Permanently remove companion gear.

[Warrgames]

Going to start off with I can’t wait to read all “Don’t change anything post the game is prefect the way it is” and “You’re a noob and l2p” post. Don’t bother reading my OP just go straight to posting. For those that are interested.

 

Suggestion:

That companion gear is based off your gear level and companion gear slots are turn completely too cosmetic.

 

How it works:

Say you are a 31 Sniper in full 31 epic gear but you forget to upgrade your Vibroknife since Hutta. You summon Kaliyo Djannis in her tank stance. She would be in full 31 epic aim tank gear with shield generator the same item level as Hutta vibroknife. You than swap her to DPS stance she than is in full 31 epic aim DPS gear with generator the same item level as Hutta vibroknife. You find a new up to date vibroknife and equip it. Kaliyo’s shield generator/ generator gear level would increase to match the new vibroknife gear level.

 

Reasons:

This reason has real spoiler in it so read at your own risk

 

 

The reason I thought of this idea was I was level my Commando this weekend and did the end of Act 2 and remember how much this quest sucked because you are forced to use Tanno and Yuun. When I level my Vanguard my geared companion was Aric Jorgan and my Commando was Elara Dorne. I did this whole mission with those companion in the gear they came with. Based on my choice of who I sent to the bridge I lost Jorgan for Vanguard and Elara for my Commando for the next story mission. I completed the story with not too much trouble. This is one of my favorite quest in the game. Just because a huge problem for under geared and still learning the class players. I know the class I have a 55 Merc.

 

I know the Agent gets it worse if you use Kaliyo since you lose her for all of Corellia. I end up just skipping the planet story just to get Kaliyo back because I didn’t have the credits to upgrade another companion gear.

 

 

There are those players that like to use droids for companion. Droid companion get the short end of the stick all the time when it comes to gear. Since you can’t pull armor mods out of gear and use them in droid parts. You either have to buy armor mods of the GTN or wait till BW adds new droid armor.

[FalmeseReb]

How about no.

[Drudenfusz]

The current system isn't perfect, sure. But I think that this would have a very lpow priority, there are many other issues that need much more attention, so I don't mind BioWare not addressing this.

[Aaramis]

The better option would be for the class missions that offer a reward of ONE piece of companion armour should instead offer a bundle - similar to how you can get a bundle when you unlock your first companion for your class, which includes a full set of at-level gear.

 

The way it is currently, getting maybe a chest piece at one level, then the legs about 4 levels later, and maybe a weapon 3 or 4 levels later means even if you choose to stick with ONE companion, they'll never be properly geared. Let alone if you want to use several companions!

 

A full set of gear as a reward would allow for a well-geared companion to assist you - meaning tanks or dps would suddenly be viable while levelling, and we wouldn't simply have to rely on healer companions all the time.

[chosonman]

They just need to fix droid armor. It's still stuck in the pre 2.0 era.

[BrintoSFJ]

It is a very good idea but eaware can't do it just as they can't work out bolster for companions. and i feel you man, that quest was terrible. i played with jorgan or elara and i was forced to do with those 2 undergeared comp.

[Heezdedjim]

It's not a bad idea, but it probably would be easier to just adapt the bolster mechanic to set your companion's "gear" to an invisible set of static, appropriate, level scaled stats based on your level, rather than linking it to your gear. So if the companion is in tank stance, the bolster would assign a reasonable allocation of "tank" stats, and bolster them up to whatever level would be achieved by green gear of your current level.

 

For those who want to equip actual gear, the bolster could bolster up whatever stats are present on an actual equipped piece of gear of a lower level, and it might just ignore gear slots that are filled by a piece of gear with an item rating equal to or higher than the bolster target rating for your level. So those who have companions fully geared in cast off raid drops would see no change, but those with ungeared or poorly geared companions would benefit.

 

There are a couple of class missions I can think of where you are forced to use specific, most likely long neglected and ungeared companions, and some sort of uniform bolster would have been nice to have for those. It also would be helpful for players who want to swap companions for a bit without gearing up one they have never used.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Heezdedjim

[Rilokin]

I agree that something should be done. This is a reasonable idea. I have like 11 characters, so with treek, HK, and the other characters, I have what 88 characters that need gear. That's brutal no matter how you look at it. And you can forget keeping all them up to spec while leveling. And because of that you miss out on a lot of what the other characters have to offer, because you stick with the most geared companion.

