Companions are not OP, its you.

[aceavenger]

Everyone is complaining about lvl sync and companions. But they aren't taking into account they they are a max lvl for the planet, which means there are very few Heroic 2s that they don't out level. When i was leveling, when the game first came out, I would finish the planet and go back and do the heroics since I always out leveled the content. If a planet has a level range of 36 to 42, you are a level 42. Not to mention you have more abilities than a character that would be normally on that planet. So if you are on a level 36-42 planet you still have the abilities of a 65. It's almost like everyone has forgotten what it was like to level a character, it's always been this way. Edited October 25, 2015 by aceavenger

[gduber]

I just hope they don't cave in to these people and make companions worthless. It's almost always one extreme or another with devs when they decide to change something.

[Diefenbaker]

Plus the new influence mechanic. I'm on Taris with my new JK and my influence with T7 is already at level 16 and he's pretty powerful because of that (and even then I had a pretty challenging fight on Taris in a heroic area, where I made a mistake, T7 died and I survived with a handful of HP.) Edited October 25, 2015 by Diefenbaker

[darkov]

I think this is more about the influence than the level. Sure we are capped high on a planet, but the power of the companions scales much greater than I think anyone ever thought.

 

At rank 23, Lana does everything better than my character, except intelligence. But then when she doesn't take damage and two-shots strong mobs, does she really need to be intelligent?

 

However, I also get the impression that level increases in the future, if they happen at all, will be short and give marginal increases. Primarily used to introduce new tiers of gear, rather than to make us stronger. So the companions are probably already on that power curve.

Edited October 25, 2015 by darkov

[maidelken]

My companion has twice my health and an attack that does over 4 times as much damage as any of my attacks can do.

 

I'm in my ship when I get those numbers so it's not the planet screwing around with them.

 

I'm sure at max level everything is balanced, but between lvl 36 and 42 (where I have been post patch) it is utterly broken.

[Exiled-Phoenix]

Even when running through KotFE i feel as if my companions are better then my character.

[HelinCarnate]

With high presence and influence you turn into the companion.

[Styxian]

Then give me a way not to be constantly overleveled without skipping chunks of content. Either way, it's a balance issue that should be fixed - so people are right to complain.

[Chirru]

Even when running through KotFE i feel as if my companions are better then my character.

 

That is just the problem...

People FEEL as if..

it is not the companions nor the player character but the subjective feelings of the player behind the character.

 

I am strictly against changing things because of the 'FEELINGS' of some players.

 

Things are fine because for once I 'FEEL' like a Hero and not a Victim. What about that?

[Neglience]

That is just the problem...

People FEEL as if..

it is not the companions nor the player character but the subjective feelings of the player behind the character.

 

I am strictly against changing things because of the 'FEELINGS' of some players.

 

Things are fine because for once I 'FEEL' like a Hero and not a Victim. What about that?

 

If a feel is not enough for you, check the numbers, they say the same.

[Loranae]

Just a little observation :

I have two accounts:

-1- one with lv 65 and new influence already well worked out (my character has no augmentation only the lv 208 gear aka get with the common data but still some green mods lv 60 on my weapon)

- 2 - one with lv 60 and the rank 10 on all companions with all quests done for them (my character has some 192-186 - and is augmented rating 178 blue on everything item she wears) - Treek is affection rank 7 only

 

I went earlier to Oricon with both and i noticed the difference with the level sync so both character where down to lv 56 :

Oricon : Character 1 : HP 34015 - Companion THERON : hp as tank 53350 - as DPS/Heals : 45332

Stronghold : Character 1 : HP 69002 - Companion THERON : hp as tank 100145 - as DPS/Heals : 86610

 

Oricon : Character 2 : HP 34015 - Companion Treek : hp as tank 49852 - as DPS/heals : 42360

Stronghold : Character 2 : HP 48576 - Companion Treek : hp as tank 68727 - as DPS/heals : 59889

 

I am no where at the double life in any of the case, and as you see Treek is not very far from Theron (influence only 7)

When i go back in the lower areas even synced i must admit that i kill very easy but yesterday i had my butt handed 4 times in an instance heroic 2 (for the new area) and even my companion -Lana- died- multiple times. I am shadow, i went both dps first, that did not work very well for me, i went then dps/tank she was doing good until the moment we were swarmed by large group of mobs and then she could not handle them -probably because of me not doing enough dps- then i went in mode tank, and get her in mode healer and then that went better.

 

But do not think that you will feel invincible everytime. Of course i am not raider, never did any operations, and i am probably lacking in some confidence in my persona abilities.

Probably a lot can do way better then me, but if you are as me, do not complain too much about our comps beeing op because at end level you will really depend on them beeing strong enough to compensate your difficutlies.

[Uruare]

That dps companion attack some are crying about has a fairly long CD and, in that time, a halfway decent player can rip out that much damage eight or ten times over. If you can't, you truly suck or are playing with one foot while blindfolded or something.

 

You can't just look at the damage number and ignore everything else when assessing these things.

