Nessirin Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Yeah companions like to derp sometimes... It sucks at the moment because you have to "sacrifice" a bar to be decent at controlling your companion actively. This will be fixed in 1.2 with the new UI. I can't wait for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boltonballer Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 you can also disable his healing skills and use hotkeys yourself if you dont mind remembering an extra 4 or 5 key combos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gokkus Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I feel like companions generally behave as they should. If doc could keep you alive easily when fighting mobs then this game would be way too easy. You can manage them by enabling or disabling skills which has worked for me fine. When I disable all AoE's on Qyzen he is a crappy tank, if I enable them he is a good tank but I cant stun any mobs...its about the choices you make as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SathTOR Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Classes that have their own heals usually don't have a "cunning" healer unlike bounty hunters for example. "Cunning" healer companions seem to be more effective. There is also kolto immunity when you have received too much healing. My sith inquisitor uses his tank to killl golds and i keep him healed because i am better at healing. Healer classes should make a well geared tank companion, works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dekkau Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 As much as I like the game I have to say that the companions are very badly programed. They struggle worst with lifting platforms and do like to stand on the edge and then get knocked off. In WoW my pet would insist in standing right on top of me on the tram and I guess when on the elevator the companion needs to centre on your character. Sometime they will rejoin you and other times will not. They also don't jump down anything with you, opting to take the long way round then get tagged. Next gripe is the constant running in front of you when you go to loot or scavange when you get the inane comment rather than the actual looting etc. Also at certain locations you lose the companion cus it decided to tag something on a different level or just wait cus it thinks your going to fight. You really can't do anything intricate whilst you have the companion with you. Its like having a ball on the end of a bit of elestic. Try doing the Datacron in Taris and see how utterly annoying it is trying to run the and jump the platforms. When you are fighting toe to toe it can also get real annoying as you try to tag the thing in front of your companion. I have to say I'm on my fourth character and now have finally found a companion I like and thats the female that comes with the Jedi Knight. The others were just so annoying. I had thought that the game would let you craft your own characters. But I guess that would have caused issues with the cinematics. They were a good idea but there is just not enough choice and they do behave like they are on a bungee rope most of the time. I also don't think they do that much for your street cred. When I see two guys running with those big cannons I always smerk. I just think they look so silly... dunno why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibdabs Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I guarantee you won't have a wife much longer if she sees that. Must try that out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaphik Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 The main subject there being when he heals me, meaning he doesn't do it all the time. You do understand that companion quickslots are keybound by default, right? Use those keybinds, or create your own, and you can actually control when your companion uses his abilities. Yes, crazy talk, I know! But you can actually control when Doc heals you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackATTache Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Classes that have their own heals usually don't have a "cunning" healer unlike bounty hunters for example. "Cunning" healer companions seem to be more effective. There is also kolto immunity when you have received too much healing. My sith inquisitor uses his tank to killl golds and i keep him healed because i am better at healing. Healer classes should make a well geared tank companion, works for me. What are you talking about? Almost every class minus Trooper has a cunning healer. Smuggler's has a cunning healer, so does Consular, Imperial Agent, Jedi Knight, Sith Warrior, and Sith Inquisitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruug Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Most of the time, my companions act in combat like many of those real people you might get in a PUG. Not all mind you but many. In those cases where players act like brainless zombies, I would take my companions any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashu-ri Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Put him in his healing stance. Turn on on all his healing abilities. If that doesn't work out, then I'm lead to believe it's just you. I use Quinn and Dorne. Never have a problem, unless I'm getting hit more then they can heal. Acutally, I've had the problem with Dorne, but not Cedrax, not Doc, and not Mako. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futuredami Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I guarantee you won't have a wife much longer if she sees that. You make the assumption that some people aren't into that. A bold assumption indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baizak Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 OP: Just an FYI Blowing your cool downs on higher level mobs to stay alive is working as intended. Your companions are meant to aid you not carry you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMornard Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I'm going to train my wife to speak to me like the ship droid. You are an evil, evil man. I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMornard Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Most of the time, my companions act in combat like many of those real people you might get in a PUG. Not all mind you but many. In those cases where players act like brainless zombies, I would take my companions any day. This. So very much this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerion Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Such a silly thing to say. For a MMO to have long term playability it needs to not only have certain systems included but it needs to give people the ability to make a choice on how they play. Yours is the silly argument. Tell me, where are the pet classes in EVE Online? Oh, and tell me also where's my choice to play an avatar instead of a ship in EVE Online? EVE is an MMO that has been around probably longer than you've been an MMO 'expert designer', it is 'missing' many things that others might seem necessary. I don't like the lack of a viable avatar to play in EVE. But I knew what I was getting when I bought the game years ago...I didn't then complain about something I knew the game avoided by design. You bought the game knowing full well it had companions. Suck it up, group up, or quit. Those are your options. You get zero sympathy points from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KorinHyvek Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 As a general rule; Identify which abilities need to go; Most companions