Why is my Companion so Weak Now? (information as to why)

[Sarova]

Combined with our loss of access to our weapon skins and there are 2 major things people spent RL money on that they can't benefit from right now.

I don't think they've realised how infuriating this is for some of us and they've made no mention of it at all other than blah blah 7.1

[iphacles]

Exactly.

 

Those misanthropes are only happy when other people are miserable.

 

They want "filthy casuals" or people who aren't really good at games to suffer and bow down to their gaming brilliance.

 

They don't realize that plenty of people as good or better than them at the game are smart enough to realize a tedious slog that wastes their time unnecessarily in content that should be chill, casual, and fun (especially with maxed out companions).

 

Yeah I made a comment in another companion thread and was immediately labelled a noob that should just learn how to play better. Whoever it was (I don't remember who) made this assumption based only on the fact that I said companions are bad now. I didn't even play a lot of content with companions (I mostly did flashpoints and ops), but that doesn't mean I want companions to suck for everyone. I don't understand why elitist players want to make things as hard as possible for casual players.

[afwhoefuwov]

I hate how some decide that "eww 6.0 companions are too OP, nerf them, game was too easy". I mean, ever heard of dismissing the companion or even better, putting them on passive? I do that sometimes too (play Heroics without companion in 6.0) so I can learn how to manage my DCD because in warzones you dont have a companion. Point is: before I have choices if I want to play easy mode or hard mode. Now, I have no choices.

[Rujopetteri]

I hate how some decide that "eww 6.0 companions are too OP, nerf them, game was too easy". I mean, ever heard of dismissing the companion or even better, putting them on passive? I do that sometimes too (play Heroics without companion in 6.0) so I can learn how to manage my DCD because in warzones you dont have a companion. Point is: before I have choices if I want to play easy mode or hard mode. Now, I have no choices.

 

And it's not really about being hard or easy. Most of the old content is still easy with a companion, or without. Everything just takes 3-4 times longer to complete.

 

That being said, some harder content is now nearly impossible for certain combat styles due to the companions hitting like a wet noodle and dying when something sneezes upon them.

 

But for the majority of content, it's still super easy, just takes way too much time.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Rujopetteri

[OlBuzzard]

Yeah I made a comment in another companion thread and was immediately labelled a noob that should just learn how to play better. Whoever it was (I don't remember who) made this assumption based only on the fact that I said companions are bad now. I didn't even play a lot of content with companions (I mostly did flashpoints and ops), but that doesn't mean I want companions to suck for everyone. I don't understand why elitist players want to make things as hard as possible for casual players.

 

I have personally suggested (more than once) that there should be multiple levels of difficulty available. Not everyone wants to make their game a second job. And frankly some just want to relax (unwind), do some casual stuff and chill. Some of us like a challenge (without everything looking like a death wish every 3 steps you take) ... and others really do actually want to compete .

 

IMO there is nothing really wrong with ANY of these methods or particular approach to a game. There is more than enough room for almost everyone (see note). I personally enjoy solo (since I'm so slow these days). But I enjoy a bit more than just really casual play. ( I really did enjoy SoV when it was first released with the exceptions of all of the bugs).

 

(note: Almost everyone ... some would complain regardless of what is available.)

[demonologie]

I have personally suggested (more than once) that there should be multiple levels of difficulty available.

 

Add multiple levels of difficulty (like "story difficulty" or "veteran difficulty"etc) is a very good idea.

[DWho]

Add multiple levels of difficulty (like "story difficulty" or "veteran difficulty"etc) is a very good idea.

 

The whole storyline under "veteran" difficulty would probably have to be re-written more or less from scratch to include mechanics more suitable for that difficulty. Just adjusting stats likely would not work, as we can see right now with the 7.0 patch caps. If it was easy, they would have done it years ago, instead of the Frankenstein's monster we have now. While it would be great, retro-fitting it to the existing code would likely introduce thousands of new bugs. KoTFE and KoTET were built around it so it works there, more or less. It's strange they didn't continue forward with the multiple difficulties but it may have been a financial issue.

[Xhuuyaa]

The whole storyline under "veteran" difficulty would probably have to be re-written more or less from scratch

 

All mobs there in the Rakghul Event are at level 25(?) - but if you hit one, the other that spawn scale to your actual level. I never understood why story-boss fights which took not even place in open world areas but in seperate instances couldn't be properly scaled. For example Baras on Korriban - why does the instance you fight him scale to Korriban Level instead of Original Story level (50) or your character level (like Rag tunnels). Such things already exist.

