Which Companion do I choose to influence?

[jbap]

I'm fairly new to the game and I am wondering about the advantages of companions if there are any?

 

Who should I choose to level up if I want to solo better?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Rebamcfan]

Since each companion can fill any of the roles (tank, healer, dps), you can increase Influence on whoever you wish. There's really no better or worse companion so its up to your liking.

[Rebamcfan]

This thread might in general be very helpful regarding your question -hope it helps http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=677289

[JediQuaker]

Who should I choose to level up if I want to solo better?

Basically, you can level up whoever you like. It's worth considering what sort of companion suits your class though. Generally, I find that, if you are a melee class (e.g. Jedi Knight, Sith Warrior) a ranged healer such as Kaliyo works better, and conversely if you are a ranged class (e.g. Smuggler), a melee healer such as Lana works well.

But it doesn't usually make a whole lot of difference. I generally speaking use whatever companion I like the look of and/or have a romantic attachment to. For example, my Gunslinger uses Risha as a healer companion (they were married pre-KoFE)

 

Also, although all companions "can" fill all roles, some seem to be better at some rolls than others.

Edited March 14, 2017 by JediQuaker

[mike_carton]

I try to increase influence with one melee and one ranged companion. Any romanced companion is an automatic choice, so that leaves one other as free choice. If you wait until chapter 9 of KotFE, you get a bigger pool to make that choice from. Obviously, special companions like Shae Vizla, Master Ranos, Nico Ocarr, HK droid, Treek also add to your choices. Pick someone whose quips you can live with.

[DrDaMoZ]

There are 2 types of companions with 2 variations: Melee & Ranged, who can either be Tech or Force based.

I believe Tech does more steady dps/healing/tanking and Force has more burst dps/healing/tanking.

However i've noticed very little difference between Tech and Force.

I do believe Melee has a few AOE abilities and Ranged only has single target skills, so keep that in mind.

 

edit:

I personally prefer Force Melee companions being a melee tank myself, but in all honesty the difference is minimal so you should simply pick the companion you like most. Especially if you are new, pick the one that agrees most with how you like to play the story, this will significantly increase the amount of influence you get in the first 3 chapters of the game and save you a lot of credits on companion gifts.

Edited March 14, 2017 by DrDaMoZ

[SteveTheCynic]

Ranged vs. Melee:

 

Doesn't matter which you are.

 

BUT: Melee character with ranged companion: you have to wait for your companion to catch up.

Ranged character with melee companion: your companion runs back to you as you run forward to the next group of enemies, so you are back together sooner.

[TUXs]

BUT: Melee character with ranged companion: you have to wait for your companion to catch up.

Ranged character with melee companion: your companion runs back to you as you run forward to the next group of enemies, so you are back together sooner.

I'm glad you mentioned this...it's a huge reason why I use a melee companion most of the time myself.

 

On the flip side...ranged companions are easier to keep out of stupid (AOE attacks on the ground).

Edited March 14, 2017 by TUXs

[mike_carton]

However i've noticed very little difference between Tech and Force.

I do believe Melee has a few AOE abilities and Ranged only has single target skills, so keep that in mind.

My personal experience agrees with the first statement here.

 

Shae Vizla has "Aerial Annihilation" as I quickly checked now which is an AoE skill. HK-51 has no AoE skill but Nadia Grell does. I suspect all companions have an AoE attack now with HK-51 being an exception (are there others?) possibly because his "Terminate" does as much damage at Influence 1 as an Influence level 40 companion's best attack does.

 

Can anyone with an Influence level 50 HK-51 post the damage done by "Terminate" please?

[Mithros]

Once upon a time it really mattered.

 

Every companion had a DPS stance and some had either a heal or tank stance (you would get one healer, one melee DPS, one ranged DPS, one melee tank, and one ranged tank to go along with the ship droid who was a healer).

 

Also, the companions had specific crew skill bonuses.

Each companion had two things that they were "good at".

