Worried about HK-51 in 4.0

[Tenacity]

It seems like all companions are now getting a shared set of skills when filling each role, based on their weapon type. Any companion that uses blaster pistols will have the same abilities, for example.

 

Is this going to apply to more unique companions (currently), however? HK-51 has several abilities that other companions do not have, such as his threat reduction ability, his "leap back to master" ability, and his assassination ability.

 

After all of the money, time, and effort people put into acquiring HK-51 in the first place, is he going to lose these abilities and become another homogenized companion?

[Andrellma]

I've been asking this same question since the stream. Mine, and the few other threads created about this issue have all been ignored.

 

Unfortunately, all we have to go on is the blog post, which essentially says that all of our companions are going to be identical, which means that not only does it look like Treek and HK are going to be the same as vanilla companions now, but ALL companions are going to lose the skills that used to make them unique (Rakghoul Lokin, Temple's Force Blast, Nadia's Force Eruption and Wild Energy, Blizz's Rocket Launcher, among others).

 

While I have no problem with companions being functionally similar, I feel like this is a poor choice, as not only does this make all companions boring, but in many cases, those unique skills were central to that companion's story. Kind of goes against everything BioWare seems to be shoving down our throat with "story matters" when they get rid of defining characteristics of our companions.

[Muljo_Stpho]

One thing that stuck out at me in the stream was the tweaked interface on the companion portrait and health bar which shows "attack" and "passive" in small set aside icons and then a row of 5 role-specific abilities after that... and no sign of anything indicating that there would still be an expansion to a full 12 slot companion quickbar.

 

So I've been wondering if they're really down to only having those 7 commands now or if they'll still have other abilities or what.

 

If they're going to preserve any companion uniqueness though, it would obviously have to be slotted into any of those remaining 5 slots hidden beyond the 2 basic commands and the 5 role commands. I could certainly imagine that they could do it that way. Have up to 5 abilities that a companion always has access to regardless of selected role to provide some actions unique to that companion. It's just a question of why the toggle for the companion quickbar would no longer be obvious in the interface though.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Muljo_Stpho

[Anysao]

I've been asking this same question since the stream. Mine, and the few other threads created about this issue have all been ignored.

 

Unfortunately, all we have to go on is the blog post, which essentially says that all of our companions are going to be identical, which means that not only does it look like Treek and HK are going to be the same as vanilla companions now, but ALL companions are going to lose the skills that used to make them unique (Rakghoul Lokin, Temple's Force Blast, Nadia's Force Eruption and Wild Energy, Blizz's Rocket Launcher, among others).

 

While I have no problem with companions being functionally similar, I feel like this is a poor choice, as not only does this make all companions boring, but in many cases, those unique skills were central to that companion's story. Kind of goes against everything BioWare seems to be shoving down our throat with "story matters" when they get rid of defining characteristics of our companions.

 

I'm in a similar boat with droid armor. I'm quite disappointed its being removed, it could've served so many potential uses. What if it did offer a customization benefit to droids?

 

Now we're seeing true homogenization. How long before all companions are renamed "Companion?"

Edited October 8, 2015 by Anysao

[Kheld]

I can just imagine the devs chortling over how many people they are going to cheat who bought HK or Treek.

[SteveTheCynic]

I can just imagine the devs chortling over how many people they are going to cheat who bought HK or Treek.

Depends. I bought Treek to be able to have an extra crew skill person, especially on the capital worlds before getting my ship. It doesn't seem like these companion changes will make that possibility go away.

[Jerqa]

Depends. I bought Treek to be able to have an extra crew skill person, especially on the capital worlds before getting my ship. It doesn't seem like these companion changes will make that possibility go away.

 

That's the only reason I bought Treek and acquired HK for my account. I never use either one as my active companion.

[ForceWelder]

The last week or so I've been leveling a Hatred Assassin. Pretty much used Treek since level 10. The only other time the other companions were used was when it was mandated by the story line. For me having an additional companion at a starter level was more important than who the companion was. Mind you, I too will miss any uniqueness with the companions that is taken away in the expansion and I hope that as negative player feedback continues, BW will reverse course.

 

But I have to admit, I can't really accept seeing HK or MX go fully healer. Or try to see Doc go into tank mode. My mind is just going to scream, "this is wrong. This is just so wrong."

[Quraswren]

It seems like all companions are now getting a shared set of skills when filling each role, based on their weapon type. Any companion that uses blaster pistols will have the same abilities, for example.

 

Is this going to apply to more unique companions (currently), however? HK-51 has several abilities that other companions do not have, such as his threat reduction ability, his "leap back to master" ability, and his assassination ability.

