Anyone else bummed you can't gear up your comps?

[Anaesha]

Just think. Instead of having some customization of your companion. Spending time working on them, tweaking them to how you want them, you will now increase your influence and everything will be bumped up some small percent instead till you reach the max on some random scale be it similar to affection or just levels.

 

Like leveling up legacy, it's getting turned into a forgetful experience.

 

Oh yes because it's sooooooo much fun having to outfit five companions for each character.

 

This is in no way a bad thing in my book. The less I have to screw around with making sure my companions are properly outfitted so that I can use any one of them at any given time the better.

 

You might like having to do that for every character but I on the other hand would rather use that time actually PLAYING the game rather then standing on fleet outfitting comp after comp.

[branmakmuffin]

To me, gearing up my companions was a goal within the game. Now? Why have them at all?

OK, then don't run solo class stuff with a comp.

[Max_Killjoy]

Just think. Instead of having some customization of your companion. Spending time working on them, tweaking them to how you want them, you will now increase your influence and everything will be bumped up some small percent instead till you reach the max on some random scale be it similar to affection or just levels.

 

Like leveling up legacy, it's getting turned into a forgetful experience.

 

Too bad they couldn't have just put a little checkbox in the character screen for each companion that said "auto-stat" or whatever to make them ignore their gear and take on an "appropriate" (per Bioware) set of stats for the PC's level, Presence, etc if a player didn't want to bother custom-gearing them up in detail.

 

Evidently, Bioware seems to consider options either too hard, or a bad thing for their games to have.

[IanArgent]

Which is exactly my point -- you actually had to go and check, because you didn't really notice the difference in practice.

 

I'm finding it more likely that the homogenization isn't about balance at all, but merely a way to simplify some of the behind-the-scenes number-crunchy stuff. (This is, admittedly, pure conjecture on my part, as I'm not an IT professional and have no way of knowing or even estimating any net resource savings or reductions in complexity as a result of this change). It may also make it easier to add new companion abilities in the future.

 

Oh, I'm in favor of all the comp changes.

[Deyjarl]

Only mildly. Their stats will likely change for what role you put them in. Maxing power, or crit and surge for companions was really on the extreme of min-maxing and doesn't make that huge of a difference.

 

It is more than a little of a relief, being able to focus on my character's stats, and not 5 companions for each alt also.

[rafter]

Oh yes because it's sooooooo much fun having to outfit five companions for each character.

 

This is in no way a bad thing in my book. The less I have to screw around with making sure my companions are properly outfitted so that I can use any one of them at any given time the better.

 

You might like having to do that for every character but I on the other hand would rather use that time actually PLAYING the game rather then standing on fleet outfitting comp after comp.

 

Ditto.

 

I can't stand having to gear up multiple companions across multiple characters. Any satisfaction I get from tweaking and configuring gear I can get from my stable of main characters, I don't need to deal with 50 companions. I'm so looking forward to the new system where all I have to worry about is how my comps look and not that all of their gear is what it needs to be.

Edited October 5, 2015 by rafter

[Khevar]

Only mildly. Their stats will likely change for what role you put them in. Maxing power, or crit and surge for companions was really on the extreme of min-maxing and doesn't make that huge of a difference.

 

It is more than a little of a relief, being able to focus on my character's stats, and not 5 companions for each alt also.

The one thing I will miss is putting tank companions in dps gear.

 

A tank companion doesn't really have a whole lot of survivability. But put him in dps gear, and he does almost the same amount of damage as a dps comp, but has a taunt to keep aggro. This was, in my experience the absolute fastest way to clear mobs.

[Max_Killjoy]

The one thing I will miss is putting tank companions in dps gear.

 

A tank companion doesn't really have a whole lot of survivability. But put him in dps gear, and he does almost the same amount of damage as a dps comp, but has a taunt to keep aggro. This was, in my experience the absolute fastest way to clear mobs.

 

Yeah -- for example, I preferred to gear Khem for a bit more bite than a pure tank. He actually kept agro better that way, anyway.

[MWidowmaker]

i dont mind, it makes high presence that much more important from what you unlocked (not gear)

[Razdek]

Oh yes because it's sooooooo much fun having to outfit five companions for each character.

