Deewe Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 (edited) Quite a lot interesting feedback here. Some more: 1) Totally understand the OP issue and encountered it on quite a few alts: it is indeed a design oversight. 2) Removing companion gear altogether might no be the best solution nor having it scale on character gear. 3) Proposal: Default stats is separated from gear for companions. ie wear some gear for stats and display something elseAll companions gets heirloom gear stats that automatically scale depending the character levelSuch gear stats are based on green level gear scaleYou can still replace companion default gear with better gear and as such overwrite the default stats. Consequences: - While players can still gear their companions it's not mandatory anymore. - Allows switching companions more easily - Add diversity to the game play - It will make all companions more desirable - Min/Max'rs will still be able to be as awesome as they like to be - Gearing companion still feel rewarding and worthy - Promotes buying more (good) gear as people will use more companions. - Will mitigate the issue with class missions locking out specific companions - Will help a bit in some instance when people drop and players are waiting for a player replacement. Top that with being able to choose a companion AC and Image Design their body features and you have a winner companion patch. Edited November 18, 2014 by Deewe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azudelphi Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 (edited) Slap a presence booster / small HoT in missions that force the use of a particular companion outside the missions where you get companions for the first time. Done. No massive overhaul needed. Edit: This is an at most measure. Do not feel this is necessary. Edited November 18, 2014 by azudelphi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyaniteD Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 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. (Emphasis mine.) Completely agree. These are all the reasons that immediately came to my mind. I, too, switch companions for RP / story reasons, and I would love to do it more often if it were easier to keep their stats up-to-date. By now I'm close to presence cap and I can get away with undergeared companions a lot of the time, but what's the point of having that benefit long after it would have been useful and could have enhanced the actual experience that got me there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuriDogshin Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 No. The game does not need more "WIN" buttons. It's easy enough as it is. Oh, what's that you say: you find the content that a companion can help you with difficult? Then L2P. You will be glad you did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captpickles Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 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. everything boils down to your one line : I didn’t have the credits to upgrade another companion gear. sorry bub, spend less farm more. it is a mmo and that's the basis for the economics. I seriously doubt they would do this under the premise of making it cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivanhedgehog Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 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. the big words were too difficult for the "no" people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebevo Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 (edited) I like that the people who said no couldn't offer any kind of reason why its better the current way.No because if companion gear was purely cosmetic then I would have nothing to do with basic, elite or ultimate coms. Also if you did this, you are removing a source of income to crafters and those playing the GTN. While I agree this would be a fairly nice fluff kind of change, it really isn't that difficult to adequately gear companions and doing this would effect others. I know I have been buying implants and ear for companions as I level more alts during 12x. I just finished Act 2 for the second time on my vanguard last night. I just moved gear from Yuun to Vik (implants and ear) during the mission. It was no big deal and as dumb down as the mission has seemed to have become and with the amount of presence I have now, most likely could have done it with companion with no gear. Edited November 18, 2014 by mikebevo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JattaGin Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 No, no and F no. This convinced me. Many valid points in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth_Wicked Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 This convinced me. Many valid points in there. Reasons are all you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cidanel Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 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. You're right. Unfortunately, Bioware doesn't share my view. 12x experience actually kept me from preordering the expansion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DataBeaver Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 everything boils down to your one line : I didn’t have the credits to upgrade another companion gear. sorry bub, spend less farm more. it is a mmo and that's the basis for the economics. I seriously doubt they would do this under the premise of making it cheaper. They removed the cost from training skills, so why not. To me, gearing companions is not expensive nor difficult. It's just bothersome and annoying. I'd welcome a change that made it automatic, during leveling at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertthebard Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Since there are moddable droid parts out there, what? Here's my take: I want my comps to always have level appropriate gear so I can steal it for myself or my other comps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oyranos Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 (edited) bad move if they do that. WoW now gives 100 companions and you have to do raids with them and dress them up. Swtor allready have the dressing system, its a bad move to abandon it, while other mmos took the idea from it. But I believe Blizzard have agents in this forums... the new WoW expansion gives exactly what the swtor community asks from BIOWARE for more than 2 years now.. lol 1) dungeons for the companions 2) tirs of equipment exclusive for them. 3) They also split the companions in 3 categories, the simple ones for everyday stuff, the blue and epic ones (like the items) for more hard core stuff). 