 

I have pretty much just decided to stick with treek, with legacy gear for now. Treek, can heal or tank, switch gear via legacy to other treek companions without looking goofy since the gear doesn't affect their appearance. I know treek's chatter is terrible, but it's the best option atm. I just miss not using my other companions.

 

At the very least I would like to see companions use a universal stat. Hey trooper companions all use aim, why not the rest of the companions? And then the Companions have an appearance tab. Trade stat gear between comps, but keep your looks.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Rilokin

[Drew_Braxton]

I agree they need to show more love for droid companions. I don't agree with the lazy way out of companion gear though. I have 144 companions or so. 21 HK-51s and 21 Treeks. I use HK on all toons except my tanks. I use healer companions for those. In reality you rarely need to use more than one companion anyways. As with the datacron legacy push, I'm in the camp that you bust your butt and earn what you have. Of course, it takes time and effort, but you've earned what you have.

[Foambreaker]

No, no and F no.

[ChicksDigHarleys]

I'm still annoyed they took away the companion tank armor buff in their tank stance.

[DawnAskham]

If they had something as simple as companion stats scaling to the same rating as player stats, while any gear equipped was purely cosmetic, it would..

 

Make swapping companions for story / RP / 'just because' reasons as easy as summoning them.

 

Reduce the amount of gear 'needing' by greedy a-holes trying to gear their companions.

 

Eliminate all the problems with being forced to use under-geared companions for specific missions.

 

Allow all companions to be similarly geared, no issues with droids, no issues with weapon types, no advantages for rolling a trooper and having all use the same armor / stat.

 

Because this idea is so simplistic and logical and would improve the companion system, it will of course never see the light of day.

[MaximusRex]

I like that the people who said no couldn't offer any kind of reason why its better the current way.

 

I too would like to see companion gear be cosmetic and companion power scale off my gear. It would fix a lot of problems with trying to keep companions geared, especially when some are required for certain missions.

 

It would also address fix the issues of Droid Mods by making them redundant.

[Elfa]

They should make companion gear cosmetic only and have their actual gear mirror yours in level. If your main hand is 34, then your companion's is 34. If your head piece is 28, their headpiece is 28, etc.

[Horacio]

Its a money/time sink that offers you customizations options for every one of your companions. I'm not sure how many people use their full array of companions for combat where they need 'good' gear but I suspect most people have a few go to people they take on missions (often times a healer).

 

I don't know how they would seperate existing gear you can put on them from a bolster system. You can put high level prototype gear on them if its that much of a hassle. Do you make "companion" gear available from a vendor that is fully loaded with level specific mods but with only a few appearance options? Make full gear sets on board with costomization modules?

 

I personally like to be able to arrange the stats I want and fully customize my companions. The ones I don't use for combat, I can put spares and found crap in the aesthetic gear I equip on them.

 

In a case like this, removing the system or simplfying it would take away from people who enjoy it to benefit people who, with a little extra work, can achieve the desired results already. If they were to introduce someway to in one step make their companions reasonably powerful, it would have to remain a step behind fully customized options.

 

Keep in mind,some players like to micro manage every aspect of their characters including their companions. I agree, it can get tedious when you have most of your server slots full but that can be mitigated with prioritization. Taking away a feature some players enjoy in the name of convience is not a good recipe for making the game "better" for everyone.

[Reno_Tarshil]

It's a good idea, as it appeals to the put companions in their own special outfits person in me. But I do not think it's needed as it's easy to gear companions out and thanks to presence you do not need to constantly upgrade them every planet.

 

Recently I put Mako in modless orange gear outside her gun and knife with mods and I was able to level to 30 before I invested mods into her on my PT. It's quite doable.

 

Again I like this idea, but don't think it's needed.

[TUXs]

Most companions are so broken that their gear isn't even a consideration for me.

[Cidanel]

Absolutely not.

 

I like that the people who said no couldn't offer any kind of reason why its better the current way.

 

I too would like to see companion gear be cosmetic and companion power scale off my gear. It would fix a lot of problems with trying to keep companions geared, especially when some are required for certain missions.