[OlBuzzard]

Add multiple levels of difficulty (like "story difficulty" or "veteran difficulty"etc) is a very good idea.

 

Exactly .. it would look something like this:

 

** Story mode (self-explanatory)

** Veteran mode (a bit more challenging )

** Eliete or "master" mode .. VERY difficult

 

Note: all three could be applied to both solo or group instances.

 

Just a thought. And probably could be developed to a much better system. What I've suggested is just something simple to convey an idea. It should also be noted that KotFE / ET had multiple difficulty levels available and were repeatable as DWho has pointed out. (Which to me was also, a good idea).

Edited March 13, 2022 by OlBuzzard

[Totemdancer]

I have personally suggested (more than once) that there should be multiple levels of difficulty available. Not everyone wants to make their game a second job. And frankly some just want to relax (unwind), do some casual stuff and chill. Some of us like a challenge (without everything looking like a death wish every 3 steps you take) ... and others really do actually want to compete .

 

IMO there is nothing really wrong with ANY of these methods or particular approach to a game. There is more than enough room for almost everyone (see note). I personally enjoy solo (since I'm so slow these days). But I enjoy a bit more than just really casual play. ( I really did enjoy SoV when it was first released with the exceptions of all of the bugs).

 

(note: Almost everyone ... some would complain regardless of what is available.)

 

Just have different PVE planet instances for easy, medium, hard. The same as we have a different instance for OWPVP mode.

[juliushorst]

The whole storyline under "veteran" difficulty would probably have to be re-written more or less from scratch to include mechanics more suitable for that difficulty. Just adjusting stats likely would not work, as we can see right now with the 7.0 patch caps.

 

Veteran and Master chapters did just that - increased enemies health pools and damage output.

Easiest way:

Story - you are one\two levels above the planet's level (planet is scaled to 22, you are scaled to 23/24). You still get xp and all but less. Everything dies fast without posing much danger to you.

Veteran - you are on planet's level.

Master - you are one\two levels below planet's level. Every enemy is in the red scale of danger. You need to be very careful or group up if you want to stay alive.

[OlBuzzard]

Veteran and Master chapters did just that - increased enemies health pools and damage output.

Easiest way:

Story - you are one\two levels above the planet's level (planet is scaled to 22, you are scaled to 23/24). You still get xp and all but less. Everything dies fast without posing much danger to you.

Veteran - you are on planet's level.

Master - you are one\two levels below planet's level. Every enemy is in the red scale of danger. You need to be very careful or group up if you want to stay alive.

 

There are several ways to achieve the availability of multilevel difficulties. It can be done with companions (after reaching level 50 if needed). It can be done with "player stats" ... other "mechanics".

 

The obvious point is that it offers a level of challenge that best suits the player.

[Muckbeast]

Yeah I made a comment in another companion thread and was immediately labelled a noob that should just learn how to play better. Whoever it was (I don't remember who) made this assumption based only on the fact that I said companions are bad now. I didn't even play a lot of content with companions (I mostly did flashpoints and ops), but that doesn't mean I want companions to suck for everyone. I don't understand why elitist players want to make things as hard as possible for casual players.

 

It is because their enjoyment and value is based on feeling superior to others. They are only happy if other people can never do content they do, enjoy the things they enjoy, get gear they get, etc. They cannot enjoy something if other people are also able to enjoy it.

 

Obviously, misanthropes like that should be utterly ignored.

[eabevella]

It is because their enjoyment and value is based on feeling superior to others. They are only happy if other people can never do content they do, enjoy the things they enjoy, get gear they get, etc. They cannot enjoy something if other people are also able to enjoy it.

 

Obviously, misanthropes like that should be utterly ignored.

 

Nicely said because I would use words to describe ppl like that that would get me banned.

[DWho]

Further testing completed on this. Parsing the performance of Influence 50 companions compared to Influence 1 companions confirms the information in the original post. There is no difference between Influence 1 and Influence 50 companions, performance wise. In fact, there were several occasions where the Influence 1 companion out-parsed the Influence 50 companion (DPS and Healing) demonstrating that even the apparent differences (as small as they are) equate to no performance difference at all.

 

Edit: One other thing that I noticed is that the Command Stims do not actually improve companion performance. They seem to only add to the displayed value. Parsing with and without the purple Kyprax Command stim showed no difference in performance. It is possible that the amount added is too small to make a difference making these stims useless as well.

