Companion Changes in 4.0.2

[Mourkoth]

guys please, a vigilance guardian (sturdiest dps spec in the entire game with the biggest amount of def cds incl. a nice h2f ability on a medium cooldown) did solo h2+ SF successfully. It was a close call and he had to use heroic moment, all legacy abilities and all the unlockable alliance buffs/abilities. Sure, I dont have those because I can't be arsed to grind old h2 quests like a tard, also I don't play a guardian but an operative dps (massive amount of extremely valuable def cds + surpreme AoEs to deal with multiple mobs) but the point of the matter is: All is good. Carry on and l2p. ~1000 hps by a companion is a plenty, just buy a medpack or something if you really need more.

 

"Please" and "Do this" aren't really tangible options right now, since it seems the damage has already created some visible damage to the server populations. I can't get ahold of more than a scant few from what was previously thirty fresh recruits for my POT5 guild, and that's killing us in almost every arena.

 

I mean, sure....I could see your point if it wasn't sending away the people I need to keep my guild operational enough for ranked. This is getting out of hand fast.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Mourkoth

[WDreamer]

Since this probably the "official" companion feedback thread I'll just repeat his once here:

 

Let me just say levelling up to L50+ with these new companions are fine though. I'm enjoying it. I honestly wasn't enjoying playing the planet / story missions pre - 4.0.2. The battles didnt require my attention AND since I wasnt RACING to get to LV 60+, or to PVP. ...what fun am I having here?

 

Didnt even feel the need to bubble my DPS comp (myself as a healer) going up against multiple golds/elites...let alone practise even part of a rotation.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The main complaint Im seeing is with SF Heroics, and POSSIBLY higher planet Heroics such as Belsavis and up for the casual-average player to SOLO.

 

Just to point out to devs, you clearly got a high-end for comps (which people couldn't enjoy levelling with up to 60 with, unless their "fun" part was actually at lvl 60+ and were just speeding through 1-60), and a low-end for comps (who people take issue mainly with SF Heroics to solo and some higher end planet heroics to solo).

 

IDK, maybe devs could possibly look into (if they haven't):

- Tweaking the SF heroics / achievements...?

- Higher planet heroics IF you want average players to solo them as well.....

Edited November 18, 2015 by WDreamer

[Draqsko]

Ok, some bad news.

 

My GF just died in her class quest. Here is the info.

Class quest, level 40

Battle of the gauntlet - chapter 2

Yunn - healer - IL 3

746 Presence

level 94 gear

1 silver, 4 standard mobs

 

This quest was reset, she almost finished it before with no problems. She concedes it could be an error on her part, but it was a surprise.

 

I tend to think it was a lack of strategy, caused by the former strength of companions, which raises another issue....

 

The pain of adjustment. The nerf is so substantial that the difference in performance is major compared to prior to 4.0.2...this may be a concern, because my GF is what I would could consider an "average gamer"....someone that does not use the forums, or read patch notes, someone who simply plays the game for fun.

 

She was speaking rather positively about the changes up to this point...pointing out that it didn't seem that bad.

 

She is a bit disappointed. Not looking to leave the game, but most certainly frustrated that a healer that could easily keep her alive prior to 4.0 and most certainly after 4.0 all of sudden is struggling with 4.0.2.

 

She frankly finds the change petty and is starting to question the need to remove gear, when she could determine their performance. She now feels her performance level is out of her hands with respect to companions.

 

Now, I posted her numbers so that folks can point out any flaws in her setup, perhaps that being the issue. But remember, she is the average player IMO....and that means no running around to gather holocrons, no mods with presence, etc.

 

Something to think about.

 

It was in the patch notes, companions were having their base stats nerfed, and they were increasing the effects of presence to compensate for it on the high end.

 

You shouldn't be surprised it's going to hardest affect the people who are least capable of dealing with a companion nerf, the new incoming casuals they were courting with this expansion. These people don't have presence buffs, don't have legacy buffs, and didn't have OP companions compared to a new alt I can roll up with all the legacy crap.

 

I said it back then, because I could see how bad they were on the low end when I was defending Tython and Coruscant against Imps.

 

The nerf needs to come on the high end of the scale with presence, the gains from presence should have some diminishing return or even outright cap, and the base stats for companions needs to be raised so that the floor isn't in the sub-basement anymore. This current nerf took a little off the top, but it was a huge hit off the bottom. They needed to do the opposite, take a huge chunk off the IL50 companions, and only a little off the IL1 companions.

