First, a short prequel:

the new SWTOR expansion, Knights of the Fallen Empire, is as substantial and sweeping in character as the New Game Experience of SWTOR's predecessor in the Star Wars universe's MMO, the now-defunct Star Wars Galaxies.

That is not to say that KotFE will meet the same fate as did the NGE of SWG, but in quality and scope, the paradigm shift is just as sweeping.

That said, the changes are so fundamental that only now, after many leaks and comments here and there by Bioware, are players beginning to grasp the scope of this new game system.

It isn't just more class content story to be told; the whole center point of the former SWTOR revolved around character interaction with companions and the class stories that evolved as the various character classes progressed. Everything else was just side-quest padding to make the leveling happen, as we can now see, in the approximate ratio of 11 non-class quests to each class quest, hence the 12 times XP acceleration that was offered.

SWTOR is changing so fundamentally that now it might be a good time to reflect on what is about to leave versus what is coming, because if players enjoy certain aspects of the game, then now is the time to do them, for as sure as the release of KotFE is coming, these activities are leaving.

Companions are about to be homogenized in a way not heretofore seen. Each companion's idiosyncratic behavior, as an actor in-game, is about to be slotted into the three-way mix of tank-dps-healer choices that will be offered to us, eliminating player impact or input on how those individualistic traits play-out in game.

First, however, I must interject an example of where this has already happened to another MMO.

Consider some of WoW's more famous (for a while, anyway) pet predecessors for the Hunter class, a couple of tame-able NPCs called "The Rake" and old "Broken Tooth", feral cats whose tamed characteristics were much prized by observant Hunter-class players, especially those who loved PvP, for these cats, when tamed, still retained some of the characteristics of their wild cousins, namely an attack speed that was so rapid (striking more frequently than once-per-second) that PvP player opponents, like Mages who relied on casting spells, could never get them released, so fast did these player-tamed pets strike and interrupt them.

It was not an exploit; it was simply player ingenuity that discovered and utilized these pets to do more than the average tamed pet could do.

However, Blizzard, in its wisdom, homogenized pet characteristics, and the value of old "Broken Tooth" and "The Rake" disappeared completely, along with the fun of finding and taming them.

So what does that have to do with KotFE? It can be spoken of freely now, since the little secret is probably going to be of no further importance once the KotFE changes hit the game system.

The ship's droid is not like any other SWTOR companion. It is as close to its famous cousins in WoW, in present SWTOR, as companions in SWTOR can be. For those of you who play the ship's droid as a healer will know, it has amazing resiliency and strong tanking aggro engagement, all the while being the best-in-class of all healer companions, Treek included.

A well-equipped ship's droid loses so little health in combat that it is almost a non-issue. I have only seen the little droid die twice, and that occurred when, in my haste to employ it, that I forgot to give it any equipment at all. Keep it pistol-free and be amazed as the little war machine runs up to an NPC, punching away with its unarmed attacks, holding aggro, all the while a stream of luscious green healing goodness keeps the player's health bar full to brimming.

Give him a pistol, and it just gets hilarious, watching him grab aggro on NPCs away from established tank players, and killing the aggroed NPC with pistol shots.

Before KotFE was announced, I equipped him with the defensive set of droid gear from Yavin, bulked it up with power augments, and let the chatty little droid do its thing. Wonderful stuff. You can also turn-off the healer aspect, equip it with aggressive droid gear, augmented, also from Yavin, and have a fighting companion who also manages to keep you very healthy, thank you very much!

Don't believe me? Then you haven't played the little machine.

And you have very little time left to do so, for I doubt very much that he will survive the Great Leveling of companions that Bioware is about to foist off on the game. Of course, I would love to be wrong, and I hope I am, but I doubt it. As Janis Joplin sang, "Get it while you can..."!

I am hoping-against-hope that Bioware gets it right. Either way, win or lose, I really am going to miss my secret weapon.

on one hand. I'm almost relieved that I don't have to worry about gearing companions anymore, I can just pick and chose whoever I want, and give them whatever look I want.

on the other hand.... I get where you are coming from. while I never managed to get those rare kitties back before standardization of pet families in WoW, I did hunt for specific pets for specific purposes and now that the differences are a lot more minor... I no longer do. (though it does help to have a few specific families handy as each family has a special unique ability, its just not tied to specific individuals anymore). but.... I also get to have my porcelain kitty (original spirit beast) as my hunter's tank, thanks to ability to switch between all three roles... so there are certainly benefits to that.

which is why companion change is mostly a positive one for me (although idea of, say Skadge as a healer - breaks my brain a little). I think compromise would have been giving baseline stats to companions and then allowing people to tweak those stats with additional gear. but I have no clue how challenging that would be to implement, so... yeah

Companions are about to be homogenized in a way not heretofore seen. Each companion's idiosyncratic behavior, as an actor in-game, is about to be slotted into the three-way mix of tank-dps-healer choices that will be offered to us, eliminating player impact or input on how those individualistic traits play-out in game.

