Full Companion Affection Buffs and you...

[SinnedWill]

To those that are still unaware: when you max out a companion's affection and complete all of their dialogues/quests you get a permanent buff (a total of 5). These buffs happen to be:

1.) +1% Accuracy (all accuracy)

2.)+1% Critical damage multiplier (for all damage types)

3.)+?% healing received (although the modifying value cannot be observed, this buff is SIGNIFICANT to have and with it, healers can still be very overpowered)

4.)+?% maximum health (haven't bothered to actually figure out this value, and though it is relatively insignificant at low levels, this buff can really add up if you're a tank or stack lots of endurance)

5.)+1% crit chance (only applying to melee/ranged attacks, I can only assume that it's bugged to not apply to tech/force attacks so currently some classes benefit much more heavily from this than others). EDIT: Now appears to affect force/tech as well - as of 5/8/12

 

Furthermore, these buffs are always active once obtained and apply to all your characters (even your level 1's). No, maxxing out companion/affection for multiple characters doesn't give you these additional permanent buffs (which would be incredibly overpowering if they did), however, you will always gain the +10 Presence bonus (currently I have 3 characters with all companions fully maxed, so I get +150 presence on all my characters - and this causes some very significant improvements from all your companions' effectiveness - particularly if you've started a new alt, your companions will perform incredibly for you).

 

Lastly, these buffs apply at ALL TIMES (including PvP) - and we all know that every little bonus to things like this helps give you an edge in pvp (namely the healing received bonus). So get off your lazy bums and get these buffs so that healers in WZ's will stop their "omg healers are so awful now" QQ'ing. Keep your healers happy! Get the buffs today!

Notice: supplies are limited. Buyers are restricted to 1 passive bonus per maxed companion! Try one today!

 

*End of Infomercial*

 

EDIT: As of today's patch, it appears as though the crit chance bonus is now also being applied to force/tech powers, as well. I suppose I was correct to assume that it was (or perhaps I was) bugged for it to have only been applying to melee/ranged.

Edited May 8, 2012 by SinnedWill

[Astarica]

You actually need to do all their quests, and since some are restricted by your progression in the story you generally have to be level 50. Certainly, having 10K faction as a level 10 with Vette isn't going to unlock the buff because you definitely can't get all her quests at that point.

[slowantics]

well that sucks. jk docs quest line is still bugged. its all im missing too-,-

[SinnedWill]

You actually need to do all their quests, and since some are restricted by your progression in the story you generally have to be level 50. Certainly, having 10K faction as a level 10 with Vette isn't going to unlock the buff because you definitely can't get all her quests at that point.

 

Re-read the first sentance in my post. And you can complete ALL dialogues/quests for all companions after you've finished chapter 2 for your storyline.

[SinnedWill]

well that sucks. jk docs quest line is still bugged. its all im missing too-,-

 

You can get whatever permanent buff he offers by completing all quests for a companion of a different class (so long as they give the same buff). Yes, I can certainly see the bugged companion converstations/questlines being a hassle preventing you from obtaining the buff on your initial characters, however - for that you have my utmost sympathy =p.

[DarthOvertone]

To those that are still unaware: when you max out a companion's affection and complete all of their dialogues/quests you get a permanent buff (a total of 5). These buffs happen to be:

1.) +1% Accuracy (all accuracy)

2.)+1% Critical damage multiplier (for all damage types)

3.)+?% healing received (although the modifying value cannot be observed, this buff is SIGNIFICANT to have and with it, healers can still be very overpowered)

4.)+?% maximum health (haven't bothered to actually figure out this value, and though it is relatively insignificant at low levels, this buff can really add up if you're a tank or stack lots of endurance)

5.)+1% crit chance (only applying to melee/ranged attacks, I can only assume that it's bugged to not apply to tech/force attacks so currently some classes benefit much more heavily from this than others).

 

Thanks for doing the work on this, however, I find your buff results interesting. I have one maxed out companion on my main and I don't get any of the buffs you listed above. Instead I get a +% Presence buff from Nadia Grell which is completely useless in PvP. Are you Imp or Pub? I wonder if there is a difference in the companion buffs between factions.

[Hawc]

Thanks for doing the work on this, however, I find your buff results interesting. I have one maxed out companion on my main and I don't get any of the buffs you listed above. Instead I get a +% Presence buff from Nadia Grell which is completely useless in PvP. Are you Imp or Pub? I wonder if there is a difference in the companion buffs between factions.

 

All companion types (ranged dps, ranged tank, healer, melee tank, melee dps) give their respective stat buff. In your legacy screen where it shows who is completed, if you mouse over and read the description, what they give you is in the very beginning of the paragraph -- it's not highlighted or specifically pointed it out, it just says something like "raises your crit chance" in the middle of a sentence.

[Xerain]

I did this pre 1.2 is prep so i'd have all their awesome buffs once patch hit! Being able to get more crit and surge from other places helps tons as you can put those points towards other stats to help the deeps of yoru character.

