If you want to talk about companion balance, how about a huge nerf across the board? The only people who would complain are basically the people who want the game to play itself.

 

Since 4.0 (I think that's when they changed), companions have been built like gods. They're incredibly overpowered and they trivialize any content that doesn't have special mechanics. The final boss of Nathema Conspiracy vet mode is actually significantly easier with a companion than it is with four players. If you're ever in a PUG that's stuck at the end of that FP, wait for someone to leave and summon a melee companion instead of queuing for a replacement. It's nonsense.

 

Solo content has no challenge at all with companions in their current state. In the old days you needed a group to fight most planetary champions. Now they're not even a threat. You might want to make that content easy for newbies so they can just breeze through the story but you're hurting those players more than you're helping them. For example, in the old days, if you didn't interrupt the big attack from the boss at the end of Consular chapter 1, you got shredded. You had to learn to look at enemy cast bars and use interrupt at the right time to comfortably get through a fight like that. Now? Doesn't matter. Companions in any mode will trivialize all solo fights. Because these players never learn the basic skills in solo quests, they eventually move on to group content with no idea on how to play the game well and they end up being a burden on any group that ends up with them. It doesn't have to be this way.

 

Nerf companions, BioWare. Make people play the game as it was originally designed.

Completely disagree with your analysis on Vet FPs. But then again, I count soloing Vet FPs as solo content. You can cherry pick all you want on certain boss fights in particular FPs. In most of the Vet FPs you solo, the bosses are the easiest fights.

The toughest fights in many of the Vet FPs when soloing are actually the non-boss fights. Do I wish they would up the difficult of story content -- meh, don't really care. But for some of us that's just the beginning. They have different modes for a reason.

Dasty

Thanks for the info Eric. While we're on the topic of companions, any word on them getting their unique abilities back? i.e. Blizz's rocket launcher? There's a few others I just can't remember them off the top of my head.

I'd actually prefer that companions remain cookie cutter with no special abilities.

1. I don't feel like walking around with the same companion has every other player just because that is *THE* companion to have because all the other companions are comparatively useless

2. I don't want to wait around / acquire / realize I'll never get *THE* companion because I wasn't subbed at the time, can't afford to buy it off the market, don't feel like running through story for the 200th time to get it, etc.

1. I don't feel like walking around with the same companion has every other player just because that is *THE* companion to have because all the other companions are comparatively useless .

You do realise you don't "have" to do that. you CHOOSE to do it.

There are some Companions I just don't like, even if using them gave me a 10% boost to everything I still wouldn't do so.

All The Best

You do realise you don't "have" to do that. you CHOOSE to do it.

 

There are some Companions I just don't like, even if using them gave me a 10% boost to everything I still wouldn't do so.

 

All The Best

If it takes me longer to slog through mobs with any other companion, because there's one ranged companion with special abilities that mows everything down, then the choice isn't about the companion any more, is it? It's about the math, regardless of the pretty little shell it's wrapped up in or its voice-overs, and with no survey in hand to back me up, I'll say most people gravitate to what's most effective.

If it takes me longer to slog through mobs with any other companion, because there's one ranged companion with special abilities that mows everything down, then the choice isn't about the companion any more, is it? It's about the math, regardless of the pretty little shell it's wrapped up in or its voice-overs, and with no survey in hand to back me up, I'll say most people gravitate to what's most effective.

Yes, it is EXACTLY and ONLY about the Companion unless you choose otherwise, no one else can make that call for you.

For all of my Toons I picked a Role, a Persona, all of them are played - all the time - to be consistent with their chosen role and persona, and that impacts which Companions I will use on each of them and no amount of "math" advantage is ever going to change that.

And because of that I enjoy every single one of my toons every time I play them.

This is a PC based Roleplay Game - not a Roll Play Game.

Stop playing the Roll Play Game and you'll have a lot more fun.

All The Best

Spuds and Xor,

At risk of inserting myself in the debate (as you know, humility is one of my stronger suits)...<<sips martini 90 mins before GoT finale>> I think there is a happy medium...

I too enjoy watching companions with unique abilities and enjoy the Role Play aspect of the game. With that said, I also enjoy challenging myself at times and there is empirical evidence that some companions Roll better than others. (Sorry PennyAnn *cough* Shae *cough* ).

