Dracunculus Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 So I'm reading through the companion threads with interest, as I've recently had to drop Corso as my gunslinger's favorite companion. I love the farm boy, but around level 45 I started noticing him dying a LOT more often than he had before, and when we hit Corellia it just became untenable. He would regularly go down just fighting normal mobs. My slinger doesn't heal, so I couldn't do a lot to support him except kill things quick, which is the strategy that worked for us for the first 45 levels. Against high-level elites, though, I just can't take 'em down fast enough to keep Corso alive. I tried Bowdaar and Akaavi, but the situation was even worse with them (granted, they weren't geared as well as Corso). I've heard great things about Risha, but we're just too squishy together -- we can plow through some mobs, but if things go south they go south really fast, and it can be hard to recover before we've wiped. So, lastly, I took Guss Tuno for a spin. He had probably the worst gear out of all the companions, since I'd never dreamed of using him. And...he rocks. On Corellia, with Guss at my side, I regularly walk away from fights at full health. It doesn't take any longer to wipe out a mob using Guss than it did with Corso -- since in both cases I'm the one doing most of the damage -- and Guss' control powers mesh really well with some of my attacks (like Headshot). It's pretty easy to get Guss geared up, too, since I can craft him a second set of whatever I'm wearing. We're getting even stronger together as I'm slowly improving his gear. I'm interested in hearing from other high-level gunslingers whether you've had the same experience, or whether there's another companion that I ought to take another look at. It's surprising to me that the healer/gunslinger combo is such a strong one -- I didn't really expect that. I have a level 50 Sith Warrior (Juggernaut) and a level 50 Jedi Consular (Shadow), and for both of those characters the healing companions (Quinn and Tharan Cedrax) are definitely the strongest, but in those cases it seemed natural that a melee fighter/tank would want a healer. Are healers just always the best? Or am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarwan Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 If you're a full DPS then there's no question that you should have a healer companion if you're going to solo. The best healer companion has to be Gus Tuno. I'm a Scoundrel so my words may not carry that much weight as you're looking for words from other Gunslingers. I will say this however, as a Scrapper Scoundrel going full DPS, Gus is the best option I have. He's saved my behind on more occasions then I could count. As a DPS, I don't need another one next to me, nor do I need a tank. Gus can also stun extra mobs around which is a plus when you're taking on too many. He's helped me solo through a lot of +2 heroics and even some +4 ones (pre 1.2). You don't really need to kit him out with awesome gear for him to shine. I've mostly given him purple hand-me-downs from my Scrapper but he's also got like 2 purple pieces of medic gear and against elite mobs, my HP rarely dips below 70%. At higher levels as you've said, you literally cannot go wrong with Gus Tuno. PS: He's also the funniest companion you can have. I love the part where he screams "I'll heal you with my jedi powers".....then throws a med pack at you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeborne Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 ps: He's also the funniest companion you can have. I love the part where he screams "i'll heal you with my jedi powers".....then throws a med pack at you. "wheeeeeeeeee!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracunculus Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 "wheeeeeeeeee!" "My friend is going to get you!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CloudCastle Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 I love Gus. I had Corso by my side the entire time, until I got Gus, and then...wow, I became a goddess. I can't believe I had to wait so long to get him. Ok, so maybe I'm not always a goddess, but my suvivability went up in a majorly noticeable way. I do miss Corso (trying to keep him geared as a second option) but Gus just works. And he makes me laugh. He's going to name his first born child after me, what more could I want? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CornBreadtm Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Gus Tuno is the best Companion for all high-level smugglers. Easy to gear. Heals. CCs. DoTs. Stays at a safe distance. Tbh all other types of companions need a 15% boost in there abilities to keep up with Healing companions. Tanks can't tank because they're dead before even half of the mobs go down. No defense (when compared to and actual player tank should have 10-20% lower defense not 50%), or ineffective defensive stats. Dps can't dps because they're dead before even half of the mobs go down. No abilities to heal themselves in anyway, or no ability to CC a mob that's attacking them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeyKama Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 While levelling and at lower-50 gear levels I'd just stick to Guss. Once you get Corso or Risha tricked out though, you can really tear through mobs; I usually take out Risha for the normal dailies, and use Corso for soloing the H2s, but they're in columi/rakata stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KryloKillian Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 DPS companions are more work but entirely viable. Tank companions are basically ******. And melee DPS have problems with pulling too much aggro on themselves. Basically when using Guss you're on easy mode, just shoot at **** and absorb heals. With Risha you have to bounce aggro back and forth between you and her against elites in order to keep both of you up, if done properly you'll be killing stuff much faster than with Guss but it's more work. And really you probably about even out in so far as how quickly you're moving through content because you have to stop and and heal more often between fights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hchsiao Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 He is probably the only one got kick out the jedi order by cheating jeid code test with cheat sheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDuckman Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 "Maybe not so much fighting, today?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halkyon Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 (edited) That's pretty much what I've found. Risha is my No. 2, but there's zero margin for error when you're using her against anything elite. I think I could get away with Akaavi too if she had better armor. On the up side, he's probably the most awesome/hilarious healer companion in the game, so being stuck with him isn't all that bad. Edited May 9, 2012 by Halkyon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilTsar Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 just wanted to say I think... i think im gonna.... blaaargh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikadoWu Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 I leveled using a Gunslinger OPS Spec, Pure DPS. I used Bowdaar for all questing. Then I would pull out Gus for the end Planet Bosses. I rarley died........