Nerfed Compainion heals

[Aeternali]

First time PTS player here. On Ossus, I am effectively dying in just a few hits in areas that I have played through on the live servers and survived well. Companion healing is NOT working as intended. Something is definitely wrong.

 

I have had this experience as well. I am seriously considering just unsubbing and telling me inactive friends to forget it all.

[srtyab]

God you all just want solo content, thats what ruined this game.

 

No, it's what's kept a lot of us playing. I want to play with other people about as much as I want to chug sewage. Companions should heal more, not less. Even better, let us use two companions at the same time.

[xordevoreaux]

God you all just want solo content, thats what ruined this game.

 

One's play style, be it solo or group content, shouldn't ever be thought of as "ruining" the game.

 

If a paying customer wants to sit there all day and play space barbie, or haul around a healer and pile through mobs, that's his or her prerogative, just as it is the next person's to seek out group content. Neither "ruin" the game.

Edited September 9, 2019 by xordevoreaux

[Aeternali]

No, it's what's kept a lot of us playing. I want to play with other people about as much as I want to chug sewage. Companions should heal more, not less. Even better, let us use two companions at the same time.

 

I disagree, I want to be able to solo, solo content. With this change that is not the case. Also, this debate has happened many times before and for those who want to group up there is always the Heroic and Veteran modes etc.

[Wagerbane]

Hey Eric, I like the 6.0 so far. Can we use 3 companions at the same time to add on the 6.0. There is flash points and heroics 4 need 4 group to start the flash point. Class story and heroics 2 can use 2 companions at the same time. Keep the companions influence level in the game system and bring back our companions gear modify bonus. Trust me and it will work for our game.

[xordevoreaux]

bring back our companions gear modify bonus

Nay, keeping track of all that crap across multiple characters with multiple companions took a spreadsheet to know who needed gear where. Bad enough keeping track of 154 player toons in a spreadsheet.

 

No thanks.

Edited September 9, 2019 by xordevoreaux

[Wagerbane]

Nay, keeping track of all that crap across multiple characters with multiple companions took a spreadsheet to know who needed gear where. Bad enough keeping track of 154 player toons in a spreadsheet.

 

No thanks.

 

I don't think your Eric because your tone is unfriendly. No one say for you have too but you don't speak for me. It was the purpose in the game before it got removed and wanted it back for my game experience.

[QseftJohn]

Also feel that this games content needs to be soloed.

This game has a lot of old content and since we can no longer be over leveled gods that can just run through it all, we need our beloved heal bots with us to get though it all.

[Kraysk]

we need

Speak for yourself.

For example, like this: "I can't play the game or simply don't want to so i need to be carried by overpowered companion".

Edited September 9, 2019 by Kraysk

[Goreshaga]

Speak for yourself.

For example, like this: "I can't play the game or simply don't want to so i need to be carried by overpowered companion".

You know you can put your companion on "passive" if you think they're too powerfull and they're carrying you ?

They're still with you and still participate in cutscenes but won't help you fight and won't heal you.

Very simple way to make YOUR own game less easy for YOU without changing it for anyone who think it's fine as it is

[Batwer]

I disagree, I want to be able to solo, solo content. With this change that is not the case. Also, this debate has happened many times before and for those who want to group up there is always the Heroic and Veteran modes etc.

BW is to blame itself. She had made the companions so overwhelming. It is clear that many do not want to lose them again.

If it annoys you, make the Companions passive. I do that too when I feel like it.

[srtyab]

Hey folks,

 

Some quick details on what you are seeing. We did make changes to Companion healing but this should not necessarily result in a nerf to them. In the current live game Companion healing is very strong but it also appears to be so strong to the point that you may play certain content and barely see your health bar move.

 

We made some changes to Companion healing abilities and timing so that although their healing is roughly the same, it has the appearance that you are actually taking damage. Ultimately, what we would want feedback on is does it just appear that you are getting less healing / in more danger, or are you actually dying in places you wouldn't have previously.

 

Share your thoughts and thanks for raising this!

 

-eric

 

I want, companion healing to be super strong. I remember how horrible it was to solo anything way back when, when companions were terrible. If I am a solo exclusive player, what reason do I have to keeping paying you money every month for a game I can't play the way i want to? see my point?

[Rion_Starkiller]

Nerf comp healing into the ground so that players learn what a DCD is.

[srtyab]

Nerf comp healing into the ground so that players learn what a DCD is.

 

and watch them all quit. World of Warcraft took away nearly all player power in BFA, to, in the devs words, force people to play together. Everyone quit instead. Learn from that mistake.