 

In the time it takes my BH's Mako to use her one attack that deals 10-12k, have it come off CD and be up again, my BH can do WAY more damage.

 

And sometimes, with just two abilities; tracer missile followed by heat seeker. So sad is not one. I have to then wait a whole ten seconds or o before I can sometimes do 20-22k with that one-two punch, but in the meantime, I console myself with frequent 13k rail shot crits and blaster lolspam these deals 8-10k over its channel.

 

If I'm feeling saucy, crushing out 8-9k rocket punch crits on anything that gets too close is tasty, and AoE?

 

Poor Mako has her one shooty cone attack... Also with a decently long CD.

 

I can drop Death from Above and while that's on CD, flame my enemies and then spam them with quick and dirty blaster AoE that has no CD at all.

 

But yeah, you keep crying about how dps companions have one attack that has a bigger damage number than any of yours. Totally ignore the cool down; I mean, this is a threat to your e-peen here, we can't let little things like math and facts or reason get in the way of anything so CLEARLY IMPORTANT.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Uruare

[Reofeir]

Here's my two questions of where it really matters:

1:Can a companion be brought into a Hard mode flashpoint and do, on average, better then a normal player?

2:For conquest reasons, can base defender Npcs be easily handled by simply one player and their companion (all at once or even simply them able to go at them one at a time and still be successful)?

 

I can not remember if companions can participate in the following two, I know they can't be used in world boss fights. If the answer is yes to either of these questions then the numbers do need to be looked at and nerfed. If the answer is no then no drastic changes are needed, but a second look hurts no one.

 

That's what I've noticed some seem to be about. Not "Npcs need to be useless" but does it possibly endanger group content. Heroics 2+ has always been possible with a player & their companion, so I really don't care for that. The only thing I care about is losing incentive to group up for some missions. I want my NPC to be useful, but I also want a reason to go out and play with others. Like I said, however, I am not so sure on how powerful companions effect the two things asked about earlier so I'd like to be informed.

 

Edit: a few words.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Reofeir

[Iryfindel]

Everyone is complaining about lvl sync and companions. But they aren't taking into account they they are a max lvl for the planet, which means there are very few Heroic 2s that they don't out level. When i was leveling, when the game first came out, I would finish the planet and go back and do the heroics since I always out leveled the content. If a planet has a level range of 36 to 42, you are a level 42. Not to mention you have more abilities than a character that would be normally on that planet. So if you are on a level 36-42 planet you still have the abilities of a 65. It's almost like everyone has forgotten what it was like to level a character, it's always been this way.

 

Create a new character and see what happens. I made a new gunslinger yesterday just to check out all the changes to levelling and my observations are contrary to your statement. At lvl 8, with a rank 1 Corso specced for damage, he could take on multiple groups of heroics on the Savrip island without so much as breaking a sweat while my character sat on the ground, watching.

 

It is not down-leveling in the new level-sync system that is the issue. The issue is that companions are simply too strong (given that they have more stats than a player character now... that can not be right), or the (heroic) content is simply too easy. Or perhaps it is a combination of both...

 

I do not advocate to make companions feel almost useless again, but the strength they have now in relation to the difficulty of the content is simply preposterous. Moreover, it is taking all the challenge and a good portion of fun (the fun to be found in that challenge) out of the game entirely.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Iryfindel

[AlrikFassbauer]

If the Companions are that powerful - why not leave them at home when doing Heroics ?

 

You get a far better challenge this way ...

[Galentor]

@ OP: so, having Vette in a heroic quest area healing you for insane amounts while 6 mobs beat on her without her HP bar moving is what you consider as normal.

 

Okay.

[Iryfindel]

If the Companions are that powerful - why not leave them at home when doing Heroics ?

 

You get a far better challenge this way ...

 

Companions are an integral part of the story and the game. Taking your companion with you while you are off doing a mission is central to the story (becoming only more central in KotFE), and fits in with the lore for your character and your team.

 

Why should I have to choose between a challenge and my companion? We are talking about the difficulty of heroic content here, content that should not be doable solo. But you know who can solo it? Yup, my companion.

 

It should never be the case that you have to choose between taking a companion, or finding challenge in heroic content.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Iryfindel

[Reofeir]

If the Companions are that powerful - why not leave them at home when doing Heroics ?

 

You get a far better challenge this way ...

 

That's never been a good excuse, ever, in game design. It's the same argument when exploits exist. Players usually take the easiest path. A better argument would be if one said "It only impacts heroic 2+, which has always been doable with one person" or something.

 

It's the developers job to make sure content is fun and entertaining for most of the audience & to make sure the companions aren't too powerful while not making them the equivalent of a worthless pile of sticks with a name tag on them.

[Ampalaea]

If they nerf companions, i will not subscribe again and will stop playing...i came back because of 4.0 and the changes it brought. To the loud minority that are the so called "skilled" players: remove your companion and play by yourselves, problem fixed.

[Ampalaea]

That's never been a good excuse, ever, in game design. It's the same argument when exploits exist. Players usually take the easiest path. A better argument would be if one said "It only impacts heroic 2+, which has always been doable with one person" or something.

