Hi, not really a new player, but am returning after a few years and am finally getting around to finishing KotFE and KotET and I'm wondering if I have to grind character influence if I want to avoid something bad happening regarding the companions. I'd really like to just do the story and a little side content like the Star Fortresses and not have to grind for companion influence.

The only thing I can think of off hand is for Bowdarr you need to be sure he's at least at lvl 10 influence. Otherwise

There are others like Blizz and several others, who become available after you do their "alliance alert" style missions which involve everything from go here/do this to "win X PvP matches". Quite a few return in the main story tho. There's one you can only get back during the rackghoul event.

At the start of KOTFE/ET you will lose all your current class companions**. Some other companions, such as Treek, Nico, etc, are still around, but in any case you will be using "assigned" companions during FE/ET.

The influence level of your companions does not affect the story. There are, of course, occasions when raising the influence level of your "current" (temporary) companion, can help make the fights go easier, but that won't affect the story.

 

**They come back later.

Edited November 3, 2019 by JediQuaker

Just an FYI. If you create any new characters influence level no longer triggers the companion stories.

 

When I can back from a 2 year break and made a new character I noticed that the companion missions were triggering based on story progress rather than influence level as the used to.

Hi, not really a new player, but am returning after a few years and am finally getting around to finishing KotFE and KotET and I'm wondering if I have to grind character influence if I want to avoid something bad happening regarding the companions. I'd really like to just do the story and a little side content like the Star Fortresses and not have to grind for companion influence.

 

For what you are saying no it doesn't matter for the story. I'm assuming you are thinking kind of like how your crew was in me2 where you have to be on good terms with for them to survive. The only thing influence ( excuse the pun) Influences now is how your comp is during combat and how fast they get crew skill tasks done. Theres only one comp that can die during the KotET and it just makes you choose with no other factors taken in consideration other then your choice.

The only thing influence ( excuse the pun) Influences now is how your comp is during combat and how fast they get crew skill tasks done

Higher Influence also increases the chance of a "critical" success from crew skill missions & crafting. Companions get +0.5% crit chance for every Influence Rank, up +25% at Influence Rank 50.

Higher Influence also increases the chance of a "critical" success from crew skill missions & crafting. Companions get +0.5% crit chance for every Influence Rank, up +25% at Influence Rank 50.

It also greatly speeds all crew skill actions, too (missions and crafting). If you do any kind of crafting, having a couple high-influence companions makes a big difference.

At the start of KOTFE/ET you will lose all your current class companions**

This is the big one for crafters. While influence doesn't impact story, the reverse is not true. You will loose access to your high-influence companions during the story and if you make bad choices, they're gone.

 

It can be very far from obvious which choices eventually lead to loosing a companion; you'll have to resort to spoiler sites to protect your high-influence companions. I haven't found a handy table or list for this -- just lots of google-sleuthing.

 

To avoid all that mess, I now only raise up Treek, HK-51, and/or Ranos for new characters. AFAIK, those are the only companions immune to getting story-snatched.