Companion Changes in 4.0.2

[Manathayria]

There all using heroic moments to do so with legacy to kill the bosses while this works for founders new or returning players that don't have heroic moments die. Eric and Bioware said any one should be able to solo it and let them know and they will work to buff things

 

I will grant that I have all but one of the legacy unlocks for presence (bringing me up to a grand total of 1k on one of the instant 60s) but with a rank 1 companion I can still clear heroics with a little bit of difficulty. Given actually ranking companions up makes them much stronger and will scale their healing and hp etc up, I think they're either on par with pre-KoTFE, or a bit more powerful. Probably a bit more powerful considering I am running with a no-influence companion to just test it a little. Someone that's gotten their companion to rank 20 or so through leveling will probably have an easier time than that character is doing now.

[Jestercrash]

Eric, sadly this adjustment was a bit excessive. A good number of players in these forums have presented good arguments and to be honest I really had a lot of fun with my companion. Hopefully the devs will reconsider and tweak them just a bit.

[Sarfux]

Just stop the overreaction. It isn't THAT bad. Yes as I said before the numbers have been brought down some, and they could bump them up some I'll agree there and it was a little excessive yes. But they WERE op before this patch, but it WAS a lot of fun. Again, the nerf was a little TOO much of a "nerf" I think. They just needed to nerf it a little.

 

But by what some of you are doing here, you would think they nuked companions from orbit and took them from the game or something. Just be rational and simmer down. This isn't the end all be all of patches and it will remain constant. I'm sure BioWare will respond to it and see what's up and adjust the numbers.

 

It's not THAT bad! Just chill! Please.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Sarfux

[Kurou_Daijuuji]

They're right, the challenge is back.

 

And by 'challenge', I mean the 'stop after every fight or two and use the heal ability every class gets' tedium. I missed that like I missed the plague.

[Raphael_diSanto]

They're right, the challenge is back.

 

And by 'challenge', I mean the 'stop after every fight or two and use the heal ability every class gets' tedium. I missed that like I missed the plague.

 

Hear ya.

[captradface]

They're right, the challenge is back.

 

And by 'challenge', I mean the 'stop after every fight or two and use the heal ability every class gets' tedium. I missed that like I missed the plague.

 

This. People keep saying challenge and all I hear described is tedium.

 

And I play MUDs so I know tedium when I see it.

[VitalityPrime]

I just need a better explanation here.

 

How did you consciously put out 4.0...and then realize they needed a 50-75 percent nerf?

 

That is massive.

 

I wanted companions to be brought down, and I honestly thought they would have...but I figured that number to be respectable. Cutting their numbers in half, and more...it just doesn't make sense.

 

When you looked at the numbers in 4.0...how was that ok to you then...but now they need a 50% to 75% nerf?

 

I just don't get it.

[nehezbegar]

Well last week i gave this game a 3rd chance. Bought sub and i had an effin blast with new companion system. Was perfectly fine to solo heroic quests (im lvl 35 atm), never was forced to wait for ppl to join my group to finish them (like before). I am afraid that now it won't be so smooth as was pre patch. I am nowhere near mastering my class, so i definetly will struggle. I hope this 3rd attempt won't fail since i like the Star Wars MMO concept, but if this game is again so frustrating after patch as it was pre 4.0 and pre 3.0 i will be done for good i am afraid.

[Kalarie]

You can not compare it to pre 4.0 when we could GEAR our companions, and for that matter Treek was good.

You can ONLY compare it to 4.0 as that's when they changed for good.

Can you do them? yes, does it take longer? Yes

Is it fun to GRIND OLD content rewrapped? NO hell no!

 

What is the point of levelling and gearing if you do not at some point become far more powerful than the content?

The issue is two fold, first they take away our gained power (levels) against low mobs, and then nerf companions that are supposed to be as good as a player to levels they are not as good as my dog rolling across the keyboard (bit of an exaggeration) but you get the point.

They nerfed them way to much.

 

The whole concept of level sync should be OPTIONAL, we should not be forced into low level old content at the level we were going through it to obtain current content rewards.

 

Still on the fence about my sub, but the more I think about this the angrier get.

I didn't spend hours and days levelling for it all to be wasted on lazy game design.

 

This is my issue too. I would gear my companion to the hilt so that I could solo content for fun. Now, a lot of fun is gone

[DurdensWrath]

Just stop the overreaction. It isn't THAT bad. Yes as I said before the numbers have been brought down some, and they could bump them up some I'll agree there and it was a little excessive yes. But they WERE op before this patch, but it WAS a lot of fun. Again, the nerf was a little TOO much of a "nerf" I think. They just needed to nerf it a little.

 

Basically you just invalidated every Bioware apologist. You said the MAGIC word. FUN. They turned this grind-fest, WoW clone into a fun game again. People (the majority) were happy. And why shouldn't they be. Who gives a rats *** if solo content is easy?

 

The elitists still have their PvP. They still have their HM OP and FP.

 

Now all the poop sockers are the only ones happy.

 

This. People keep saying challenge and all I hear described is tedium.

