Original companions are completely useless now that we have Treek and HK-51

[Khevar]

"Need to" and "must" are pretty much synonyms. Maybe not exactly, but pretty much. Also, "be required to." "have to," "got to," "gotta." If you're going be pedantic, at least be correct.

Really, bran? You read this:

This game is easy enough, while leveling or doing dailies, that you don't need to use companions.

And you thought it meant:

 

"This game is easy enough, while leveling or doing dailies, that you must not use companions."

Those two statements are not even remotely close to being the same thing.

[Jawsers]

When pay others' sub fees,

 

 

If English is not your native language, that's fine.

 

Maybe you should read that again.

 

 

All I said was you don't "NEED" to use companions. Anybody can use companions if they so wish, I can't go around to everyone's house and kicking the crap out of them cause they "disobeyed" me.

 

The game is fairly easy, and having a companion as a tank/healer/dps makes it that much more of a cake walk.

[LordArtemis]

Lexical semantics aside, I would say that there is room for improvement with Treek and HK-51, and of course companions in general.

 

I would do the following...

1) Allow more customization with companion appearance using a system similar to the current appearance designer kiosk.

2) Allow "utility" choices for our companions to expand their usefulness compared to top performers.

3) Allow HK-51 to be "collected" like Treek.

4) Make Treek a bit less loquacious as an option, adjust "assassinate" for HK as a cooldown ability instead of charged.

 

Then I would add a NEW companion to the mix.

Edited December 27, 2014 by LordArtemis

[Djiini]

3) Allow HK-51 to be "collected" like Treek.

 

Seriously, for force's sake, why can't I just pay 1 Mil for HK-51 on a character. Holy hell.

[LyraineAlei]

Seriously, for force's sake, why can't I just pay 1 Mil for HK-51 on a character. Holy hell.

 

Collections are account wide. One mill credts is fine if you only play on one server

[well]

When pay others' sub fees, I am sure they will be happy to play the game the way you want them to.

 

lol Some people don't understand that.

[well]

Maybe you should read that again.

 

 

All I said was you don't "NEED" to use companions. Anybody can use companions if they so wish, I can't go around to everyone's house and kicking the crap out of them cause they "disobeyed" me.

 

The game is fairly easy, and having a companion as a tank/healer/dps makes it that much more of a cake walk.

 

All computer games are easy. Your sitting on your duff pushing buttons or moving a mouse. how hard is that.

[Eladsry]

We aim to please!

 

I happen to think, by the way, that an "elitist" attitude is permissible, when legitimately earned, and if the person isn't being a complete dick about it.

 

(HINT: The ones who are ***** about it? They typically have no real right to it, and they know this, which is part of why they're being ***** about it. Of course, this touches on the fact that you and I, we seem to have very different interpretations of what elitism actually is/should be, but that's a flame-fest for another thread....I'm going to go faceroll my [DAILY]s now. Whilst over-gearing them comically. With Blizz, because he's just so perfectly adorable <3 <3)

 

Okay, that was a great response. And I agree, Blizz is totally adorable, and I am going to log in and use him for my dailies as well. ^.^

[AlrikFassbauer]

I have a few rare things.

But I don't brag with it.

That's why makes me different from Elitists.

I don't like bragging, so I don't do it myself. I just hate imposing felings of "being a loser" on others, because I feel so often like this myself - and that even although I have earned a few things ...

[Djiini]

Sorry, wasn't this thread about HK-51 and Treek compared to normal companions?

 

Just wondering.

[DreadtechSavant]

I have Treek for both my sub accounts but not on my f2p accounts.

 

To say treek make all other companions useless in not true. I use treek for about 15 of my toons out of the 100+ I have. If what you say was true I would only ever use treek.

 

22 toons per sever on 1 account. 15 per sever on my second account. Soon mounts up to over 100+

 

Not got HK-51 yet for any of my characters so cannot comment on HK, I simply cannot be bothered to go look for he's parts.

Edited December 27, 2014 by DreadtechSavant

[Floredon]

if they released a gungan companion that was even better than Treek and HK would you use it? I for one would not. Even though I have Treek and HK on all my characters, I prefer to use the healer companion from when I leveled. Treek is a bit too loud for my taste. If I could isolate her sound files and remove them from my machine, or replace them with something else I would.

