Companions without opinions- how do you feel about using them?

[KaraPeters]

We all know that some of our companions are merely decorative and functional and don't respond to choices made by the PC or alignment-shift conversation options in the world. I was wondering if this feels strangely hollow to anyone else? I like having Paxton with me now that he isn't constantly repeating the same line, and I've sunk considerable gifting cash into him to raise his usefulness, but sometimes I find myself wanting to switch back to a companion that remarks on things that are happening in the game or reacts to the things I do. It's like having a loyal dog with you when using a companion without opinions. Nice, but a dog isn't going to approve when you call a sniveling imperial officer a worm.

 

Curious to get the thoughts of other players on this.

[Faelwolf]

I prefer the peace and quiet. It gets old hearing the same catchphrases over and over in combat.

[KaraPeters]

I'm referring to companion approval going up or down depending on what you say to others. But I can agree on canned catchphrases being annoying.

[BelorfinSiana]

I don't like it. But I also don't like when I can't bring along my fave companion and get forced to use the one for the story. But I know... it's like 20 times as many voice actors.

 

But they could at least gain approval once in a while. My maxed out Ashara pre-4.0 is at 10 influence, while the max is 50. It's frustrating. I hate gifts.

Edited April 6, 2019 by BelorfinSiana

[Damask_Rose]

When I'm doing vanilla content, I prefer to use companions that might have lines to say. Except Kaliyo. A pet rock would be better than Kaliyo.

 

When I'm doing content that companions are all silent in anyway, I like to mix it up and have all sorts of different companions to use.

 

I do not like the FE/ET model of forced companions at all. I'd rather those people be treated like NPCs that tag along so I can keep my preferred companions with me. It's better to see my favorites standing stoically by my side than not see them at all.

[SteveTheCynic]

I do not like the FE/ET model of forced companions at all. I'd rather those people be treated like NPCs that tag along so I can keep my preferred companions with me. It's better to see my favorites standing stoically by my side than not see them at all.

The first forced companions were in "vanilla" content. Examples (not a complete list):

* T7 when the JK goes to a spoilerish planet to do a spoilerish thing to a spoilerish person.

* Yuun then Tanno Vik in the Gauntlet.

* Talos Drellik during half of the SI's misadventures on Hoth.

* Khem Val at the end of Chapter 1 of the SI story.

 

And of course in story terms, certain companion forcing in KotFE is of the "this person is your only companion anyway" type. (All of Chapter III, for example.)

[Lammia]

The first forced companions were in "vanilla" content. Examples (not a complete list):

* T7 when the JK goes to a spoilerish planet to do a spoilerish thing to a spoilerish person.

* Yuun then Tanno Vik in the Gauntlet.

* Talos Drellik during half of the SI's misadventures on Hoth.

* Khem Val at the end of Chapter 1 of the SI story.

 

And of course in story terms, certain companion forcing in KotFE is of the "this person is your only companion anyway" type. (All of Chapter III, for example.)

 

Yeah, but those were once in a while and for a short time. For most of the story, you could drag with you whoever you liked. The *entirety* of KOTFE/KOTET is "this one chosen by us, and no one else".

[Paulsutherland]

Doesn't bother me. I'll use 'X' regardless of if they'll chatter during action or make a remark about the planet we're on.

[MorseGod]

Companions' story reactions (influence gains) are so small as to be worthless, in my opinion. The grind to influence level 50 is so long and tedious that the only way to do it quickly and efficiently is by handing over hundreds of gifts. That lousy 50 to 100 points I get from an occasional conversation choice isn't making a dent in the influence grind.

 

For purely functional efficiency, every toon should have 9 companions at influence rank 50. That gives you 8 to use for crew skills while still having one at your side. To go from 1 to 50 by simply hitting the Fleet gifts vendor costs around 5 million credits. That's 45 million out of pocket per character to skip the grind.

 

I use a slower method because I don't want to drop that kind of cash on gifts. I grind a lot of heroics to get gifts from the alliance crates. That's the only way to get the gold gifts (about 3x the influence of purple gifts at rank 40+) without going bankrupt.(25x the cost of purple gifts).

 

It's strange to me that leveling the character is absurdly quick and easy, but getting the comps to max level is a long, hellish grind with only one truly effective path to gaining influence (gifts).

[KaraPeters]

Thanks for the responses. It's interesting how some considering companions annoyances, some see them as merely useful, and some find that they contribute to entertainment value. Different styles of play, I guess. Personally they make me feel more immersed in the story and more invested in seeing things go a certain way.

[ImmortalLowlife]

I typically use whatever companion I feel meshes well with my characters attitude. Especially after the vanilla stories complete. For instance..... my Sith inquisitor tends to run with master Ranos, and My BH runs with HK-51. The fact that they don't have any input in cut scenes does bother me slightly, but not enough to take me out of the game.

[DarthCasus]

It feels strange at times but understandable as that's a lot of retroactive work for them to go back and add to if they were to undertake it. I do wish that since now the cap is so high, that the points awarded were far greater. Relying on gifts for anything post rank 10-20 is garbage and effectively takes the point of conversation 'influence' gain and tosses it. At least just for the vanilla storylines.

[Sarova]

Yeah, but those were once in a while and for a short time. For most of the story, you could drag with you whoever you liked. The *entirety* of KOTFE/KOTET is "this one chosen by us, and no one else".

Agreed. Starting with and after FE/ET companions are all bargain-bucket-one-size-fits-all and do very little to help my immersion in the story the way class companions did and we have no choice so are forced to use them. In the class story the times we were forced to use a certain companion (i.e. you must have X companion with you type scenarios) were very short and/or made sense to the story (the Warrior whole crew mission on Taris for example) or could be skipped through very quickly. For the most part we could choose which companion we took whether it be a class companion or in my case a CM companion on my smuggler because the class ones were awful.

Best example of how it changed for the worst is the Kaliyo chapter Anarchy in Paradise. My Sith Inquisitor main would never have tolerated Kaliyo for more than 20 seconds before she was lightninged to ashes. Now I just spacebar and run through that chapter with no sound so I don't have to hear Kaliyo and her BS.

[kodrac]

I do wish that since now the cap is so high, that the points awarded were far greater. Relying on gifts for anything post rank 10-20 is garbage and effectively takes the point of conversation 'influence' gain and tosses it.

 

It's a sneaky credit sink. Like a ninja nerf. You don't realize it was changed intentionally to be purely a credit sink until you spend millions of credits to level a companion.

Edited April 8, 2019 by kodrac

[Faelwolf]

I'm referring to companion approval going up or down depending on what you say to others. But I can agree on canned catchphrases being annoying.

 

Sorry, I misunderstood that, guess I was a bit more tired than I thought. So far as building comp influence through conversation, I can get a comp to max so quickly and cheaply through gifts that I don't even worry about it at all. With the changes it can't go down now, so it's pretty much a non-issue these days anyway.

[Sir-steve]

As has been noted above, the sheer number of companions and gifts required to level them is simply a credit sink.

 

There hasn't been a 'point' to using any companion since they dropped gear/specialties on them. Now, every time they give us a new one I can't help but wonder why they bother.

 

The range bugs (where they get too far behind and wont heal/fight/support you) are frustrating as all get out.

 

That said, it is kinda fun to have a jawa follow me around....but the only one 'worth' using is the PvP levelled comps like Pierce or that pub droid equivalent.