No kidding. And the dumbest part? "Hey, lets nerf this right after Fallout 4 came out, and right as Battlefront is released! I bet that won't cause us to lose any players!" Edited November 18, 2015 by DurdensWrath

[Ghisallo]

Fell off my chair laughing. lol

 

Simply because your experience doesn't match mine doesn't mean I am lying...

 

Do you want the links to the parses, I can if you want but here was the breakdown of my last SF run... Boss fight btw

 

6:33 second fight... Average heal 1,920/Crit 2,743/Crit% 33.3. HPS 1,231/ EHPS 1,125. Total Eff heals 448k

 

I was running a JK Guardian so admittedly I have some defensive CDs on this character BUT I was in vigilance spec.

 

My gear? No set piece bonuses. Stats resulting from said gear...

Mastery 4885

End 5672

Power 1749

Critical 814

Alacrity 590

Accuracy 832

Presence (as it relates to Comps) 1875

 

bonus damage 2188.8

bonus healing 1577.7

 

Lana just hit affection 19. I said somthing on another thread but screwed up. I was looking at her lvl, not affection, and we were on Nar Shaddah so lvl sync had kicked in.

 

Her stats mastery 4300

Ed 4100

Power 864

Crit 636

Alacrity 470

 

Bonus damage 2578.0

Bonus healing 1840.3

 

I will produce screen shots of these if you wish as well.

 

Sometime this weekend I will try it on my Commando and see if being a JK Guardian makes a difference or not but right now I can say that healers keep a JK Guardian running vigilance up.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Ghisallo

[Noyjitat]

Soloing a devastator monolith... is harder now?

 

This is something I liked doing pre 4.0 when i would augment out my tanks. It was to me a good test of just what me and my companion could get away with. Well..... Before 4.0 I was able to solo devastator monoliths on ziost with a 190 augmented immortal jugg and a 192/190 augmented companion (i didn't use the pieces with accuracy and replaced them with 190 ziost gear)

 

Now this time we're 2 levels above since ziost is a level 60 world and the damn thing nearly killed me and my companion several times despite using all cooldowns ( didn't use heroic moment but then i never needed to before) we were both near a hit from dying several times but at the last second a heal would save us or my cooldown would be ready to use again so jaessa only had to heal herself.

 

This tells me a 50 influence companion has less either burst healing or overall healing output (possibly both) than pre 4.0 healing companions. I mean come on! We're 2 levels above the damned monolith now and i have higher defense and shield/absorb than i had pre 4.0.

[Eillack]

Who thought this was a good idea.....?

 

Bunch of challenged people working on this game.

[mrchance]

Just stop the overreaction. It isn't THAT bad. Yes as I said before the numbers have been brought down some, and they could bump them up some I'll agree there and it was a little excessive yes. But they WERE op before this patch, but it WAS a lot of fun. Again, the nerf was a little TOO much of a "nerf" I think. They just needed to nerf it a little.

 

But by what some of you are doing here, you would think they nuked companions from orbit and took them from the game or something. Just be rational and simmer down. This isn't the end all be all of patches and it will remain constant. I'm sure BioWare will respond to it and see what's up and adjust the numbers.

 

It's not THAT bad! Just chill! Please.

 

It is that bad. 50% would have been too much. We are looking at a 75-90% nerf in healing here. They were nuked from orbit.

[DurdensWrath]

Simply because your experience doesn't match mine doesn't mean I am lying...

And just because others have not had your "skill"/experience, does not make your position right either.

 

And why do you even care? It's SOLO, let people have OP companions if they want. It sure didn't look like it was hurting enthusiasm.

 

God almighty I hate people who want to regulate and minimize other people's experiences. A nerf should never be the answer to a vocal minority not finding "challenge".

[AyeEs]

If you cant solo the Heroic, that is not a problem with the game, that is a problem with your play style. Do the STORY mode for solo.....

 

Why play a MMO? There is tons to do in this game that does not require grouping.

 

If they didn't intend for us to solo the Heroic Star Fortress, why did they included an achievement to defeat the Exarch solo, without alliance buffs or equipment caches? Monday, soloing a Heroic Star Fortress was a challenge, today, it is only a dream.

[Brayla_Sana]

Well, guys, it was fun while it lasted. Why is your nerfbat a sledgehammer?

[KJOhio]

If they didn't intend for us to solo the Heroic Star Fortress, why did they included an achievement to defeat the Exarch solo, without alliance buffs or equipment caches? Monday, soloing a Heroic Star Fortress was a challenge, today, it is only a dream.

 

Because these morons don't play their own game any more. They make changes without testing them (you saw the patch fiasco today).

[Ghisallo]

And just because others have not had your "skill"/experience, does not make your position right either.

 

And why do you even care? It's SOLO, let people have OP companions if they want. It sure didn't look like it was hurting enthusiasm.

 

God almighty I hate people who want to regulate and minimize other people's experiences. A nerf should never be the answer to a vocal minority not finding "challenge".

 

Well here is the thing, I never said my experience was indicative of everyone at all. Here is the thing. I am pretty anal retentive when it comes to language. If someone says "It's impossible!!!!!!" and I did it, I will say "it is not impossible I did it." Impossible means that no one can accomplish the task.

