Level Sync Has Serious Problems, and Needs Serious Work - Please Read

[robertthebard]

The problem right now is that you can just walk your influence 1 healer companion from 1 objective to the next and, as long as you click the objectives and pull only 1 mob at the time, you will end up killing the mob for almost all the content intended as soloable.

 

Only a few fights, where you're alone,

 

Like the fight against Kira for the Jedi Knight

 

where a lot of adds spawn or with mechanics that you need to interrupt and/or sidestep will need any combat input from the player other than pressing a key to order the companion to attack.

 

The way the game is set up now with the difficulty setting of level sync, your player isn't the hero, it's the sidekick that look while the Hero is fighting.

 

This isn't my experience with the game, but it never has been. I did Oricon when it was relevant on a Shadow Tank with Nadia Grell, before the comp updates. I did the weekly with that set up every week. When I first started, I used to cuss Vette out on my warrior for constantly last hitting mobs, or blowing them up before I could close. Add to this the fact that others have mentioned since this post; why would I ever stand there and just watch my healer comp take a half hour to do something I could do in a few minutes, or less? My Assassin tank runs with a healer comp when I'm soloing SFs, but with a dps everywhere else. The only time I consistently run healers is when I'm actually playing one, and quite frankly, my sorc just finished up Lady of Sorrows, and I think I healed 3 times through the whole chapter, running the comp as a tank.

 

Nothing about comps being "OP" is new. If one took the time to gear them properly, they always were. What we run into now is people discovering what a lot of already knew. I'm still not inclined to sit on my butt watching my comp work, but I guess if that's your thing, there's nothing the devs can do about it, short of removing them. I'm not sure what any of this has to do with level sync, but there it is.

[LrdScorpio]

Could always just put your comp on passive

[Thoronmir]

Nothing about comps being "OP" is new. If one took the time to gear them properly, they always were. What we run into now is people discovering what a lot of already knew. I'm still not inclined to sit on my butt watching my comp work, but I guess if that's your thing, there's nothing the devs can do about it, short of removing them. I'm not sure what any of this has to do with level sync, but there it is.

 

Back in the olden days of long, long ago ... before the onslaught of uniformity against which so many players rail ... I always made a point to equip all my Companions in adaptive gear with up-to-date mods (which I made myself). I kept their ancillary gear (earpieces and implants) reasonably current. I also made a point of maxing my Presence as well as I could.

 

I recall more than one occasion during FPs needing to replace a dropped player with a Companion. I recall many players insisting we use their Companion. I recall noting that ... even when I was lower level than the other players ... my tanking Companions had twice the HP of the others' Companions. I recall laughing aloud in front of my computer at the feebleness of the Companions these players insisted we use. I recall feeling that my Companions were "overpowered" by virtue of the time and attention I had invested in them.

 

Speaking as a player who obsessed over his Companions, I do not miss the SWTOR "mini-game" known as "Gearing Companions." From what I can tell, 4.0 simply elevated all the other Companions to the performance mine had long exhibited.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Thoronmir

[TUXs]

Its not fine, it has broken abilities like Enure.

 

The plot thickens:

 

Relic of Serendipitous Assault

Relic of Focused Retribution

 

Completely broken on level sync. Open up your character sheet, attack a mob, when your see 'Power Surge' or 'Primary Surge' activate look at your damage values, they don't change at all.

 

Comedy Gold.

But...but...they said you'd retain all your abilities...were they mistaken?

[Thoronmir]

But...but...they said you'd retain all your abilities...were they mistaken?

I hate to act as EA/BW's lawyer on this point, but they never said you would retain all the effects of your abilities. It's like promising not to take your gun ... then outlawing bullets.

[robertthebard]

Back in the olden days of long, long ago ... before the onslaught of uniformity against which so many players rail ... I always made a point to equip all my Companions in adaptive gear with up-to-date mods (which I made myself). I kept their ancillary gear (earpieces and implants) reasonably current. I also made a point of maxing my Presence as well as I could.

