Companions - I Only Ever Use the Healer

[iamthehoyden]

I have 3 50s, each one I leveled and currently run with a different type of companion although I've tried most of the other companions (except the ones I can't stand - yes, I'm looking at you Rusk and Skadge). My merc bh (dps) runs with Mako; my van trooper (dps) runs with Jorgan; and my sent jk (dps) originally with Kira, then Doc, and now pretty much exclusively with Scourge.

 

The healer companions tend to be good if you like to play it safer, are undergeared, or really don't like having to stop and regen after a fight. Healer comps also don't have to have the best of the best gear to pull their weight.

 

Any one of the tanks you pick up along the way starts out uber-squishy. Up till I got Scourge, I just packed them away after the first pull when they folded. With Scourge, I was determined to learn how to run with a tanking companion so we died a lot at first until I got him some gear and figured out how to deal with aggro.

 

I like DPS companions if I have some way to either taunt off them or to dump aggro on them. I really don't like it when I die and my companion has a full bar of health that's gone to waste. DPS toons are gear dependent: get them some good pieces, and they're beastly.

 

With any of the comps you're going to run into regen time on occasion. Running with a healer companion has less down time, but, you take more time in the fight itself. If you're into measuring the exact amount of encounter time (fight + regen time), you'll probably find that the companion that yields the fastest times is going to vary depending on your spec, player & comp gear, and encounter - not one size fits all.

[Xiahoufig]

My Concealment Operative leveled to the end of Belsavis using Kaliyo exclusively, before I switched to SCORPIO. My Assassin has leveled with Khem Val exclusively. I haven't had problems with either of them being squishy or things taking too long to die. Just need to keep them geared up (hint: instead of taking gear as a quest reward, take the planet comm. You'd be surprised how fast those things rack up.) and they can do just fine.

[Philmors]

It's largely a matter of gear on the part of both yourself and your companion. The safe bet is..

 

Tank + Healer Companion.

DPS + Tank Companion.

Healer + Tank Companion.

 

Tank, healer and healer, tank can be more ambitious in the type of mobs or size of the groups they pull. DPS, tank combo needs to be able to burn down what ever you pull before your tank dies.

You forgot Tank + DPS companion That works out quite well for alot of things.

 

I like DPS companions if I have some way to either taunt off them or to dump aggro on them. I really don't like it when I die and my companion has a full bar of health that's gone to waste. DPS toons are gear dependent: get them some good pieces, and they're beastly.

Trick is to have the DPS companion start the fight first if you think it's going to be a tough fight and then jump in when the companion's health is low. And yes, dps companions are gear dependant as are tank companions but in general, you can keep one to two companions geared up enough to do fine while you level.

Edited July 17, 2012 by Philmors

[ebado]

My main leveled as heals from 10-40ish and then 40-50 as concealment. Used Kaliyo until I got Temple on Hoth, and used Temple the rest of the way as a DPS character with a DPS companion. Occasionally used Lokin for specific fights I was having trouble with (The Trials on Voss, really).

 

My sorcerer leveled exclusively as lightning. Used Khem until I got Ashara, used Ashara until I got Xalek. Tank, DPS, Tank.

 

On my guardian (mostly focus spec, occasional quick spurts as tank), I used Kira and T7 pretty much the whole way through.

[Khevar]

If you're relatively new to the game (i.e. haven't got all of the mechanics down cold), and don't have great companion gear, then the healer companion is the best.

 

If you really know your stuff, have good gear for your pet and have the +presence legacy perk, ANY companion can be used.

[NoTomorrow]

Mostly healer here, but i use dps companion as a sniper too. Why? Because i can mitigate the initial burst, sometimes taking 0 damage, while bursting very fast mobs. The dps just make them go down even faster. Edited July 17, 2012 by NoTomorrow

[Philmors]

If you're relatively new to the game (i.e. haven't got all of the mechanics down cold), and don't have great companion gear, then the healer companion is the best.

 

If you really know your stuff, have good gear for your pet and have the +presence legacy perk, ANY companion can be used.

 

Yeah, if you get enough companion legacy perks unlocked, your companions will be beasts regardless of what they do. You even won't even have to gear them up all that much because of all the presence you will have.

[Tikon]

When I levelled as dps I used tank; when i levelled as heals I used dps - asha slices and dices beautifully.

 

When I do dailies now (as DPS i use heals comp for 2man soloing and dps for single)

 

Basically: don't neglect their gear and think through your tactics. gl.

[Goretzu]

From a solo PVE standpoint:

 

Melee DPS it's the only rational choice unless you seriously outgear or outlevel the NPCs.

[hooty]

PC=DD + sidekick=healer is the "smoothest" way. Relatively quick and rarely a need to rest between fights.

 

2 DDs is very fast when you win, but of course leads to a lot more deaths, at least for me anyway;) Though I suppose if done with a biochem and reusable medpacks I could avoid some of those pesky deaths. I did it with a cybertech and kept improving our gear as often as I reasonably could. Didn't seem significantly slower than DD+healer overall but definitely not as smooth. Actually, now that I think about it, with sentinel+Kira synthweaving should be really good. Damn it, now I need to start another sentinel...

 

Really, all combos are workable I think. I do find myself at times getting addicted to using a healer companion for my tanks and DDs. The only combo I haven't seriously tried is healer-healer. I ran a commando+Elara for a while but it seemed kinda boring and some of the fights just took too long. I think this was the PC where stuff like this happened to me;

 

 

On Balmorra, going for the datacron behind the big satellite dish. I had to kill 3 sets of apprentices because it took me that long to chop their master down. Not that we were really in danger of dying at any point. Just really time consuming. I don't think that fight was designed with the intent that the apprentices would re-spawn like they were adds;) I can't remember the apprentices re-spawning even once when I did this fight with any other PC, let alone twice. Or maybe I was just slow that day.