 

After all of the money, time, and effort people put into acquiring HK-51 in the first place, is he going to lose these abilities and become another homogenized companion?

 

I have that concern as well. Will HK be like the sniper Risha? Will Risha get turned into HK to preserve HK skills?

Same for Treek and healing. Will treek get changed to the generic blaster healing or will the others get changed to how treek heals. Same for tanking for that matter.

 

No real word on that.

 

SNIP...

 

But I have to admit, I can't really accept seeing HK or MX go fully healer. Or try to see Doc go into tank mode. My mind is just going to scream, "this is wrong. This is just so wrong."

 

For me I could see HK or MX go healer. I look at it in the terms used in the terminator. Knowing the anatomy of targets and what not makes them a more efficient killer. Also in turn, it allows the to patch you up as well.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Quraswren

[SteveTheCynic]

For me I could see HK or MX go healer. I look at it in the terms used in the terminator. Knowing the anatomy of targets and what not makes them a more efficient killer. Also in turn, it allows the to patch you up as well.

No, what he meant is that

 

A battle droid who takes out the enemy by any means possible, even if it means headbutting the enemy on a pulse from an emergency backup power source, seems like an unlikely healer.

 

 

Have you played through the 4X story line?

[Quraswren]

No, what he meant is that

 

A battle droid who takes out the enemy by any means possible, even if it means headbutting the enemy on a pulse from an emergency backup power source, seems like an unlikely healer.

 

 

Have you played through the 4X story line?

 

I have and my point still stands. Like the terminator, a highly skilled killing machine, they apparently are given detailed files of the human anatomy. It makes them a more efficient killer. However, as a side effect, it also allows them to fix them up on occasion.

[IanArgent]

Treek and HK are the only ones I'm at all worried about losing unique abilities on. The "story" companions are already very nearly mechanically identical, regardless of animations, to other companions with the same role and power source (tech/force). I'm going to put a * next to Dr. Lokin because I don't have him yet, and all the information I can find on him says he's a mDPS in his DPS stance, whereas the other healers are all rDPS. If anyone has access to him, can you confirm for me if fthe tooltips change depending on which stance he's in (a la Treek), or not? Or is his Ctrl+4 through Ctrl+6 powers just Melee instead of Ranged? Does his actual moveset change, or just his animations, when his stance changes?

 

Yes, yes, I know about 4X's pull, and that Tharan's CC has a mechanical advantage in recycle time over other healers' CC moves. They are still variations on a charge and a soft CC, respectively. I'm sure there's others I missed that are slightly different in mechanics.

[Sinapus]

It seems like all companions are now getting a shared set of skills when filling each role, based on their weapon type. Any companion that uses blaster pistols will have the same abilities, for example.

 

Is this going to apply to more unique companions (currently), however? HK-51 has several abilities that other companions do not have, such as his threat reduction ability, his "leap back to master" ability, and his assassination ability.

 

After all of the money, time, and effort people put into acquiring HK-51 in the first place, is he going to lose these abilities and become another homogenized companion?

 

That is a worry, even more than the whole achievement thing. I do care about HK's ability to take out a strong outside of combat when he has five stacks of Target Eliminated, or Theran Cedrax's unique stun ability. Yeah, the effects are the same as other healer companions, but it's funny watching Holiday start dancing next to an enemy.

 

We haven't gotten any information from the devs beyond that generic description. I kind of hope they kept some of the things that make the companions unique, at least in their default role. I also hope they keep the statements or add unique ones for other roles.

 

Because I like knowing Guss is healing me with Jedi Power... I'm not sure what he'd say in Tank mode. Maybe: "*sigh* Okay, I guess I will be the bait this time."

 

(I guess Tanky Theran would have Holiday materialize and make a bunch of insults that enrages all foes around you. Or he could just be himself.)

[IanArgent]

That is a worry, even more than the whole achievement thing. I do care about HK's ability to take out a strong outside of combat when he has five stacks of Target Eliminated, or Theran Cedrax's unique stun ability. Yeah, the effects are the same as other healer companions, but it's funny watching Holiday start dancing next to an enemy.

 

We haven't gotten any information from the devs beyond that generic description. I kind of hope they kept some of the things that make the companions unique, at least in their default role. I also hope they keep the statements or add unique ones for other roles.

 

Because I like knowing Guss is healing me with Jedi Power... I'm not sure what he'd say in Tank mode. Maybe: "*sigh* Okay, I guess I will be the bait this time."

 

(I guess Tanky Theran would have Holiday materialize and make a bunch of insults that enrages all foes around you. Or he could just be himself.)

