Treek - Questions

[dracoda]

Appologies if this has been answered elsewhere - I wasn't able to find much beyond 'guides' on how to get Treek (which is strange for such a straight-forward process).

 

I've recently returned and I had a few coins in the bank so I thought I'd give Treek a shot - looked like the best bang for my hutt-bucks. I also started a new character so the levels matched up nicely. I have a few questions though.

 

1. What's the deal with receiving a package of her gear that seems to match the gear she's already wearing? I'm I missing a detail somewhere - is this the same stuff?

 

2. I'm getting absolutely no reputation with her in quest conversations - does this come into play later, or will affection only increase through gifts?

 

3. Am I causing myself problems later in the game by levelling with Treek? Do I need to be swapping out other companions to work on affection gains during quest conversations?

 

4. She starts out amazing at level 10 - does she stay amazing throughout the levelling process if I keep her geared or does it taper off?

[ekimmak]

1. I really don't get the package thing. It might be intended to provide you with a set of level relevant gear, as you might be getting her at 55 and she comes with level 10 gear attached, but that hasn't been the case for me. HK-51 has the same package, you should know.

2. Haven't the slightest clue. I know that I got affection from her personal conversation, but if you aren't getting affection for those quests, it may be that she'll only get it on Makeb, which seems like a huge oversight to me. Or just plain lazy. If you aren't seeing it in her conversations, then it may be a user interface bug, or you just aren't picking the right dialogue.

3. Well, you can technically use the same companion the full game, but I think you should at least rotate when you max out affection. But remember: Your companions need gear as much as you do, so the more companions you switch up between, the more gear you'll need and maintain while levelling. Personally, I switch for conversations, but use one companion constantly till I hit the level cap, then start gearing and using other companions.

4. From what I've seen, with current gear, she outperforms both tank and healing companions by an incredible degree. It was a bit of a sorepoint that someone who requires either cartel coins or significant game time & a subscription do so much better than ingame companions. So no, the only real threat to her viability are the DPS companions. HK has superior ST damage and a strong insta-kill, while the other DPS companions have good survivability and a mix of AoE and ST damage.

Haven't played much with Treek, though, so I could be wrong.

[Gloomycakes]

Post above me is awesome btw ^^ just giving a second opinion.

 

1. One set is her tanking set and the other one her healing set, though due to the low level they're identical except for the off-hand (generator/shield)

2. I've yet to encounter any conversation I gain affection with her, might be smart to bring another companion out for conversations.

3. Treek is your safest bet, same with HK, due to storylines you lose certain class-companions for a while (depending on story) which can be relatively annoying if you only gear one, a problem you'll avoid with Treek. I always pick and gear 1 companion and stick with them forever.

4. For me she started out amazing and dropped down a little, but I think it's related to my high presence aswell. Presence starts out really strong early on and later hardly makes a differece. At level 55 I found her on par with a Ranged Tank companion, they have their differences though, Treek throws a heal once in a while, resulting in her surviving longer, but I also noticed since she has a different taunting mechanic, she doesn't immediatly taunt enemies back, something I found annoying on my Operative/Scoundrel due to Backstab/Backblast. The fact she respects 60 second stuns she imo makes the better Tank. She does make a better healing companion than my other healers. More HPS and more DPS according to my parsers.

 

To be fair it's only logical both HK and Treek are stronger than class-companions, developers need some way to ensure their product sells or gets played. Though I often chose my ranged DPS over HK due to them having AoE and being easier to gear, I'd not easily pick anything over Treek.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Gloomycakes

[dracoda]

Outstanding answers guys - thank you! Very much appreciated. That's funny about the healing vs tanking gear. I had that thought, but as you noted they are exactly the same (I overlooked the off-and).