 

T7 had +10 Bioanalysis efficiency and +2 Slicing critical.

Mako had +5 Cybertech efficiency and +15 Slicing efficiency.

Iresso had +2 Armstech critical and +2 scavenging critical.

 

And on and on it went.

 

Now?

They changed a great deal about companions.

 

Each companion can fill any role and they all get an across the board bonus to crew skills based upon your influence with them.

 

There are now only three things to consider:

 

1) The first thing, and it's a big thing, is that the Cartel Market companions (Akk Dog, Probe Droid, etc) can not do crew skill missions.

If you want to focus on running crew skills while also adventuring, then this will matter, at least until you end up with more "real" companions than you have crew skill slots.

 

2) Melee or ranged? One thing that did not change is that ranged companions are still ranged and melee companions are still melee.

If you think that a ranged companion works well for you then that eliminates two. If you want a melee companion then you only have two to pick from.

 

3) Finally, which companion do you like best?

Whatever your reason; Romance, looks, personality, even if it's just "I don't see many other characters using this companion so I will to make myself stand out a little more", it's up to you.

 

There is something to be said for "balance", though, especially early on.

Those first few influence levels can come pretty fast, and each level gives the same numerical bonuses.

 

I suggest trying to get everyone up to at least 10-20 before I would focus on pushing one to 50. At least six companions, anyway. Five for crew skills and then one more to help your character in fights.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Mithros

[Darkside]

Since each companion can fill any of the roles (tank, healer, dps), you can increase Influence on whoever you wish. There's really no better or worse companion so its up to your liking.

 

I have to disagree slightly. There is a noticeable difference in the original companions, IF you put them in their original roles. They do more healing, better dps, and tank better.

 

For instance, if you had Mako and you put her in a healer role, she will out heal more than a companion who wasn't originally a healer, or is a new non original companion. You can check this out for yourselves, but companions in their original role stances drastically outperform others tasked with that role.

Edited March 15, 2017 by Darkside

[mike_carton]

I have to disagree slightly. There is a noticeable difference in the original companions, IF you put them in their original roles. They do more healing, better dps, and tank better.

 

For instance, if you had Vette and you put her in a healer role, she will out heal more than a companion who wasn't originally a healer, or is a new non original companion. You can check this out for yourselves, but companions in their original role stances drastically outperform others tasked with that role.

 

You probably experienced this because you have higher influence with the original companions? If so, your original (or early) companions should also out-DPS later companions.

[Darkside]

You probably experienced this because you have higher influence with the original companions? If so, your original (or early) companions should also out-DPS later companions.

 

I tested it on all the same level influence for each type. Check it out, you'll enjoy it.

[Battilea]

My view on it is this: If this is your first character of the class, aim to get each companion (except maybe the ship droid) to 10/11, then swap to the next. This will be sufficient to completely unlock their stories as you progress through yours, which in turn unlocks some perks in the Legacy system. And once that's accomplished, run with whichever one you like best, be it due to the character's personality or because you prefer something that doesn't match your own range so that there's distance between you and your companion, meaning AoEs won't hit both of you.

[americanaussie]

I've found it matters very little but occasionally you will run into fights where melee or ranged is better. Or tank typical companions are bad. What I mean by that is there are a few melee characters that will pull aggro in the depths of manaan whatever they do and settiñg them to passive can work but it's easier to work with a ranged healer like Risha etc. I think it was Vector who I might have had difficulty with in that one but I'm not 100%. I had to look up a solution to it and it was to switch companions. The bad guy didn't chase me into the fire circles which is bad as there's a time limit. Note: he was not set to tank but somehow I struggled to keep aggro with him in the picture.

 

Most of the time it doesn't matter but it's helpful to have 1 ranged and 1 melee comp leveled whatever you play.

Edited March 15, 2017 by americanaussie

[IanArgent]

Treek also has non-standard powers, FWIW.

[Darkside]

Treek also has non-standard powers, FWIW.

