Mako - how annoying will she be ? (spoilers)

[davanev]

I am planning to run a BH but being a bit of an RP nut I don't want to waste the time and effort if Mako will destroy my believability in the situation. I hear she is a bit of a goody goody and tries to interfere in how the character does his job if she disagrees - as we do't have the option to tel her to get lost his would annoy me.

 

My character won't be a psycho - he won't kill for the fun of it, he will always try for a clean kill, minimising collateral damage etc. For example I plan to decline the job for the mother at Hutta spaceport, my character won't do simple domestics. However he wil be happy to take contracts on pretty much anyone in a positon of power or able to defend themselves, without being to bothered about the rights and wrongs of the situation.

 

So can Mako handle that ? Are there any particular times when she gets cross about a simple "professional" hit - I don't mind spoilers here if poeple want to give me advance warning of her more squemish moments, I want to get a feel for what I will be able to do in character without reaching a point where Mako and I would have to part company.

 

Personally I think bioware messed up badly when they took away the ability to dump companions - it really wrecks believeability at times. I would love to play the BH very dark but I don't see how that can be done with Mako (maybe Torian as well ) along for the ride. I realise I could keep them happy with gifts bu that is a game mechanic and would kill the feel of the stor for me, so I will have to settle for a dark grey BH if it can be done..

[Thebazilly]

Mako is fine with you killing people who are a credible threat/in self defense/sometimes after fighting them. I've made quite a few dark side choices that don't result in any affection loss.

 

She is definitely not okay with you killing unarmed or defenseless people. I can think of two quests where I got -30's from Mako for killing unarmed women-- once because I wanted the credits from her bounty, the second time because it was part of the contract with my employer. She did not care, however, when I completed a contract on a Sith by killing her after a boss battle.

 

As a caveat, my BH is only on Balmorra, so there are probably quite a few more I'm missing.

 

In some cases, you can make the affection back after Mako chews you out for your decision. Or just do what you want and spam her with presents.

[Syadasti]

Or just do what you want and spam her with presents.

This.

 

Mako has are very romatic view on the job of a BH. She is absolutly okay with "killing the bad guys", but she dislikes killing "the good one" or beeing cruel.

 

I have played the BH story one and a half (as a light side BH on live and through level 35 on the test-server as dark side).

You can her often say that she is to weak/stupid/idealistic for this job as an dark side BH, or that she just should shut up. and yes she gets angry, but of design, she will never leave you.

 

as a light side BH she sometimes also thinks that your choices are wrong, but very often you can fix her mind by remember her that it is honorless for an madalorian/BH to break a contract.

 

PS: sorry for my bad english, i hope it is understandable.

[aarka]

In the long run it makes no difference. I've played both a full darkside and a full lightside BH to 50 and she ended up maxed both times.

 

But, if you are with keeping with immersion and her goody goody side bothers you. just don't execute people when you are given the chance to take them alive or let them go. She hates that the most. Losing -1 affection for saying something she doesn't like is insignificant.

 

Pro-tip, if you wanna power level your darkside later in the game, after you defeat a boss with Mako, switch out to Skadge before you talk to the npc again, and then execute. He loves it, and you gain giant amounts of affection with him (like 500 - 700 per kill). I didn't use Skadge for a single fight on one of my BHs and he was max affection by the end just from doing this.

Edited May 8, 2012 by aarka

[davanev]

It is not vital for me to max DS - capture rather than kill is fine if that is an option in the contract. The key point for me is to be able to be coldly professional about it all. Contract says dead or alive then I take them back alive unless I am given a reason to prefer dead, but if I alive becomes a problem then I don't want Mako complaining about it.

 

On another point - am I ever compelled by the class quests to take "bounty" that is effectively a hit on a clearly innocent party ? Again this would offend my characters nature to degree that I would break immersion for me. For example

 

 

The Sith lady on Dromond Kaas is fine - a Sith can defend themselves and it is effectively a political hit within the bounds of normal Imperial power gaming. However I turned down the domestic job on Hutta because I knew the game would force me to kill the father - my character might have taken the job but not outright murdered the father but the game does not provide a logical option. I hate that quest - hit him, stun him, grab the kid and run all would have been ok - gun him down without warning in cold blood over a domestic. That' not bounty hunting.

