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Do you feel you have much relationship with most of your companion characters?


Andge

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Tonight I reached lvl 50 with my second character - a sith warrior. My first lvl 50 was a smuggler.

Once I finished the smuggler story line and saw the sequence with my character with all his companions, I felt I had no clue who most of them where, in fact I think I've barely ever interacted with most of them.

 

And now tonight I felt the exact same way when I finished the warrior story line.

 

Due to prefered gameplay and spec, one often ends up prefering to play with one or two of the crew. Which means the companion stories do not progress for the other companions and you have almost no interaction with them except from the few times during the whole story where the whole crew gathers around the holo thing in the ship.

 

I wonder if the companions should simply be intergrated better into the class story, so one's interaction with them becomes less dependent on their affection towards you.

 

Anyway, how did you feel about each of your companions once you finished whatever class story? Did you know all them or where some of them just random strangers?

Edited by Andge
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My highest toon so far is a level 32 SI, but I can tell you that if I had a choice I'd get to know Khem and Ashara first and foremost. I'm sadly closer to Andronikos because he's my only romancable (SGR soon plzkthxbai) and I'm a sucker for characters falling in love.

 

I would not be able to keep up with all of the stories if I wanted to. I know that in Dragon Age I had to go out of my way to do Ogrem and Sten's quests and I would not be surprised if I have to do that with any companions after Ashara.

 

This is in a way like real life: you pick who you want to know the most and you kind of stick with it.

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I've only finished the Trooper and Jedi Knight, and I can say this.

Trooper - I know Aric, Elara and M1-4X.

Tanno to me is just that one guy who disagrees with everything I do, and Yuun, while interesting, I haven't gained much affection with him yet.

 

 

Jedi Knight - I pretty much know all of them and consider them as real companions, except Rusk. I don't even remember why he joined me, and all I know about him is that he's the "the end justifies the means" kinda guy. Never had time to build a relationship with him because I get Scourge 5 minutes later, and Scourge plays a big part in the story since then.

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You can play through the story part of the game with any of the characters if you gear them well. You don't have to stick with the obvious choices. Like any Bioware game, you get to know the characters you spend time with. That being said, if you're crafting, which you should be for numerous reasons, you can get enough companion gifts to raise the other characters to the point that you can get to know them as well. Getting to know the companions is as much a part of the game as gearing yourself, doing your class quests, or doing flashpoints, and requires the same attention.
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on my first toon (smuggler) i hit level 50 with only Corso's quests completed, so i felt closest to him. however, i started raising the affection levels of my other companions afterwards and taking part in their convos. i started out hating Risha, but she grew on me...

 

...to the point where when that one noble showed up on the holo and said he wanted to marry her, i felt like he was trying to take away my best friend.

 

so Corso and Risha are my smuggler's favorites. i actually love all the smuggler crew, but if i had to pick, i'd keep the first two over the others.

 

as far as my jedi knight goes, i haven't finished all the convos for all her companions yet, but Kira is definitely my favorite of them. not only did i level to 50 with her and her only, but as we traveled around, it felt like i was visiting new places with my bff. and i love her sense of humor. Scourge grew on me as well, but not to the same extreme that Risha did. i just have more of a high respect for the sith.

 

Blizz is my favorite BH companion. i like Torian and Mako too, and Gault kinda grew on me, but Blizz is just so freaking cute. i wanna squee everytime i use the companion dance animation with him out.

 

i haven't finished all the consular companion convos yet either, but the only one i really like is probably Qyzen, and i think it's mostly because he stuck with me from the beginning. i like his devotion to the scorekeeper and you, and i find the tradoshan customs interesting. the other consular companions are kinda meh to me.

 

i'd trade a couple of them for the Eshka and Voss mystic who end up traveling with you. they are much more interesting.

 

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SI:

 

  • ]Khem Val - He offers to eat your enemies. How could I not finish his story? Granted, I got bored with my SI at 45, so I haven't technically finished Khem's story, even though he is at max affection.
  • Ashara - The part where you start corrupting her on Taris was the only remotely Palpatine-like moment in the story, aside from the Nar Shadda arc. Plus, she's the only romanceable option for male SI's.