[Astarica]

There is no special icon for those companion buffs. They're probably treated as passive talents. On a level 50 the companion buffs gets rolled into your generic 'buffs/skills' category so you might not be able to tell. The easiest way to tell is to create a new character. You should have 91% accuracy and 51% surge if you got those buffs.

[SinnedWill]

Thanks for doing the work on this, however, I find your buff results interesting. I have one maxed out companion on my main and I don't get any of the buffs you listed above. Instead I get a +% Presence buff from Nadia Grell which is completely useless in PvP. Are you Imp or Pub? I wonder if there is a difference in the companion buffs between factions.

 

Every companion for every class offers one of the 5 passive buffs I've listed. Every class can get all 5 of the buffs by completing all conversations associated with the character. Every companion you've maxed/completed ALSO gives a +10 presence buff (this can be obtained from every character you have, so if you max out all 5 companions over say 4 characters, you will gain a permanent +200 presence buff on all characters - the passive buffs listed are only obtained once and also apply to all your characters).

I suggest you reopen your legacy window/class tab and hover your pointer over the character you have maxed to discover which non-presence buff they give you (it will state the presence buff and the passive buff, you just need to read carefully). If you can't find any information as to which buff a companion is giving, you can typically find it on your character sheet by mousing over the tabs they pertain to (i.e. accuracy/critical damage multiplier in melee/ranged tab AND force/tech tab - crit increase is only visible on melee/ranged tabs - this leads me to believe that it's not working correctly since it doesn't increase crit chance by 1% for force/tech tabs, maximum health is visible when you mouse over your health display in the defenses tab) - with the exception being the increase to healing received (this value is hidden from us, so we cannot check its modifier).

If you still cannot find it, when I get home I can check which bonus Nadia Grell gives (in addition to the presence bonus) and then you can mouse over the stat to see the 1% increase (assuming it isn't the bonus to healing received).

[SinnedWill]

There is no special icon for those companion buffs. They're probably treated as passive talents. On a level 50 the companion buffs gets rolled into your generic 'buffs/skills' category so you might not be able to tell. The easiest way to tell is to create a new character. You should have 91% accuracy and 51% surge if you got those buffs.

 

Yes, a fresh toon is easiest to notice the modifiers if you don't know what you're looking at with the mouse-overed tooltip displays for the modifiers. The healing received value buff, however, cannot be found anywhere client-side (but it certainly works and is very noticable). The maximum health value bonus is displayed from the mouse-over tooltip from the health display on the defenses page of your character sheet (rather insignificant, but every little bit helps).

[LancelotOC]

I maxed them all in early January. Sucks they help DPS more than healing. In my mind more anti-healer stuff regretfully.

[ComeAndSee]

I always wondered why I had an extra +1% accuracy.

[SinnedWill]

I did this pre 1.2 is prep so i'd have all their awesome buffs once patch hit! Being able to get more crit and surge from other places helps tons as you can put those points towards other stats to help the deeps of yoru character.

 

Or... since this buff behaves like a passive talent-tree buff, you can further take advantage by stacking the stat higher (meaning you don't suffer diminishing returns for the extra values). My only concern is the crit chance bonus only applying to melee/ranged attacks while accuracy/surge bonus applies to melee/ranged as well as force/tech - I hope they fix this, since it gives classes that use melee/ranged attacks more than others a slight edge and it's useless for my sorcerer since all of my attacks are force-based.

[SinnedWill]

I maxed them all in early January. Sucks they help DPS more than healing. In my mind more anti-healer stuff regretfully.

 

The healing received buff is rather significant - if anything, I'd say healers have the most significant buff from the companion buffs so long as the people you're healing have all gotten it. I know my sorcerer's dark infusion values went from ~ 4800 high-end crit value on self up to ~5600 high-end crit value on self once 1.2 applied (sure, the extra 1% surge is also helping). And I'm not even heal-specced.

 

In fact, I made this post so as to point out to people to hurry up and get these buffs (particularly the healing received value) since it has a significant effect on how much healers in warzones perform - I believe much of the healer nerf QQ can be partially attributed to healers healing people that don't actually have the buff (nor might they themselves).

Edited May 7, 2012 by SinnedWill

[LancelotOC]

I meant they are percent based buffs so since casting our big heal is limited by interupts in today's 50 bracket pvp we are forced to use our smaller heals. The values of our smaller heals are smaller than the values of DPS class ability values. Therefore unless you are in the ideal situation of already destoying the enemy team, whether via premade or tank guards or secondary healers assisting, and have the luxury to sit and cast the big heal instead of kiting everyone trying to kill you, the real effect is the DPS classes are getting a percent increase to crit on the high value instas they are using against you and you are getting a percent increase on your small value insta heals you are casting to survive.