Edited March 17, 2022 by DWho

[DWho]

For those who have had issues with companion performance since 7.0 dropped, I'd encourage you to take a look at their performance on the PTS if you get a chance. They have bumped up companions a bit in strength and Presence appears to be working more or less correctly (though it still has a Legacy cap). There are still a few issues with healers and tanks related to missed ability activations but it seems to be improved over what was launched. Healers are still quite weak compared to 6.0 but they seem to have been bumped up enough to solve the worst of the performance issues.

[OlBuzzard]

For those who have had issues with companion performance since 7.0 dropped, I'd encourage you to take a look at their performance on the PTS if you get a chance. They have bumped up companions a bit in strength and Presence appears to be working more or less correctly (though it still has a Legacy cap). There are still a few issues with healers and tanks related to missed ability activations but it seems to be improved over what was launched. Healers are still quite weak compared to 6.0 but they seem to have been bumped up enough to solve the worst of the performance issues.

 

Thanks for the update! I'd love to engage in the PTS but I'm really pressed for time these days (taking care of some RL matters of greater importance). So I personally appreciate those who are able to get involved .

[denavin]

What the Elitists just can not seem to understand is that....

 

In "Story Mode" ....

 

YES we want, Over Powered Companions that can kill everything in the zone without the players help....

YES we want, to be able to Face Roll the Keyboard....

YES we want, to be able to be GODS among the lowly presents of the world....

YES we want, to be able to do Story Mode Flashpoints EASILY without having to worry about dying.... EVER!

YES we want, to be able to do Heroic and Daily missions without being HELD, STUNNED or KNOCKED DOWN continuously by every mob in the zone....

YES we want, to play the way WE want and NOT THE WAY YOU WANT....

YES we want, to NEVER have to worry about dying to any mob or boss in the game....

YES we want, EASY MODE aka STORY MODE!

 

NO we do not want, to be DEAD all the time... that is not FUN!

NO we do not want, to have to kill HUNDREDS of OVER POWERED mobs in EVERY FIGHT.....

NO we do not want, to have to FIGHT for our LIVES in EVERY ENCOUNTER....

NO we do not want. to have DOTS on us that do 15k to 20K DAMAGE per Tic put on us by MULTIPLE mobs in EVERY encounter....

NO we do not want, to be the ONLY target in the GAME.....

NO we do not want, to be almost DEAD or DEAD in EVERY Encounter....

 

WE WANT STORY MODE BACK.....

WE WANT EASY MODE BACK....

WE WANT WAY OVER POWER COMPANIONS BACK....

WE WANT OUR GOD LIKE POWERS BACK.... (after all we are supposed to be the exceptional GOD like fighters that are going to SAVE the Universe)

 

Veteran and Master mode are available for the people that WANT to BEAT their HEADS agents a wall and call that FUN, all they want. Leave STORY MODE ALONE.....

[OlBuzzard]

What the Elitists just can not seem to understand is that....

 

In "Story Mode" ....

 

YES we want, Over Powered Companions that can kill everything in the zone without the players help....

YES we want, to be able to Face Roll the Keyboard....

YES we want, to be able to be GODS among the lowly presents of the world....

YES we want, to be able to do Story Mode Flashpoints EASILY without having to worry about dying.... EVER!

YES we want, to be able to do Heroic and Daily missions without being HELD, STUNNED or KNOCKED DOWN continuously by every mob in the zone....

YES we want, to play the way WE want and NOT THE WAY YOU WANT....

YES we want, to NEVER have to worry about dying to any mob or boss in the game....

YES we want, EASY MODE aka STORY MODE!

 

NO we do not want, to be DEAD all the time... that is not FUN!

NO we do not want, to have to kill HUNDREDS of OVER POWERED mobs in EVERY FIGHT.....

NO we do not want, to have to FIGHT for our LIVES in EVERY ENCOUNTER....

NO we do not want. to have DOTS on us that do 15k to 20K DAMAGE per Tic put on us by MULTIPLE mobs in EVERY encounter....

NO we do not want, to be the ONLY target in the GAME.....

NO we do not want, to be almost DEAD or DEAD in EVERY Encounter....

 

WE WANT STORY MODE BACK.....

WE WANT EASY MODE BACK....

WE WANT WAY OVER POWER COMPANIONS BACK....

WE WANT OUR GOD LIKE POWERS BACK.... (after all we are supposed to be the exceptional GOD like fighters that are going to SAVE the Universe)

 

Veteran and Master mode are available for the people that WANT to BEAT their HEADS agents a wall and call that FUN, all they want. Leave STORY MODE ALONE.....

 

No disrespect intended ... but some of us would like things just a "tad" beyond this. Nothing wrong with SoV (just to use a "classic" example) as it was when it was first released (IF YOU GET RID OF THE BUGS!!!).

