dargor- Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 So far I keep reading left & right that the further into the game you get, the weaker your tanking companions become, to the point of nigh uselessness. As someone who likes to solo-farm content (be it old flashpoints or heroics) this worries me and I'd like to know if lvl 50 people can confirm this? Are the tanking companions just flat out too weak to keep up or is it about gear dependance? Any input would be appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onager Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I've no personal experience with this, but I do have lots of MMO experience and enjoyed soloing group content in a lot of games before, so I'll just toss my 2 credits on the pile. Right when you hit 50, there's probably a pretty massive jump in mob difficulty. You'll probably have to switch to Andronikos and kite mobs a lot, focus on ones without ranged attacks, and lean back on judicious use of bubbles and aggro swapping to keep you and him both up in the event the above isn't posslble. As you get geared, you can eventually start to gear your tank too (Xalek probably) and also assemble a bunch of gear with Presence on it. At this point you can probably start doing the Heroic 2+ dailies solo, but realistically not before. I'm going to try, but I will probably fail. Badly. At least at first. A lot of encounters have their own idiosyncrasies that can make them easier or harder depending on circumstances, so you may have to use trial and error to figure them out. (Such as the world boss on Hoth that you can kite near infinitely around a nearby vehicle.) Six months from now these 2 player heroics will probably be trivial sources of amazing money for the wily solo player, but that'll take some specific gearing for you AND your pets that you choose to bring along. Going high enough in Madness for instant three target Whirlwind will probably help a lot (and is the linchpin of my Heroic 2+ soloing to date) and possibly going some sort of hybrid corruption/lightning spec (like the one featured in the thread I made on the subject yesterday) so you can keep your force up and still be able to both heal and DPS somewhat efficiently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daellia Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 One very important thing is that you must keep your companion geared. Their gear affects soloing nearly as much as yours does. Now, if you're an assassin, tanking companions kinda get shelved around 30 when you get Talos (healing companion). For sorcs, however, not so much. It's more difficult to keep a tanking companion alive in the late 30's and 40's, but they are still far less squishy than you, and honestly they only need to stay alive long enough for you to get everything low enough to kill before it can hurt you too badly. Companions can be dismissed and resummoned, restored to max HP and cleared of debuffs (even instantly rezed) for the price of a 0.5 second cast mount-up or a right click then 1.5 second cast resummon. If you roll a more hybridized spec like 21/2/18, keeping your companion up while nuking things down becomes a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onager Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 One very important thing is that you must keep your companion geared. Their gear affects soloing nearly as much as yours does. Now, if you're an assassin, tanking companions kinda get shelved around 30 when you get Talos (healing companion). For sorcs, however, not so much. It's more difficult to keep a tanking companion alive in the late 30's and 40's, but they are still far less squishy than you, and honestly they only need to stay alive long enough for you to get everything low enough to kill before it can hurt you too badly. Companions can be dismissed and resummoned, restored to max HP and cleared of debuffs (even instantly rezed) for the price of a 0.5 second cast mount-up or a right click then 1.5 second cast resummon. If you roll a more hybridized spec like 21/2/18, keeping your companion up while nuking things down becomes a joke. I agree with this. I just got Xalek on my character, but I have yet to use him, although I did invest in filling his empty equipment slots with updated gear and also upgrading his saber and shield. His greens start out at 92 rating, which is technically better than what I had Khem Val wearing at the time, so he should be an upgrade all around. He's also a good dumping place for your outdated oranges, you can always just toss some tanky components into them and just go. I really haven't had much problem through Voss. I went a little ahead on my class quest so now I have to go back to Voss and continue questing, but the point still stands, your companions are an investment! Also, if you're feeling sassy and want to buff with a stim, for soloing, the Presence one far outdpses the Willpower one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lokiliesmith Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 So far I keep reading left & right that the further into the game you get, the weaker your tanking companions become, to the point of nigh uselessness. As someone who likes to solo-farm content (be it old flashpoints or heroics) this worries me and I'd like to know if lvl 50 people can confirm this? Are the tanking companions just flat out too weak to keep up or is it about gear dependance? Any input would be appreciated Are you healing spec? I've had no problem using Ashara every fight since I got her. Before her Andronikus, before him obviously Kem. I'm 50 and solo quests and heroic 2s have never been a problem. Some things I've noticed a lot of people do that I find kind of weird, though. A lot of people don't control the companions. They just let them attack whomever they please. I make sure my guys start with the weakest enemies and we work our way up to the top. CC the toughest enemy in every pack and it gets even easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HagenVonTronje Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 I'm not 50, but 40. I haven't had tanking woes. Khem can tank whatever I give him (I would bet he can tank a champion if he got dedicated heals). Ashara COULD tank better if she had a taunt, she's plenty durable enough and if you give her 3-4 seconds to get aggro you probably won't take aggro from her vs an elite. I think a lot of people never gear their companion and then complain that they aren't tanky enough. Well, look at a poorly geared player trying to tank, he will die fast too with zero heals. 40 was kind of a big deal too, I was easily able to give my companions full PvP sets (and I still have tons of commendations for my 50 gear). Aside from that though, gearing them does get expensive, which I understand sucks, but you can't expect results with nothing put into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ats_beowulfe Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 I personally started to notice Khem lacking starting about level 30. I'm probably one of the few at level 44 that runs with Adronicus because his DPS far overcomes Khems tanking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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