[xordevoreaux]

Nerf comp healing into the ground so that players learn what a DCD is.

 

Take away people's least line of resistance when that's all they do, and given them only what they were trying to avoid, they'll quit.

Edited September 10, 2019 by xordevoreaux

[xordevoreaux]

I don't think your Eric because your tone is unfriendly. No one say for you have too but you don't speak for me. It was the purpose in the game before it got removed and wanted it back for my game experience.

 

And here's my player voice saying no. We can disagree, and that's exactly what we're doing, but I'll make sure the devs know it's not unanimous to bring that crap back.

 

And if you look at my post history, you'll see really quick I'm not Eric or any other dev.

Edited September 9, 2019 by xordevoreaux

[IoNonSoEVero]

and watch them all quit. World of Warcraft took away nearly all player power in BFA, to, in the devs words, force people to play together. Everyone quit instead. Learn from that mistake.

 

This. Nerfing companions to make solo play untenable isn't going to force people to group, to stop being casuals or anything else. It's going to make people quit. Not everyone wants to be in NiM or hardcore play mode. Some of us just want to do the story, do some solo content and relax. Let others play the game how they want, you play the game how you want.

[DWho]

This is supposed to be a thread about the changes to companions as they are on the PTS compared to the current LIve server. The statement made by Bioware was that there should be no significant difference between what is on Live now and what is on the PTS. They said that it should just be the appearance of taking damage (it is actually taking damage but that is beside the point)

 

Arguing about whether it should be easier or harder to complete content with healing companions is something better addressed in the General Discussion section.

 

To answer the question posed by Eric:

 

Are characters in more danger: Yes, they are taking significantly more damage on the PTS compared to Live mainly due to the change of one of the companion abilities from a damage resistance ability to a very weak heal (only heals when you take more damage - which in some areas is a net negative on health points)

 

Are characters dying in areas they have not been dying before: Yes, there are several people who have posted here indicating that is so and the testing I have done indicates that characters now have a smaller health pool (due to a reduction in the level of level sync) and are taking more damage (due to the ability change from a damage resistance to a heal). Both of those things working together make it very likely that they are actually experiencing dying more often as they have indicated.

[cmcougar]

This. Nerfing companions to make solo play untenable isn't going to force people to group, to stop being casuals or anything else. It's going to make people quit. Not everyone wants to be in NiM or hardcore play mode. Some of us just want to do the story, do some solo content and relax. Let others play the game how they want, you play the game how you want.

 

Well said. Well said indeed.

[ivanhedgehog]

I hope you no longer raid with that healer because that's terrible advice. It very much is your responsibility as a dps to minimize damage taken and make sure you make smart use of your cooldowns. They aren't there just as decoration, and unless you are the tank, you are not the healer's priority. What you need to learn is what cd is useful against a certain type of damage, and how and when to use them without losing dps. You do not need to learn to be less aware of your environment.

 

I support any nerf of companions because it incentivizes people at least learning that there is such a thing as cooldowns, but mostly because it annoys the hell out of the "omg I may need to use cds/cc if I attack a bunch of golds, LITERALLY UNPLAYABLE" crowd.

 

this game started that crap when you start an encounter and a gold and a silver drop out of the sky and join the fight. There is no way to plan out fights so no one bothers. If you look at a group and see a gold, 2 silvers and 3 minions your group can cc and focus fire to be most effective. if you have no idea what will add itself to the fight there is no organization or planning. If you want new raiders teach them yourselves, dont expect everyone to have skills like planning out fights, the game actively works against this. Forcing out soloists will just cause the game to fail financially.

[ivanhedgehog]

Speak for yourself.

For example, like this: "I can't play the game or simply don't want to so i need to be carried by overpowered companion".

 

It is easy to set your own difficulty,only laziness stops you. And before you say "why should I have to do that"..bean adult and take a little self responsibility...You have the ability to set things to the difficulty you wish. Maybe the devs could add toggle allowing you to turn off your presence buffs? that would ad difficulty without affecting anyone else.

[cmcougar]

I agree with that. Also the comps being overpowered is nonsense. I play solo in this game. Sometimes they will stand there like Gomer Pyle not doing nothing. You have to set them on the targets. I rarely use healers except for the one case in Iokath. I can be fighting a hostile and the comp will stand there. In PTS this time I have used a healer more than I ever did in the last year. I had Magnus as a healer in PTS and all he did was heal himself. Frell.