 

I recall more than one occasion during FPs needing to replace a dropped player with a Companion. I recall many players insisting we use their Companion. I recall noting that ... even when I was lower level than the other players ... my tanking Companions had twice the HP of the others' Companions. I recall laughing aloud in front of my computer at the feebleness of the Companions these players insisted we use. I recall feeling that my Companions were "overpowered" by virtue of the time and attention I had invested in them.

 

Speaking as a player who obsessed over his Companions, I do not miss the SWTOR "mini-game" known as "Gearing Companions." From what I can tell, 4.0 simply elevated all the other Companions to the performance mine had long exhibited.

 

Which was my point: Everyone's comps are "top tier" geared, according to the player's presence, and their influence rating. All these "but my comps are stronger than me" isn't a sensation that I'm new with. I used to laugh about it in guild chat when Vette would be "leading the kill count" as it were, or how strong Nadia Grell was on Oricon, when geared for it. Now that people don't have to invest that time, they're coming to this conclusion that it's something new, when it's really not.

[robertthebard]

I hate to act as EA/BW's lawyer on this point, but they never said you would retain all the effects of your abilities. It's like promising not to take your gun ... then outlawing bullets.

 

It's not even that drastic: If you're not at the hard cap for HP when you use the ability, you will be afterwards, if you're close enough to it to make it, anyway.

[Thoronmir]

Which was my point: Everyone's comps are "top tier" geared, according to the player's presence, and their influence rating. All these "but my comps are stronger than me" isn't a sensation that I'm new with. I used to laugh about it in guild chat when Vette would be "leading the kill count" as it were, or how strong Nadia Grell was on Oricon, when geared for it. Now that people don't have to invest that time, they're coming to this conclusion that it's something new, when it's really not.

Correct. Which is why I agreed with your point. Since I earned maximum Presence bonuses, I cannot recall a time at which my properly-geared Companion really needed my Sage's help. I was Qyzen's sidekick long before the release of KOTFE.

[Max_Killjoy]

Correct. Which is why I agreed with your point. Since I earned maximum Presence bonuses, I cannot recall a time at which my properly-geared Companion really needed my Sage's help. I was Qyzen's sidekick long before the release of KOTFE.

 

Only because you stand there and let it happen.

 

Just get in there and do your thing, and you'll never notice the companion's power level 90% of the time.

[Thoronmir]

It's not even that drastic: If you're not at the hard cap for HP when you use the ability, you will be afterwards, if you're close enough to it to make it, anyway.

Funny story:

 

This past weekend, I took a level 40ish alt to Tatooine to gather Lore entries. I wanted the Womp Rat Fever Codex Entry for this guy, so I set Qyzen on passive and removed all my Sage's level 40ish armor (in my experience, it increases the odds of infection). I noticed that, without his armor, my Sage's Health did not drop one point. That fully modded level 40ish set of Legacy Armor made no difference.

 

As I understand it, the complaint with Level Sync voiced in this thread is that higher level characters synced down to the planet's level tend to cap stats regardless of buffing abilities. Hence, they feel robbed of any benefit of said abilities. I understand their point, but I do not share their outrage. Capped is capped, and I doubt that buff of Health or Endurance makes a difference either way. If your stats are capped on a planet, you will own said planet.

 

Now, there may be a PvP element to this complaint. I don't PvP, so I have no opinion on that.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Thoronmir

[Muljo_Stpho]

It's not even that drastic: If you're not at the hard cap for HP when you use the ability, you will be afterwards, if you're close enough to it to make it, anyway.

 

But you're pretty seriously geared below level if you're seeing that, since sync enforces a separate cap on max health which actually corresponds to a much lower endurance value than the cap it enforces on endurance. You have to remove a lot of endurance from your gear before you start seeing your max health drop below the capped amount.

[TUXs]

I hate to act as EA/BW's lawyer on this point, but they never said you would retain all the effects of your abilities. It's like promising not to take your gun ... then outlawing bullets.