 

I'm not worries about losing unique animations that have shared effects. In fact, I think you're probably right about Theran using Holiday as one of his taunts. Why make a new animation?

[evelynchk]

That is a worry, even more than the whole achievement thing. I do care about HK's ability to take out a strong outside of combat when he has five stacks of Target Eliminated, or Theran Cedrax's unique stun ability. Yeah, the effects are the same as other healer companions, but it's funny watching Holiday start dancing next to an enemy.

 

We haven't gotten any information from the devs beyond that generic description. I kind of hope they kept some of the things that make the companions unique, at least in their default role. I also hope they keep the statements or add unique ones for other roles.

 

Because I like knowing Guss is healing me with Jedi Power... I'm not sure what he'd say in Tank mode. Maybe: "*sigh* Okay, I guess I will be the bait this time."

 

(I guess Tanky Theran would have Holiday materialize and make a bunch of insults that enrages all foes around you. Or he could just be himself.)

 

^lol this. Really hope the old companions will get to keep their unique abilities when they're in their default stance. And the first thing that came to my mind was Holiday too, and Nadia's super force eruption. Would be a shame if companions lost their unique abilties and their uniqueness tied to their personal story and background.

[SteveTheCynic]

I have and my point still stands. Like the terminator, a highly skilled killing machine, they apparently are given detailed files of the human anatomy. It makes them a more efficient killer. However, as a side effect, it also allows them to fix them up on occasion.

No, my objection is one of storytelling, not of mechanics. 4X's character/personality seems unsuited to being a healer.

[SteveTheCynic]

Yes, yes, I know about 4X's pull, and that Tharan's CC has a mechanical advantage in recycle time over other healers' CC moves. They are still variations on a charge and a soft CC, respectively. I'm sure there's others I missed that are slightly different in mechanics.

There's a critical difference between a pull and a charge, though. The pull leaves 4X *here* with the enemy he pulled, while a charge leaves e.g. Corso *there* with the enemy. And the other enemies.

[Max_Killjoy]

Sounds like companions are being made into utterly generic combat drones.

 

Oh well, there are probably better uses for $15/month anyway.

[Rafaman]

HK's assinate will a not often used features is incredible. One shot'ing strongs can be very satisfying. For Treek, her bat glide attack puts a smile on my face every time I hear her Tarzan yell. And that bug attack is fun too and very unique.

 

Yeah, I hope unique animations remain part of the mix.

[Rafaman]

Oh, and let's not forget Risha, and Scourge they have very cool abilities. Scourge's abilities are very unique for a pub side character.

[Bomyne]

That's the only reason I bought Treek and acquired HK for my account. I never use either one as my active companion.

 

I use Treek on my Inquis, My smuggler, and my Jedi Consular as they all have terrible companions.

 

I hope Treek and HK keep their uniqueness, and each other companion has something uniique about it.

[HarleysRule]

I hate both my Agent's tank companions, so looking forward to being able to use HK or Temple as a tank. I'm also worried about losing the few unique skills some of the companions have.

 

No, my objection is one of storytelling, not of mechanics. 4X's character/personality seems unsuited to being a healer.

 

Don't use him as a healer. Problem solved.

[IanArgent]

There's a critical difference between a pull and a charge, though. The pull leaves 4X *here* with the enemy he pulled, while a charge leaves e.g. Corso *there* with the enemy. And the other enemies.

 

Granted. It's a tradeofff, though. If the tank pulls, rather than charging, any melee enemies in that mob are going to be coming by shortly, and the chances are a couple of them are going to peel off and get up in my trooper's face. Whereas a charge keeps the mob safely at 30-ish M, with the enemies clustered nicely for some AoE.

 

I'm going to give it even odds whether he continues to pull, or switches to a charge, The animation is already done for the pull, after all.

[Bomyne]

Granted. It's a tradeofff, though. If the tank pulls, rather than charging, any melee enemies in that mob are going to be coming by shortly, and the chances are a couple of them are going to peel off and get up in my trooper's face. Whereas a charge keeps the mob safely at 30-ish M, with the enemies clustered nicely for some AoE.

 

I'm going to give it even odds whether he continues to pull, or switches to a charge, The animation is already done for the pull, after all.

 

Am I the only one that hits the D key as soon as combat starts, regardless of what companion I am using?!

[IanArgent]

Am I the only one that hits the D key as soon as combat starts, regardless of what companion I am using?!

 

That won't stop incoming mobsters from charging you instead of your comp. I do try and generate some separation from my comp at the beginning of a fight as well, because of AoE and splash attacks.