I think a reasonable goal for 6.0 is to preserve unique abilities, even bring back new ones, but at least deal with the companions that are current outliers on either extreme. With as many companions as we potentially have, I think it is a fool's errand, indeed, even detrimental to the Role Playing aspect of the game to expect them to be pure carbon copies of each other in terms of abilities. Achieving that level of mathematical purity won't happen.

But...there is widespread evidence that a lot of the Cartel Market companions have performance issues, despite some funky animations / unique abilities. Bringing those companions closer in line mathematically with the average will increase my enjoyment when I am doing solo VPs and more challenging content. Like Xor, I am concerned about the math as well. This at least mitigates the problem to some extent.

It's a question of degree, not kind IMHO.

Dasty

I'm just reading that it will be fixed for 6.0. 6.0.......................... -.-

Well, Eric has updated his original post and there is a chance for an earlier fix during summer. I appreciate that he also explained why the fix is more difficult than expected and requires a fundamental change.

Ranged Companions Not Attacking

This issue is a bit of an interesting case. The common belief is that this is a bug which was introduced in 5.10. That is understandable since it certainly became more noticeable with that update. However, this issue has actually been around since launch. After the reports we received from 5.10 we began doing a deep dive into what was going on. That is where we discovered a pretty substantial issue with how Companions were built which is causing this to happen. Due to this being an underlying issue with all Companions it requires a larger systemic change then just a standard bug fix which is the reason why the fix is taking so long.

 

An update from yesterday, I was being conservative in saying that it will be fixed for 6.0. Upon double checking with the team they believe that it may actually make it in before then in 5.10.4 in the summer. This is of course still dependent on testing and verification, but you may see it before 6.0 after all.

If you want to talk about companion balance, how about a huge nerf across the board? The only people who would complain are basically the people who want the game to play itself.

 

Since 4.0 (I think that's when they changed), companions have been built like gods. They're incredibly overpowered and they trivialize any content that doesn't have special mechanics. The final boss of Nathema Conspiracy vet mode is actually significantly easier with a companion than it is with four players. If you're ever in a PUG that's stuck at the end of that FP, wait for someone to leave and summon a melee companion instead of queuing for a replacement. It's nonsense.

 

Solo content has no challenge at all with companions in their current state. In the old days you needed a group to fight most planetary champions. Now they're not even a threat. You might want to make that content easy for newbies so they can just breeze through the story but you're hurting those players more than you're helping them. For example, in the old days, if you didn't interrupt the big attack from the boss at the end of Consular chapter 1, you got shredded. You had to learn to look at enemy cast bars and use interrupt at the right time to comfortably get through a fight like that. Now? Doesn't matter. Companions in any mode will trivialize all solo fights. Because these players never learn the basic skills in solo quests, they eventually move on to group content with no idea on how to play the game well and they end up being a burden on any group that ends up with them. It doesn't have to be this way.

 

Nerf companions, BioWare. Make people play the game as it was originally designed.

I wouldn't say that. It's still perfectly possible to die on some of the solo content (I'm thinking of things like the Darth Malgus and Vaylin fights, or HK-47 in the Foundry, etc.), and everyone has their own level of skill in playing.

If you don't want your companion to help as much, you already do have the option to avoid the presence datacrons, keep their influence low, or put them on passive so they won't help you at all.

Not everyone is going to move on to do group content. Some of us never will. For me, having a companion that can help out has been fundamental in allowing me to do some of the harder content solo, like some of the vet flashpoints and uprisings.

Hi... when you guys fix companions... please make it so that a ranged gun using companion can use ANY gun i choose to give him/her whether it be a pistol a rifle or a cannon..... if i am using Lana Beniko as my companion.. let me choose if i want to give her one lightsaber.. two. or a double. i'm not sure if that would be possible to do at all.. but it would open up more customization options for companions and i think it would be pretty sweet

also make companion stance keybind able... i know you can't change a companions role while in combat.... but even out of combat for someone who changes companion role a lot it gets really annoying having to mouse over and and click the role multiple times i hate clicking >! lol... that is all goodbye <3

II don't feel like walking around with the same companion has every other player just because that is *THE* companion to have because all the other companions are comparatively useless

Who cares what companions other people use? They're not playing your game and you're not playing theirs. What other people choose is irrelevant. What a ridiculous reason for choosing one.