 

It would also address fix the issues of Droid Mods by making them redundant.

 

It is already stupidly easy to get to level 55. We need to make it more difficult to get to max level, not easier, as this suggestion would make it.

[EllieAnne]

What I hate is that once you start crafting, all of your companions look the same. All of the cunning ones have the same gear. All Pub Heavy Armor Aim companions look like they have surplus trooper gear. They should do what they do with Khem and Bowdaar, their stats change but cosmetically they look the same and when they join. Or better yet, be able to toggle it.

[Vember]

No way, on my sin Xalek has better gear than most 55's I come across.

[sloasdaylight]

Its a money/time sink that offers you customizations options for every one of your companions. I'm not sure how many people use their full array of companions for combat where they need 'good' gear but I suspect most people have a few go to people they take on missions (often times a healer).

 

I don't know how they would seperate existing gear you can put on them from a bolster system. You can put high level prototype gear on them if its that much of a hassle. Do you make "companion" gear available from a vendor that is fully loaded with level specific mods but with only a few appearance options? Make full gear sets on board with costomization modules?

 

I personally like to be able to arrange the stats I want and fully customize my companions. The ones I don't use for combat, I can put spares and found crap in the aesthetic gear I equip on them.

 

In a case like this, removing the system or simplfying it would take away from people who enjoy it to benefit people who, with a little extra work, can achieve the desired results already. If they were to introduce someway to in one step make their companions reasonably powerful, it would have to remain a step behind fully customized options.

 

Keep in mind,some players like to micro manage every aspect of their characters including their companions. I agree, it can get tedious when you have most of your server slots full but that can be mitigated with prioritization. Taking away a feature some players enjoy in the name of convience is not a good recipe for making the game "better" for everyone.

 

My "Simple fix" for this.

 

Companions start with a set of Orange (maybe yellow, new gear category?) gear that automatically adapts to the level of the player's character up to a point (this companion gear can't exceed 156 rating, just as an example). For the players who care only about cosmetics, you can buy different types of this gear type, along with customizations to have your companion look the way you want him/her to, but not have to worry about keeping their stat levels high. However, you can still equip non-Companion gear if you want. This lets the players out there who want to spend the time and effort on their favorite companion(s) to have companion characters who are above and beyond what those who just use the automatic gear.

 

This allows for both play styles to have their proverbial cake and eat it too. The players who invest the time and effort into getting their companions stupidly well geared will have companions who can faceroll over mobs, whereas those players who don't really give half a damn about their companions (like me, for example) don't have to worry about managing 6-7 sets of gear.

[MagikFingerz]

It is already stupidly easy to get to level 55. We need to make it more difficult to get to max level, not easier, as this suggestion would make it.

 

BW obviously doesn't share your view (12x XP says hi).

 

Personally, I'm also in the "would be nice, but it's not really needed" camp. I do hope that the coming "cosmetic gear slots" will also apply to companions though.

[Macetheace]

i partly agreee.. something needs to be done to help companion gear a bit more, but not removing the need for it.

 

Presence needs tob e altered a bit more too, especially if you could put it on the companion, even change the name of the stat, so both you or your comapnion wearing it boosts them

 

Thridly they could bolster companions somewhat, tot he equivalent of green gear for your level, so at least you can always give htem upgrades, but they are never ridiculoulsy far behind, presence boosting them too, to make up for the extra effort and all the player class specific boosts you get.

 

they could also look to some of your abilities boosting the companion also, certain buffs you have applying to them also, or an equivalent that matches their role is adapted to them

[ItachiZaku]

I wouldn't mind that too much, I haven't upgraded to 180 hilt yet, since 168 was "good enough" but also, I'm Force Welder and Nadia is Resolve, so it wouldn't be optimized for her to take my hand me down, so i'd like to have had the 8 million to pick up both. Just not worth it as a tank IMO. If she did and it was optimized... that'd be sweet.

[NSStember]

Although I would be shocked if they followed this suggestion I think your idea has merit. Another possibility is to have all your companions use your gear. So no matter what class they are "mimicing" if your main stat is Willpower, so is theirs, if you use Cunning, so do they. This would allow you to move gear from yourself to *all* your companions as you upgrade, and from companion to companion as you (or the story) needs.