 

I didn't use Talos Drellik very much, but he was a cool character as far as I got with him.

 

SW:

 

  • Vette - I like the way her voice-actor sounds, and her dialogue is usually witty enough to enjoy. Her story is pretty interesting, too. She's a very useful character for tank specced Juggernauts, too.
  • Quinn - I loathe Quinn. He comes off as a prissy ponce with a stupid mole on his cheek. I sometimes use Quinn for the heals, but I usually send him off on missions.
  • Pierce - I really like the character's story, but I have absolutely no need for a tank companion.
  • Jaesa - Lightside Jaesa is pretty meh. "Can I speak as a Jedi?" "No. No, you may not." "Well, anyway... when we turn all the sith into the Jeedais..." "How the hell are you still a Lighty anyway? I killed your first master, and your parents, and then I turned Nomen Karr into a raving Dark Side loving lunatic. Further, how the hell do you still think I am an agent of the light? I killed your parents for sport.

 

I just started a Smuggler, so the only companion I have there is Corso, who seems pretty cool. Sort of like a space redneck or something.

 

The SW has the most memorable companions, so far. The SI's companions are all kind of meh.

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I haven't quite finished the SI storyline yet but I feel like I have a pretty good handle on my companions:

I'm enjoying the storylines with Khem Val and Ashara, not as much with Andy and Talos. But I feel like I know them all pretty well and I'm looking forward to picking up Xalek.

 

Have you not been having conversations with your companions? Or are you just not paying attention?

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I think I suffer from doing SI as my first story, and not yet knowing all the in's and outs. I also didnt realize at the time I can cancel the convo and restart it if I didnt like the dialog.

 

However, Andronikos and Talos all seem to be just along for the ride, I feel no particular attachment to them. Im more attached to Khem due to his history, and him being there from the very beginning, although I use Xalek as my tank. The bugs post-launch made it super-annoying to use tank companions back then, so I didnt develop particular attachment to the tank companions. Xalek on the other hand is completely and utterly BLAND. The only interesting part about him is his random line "One day, the servant will be the master."

 

Ashara should have the most depth about them, and I kinda like her the most, despite her companion story being a complete trainwreck. Thats because its been a long time since I did her companion story and I have kind of invented our relationship completely, and forgotten what it was supposed to be about. Her normal generic behaviour is good, her companion story convos were not. btw, with "our relationship" mean that I have been subtly turning her thoughts toward a well-intentioned extremist.

 

I hated the complete lack of nuance into further tricking and corrupting Ashara after she got onto the ship. The Taris storyline where the inq corrupted herwas one of the best parts of inq story. Too bad the storywriter completely torpedoed it the second Ashara got onto the inqs ship. Inq either goes along with whatever she has to say, or just bluntly turns her down. It makes no sense.

 

Overall, the inquisitor companions I have the least attachment to. But then again the inquisitor should be the most selfish of my character, and feel detached from his companions.

 

BH has some of the most varied companions. I kind of like them all. My BH and Mako is the only romance I like in SWTOR, her drifter background and child-like optimism and hope for the better tomorrow is just so adorable. Gault is the greatest con-man in the galaxy and had pretty much the best questline to acquire him (or second best, after darkside Jaesa). That history alone makes me like him really much. I remember wanting to strangle him with my bare hands, and then my jaw dropped couple feet when I found out I was going to have him in my crew. It was awesome. Reminds me of the advertisement for Harry Harrisons "stainless steel rat". "The best thief and conman in the galaxy, and when the police finally caught him, they had no choice but to make him a cop.."

 

Skadge is like a comic sidekick (rather large though) along with Blizz. Too bad they cant ever be in the same team at the same time. Torian is the most bland, but I guess a Mandalorian companion was obligatory. He could benefit from some comic incidents with the rest of the crew in future content. Seeing as he is the most "serious" of them (and the rest of the team is hilarious). Bounty hunter crew is the one I feel the most attachment to, as the BH story has also the most "us against the galaxy" feel to it. Kind of l ike I expected smuggler story to be, but BH delivers.