 

 

Are there any more like this that I cannot avoid if I want to prgress the story.

[Sarog]

Mako annoyed the **** out of me from start to finish.

 

- Her view of bounty hunting isn't principled, it is extremely naive. She seems to me as if she has some kind of Star Wars variant of Stockholme syndrome, but her super-goody perspective on the profession is reflected nowhere and in no one.

 

- She is extremely hypocritical. She preaches professionalism when professionalism means lightside points, i.e. not betraying someone for more money, but she throws professionalism out the window when professionalism means darkside points, i.e. wanting you to turn on and kill your employer pro bono because your target said "pretty please" and made puppy dog eyes.

 

- Without spoiling the story too specifically, the bounty hunter story WILL force you to do bad things. By the time you finish the story you are, among other things, a terrorist and a cop-killer. What this means in connection with Mako is that her continued loyalty to your hunter stretches plausibility at times; when you are offered light-dark choices, she leans extremely heavily to the light and absolutely hates most dark side choices, but in situations where you aren't given a moral choice and the narrative forces you to do bad things anyway then her previously hyper sensitive conscience takes a nap and she doesn't have anything to say.

 

All told I find her role in the story completely jarring and I hate that I'm stuck with her.

[DakSomtaaw]

Mako annoyed the **** out of me from start to finish.

 

- Her view of bounty hunting isn't principled, it is extremely naive. She seems to me as if she has some kind of Star Wars variant of Stockholme syndrome, but her super-goody perspective on the profession is reflected nowhere and in no one.

 

- She is extremely hypocritical. She preaches professionalism when professionalism means lightside points, i.e. not betraying someone for more money, but she throws professionalism out the window when professionalism means darkside points, i.e. wanting you to turn on and kill your employer pro bono because your target said "pretty please" and made puppy dog eyes.

 

- Without spoiling the story too specifically, the bounty hunter story WILL force you to do bad things. By the time you finish the story you are, among other things, a terrorist and a cop-killer. What this means in connection with Mako is that her continued loyalty to your hunter stretches plausibility at times; when you are offered light-dark choices, she leans extremely heavily to the light and absolutely hates most dark side choices, but in situations where you aren't given a moral choice and the narrative forces you to do bad things anyway then her previously hyper sensitive conscience takes a nap and she doesn't have anything to say.

 

All told I find her role in the story completely jarring and I hate that I'm stuck with her.

SWtor wiki basically sums up her likes as "A bounty hunter with a conscience"

 

I did think she was annoying. Grew on me though. However the one part I really liked is after one of your class missions she asks "We're... we're not the bad guys right?"

 

pretty much sold her on me with that.

 

 

And then her quest line, in which its never really explained but there are giant big ol signs pointing it out

Edited May 8, 2012 by DakSomtaaw

[Thebazilly]

SWtor wiki basically sums up her likes as "A bounty hunter with a conscience"

 

I did think she was annoying. Grew on me though. However the one part I really liked is after one of your class missions she asks "We're... we're not the bad guys right?"

 

pretty much sold her on me with that.

 

Despite how annoying Mako can be sometimes, she's just so adorable. I do give in to her more often than I should because of it...

[sethroque]

Well, she gave me negative points when I killed our greatest enemy during the Great Hunt...That was pathetic.

I usually just switch to Gault when I plan to do evil things, this way I avoid losing affection with Mako and he always says awesome stuff

[Kulraven]

I really enjoy Mako. She is a bit naive as others have pointed out, but I find that to be ingratiating rather than annoying. The way I play it in my on mind is that Kree, my BH, isnt a bad guy, but tends toward the ruthless side and Mako is his conscience. He wants her approval (the future romace part) so her presence makes him consider his actions in a way he would not without her.

 

Fun stuff.

[davanev]

Can I avoid the worst of Mako's soft hearted nature if I don't use her on missions and except her character driven ones ? Are her conversations with me on the ship annoyingly goody goody as well or are the problems if I take her to work with me ?

 

If she is ok in private then I can just pretend she does not care too much about what happens on my business trips

 

On a side note will Gault or Blizz work ok along side an arsenal merc ?

[Oggthebase]

Levelling with Mako is probably the "safest" gameplay as it'll be like having your pocket healer everywhere.