 

 

Edited July 21, 2012 by hooty

[Mikeni]

I hate using a DPS companion on my heal spec Jedi Sage. They get burned down way too fast so you're forced to spam heals which causes global threat and then you have to ctrl+1 your companion to each individual mob to get the threat back onto the companion.

 

With the tank companion, they run in and use AoE taunt and then I burn down each mob one by one while healing the companion.

 

In Heroic 2's I'll CC the Elite and then ctrl+1 my tank companion onto each Strong enemy with his AoE abilities disabled so he doesn't break CC. Once the 2+ Strongs are dead I'll ctrl+1 the Elite and kill them.

 

It's the most efficient and fool proof way of doing things that I've found.

 

Now that Qyzen is in full Columi he can tank just about any heroic quest.

[Arlbo_Nabbins]

I use Doc on my Guardian exclusively, the reason for that is that downtime between fights means my focus drops. With Doc out it is literally a case of hitting the mobs one after the other so focus starts high and there is no problem spamming all the high damage attacks.

 

On my DPS Vanguard I mix it, healer for fights with more than 1 non-trash mob otherwise DPS. Restoring ammo after fights means you are healing up a bit anyway.

[Rafaman]

Good discussion. I would like to add that your companion choice can also be situational.

 

I have a Sent as my main which only has robot CC. I started running the last part of the bonus quests on Voss and realized Doc wasn't cutting it. Just couldn't heal me fast enough when faced with multiple strongs and the patrolling elites. So... I pulled out my melee tank Scourge which I had been keeping geared up for exactly this type of situation. And, it worked like a charm. I sent him in first he pulled aggro, I then burned down weakest to strongest. And btw, he was just fine. Died a couple of times but was much more effective for the mobs in that area than Doc or Kira.

 

Kept this in mind going into Corellia except this time I geared up T7. Worked like a champ.

Edited July 21, 2012 by Rafaman

[aeterno]

I used healing companions most of the time while leveling but on my 6th char now I'm rolling a mara with ranged dps and completley dropped the healer. With all the presence bonuses my companion hits like a truck, holds atleast part of the aggro and mows down normal mobs in seconds.

[Cathest]

everyone who says "kaliyo rocks!" or "khems the bomb!" either have huge presence bonus from legacy

 

or are masochists.

 

OP you are right, Healer is the most efficient way to quest, in my experience, healer/tank.

 

and if u want to argue presence bonus, well it just makes ur heals even better

[Rafaman]

I used healing companions most of the time while leveling but on my 6th char now I'm rolling a mara with ranged dps and completley dropped the healer. With all the presence bonuses my companion hits like a truck, holds atleast part of the aggro and mows down normal mobs in seconds.

 

Those legacy bonuses do change the landscape a bit don't they? I have 3 characters capped and I'm now running an alt Operative, by definition squishy. I don't have a healer and I'm not sure I will use one. Quite simply I don't take much damage and my companion tank does great damage and pulls aggro while I backstab. On my main, I managed to max out affection on all my companions so... hec yea! Those bonuses are nice nice!

Edited July 21, 2012 by Rafaman

[Aricus]

Those legacy bonuses do change the landscape a bit don't they? I have 3 characters capped and I'm now running an alt Operative, by definition squishy. I don't have a healer and I'm not sure I will use one. Quite simply I don't take much damage and my companion tank does great damage and pulls aggro while I backstab. On my main, I managed to max out affection on all my companions so... hec yea! Those bonuses are nice nice!

 

Indeed they are. I am 2 manning FPs with me as healer and my companion tank lol.

[Denyus]

Questing with Corso becuse i'm gimped and can only do alot of damage from behind - Alternative Risha or Mr Fish face i can't remember he's name right now...

[Darth_Pants]

Questing with Corso becuse i'm gimped and can only do alot of damage from behind - Alternative Risha or Mr Fish face i can't remember he's name right now...

 

Don't ever use fish face. My understanding is he is actually plotting to kill you according to my guild mates. Apparently him being your companion is just a trap.

[Skirata_Kal]

On my heal spec'd Scoundrel, I actually use Risha. Once she's geared, she kills things so fast and has enough survivability that I can easily heal her through any of the intended solo content, and with the use of CC's I can even solo some of the 2 man content.

 

I took a similar approach with my heal spec'd Operative once he got Temple.

 

My Vanguard tank uses Elara exclusively, My Sentinel switches between Kira and Doc (Doc sometimes forgets he's a healer...moreso than the other heal comps in my experience lol). My Marauder uses Quinn. Most of my other toons are still with their first comps since most of them either haven't got any new ones yet or I don't like the ones they have so far.

[SilentKitty]

I play with all my companions =) enjoy the different ways in which it works. Also like the feeling of having the entire team out working together. Sure, it takes more time keeping all of them in good gear, but having fun playing is the most important thing for me so it isn't a problem. I usually choose two of them that will go with me for one day, and then switch between them during the evening.

 

Corso for big time trouble, I play with him very often. Akaavi is wonderful, she is in great gear and kills things very quick. Risha when there's a lot of ranged mobs and we're having a bit of girls-night-out. Guss, well, two healers playing together might not be the fastest way to get anything done. But I just have to take him along every now and then, he is just so much fun. Not the fastest way of playing, but I have fun every single time that I play =)