[Ki-Tau]

I edited in a comment about the Ad Hominem logical fallacy as well. Attacking the opposing party pretty much kills credibility for your stance in the civil debate essential for accurate and functional change.

 

 

Would agree when it's forum PVP - but I don't think sounding off at people I pay sub to as a customer falls within that?

 

Edit - actually thinking more about this, what you said is not always true even in forum PVP but I really CBA to explain why

Edited November 18, 2015 by Ki-Tau

[Gromrosh]

This seriously needs to be fixed its taken the joy out of the game now and the game will now severely suffer cause of this

[Sardorim]

So.. Why didn't you list exactly how large the reductions were?

[Ghisallo]

guys please, a vigilance guardian (sturdiest dps spec in the entire game with the biggest amount of def cds incl. a nice h2f ability on a medium cooldown) did solo h2+ SF successfully. It was a close call and he had to use heroic moment, all legacy abilities and all the unlockable alliance buffs/abilities. Sure, I dont have those because I can't be arsed to grind old h2 quests like a tard, also I don't play a guardian but an operative dps (massive amount of extremely valuable def cds + surpreme AoEs to deal with multiple mobs) but the point of the matter is: All is good. Carry on and l2p. ~1000 hps by a companion is a plenty, just buy a medpack or something if you really need more.

 

First... I didn't use the unlocks because well... I literally just got to 10 on the first one about 15 minutes ago. I had yet to do one of the "regular" weeklies until today due to work and wife.

 

Second I used heroic moment once... On the third core. That was it.

 

Third... You are missing my point. I understand different classes will have a different "pace.". The problem is this. BW created a false impression. Every other tier had progression in terms of gear before you did things. You point to the intended progression in your own post. All those unlocks in the SF if you had a rep of 10? How do you get that? By doing weeklies. What do you also get from the weeklies? Crystals to buy 216 gear. Have an achieve for doing them without the buffs from faction? It seems pretty obvious to me.

 

Every class and player is different. My other two primary characters are a Commando and an Operative. I am certain they will have different experiences. Maybe I will have to use the alliance buff I just unlocked, or heroic moment on CD. Thing is I remember leveling up through this game and using Heroic Moment A LOT more than Inhave this expac, so big deal (imo).

 

Regardless, because of the differences each player/class will progress through content at a different pace. That is the way of the MMO. The OP companions created a false impression. If they hadn't released them OP people would not be complaining like this now. They would not need to look at the design of the Heroic SF and realize " hey I gotta grind these weeklies first don't I?" They would just know it because they got their clock cleaned.

 

So if people stopped, thought logically and not emotionally, should we ALL be annoyed? Absolutely. BW rushed an expac and so had companions OP, they then took what? 4 weeks to fix them? They fixed them why? Because they need this content to last. Look we are all arguing over solo END GAME 4 weeks into an expac. We are already level 65 have decent gear, hownis this going to keep people's interest until the last chapter of a story is released if the following chapters are as short as the 9 we just did?

 

Answer? Logically the pace at which we progressed was NEVER intended. They talked over and over about how fast people went through the launch version in 2012 is what hurt the game. Would they knowingly make the same mistake again? Of course not. So again is this change annoying?/ yeah. Does it suck? Yeah. The real reason why is being missing in the frustration though. That reason being, the companions should never have been that OP in the first place.

[Ghisallo]

So.. Why didn't you list exactly how large the reductions were?

 

Because the reductions aren't global. There appear to be different % reductions on different abilities (at least for heals. Then add in the AI that is controlling when they fire (it isn't simply on cool down, again for heals). Add to that Eric said..

 

There isn’t a flat % that healing was reduced by. Effectiveness reduction varies greatly depending on level, Influence, level sync...

.

 

So there is no flat %... User experience may vary.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Ghisallo

[KalebGrayson]

I don't like the nerf. When will companies learn that nerfs are just bad? The saying that people don't like change is a saying for a reason. I'm cancelling my sub.

[well]

No, the whole point of an MMO is to support a large number of people in a common setting. Forcing them to work together to accomplish most tasks is an artificial paradigm, not a natural one. We're supposed to be the heroes of our stories, but folks seem to keep insisting on the 'it takes a village' method.

 

This!

[fonmahamin]

I was greatly concerned by the numbers being thrown around, like 50%- 75% nerf. I thought all was lost, for I'm not an expert player. These 4.0 strength companions were a blessing for me. I could do flashpoints and heroics easily now. (i could do most heroics before just required me to concentrate. Back when I did some grouping for flashpoints I was the guy you yelled at

"learn your class fool"

" your a tank why you standing over there fool"

" you need to taunt them fool"

I hate to ruin others experience so I don't do group stuff any more obviously.