 

I have also consistently said that since Eric said it will be more challenging that some people will indeed have issues. Their presence may be too low, or their companion affection. They may need more gear than someone else does, whatever, all players are different.

 

So I am NOT minimizing other people's experiences. All I am doing is attacking hyperbole. If people here were to simply say "omg I keep getting killed, I can't do it anymore!" and not simply "it's impossible!" I would say little, if anything. If I thought people wouldn't just shout "don't tell me how to play your darned elitist" (when at least the amount of time I spend in game is casual) I would even ask if they wanted help. If yes I would PM them and ask them their class, their gear/stats. If they were on my server I would offer in person help.

 

So the minute people stop calling things impossible, engaging in hyperbole and/or ad hominem attacks, I'll stop posting information that contradicts the hyperbolic statements being made.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Ghisallo

[silvershadows]

I know I was being sarcastic because of the comment made by the person I was responding too. Exaggeration gets on my nerves.

 

Oh sorry. My sarcasm detector is broken.

[shawn_the_geek]

Seeing the divide between the community I feel that having an OP or non-OP companion should have been optional. Now all this has done is force an even greater divide down the community and as a result people are cancelling subs.

[DurdensWrath]

Seeing the divide between the community I feel that having an OP or non-OP companion should have been optional. Now all this has done is force an even greater divide down the community and as a result people are cancelling subs.

 

It's the same old story. Elitist **** lords whine and moan, Bioware overreacts, and heavily nerfs something. And just like before, Bioware will completely turtle up and not go back on this buff, because they have too much pride.

 

You know, not enough pride to QA things, but enough to where once they take a stance, they won't admit they're wrong.

 

This is the Cartel Slot Machine 2.0.

[Steppenwoolf]

Absolutely! It certainly may be a bit more challenging than before but you can complete them. The intent is that you can complete any [Heroic 2] with your Companion counting as one of the two. If you find this isn't true for any Heroics tomorrow, let us know.

 

-eric

 

Well, here I am letting you know that 75% was a totally incorrect number for balance. What a surprise.... I don't intend to go on a childish, swearing, tirade. But I am here as an offended subscriber.

 

Aside from the fact that the very vocal group that even wanted large adjustments to companions was an extreme minority of players, it's ridiculous to think that a MASSIVE reduction in effectiveness would go over well without being tested. Yes, adjustments to new game systems always have to be, and should be, made. But the cycle of implementation of a system, followed by the immediate adjustment to broken and useless levels is getting tiring.

 

A practical change such as a 15%-25% adjustment ( to start with) would have made more sense, and even warranted a week of test servers to be sure that the game wouldn't ever be in a broken state for players and subscribers. Instead the system is broken, again. And I don't appreciate my subscription time being used up (wasted) this way.

 

Between this new patch, the disastrous removal of role based leveling flashpoints, the removal of relevant commendation (crystal) / flashpoint leveling gear, and several other disappointing recent changes, I'm extremely dissatisfied with the current state of the game. I loved the new content, during early access I thought that KotFE would revitalize the game. But the honeymoon has ended, and changed to a horrific hangover that didn't need to happen in the first place.

 

I have had a no-interruption subscription since the release of Galactic Starfighter. Paying into SWTOR and the Cartel market all that time, I have enjoyed the game immensely. But I'm probably going to let that end for now. Maybe I'll come back next year.

 

Hopefully in the future things will change, with a bit of forethought. But I have no delusions about it happening in a timely or effective manner, which would make me believe I wasn't wasting subscription time.

[Ghisallo]

It's the same old story. Elitist **** lords whine and moan, Bioware overreacts, and heavily nerfs something. And just like before, Bioware will completely turtle up and not go back on this buff, because they have too much pride.

 

You know, not enough pride to QA things, but enough to where once they take a stance, they won't admit they're wrong.

 

This is the Cartel Slot Machine 2.0.

 

This is actually the only issue I have with any of your arguments. The hyoerbole It implies what Eric said in his post is a lie. Why does it have to be the "elitist" crying that caused the issue? Why can it not be simply that BW, as has happened so many times in the past, did CRAPTASTIC testing before launch and so released companions that were OP according to their original plan?

 

I understand you are not happy and can appreciate that. I understand that there may be issues for you. Maybe you just think its too grindy now, maybe somethings have become road blocks for you. I can appreciate any and all of these things. It's primarily the idea that BW never intended the original state of the 4.0 companions that I am having trouble wrapping my head around.

[shawn_the_geek]

It's the same old story. Elitist **** lords whine and moan, Bioware overreacts, and heavily nerfs something. And just like before, Bioware will completely turtle up and not go back on this buff, because they have too much pride.

 

You know, not enough pride to QA things, but enough to where once they take a stance, they won't admit they're wrong.

 

This is the Cartel Slot Machine 2.0.

I'm fine with people being elitist. If people want more of a challenge they should have the right to make the game harder for themselves. The same goes for people that want an easier time too. If Bioware had made this optional that would have pleased mostly everyone.