the draw--which means Jaesa's taking heat off you is nothing but good.

 

Me and Jaesa could solo two on-level elites, much of our game (elite eliteness does vary, of course.) Defensive buffs / Jugg stuns work wonders.

 

To me, selectively using Jaesa to take aggro > Quinn / Vette.

[KatonTory]

Can't argue with you there, Jaesa does drop from time to time, but I'm always alive at the end of it, as she soaked up damage intended for yours truly.

 

I guess I'm after a strong dps contributor who can take care long enough for me to bail them out. Do you find Jaesa does more dps than Vette all gear being equal, or do you just prefer her combat style and aggro gathering?

[Crnizmaj]

Vette and Jaesa are similar in terms of dps. Quinn is highly situational, and i rarely use him now that i have a full columni set (i'm tank specced). I prefer Vette though, Jaessa will just stand in the aoe and die at any mob that uses some area of effect.

The other companions are not worth mentioning, they can't reach the dps of Vette/Jaesa and we have no use for a tank companion.

Edited February 20, 2012 by Crnizmaj

[DiLune]

Just wanted to add that I use Quinn as little as possible (only when I have to.) I Hate him so much...

 

But there were times on higher level planets (Act III planets) that I did want to pull him out just to make my life a little easier.

Edited February 20, 2012 by DiLune

[Vid-szhite]

A pretty accurate summary. However, there are just some things you cannot kill without Quinn. Proper Champions, Double Elites and so on.

 

I have killed both with Vette. Even solo'd Heroics with Vette, even did the final boss of our story arc with Vette at level 49, no stims or medpacs, not even my 20 minute cooldown. I even dinged 50 when I returned to my ship for some "romance time" with her, right after I beat him. She just needs decent to good gear and be in the right stance for what you need.

 

Vette is my favorite as a 50 Tank. Went with Quinn for a while when I ran into some Internal bleeds, but Vette jumped right back up to the top. Jaesa gets hit with AoE too much and can't take a hit, she dies against Strongs; I have downtime even with Quinn, and Vette finishes fights faster; and my tank companions are obviously useless to me. Quinn is under-geared, though, and I've been giving Vette all my spare /greeded purples from hardmodes, making the gap between her and the others that much greater.

Edited February 21, 2012 by Vid-szhite

[Vid-szhite]

I like that Jaesa pulls half the aggro (vs. Vette.) On those occasions where Jaesa goes down, obviously something's gone wrong--but it's better than me going down.

 

It's nice to have a companion alive and putting out DPS--it's nicer to have a companion putting out DPS and taking some hits too.

 

Usually you can toss out a "threatening scream" if Jaesa's low on health and pull the aggro right at the end. This is almost foolproof if you're quick on the draw--which means Jaesa's taking heat off you is nothing but good.

 

Me and Jaesa could solo two on-level elites, much of our game (elite eliteness does vary, of course.) Defensive buffs / Jugg stuns work wonders.

 

To me, selectively using Jaesa to take aggro > Quinn / Vette.

 

To me, letting Jaesa take aggro is downtime that I wouldn't otherwise have. With Vette, I can usually go 2-3 spawns before resting, but with Jaesa, I have to rest every time or she'll die next fight.

[JediKabuto]

Baras is easy to rush down with Vette, yes. That's how I killed him too.

 

That's not to say she is the best though. For general use, in situations that 'could' be tricky Quinn is the man. For most other times, and for when you have a plan, Vette is probably the best.

Edited February 21, 2012 by JediKabuto

[Dracosz]

Quinn = Regular mobs + Certain Bosses (Draahg comes to mind)

Vette = Most Bosses (Easy to zerg down with her)

 

Broonmark - Most ****** mother****er ever (in pvp). Ah, the glory days of Ilum with my bloodthirsty white furball charging down republic players on Ilum (for context, I got him to 1700 STR in my PvE gear while I was in PvP gear, he crit people for 4k )

[Nilthien]

I recently specced tank and gave Broonmark my old dps gear. He's my new favorite companion. I hold the mobs, he eats them up. Haven't had to use Quinn, but I imagine at some point there will be a reason to break him out again. My favorite part about broon mark is that if you're a jugg and want to tank, he can use all your dps gear (minus the lightsaber) and when you want to dps you just swap your gear with his and he's your new tank.