Who cares what companions other people use? They're not playing your game and you're not playing theirs. What other people choose is irrelevant. What a ridiculous reason for choosing one.

This. If you like a certain companion for their personality or their character, use them. Nobody is shoehorning you into a certain companion just because they are statistically the best.

This. If you like a certain companion for their personality or their character, use them. Nobody is shoehorning you into a certain companion just because they are statistically the best.

I agree also. I don't care who is the "FOTM" companion, I just use whom I like an level them up. Seems fine for all the content I run atm.

"However, this issue has actually been around since launch."

"We are working to get these types of issues resolved as fast as we can!"

Isn't there a contradiction here?

Yes, I realize it's also said: "That is where we discovered a pretty substantial issue with how Companions were built which is causing this to happen."

So really the issue comes down to discovering these issues in the first place; which obviously has to happen before any fixing can begin. It's also said: "became more noticeable with that update."

I want to be cautious here because we have to be supportive of these kinds of posts that are honest about what is going on. But we also have to consider how what's going on might impact the future.

Case in point, the above kind of thing has to be scary to the developers. If something like this can go this long -- and, as a bit of history, this was reported internally very long ago, when discussions about using orchestrators for testing occurred -- it can lead you to wonder what else is lurking around. We already know there are many long-standing bugs that are visible. If there are also many long-standing bugs that are invisible -- or at least only selectively visible based on updates -- that's a scary situation.

That goes to this point: "We thank you for all of the reports around these issues as they were very helpful in isolating the root causes to work towards addressing them."

Absolutely. Kudos to the community for being able to help. But a better discussion might be around how testing is improving on Bioware's end to make sure that users aren't the primary testers who have to help you find long-standing (previously reported or otherwise) bugs and then ferreting out root causes.

I hope this was not seen as an overly negative post. So I'll state again: this communication is very welcome. But it will also obviously lead to many more questions by critical thinking players. Given that SWTOR development continues and given that it's clearly being built over a platform over many existing bugs (that we know of and likely many others that we don't), I think bringing this concern front and center is worth it.

If it takes me longer to slog through mobs with any other companion, because there's one ranged companion with special abilities that mows everything down, then the choice isn't about the companion any more, is it? It's about the math, regardless of the pretty little shell it's wrapped up in or its voice-overs, and with no survey in hand to back me up, I'll say most people gravitate to what's most effective.

You know, it really is. First I heard about Shae Visla being brokenly overpowered is this thread, and, I still don't use her, even though I have her on every toon I'll ever roll up. Maybe it's because I'm old school? I used to solo the H4 on Oricon, back when that was end game content, with a Shadow tank and Nadia Grell, a DPS comp at the time. My sniper's main comp, outside of forced comps for story, is Temple. That's the only comp I have across 28 characters that has 50 influence too. If you find you're "slogging" through mobs, I'd suggest that the issue isn't the comps.

hi when you guys eventually fix companions please make it so i can choose what weapons they use

if using jaesa let me give her one , two or a double bladed lightsaber

if using vette let me choose to give her two blasters, a rifle , a canon , etc

beyond fixing the bugged state of them i think that would be pretty sweet!

New System : On line

Game access: Confirmed

Final test mode: Completed

Analysis: All systems fully functional and operational.

IMO: this is what needs to happen to the companions. It had to invest a little more capitol than expected (though admittedly worth every penny spent) ... But the results have already proven to be every bit as anticipated.

Companions: Once a strong part of the game in so many ways have now become something of a difficulty and disappointment on many levels.

Don't scrap them. Don't minimize them !! Don't cut the budget that paves the way for continued development. In fact if anything:

1. Bugs need to be dealt with.

2. Many players thoroughly enjoy them. Reducing the amount of time and genuine interaction with them would be to offend a significant percentage of the population of those who play this game. Additional time with and interactions with said companions would benefit the entire game while keeping a large population of paying customers happy! (BTW... that is a good thing !)

3. Just in case something was over looked in point #2 .. EXPAND the amount of time and types of activities with companions.

In short : give the companions of this game an old fashion shake down. Invest some capitol ... TIME ... further development and expansion in this area. I think EVERYONE will be extremely pleased with the results.

