Companion Change Feedback

65
Mostly 216 gear some 220
Sniper Marksmanship
Xalex
Healing
50
Planetary Heroics and Star Fortress solo and Heroic

Well come background on me first I would say I am a above average player. I am currently in a casual guild but have been an very active member hard core progression raiding guild not world first but farming top end content. Didn't happen in this game but in previous games we had boss on farm that had to be nerf because too hard. My experience isn't what I am no why an average player.

Heroic 2 It depends on the Heoric when I go through them next week I update but some I could fly through others required skill to get done even at my level but generally I would think very soloable.

Star Fortress
Solo- Paladin gave me issue the first time but after that it was pretty easy and straight forward. It is pretty much what I expected from solo content.

Heroic- The interesting thing was the paladin was pretty easy. It wasn't even a fight. The Knight I ran into completely owned me. I am sure I figure out what aspect of the fight I am missing since it is my firs time through but I have found when I think things are challenging most normal players complain it's impossible.

Personally for me I think the nerf was needed but I think you it might have been a little too far. This is where I wish 4.0 would have been launched at and then may got a buff a month later. Trying to look at it from a normal players perspective I think I would say
Heoric- for me pretty easy I would say for most player probably do able in good gear and good rotation and strats.
Star Fortress (solo) same as above
Star Fortress(heoric) To hard to say since I have only tried it a few times but I could see people getting frustrated pretty quick which even if it isn't hard might get people to label it impossible.

I had absolutely no problem completing Heroic Starfortress after nerf. It was actually more fun, not a faceroll like before.

Nah, too late

Responses above.

Feedback time!
Subject 1:

Sith Juggernaut 26th level - Rage spec. (Current active character for game-play)

Leveling experience:
Companion : Healer Vette and later Quinn. Experience is smooth as ever, plowing through content without any difficulty at all.

Heroic quests :
Level appropriate Heroics are still easy but much more interesting than before., and don't require any tactics more advanced than - don't pull more groups at once.

My brother who finished KoTFE story today said it was nothing but enjoyment. That much about leveling experience. Now lets focus on high level Heroics:

Basic rules when doing the high-level heroics:
1) Always clear the mobs in vicinity of quest objectives before you activate them!!! More ofted than not activation of quest objective spawns more mobs and you risk making things far more difficult then they really are it those around notice you while in fight with spawned ones.
2) Always scout for, isolate and kill the walking mobs !!! You never know when will they find you and will you be fighting something else at the time.
3) Of course, don't pull more than one group at he time...

With those in mind:

Subject 2:

Lvl 65 Operative: Concealment discipline. Mixture of 190, 200 and 208 gear.

Heroic quests:
Used lvl 1 influence companion (Ship droid) in tank mode. Not using Heroic moment and Unity in any case to make this feedback as general as possible. Also, not using stealth and pre-battle CC, because some classes don't have access to those.

Focused just on hardest : Illum and Makeb ones, and just by using above mentioned rules managed to clear most of the without much effort, using stuns and interrupts when available, It was engaging and fun.

Only problem that I had was that during "Observer" champion Guard droid was surrounded by gold mobs and it was too much for poor droid to handle so we died once but at least we killed the elites. Once we attacked him he alone he wasn't that big of a deal. Also while killing the Ratcatcher comp. must be switched to heal mode so it doesn't get killed by fire.
Only annoying thing is that (only at the empire side) champions have too much HP. They are not tough, but take a bit too much time to kill.

Only one that I couldn't finish is the one with the gas room (False History). Mechanic simply requires two people to turn of the gas. One person can not do it that fast.


Subject 3:

Lvl 65 Jedi Shadow. Serenity discipline. Approximately the same gear average as Operative above.

Same rules as above, Same companion, no stealth,Heroic moments etc...

Same experience as above, except the quests on the republic side were even more fun by design. And champions have less health than Imperial ones and were killed much more quickly. I don't know why this disparity. Would be nice if imperial ones were brought to republic levels. Other that than great and engaging experience (especially liked the Savage skies - nice one)

Quests that I couldn't finish: The one with the gas room, same reason as above, and "Vipers Nest". That one seems as it hasn't been adjusted properly for solo play. Way too much silvers pouring out and eventually you get swarmed. I tried with lvl 11 companion (because that's the highest I got :P) later. Lasted longer but we were killed eventually even with unity and heroic moment. That quest definitely needs some down-turning.

All in all experience was great and, other than those mentioned quests that some require more work to be done on them ,I am very much pleased. Thank you if you are reading this!

First let me say I have to appreciate how you have addressed this issue. Unlike others, who simply resorted to insults and cries of elitist if someone spoke about a design intent in the game and stuff you asked questions and tried to understand what they were saying, even if you did not agree.

The problem is this... For the purposes of this expac, the level sync weekly content is "new" level 65 content...it is integral to the story. As your character you are not going back to fighting house Ulgo on Alderaan, you are going to fight the Eternal Empire, so level sync. Now I know for some this is just a BS rationalization but it is the raison d'etre for the entire expansion... rationalize level sync'd old content with the story so that old content becomes part of the Lvl 65 grind. It's not going to change.