I have no interest in studying guides on my class, I use the skills I want in the way I want and play how I want but for some reason that idea offends people meh. Either way I don't do group stuff so I don't ruin their game play. so everyone is happy

 

My Juggernaut has 208 gear, a 216 offhand shield and 220 main.

I am level 50 legacy, have all the datacrons and completed all class stories and companion conversations bar trooper (I'm working on him) I think that covers all the buffs/stats I get)

I use Lana right now she is level 42 influence

 

When 4.0 hit I started doing the star fortress stuff I was geared in 186(i think) obviously could do the solo versions and I had enough crystals after that to buy my 208 gear. First run through hardmode I did the no buff achievement. Died so many times kinda over estimated how hard it would be. Well just the Praetorian everything else was easy. Then dove into the heroics I smashed them easily without having to watch Lana (who was in damage for all planets under level 40-level sync and Healer for the rest)

 

I found out once you play it with the buff just how easy it was, coupled with the buffs you find once your contacts are above level 10 influence. I was surfing the web on my desktop while on my laptop just hitting the basic attack and Lana did all the work. I look over at my laptop see Lana had killed everything move my toon forwards and repeat. Only time I had to pay attention was the Praetorian and of course the final hit the 3 control panel section

 

Patch hits and I'm a bit worried based on everything that i've heard, so I start with some heroics. No issues there can do almost all. Cant do the Makeb False history, The macrobinoculars final heroic, The shoud's last stand or the seeker droid final Heroic Alchemy of evil. Granted couldn't do those 3 before the patch either (probably a reflection of my skills not the game)

 

Now onto Star fortress hardmode, Same gear stats as above lvl 42 Lana starts in damage mode, changed her to have a magenta crystal in her saber since it looks pink it reflects her watered down skills.(Plus im sick of seeing 100 of the same Lanas around cant believe we cant change her gear or even throw on a dye #rantover)

 

Still used the buffs and the 4 caches. It takes us a bit longer to kill things. I have to pay attention taking down Paladins, I don't know if its her new crystal colour has gone to her head or the stat changes but I have to keep my eye on her she seems to bite off more than she can chew sometimes and tries to take on too many enemies, some taunts later its all good. No change for the Praetorian, felt it was the same difficulty. The 3 control panel part I had to watch where I was standing. The Exarch required some attention, had to keep an eye on Lana many times she almost died, so did i for that matter. With some kiteing she held up. I don't think the fight is any harder I just have to pay attention, stand in the right spot and use interruptions. Which sounds alot like me having to learn to play my class

 

TL; DR

Juggernaut geared 208, with lvl 42 influence Lana healing, can do almost all Heroics and hardmode Star fortress(with buffs). She doesn't heal or deal as much damage(duh) so you now actually have to watch what your companion is doing.

Unbuffed and undergeared it might be hard to crack that hardmode but isn't that how endgame should be. I do miss overpowered autopilot days, but it isn't as bad as thought.

 

Granted it might be alot different with a low level influence companion

[Ki-Tau]

Any chance people could post edited highlights rather than a 1000 word ****in essay. TYVM Edited November 18, 2015 by Ki-Tau

[lorefultv]

Here's the reality. Bioware didn't play test the changes in 4.0 (with the community) and they didn't play test these recent changes. They don't listen to the community. They say they do, but it's propaganda. That is evidenced by the fact that 99% of customer service issues receive no actual help but merely an automated response. The reality is, Bioware hasn't concerned themselves with what the community wants since this game went Free to Play and they fired the majority of their customer service staff -- who were awesome, by the way. If they did care you would see evidence of that and not just a statement from a developer. If they did care they would invite the community to play test and receive solid feedback before making community dividing changes like this. There are a ridiculous number of things the community hated about 4.0 (like removing moddable gear vendors) but they never gave us the opportunity to voice our opinion. There are features we have asked for since Day 1. But since going F2P they've never showed the slightest interest in listening to those ideas nor have they acknowledged them. If they had, I would feel differently. But they simply don't care. They have numbers to hit and every change or addition is about bringing in new players and keeping the existing player base buying on the cartel market.

