Best companion post 50-55?

[Vokan]

I am a returning player, and a bit rusty with the game mechanics.

So which companion do you think is good to solo my way from 50 to 55?

I am going to have to get some decent gear for them, and dont want to waste the dough.

[crunchbarry]

I am a returning player, and a bit rusty with the game mechanics.

So which companion do you think is good to solo my way from 50 to 55?

I am going to have to get some decent gear for them, and dont want to waste the dough.

 

revel or ashara. if you're heals - khem

[Vokan]

Thanks!

 

Lol, I guess I should change my sig, was planning to roll an assassin in beta.

[IronFirewind]

Basically pick either Ashara (Lght Side) or HK (Dark Side) and kit them out with the Rakata Grade mods you can get from the Makeb Vendor for Planetary comms if they aren't already geared up. Stuff will just melt as you share aggro with them.

 

Khem and Xalek being tanks are useless and just die too often as DPS, and things take ages to die as healer. Talos and Andronikos are made completely obsolete given that Sorc has great AoE (so doesn't need Andronikos) and great self healing (so doesn't need Talos).

[phatmanjones]

Basically pick either Ashara (Lght Side) or HK (Dark Side) and kit them out with the Rakata Grade mods you can get from the Makeb Vendor for Planetary comms if they aren't already geared up. Stuff will just melt as you share aggro with them.

 

Khem and Xalek being tanks are useless and just die too often as DPS, and things take ages to die as healer. Talos and Andronikos are made completely obsolete given that Sorc has great AoE (so doesn't need Andronikos) and great self healing (so doesn't need Talos).

 

What's wrong with more aoe:confused:

[MidichIorian]

I prefer Ashara, followed by Xalek. I play sage much more though and was steamrolling makeb with Nadia. I threw in some of the other companion every now and then in an attempt to work on the achievements. Some of those other companions were in lvl 24 greens

[Sparklefish]

My Xalek is a beast. He did really good up until I hit 54 and I had to heal him after every fight. He was dressed in mostly BH gear, I upgraded some of his gear using basic coms and got him the lower robe and some boots. He's doing much better now. I haven't used the others but a guildmate who is a sorc dps uses Talos and Ashara.

[Eillack]

HK-51 with at least 58's in him = almost instant mob killer.

[Ghost_Spectre]

I use Khem Val exclusively. I have him completely geared out in Rakata at the moment and will have him in campaign shortly. So far on Makeb, Khem has done a great job for me. I keep him healed when needed; however, I can burn down most mobs before he takes too much damage. I have the rest of companions in Columi gear and use them when I need more DPS. I guess it comes down to personal preference. For me having someone else to hold aggro is important. Khem holds it far better than Xelek.

[Trevormortis]

I use Khem Val exclusively. I have him completely geared out in Rakata at the moment and will have him in campaign shortly. So far on Makeb, Khem has done a great job for me. I keep him healed when needed; however, I can burn down most mobs before he takes too much damage. I have the rest of companions in Columi gear and use them when I need more DPS. I guess it comes down to personal preference. For me having someone else to hold aggro is important. Khem holds it far better than Xelek.

 

^This

[psybernetic]

HK-51 with at least 58's in him = almost instant mob killer.

 

I started running HK early on in the plot and didn't look back. Even in his level 50 starter gear with a Columi offhand or something, he was doing sick damage. Between the two of us decimated packs. I'm looking forward to gearing him and Ashara out.

[SandsOfArrakis]

My Sorc is now level 53 and full Madness spec. Except for one boss where I had to resort to using Talos, I've been using Ashara exclusively. If you're companions gear is not exactly up to date. Doing the H4 The Observer daily on Makeb gives you a choice for an orange weapon for your companions. Ashara already has 2 new lightsabers that way. Next time I'm going to do it Talos will be getting a new gun

[Larry_Dallas]

For Lightning spec, I'd argue it's Xalek. On makeb, there are a lot of trash in the mobs and you've got a lot of aoe. If you can get him to pull, they'll cluster around him and you can hit them with a chain lightning, a force storm then a second instant chain lightning, which pulls aggro, but not before almost all of them are dead.

 

With revel or ashara they don't cluster as well, or else they'll aggro you and stun you before you can pull this off.

 

Not to mention you're squishy and, with bosses, there is no way your DPS comps will end up higher on the boss' threat table than you will, meaning you'll be tanking, which is bad.

Edited April 17, 2013 by Larry_Dallas

[Excorsion]

Basically pick either Ashara (Lght Side) or HK (Dark Side) and kit them out with the Rakata Grade mods you can get from the Makeb Vendor for Planetary comms if they aren't already geared up. Stuff will just melt as you share aggro with them.

 

Khem and Xalek being tanks are useless and just die too often as DPS, and things take ages to die as healer. Talos and Andronikos are made completely obsolete given that Sorc has great AoE (so doesn't need Andronikos) and great self healing (so doesn't need Talos).

 

i leveled as heals, used Xalek all the way from 50 to 55... never had a problem with him dying or anything. perhaps you should of spent a bit of time gearing him. I would take whole packs of elites... Barrier him and me.. Hot him and send him in then aoe the pack to kill the non elite ones in 10 secs. after that ii was cake to kill the elites. down time was not that bad due to self healing.

[AttonStarkiller]

I'm a healer and I prefer Xalek. I have him full campaign, but I have most of his armoring as resolve (more willpower) with the mods and enhancements tanking stats. Also have a resolve hilt in his saber and a resolve armoring in his shield. His total hit points are a little lower, but he does more damage and holds aggro really well. Like most of the others, I mostly send him in first and then spam force storm and heal/shield him as needed. I completed the Makeb story using Xalek and got through all the boss fights with him and completed that while still level 54.