 

Sith warrior has imo the best storyline, as when I bought SWTOR I wanted first and foremost to play a movie villain, and SW has that in SPADES. Darkside Jaesa is nothing but awesome, the interplay between Quinn and Pierce is funny, Broonmark is your insane pet monster and then there is Vette. Vette is also awesome, and I suspect I might have romanced her if my SW was male.. Alas, it isn't. I feel dualistic attachment to Vette as I like her, but my SW has no logical reason to feel attachment to her that much..

 

I have also been playing smuggler and jedi knight, and I really like T3 and Kira. As smuggler I dont feel that much attachment to my companions yet though. Maybe Ive been playing too much swtor so that the stories start blending together a bit, but its not been as fun and exciting as some of the others.

Edited by Karkais
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im very disappointed in xalek as once you get him the convos were very short and almost no interaction with him at all.

i was sooo looking forward to getting to know him as my apprentice as a dark character i felt that he would be much better than the torguta and was left very let down.

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So far I leveled 3 characters to 50: Operative healer, Marauder and Juggernaut (all female) and have a bunch of characters around lvl 30.

 

In all cases, I find myself picking up one companion that I take with me everywhere, while neglecting the 4 others almost completely : that was Vector for my operative and Quinn for both my sith warriors, and I will probably do the same with future characters.

 

I also raised affection with Vette, Jaesa, Kaliyo and Temple with gifts to discover their stories, but it doesn't feel the same as actually fighting alongside your companion. Plus, in your class story you get some additional conversations with your current companion, so you get to know them better ofc.

 

I'm happy that my character's love interests also proved to be the most efficient companions when it came to leveling and taking on elite mobs. Being able to use your favorite companion all the time really adds to the fun :)

Edited by kalistea
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Yeah, those convos were like

 

Xalek: "You are a great warrior."

Inquisitor: "Ok."

you gain 500 xp

LOL true, and I feel the same way about Broonmark...

Broonmark: [something that translates to "Sith Clan makes me bloodlust happy, kill, revenge, life is good"]

SW: "Alrighty then."

++++affection/xp

 

Sad in Xalek's case. He's your apprentice and he arrives too late in the game to really form an attachment to him. Broonmark may as well be a holosculpture of a Talz, a slightly embarrassing souvenir of Hoth tucked away next to the cargo hold: 'once again- why did I bring this thing on board?'

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Have you not been having conversations with your companions? Or are you just not paying attention?

 

I must admit, that for both SW and Scoundrel I basically only played with two of each class's companions, which means I only gained affection with them, and therefore only had conversations with them - again, except for the few times where the whole crew gathers around the holo-thing.

 

But I find it weird that in spite of the fact that I almost only played with Jaesa once I got her, and tried my best to gain affection from her by chosing the right dialogue options, I still hadn't enough affection to finish her story, when I reached lvl 50.

 

Affection and companion story progression is too dependent on companion gifts at the moment, I think. I mean, if you can barely finish the story of one companion though you use that companion during most of the leveling, it's impossible to ever finish all of them unless you buy a ton of companion gifts. Which is artificial.

 

I wonder if it's because my reference point when it comes to companion characters is Baldur's Gate II; in that game, because all companions are with you all the time, your relationship with them as well as their story progress much more organically and quite often as well.

 

I think also Kotor I and II worked better than SWTOR in terms of companions; instead of affection, it was simply time spent with the companion that unlocked the next stage in their storyline.

I didn't care at all about e.g. Quinn. But had I known that bringing him for half the quests on a planet would have triggered a stage in his story for sure, then at least I would have had an incentive to give him a chance.

 

Companion characters is a really good idea for an MMO. But something is lacking at the moment, I think.

 

Happy to hear that most of you seem to feel you have had a satisfied experience with companions so far.

Edited by Andge
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Jedi Knight: Scourge. Everyone else seemed to be random people tagging along. And I played Light Side.

Jedi Consular: Probably Nadia and Quizen.

Smuggler: Corso. Annoying and thick, but he was the only one who I wasn't completely indifferent about.