have 1 or two situational abilities that they really should not use undirected; Their 8s Channeled CC (Particularly bad if the target has boss immunity, which will result in them spamming it constantly since the boss can never get the debuff afterwords), Ranged Tanks Grenades (Which can't hit for crap, and always seem to be the first thing they use), and stuff like that. You may also wish to disable the attacks on healing companions. I don't think it needs to be done personally, but some people have had trouble with them spamming those. Keep them off your Companion; Obviously not the case for Tank companions, and not as true for DPS companions, but with the way threat generation works, a mob's first instinct is to hit your companion. With healing companions, you can solve this by hitting them with an AoE, which should generate enough threat that the mobs will focus on you. Healing companions in greens are squishy; they need you to pull attackers off them (NOTE: Taunting is not enough. A taunt will set your treat level for that mob equal to the highest threat level in the group, and force it to attack you for 6 seconds. However, you don't generate any more threat during that time unless you actually attack the mob, so after the 6s is up, if you haven't done damage to said mob, it will go right back to killing your healer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JediElf Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I like companions, and I like how they work. It's fun to play though when my friends aren't on and not be alone...besides it's also good for RP and just, having that companion there for ya. They also say, some pretty cool things, in battle. ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terminova Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 (edited) OP: Just an FYI Blowing your cool downs on higher level mobs to stay alive is working as intended. Your companions are meant to aid you not carry you. I call them my "What was I thinking!?!?!?!?!?!?!???" buttons. Edited March 31, 2012 by terminova Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ngamok Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Perhaps he has burned through all his power/cooldowns healing you and has to stop? Adding +presence gear can make his heals bigger, for the times that he does heal. Pretty much this. Make sure you take all his combat abilities off and only leave the heal ones. I usually leave on the carbonite ability to freeze them for a few seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjmc Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Pretty much this. Make sure you take all his combat abilities off and only leave the heal ones. I usually leave on the carbonite ability to freeze them for a few seconds. It can be interesting to turn them all off and then turn them each on one at a time. Try it out in battle with just the one ability to see how it gets used. Then turn on the ones that seem useful to you and turn off the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stugotz Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I play my companions everyday and the healing companions do their job as well as can be expected. The biggest thing I find annoying about them is that they are constantly standing exactly where I want to click. The other is I get tired of hearing them say the same things over and over again...some have some really idiotic things to say...Kaliyo...other then that...I find them to be pretty useful and worth having around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btsager Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Even before this game came out I disliked the idea of having to rely on companions in order to get things done, and now, three months later I STILL feel the same way. Especially when it comes to a role like healing- which needs absolute attention and precision, then giving it to an unpredictable AI. Bad things happen. My level 47 Jedi Guardian is in great gear. I'm able to take things down within an acceptable amount of time. I'm fulfilling my role. Now my Doc, my healing companion, is also in level-appropriate gear and when he heals me he can actually help me out. The main subject there being when he heals me, meaning he doesn't do it all the time. Even if I had Doc decked out in all purples and the best gear available to me, it wouldn't make a damned difference if he doesn't actually do his job. And I know exactly what I'm doing. I have him on Med Watch at all times, I don't have him on passive, he can use every one of his healing abilities... but he doesn't. A gold elite can be beating on me and he'll throw out a heal here and there, then stop. I'll be within an inch of health and he'll throw a kolto bomb at me, and stop. So unless I blow all my cooldowns and keep myself alive, that elite is gonna cut me to bits while Doc stands there watching. So that's something I don't understand. You force these companions on us, you make it so that we cannot quest or fight or leave the safety of our ships unless we have one tagging along, but we can't rely on them with our lives. When this creature you gave us doesn't play along the way you need them to, then where does that leave us? I don't know if anyone else has problems with their companions, or maybe it's just because mine's made to be stupid. Regardless, none of it is giving me any reason to actually like playing with one. Got a problem? Come running to the forums to complain. Nothing to see here. I ask this because you are a Jedi and I would assume you start a fight by force jumping in. Do you make sure you stay within range of the heals? If Doc is at max range, he only moves close enough to attack your target, if you are on the far side of the target you will not be in range of Doc's heals, make sure you position yourself between Doc and the target so that he can reach you with his heals. Healing companions will NOT move closer just to heal you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorellianWannabe Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I ask this because you are a Jedi and I would assume you start a fight by force jumping in. Do you make sure you stay within range of the heals? If Doc is at max range, he only moves close enough to attack your target, if you are on the far side of the target you will not be in range of Doc's heals, make sure you position yourself between Doc and the target so that he can reach you with his heals. Healing companions will NOT move closer just to heal you. And this is working as intended? Why should the AI tell the healer NPC to move close enough to heal the player, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stugotz Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 And this is working as intended? Why should the AI tell the healer NPC to move close enough to heal the player, right? As someone said earlier, the companion coding is poorly done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achromatis Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Yeh, it boggles my mind. They had an awesome companion/party control micro system with "Tactics" in DA:O, and they dont even give us a simplified version of it. Even KOTOR had something like this, so its not like its a new idea for Bioware. I cant say I know why its not in the game, maybe there were legit reasons or it just never occurred to them, but it reeks of EA and unfinished content being pushed later so they can tote it around as DLC(hello there Legacy system!) because thats what game updates are - 15 dollar a month DLCs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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