 

I am really of the mindset to keep 2 companions well geared and use them as needed/preferred. With all my characters that is a type that compliments my build. As a healer, I have no use for Talos (even though the stuff he says makes me laugh). So I keep Xalek geared and Ashara. With the new "Rakata" level armorings and stuff available wtih the planetary comms, I've been turing my HK into the Hunter Killer he was meant to be.

[Fireswraith]

Talos or go home. I'll allow HK-51 if you want to use a DPS instead, or Khem if you need a tank; but Talos all the way. Deck him out in top notch gear and you've got your own pocket healer, best companion for a DPS or tank; period.

[Ottoattack]

Talos or go home. I'll allow HK-51 if you want to use a DPS instead, or Khem if you need a tank; but Talos all the way. Deck him out in top notch gear and you've got your own pocket healer, best companion for a DPS or tank; period.

 

Pretty much. Talos if you are dps. HK or Ashra if you are healer. I never found Khem useful for sorc. Takes ages to kill stuff.

[Eugee]

I used Khem Val from the time I got him till 50. Outside of a few of the class bosses that spammed Lightning Storm, I had zero issue with him. Static Barrier before fight, send him in, Lightning Storm > Chain Lightning > Lightning Storm > Chain Lightning, finish off anything not dead. He would be at 2/3 health if there were Strongs in the pack. Five second rest and good to go for another pack.

 

Even with the Lightning Storm spamming elites, I just had to get used to recalling him out of the nasty AOE.

 

Once I got Xalek I switched. Not because he does better damage, or holds aggro better, or anything like that. He engages faster--that's the only reason I prefer him. Khem Val runs up, and there's a delay before he starts swinging. Xalek leaps in, starting the fight upon landing. That's the only reason I like him more than Khem Val.

 

I used Talos, and while yes, he can heal me great, I can heal myself, if I actually need it. With a tanking companion, I don't need it. I'm a sorcerer (Lightning) which means I'm a glass cannon. I have the worst mitigation of all the ACs, and almost all of my offensive abilities are cast/channeled. Not very agreeable to getting beat on. Damage companions were fun, but on an elite, they just can't hold aggro, and I'm in the same scenario of getting beat on, dropping my damage output.

 

I have eight characters; on my Guardian & Powertech tanks, I use a healing companion. On my Commando & Operative healers, I use tank companions. On my Marauder & Gunslinger (durable damage), I use healing companions, and on my Shadow & Sorcerer (fragile damage) I use tank companions.

[chaosmadness]

In my opinion, all companions are good, just adapt each to ur playstile.

I play with a companion tank, but others play with companions dps or healer...

 

Just choose which you like.

[Laiov]

I leveled 1-55 as a healer and used Khem -> Ashara -> Xalek. At 55 I switched to lightning DPS. Right now I'm going through the process of gearing and maxing out all of my companions and thusfar I've played everyone except Andronikos Revel. Everyone's in 58-66 gear except Xalek, who is nearly full 69 simply because he uses the same gear my sorcerer does.

 

I find that despite the vast superiority of Xalek's gear, Khem is still slightly better as a tank, which suggests that Khem would be far and away the clear tank choice if gear levels were equal. However gear levels are not equal and might possibly never be equal; and even in DPS stance, Xalek can still use the AOE threat skills and hold some aggro on groups, which is nice.

 

I didn't really like running with Talos Drellik although it's nice to have the option. My thinking on that is, if I'm going to be taking damage, I'd rather the fight end as rapidly as possible. I'm not a tank. Which means if I'm not going to use an aggro-holding companion then I'm going to use a DPS companion.

 

HK-51 seems to do more DPS than Ashara Zavros and I can only assume that he out-damages Andronikos Revel also. But he doesn't hold aggro like Xalek does and he doesn't bring enough damage to enable me to facetank heroic 2+ champion mobs.

 

So my verdict is:

 

HK-51 for most pulls and Xalek for particularly large (multiple groups of mobs at once: dps + threat) or difficult (champion mobs: tank) pulls. Months from now, if I'm still playing and Khem manages to get full Black Market or better, I'd probably go with him instead of Xalek for those fights.

 

I can only imagine what HK-51 would be like in full 69 - you might even be able to use him for everything - but it seems like that's impossible for the time being since you can't slot those armor mods into his gear.

[Thundergulch]

For Lightning spec, I'd argue it's Xalek. On makeb, there are a lot of trash in the mobs and you've got a lot of aoe. If you can get him to pull, they'll cluster around him and you can hit them with a chain lightning, a force storm then a second instant chain lightning, which pulls aggro, but not before almost all of them are dead.

 

With revel or ashara they don't cluster as well, or else they'll aggro you and stun you before you can pull this off.

 

Not to mention you're squishy and, with bosses, there is no way your DPS comps will end up higher on the boss' threat table than you will, meaning you'll be tanking, which is bad.

 

This is how I do it also.

My Xalek isn't very well geared, and sometimes he might die, but by that time the mobs are almost dead anyway so I take very minimal damage. Rez Xalek, hop on speeder, hop off, he's back at full health instantly.

 

I do the same on my Marauder.. send in Jaesa, mobs flock to her, force leap+smash = dead mobs

The only time you SHOULD need a healer companion is if A) you're not very well geared for the fights, or B) you're soloing a Heroic and you need the heals, or C) you just prefer to not heal up between fights. All 3 ways are fine, it's just a matter of personal preference.