[branmakmuffin]

if they released a gungan companion that was even better than Treek and HK would you use it?

Depends how amusing the character is purported to be. But as a practical matter, making a companion mechanically superior to Treek would be pretty over-the-top.

[Vhaegrant]

That's why I said "in principle:"

 

I know perfectly well that she(/he/it? Which is it, I can never remember.) is not actually pay-to-win, but all the bads perceive it as being pay for...well, pay for easy mode, at least.

 

Do I need to explain why this is bad?

 

Companions can work with you in open-world on PvP server, by the way. But there, like in so many other situations, the best combo --for my playstyle/preference, at least-- is geared ranged damager + geared melée DPS companion. The highest companion DPS, apparently, is coming from melée in "bleeder" stance.

 

Why are you slighting people running [DAILY]s in endgame gear? Creds are needed to deal with wipes --they can get very expensive at that level-- buy/keep up with consumables, and all the usual things that creds are needed for.

 

Oh, and as for the gear itself:

 

We earned that ****, through game-play at an advanced level, not by waving a *********** credit card around, we can bloody well use it if we feel like, especially if it makes [DAILY]s --a chore, not a challenge, or fun-- go faster, so we can then have more time to do the actual fun stuff.

 

That's why I said 'probably'

 

I'm not slighting people running the dailies in end game gear, I do it myself.

It's just the fact that by the time you are running around in BiS gear with full augments and +500 presence bonus it can be hard to remember what a vanilla 'first' character can feel like.

People that use Treek see it as being a means of getting through content. Something you state is your key aim in that last paragraph.

Treek was available through several avenues, I could of paid for a pack of Cartel Coins, I could of saved up my subscriber complimentary coins, or (as I did) just spend the credits earned from running content to buy the mercenary contract because my legacy level was above 40.

 

The main trouble is the companion system is only half formed and needs a bit more love and attention lavished on it.

In a perfect world I would have liked to have complete control over the companions and their acquisition. Something more akin to Bioware's system in Dragon Age: Origins where it is possible to not even realise an NPC is a potential companion, or to have a companion turn on you and fight to the death because of a choice you made. But alas, the balancing of MMOs means that the depth of choice I was accustomed to is not available.

 

A better compromise would have been to allow the player to choose the role of their companions with complete freedom, a system very close to the ability packs I've heard were trialled in Beta. Tying specific roles to specific companions is detrimental to the feeling of player choice, this is all the more evident if your preferred build is better running with a companion you hate.

Like many Sith Warriors I find Malavai Quin deplorable and would much preferred my healing companion to be Vette (bearing in mind her background a not unreasonable choice) or Pierce (I'm sure special forces have far more training in battle medics than an officer of the fleet).

 

Given the fact that the companions have to cover whether your player is Light or Dark side I find there is always at least one companion I would not have on the ship. My Bounty Hunter loathes Skadge and tolerates Gault but there they are taking up space I would much rather give over to the likes of Akaavi.

 

Treek and to a lesser extent HK are stop gaps that allow me a little more flexibility in playing style.

 

Maybe down the road the devs may open up companion selection within the legacy. There are very few that are so integral to one class they wouldn't cross over to another. In fact many of the companions are intertwined with the backstory of others.

 

As to the OP, the Oricon H2+ is a matter of choosing your champion with care. There are a couple of melee based ones that are pretty easy to takedown (they are statics on the platform top and bottom of the area), a couple of champions that are moderately difficult due to the amount of crowd control they have (patrol the central path with a little overlap, and several large groups of mobs that may respawn) and two roaming snipers that can be suicidal if you miss time the interrupts (terminate really knocks down the old health bar )

 

Also, and this really goes without saying, certain Advanced Classes and specs are far easier to Solo with than others. If you have a stealth mode, universal 60 sec crowd control, self heals you have far more advantage than those that don't.

[Vhaegrant]

Lexical semantics aside, I would say that there is room for improvement with Treek and HK-51, and of course companions in general.

 

I would do the following...

1) Allow more customization with companion appearance using a system similar to the current appearance designer kiosk.

2) Allow "utility" choices for our companions to expand their usefulness compared to top performers.

3) Allow HK-51 to be "collected" like Treek.

4) Make Treek a bit less loquacious as an option, adjust "assassinate" for HK as a cooldown ability instead of charged.

