You know what would be cool? Tank companions.

[Vespassian]

Why don't we have tank companions that work well? For example: they can't hold agro for more than a few seconds. Some of them don't even use their AOEs.

 

Edit:

I mean level 55 content. Not leveling. When attacking a boss as a 55 DPS the tank doesn't have a chance holding agro, and when I heal... I still steal agro.

Edited June 9, 2013 by Vespassian

[TheBBP]

Every one of my tank companions works great. I went from 1-55 on my Sage with Qyzen as my shield. Perhaps you are doing something wrong?

[Jeweledleah]

have you actually enabled their AoE's? because they don't enable automatically, in part because the game assumes you might be using cc and AoE breaks it.

 

are your companions in proper tanking stance? hell, I was playing with some friends, and there were times when friend's Corso held threat better them my vanguard by sheer virtue of having access to taunts more often.

 

are you gearing them properly? you need to keep their gear updated, and they benefit from defensive stats as much as players do.

 

so far, the only time I had trouble with my tanking companions was when I neglected one or more of the above.

 

my Xalek who is geared in mix of basic, hazmat and like 2 pieces of black market gear holds threat off my fully arkanian geared sorc just fine, even when I spec lighting for soloing and spam AoE.

 

the only tank I had issues with was SCORPIO and that's in part because I did almost nothing to gear her, before switching back to Kaliyo.

[Vespassian]

have you actually enabled their AoE's? because they don't enable automatically, in part because the game assumes you might be using cc and AoE breaks it.

 

are your companions in proper tanking stance? hell, I was playing with some friends, and there were times when friend's Corso held threat better them my vanguard by sheer virtue of having access to taunts more often.

 

are you gearing them properly? you need to keep their gear updated, and they benefit from defensive stats as much as players do.

 

so far, the only time I had trouble with my tanking companions was when I neglected one or more of the above.

 

my Xalek who is geared in mix of basic, hazmat and like 2 pieces of black market gear holds threat off my fully arkanian geared sorc just fine, even when I spec lighting for soloing and spam AoE.

 

the only tank I had issues with was SCORPIO and that's in part because I did almost nothing to gear her, before switching back to Kaliyo.

 

"Enable AOE"? I must have been missing something. How do I enable AOE? And yes, they're in tank stance. Yes they're geared in Basic-Campaing. I'm not blowing money to augment companions though.

Edited June 9, 2013 by Vespassian

[Vasdrakken]

I don't normally use Scourge, because to be blunt he used to suck. I pulled him out because the group I was playing with wanted my tank instead of Doc who I normally have out. I was pleasantly surprised he was a halfway decent tank. I've played with players who were worse. He was in decent gear since he got a lot of my old mods.

[TheBBP]

"Enable AOE"? I must have been missing something. How do I enable AOE? And yes, they're in tank stance. Yes they're geared in Basic-Campaing. I'm not blowing money to augment companions though.

 

I never put anything higher than prototype (blue) gear on my companions unless I happen to loot something better and I never augment their gear. At least as far as leveling up goes.

 

Look at your companion's abilities, are there any that are not turned on? Your AOE specials might be turned off.

Edited June 9, 2013 by TheBBP

[Screaming_Ziva]

Why don't we have tank companions that work well? For example: they can't hold agro for more than a few seconds. Some of them don't even use their AOEs.

 

Edit:

I mean level 55 content. Not leveling. When attacking a boss as a 55 DPS the tank doesn't have a chance holding agro, and when I heal... I still steal agro.

At 55, unless your companion is geared as well as you or better than you, they will most likely not hold aggro no matter what you do.

[Jeweledleah]

when I send Xalek in first and let him use couple of abilities, then hit mobs myself, I usually have no issues. I also tend to use the same strategy as i do in flashpoints - kill weak mobs first (so it doesn't matter whether he holds them or not) and then move up the strongs and if present - elites. I also use my aggro dropping ability

 

if you are not displaying companion bar - go to your abilities window, select your companion and make sure that all the abilities are selected. it will be either a yellowish dot in the corner, of black square in that same corner. black square means ability is turned off. right click on it, to turn it on.

 

also. the higher your presence bonus - the better they get. so it pays to have alts with maxed out companion affection. mine are not quite at the point of a few people I played with, who used their companions to extremely successfully tank 4 man content, but... I'll get there. eventually.

Edited June 9, 2013 by Jeweledleah

[HelinCarnate]

At 55, unless your companion is geared as well as you or better than you, they will most likely not hold aggro no matter what you do.

 

Exactly. That would be like you complaining that you are always pulling agro off of a normal tank with crap gear when you have all the top end stuff.

[LordArtemis]

My suggestion....

 

1) Droid combat companion

 

This would be a crafted companion. Armor slots accept normal droid gear and do not change appearance.

