Who's the best companion for a Shadow?

[Ex_Dre]

I just want to know your opinions on who the best companion is for a Jedi Shadow. My primary concern is for open world PVP. You can also comment on who the best PVE companion is but I'm more concerned on who to pick as a wingman(or woman) when roaming a contested planet.

[Cubertt]

theran. he has a CC and has healzz.

[MrDeas]

There is no best companion. It depends on what your spec is. If you're a Tank having a heal companion will take you years to do anything. For every spec there's a different companions that works better than the others as well as depending on how you play. Look at the abilities they have and what you have and decide according to that.

[Ex_Dre]

MrDeas, you have a point. I'm planning to go tank spec (Kinetic Combat) and planning to have Nadia Grell as my companion. I haven't gotten her yet but that's what i'm planning on right now. Any thoughts about this?

[tntappleby]

From what I've found is once you get Theran using any other companion is not as effective. I leveled mainly as infiltration and than went kinetic combat at around 33. Not getting heals means you take longer to move between groups with heals I move from group to group with only slowing if the next group has more than one elete.

[Cubertt]

There is no best companion. It depends on what your spec is. If you're a Tank having a heal companion will take you years to do anything. For every spec there's a different companions that works better than the others as well as depending on how you play. Look at the abilities they have and what you have and decide according to that.

 

i agree with you to a point. idealy if you are tank spec it would be wise to use a DPS companion for trash, but there are some encounters in the game that you NEED therans heals for.

 

while yes situationaly while lvling i would whip our the sniper dude for damage, when it came down to a hard fight theran made them the easiest. he makes every encounter easier no matter what spec you are, sure it may take forever but you will get it done no matter what.

 

for that reason theran is the best. all of the other ones are situational sniper does single target dmg the jedi does aoe damage, we got a ranged tank which is good for when we dont wanna pull mobs and qyzan who is a better overall tank.

 

but the only one that you can and will suceed in ANY situation as ANY spec is Tharan. for this reason i feel you can very easily call him the BEST.

[Froteus]

Once I got the equivalent of columni dos gear on my rakata tank, I used that gear with my tank spec for soloing.

 

Then I used Nadia for everything. Even soloing heroic 2 (lesson learned) in dps gear with Nadia is a cakewalk.

[CplQ]

If you're a Tank having a heal companion will take you years to do anything. QUOTE]

 

This sums it up. If tank i would suggest zenith or nadia, IMO as k.combat tank you have plenty of tools and health to control fights that having the extra damage will speed you up.

 

Out of combat healing is only a set back after fights with large numbers or more then 2 elites, imo.

[-level-]

For pvp - a properly geared Nadia blows **** up.

[Subatomix]

Another vote for Tharan. Make sure to give him some gear. He'll heal you, do some dps and even some CC.

[Rafe_Vidar]

Nadia Grell is far and above the best when appropriately geared. I'm infiltration spec'd and have her in nearly full columni stalker gear. Together we mow over mobs while doing dailies and heroic 2s, tharan only gets brought out on heroic 4s and if I have a trinket to give him.

 

Nadia has also been tested in open world pvp, far exceeding tharan there as well. 90% of others will use a healing companion, get Nadia on that companion and it'll be 2v1 soon.

[Ex_Dre]

Thanks for the replies, I tried some advice posted here and switched to Theran for now since I dont have Nadia yet and I think this setup is better than having Qyzen cos some elite mobs do AOE and it sucks if we're both in there. Someone commented that it would take forever for a tank to do stuff with Theran so I modified my tank to have more willpower (Reusable biochem willpower stims, adrenals, crit relic + Power/Crit secondary stats) and its very good. I like it.

[BroadStreetBully]

As a Kinetic Combat shadow, Theran is far and away the best. I have tried going with Nadia but even when she is better geared, she just doesn't come close to matching Theran.

[Dalimo]

I got a question to see if I'm doing something wrong. I'm level 26 and I recently got theran but I didn't like it. Im infiltrator spec and having qyzen keep aggro was good since shadow strike was my main source of damage. That's much harder with theran since I have aggro all the time with him. Is there something else I should be doing? Edited March 12, 2012 by Dalimo

[Philosomanic]

If you're Kinetic:

 

Tharan

Tharan is going to make fights really slow, because he contributes essentially 0 DPS. As Kinetic, you're already the lowest-DPS spec for Shadows. However, having Tharan out will mean that almost nothing will be able to take you down. You have ultra-high defenses, and Tharan can heal you up easily. If any mobs or players get on Tharan, you can just taunt them off and guard him. So you will take ages to kill anything PvE, but you'll be able to solo elites and 1v1 Imperials with ease.

 

Nadia/Zenith

Go with Nadia or Zenith for your speed-killing needs. They'll give you a huge boost to DPS, meaning you kill stuff much faster. They won't allow you to take down everything you did with Tharan, but you'll go much faster. Landscape mobs and even Elites should be easily doable, and you'll still do great in 1v1s. Some really hard things (soloing heroics, for example) will be out of reach, but anything meant to be done with one player will still be very doable.