 

I'm resigned to that. I sub because this is the only Star Wars MMO on the market. I've accepted that they really don't care what I think and if I need help with something, I'm on my own. Until something better comes along, I'm here and I don't think they will ever really give a flying f*&k what I think should change to make this a better game. Is it right? No. Should it change? Absolutely. If you sub and buy on the cartel market, your opinion should matter. But it doesn't. The only thing that matters is what the brass tells them to do to keep their jobs. I wish my opinion weren't so cynical. I wish I could be an uber fanboy and support them but I have no evidence that they truly listen to anyone but themselves. They will continue to listen to themselves until they are the only ones playing this game.

[Lanessar]

From my 0.02 - Returning player, re-subbed for the KotFE content, and to play through all the class storylines. I've completed SW last week, working on Smuggler. I've probably blown $40-$60 on cosmetic gear for my characters to get the look I want.

 

I'm definitely casual, no doubts. I've spent 3 years raiding in WOW, ranked #5 as a Resto healer in WoTLK raid content, so I have some experience with rotations and popping CDs. I just don't have the time to invest.

 

Right now, I'm running through the Hoth part of the story questlines with Risha, my rank 10 companion, as a level 40 smuggler. I'm dying to level 37 mobs, and her heals can't keep up with melee damage. I am blowing defensive cooldowns and in cover, using ST rotations (as much as I can with not having trickshot). My gear is legendaries with mods up to my level. These are both story mobs (I remember the Wampa fight just killed me outright, with defensive CDs popped) and non-story "on my way" mobs (gold melee).

 

I hope this isn't as rough for the other classes, especially squishies like consular. The one reason I had for subbing is basically removed.

 

Note, I'm not saying the nerf wasn't needed, or whatever, I'm just saying that it hit the non-hardcore people pretty hard, since I'm sure there aren't that many posting in the forums. I don't know if they'll unsub or not, I'm not making any sort of doom and gloom predictions - I just want my personal experience brought up to the devs, so that they can balance properly and continue making this game fun.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Lanessar
Clarify one point on what I'm fighting.

[Devilk]

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

 

Then maybe you shouldn't label them 2+ and just label them heroic. 2+ implies another player seeing as how the number next to the heroic has always referred to players needed.

[LadyVix]

I was greatly concerned by the numbers being thrown around, like 50%- 75% nerf. I thought all was lost, for I'm not an expert player. These 4.0 strength companions were a blessing for me. I could do flashpoints and heroics easily now. (i could do most heroics before just required me to concentrate. Back when I did some grouping for flashpoints I was the guy you yelled at

"learn your class fool"

" your a tank why you standing over there fool"

" you need to taunt them fool"

I hate to ruin others experience so I don't do group stuff any more obviously.

I have no interest in studying guides on my class, I use the skills I want in the way I want and play how I want but for some reason that idea offends people meh. Either way I don't do group stuff so I don't ruin their game play. so everyone is happy

 

My Juggernaut has 208 gear, a 216 offhand shield and 220 main.

I am level 50 legacy, have all the datacrons and completed all class stories and companion conversations bar trooper (I'm working on him) I think that covers all the buffs/stats I get)

I use Lana right now she is level 42 influence

 

When 4.0 hit I started doing the star fortress stuff I was geared in 186(i think) obviously could do the solo versions and I had enough crystals after that to buy my 208 gear. First run through hardmode I did the no buff achievement. Died so many times kinda over estimated how hard it would be. Well just the Praetorian everything else was easy. Then dove into the heroics I smashed them easily without having to watch Lana (who was in damage for all planets under level 40-level sync and Healer for the rest)

 

I found out once you play it with the buff just how easy it was, coupled with the buffs you find once your contacts are above level 10 influence. I was surfing the web on my desktop while on my laptop just hitting the basic attack and Lana did all the work. I look over at my laptop see Lana had killed everything move my toon forwards and repeat. Only time I had to pay attention was the Praetorian and of course the final hit the 3 control panel section

 

Patch hits and I'm a bit worried based on everything that i've heard, so I start with some heroics. No issues there can do almost all. Cant do the Makeb False history, The macrobinoculars final heroic, The shoud's last stand or the seeker droid final Heroic Alchemy of evil. Granted couldn't do those 3 before the patch either (probably a reflection of my skills not the game)

 

Now onto Star fortress hardmode, Same gear stats as above lvl 42 Lana starts in damage mode, changed her to have a magenta crystal in her saber since it looks pink it reflects her watered down skills.(Plus im sick of seeing 100 of the same Lanas around cant believe we cant change her gear or even throw on a dye #rantover)

 

Still used the buffs and the 4 caches. It takes us a bit longer to kill things. I have to pay attention taking down Paladins, I don't know if its her new crystal colour has gone to her head or the stat changes but I have to keep my eye on her she seems to bite off more than she can chew sometimes and tries to take on too many enemies, some taunts later its all good. No change for the Praetorian, felt it was the same difficulty. The 3 control panel part I had to watch where I was standing. The Exarch required some attention, had to keep an eye on Lana many times she almost died, so did i for that matter. With some kiteing she held up. I don't think the fight is any harder I just have to pay attention, stand in the right spot and use interruptions. Which sounds alot like me having to learn to play my class

 

TL; DR

Juggernaut geared 208, with lvl 42 influence Lana healing, can do almost all Heroics and hardmode Star fortress(with buffs). She doesn't heal or deal as much damage(duh) so you now actually have to watch what your companion is doing.

Unbuffed and undergeared it might be hard to crack that hardmode but isn't that how endgame should be. I do miss overpowered autopilot days, but it isn't as bad as thought.

 

Granted it might be alot different with a low level influence companion

 

Congratulations for accomplishing that on a tank character with a healer companion.

 

Your next challenge should be to do it on a sniper with nothing but shield probe for mitigation, no self heals, and a healer companion whose 800-900 heals (i.e. ONE PERCENT OF HP) is incapable of surviving 10 seconds in some fights in H2+ Star Fortress. Please let us know how that works for you.

[Pookan]

TL; DR

Juggernaut geared 208, with lvl 42 influence Lana healing, can do almost all Heroics and hardmode Star fortress(with buffs).

 

Yeah, but my main is Sorc, and sorcs doesnt have 9000 defensive cooldowns, only cloud mind with utility and shields.

My madness sorc 216-geared, my healer Ashara rank 36, and i still felt a LOT OF DAMAGE from Paladins and Exarch in 4.0.1. I had to use my cloud mind, use heroic moment, all bonuses like turret/grenade/medpac from alliance chests and heal myself sometimes to feel comfortable in this fights.

Now in 4.0.2 companions do QUARTER of their previous heal. gosh darn 75% nerf. What I am supposed to do? Switch class to AP PT or Deception Sin because someone in BW playing them?

 

Or should i found PARTY to do HM Star Fortress? Should i write LFG in chat to get pink-head-naked-chiss-in-dancer-s l u t-outfit with some stupid nickname (and all of this ruining my star wars story) to do Star Fortress?

Edited November 18, 2015 by Pookan

[PallyHk]

Here's the reality. Bioware didn't play test the changes in 4.0 (with the community) and they didn't play test these recent changes. They don't listen to the community. They say they do, but it's propaganda. That is evidenced by the fact that 99% of customer service issues receive no actual help but merely an automated response. The reality is, Bioware hasn't concerned themselves with what the community wants since this game went Free to Play and they fired the majority of their customer service staff -- who were awesome, by the way. If they did care you would see evidence of that and not just a statement from a developer. If they did care they would invite the community to play test and receive solid feedback before making community dividing changes like this. There are a ridiculous number of things the community hated about 4.0 (like removing moddable gear vendors) but they never gave us the opportunity to voice our opinion. There are features we have asked for since Day 1. But since going F2P they've never showed the slightest interest in listening to those ideas nor have they acknowledged them. If they had, I would feel differently. But they simply don't care. They have numbers to hit and every change or addition is about bringing in new players and keeping the existing player base buying on the cartel market.

 

I'm resigned to that. I sub because this is the only Star Wars MMO on the market. I've accepted that they really don't care what I think and if I need help with something, I'm on my own. Until something better comes along, I'm here and I don't think they will ever really give a flying f*&k what I think should change to make this a better game. Is it right? No. Should it change? Absolutely. If you sub and buy on the cartel market, your opinion should matter. But it doesn't. The only thing that matters is what the brass tells them to do to keep their jobs. I wish my opinion weren't so cynical. I wish I could be an uber fanboy and support them but I have no evidence that they truly listen to anyone but themselves. They will continue to listen to themselves until they are the only ones playing this game.

 

If you only sub because this is Star wars, well, don't waste your cash. You can do role play, you can do class stories without the need of a sub. Only thing you need a sub for is Kotfe, and it really flies so far off the SW lore that it may just as well doesn't count as a" Star Wars" experience..

[HarleysRule]

No one can argue with a straight face companion nerfs weren't needed, but in typical fashion, instead of the nerf stick, they bypassed the nerf bat and went straight to a nerf tree. GJ, BioWare...it takes mad skills to piss off ALL your customers.

