Wording is a tricky thing. Does that mean they don't gain any "bonuses" from mods, armorings, hilts, etc? Or they don't even gain any key stats whatsoever?

The game's description suggests just no bonuses, so of I equip my companion with an higher rating item (lightsaber with higher damage), then would they gain from those higher key stats?

Or would the same companion do the same exact damage no matter the lightsaber they are equipped with?

Equipment stats have no affect on companions. It doesn't even matter if they're 'naked', but they usually do need to have a weapon equipped*. The stats of the weapon don't matter either.

* some of their skills may require a weapon and if they don't have one, they tend to run in and fight with their fists - which can be funny, but not very effective. 🙂

More elaborative, companions do not have stats of their own. Their effectiveness is determined by the player's Presence and the companion's Influence Level, which gives a bonus to Presence. Higher Presence increases the damage/healing that a companion does, decreases their casting time, and increases their defense and HP.

Basically, it doesn't matter if you've done your best to make your Vette look like the winner of the 'Mission Vao Look-a-like Contest' or if she's going around dressed like she should be in a Hutt's palace; whether she's carrying her starter blasters, a pair of E-5 Blaster Pistols with iR306 mods or a couple of empty shells solely for the look of them, none of it's going to have any actual effect on her combat ability.

Unfortunately, all the Presence in the world doesn't seem to keep Companions from performing Stupid Companion Tricks like standing around doing nothing or attacking instead of healing in the Healer role (or my favorite, standing in an AOE attack and healing instead of moving out of it...)

I was kinda surprised gear doesn't matter to companions and that gear is only for looks only. ( A light Suggestion) I kinda feel gear should be somewhat effective. I mean as far as basic damage and armor increase goes but the other stats could just be player only like alacrity and all that could be player only I was just thinking companions could just get the weapon damage and the armor rating for armor. Maby in the future perhaps.

Kind of silly that a low level gear would be on par with a 306+. Maby something to think about for future expansions that gear on companions would be more then cosmetic.

Not that i'm complaining just surprised. Cause I was giving my companions purple gear thinking that gear would help them perform better before finding out it was only looks only.

I was kinda surprised gear doesn't matter to companions and that gear is only for looks only. ( A light Suggestion) I kinda feel gear should be somewhat effective. I mean as far as basic damage and armor increase goes but the other stats could just be player only like alacrity and all that could be player only I was just thinking companions could just get the weapon damage and the armor rating for armor. Maby in the future perhaps.

In the past, actually...

From what I understand, there was a time that the stats of the gear with which companions were equipped did play a role in their effectiveness. I believe this was pre-4.0, so that would also have been the time of role-locked companions and planetary-specific equipment sets. Anyway, it was changed to cosmetic only because players didn't like having to grind gear not only for their actual character, but also for each companion that they used so that their companions could keep up in regards to enemy difficulty, character health and damage, et al.

thanks guys for all your responses. i read them diligently but tend not to "up" the thread unnecessarily but always feel gratitude towards everyone who responds! gracias, again.

just a related question that deserve thread upping now:

what about Amplifiers?

they are the only "stat" that look active/highlighted EVEN when equipped on a companion, while the other stats are clearly greyed out/inactive as per the whole rule of "companions do not gain statistical bonuses"

but Amplifiers retain their texture/color as an indication of remaining active even when companion bound.

so do we get the related Amplifier bonus when equipped on our companion? and if so, does that occur even when they are not summoned to us?

cheers,