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junostorm Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Hello Sith, I'm not an actually Jedi, I just dress like one, is one of my favorite Guss sayings. I pimped out Gus with nearly full Rakata, lol damn he can heal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandmthethird Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 wow this is good to know, i just got gus last night. and i have noticed my wookie seems to go down easier and easier every new level. i'm going to be so sorry to see him go but hey if gus is really that good, what choice do i have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPivo Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 If Guss were my first companion, I doubt I ever would have tried any of the rest. Oh, and I love the things he says so much that I have started taking screen shots of them: "Hello, Sith! Just so we're clear. I'm not an actual Jedi. I only dress like one!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junostorm Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 If Guss were my first companion, I doubt I ever would have tried any of the rest. Oh, and I love the things he says so much that I have started taking screen shots of them: "Hello, Sith! Just so we're clear. I'm not an actual Jedi. I only dress like one!" Yeah that is the line, Guss has some funny sayings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarwan Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 This has thread has turned into a Gus appreciation thread instead of giving advice to the OP......In saying that, I am so sorry for quoting Gus , I didn't know what I was about start! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPivo Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 This has thread has turned into a Gus appreciation thread instead of giving advice to the OP......In saying that, I am so sorry for quoting Gus , I didn't know what I was about start! I thought we were covering all sides of why Guss gets my hand-me-downs before Risha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracunculus Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 This has thread has turned into a Gus appreciation thread instead of giving advice to the OP......In saying that, I am so sorry for quoting Gus , I didn't know what I was about start! Oh, no worries. I've actually moved past wanting advice and deeper into just loving my fishy sidekick. We're level 50 now, reasonably geared up (no PVP gear because I don't PVP, but I'm an armormech and I have us both in purple crafted gear). I went and got my level 50 datacron too. Then we started taking on the level 50 missions on Ilum, Belsavis, and Corellia. We just soloed "A Lesson Is Learned," the Heroic 2+ mission on Belsavis that includes two champions as well as four three-man mobs consisting of an elite with two strongs. Neither of us dropped once, and I only used one health pack clearing the whole dungeon. Yeah, I'm perfectly happy with turning this into a Guss appreciation thread! "Pretty sure you won't die." That's the spirit, kid! Stick with me, this "living" thing will pay off, I promise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarwan Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 (edited) We just soloed "A Lesson Is Learned," the Heroic 2+ mission on Belsavis that includes two champions as well as four three-man mobs consisting of an elite with two strongs. Neither of us dropped once, and I only used one health pack clearing the whole dungeon. Yeah, I'm perfectly happy with turning this into a Guss appreciation thread! "Pretty sure you won't die." That's the spirit, kid! Stick with me, this "living" thing will pay off, I promise. Pre 1.2 with Gus as a Scoundrel you could solo pretty much every single daily mission you encounter including the Belsavis H+4. The only one we had problems with is the H+2 'Darkness on Ilum'. There're also some other Belsavis Heroics you could solo but do not give you Daily comms. I hear Bioware caught on to this and reshuffled mobs around key objectives for the H+4 daily ones so we can no longer solo them. It's a bit annoying since I used to make over Cr 200k per day just doing dailies pre 1.2 In PvE the best thing we could ever use in H+ instances is the Tranquilliser dart. If we face a strong with 2 elites, we just sleep the strong and continue to disembowel the 2 mobs before the strong can even wake up. I also used to use the dart on some champion mobs in some of the Belsavis H+4 dailies to sleep champions around objectives and skip the fight. Edited May 11, 2012 by Jarwan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zengine Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 I only use Guss when grouped with a non-healer for heroics.. I have always used Risha (once I got her) to burn through the groups much faster than any other companion. She's dps like Akaavi, but I could gear her in my hand-me-downs. Sure she takes a beating in the medium armor, sure I can pull aggro off of her when I try, sure I normally have a couple seconds of healing after a tough/rare/champion mob fight, but I still found it much faster than Guss. Here's my strategy in case you want to try it yourselves: Target the toughest mob Tell Risha to attack it Target the weaker mob(s) Attack Kill the weaker mobs Tab to Risha's target (if you're fast enough Risha's still alive) Attack and try to pull aggro before Risha dies; more dps to down it faster if she barely lives Pop a defense cooldown, use push-backs, stuns, etc if needed...you have a lot of skills, use them all Dismiss and resummon Risha Recover your own health (may not be necessary if you killed fast enough) Tab to forums and give this advice to other die-hard Guss only users Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracunculus Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 As a side note, it's interesting to me to see people using the word "mob" to mean "a single enemy." In the early MMO days, you used "mob" to mean the whole group that would aggro if any one enemy was attacked. What word do you guys use for the group, if you're using "mob" for just one baddie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracunculus Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 In PvE the best thing we could ever use in H+ instances is the Tranquilliser dart. If we face a strong with 2 elites, we just sleep the strong and continue to disembowel the 2 mobs before the strong can even wake up. This is also how my Jedi Shadow solos heroics (she has a similar power, that will control one enemy for long enough to take out the rest of the mob). But the equivalent power for my gunslinger only works on droids, which makes it much less useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VagrantWolf Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 I tried to like Risha even though she provides great DPS. The problem being is that she interrupts the flow of the game. Once you blow through the trash, you have to use your recover skills to regain your health/energy almost after every fight. With Guss, it allows us Gunslingers to go on wanton rages with guns blazing with no to little care. You do not have to pre-target or care about aggro. After fights, I am back to full health and ready to take the next mob without recovering as often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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