Trooper: Aric, and, to a lesser extent, Temple.

 

Sith Warrior: Jaesa, Vette.

Inquisitor: Nothing, really...

Imperial Agent: Probably Temple.

Bounty Hunter: Lil' sister Mako.

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You can play through the story part of the game with any of the characters if you gear them well. You don't have to stick with the obvious choices. Like any Bioware game, you get to know the characters you spend time with. That being said, if you're crafting, which you should be for numerous reasons, you can get enough companion gifts to raise the other characters to the point that you can get to know them as well. Getting to know the companions is as much a part of the game as gearing yourself, doing your class quests, or doing flashpoints, and requires the same attention.

 

This is pretty much what I was going to say. If getting to know all of your companions is important to you, it is something you have to actively work on. I do think that Bioware made it unnecessarily difficult to get the companion conversations. I imagine a lot of people miss out on it. The writers spent time writing it, the voice actors spent time recording dialogue, and probably the majority of players never see any of it. I think they should just unlock as you level up, with the affection level only important if you want a romance.

 

I realized the problem early on, so my solution was to level up Treasure Hunting and Diplomacy on my first character, and just constantly churn out companion gifts. It takes loads of them to get all companion affection levels to max to unlock all of their dialogue scenes, but in the end I think it is worth it so that I can see them as real characters and not just strangers that hang around on my ship.

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But I find it weird that in spite of the fact that I almost only played with Jaesa once I got her, and tried my best to gain affection from her by chosing the right dialogue options, I still hadn't enough affection to finish her story, when I reached lvl 50.

 

I find it weird that it went that way with you too; especially if you're exiting/re-entering conversations just to get affection with her. I maxed out my affection with Jaessa by level ~40 without gifts. On my BH my affection with Mako is also 4,000+ and he's only level 24. Granted Mako is your first companion and you don't get Jaessa for a while, but still it went rather quickly for me.

 

I also find it a bit difficult to get to know all of your companions. I fall into the primarily use one companion through the story classification. It was all Vette until I got Jaessa then all Jaessa. I kind of wanted to use Quinn just for the heals to grind 48-50 faster, but fell into the "he's way too undergeared to be effective right now" situation. Vette and Jaessa are awesome, Broonmark is pretty cool, but Quinn/Pierce aren't my favorite. Not poor characters, just not my style.

For the Knight it is Kira all the way. She's just my kind of girl; love her personality. I also like T7 a lot; the hardy little droid companion.

Haven't gotten too attached to anyone in my IA's story so far as I'm going lightside Agent and Kaliyo just wants me to kill and rob everyone. And I basically have just been sticking with Kaliyo.

So far Mako is probably my favorite female companion. She's just awesome.

 

I could go on about basically any class of which companion I like the most at the moment, but I've gotten most of the classes only to ~30ish so it's a bit of a skewed opinion for most of them. SW, JK, IA, and BH I've gotten furthest as (or finished) so that's my opinion on it! Almost wish I could have two companions with me just to increase the amount of story and connection with my companions, but that is obviously a bit much for a MMO.

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I do think that Bioware made it unnecessarily difficult to get the companion conversations. I imagine a lot of people miss out on it. The writers spent time writing it, the voice actors spent time recording dialogue, and probably the majority of players never see any of it. I think they should just unlock as you level up, with the affection level only important if you want a romance.

 

I really agree with this. Considering most people will probably only play through each class story once, when it is as hard as it is to make companion stories progress, so much writing, voice-acting, and animation for that matter, will only be seen by a few. Especially as it seems that there is a clear tendency for people like the same companions such as e.g. Mako and Jaesa.

A way to get around this could be as you suggest to unlock companion stories as you level up, and then simply make affection affect your dialogue options, such as e.g. romance/flirt options.

 

I think another way to give players more of a relationship with all companions would be to have more of those holo-gatherings, where the whole crew is present. In those cut-scenes, you both get a chance to get to know a bit about who each companion is and also about the companions' attitude towards each other.

That way, at least you could get to know e.g. Broonmark a bit without being forced to play with him.