I just set my Companion to Passive right off, when I get to the Mob I order them to attack whoever then fight on as normal; usually I'll set them back to Passive until the next mob. That's Cumbersome and Undermines everything with our Comp's but, *For now, it works. Considering their Post Zakuul lack of influence also now they're almost totally useless at all.

As for other peoples "Running Buddies" and my own; I use Who-Ever I want (which is really never the Zakuul story figures substituted my own with) nobody else's business. For other peoples comps, none of my business.

THIS! Please please please pretty please with sugar on top, fix this annoying thing. It makes me not want to use Iresso anymore.

I will second this. At least with SOME of the companions, i.e. the old ones. I mean they have been around the most and people have very personal relationship to them.

 

Also, it's been mentioned elsewhere, but can't bring it up often enough, please look into the bug where Felix Iresso and Zenith use both each other's lines while in the Healing mode. It seemingly has been around for ages and nobody seems to have done anything about it.

Ranged Companions Not Attacking

 

Companion Ineffectiveness / Imbalance

Great! The unmovable companions have been a nuisance for me who likes to go fast, and now that they suddenly stop following you it has been facepalmy.

Nice to see balance updates. I have ton of alts and level one follower for each, and if one toons choice of companion happened to be terrible, the sadface was real. Especially some of the animal ones are just... wet noodles.

IMO I think companions need to be brought back with their original programing to include having to wear armor.

This would fix all the little problems and the big problems and bring back their special abilities.

The new companions are copies of our old companions only with a few twists and new abilities mixed in and not really new other than the comments they spout and the skins they wear. So they are just as broken and even more so.

I would love to completely skip Kotet and Kotfe companions on certain toons as if the enternal empire didn't exist. However, the new stuff still deals with the Alliance still existing instead of being disbanded. Would have been a very nice twist if you arrived on Ossus and they ask where is the rest of the Alliance and you say you sent them home.

But again we are told that there is so much to fix and that this error has been in the game since launch, but we never fixed it and now it is getting worse. Quit lying cause if the problem was there from the beginning then companions would not have been running you over every time you stopped prior to 4.0 The issue of companions not healing you when fighting mobs if you get out of range is because you are out of range not because of the current issue of them no longer possessing the same level of sprint that you do.

Would not be an issue if the comps were reverted back to they were before and wearing armor with stats. This current gear system would be the perfect time to do so as it would be too easy to give the comp equal gear to what your character is wearing.

I would love to see a balance brought back to the companions.

I would love to see all content get the Story, Veteran, Master treatment. IE that you can complete a Story flash point with your comp and the God bot with a tiny bit of difficulty. That you can not solo with a comp any Veteran or Master mode flash points. Veteran would require two players and two comps. Master mode would stun comps like world bosses do.

I would love to see a bit more mechanics in the game to make it interesting, but not like traitor among the Chiss mobs who take forever to burn down just because that is somehow harder.???

What we are getting in the newest patch

Shae Vizla no longer will say timber when a mob dies.

Was this really an issue? Does someone not understand why she says IT!

The reason is simple as she is cutting people down like a chainsaw would a tree. I could see it not happening as often, but only if you cut down a walker as they do fall like a tree. That would be a bit too complicated to program.

I like that she says this, but since you are going to nerf her and probably nerf the companions even more I really don't care anymore.

IMO you are never going to fix comps unless you completely revert them to the way they were first made, because they were not broken then. They worked within their roles as intended for the character they joined.

Putting them back to original will make them lip sync again, make them stick to your side. Follow you around corners when you attack, You will not have to wait for your comp to catch up. You will rarely have to pay attention to door ways since your comp is right there with you and not 10 meters behind you when you enter combat.

Things to help with outranging your comp. Run a melee comp with melee, ranged with ranged. Send them to attack first. Stop using sprint. Do not chain pull.

TIMBER! I'll miss it.

IMO I think companions need to be brought back with their original programing to include having to wear armor... snip.....

Lemme stop you right there. Right now I'm spending millions just gearing and augmenting my characters (I have 34 at the moment) and you wanna take it back to a time when we had to keep companions geared as well? Not to mention being stuck using that ONE companion who heals..... nah bru....HARD PASS on that. I don't mind companion fixes to improve performance, but let's not even give them this idea.