4) u dress them up to protect your small towns, so its like I suggested 2 years ago, with the flagships... invades from other guilds into ur guild flagship and the flagship turns into a huge flashpoint ... Here is the proof, read message 3 and look at the dates lol http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=526141 So I would say, expand the companion thing, dont cut it off in half. Edited November 18, 2014 by Oyranos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theSCARAYone Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 This actually sounds like a great idea, but perhaps presence could play more into it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussircaex Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 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. Having played games that used this as a feature, such as Bioware's own Dragon Age 2, I genuinely don't enjoy it. I have less fun in a game that doesn't expect me to gear my companions/party/etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deewe Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Having played games that used this as a feature, such as Bioware's own Dragon Age 2, I genuinely don't enjoy it. I have less fun in a game that doesn't expect me to gear my companions/party/etc. I have 10 alts and counting. Gearing the companions with even green gear is a no go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussircaex Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I have 10 alts and counting. Gearing the companions with even green gear is a no go. And I don't? I have many characters as well. I find gearing them to be more fun than games where I do not gear my party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suromir Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 While I wouldn't care much if it changed to this...It's just not something that should be done. There's NO REASON to not have a couple companions geared... Take Cybertech..make all the mods yourself for your companions...that'll keep them geared "enough" to get through any mandatory companion sections. in the case of the trooper...ALL OF THEM use the same stats....so for them you can take Cybertech OR Armormech (Armormech is slightly better, imo)...again...easy to keep them geared..and with a trooper easy to keep EVERYONE geared (except, of course, M1-4X..if you're going armormech) It's a time-sink and credit-sink...not to mention a source for income for crafters and the like.... So really there's no reason, at all, to do this. Minus giving lazy people more for nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThorgrimLutgen Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I have 10 alts and counting. Gearing the companions with even green gear is a no go. I have 16 L55s with fully specced companions, and I do not PVE, so it is only done for the sake of it. The problem here is the player, not the system. If people are not prepared to invest time into either crafting or acquiring the credits to buy gear for their companions, then they do not deserve well specced companions. As for the person suggesting that they removed skill costs on level now, that is only true during this 12xXP thing for those who have pre-ordered the expansion. After Dec 4th, you will be paying for skills the same as everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deewe Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 And I don't? I have many characters as well. I find gearing them to be more fun than games where I do not gear my party. I get that, still if you read the suggestion I brought in you'll see that I don't aim at removing gearing up companions. Only mitigating the issue, as there's quite a difference between a companion in green gear and one you invest time into it. With such system, you can still use any companions while gearing them at the pace you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shen_Dracta Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 How about they just add companion gear sets as rewards for the companion affection quests? They're already somewhat gated by the level/chapter you are. They only award a small amount of xp now anyway. Seems like it would be a nice middle ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Kaitou-Kid Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 How about they just add companion gear sets as rewards for the companion affection quests? They're already somewhat gated by the level/chapter you are. They only award a small amount of xp now anyway. Seems like it would be a nice middle ground. I like that idea quite a bit. They could make it bound to that specific companion as well, just like they do with the rest of the companion gear, so people can't take that stuff and sell it or use it on an alt or something. Makes it specific to companions as a way to get gear for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mowermanx Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 (edited) Another way that has been suggested before on here, is to throw Synthweaving and Amourmech a bone, and give them access to schems that make and sell as a single item, full 7 piece companion armour sets at varying levels. Edited November 19, 2014 by Mowermanx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotharofxev Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 In taking away the gear - can you include Skadge and Quinn since they're wearing it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuriDogshin Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I have 10 alts and counting. Gearing the companions with even green gear is a no go. Nonsense. I have more alts than that (see sig) and I have no problem providing gear for every companion. Most in endgame run in 168 gear these days. While leveling, I have new blues gear for them every 4-6 levels Bound-to-Legacy gear is your friend. Now if there was only a BtL electrostafff ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts