Companion Change Feedback

[Roalmo]

lol seriously

 

Damifino, but the post does tend to support that theory, since we both know that the "fix", i.e. nerf 4.0 to 50% instead of the now 75%, hasn't gone live anywhere.

[LordArtemis]

I think he might have confused the corpse fix restart with the patch that they have said is in the pipe.

[neitsabesax]

As for the rename of [Heroic], I would suggest [Epic].

[Roalmo]

I think he might have confused the corpse fix restart with the patch that they have said is in the pipe.

 

Ah! yes probably, So he did read the memo, just got confused as to date of the fix. So I apologize for the comment that he didn't read the memo.

[Roalmo]

As for the rename of [Heroic], I would suggest [Epic].

 

I would suggest [Another Grind], but that may be too long.

[Drewser]

I have some ideas about Tank Companion improvements, but first I'll start with their actual issues.

 

First of all, tank companions keep a little bit better agro on the enemy then before 4.0, but they still lack in that department when it comes down to the amount of dmg a bursty spec can pull out in short amounts of time. They could also use some more damage reduction to be more like the tank specs for players, but since a companion shouldn't outclass the real deal, they should only be a bit more sturdy, maybe, if at all.

 

The biggest issue for them though is the enemy aoe. Companion movement can't be controlled by the player, and even if you use the disengage option the companion usually reacts too slow if at all - they just get unresponsive - so that's not a viable thing that one can use nor something that a tank should look like (a tank should stay on target as much as possible, so disengaging is not the best thing for them). So what I believe will make Tank role of the companions more viable would be passive aoe dmg reduction. And a good portion of this one, at least 30% (like the passive some specs get, or utility)-50%. They should be able to keep up with the aoe in the more difficult fights, while still doing what they are meant to: keeping agro on target and not dying to fast because of their lack of mobility.

 

These are my thought, hope they help.

 

Cheers!

 

I experienced the same - prior to patch Tank companions were very weak at keeping aggro.

[Londax]

Latest Patch Notes........

 

 

General

 

Players who had items in their Legacy Bank beyond the first tab that were not properly updated in 4.0 can now log in.

The galaxy is no longer littered with the corpses of those who have fallen in battle, but there may still be occasionally instances of the issue occurring.

 

Missions + NPCs

 

Companion healing, damage, and base stats have been increased. Character Level and Companion Influence Level will determine the exact amount:

Companion healing has been increased by approximately 48%.

Companion damage has been increased by approximately 15%.

Companion base stats have been increased by approximately 15%.

Players are now able to start Class-specific Missions on Rishi.

The order you speak to NPCs in Chapter IX can no longer stop progression.

[Raphael_diSanto]

You can't see that number in the crew-skill window, so you have two windows open, and one of them is rather big.

 

Can't you see it if you mouseover the progress bar?

[Kazoontite]

My main is a Sith Warrior. So I love the immortal spec but sadly while in warzones or anywhere else my ravage and charge have bee dramatically slowed down why is that it is affecting my performance and down right insulting I mean they don't even have animations that match the channel times please fix this already

[DarenLoot]

I experienced the same - prior to patch Tank companions were very weak at keeping aggro.

 

Yeap, that's why before 4.0 I was using Xalek as my main tank companion even though Khem or Treek were able to take more dmg in fights. Xalek was more squishy than the others but he was better at taking and keeping agro on the enemy due to it's higher dmg output and ability style (he could put out high threat aoe very fast in the fight).

Edited November 25, 2015 by DarenLoot

[PallyHk]

Class: Marauder

Level: 65

Gear: 208

Discipline: Fury

Companion: Jaesa

Role: healer

Influence: 20

Content: Voss 2+ heroic missions.

 

Experience: I could do the missions without dying or having to use heroic moment and/or all my defensive cooldowns in every fight.

 

Class: Marauder

Level: 65

Gear: 208

Discipline: Fury

Companion: Lt Pierce

Role: healer

Influence: 10

Content: Voss 2+ heroic missions.

 

Experience: I almost died once, but I was still able to complete the cotent with some difficulty.

 

Verdict: Influence 20 companion level is what I need to do Heroic 2+ for. I would slightly (10-20%) buff the healing in EARLY influence levels up to Influence level 10.

 

 

I really want to say "thank you Bioware, Now I can play the game again!" but I feel like they should have just swinged the nerf bat less hard in the first place.

 

Now I can solo Heroic 2+ weeklies with an Influence 10 healer without having to burn all my 3min cooldowns on every fight and wait for them to recharge between fights. Some difficult fights require defensive cooldowns or heroic moment, but not all of them force you to use it.

 

That is all I ask, to be able to play the solo part of the game solo. Which I never had a trouble with prior the companion nerf, so this is not me being unable to play my class.

 

I do not want or care about being able to solo the Heroic Star Fortresses or Tactical flashpoints alone.

I just want to be able to get through the grindy content without it being ardously annoying.

 

This is certainly a step in the good direction.