I've seen this argument thrown around a lot and I'm still not buying it. They've made no indication that companions won't have their own unique aspects to combat in individual combat modes (at least the ones they had before) but the difference is that now, instead of choosing whatever companion filled the role we needed despite whether or not we actually *liked* that companion, we can choose the ones we want.

In my opinion this adds a lot of flexibility to the companion system as a whole since now you can pick the companion you like, as an individual, and have them adapt to your combat role so you're not at a disadvantage compared to if you were using a companion who came with the role you need originally. This is great because I like Jaesa on my Warrior but in harder content I'm using Treek without hesitation. I have no desire to use Quinn and just won't use him, which is why I unlocked Treek in the first place. I like to have a healer companion with my melee classes. Honestly, I dislike Treek too and the Ship Droid has never been that great for me combat wise (although they did change the ship droids after Shadow of Revan, before which they couldn't equip a weapon period because they were specifically not meant for combat, and I haven't tested them much since). But those are my options, so Treek it is despite the fact that I'd much rather be using Jaesa (or Vette, really).

Having a system in a game focused on story where each class/spec has an "optimal companion" is a really bad design. They should all have their own unique style and animations (and from what we know of KOTFE, they still will, unless you've seen something I haven't) but they should all be viable choices too instead of leaving you in a situation where you don't use a character you like simply because their role doesn't fit your playstyle, so you use a companion you don't like as much (or at all) just to fill that role.

Never understand the wall text people love to post. Don't you realize no one reads it?

i have issues typing more than a dozen or so lines at one time...can't imagine how long it would take to actually write a wall of text, edit, reorganize it, type it again etc.

and then to not have it read or ignored or mocked must be heart breaking. But yes, most people wont read it (yours truly included) as i'm not looking for long winded issues, I want to have a conversation, not a monologue.

Teemo

This thread is not complete. It may be closed now.

I am hoping-against-hope that Bioware gets it right. Either way, win or lose, I really am going to miss my secret weapon.

I was expecting that last part to link to a John Cena meme.

disappointed/10

WALL OF TEXT Attacks!

You have been hit for 32 points of damage!

Never understand the wall text people love to post. Don't you realize no one reads it?

no one?

speak for yourself. some of us read books for fun, a page or so of paragraphed post is nothing.

no one?

 

speak for yourself. some of us read books for fun, a page or so of paragraphed post is nothing.

books are interesting and fun to read.

walls'o'brain dump are not.

no one?

 

speak for yourself. some of us read books for fun, a page or so of paragraphed post is nothing.

I read 2-3 books a week for fun. Reading someone rant isn't fun.

Teemo

Power of Syndra

First, a short prequel:

 

the new SWTOR expansion, Knights of the Fallen Empire, is as substantial and sweeping in character as the New Game Experience of SWTOR's predecessor in the Star Wars universe's MMO, the now-defunct Star Wars Galaxies.

 

That is not to say that KotFE will meet the same fate as did the NGE of SWG, but in quality and scope, the paradigm shift is just as sweeping.

 

That said, the changes are so fundamental that only now, after many leaks and comments here and there by Bioware, are players beginning to grasp the scope of this new game system.

 

It isn't just more class content story to be told; the whole center point of the former SWTOR revolved around character interaction with companions and the class stories that evolved as the various character classes progressed. Everything else was just side-quest padding to make the leveling happen, as we can now see, in the approximate ratio of 11 non-class quests to each class quest, hence the 12 times XP acceleration that was offered.

 

SWTOR is changing so fundamentally that now it might be a good time to reflect on what is about to leave versus what is coming, because if players enjoy certain aspects of the game, then now is the time to do them, for as sure as the release of KotFE is coming, these activities are leaving.

 

Companions are about to be homogenized in a way not heretofore seen. Each companion's idiosyncratic behavior, as an actor in-game, is about to be slotted into the three-way mix of tank-dps-healer choices that will be offered to us, eliminating player impact or input on how those individualistic traits play-out in game.

 

First, however, I must interject an example of where this has already happened to another MMO.

 

Consider some of WoW's more famous (for a while, anyway) pet predecessors for the Hunter class, a couple of tame-able NPCs called "The Rake" and old "Broken Tooth", feral cats whose tamed characteristics were much prized by observant Hunter-class players, especially those who loved PvP, for these cats, when tamed, still retained some of the characteristics of their wild cousins, namely an attack speed that was so rapid (striking more frequently than once-per-second) that PvP player opponents, like Mages who relied on casting spells, could never get them released, so fast did these player-tamed pets strike and interrupt them.