 

A cumbersome (and immersion breaking move) would be to swap companion before talking to each NPC, so that all the discussion affection change impact the "other" companion and not mako. Sending her "away" (on a crafting mission or to sell your grey stuff) will still give/remove affection point, you HAVE to swap your active companion.

 

Gault like to sweet talk and swindle people, and depending on how you play your bounty hunter (the crook type or the honorable mandalorian type) you'll find yourself loving or despising Gault, and the affection gain/loss will be proportionate.

 

And Blizz is even more naive than Mako, so don't even count on playing with Blizz if you think Mako will annoy you.

 

Personnaly, when I started my BH I wanted him to be a ruthless, professional and cold manhunter. Then I thought that if Braden was that experienced mentor, he would not have picked someone completely at odds with himself and the team he's built, so I thought that probably my BH had deep down a nice spot that Braden perceived when he recruited my BH. So I decided that I would be the "honourable" BH and sincerely care for my teammates.

 

This would lead to many decisions that I originally wanted to be ruthless, be mellowed by Mako ("don't forget we're a team, ok?") and Blizz ("hey hey Boss, Blizz and Boss are going to help nice people, right Boss?" looking at me with his big yellow eyes ). In the end my BH became "nicer" than he started out, and I guess it's thanks to Bioware strong storytelling that I let myself and my BH be swayed by his companion's view on life rather than me imposing my nature on them.

 

Of all the class stories, I felt that the BH's team was the most like "family", with plenty of moments where everyone chime in and interact with each other, especially if you take the time and make the effort to grow their affection for each.

[davanev]

So I decided that I would be the "honourable" BH and sincerely care for my teammates.

 

This would lead to many decisions that I originally wanted to be ruthless, be mellowed by Mako ("don't forget we're a team, ok?") and Blizz ("hey hey Boss, Blizz and Boss are going to help nice people, right Boss?" looking at me with his big yellow eyes ). In the end my BH became "nicer" than he started out, and I guess it's thanks to Bioware strong storytelling that I let myself and my BH be swayed by his companion's view on life rather than me imposing my nature on them.

 

Of all the class stories, I felt that the BH's team was the most like "family", with plenty of moments where everyone chime in and interact with each other, especially if you take the time and make the effort to grow their affection for each.

 

I am ok with this - as I said at the start I don't plan on being the psycho BH type -just a professional. Letting targets live if it fits with the contract is fine, avoiding collateral damage is fine. Hopefully this will be enough to keep Mako and Blizz onside

[Sarog]

I am ok with this - as I said at the start I don't plan on being the psycho BH type -just a professional. Letting targets live if it fits with the contract is fine, avoiding collateral damage is fine. Hopefully this will be enough to keep Mako and Blizz onside

 

Well, because we don't have Baldur's Gate II style event horizon moments where the character says "change how we operate as a group or I'm leaving", so that our companions in TOR just put up with however we act, it is a bit moot. To one level or another, you can justify that they stay with you no matter what... but it certainly isn't elegantly done on the narrative's part. So I guess it depends on just how much sense you expect it to make that they stay with you. In some cases, it makes precious little sense at all.

 

In the vein, I don't think Mako is well written at all, because regardless of whether you play light or dark, your bounty hunter is strong-armed by the narrative into doing heinous things regardless. You can be a full on lightside hunter but you will still end the story as a murderer, terrorist, fraud, and cop-killer. Mako is very clear in her moral alignment in those instances where you do get a choice, but in the instances where the narrative chooses for you (or all your choices lead to the same immoral acts, merely with different dialogue in between) her moral values are suddenly "off". So one moment you have Mako praising/reviling your moral decision making, but the next moment you are railroaded into doing something heinous that should seriously bother Mako and make her rethink the fact that she's following you around, but she doesn't comment unless there is a light/dark choice involved. The end result is that you can be a fully lightside hunter with Mako's respect and adoration, who is nevertheless a terrorist, fraud, and cop-killer... and that Mako doesn't mind the seriously bad stuff you have done so long as you are fwendly and nice. It is *extremely* shallow writing and very obviously a consequence of the ham fisted way that TOR is written to give the illusion of choice while keeping you firmly on rails.