Edited by Andge
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smuggler- stuck with Corso until i got risha- since then he's only appeared if i got a companion item that none of the others liked or if i wanted to flirt with an NPC. did get to do one of his companion missions.

Risha i enjoyed- was almost like you got her second given all the time you spend with her before she joins you.

Guss and Akaaavi i've been splitting time between, Guss generally just seems to make funny remarks and Akaavi is a bit too serious.. Bowdaar just sort of guards the kitchen.

 

SW- Vette and jaesa i enjoy, probably Vette more but haven't progressed as far as i could yet because i'm testing a "three way dance" scenario so been working with jaesa affection mostly. haven;t used any of the others, just noticed the other day at lvl 41 Quinn's still running around in lvl 20 gear.

 

SI- Khem's about the only one i've had any interest in. Androkus is kinda there and Ashara makes me wish i had the purebloo slap upside the head ability.

 

BH- Mako's been fun, only have Gault otherwise.

 

IA- kailyo is annoying and is the only one i have atm

 

JK- kira (char is still in the teens) and the droid are ok but nothing special just yet since the char's so low.

 

haven't made a trooper and got bored with the JC around lvl 5 so can;t help anyone there.

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Tonight I reached lvl 50 with my second character - a sith warrior. My first lvl 50 was a smuggler.

Once I finished the smuggler story line and saw the sequence with my character with all his companions, I felt I had no clue who most of them where, in fact I think I've barely ever interacted with most of them.

 

And now tonight I felt the exact same way when I finished the warrior story line.

 

Due to prefered gameplay and spec, one often ends up prefering to play with one or two of the crew. Which means the companion stories do not progress for the other companions and you have almost no interaction with them except from the few times during the whole story where the whole crew gathers around the holo thing in the ship.

 

I wonder if the companions should simply be intergrated better into the class story, so one's interaction with them becomes less dependent on their affection towards you.

 

Anyway, how did you feel about each of your companions once you finished whatever class story? Did you know all them or where some of them just random strangers?

 

I did once I maxed out Vette's affection and she mentioned kiddos and ****. Then she left me a mail that was a cliff hanger. Haven't heard from her since. Lame.

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SI: Talos and I really clicked. He's just this nerdy Indiana Jones with witty lines and I love to hear his stories. He has a unique accent and he is a great healer!

 

Khem Val is a bro. He got me through half of the Inq story and he was great for my Sorc.

 

Andronikos spent more time on the ship, mainly because two ranged DPS in the field didn't work well for me. However, when I talked to him I found him to be one of the most organic, down-to-earth companions.

 

SW: I'm only halfway through but Vette is a blast. Her companion quests offer rich backstory and I feel there is great chemistry between her and my Warrior. I love that Twi'lek!

 

Quinn is interesting. He is a good healer but I haven't spoken with him a great deal.

 

JK: Kira is boring to me. Her lines are often corny and I don't find her humorous.

 

Doc radiates scumbag. I initiated a romance with him and he is incredibly inconsiderate. His heals are about the only thing I like.

 

IA: Kaliyo is my pocket anarchist. She just wants to burn everything down. Not much depth so far but I'll have to up her affection.

 

Smug: Corso is annoying. His drawl grates my nerves and gets old real quick.

 

Risha, I like. She is a careful cynic with the kind of flair that suits a smuggler.

 

BH: Mako is cute. That's about it. Don't know about the rest but I'm looking forward to Blizz.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quinn and I were quite chummy because I'm retired military and have worked with a British officers in the past. Quinn is essentially a play off one or two RN stereotypes. I get it and it makes me laugh. The exception is the 37 year old virgin routine. I'm just not buying that any man of his age and looks(AND military) can be that awkward and clueless. Nosir. Anyway, I avoided his end game stalker letters by playing a male warrior ;)

 

Vette was definitely my second favorite. She's quirky and funny and for the most part upbeat.

 

Pierce was third. Again the military connection though I had a huge problem with the way he harped on and on about his shipboard nemesis. I consider him a whiner but he's still fun to fight with.

 

Jaesa and Broonmark may as well have not existed.

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