[Halinalle]

I tried heroic mode again with my Sentinel but this time used heroic moment when it was available. I managed to get to last room before the Exarch fight. I tried few times. Can't get through without collecting those yellow items and brute forcing through that room. I also always kept one of the elite skytroopers CC'd while I killed the other one.

 

But not going there again even though I managed to get T7 to 25 after this epic failure.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Halinalle

[Lyaise]

oh dear Eric, oh dear.

What have you done?

You acknowledge divided opinion, then go against the only documented evidence showing 70% in favor of NOT DOING WHAT YOU HAVE JUST DONE.

 

There's a not so subtle clue in the above - see if you can work out why the forums have turned into **** storms of epic proportions with lists of players unsubbing.

 

'your own goals for companions' - and this in a very short phrase sums up why you've gone ahead with one of the biggest disasters the game has seen.

- you either didn't read the player warnings about this prior to actioning

- or, significantly worse - you read them and decided they where not worth taking into account.

 

Either one is damning in the extreme.

 

And now you have mass eruptions of dissatisfied players, cancelling subscriptions, stopping resubs - all because you decided that "you knew best"

Here's a clue - you didn't.

 

oh, and some not so light reading, just in case you somehow thought a balls up of this epic proportion would be confined here:

 

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/367/view/news/read/37171/Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-Forums-Aflame-Companion-Nerf-Under-Fire.html

 

Oh dear.

Whoever said even bad publicity is good, obviously wasn't referring to the highly competitive and reactive mmo arena.

[Bobs_YourUncle]

So far so good.

 

Lightening sorc with mostly 216 gear augmented with 208s. I am NOT a good player, just ask anyone who's had to group with me. I got to play a couple hours last night and an hour this morning.

 

I did Hoth and Balmorra heroics with the akk dog at 13 influence healing. I did notice on pulls with more than a couple of golds, I was forced to use static barrier, stuns, and self heals here or there. (died once to learn that lesson lol). Otherwise it was still a cakewalk. Granted, maybe makeb other later heroics will be tougher.

 

Just before I had to go this morning, I decided to give an H2 star fortress a check. I did it with Lana at 27 influence. Trash pulls were still no challenge, or even threat of dying. At least Lana was able to keep me topped off. I downed the first champion. I noticed our health did drop to about 50% here or there and I had to utilize static barrier and self heals at times.

 

That's as far as I got before having to go. I will post an update once I see how the other champions and the exarch fights go. So far I'm happy.

[Droidist]

This is their game and they've done what they want with it. At least they warned us. I for one am taking a break to see how things shake down. Been playing on and off in solo mode since this game came out (early release) and spent probably too much in the cartel market.

 

I don't think this new game is aimed the established player base, or that we really matter. Rather they are aiming for a new player base that doesn't know what the old game was like.

 

No you can't have my stuff, it's cached under a rock on some frozen planet, just in case.

 

Have fun!

[AdarnVote]

While I find the heroic 2's to be roughly the same post nerf at least in my experience as a level 65 Commando with semi-okay gear, the things that concern me are:

 

a) the reliance on affection ranks needed for healing; this particularly affects the low level game when a player may not have the time, credits or ability to raise influence up to where the companion heals are more effective, as evidenced by the posts talking about people struggling with the leveling process - a thing that should not be experienced in any MMO that has a focus on getting people to an end-game.

 

b) Low levels; again, the fact that the companion healers seem to be vastly weaker is something that will not be tolerated by new or returning players from level 1 for long. Making their leveling experience go from fun and interesting to tedious and stressful will negatively impact both retention rates of subscribers trying to level alts and/or new players trying to experience the Star Wars universe here for the first time.

Edited November 18, 2015 by AdarnVote

[PallyHk]

No one can argue with a straight face companion nerfs weren't needed, but in typical fashion, instead of the nerf stick, they bypassed the nerf bat and went straight to a nerf tree. GJ, BioWare...it takes mad skills to piss off ALL your customers.

 

Most half competent modders know to adjust things by 10% or 5% and fine tune it until the majority of people say "Oh it works, we like it!" I can do that with a high school education.

 

Of course, sometimes even 5-10% is too much change, like how Dawn of War 2 did with Assault Marines and Howling Banshees, two melee units. They buffed one by a little, nerfed the other a little, and it was too much. This kept on cycling forever.

 

But 70%? Lol, incompetence at its finest.