 

This is in no way a bad thing in my book. The less I have to screw around with making sure my companions are properly outfitted so that I can use any one of them at any given time the better.

 

You might like having to do that for every character but I on the other hand would rather use that time actually PLAYING the game rather then standing on fleet outfitting comp after comp.

 

THIS EXACTLY!!!

 

Yavin dailies x5 weeks for each toon x22 characters just so each companion can have mostly terrible looking but usable gear. Now I can go to my collections, mix and match as needed and boom - great looking companions without the fuss!

[PifferPuff]

I had always enjoyed gearing my companions - esp. for either looks or OWPvP (i.e. expertise mods). Sooo... what? We are getting cookie-cutter comps for PvE only?

 

Not having to worry about gearing comps while leveling is nice and all, but what are we giving up?

Edited October 5, 2015 by PifferPuff

[Max_Killjoy]

THIS EXACTLY!!!

 

Yavin dailies x5 weeks for each toon x22 characters just so each companion can have mostly terrible looking but usable gear. Now I can go to my collections, mix and match as needed and boom - great looking companions without the fuss!

 

In theory I could gear up every single companion on all 13 of my alts, in custom-mix-and-matched mods from Yavin -- just from the Basic comms I'm swimming in from the dailies on just a few max-level characters.

 

I had to go to Makeb and buy up a bunch if Isotope 5 just to keep from constantly running up against the Basic comms cap.

 

If you want a certain look on your companions in pre-4.0, while still having good gear on them, it's not hard to get.

[Chazcon]

Yes I really am, because just like the OP, that's how we play. We are a tiny guild of 3 who max gear ourselves and our comps and take on HM FP's and such way over our heads. We love that extreme challenge.

 

On open world pvp servers I gear up a DPS companion in pvp gear (i'm a tank, me in pvp tank gear) and I love these tricky little aspects of the game.

 

This is definitely an Easy Mode move by the devs and it saddens me.

[mudmobile]

Yes I actually am disappointed with this change.

 

I enjoyed managing them, now I think I did things differently than others. I just found the ones that worked best with my game style and stuck with them, so I usually only have 1 or 2 of them geared at any time. Which isn't that hard to keep up with.

 

I guess this change is needed for all the other things they are doing, I'm sure level sync is a huge reason for this. People will also not have to continually try to figure out what is the best way to gear the comps. But I will still miss doing all the work.

 

Hopefully their stats will be pretty much on par with how it is currently and the Devs don't mess things up.

[LeeTone]

I actually like this change.

 

The only customization I want to make to companions is appearance. Stats should scale to the level and gear of your character.

[SithKoriandr]

I actually like this change.

 

The only customization I want to make to companions is appearance. Stats should scale to the level and gear of your character.

 

I'm not sure if that's a should ideal, but either way wouldn't bother me. We made do as we did for so long. This should at the very least take away all armor restrictions on our companions now. We can dress them in any light/medium/heavy armor!

 

It's a nice change. Especially the one companion can fill any role you need aspect, but the no mods or must mod out choice could go either way.

[KyaniteD]

If I have Lana Beniko heal for me and she whips out one of those gadgets, I will freak. Force healing abilities for force users is a must.

 

Just a side note: Lana and Satele are already healing you in the Revan fight on Yavin.

[Keraejis]

The main thing I see that I'm not so sure I like is, as said, the cookie cutter archetypes.

 

There are some DPS companions who have very little AoEs and there are some that have half their abilities as AoEs. When using CC I have to turn off the AoEs. On the companion that has one AoE, there is not a lot of DPS loss. On the companions that I have to turn off half their abilities because they are AoEs, it's a severe DPS loss. So if I need CC I use the DPS companion with the smallest amount of AoEs. Making them cookie cutter will eliminate being able to make these kinds of decisions.

 

Since I have no idea what abilities the new companions will have per archetype (Healer, Tank, DPS), I have no idea how many AoE's, defenses, etc. they will have and the ability to use. I'll have to wait and see. But Now instead of being able to choose which companion would be better for a situation, I'll have no choice but to use whatever is given to me be it a benefit or not.

 

Granted, this means I don't have to use the companions I don't like to use but if we are now able (when 4.0 hits) choose different companions, ones we like more, this situation becomes moot because we won't have companions we don't like.