[Autovern]

im only 35 atm but i find vette superior to all others... even vs elites and champs... she gets blue / epic guns/barrels each or evory second upgrade lvl... im immortal spec and without vette i suck (hope she reads this)

[FalcoLombardi]

I used Jaesa all throughout. She does massive damage especially with Exanguish or whatever. 2 nice DoTs plus alot of heavy hits. I say use who you like the best. The only time I had to use Malavai was when I fought

Darth Draagh in the next to last Chapter 3 mission

<---- Late class story spoiler

[BlackHaloRose]

Solo'd my way to 50 myself as a Immortal Juggernaut, and had fun doing it. I did occasionally join a Flashpoint or two but it was 95% soloing for my SW. These are my thoughts on the companions.

 

Vette: She is amazing early, and if you keep her well geared, she stays that way. However, since I constantly would solo Heroic's for the challenge and rewards, I typically didn't use her.

 

Quinn: My most used companion. Partly because my SW is romanced with him, and partly because I throw myself into difficult fights a lot. As stated, he'll keep you alive in some hairy situations. Just be ready to taunt off this guy often, as he has a habit trying to make friends with the mobs you aren't bashing with your saber.

 

Jaesa: Good damage, but she doesn't seem to match Vette. I find her bleed stance to be more use than armor pen stance. If you prefer her to Vette, you probably won't be hurt that bad, she's still good at killing things.

 

Pierce: Wow, this guy, did not make a good impression on me. I brought him along as soon as I was able, and this guy was eating dirt so fast it wasn't funny. I wasn't expecting him to take the "Best Companion" prize by any stretch, but I wasn't expecting him to fail me so bad. Though I imagine he could be a decent DPS or tank with better gear, meh, stick with the chicks designed to pile on damage. Shame cause I really was fine with his character.

 

Broonmark: I wasn't expecting to like this guy, but I did. Wish he also made a better impression on me, but like most tank companions, they really lack the durability of player tanks and tend to die fast. (At least during the leveling process, different story if you give them amazing gear at 50.)

 

As stated above, I mostly used Quinn due to my preference of taking on Heroics of my level or higher. Vette usually didn't cut it in these missions, but I tended to use her if I wasn't doing heroics since she just tears things to shreds.

 

Overall, it was a fun experience. Ran into some hard times since I went looking for tough fights frequently, but I usually could find a way around them, without the use of Channel the Force too.

[Amethysted]

If Im on a quest at or around my lvl (47), I use quinn. Fights are long. But I live to fight again.

 

If I go back (and down 5-10 lvls) I use jeassa. She's like me when it comes to killing.

 

Who wouldn't want 2 of themselves? Ha!

 

My quinn is fully geared and works just fine...

[Bloodcharged]

I mostly use Quinn, he's in a mixture of Columi/Centurion gear and I am in mostly Columi/Champion(Immortal Spec) and he does fine for me. I'm able to Solo both Old Enemies and Freeing the Fallen dailies on Belsavis. Am almost able to solo Poisonous Strat on Ilum as well.

[unclekaula]

If you think Quinn cant heal then you need to gear him better!

[ACTroyan]

I hate quinn's guts

his sniper mechanic seems to make him dps when he should be healing if u force charge in i believe because of range issues.

i geared out my robot and finished out my quests that way atleast he stays close.

if you could guard companions and actually absorb dmg for them dps might be usefull to me but its purely a aggro reduction so me and that annoying robot got darth title without them

 

ps: F Quinn

[Veeius]

Baras is easy to rush down with Vette, yes. That's how I killed him too.

 

That's not to say she is the best though. For general use, in situations that 'could' be tricky Quinn is the man. For most other times, and for when you have a plan, Vette is probably the best.

 

Man, I just don't see how you did that. Granted I fought him at 46, so the fight may have been a bit tougher than it should have been, but jeepers he hit a ton, and even a single pulse of the aoe put me in trouble. Without even teh crappy heals Quinn does there would have been no way I could have downed Baras.

 

As much as I dislike Quinn, I don't ever seem to be able to take down an elite my level without him.