 

I base that one multiple characters on the Pub side all of which had 306 BUT NONE of which had BiS Augments (most were just average augments) or BiS accessories.

 

I doubt this makes much sense to some. But IMO there has to be a happy median between "story" and just plain difficult.

 

Anyhow ... just my $.02 for today. And I'm guessing that's also about ALL that it's worth!!

[denavin]

No disrespect intended ... but some of us would like things just a "tad" beyond this. Nothing wrong with SoV (just to use a "classic" example) as it was when it was first released (IF YOU GET RID OF THE BUGS!!!).

 

I base that one multiple characters on the Pub side all of which had 306 BUT NONE of which had BiS Augments (most were just average augments) or BiS accessories.

 

I doubt this makes much sense to some. But IMO there has to be a happy median between "story" and just plain difficult.

 

Anyhow ... just my $.02 for today. And I'm guessing that's also about ALL that it's worth!!

 

Agreed... I know it is a little over the top but that was the whole idea of the post... It is just as over the top as the people that complain about how easy the game is for them.

 

Most of these people are raiders and have TOP of the line gear with all the bonuses available to them. So YES everything in the game is Easy to them but NOT TO EVERYBODY....

 

So in some sense what I said is correct We Want Easy Mode Back... not the current mode of beat your head agents the wall and call that FUN... Story Mode is supposed to be EASY. Made for the Lowest Geared Player that Attempts it and not for a Player with MAX stats.

[Rammboo]

So in some sense what I said is correct We Want Easy Mode Back... not the current mode of beat your head agents the wall and call that FUN... Story Mode is supposed to be EASY. Made for the Lowest Geared Player that Attempts it and not for a Player with MAX stats.

 

Yeah, this ^

[AnubisASvnX]

I noticed this pretty quickly after the expansion dropped. I would take damage and my healer comp was barely healing me. Even minor damage, like being at 90% health, I would have to stand there after an engagement for 45ish seconds while my comp tossed every weak *** heal she had on me --struggling to get me back to 100%. The difference in healing between a lvl 1 comp and lvl 50 comp now is pretty disturbing based on your numbers. Like zero point in lvling them at all because either way they will be terribad.

 

Yeah. I used to get by with level 20~ comps and even level 10 comps during story and some expansion runs, but now at level 25 Vette for example struggles to heal me when im at the planetary level and the mobs (lets say a group of 3) are normal strength. Strong+ enemies (just 1 or 2) will wipe me if i dont stun or use medpacks. Im not the best player or most skilled, im very far from it, but I used to do just fine in combat before 7.0. I dont necessarily hate the update, but I miss my 6.0 companions.

[Muckbeast]

Further testing completed on this. Parsing the performance of Influence 50 companions compared to Influence 1 companions confirms the information in the original post. There is no difference between Influence 1 and Influence 50 companions, performance wise. In fact, there were several occasions where the Influence 1 companion out-parsed the Influence 50 companion (DPS and Healing) demonstrating that even the apparent differences (as small as they are) equate to no performance difference at all.

 

Brutal.

 

So much time, credits, and in some cases RL money (I bought a bunch of compendiums) on leveling up companions and it is all for nothing.

[Goreshaga]

What the Elitists just can not seem to understand is that....

 

In "Story Mode" ....

 

 

YES we want, Over Powered Companions that can kill everything in the zone without the players help....

YES we want, to be able to Face Roll the Keyboard....

YES we want, to be able to be GODS among the lowly presents of the world....

YES we want, to be able to do Story Mode Flashpoints EASILY without having to worry about dying.... EVER!

YES we want, to be able to do Heroic and Daily missions without being HELD, STUNNED or KNOCKED DOWN continuously by every mob in the zone....

YES we want, to play the way WE want and NOT THE WAY YOU WANT....

YES we want, to NEVER have to worry about dying to any mob or boss in the game....

YES we want, EASY MODE aka STORY MODE!

 

NO we do not want, to be DEAD all the time... that is not FUN!

NO we do not want, to have to kill HUNDREDS of OVER POWERED mobs in EVERY FIGHT.....

NO we do not want, to have to FIGHT for our LIVES in EVERY ENCOUNTER....

NO we do not want. to have DOTS on us that do 15k to 20K DAMAGE per Tic put on us by MULTIPLE mobs in EVERY encounter....

NO we do not want, to be the ONLY target in the GAME.....

NO we do not want, to be almost DEAD or DEAD in EVERY Encounter....

 

 

WE WANT STORY MODE BACK.....

WE WANT EASY MODE BACK....

WE WANT WAY OVER POWER COMPANIONS BACK....