 

Granted again... we can mentally switch companions and 'pretend' one is a healer, another is a DPS and yet another is a tank.

 

I always geared up at least two. One for the role I needed in soloing and one I may need for groups. For instance, I ran with my healer companion when solo but since my friend I played with most was a healer, I would run with a DPS when I was grouped with her.

[RAVM]

Oh yes because it's sooooooo much fun having to outfit five companions for each character.

 

Who's forcing you to gear up all five of your companions?

[Faelandaea]

gearing comps was a pain in the backside sometimes. will i miss it? not really. as long as they are just as effective as they were before the change, im not concerned.

 

They will be just as effective. No worries there

 

1. Never has anyone ever needed a companion for endgame content. Endgame content is group stuff.
   
2. The player does most of the work anyway. Companions were just along for the virtual company, and maybe the spot heal here and there.
   
3. One argument I always heard was that people "had uber-geared companions that they worked so hard on", but it doesn't matter how much you geared a companion, if that companion made so much difference in a fight that you could not survive the battle without him/her, then you definitely weren't playing your character right at all.
   

 

Now we have a guarantee that no matter how the companion is dressed, they will be on par with our level, so I see a LOT of good stuff coming from this.

 

These changes really are bloody awesome. FINALLY I can not only have the companion of my choice by my side, playing the role I need, but they can also be dressed how I want them to be dressed.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Faelandaea

[Keraejis]

They will be just as effective. No worries there

 

1. Never has anyone ever needed a companion for endgame content. Endgame content is group stuff.
   
2. The player does most of the work anyway. Companions were just along for the virtual company, and maybe the spot heal here and there.
   
3. One argument I always heard was that people "had uber-geared companions that they worked so hard on", but it doesn't matter how much you geared a companion, if that companion made so much difference in a fight that you could not survive the battle without him/her, then you definitely weren't playing your character right at all.
   

 

Now we have a guarantee that no matter how the companion is dressed, they will be on par with our level, so I see a LOT of good stuff coming from this.

 

These changes really are bloody awesome. FINALLY I can not only have the companion of my choice by my side, playing the role I need, but they can also be dressed how I want them to be dressed.

 

The second comment is mostly right. When I play my Sent doing same level content solo with Kira (at around late 30's, early 40's), if Kira didn't aggro and help take down a quarter of the enemies while I focused on the other half - 3/4, I'd be dead every time. Combat usually ended with me having less than half my health and I pretty sure if I had 2 - 3 other enemies wailing on me the whole time, I would surely have not been able to live through the encounters besides killing half and then resurrecting to kill the other half, then waiting for my rez timer on the next group. I'm not the best sent player but I don't think I'm that shabby. So yeah, the companion made a difference that allowed me to take groups and live to be able to get through the next group without waiting on rez timers. Other classes I've played I hadn't noticed that much of a disparage in using my companions, but on my sent, not having my companion out can be devastating, especially when it comes to respawn if not in an instanced area.

[DarthMaulUK]

Not really. I find that my pets get in the way. I call them pets because they are just as stupid as pets. Only a pet would stand on top of a GTN terminal or Mailbox!

[Keraejis]

Not really. I find that my pets get in the way. I call them pets because they are just as stupid as pets. Only a pet would stand on top of a GTN terminal or Mailbox!

 

The pets in SWTOR are super-smart compared to the pets in all the other games I've played. It's the first game where I didn't mind having pets.

[Jedi_riches]

I like the change as I can just swap and change companions from planet to planet without the need to think oh I can't use x because they only have level 10 gear or because I need a healer here but they are DPS.

 

I always geared 1 companion and then really had to stick with them unless I wanted to spend time crafting, armourings, mods and enhancements as I always had all companions in moddable gear.

[Faelandaea]

I like the change as I can just swap and change companions from planet to planet without the need to think oh I can't use x because they only have level 10 gear or because I need a healer here but they are DPS.

 

I always geared 1 companion and then really had to stick with them unless I wanted to spend time crafting, armourings, mods and enhancements as I always had all companions in moddable gear.

 

That and it never failed ... I'd get a companion, but never use him because I didn't need him, and then get to a much higher level area and be slapped in the face with "You need "x" to do this." Then I'd have to stop and run to buy him gear to do one mission. SOOOOOO glad that will be a thing of the past also.