 

Then I would add a NEW companion to the mix.

 

1) They have opened up more customisation options, even to the extent of changing companion species, but alas they have gated it behind the Cartel Reputation Vendors and it is still very limited.

 

2) I don't understand why they can't just have default ability bars for the core roles and have an override if a certain companion has a unique ability.. Effectively a stance mode for all roles not just DPS and one other.

 

3) I think it's good that HK retains some uniqueness in his acquisition. There is a sense of achievement that first time you get him and after that it's an unlock ( 1 million may sound pricey but if you expect to get a lot of use out of him it's not that bad). And I don't know why folk moan about equipping droids so much, they have orange gear to slot mods in.

 

4a)All companions need a mute option not just Treek. I hate the fact that my combat medics whine so much or seem so surprised that I came out of the combat alive. It might have been funny the first time, but this is three years in and Talos, Quinn, Doc and Theran could do with a readjustment to their combat expectations (or maybe just a swift blow to the back of the head).

 

4b) It would be handy if HK's Assassinate ability could be moved to one of the first ability slots on the companion bar so it could be activated in the collapsed mode.

 

I would add a few options:

 

5) After unlocking a companion on first character and unlocking a companion to be replaced on another character of the same legacy allow them to be interchanged. This would be a model and voice swap not an actual companion swap.

 

For example,

Sith warrior play through first and unlocks Vette, Smuggler play through second and unlocks Corso Riggs. Smuggler can choose to swap out Corso and replace with Vette.

 

6) Open up all roles to all companions (sort of an extension of option 2)

Many of the role choices make no sense for the companions, or they could just as easily cover other roles. Maybe make the weapon choice an active component that alters the stances available and abilities.

 

For example,

Akaavi Spar the Smuggler melee DPS companion could just as easily be a Tank or Ranged DPS companion or at a push a Healer (most Mandos know some battlefield first aid).

Backstory it makes more sense for Malavai Quinn to be a ranged DPS (pistol marksmanship) or melee DPS (vibroblade duellist) than a healer.

 

7) Allow companions to be blocked from ship.

This must be in the script already as they disappear from their position when sent on a crafting mission. A toggle box on the crew mission panel that allows them to be hidden from view at all times would be a god send. I may still have Skadge on the rota but at least he doesn't need to be there.

[Sarathis]

I have about 40 characters across two servers, all of them above level 20. I only use Treek in combat with one. For every other character I prefer to use the regular class Companions. Treek simply doesn't fit the story at all and I'm not sure what situation in this game would make one think she's required in order to survive. So long as you're decently geared and don't play like a complete moron every instance of solo content in SWTOR is easy. And if you feel you HAVE to use Treek simply because she performs a little better than normal Companions then I'd say you have some kind of OCDish problem. To say the original Companions are "completely useless" is nonsense.

 

Other than on my one quirky BH, the only thing I use Treek for is crew skills, especially on characters who don't get a second companion (excluding the ship droid) until later in the game, e.g. Imperial Agent. I only have HK-51 on one character and hardly ever use him at all. I might if he were more easily unlocked.

[ZETA_SCORPII]

I only play on the Imp side so Treek was NEVER an option for me. Can you imagine a big bad Sith Lord rolling around with that fur ball? 2nd, ANY healing companion in gear will allow you to solo just about anything so Treek is obsolete for me. Say all you want about how great Treek is as a tank, but I pull aggro away from any tank so that's pretty useless for me. Treek is stupid, really stupid and you should be embarrassed if you are an Imp and have one.

P.S. Mako has sexier legs.

[Vhaegrant]

I only play on the Imp side so Treek was NEVER an option for me. Can you imagine a big bad Sith Lord rolling around with that fur ball? 2nd, ANY healing companion in gear will allow you to solo just about anything so Treek is obsolete for me. Say all you want about how great Treek is as a tank, but I pull aggro away from any tank so that's pretty useless for me. Treek is stupid, really stupid and you should be embarrassed if you are an Imp and have one.

P.S. Mako has sexier legs.

 

Can you imagine a big bad alien hating Sith lord rolling around with a space ship half full of weird and wonderful alien lifeforms? Me either

I'd point out other discrepancies in story and whom a Sith lord would choose to have around but at the risk of spoilers will let players discover them on their own.