Now I don't know if you were part of the crew that I speak of next. If not don't think this is pointed to you at all. Back in April/May/June, when they announced no new FPs or OPs for now I and others said "this is a gamble. How long will people want to do the same FPs and OPs they already did 100 times before.". They responses basically boiled down to " it is level appropriate due to level sync and provides gear upgrades so it is new" and/or "they realize that solo story players are the majority!"

I pointed out there is no majority in an MMO when it comes to content enjoyed, just different sized minorities and moved on. So my question is if level sync and rewards made FPs and OPs "new content" how is level sync with the H2s not?

Level 65 Sith Juggernaut
Immortal
Mix of 208/216 gear

Presence boosts
Legendary player
1/3-1/2 or so of the available datacrons
All companion stories completed
Human legacy racial

Companion: Koth (mid-20s Influence) in healer mode

I had, prior to the nerf, soloed every one of the Star Fortresses on heroic mode to complete the "free the worlds" quest. I decided he would be my best guage for the difficulty of the heroics.

Everything was basically fine (but noticeably slower) until I got to the final series of rooms where I need to turn off the stabilizers prior to the final boss fight. I managed the first two stabilizers nicely, but the third one just repeatedly wrecked me. Koth was either not healing me at all or was barely healing me. I tried to keep aggro on me (tank after all) but once it was he couldn't keep up with the needed healing despite me burning all of my DCDs and trying to stay out of the "stupid circles".

I used none of the Alliance buffs. This was on the Tatooine SF.

In the past Koth has always been my best healer, and from an RP perspective I like using him because my juggernaut is romancing him. Feels right but I digress.

Possibly after I boost all of my gear to 216 level and augment it out I might be able to manage it. Boosting Koth's influence into the 30s would probably help as well.

However if I can barely manage it as a tank with a companion healing, what does that mean for just about any DPS class? What about people who aren't Legacy 50, Legendary, etc.? What about me on my DPS classes when I take them through?

I don't like this change and it basically shuts off the heroic SFs from completion solo which is bad. I logged off of the game to come post this and that is not typically in my nature (I post from work during slow times, not at night when I can log in and have fun).

If companions aren't buffed, or the free the worlds quest isn't shifted to allow for completion in solo mode, or some other concession, I cannot see myself continuing to remain subscribed. I can come up with less face-grindingly painful things to do with my time and money.

65
Mostly 220s
Darkness Assassin
Used a 26 influence Senya. Had her go damage on trash, heal on bosses.
Heroic Star Fortress (One for All run)

I completed "one for all run" without any trouble whatsoever, aside from Senya feeling the need to stand in red circles on the Exarch or the third reactor room, which were the single times I was actually in danger of dying. Still didn't die nor pop heroic moment at any point in the instance. I do like how it now doesn't feel like the companion carries me. Go into a thing that's supposed to be for two players solo, you do need to be great at your class. No more faceroll. I like it.

I second the notion for a post 4.0.2 One For All achievement. This'll have to serve as proof for now

Hello team,

I haven't gotten around to doing Star Fortress this week on my main toon which is only one I'll be talking about, but I have given him a go at some of the heroics.
Level: 65
Rough Average Gear Rating: 208/216 with 2 220 pieces.
Discipline: Deception Assassin
Companion: Lana
Companion Role: Healer
Companion Influence: 21ish
Missions worked on: Alderaan(sorry for potential misspell) Heroics (all of them)
Personal Experience: What I consider Above Average
Thoughts: Not much sample data, I'll be updating this as I get around to doing more content on this toon, but I felt like I was playing pre 4.0 style again. I had to be smart about going into mob groups,using mind trap and such to increase survival chance, but I didn't think any of it was too hard. I only died once when I decided I really didn't feel like fighting my way through all the mobs on the generator mission, so I had too much pull. Lana's healing was sufficient, enough to keep me alive, but not so much that I didn't feel like I could defeat any high difficulty mob without having to even worry about my rotation. This is the type of play style I enjoy. Analyze mob group, find most effective way to go in for the kill, succeed or fail. If I fail, I'll try a different approach, Like I said, though, not much experience to go with, but I'll be trying to keep this updated, or just post another reply after I've had more in field testing.

I personally find it ironic that you guys are just now asking for feedback now that the player base who is the most mad about the changes have left and moved on. No matter what feedback you get it will be biased in some form. Good job guys, my hat is off to you.

Behind closed doors at a bioware meeting - let's roll out a totally new story and make our game more enjoyable for the casual market share. Then after they all sub again and we get the influx of cash we need to hit our bonuses let's take it most of it away and make it back in to a tedious grind. Who cares that you zzz gear to complete stuff that only awards xxx gear. Once the casual market share get mad and leave we will then ask for feedback. Why would we do that? So that the feedback we receive will show that we did the right thing. Sounds like profit and winning to me. What do you all say? *room full of people cheer*