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Quarterly Producer Letter for Q2 2024 ×

Companion Respec Kits


DAWUSS

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Their role is part of their personality. Skadge is not a healer.

 

That is one point of view.

 

On the other hand, there's no reason he couldn't be a healer. Maybe that would change the way you view his personality.

 

For example, Ashara is not a healer, but I think healer would fit her personality better. Now I see her as a weak fighter. If she were a healer, I would view her as a strong character who is sticking to her non-violent beliefs.

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No, there is no reason Skadge couldn't be a healer, but he's not and it does not suit his personality.

 

Well, don't use him as a healer, then. No one's forcing you to do things any other way than the way you want to do things.

 

Options are good, though, don't you think?

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Well, don't use him as a healer, then. No one's forcing you to do things any other way than the way you want to do things.

 

Options are good, though, don't you think?

 

Exactly. We all have our own opinion about things like this and what we would like from our companions. This gives options, it does not force you to use those options.

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Well, don't use him as a healer, then. No one's forcing you to do things any other way than the way you want to do things.

 

Options are good, though, don't you think?

Making every companion essentially the same is not an option worth even any development effort. If it were in the game, I would certainly not be lobbying for its removal.

 

But as I said, at that point all companions might as well be generic droids called "Companion."

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Making every companion essentially the same is not an option worth even any development effort. If it were in the game, I would certainly not be lobbying for its removal.

 

But as I said, at that point all companions might as well be generic droids called "Companion."

 

In as much as all other players should just be labeled "Player." Some people still embrace the RP aspect of the game and are able to enjoy the freedom to develop their own story.

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Making every companion essentially the same is not an option worth even any development effort. If it were in the game, I would certainly not be lobbying for its removal.

 

But as I said, at that point all companions might as well be generic droids called "Companion."

 

As opposed to 'dps companion' 'healer companion' and 'tank companion'? Which is how they're looked upon at the moment.

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I don't think that every Companion should necessarily be able to perform every role, because of how they are written as characters. Tharan and Guss would be awful tanks (lol), and being a healer would seem very out of character for Khem Val or Skadge.

 

But, I definitely agree that there should be greater flexibility in Companion roles! I think all tanks and healers should have full-on DPS kits, and all DPS Companions should be able to either tank or heal as well. For example, let Risha and Vette heal, and let Akaavi and Jaesa tank. But since there are no medium armor tanks, that could be problematic for medium armor wearing Companions such as Andronikos and Zenith, who IMHO would be more suited to tanking than healing.

 

Honestly, aside from a few Companion/role combinations that would be pretty absurd, I think most Companions would be acceptable for any role though. I mean, we already have "iffy" combinations like ruthless Quinn (your pilot) as a healer and cute little Blizz as a tank. :p

Edited by Gwena
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I don't think that every Companion should necessarily be able to perform every role, because of how they are written as characters. Tharan and Guss would be awful tanks (lol), and being a healer would seem very out of character for Khem Val or Skadge.

 

But, I definitely agree that there should be greater flexibility in Companion roles! I think all tanks and healers should have full-on DPS kits, and all DPS Companions should be able to either tank or heal as well. For example, let Risha and Vette heal, and let Akaavi and Jaesa tank. But since there are no medium armor tanks, that could be problematic for medium armor wearing Companions such as Andronikos and Zenith, who IMHO would be more suited to tanking than healing.

 

Honestly, aside from a few Companion/role combinations that would be pretty absurd, I think most Companions would be acceptable for any role though. I mean, we already have "iffy" combinations like ruthless Quinn (your pilot) as a healer and cute little Blizz as a tank. :p

 

Khem Val doesn't threaten me as much any more, keeps calling me little sith. But making him a healer would end up with one of us killing the other.

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Khem Val doesn't threaten me as much any more, keeps calling me little sith. But making him a healer would end up with one of us killing the other.

 

Haha, probably. I love Khem but he can seem contradictory at times. Guess it depends on if you see "little Sith" as demeaning or not. :p

 

When I mentioned Khem, I was actully thinking of what he says when you arrive on Nar Shaddaa. Not an exact quote, but something to the extent of: "This place if full of distractions. If you let your guard down, I can't guarantee your safety." Not exactly the kind of guy who's gonna patch you up after a brawl, y'know? More like someone who'd just watch you bleed while you awkwardly tried to bandage your own broken ribs. xD

Edited by Gwena
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Honestly, aside from a few Companion/role combinations that would be pretty absurd, I think most Companions would be acceptable for any role though. I mean, we already have "iffy" combinations like ruthless Quinn (your pilot) as a healer and cute little Blizz as a tank. :p

 

And I think that right there could be one reason to allow greater flexibility in companion customization: some of them are already a bit of a stretch :D

 

I would be OK with even just a swapping of abilities and such if it made the process simpler. If we wanted to complicate things we could talk about buying equipment and weapon certs for your companions.

 

There are certain companions I like storywise, but gameplay wise, meh... I know there's always swapping out story companion for story moments and gameplay companion for combat moments, but that starts to sound tedious after a while...

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It would in a sense that the diversity of companions you would actually use would be greater. Most dps characters use the healer, most healers use the tank. Most companions rarely get used at all.

 

Fully support this idea, the way it was in Beta orginally.

 

DPS characters should use a DPS companion, and healer characters should use a DPS companion. Also tank characters should use a DPS companion.

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The idea is to separate the role from the character. Creating a choice that reflects on a preference for the character themselves, rather then the arbitrary role Bioware has assigned to them.

 

At the very least there should be secondary roles for companions that extend beyond their main stance/dps stance. There is no reason why Vette can't be a healer, but healer wouldn't suit Pierce or Broonmark. Picture being able to switch companions between two dedicated role templates each (not the lame dps off spec stance that all the companions have atm). So for example switching Pierce to dps would mean his skillset changes to that of a full fledged mdps companion (Torian, Jaesa ect.).

Edited by Marb
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And that's exactly how they would be looked on if you could freely change their roles. So you're lobbying for a change which would make no difference.

 

On the contrary, allowing people to pick roles for their favorite companions would mean that they'd be able to customize their companions for the situation at hand.

 

People would be able to keep playing with the one that they like, rather than being forced to play with a companion that annoys them.

 

Why are you against options? Options are awesome.

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Why are you against options? Options are awesome.

branmakmuffin is dismissing the idea because "options" already exist. There are 5 companions, each with their own combat role that suits their character. Adding on to that there are 2 "premium" companions that are best in class at performing their roles.

 

 

And that's exactly how they would be looked on if you could freely change their roles. So you're lobbying for a change which would make no difference.

The point is to unshackle roles from the companions themselves, so as to enable you to use your favorite companion in a role that you find useful, rather then being forced to use a companion that you may not like, purely out of a need for their assigned combat role.

 

There are reasons for some companions being the role that they are (turning Skadge into a healer wouldn't make sense). Expanding upon the ineffective off-spec dps stances would provide an opportunity to add complete skill suites that enable the companion to fill an alternate role that still fits their character. There are ways of adding more effective alternate combat roles to the current companions without sacrificing their integrity as characters.

 

Would that be a good use of dev time at this point in the game? Probably not.

Edited by Marb
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