 

This too. Good healer and tank.

[dxlolman]

First I go with first one I get due to starting influence but effected on how you play so best solution dark side: sith inquisitor and imperial agent, light side: the rest (2-6 wow that's unbalanced) as they can be levelled to 50 without gifts if you do everything they like.

Then I go with comps I like from story/how cool they look and spend 20 mills worth on gifts to up them to 50.

You could farm flash points solo wise but you don't wanna do the same flashpoint ever again.

Edited March 15, 2017 by dxlolman

[Latherfal]

Just pick the one you like to play with.

 

 

 

 

 

...and to a post previously,I thought Vette was originally dps range? Granted its been awhile. Could be mistaken.

[Ingsoc_XT]

...and to a post previously,I thought Vette was originally dps range? Granted its been awhile. Could be mistaken.

 

You're right. Vette was originally ranged DPS. Malavai Quinn was the original SW healer.

[Ingsoc_XT]

As many have said, pick the companion you prefer; for solo content any one of them will suffice. Just to add my personal experience:

 

- If you play a sniper/gunslinger, don't pick a ranged tank unless is Dr. Lokin (his tank stance is melee). Above 30 meters they won't charge to the enemies, instead they will taunt and grapple the enemies to their position, breaking your AoEs. Is even worse with T7-01 (never charges, even under 30m);

 

- If you play a melee class, don't pick a melee healer. They will stand on AoEs all the times, which means they will stop healing you to heal themselves. Ranged healers are better to manage;

 

- HK-51 is broken as a DPS and tank (his heals are OK). Better stick with HK-55.

[kimiko_tomiyama]

For my Knights toons most of them use Lana since, if you romance her, she is the easiest one to gain influence with. For the my alts that never did the expansion stuff I go with personal preference. For example, I use Vette on my Mara because Quinn annoys me. Likewise my Sage uses Nadia. Qyzen can be cool, but the growling gets annoying. There might be some difference if you go with their old roles, but with 40+ influence it doesn't really matter that much.

[mike_carton]

I have to disagree slightly. There is a noticeable difference in the original companions, IF you put them in their original roles. They do more healing, better dps, and tank better.

 

For instance, if you had Vette and you put her in a healer role, she will out heal more than a companion who wasn't originally a healer, or is a new non original companion. You can check this out for yourselves, but companions in their original role stances drastically outperform others tasked with that role.

You probably experienced this because you have higher influence with the original companions? If so, your original (or early) companions should also out-DPS later companions.

I tested it on all the same level influence for each type. Check it out, you'll enjoy it.

 

Before I try this out: Is the difference reflected in the numbers displayed in the ability tooltips? Or is it a qualitative difference in the effectiveness of the companion that you experienced?

[---AlterEgo---]

If you're looking for a healer companion, none beats Z0-0M. I'm not sure if it's an unintended bug or if it's meant to be the most powerful healer, but Z0-0M's healing ability (the long one) ticks for 6 times when EVERY other companion only ticks 4 times. Same cast time as the other companions but since every other companion ticks for 4 and Z0-0M ticks for 6, it makes it the best healing comp.

 

DPS they're basically all the same.

 

For tanking, Treek is pretty good.

 

That's my 2 cents.

Edited March 15, 2017 by ---AlterEgo---

[PetFish]

It's already been said but with the massive dumbing-down of the game it makes absolutely no difference which companion you level influence with.

 

Back in the day, when it was actually fun and when your choices mattered, you had to do a little research to see which members of your crew had the best chance to critical things like crafting and gathering.

 

For example, if you wanted the absolute best Armstech crafter, you HAD to be a Smuggler cuz Corso had the only +5 critical for Armstech crafting. Same for everything else, it was great cuz it made you actually think about what skills to get and encouraged playing of a class that you hadn't tried yet simple for what their crew can do.

 

Now it's just Dumb Wars. Everyone does everything perfectly. It's so sad how dumb this game has become.