CURSE U AND UR FANCY LEGAL LOOPHOLES! I knew it was too good to be true

[Thoronmir]

Only because you stand there and let it happen.

 

Just get in there and do your thing, and you'll never notice the companion's power level 90% of the time.

Well, my comment was intended to be a touch tongue-in-cheek. I do "get in there and do [my] thing." I play SWTOR because I enjoy playing SWTOR. In truth, Q and I are a team. Though I confess that he hasn't really needed my Seer's healing very often in years. My healing-spec Sage spends most of his time DPSing the mobs Q tanks.

[Max_Killjoy]

Well, my comment was intended to be a touch tongue-in-cheek. I do "get in there and do [my] thing." I play SWTOR because I enjoy playing SWTOR. In truth, Q and I are a team. Though I confess that he hasn't really needed my Seer's healing very often in years. My healing-spec Sage spends most of his time DPSing the mobs Q tanks.

 

OK. understood.

 

I'm just running into more and more people who are seriously ragey because if they just stand there doing nothing eventually their companion will clear the fight. Just stand there. And somehow, because they could do that, they actually feel like the game is broken...

 

I really do not understand people.

[Thoronmir]

I'm just running into more and more people who are seriously ragey because if they just stand there doing nothing eventually their companion will clear the fight. Just stand there. And somehow, because they could do that, they actually feel like the game is broken...

I suspect it's usually players raging over the fact that other players can do that. I cannot imagine why or how anyone who intends to play the game would ever discover whether they can pick at their trousers while their Companion clears an area. But you're probably right ... there are likely some who "break" the game just to complain it is "broken."

 

I really do not understand people.

Neither do I.

[robertthebard]

But you're pretty seriously geared below level if you're seeing that, since sync enforces a separate cap on max health which actually corresponds to a much lower endurance value than the cap it enforces on endurance. You have to remove a lot of endurance from your gear before you start seeing your max health drop below the capped amount.

 

I was referring to an in combat situation, and didn't clarify that. My bad. It does what it says it will do if you need it to, the OP's post sort of points to it not doing what it says when he's at the cap already, which it can't, but not because you're denied use of the skill, but because you're already at the hard cap for HP, which is sort of what you're saying here. It's a "perception/reality" thing, the way I see it: He uses it at 100% hard capped health, and it has no effect, so it's broken, when the reality is far different.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

I suspect it's usually players raging over the fact that other players can do that. I cannot imagine why or how anyone who intends to play the game would ever discover whether they can pick at their trousers while their Companion clears an area. But you're probably right ... there are likely some who "break" the game just to complain it is "broken."

 

Most probably use it to demonstrate the easiness of the story based game and a general lack of optional difficulty ( short of some suggestions like removing companions etc. which imo ruins immersion and a lot of KoTFE forces companions on you ).

 

So basically if the content can be done with a companion on their own - look how face roll easy it is when me and my companion do it.

 

It's a fair argument - having optional difficulties that is, too often now people are seemingly being turned off the game by it's increased ease to the point it's not even feeling like a game anymore in some regards.

[robertthebard]

Most probably use it to demonstrate the easiness of the story based game and a general lack of optional difficulty ( short of some suggestions like removing companions etc. which imo ruins immersion and a lot of KoTFE forces companions on you ).

 

So basically if the content can be done with a companion on their own - look how face roll easy it is when me and my companion do it.

 

It's a fair argument - having optional difficulties that is, too often now people are seemingly being turned off the game by it's increased ease to the point it's not even feeling like a game anymore in some regards.

 

I really want to see some video of someone taking a lvl 1 influence comp into a SF and letting the comp solo it.

[commanderwar]

You can always put your companion on passive.

[DataBeaver]

If the game is boring because your companion is supposedly doing all the killing, then the problem is that you're sitting there with your thumb up your backside and not doing anything.

The game is boring because my actions in combat are inconsequential. I mean, why is a big hero like myself even needed if the enemies die that easily? Just how incompetent is everyone else in the entire galaxy?

