WHY did Bioware nerf the companions so much?

[srtyab]

I would frame it differently. The problem for solo players is a combination of two factors -- the longer companion activation time and the Stat capping.

 

TL-DR: The companion timer nerf plus level synching makes old content less enjoyable, not necessarily more difficult. This impacts solo players disproportionately. I'm not worried about the base planetary or class missions so we are clear. I'm talking about former so-called group content that was 'more' soloable.

 

Let's stipulate at the outset that there are two ways to improve one's performance to complete content:

 

a) improve your understanding of your class / learning the encounters; and b) getting better gear.

 

The problem is right now that Option B, getting better gear, is limited because of Level Synching down. Pretty sure Rion, you know full well that this results in Stat capping and that certain gear stats become useless.

 

So where does that leave us? Yes, it is possible to still do that content we could before. In many cases, however, it's not a L2P issue -- it's an issue of annoyance. In my case, I play a lot of alts so it hasn't impacted me too severely yet, but I can assure you -- I avoid Section X, Oricon, etc. -- at least on non-stealth classes.

 

The longer-term impact for me is going to be on soloing Vet FPs. Now, one cay say (tritely), well Dasty, you aren't supposed to solo H4s or solo Vet FPs outside of faceroll Hammer Station. Fair enough, but that means content I could do before, I find far, far more annoying to do now. Encounters are lengthier because even if I know my rotations, CDs, etc., they are still essentially just HP sponges.

 

And what happens when they raise the gear Ilvl past 306? It will help only for the brand new content. It won't mean squat for everything pre-6.0.

 

The end result is that BW is offering me less variety of content than I'm willing to put up with because of the annoyance factor. Yes, that's my personal decision, but it hardly seems like i'm alone. And, well, when I run out of interesting, enjoyable content...(dunh, dunh, dunh!)

 

Dasty

 

Exactly how I feel too. By doing what they did, they limit the content available which makes my monthly membership feel far less rewarding. I'm a whale too. They definitely would lose a lot more than 15 dollars a month if I quit.

[Rion_Starkiller]

I would frame it differently. The problem for solo players is a combination of two factors -- the longer companion activation time and the Stat capping.

 

TL-DR: The companion timer nerf plus level synching makes old content less enjoyable, not necessarily more difficult. This impacts solo players disproportionately. I'm not worried about the base planetary or class missions so we are clear. I'm talking about former so-called group content that was 'more' soloable.

 

Let's stipulate at the outset that there are two ways to improve one's performance to complete content:

 

a) improve your understanding of your class / learning the encounters; and b) getting better gear.

 

The problem is right now that Option B, getting better gear, is limited because of Level Synching down. Pretty sure Rion, you know full well that this results in Stat capping and that certain gear stats become useless.

 

So where does that leave us? Yes, it is possible to still do that content we could before. In many cases, however, it's not a L2P issue -- it's an issue of annoyance. In my case, I play a lot of alts so it hasn't impacted me too severely yet, but I can assure you -- I avoid Section X, Oricon, etc. -- at least on non-stealth classes.

 

The longer-term impact for me is going to be on soloing Vet FPs. Now, one cay say (tritely), well Dasty, you aren't supposed to solo H4s or solo Vet FPs outside of faceroll Hammer Station. Fair enough, but that means content I could do before, I find far, far more annoying to do now. Encounters are lengthier because even if I know my rotations, CDs, etc., they are still essentially just HP sponges.

 

And what happens when they raise the gear Ilvl past 306? It will help only for the brand new content. It won't mean squat for everything pre-6.0.

 

The end result is that BW is offering me less variety of content than I'm willing to put up with because of the annoyance factor. Yes, that's my personal decision, but it hardly seems like i'm alone. And, well, when I run out of interesting, enjoyable content...(dunh, dunh, dunh!)

 

Dasty

 

Don't you get Veteran's Edge stacks (30 at 306) in regular pve? Honestly, I haven't paid attention. The stacks buff the player when they're overgeared. However, stats are still capped, except for critical, alacrity, accuracy. Which is why Devastating Vengeance and Alacrity relics are better than mastery/power proc relics.

 

As for running out of interesting, enjoyable content...... I wouldn't know. I find heroics to be neither interesting nor enjoyable since 2013.

Edited November 20, 2019 by Rion_Starkiller

[Tsillah]

I suppose that'd depend on how reasonable you're willing to be about how hard any solo grind should be...

You get me wrong. I'm not interested in "solo grind". Heroics, as I said, are not what I'm interested in here. I still wonder what this "SM content" is that the OP struggles with but he continues to avoid that question.

 

To address your commenst anyway: I hate grind as it is and do as little as possible of it. I don't find heroics to be particularly hard even now. A bunch of em are tedious but not hard. So then the question becomes what actually is reasonable. Do I need to be reasonable here or is it you who needs to be reasonable here?

 

From where I'm sitting, when it comes between the apparent difference between you and me of what we call easy or hard, it seems to me that they are still closer to you than to me. I don't expect them to get any closer to me but at least with the companion change it became useful again in places to cc, interrupt and watch kill orders and not aggro too much. To me that's all easy stuff to do. I can imagine that not everyone is like me, but in this case I'll admit I really don't understand the issue people are having with the same old heroics.

 

But is it the companions that need to be adjusted or the content? That's part of my point.

 

Just out of curiosity. Are you including for example the new Mek-Sha heroics? I mean I solo those as well but those are definitely tougher.

Edited November 20, 2019 by Tsillah