 

I would recommend buffing companions to 66% of what they were in 4.0 , OR I would just make sure 1 to 10 influence level companions can heal through the weeklies and solo content easily enough.

 

Still, this is a step in the good direction and I hope BW developer team has learned from their mistake.

 

As for Heroic Star fortresses, Maybe call them Heroic 4! Since they need around 2 players and 2 comps to do!

 

Maybe even make a Hardmode flashpoint out of them that works in the group finder in addition to the heroic ones.

Edited November 24, 2015 by PallyHk

[-Spc]

Star Fotrress Heroic H2+ Tatooine

 

Shadow (Infiltration):

224 Mainhand + 220 Full set bonus gear

Nadia Grell: Level 30 influence, as healer

 

After today's patch it's easier and better i had no problems on first boss, 2nd boss however, nadia dies really fast because of all the adds that spawn in the room.

 

So this new healing buff is still not enough to complete H2+, but it is slightly better.

[Eksenia]

Star Fotrress Heroic H2+ Tatooine

 

Shadow (Infiltration):

224 Mainhand + 220 Full set bonus gear

Nadia Grell: Level 30 influence, as healer

 

After today's patch it's easier and better i had no problems on first boss, 2nd boss however, nadia dies really fast because of all the adds that spawn in the room.

 

So this new healing buff is still not enough to complete H2+, but it is slightly better.

I reiterate what I replied to you in an earlier post, as it serves as feedback also.

 

In 6/6 set 224, 224 mh 220 OH, Teeseven rank 33 healer, I completed the One and Only achievement without dropping below 60% HP at any time. The comp buff was well balanced I think, even though I would appreciate solo h2 SF a bit harder (but as the lead designer said, buff them separately from comps).

 

If adds are the issue, you nuke them - your comp is not designed to be a an add sponge.

[DarenLoot]

I reiterate what I replied to you in an earlier post, as it serves as feedback also.

 

In 6/6 set 224, 224 mh 220 OH, Teeseven rank 33 healer, I completed the One and Only achievement without dropping below 60% HP at any time. The comp buff was well balanced I think, even though I would appreciate solo h2 SF a bit harder (but as the lead designer said, buff them separately from comps).

 

If adds are the issue, you nuke them - your comp is not designed to be a an add sponge.

 

What class and spec are you - just for reference. Nadia -> shadow/sage, right? seer? with Nadia on dps?

Edited November 24, 2015 by DarenLoot

[MotorCityMan]

Nerfs were fine. Why buff companions again? This only satisfies the anti-social: players that insist on soloing Heroic+2 content, players that again feel free booting or not replacing a player member in a flashpoint so they can be replaced by a companion healer, and further ruining what little OW pvp there was left in this game.

 

Buffing companions satisfies players that demand soloing and face rolling content. And after they do, they get bored and leave the game quickly. Why cater to these types of players?

Edited November 24, 2015 by MotorCityMan

[Hiply]

This only satisfies the players that insist on soloing Heroic+2 content. Why cater to these types of players?

 

You mean the H2s that are designed and tuned specifically to be playable with player+companion as the 2? Those H2s?

 

Yes, it satisfies the players who want to consume the content the way they have been told they should be able to. I think that's a pretty good thing.

[PallyHk]

Heroic 2+ weeklies should be renamed not to be heroic any more, because some people can not understand that the heroic content is no longer even meant to be team content. They are stuck in Pre Kotfe mindset, and they need to change that.

 

 

Anyway:

Class: Assassin:

Level : 65

Gear: 208

Discipline: hatred

Companion: Lana Beniko

Role: healer

Influence : 15

Content: Voss Heroic 2+ weeklies

 

This went well, Lana was able to heal for most of the time. I sometimes had to CC the strong mobs, which seem to deal more damage than elites. Overall, level 15 was enough to get my through the Heroics.

[Ghisallo]

You mean the H2s that are designed and tuned specifically to be playable with player+companion as the 2? Those H2s?

 

Yes, it satisfies the players who want to consume the content the way they have been told they should be able to. I think that's a pretty good thing.

 

The missions yes. What some people seem to have their panties in a bunch about is that the devs have said they WANT the H2+ SF to be challenging.

 

In answer to that person's question, Motorcityman, the group that wants a solo challenge is NOT limited to your typical "that type of player" Remember the SP game that was the ancestors of this MMORPG had a difficulty slider and plenty of people played it on the hardest settings. These games are about catering to as many tastes as possible, hence they coined the term "theme park" MMO. So there is certainly a reason to cater to players who do not share your personal "tastes", its called maximizing profit. A difficulty slider cant really be put into an MMORPG so they achieve the same effect by adding a specific piece of content. Pretty easy to understand actually if you can stop looking at what you want and look at it from the big picture.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Ghisallo

[Tarackian]

Re: companion tanking viability

 

Companion tank threat feels worse to me now than before the sweeping nerfs. Worse than before you allegedly buffed their threat.