 

Same problem here. Malgus set to heal, and no help at all. One of the other posts here said that the problem was impacting melee players more than ranged, and I can confirm that after some testing. They better not let this go live, because it's going to frustrate people in the extreme.

[commanderwar]

Agreed, I miss things actually being able to kill me.

 

agreed imo that's why I no longer use healer comp anymore, sometimes noticable on loew level planets, but on high level planets such as ossus and dantoonine, there is a more risk of dying. I was on the PTS a few days ago, I tried a level 1 healer nar shadda, ossus and other places, I only fell below 50 percent with the level 1 healer, and had to use defensive, so nothing to bad.

 

I would also like back gearing comps again

Edited September 11, 2019 by commanderwar

[Totemdancer]

agreed imo that's why I no longer use healer comp anymore, sometimes noticable on loew level planets, but on high level planets such as ossus and dantoonine, there is a more risk of dying. I was on the PTS a few days ago, I tried a level 1 healer nar shadda, ossus and other places, I only fell below 50 percent with the level 1 healer, and had to use defensive, so nothing to bad.

 

I would also like back gearing comps again

 

It really depends on the class and how fast you want to move through content without having to stop and heal. For instance, if you are playing a Mara, you don’t have any self heals and eventually you will have to stop and heal or stealth out to survive once your health drops. I know I for one would hate having to deal with all the sky trooper spam spawns if I didn’t have a healer on my Mara.

 

You also have to consider the content as well as the class. The more burst or longer fights require healers on certain classes after their DCDs run out. That is unless you are using the med stations in a boss fight. Even then you can have some boss mechanics interfere more with some classes over others. I’ll use Mara’s again as an example, if you have a boss that drops a lot of ground clutter on top or around itself as a mechanic, this will prevent a class like a Mara from staying on the target long enough to do damage before the boss agro’s. In these circumstances it is essential to have a comp healer that can keep up and many can’t in live unless they are lvl 50. Even then, some are useless and the preference for fights like that is Z0-0M or Shae.

 

I think a better approach would be to make some comps specifically designed for certain roles again. They could all still be used in any role (generically), but they would have specific and visibly documented strengths. Those that are designed for a specific role could have one or two extra or different comp abilities to make them stand out for that purpose.

You could have some tank, dps and healer specific abilities depending on the comp. ie, take Khem as an example : he could be tank specific and have a specific ability that gives him much higher endurance, a better guard and taunt utility to make him shine as a dedicated tank. He could still be used as a healer or DPS, but in those roles he would lose his extra endurance ability and get generic healing/dps abilities.

The same could be said for Shae. Give her a couple of extra dedicated DPS abilities (above the generic ones), but she could still tank or heal using the generic abilities in those roles.

 

I feel the current generic approach to companions takes away the enjoyment of having the choice of how difficult you want the content. But at least we currently have some comps that are stronger in certain roles, even if that wasn’t the devs intention. Ie, Shae = dps and Z0-0M = healing,

These changes to nerf healing across all comps and make them all the same is a terrible idea IMO. It takes away another choice that makes the game fun.

 

I would also like to see the option to bring back gear for comps. I don’t think that should ever have been removed as it allowed us some extra customisation and enjoyment. They could still equip the comps with generically reasonably ok gear for 85% of content, which would suit most players who dont want to customise. But if you wanted to spec a comp a certain way to compliment your play style you could also have that option. This way it’s the best of both worlds. People who don’t want to have to gear comps won’t have to and those that do want to, can.

[Totemdancer]

Same problem here. Malgus set to heal, and no help at all. One of the other posts here said that the problem was impacting melee players more than ranged, and I can confirm that after some testing. They better not let this go live, because it's going to frustrate people in the extreme.

 

The Malgus issues aren’t just limited to him. It comes partly from the comp he is, aka melee. (I also think he’s more designed to be a tank).

I’ve noticed that most melee comps are completely useless healers because they stand in the mess hitting the targets and healing themselves so they don’t die.

And Malgus actually takes the problem a bit further as he also seems to want to be a tank and pull all the agro. This isn’t such a problem if you are 1v1 a boss or mob, but then you have a group and you have 5 on you and Malgus just wants to fight instead of healing you.

As you say, this isn’t such a problem for ranged because you can kite and Malgus can get a chance to heal you. But if you are melee and both close in together, then melee healers like Malgus spend as much or more time healing themselves as they do you.

It’s why if I have a choice, I never use a melee comp as a healer, I always use ranged. But most of the time the game doesn’t give us a choice and you get stuck with the wrong type of healer because they are part of the story.