How necessary is gearing up comps as you level?

[Oxboy]

Will you get enough drops to keep your key companion(s) in decent gear as you level? Or do you need to buy items off the AH occasionally?

 

I'm trying to understand the balance between keeping them adequately geared for leveling versus potentially wasting money on comp gear if not necessary.

[fettpett]

rule of thumb for most mmo's is not to buy stuff off the AH, let some other sucker spend their credits on it and sell your extra stuff on the AH.

 

So far most of the stuff i've gotten from quests has been adequate for leveling both for myself and Khem (on my Sorc)

[dynamostia]

I was considering this myself and given how the items are quickly replaced I would just gear up through quests and flashpoints or even pvp if thats your thing. You wanna save your credits for mounts and endgame items which will no doubt cost a bit. So get saving

[BlackRifle]

If building wealth is one of your major goals in this game, then stop spending money. I love credits myself and I only spend them on necessary class skills as I level up. Once you're a millionaire and level 50, it's time to party. Until then, stop spending.

 

You can gear up your companions with items that are given as quest rewards. You don't really have to spend money on your companions. To be clear, I'm not saying to neglect gearing up your companions because your companions do heavily depend upon gear. I'm saying that you don't have to spend credits to gear them up.

 

So to answer your question, "How necessary is gearing up companions as you level?" It is necessary if you want your companions to level up closely with you and you want them to be competent during combat. You just don't have to spend credits as the game provides alternate ways to obtain companion gear.

 

I will say this. You likely won't use all of your companions on a regular basis when you head out on your adventures. I'll use myself as an example. On my Mercenary, I only used Mako until level 39. Gault and Torian were ignored. I even stripped Gault and Torian of all their gear and sold all of it to a vendor. Upon reaching level 39, I acquired Blizz. I now take out Blizz most of the time. Blizz is a tank and I heal him.

 

If you try to gear up all of your companions on a regular basis, you may likely have to spend a lot of credits to keep up with their gear on all of them. One big reason is because whenever you complete a quest that gives a companion gear reward, you can only select for one companion. So if you only focus on one or two companions, managing their gear is easier and cost effective.

Edited December 30, 2011 by BlackRifle

[Gwyd-yon]

I have geared up my companion solely with quest rewards and it has been working out just fine. Lvl 28 Operative so far. Kaliyo tanks and I heal.

[Hajizan]

This game is so easy, its best to gimp yourself and only update gear through quest rewards and then grind gear at level cap. There is no reason to get on level gear as you level.

 

Edit- The days of mmo's where dinging a level really mattered during leveling, and regearing each time you leveled up are over. It is to hard for most people to understand their class and how to properly gear up so now you usually get generic quest rewards. No thinking required.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Hajizan

[Lycaena]

I have had so many commendations at the end of each zone I've been able to gear myself and my companion with them. What isn't covered by commendation gear is by quest rewards, and there are enough quest rewards and drops for myself and my companion.

[Your_Ad_Here]

For myself, I run my Sith Juggernaut and Quinn.

 

I use Heavy and he uses Medium.

 

So far, the quest rewards I always go for myself first, then him ... then Vette if I can.

 

I "only" buy upgrades from the GTM when I am completely done with a planet and there is nothing from the Commendation vendors I can use anymore.