 

It's possible the damage nerf was so severe the threat buff didn't make up for it. I personally thought tank threat was fine before the nerfs, but their damage was also significantly higher at that time.

 

I leveled a fresh 60 Sentinel with the 188 gear yesterday and I constantly pulled aggro off my tank companions.

 

Threat is the biggest problem. The other problem is the general weakness of having almost no tanking stats. Tank companion mitigation and defense is night and day worse than pre 4.0. Tank companions have barely more damage reduction than you do as a DPS player and only slightly more defense.

 

If you have 24% damage reduction and 5% defense, your tank companion probably has 27% reduction and maybe 11% defense.

 

Compared to pre 4.0, my tank companions had anywhere from 20-35% defense and 45-50% damage reduction.

 

I'm not saying tank companions should be invincible, but they should be tankier than they are right now. If you want to keep their damage low that is justifiable, but why are they so squishy?

[Brayla_Sana]

Your level - 65

Roughly Average Item Rating - 216 Belt, Shirt, Bracers, Rest 208. 208 Augments on all.

Discipline - Operative Healer and DPS/Concealment. I play healer in FP and Ops, but I like to DPS when solo, so I respec.

Companion - 45 Koth or 50 Scorpio

Companion role - DPS and Healer - depending on Main Character Spec

Companion Influence level - 45 Koth or 50 Scorpio

Which Mission or Star Fortress are you playing (Solo Mode? Heroic Mode?) Planetary Heroic

 

 

Your personal experience while playing this content:

 

Much better than last time.

 

The Companion Main Hand Bug still exists. It is not fixed. You get about 30% more dps/heals by equipping a non-green, statted weapon on the Companion's main-hand, and storing/calling the companion. (e.g. a modded weapon, or a devoted allies weapon.)

 

I now see some of what the "Stand in Stupid" issue is - that with so few skills, it is possible for the companion to have all skills on cooldown. With the new buff, they might get too powerful at higher levels if you fix it. Do we add more skills? Is there a skill available off cooldown but the AI tells the companion not to use it yet? Do we add a cooldown reset to Heroic Moment? This issue may require some more experimenting on the test server to get right. think once we do, the companions may need to be tuned down a tad.

 

I don't know what caused the despawn bug, but now it seems that some mobs despawn before I can extract resources from them. This problem may also require some playing around on the test server.

 

I think these levels are liveable enough to leave them on Live while you all can work on some of the underlying issues hounding companions in combat. The more powerful players (220 gear, lvl 50 companions) may view companions as a bit overpowered at this point, but I don't think it's AFK play bad. At any rate, I would like to see further tuning and the bugs worked out on the test server.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Brayla_Sana
Spelling/Grammar and added comments.

[Roalmo]

Re: companion tanking viability

 

...

 

....

I'm not saying tank companions should be invincible, but they should be tankier than they are right now. If you want to keep their damage low that is justifiable, but why are they so squishy?

 

My understanding is tank renerf/alleged buff is coming in 4.03. This is 4.02a.

[Brayla_Sana]

My understanding is tank renerf/alleged buff is coming in 4.03. This is 4.02a.

 

Yes, but they are asking players who use a tank in combat to post specific issues here.

[SGMRock]

Eric will the tank companions shield percentage chance and absorption percentage chance be fixed in 4.03? Right now with 4.02a patch they show that they have 1160 shield rating and 720 absorp rating but if you mouse over those numbers they show they have 0.0% shield chance and 0.0% absorp chance like they have no shield armed. Its been that way since 4.0. Not sure if this is just a visual bug of if the tank companions are actually running around like they have no shield on in combat and getting zero shield block so no mitigation for absorption of damage.

[PallyHk]

The missions yes. What some people seem to have their panties in a bunch about is that the devs have said they WANT the H2+ SF to be challenging.

 

In answer to that person's question, Motorcityman, the group that wants a solo challenge is NOT limited to your typical "that type of player" Remember the SP game that was the ancestors of this MMORPG had a difficulty slider and plenty of people played it on the hardest settings. These games are about catering to as many tastes as possible, hence they coined the term "theme park" MMO. So there is certainly a reason to cater to players who do not share your personal "tastes", its called maximizing profit. A difficulty slider cant really be put into an MMORPG so they achieve the same effect by adding a specific piece of content. Pretty easy to understand actually if you can stop looking at what you want and look at it from the big picture.

 

If you find content too easy, why do you not do some of these:

-Turn of some companion abilities.

-Do not gain influence with them and sell your gifts on the GTN.

-Put them in passive mode.

-Dismiss them.

 

That way you can have your challange, and others can still play the game without super heavy grind difficulty.

[Mahrdol]

So I just did Voss heroics on MY 65 sniper in 208 gear with Probe Droid Level 22 on heals.

 

They were much less grindy and Droid healed enough so I didn't have to rest after every fight. Overall a much more enjoyable experience. The heals were sufficient enough to keep its and my health up but it wasn't like before where you basically never drop below 90%. Most of the larger pulls me or the Droid dropped below 50.

 

Thank You