 

Setup would be the same as HK. Ability pallet would be limited, but programming modules could be dropped into the droid to change it's function (in the companion customization slot)...droids would have only three abilities except for Medic (4)

 

Ranged - Green - Two ranged attacks (high power single shot and automatic), one sleep attack - Medium armor

Melee - Red - Two melee attacks (strong and ranged jumpjet attack), one damage boost - Medium armor

Tank - Black - Two melee attacks (strong and area strong with knockdown), one agro taunt - Heavy armor

Medic - White - One ranged attack/heal (automatic), One single channeled HOT, One burst single heal, One group channeled HOT - Light armor

 

Unique to droids

 

Bombardment - Brown - One ranged attack (automatic), one AoE ranged/channeled knockback/knockdown attack, one knockback/knockdown single target rocket attack - Heavy armor

 

This would be done with the companion appearance slot, and a new role would change the droids color.

 

Three legged combat droids like the B8-M2 droid could be used. Performance is better than the ship droid but not as good as standard companions, though only slightly inferior.

 

2) Animal combat companion

 

This would be a crafted companion (from egg or captured baby). Armor slots accept normal gear and do not change appearance.

 

Setup would be the similar to the droid companions. Ability pallet would be limited, but training modules could be dropped into the animal to change it's behavior (in the companion customization slot)...animals would have only three abilities except for Healer (4)

 

Ranged - Green - Two ranged organic attacks (snipe and basic), one sleep attack - Medium armor

Melee - Red - Two melee attack (strong claw and ranged jump attack), one damage boost (frenzy) - Medium armor

Tank - Black - Two melee attacks (strong and area strong), one agro taunt - Heavy armor

Healer - White - One ranged organic attack (basic), One group channeled HOT, One group burst heal, One group area HOT - Light armor

 

Unique to animals

 

Control - Brown - One ranged organic attack (basic), one AoE debuff attack (strong), one AoE sleep attack - Heavy armor

 

This would be done with the companion appearance slot, and a new role would change the animals color.

 

There would be a variety of animal choices to choose from. Performance is better than the ship droid but not as good as standard companions, though only slightly inferior.

Edited June 9, 2013 by LordArtemis

[swtonewbie]

My suggestion....

 

*snip*

 

Adding new companions with new skills isnt going to fix anything, they need to tweak the comp tanking mechanics we have now. Even with me giving my comps premium quality armoring, mods and enhancements every 4 levels they still blow. The only time i dont notice they suck is when i play a class/spec that has a ton of burst dps. Although i have heard about tank comps in beta or early version having a lot more armor then they have now, but it made gameplay a little trivial.

[Tsillah]

My tank companions are mostly ok. But companions are not a replacement for a real player. This should be understood. I don't use tank companions much because they are slower in building aggro. The best thing you can do is send your tank in, wait 5 seconds after he engages and then start pitching in.

 

It's also about understanding how to work with a tank as a dps/healer. Most people make basic mistakes that you notice quickly when using a tank companion.

 

Example: You have a group with a silver and two normal mobs. A tank companion should attack the silver and take aggro. Then you attack and finish the first normal mob and then the second and only then the silver. Don't use aoe damage. Your companion tends to use their aoe aggro builder early on. if you then overpower it with a forcestorm or something then you may steal aggro. So only use big aoe's when you only have weak mobs. There are more complex strategies you can use but let's leave it at this.

 

Also use cc for groups with multiple strong mobs if you have it, but realise you must turn off your comp's aoe or they will break the cc right away. Always realise that solo content is easier than group content but a companion will never be as good as a real player (provided the real player isn't a total dimwit) even when geared well. They have fewer abilities as it is and a limited tactical overview from their AI.

 

I think the OP has too high expectations of his companions. He wants them to be something they are not and refuses to adapt his playstyle. The tank companions work fine if you let them build aggro first and use the dps picking order (weak to strong), oh and also use your aggro drop. You have it for a reason.

[SentinelDranoel]

"Enable AOE"? I must have been missing something. How do I enable AOE? And yes, they're in tank stance. Yes they're geared in Basic-Campaing. I'm not blowing money to augment companions though.

 

I did and I had great results. You get what you put in I guess. It is easier when the companion matches your class. Trooper companions use Aim mods and Scourge use strength for the Knight.

[xandax]

Some real life tanks can't hold aggro either.

 

A companion is just a 'bot' and unless you equip it decently, you'll never get decent performance from it.

 

The healing companions isn't as good as a proper healer.

The DPS companions aren't as good as proper DPS.

And similar for tank.

 

However IMO the tank companion does quite well considering - if you equipment in equal level gear and play as you would, with a tank player.

The tank companions I use seems to do just fine when equipped for such.