 

 

If you're Balance/Infiltration:

 

Tharan

Tharan is the best for PvP. His heals make up for your low defenses, and you have the high DPS to take your opponent down. With a well-geared Tharan, you can take down almost any player. Only thing that could really give you issues is a tank with their healing companion out. However, Tharan is a poor pairing with a DPS Shadow for PvE. You're not made to tank, so you'll have trouble holding aggro off of him. He is pretty squishy, so if any mobs go for him he'll spend all his time healing himself, which does nothing for you.

 

Qyzen/Felix

Tank companions are the best match with a DPS Shadow for PvE. They hold aggro and do decent damage, and you have the DPS to burn down your enemies. You'll kill quickly, and anything meant to be done with one player should be doable as long as you keep Qyzen in decent gear. However, tanks have limited use in PvP. He does damage and puts a small debuff on the enemy, but the damage is significantly lower than you'd get from a DPS companion.

 

Zenith/Nadia

DPS companions are a good match for both PvE and PvP. For PvP, your high DPS output combined with theirs means that you can take down enemies incredibly fast. Your survival depends on dealing large amounts of damage, and quickly, but that's okay because you're packing lots of firepower. For PvE, working with a DPS companion makes the game fast-paced and challenging. You'll murder through enemies at an incredible speed, but everything will be more challenging. Anything meant to be soloed is still doable; you just have to be prepared to fight for it.

[Boulis]

^ Excellent post and summarizes the main points well. I have a 50-level Kinetic Shadow and would say this is spot on. I tend to use Tharan exclusively but did use Nadia on Voss in order to speed romance her and noticed no appreciable drop-off. Tharan is better for my play style but Nadia is certainly viable. But the great thing here is that you can really use both effectively anytime you wish to since you don't have to worry about gearing Nadia up! She can just use your hand-me-down gear.

[Philosomanic]

I recently got Zenith, and I'm loving him. Tharan makes for really slow killing, and I hate having to "tank" for him (I'm Balance spec). Also, I detest him with every fiber of my being on grounds of personality, appearance, and general hygiene. This left me with Qyzen, who is really cool, awesome for PvE, but lackluster for PvP.

 

Now that I'm rolling with Zenith, I kill even faster. His DPS is incredible. I have him in all his starter gear except for one lvl 40 PvP armor and a good barrel, and he does more damage than Qyzen did. I kept Qyzen in blues/customs, and almost my gear level.

 

The one "downside" of having a DPS companion as a DPS character is that things are harder. I actually don't see this as a downside, though. Landscape mobs went from trash that I disdainfully swept away with my awesome powers to enemies that actually present a challenge.

 

Taking down multiple Strongs or even an Elite feels much more epic when it actually takes skill. With Qyzen, I just had to do my DPS rotation and let him worry about staying alive. Now I'm having to use every tool I have to win, and it's incredibly fun. I kill so much faster, and I'm being challenged by things that used to be so easy they were boring.

 

And I actually like Zenith's personality. Sure, he's a little ruthless sometimes, but always with good reason. And his open-world lines ("Looked tough. I'm better.", "Shouldn't fight what you can't kill.") are way better than "Did I mention I'm a pacifist?" or "[Alien Babble]".

[Turlinde]

In general, I seem to do better with Tharan regardless of spec. For tough fights if i get into trouble, I can kite/stun and then use the CC fo Holiday to catch up on healing.

[Subatomix]

I only bring Nadia on missions my wife doesn't know about.

[plagueofsilence]

Another vote for Tharan. Make sure to give him some gear. He'll heal you, do some dps and even some CC.

 

Amen to this, i used Qyzen all the time....until Theran. I started with Theran, and at first, hes a bit rough around the edges, work his cunning, presence and endurance, that will go well especially if youve taken time to get him some decent gear. I can't accomplish anything without theran anymore, and for the record, i spec in balance.

[Philosomanic]

"Did I mention I'm a paci-"

Zenith blows his head off from a mile away.

"Shouldn't fight what you can't kill."

 

 

Thank you, Zenith. Have an Account of the Discovery of Korriban.

 

 

Everyone is happy.

[Ex_Dre]

Been using Tharan the past week, I'm beginning to think that he's a pacifist. Just a wild guess.

[Harden]

Tharan Cedrex and if you use the Centurion comms for his medium armor for the Medical stuff it actually helps you and him in PvE and in some instances PvP!

[RockysRevenge]

Ever since I made 50 and switched to KC, I've been wanting to try Zenith. Nadia is fantastic, and with our combined AOEs, every trash mob takes seconds...but Zenith is ranged. Having him start the attack while I run in sounds far more practical.

 

Anybody have ideas for what to equip him with? Haven't used him since I got him, so he's still in his original gear. I have no idea where to get a level 50 sniper rifle.

[Philosomanic]

You can't really get a good sniper rifle on Republic side, at least not that I know of. However, his original rifle is moddable, so just buy a lvl 50 weapon and rip out the mods. He uses cunning.

 

If you want to try him out, just take all of Tharan's gear and give it to him. They both use cunning, medium armor, and a scattergun. You can even rip the mods out of Tharan's pistol to put it in Zenith's rifle.