 

Today I was playing a heroic Star Fortress and had just entered the first room in the boss area. You know the one where you are attacked by a gold skytrooper captain and a number of normal skytroopers. Well, my laptop's WiFi driver developed some kind of failure, causing extreme lag. I mean the game situation updated once a minute or so. Luckily I had set my companion as heals, so he had no trouble keeping me alive. About five minutes later all the enemies were dead, with me quite literally unable to do anything during the entire fight. I observed the lag meter climbing to 180 seconds and rebooted to make the game playable again.

 

As for certain abilities not working when level synced. Yes, those abilities are unnecessary on lower level planets, but that doesn't mean they can be broken just like that. If the intent is to prevent the use of those abilities, then disable them. Don't leave them in a limbo where they kind of work but not really.

[Djiini]

Just how incompetent is everyone else in the entire galaxy?

 

Is this your first Bioware game?

[DataBeaver]

Is this your first Bioware game?

First one in a long while at least. *Checks Wikipedia's list of Bioware games* The previous one I played was Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate II before that. I don't remember those being overly difficult either, but at least they weren't cakewalks.

 

I wouldn't even mind the easymode if there was something interesting about the enemies. But there's nothing. They take no effort to beat and all loot gets sold as soon as I reach a vendor. In fact I don't even know why I bother with looting since the credits I get is like a raindrop in the ocean against my already amassed wealth. It seems like the only purpose for enemies to exist is to take up my time.

Edited February 22, 2016 by DataBeaver

[robertthebard]

The game is boring because my actions in combat are inconsequential. I mean, why is a big hero like myself even needed if the enemies die that easily? Just how incompetent is everyone else in the entire galaxy?

 

Today I was playing a heroic Star Fortress and had just entered the first room in the boss area. You know the one where you are attacked by a gold skytrooper captain and a number of normal skytroopers. Well, my laptop's WiFi driver developed some kind of failure, causing extreme lag. I mean the game situation updated once a minute or so. Luckily I had set my companion as heals, so he had no trouble keeping me alive. About five minutes later all the enemies were dead, with me quite literally unable to do anything during the entire fight. I observed the lag meter climbing to 180 seconds and rebooted to make the game playable again.

 

As for certain abilities not working when level synced. Yes, those abilities are unnecessary on lower level planets, but that doesn't mean they can be broken just like that. If the intent is to prevent the use of those abilities, then disable them. Don't leave them in a limbo where they kind of work but not really.

 

Except that the abilities will work exactly as described if you're not at 100% health when you use them? There is no limbo, other than "I'm hanging out on Korriban, and want to use this ability before I do anything, it doesn't do anything because I'm capped, so it must be broken". Taken in context with the rest of your post, this is absolutely hilarious, to me, because when would you ever even push the button, aren't your comps doing the work? The only thing broken is the concept of hard cap.

[robertthebard]

First one in a long while at least. *Checks Wikipedia's list of Bioware games* The previous one I played was Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate II before that. I don't remember those being overly difficult either, but at least they weren't cakewalks.

 

I wouldn't even mind the easymode if there was something interesting about the enemies. But there's nothing. They take no effort to beat and all loot gets sold as soon as I reach a vendor. In fact I don't even know why I bother with looting since the credits I get is like a raindrop in the ocean against my already amassed wealth. It seems like the only purpose for enemies to exist is to take up my time.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that this is your first MMO, or you'd have already realized that that's exactly what the whole game is about, taking up your time. It's not a unique situation to here, either, and you'll find plenty of this exact discussion on other MMO forums as well, along with "this was the last nail in the coffin for the game" threads, or some such similar doom title. Every update, in every MMO I've played, was the "last nail in the coffin". It's hilarious, sometimes, because the thread starters are usually the exact same people that started the last three similar threads, going back as many years. I've seen it happen.

[IanArgent]

You don't even have to set your comp to passive to up the difficulty - just turn them off of heal. Tank is probably the hardest choice