 

Am I thinking this out wrong or does your real value in PVP matter only when you are in dire straights and need to survive or on the flip side a DPS's ability to kill you? In this light it seems to me these buffs are pro-dps.

 

With Surge of average 75% and crit rates of average 33% one crit more at the opportune time will lead to much more deaths than 1% more healing to yourself in that 3 GCDs it takes to get a crit will lead to you surviving. PvP is a lot about burst, increased DPS crit rate is more burst, increased heal amount baseline is more of sustained healing.

 

These are great for PVE healing imho, not PVP. I'd say give healing the +1% to crit and give DPS the +1% to sustained damge for it to be pro heal.

 

Also +1% accuracy also means I dodge enemy attacks 1% less. And now that I reread your post it could be as much as 2% increase to crit for DPS.

Edited May 7, 2012 by LancelotOC

[Hotbox]

I have all of the companion buffs and all of the class buffs (BH, Warrior, Ops, Inquisitor).

 

And yah it makes a HUGE difference.

[DarthOvertone]

If you still cannot find it, when I get home I can check which bonus Nadia Grell gives (in addition to the presence bonus) and then you can mouse over the stat to see the 1% increase (assuming it isn't the bonus to healing received).

 

Thanks mang. Checked it during lunch today and you are indeed correct. Nadia gives a Surge buff. Pretty cool. Thanks for doing the work to flush out the other bonuses. Peeps in Guild were chatting about it this weekend and none of us had any idea what they might be.

[SinnedWill]

I have all of the companion buffs and all of the class buffs (BH, Warrior, Ops, Inquisitor).

 

And yah it makes a HUGE difference.

 

Yes, the class buffs are significant in WZ's since you're not likely to get all buffs reapplied after deaths. Being able to give yourself all 4 of them has a significant impact to your survivability and DPS. Honestly, I couldn't stand not having the 10% internal/elemental resist buff from inquis/consular whenever I played an alt, but this certainly helped.

[Bartes]

Re-read the first sentance in my post. And you can complete ALL dialogues/quests for all companions after you've finished chapter 2 for your storyline.

 

not true. I have finished ch2 on my jedi, Elara is at 10k affection and it did not unlocked her in my legacy.

Not that I need it (tho extra presence would be nice) coz I have all unlocks from my main.

 

Back to topic.

Good to know that buffs do not stack, saves me trouble to max out all companions on every alt I have On the other hand, as I mentioned, it would be nice to have bigger Presence as even no my Guss Tuno heals me better than any other (human played) healer. He is so good atm that we managed 2 man (2 gunslingers + 2 Gusses) H4 quest in Black Hole lol.

[SinnedWill]

not true. I have finished ch2 on my jedi, Elara is at 10k affection and it did not unlocked her in my legacy.

Not that I need it (tho extra presence would be nice) coz I have all unlocks from my main.

.

 

Gotta complete all convos/quests as well. I've unlocked all companions over 3 toons, and all conversations/quests were completable after finishing chapter 2. I'm not certain whether or not EVERY companion convo/quest is completable after chapter 2 (maybe there are a few that require slightly further progression) - furthermore, you don't actually need 10k for all companions to unlock their bonuses, as I've had some get unlocked at ~9.2k affection - basically you just need to complete all conversations/quests - and I know some companions' convo/quest advancement is bugged, which is quite possibly the case.

 

Also, the healing bonus applies to ALL healing received, so human-played healers also benefit from this, not just healing done by your companions. The value of the healing received buff is invisible client-side, but my best guesstimate would be that it is ~5% increase.

[Mrip]

Do I need to do anything at all other than max out the affection to get the buff? Is there anywhere I can look to confirm I've received it?

[Astarica]

Do I need to do anything at all other than max out the affection to get the buff? Is there anywhere I can look to confirm I've received it?

 

Go to Legacy -> Imperial/Republic classes. If you've the buff you'll see the companion's icon under that class. I.e. if you have Vette's quests done you'll see her icon, otherwise you see a ? icon instead..

[Mrip]

Go to Legacy -> Imperial/Republic classes. If you've the buff you'll see the companion's icon under that class. I.e. if you have Vette's quests done you'll see her icon, otherwise you see a ? icon instead..

 

Great, thanks.

[SinnedWill]

Do I need to do anything at all other than max out the affection to get the buff? Is there anywhere I can look to confirm I've received it?

 

Someone already answered your 2nd question. As for your first question: you must complete all conversations and quests associated with the companion. From my experience over 3 characters, you need to have chapter 2 completed in your storyline for the last sets of conversations/quests to be available (though some people say they haven't been able to with certain companions at this point - might be due to bugs). Most companion final convos/quests are achievable ~ 9400 affection, but this may vary. Lastly, the very last conversation you have with the companion typically results in them stating that they will "look after your legacy" (meaning they'll watch over any potential children you might have or your story). Also, there is a unique little theme song that seems to play each time you've obtained a companion unlock.