 

All the original healers are about equal in healing output. What they are from equal in is story content as you unlock their cutscenes, and in their levels of verbal diarhhorea.

I don't know why the devs decided the Sith healers had to be voiced as whiners and cowards, much the same for the Republic healers.

Mako and Elara are easy on the ear, Lokin is bearable, Theran Cedrax, Guss Tuna, Doc, Malavai and Talos are unbearable. Much of my dislike would be sorted with the addition of a mute function and a full face helmet.

 

Have you unlocked the full story of Treek?

Again no spoilers for those that haven't but it's well worth it in humour alone, okay it involves a bit more reading than most but it fits within the framework as well as any of the other companions. If anything Treek would be far more comfortable in the Empire than she would the Republic.

 

And, for some it's a matter of when you can get access to the regular companions that fit the role you want.

I always tend to go back to my Mercenary healer for this, but I'd prefer to run with a Melee DPS or Melee Tank, both of these companions appear after chapter one.

 

There is nothing stupid or embarrassing about using Treek as an Imperial or as a Republic character. It is purely a matter of personal preference.

[chosonman]

In all honesty I don't think Treek is much better than the other healer comps if at all. Doc and Guss have some pretty powerful stuns that come in handy which I don't think Treek can match. HK-51 on the other hand is a beast. There's no other way to describe him. I have him in full 186 gear augmented and he can take down Elites on Rishi solo. "You're already dead! Just lie down!" Edited December 29, 2014 by chosonman

[branmakmuffin]

In all honesty I don't think Treek is much better than the other healer comps if at all.

In healing stance, I agree she is probably not any better than a regular healing companion. But in tank stance, she tanks and heals (albeit not as well as she does in healing stance).

 

Doc and Guss have some pretty powerful stuns that come in handy which I don't think Treek can match. HK-51 on the other hand is a beast. There's no other way to describe him. I have him in full 186 gear augmented and he can take down Elites on Rishi solo. "You're already dead! Just lie down!"

Every companion is only as good as its gear. HK is possibly slightly more "beastly" than other ranged DPS companions (he has that self heal and that assassinate or whatever ability), but put Risha, for example, in fully augged 186, and I imagine her "beastliness" approaches HK's.

 

And all of the regular healing companions have a stun. Doc's and Gus' are no better than Mako's or Lokin's. But yeah, I don't think Treek has a stun like that.

Edited December 29, 2014 by branmakmuffin

[chosonman]

Every companion is only as good as its gear. HK is possibly slightly more "beastly" than other ranged DPS companions (he has that self heal and that assassinate or whatever ability), but put Risha, for example, in fully augged 186, and I imagine her "beastliness" approaches HK's.

 

I"m going to have to put that one to the test when I have the resources (still gearing up all 14 of my HK-51's in 186 gear just a few more to go) I have my doubts after playing with Risha a few time. I felt she used more DoTs and didn't have the hard hitters that HK-51 has. And HK-51 can tank while Risha cannot.

[Suromir]

Franky if you find the original companions "useless" by having HK and/or Treek..then YOU need to L2P.

 

I have both on almost every character..the characters I don't have them on is because I don't need them.

 

Even on my "main" Guardian, who has both, I still stick with Kira or Scourge..and if I want a healer I use Doc...Treek is ok but annoyingly vocal....HK is fun to use but other than assassinate any of the other, properly geared, dps companions do the same job.

 

So again, it's a L2P issue. Original Companions are just as useful as HK and Treek. If you have common sense.

[Foambreaker]

Treek is useless unless you need a tank or healer comp, which, who needs that in the current easy mode content?

 

HK is ok, but he sucks if you are a melee class because he jumps all around, which causes the mobs to chase him, which means you have to chase the mobs.

 

Marauder: Jaessa

Sin: Ashara

Bounty: HK

etc.

[Foambreaker]

I"m going to have to put that one to the test when I have the resources (still gearing up all 14 of my HK-51's in 186 gear just a few more to go) I have my doubts after playing with Risha a few time. I felt she used more DoTs and didn't have the hard hitters that HK-51 has. And HK-51 can tank while Risha cannot.

 

HK doesn't have a tank stance.

[Aizen]

I'm simply not buying this. I've seen quite a few people with a geared out Quinn and the only complaint they have is that it's Quinn. No one likes him for obvious reasons, story wise that is.