 

It's the developers job to make sure content is fun and entertaining for most of the audience & to make sure the companions aren't too powerful while not making them the equivalent of a worthless pile of sticks with a name tag on them.

 

And why do you believe that your opinion represents the majority of players? Because you use the forums? Guess what, the vast majority of players does not use forums..also if someone have fun, most likely he will not visit the forums to say he has fun, unlike someone that dont have fun...the first thing he does is to complain in forums

[Reofeir]

If they nerf companions, i will not subscribe again and will stop playing...i came back because of 4.0 and the changes it brought. To the loud minority that are the so called "skilled" players: remove your companion and play by yourselves, problem fixed.

 

Before going crazy and acting dramatic: If a nerf did happen and companions were still useful, which is a huge step up from before, would you still say this is a bad thing? Currently stats are, like people said, about 2-3x the normal player's. Before they used to always be below, unless someone geared the heck out of them. If they were brought to at least same spot players are, stat wise, is this still an issue? Or even a possible compromise, 1.5 (give or take) more powerful then the player at max?

 

I still have my questions, like I asked before, since that's were I'm really concerned. But I see no issue with a little nerf as long as it isn't too drastic, because I do want them useful.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Reofeir

[Nihilkult]

I redid a play session today to check, in case I was lacking sleep last time I tried the new features and didn't pay attention enough. Still happy with everything but the companion.

I mean, I just could sit around and wait for him to do everything. His healing powers are ridiculously high, and the dps....

mobs were falling like flies. So yeah, I guess I was really lacking rest last time to not notice this.

 

I'm all ok with companions being more useful , all of the yes for this, I hate playing in group. Though, would be nice their stats don't exceed the player's. I mean now I go around and I have to play really recklessly to end up in trouble (and still, didn't die).

So I guess, don't change everything ultra drastically, but a second look at this feature sure wouldn't hurt.

[Reofeir]

And why do you believe that your opinion represents the majority of players? Because you use the forums? Guess what, the vast majority of players does not use forums..also if someone have fun, most likely he will not visit the forums to say he has fun, unlike someone that dont have fun...the first thing he does is to complain in forums

 

Where in my statement did I say it represented the majority of the players? I didn't make a statement one way or the other in that statement in particular about if things should be nerfed or not. It stated it's the devs job to make sure most are happy. Granted that could mean that no change is needed, some change is needed or a lot of change is needed. No matter what action is required it's still the dev's job. Obviously some have issue with the change, so now it's the dev's job to figure out if a change is needed. I can't say for sure what the answer should be, I don't have all the data (and if I can't get info on the HM & conquest thing I'll try myself to see if I get any results) so I can't really say for sure but hopefully a answer will be found in good time.

[Ampalaea]

Before going crazy and acting dramatic: If a nerf did happen and companions were still useful, which is a huge step up from before, would you still say this is a bad thing? Currently stats are, like people said, about 2-3x the normal player's. Before they used to always be below, unless someone geared the heck out of them. If they were brought to at least same spot players are, stat wise, is this still an issue? Or even a possible compromise, 1.5 (give or take) more powerful then the player at max?

 

I still have my questions, like I asked before, since that's were I'm really concerned. But I see no issue with a little nerf as long as it isn't too drastic, because I do want them useful.

 

Look, I play swtor only to experience the stories and leveling, not to challenge my skills. If I want to challenge my skills, I ll play Flashpoints and Operations. The changes being made in 4.0 is that lot of new players and very inexperienced players, can play the leveling game which is the selling point.

 

If companions are powerful, who cares? You can't bring them in operations or warzones..they just let inexperienced players have a relaxing leveling experience. Now, dont get me wrong, I have done the leveling before the 4.0 and I have played the game on day 1 too...did I leveled a character then? yes I did, but also I did not felt like a accomplished something difficult also..

 

Leveling was an accomplishment back in the days of Everquest and Lineage...now that leveling is done within a week, the extra difficulty will not make it an epic journey like it was in old days, it will just make it more annoying and will drive away many new inexperienced players that just want to experience a star wars story.

 

Where in my statement did I say it represented the majority of the players?

 

You said: It's the developers job to make sure content is fun and entertaining for most of the audience

 

Why do you believe that now is not fun for most of the audience?

Edited October 25, 2015 by Ampalaea

[Chirru]

If they nerf companions, i will not subscribe again and will stop playing...i came back because of 4.0 and the changes it brought. To the loud minority that are the so called "skilled" players: remove your companion and play by yourselves, problem fixed.

 

I agree with the Poster...but not for the reasons given.

The 'Loud and noisy' minority will keep clamoring until they get what they want and after they will focus on a different thing and cry until they get that. Basically... a minority of players wants (and often succeeds) in dictating their personal point of view upon the majority of silent players.

 

It is my hope that the Developers for once do not listen to the clamoring dictators and trolls.

If i do not like a game I leave... I recommend the same to all those who now make a lot of noise wanting to press their 'FEELING' and personal opinion upon the general community of players. Move on and find your Challenge elsewhere.