WE WANT OUR GOD LIKE POWERS BACK.... (after all we are supposed to be the exceptional GOD like fighters that are going to SAVE the Universe)

 

Veteran and Master mode are available for the people that WANT to BEAT their HEADS agents a wall and call that FUN, all they want. Leave STORY MODE ALONE.....

Under spoiler to make it shorter, but yes to all of that.

I like easy mode, because 1/i play to relax, have fun and enjoy the stories, and 2/ i have both a bad connexion and a poor right hand that hurts when everything takes too long to kill (worst offender so far has been SoV, had to stop playing entirely for nearly a month because of that FP), so yes i want fights to be short and easy, and my companions to do their job in making mine easier (right now i have to use them as DPS because while they're not great in that role, they're at least doing more than they do as healers), especially if i take the times and/or ressources to get them to influence 50.

 

No disrespect intended ... but some of us would like things just a "tad" beyond this. Nothing wrong with SoV (just to use a "classic" example) as it was when it was first released (IF YOU GET RID OF THE BUGS!!!).

 

I base that one multiple characters on the Pub side all of which had 306 BUT NONE of which had BiS Augments (most were just average augments) or BiS accessories.

 

I doubt this makes much sense to some. But IMO there has to be a happy median between "story" and just plain difficult.

 

Anyhow ... just my $.02 for today. And I'm guessing that's also about ALL that it's worth!!

You were in 306.

Story mode should not equire to have nearly the best gear available to complete, especially now with the 7.0 mentality of "you don't need the best gear if you only play story", where if you play mostly solo/story content you have garbage gear.

When i first played that FP when it came out i was in the 286 ir range with my main which was pretty much all i was getting through my normal solo+H gameplay, with a lvl 1 Rass who was dying in a couple seconds without being of much help, the whole FP took me around 3h to go up to the last fight only for it to be a dead end at the second wave of adds as Rass was dying before i even had time to even kill one of the ennemies and then it took them only a couple seconds to destroy me as well.

 

 

Maybe if the difficulty instances are too difficult to implement, a way to adjust how our characters and their companions perform on our own ends could satisfy both the people who want easy mode and those who want the game from slightly to way more challenging.

Maybe something like legacy perks or items : one that would let us boost our characters stats and how their companions perform like how the veteran's edge worked in 6.x for people who want to play on easy mode, and another one that would have the opposite effects for people who want the game to be challenging for them. Giving these perks/items various levels too, to let people adapt their own difficulty too.

[OlBuzzard]

U

 

 

You were in 306.

Story mode should not equire to have nearly the best gear available to complete, especially now with the 7.0 mentality of "you don't need the best gear if you only play story", where if you play mostly solo/story content you have garbage gear.

When i first played that FP when it came out i was in the 286 ir range with my main which was pretty much all i was getting through my normal solo+H gameplay, with a lvl 1 Rass who was dying in a couple seconds without being of much help, the whole FP took me around 3h to go up to the last fight only for it to be a dead end at the second wave of adds as Rass was dying before i even had time to even kill one of the ennemies and then it took them only a couple seconds to destroy me as well.

 

 

Maybe if the difficulty instances are too difficult to implement, a way to adjust how our characters and their companions perform on our own ends could satisfy both the people who want easy mode and those who want the game from slightly to way more challenging.

Maybe something like legacy perks or items : one that would let us boost our characters stats and how their companions perform like how the veteran's edge worked in 6.x for people who want to play on easy mode, and another one that would have the opposite effects for people who want the game to be challenging for them. Giving these perks/items various levels too, to let people adapt their own difficulty too.

 

IMO you were missing my point. There were tons of people who were complaining about "difficulty". Some of us took the time to "gear up" because:

** The gear was available (as it should have been).

** Some of us don't mind a challenge ... but also know that not everyone feels that way.

** By having access to the better gear (and companions that work) it makes the game a lot more flexible and enjoyable. BTW it should be noted that one of the BUGS at that time was the "new companion" that was only a level 1 (IIRC) . That proved to be a disaster. (HMMMM that sounds familiar as well).

** There still needs to be a "happy median" between what is being defined by many as "story mode" and "solo player mode" without accelerating the game experience to where we are "dying" every three steps. IMO SoV when it was first released (WITHOUT THE BUGS) is sort of a good reference point in "recent releases" that for me to point to. And yes that means I use better gear and a modest companion (usually level 30 to 40) to get there. BUT ... it is doable with that gear and a "good companion (that was not maxed out).

 

Yeah ... I know! I'm probably going to have "both sides" of this debate upset with me!