[SentinelDranoel]

Adding new companions with new skills isnt going to fix anything, they need to tweak the comp tanking mechanics we have now. Even with me giving my comps premium quality armoring, mods and enhancements every 4 levels they still blow. The only time i dont notice they suck is when i play a class/spec that has a ton of burst dps. Although i have heard about tank comps in beta or early version having a lot more armor then they have now, but it made gameplay a little trivial.

 

The thing about anecdotal evidence is I can say the exact opposite.

I have been playing the game since the beta weekends and early access and I have used:

1)Corso all the way to Hoth back when he still had harpoon with my Gunslinger.

2)Khem Val who did suck no matter how much gear I gave him. After Xalek got fixed I have been using him ever since. I solo champions reguarly with him.

3) M1-4x was always good at holding agro for me from 1-50 and I only had problems gearing him after 50. I switched to Tanno Vik and he is better than a lot of human players. I used him to solo level 47-50 flashpoints for crafting material. Once geared he was able to solo mobs and elites.

4)Used Qyzen until I got Nadia and he never sucked. I do not really need a tank to solo with a toon that can heal, cast force armor and force lift.

5)My Bounty Hunter was a tank so once I put my gear on the Jawa he was more than fine. I did not solo DPS with that toon much.

6)I still use Lord Scourge with my Sentinel and he is fine like most heavy armor companions.

7)I love LT Pierce with my Sith Juggernaut, the only companion I ever use since I finished Taris. Ranged tanking and does not die often for me. He also holds agro well for my single target DPS toon.

8) I used Kaliyo until I got Scorpio. Scorpio is now geared in the purple 50 droid gear they released awhile ago and she is indestructable in the pre-RotHC content.

 

I have used tanks with Burst DPs, DOT DPS toons, and healers and they work fine for me.

Edited June 9, 2013 by SentinelDranoel

[Repman]

Know what would be really cool? My Sith actually strong enough to kill escaped slaves without the use of a companion.

[madtycoon]

I wish the companion bar had more options. 'Move to' would be really nice. It would make it easier to micro them to position mobs and get out of AoE easier. Wish you could also move around the abilities on their action bar.

 

My main problem with tank companions is when you have them attack a pack of mobs, it takes them a couple seconds to even respond before they actually go in, so you're sitting there waiting.

[Andrastee]

Having played as a Sith Inquisitor all the way to Level 55, I've never had a problem with Khem. I know a lot of people find him squishy, but unless I'm fighting a boss I barely have to heal him. Keeping him geared in level-appropriate Guardian armor is a must, though, as is maintaining Static Barrier at all times. I've certainly never had trouble with him holding aggro. I normally use Ashara when fighting trash mobs because she chews through them faster, but Khem is still my go-to guy for tough fights.

 

(I have no opinion about Xalek, since he was horribly under-geared when I got him and I've yet to get around to fixing that.)

[Sjax]

I never put anything higher than prototype (blue) gear on my companions unless I happen to loot something better and I never augment their gear. At least as far as leveling up goes.

 

Look at your companion's abilities, are there any that are not turned on? Your AOE specials might be turned off.

 

Just slap on them a full set of oranges and planetary comm them.

[Vespassian]

At 55, unless your companion is geared as well as you or better than you, they will most likely not hold aggro no matter what you do.

 

My point.

[Vespassian]

when I send Xalek in first and let him use couple of abilities, then hit mobs myself, I usually have no issues. I also tend to use the same strategy as i do in flashpoints - kill weak mobs first (so it doesn't matter whether he holds them or not) and then move up the strongs and if present - elites. I also use my aggro dropping ability

 

if you are not displaying companion bar - go to your abilities window, select your companion and make sure that all the abilities are selected. it will be either a yellowish dot in the corner, of black square in that same corner. black square means ability is turned off. right click on it, to turn it on.

 

also. the higher your presence bonus - the better they get. so it pays to have alts with maxed out companion affection. mine are not quite at the point of a few people I played with, who used their companions to extremely successfully tank 4 man content, but... I'll get there. eventually.

 

Thanks !

[SlimsPicken]

With over 900 pres on all my characters, and rank 156 crafted mods on the tanks I have literally never pulled aggro off them no matter if healing or DPSing.

 

Tanks need gear.

 

Simple as that.

 

Tank is the most gear dependent role, so your tank companion needs to have top notch crafted mods at least. Even crafting the 148 rating blue mods will be good enough for alot of content at 55 as long as you arent arkainian + geared yourself you shouldnt pull aggro off them.

 

Like others have said, enable by right clicking all the AoE aggro abilities.

 

I find my tank companions do their job the best of any of the roles- healing comps sometimes bug out and stop healing or shoot things even when their attacks are toggled off, dps companions can be lethargically slow at killing depending on which you use, but the tanks I find are pretty consistent when geared and sent into combat first to gain aggro.

 

Usually when I see a healer or dps having tank companion issues, its a case of poor gear, or them opening up with AoEs ... and then wondering why all the mobs hit them wit the opening salvo...