 

It was not an exploit; it was simply player ingenuity that discovered and utilized these pets to do more than the average tamed pet could do.

 

However, Blizzard, in its wisdom, homogenized pet characteristics, and the value of old "Broken Tooth" and "The Rake" disappeared completely, along with the fun of finding and taming them.

 

So what does that have to do with KotFE? It can be spoken of freely now, since the little secret is probably going to be of no further importance once the KotFE changes hit the game system.

 

The ship's droid is not like any other SWTOR companion. It is as close to its famous cousins in WoW, in present SWTOR, as companions in SWTOR can be. For those of you who play the ship's droid as a healer will know, it has amazing resiliency and strong tanking aggro engagement, all the while being the best-in-class of all healer companions, Treek included.

 

A well-equipped ship's droid loses so little health in combat that it is almost a non-issue. I have only seen the little droid die twice, and that occurred when, in my haste to employ it, that I forgot to give it any equipment at all. Keep it pistol-free and be amazed as the little war machine runs up to an NPC, punching away with its unarmed attacks, holding aggro, all the while a stream of luscious green healing goodness keeps the player's health bar full to brimming.

 

Give him a pistol, and it just gets hilarious, watching him grab aggro on NPCs away from established tank players, and killing the aggroed NPC with pistol shots.

 

Before KotFE was announced, I equipped him with the defensive set of droid gear from Yavin, bulked it up with power augments, and let the chatty little droid do its thing. Wonderful stuff. You can also turn-off the healer aspect, equip it with aggressive droid gear, augmented, also from Yavin, and have a fighting companion who also manages to keep you very healthy, thank you very much!

 

Don't believe me? Then you haven't played the little machine.

 

And you have very little time left to do so, for I doubt very much that he will survive the Great Leveling of companions that Bioware is about to foist off on the game. Of course, I would love to be wrong, and I hope I am, but I doubt it. As Janis Joplin sang, "Get it while you can..."!

 

I am hoping-against-hope that Bioware gets it right. Either way, win or lose, I really am going to miss my secret weapon.

As a joke, I started leveling a character with the ship's droid as a companion. I dressed him in the butler garb and maxed him out on aim / power. He is a hoot and no joke. The droid has shocked me because he is indeed the best healer (Treek is wasting away in the ship). He also does not gabber at you.

All in all, I am sorry I twigged to it so late, but the ships droid is a great healing companion.

PS - I am also one who believes that the companions are one reason (understated) to play SWTOR and EA/BW will be messing up badly with the changes to companions.

Never understand the wall text people love to post. Don't you realize no one reads it?

I did.

Never understand the wall text people love to post. Don't you realize no one reads it?

I read the whole post. Interesting read, but I do not share the same feeling as the OP.

I respectfully disagree.

Right now, I'm stuck on several characters using companions I absolutely HATE but since every other companion is not a viable option for level-appropriate, I can do nothing but stand these idiots.

NOW, with KOTFE coming, if I want my LS Sorcerer to run around with Ashara as a tank, I can. And I want to because both my current tank companions are DS and having them walk around my character feels incredibly jarring.

Same goes with my Knights (I have a total of three.). Right now, all of them are stuck with Doc. Now, I don't hate Doc at all but hearing him repeat his stock phrases when healing in combat... After nearly 4 years in the game? Yeah no. If I can switch for Kira, or even barely used companions like Rusk or T7, then I'll be overjoyed.

That why we can't agree actually.

You only look at the companions as game mechanics to be geared up. I don't. I used to slap the least useless gear I could find on them and hope they'd survive the next fights.

Now I can go adventuring with whoever the f*** I want, when I want, without restrictions. I finally feel like I'll be able to dust up some companions that I've never, ever, used. (Rusk, even though I got him around the time achievements were implemented, hasn't even unlocked the 100 kills achievements and Skadge, hasn't even has 10 in total on two BH.)

So here, your answer: Not everyone feels like changes to companions in KOTFE are a bad thing.

I respectfully disagree.

Right now, I'm stuck on several characters using companions I absolutely HATE but since every other companion is not a viable option for level-appropriate, I can do nothing but stand these idiots.

NOW, with KOTFE coming, if I want my LS Sorcerer to run around with Ashara as a tank, I can. And I want to because both my current tank companions are DS and having them walk around my character feels incredibly jarring.

Same goes with my Knights (I have a total of three.). Right now, all of them are stuck with Doc. Now, I don't hate Doc at all but hearing him repeat his stock phrases when healing in combat... After nearly 4 years in the game? Yeah no. If I can switch for Kira, or even barely used companions like Rusk or T7, then I'll be overjoyed.

That why we can't agree actually.

You only look at the companions as game mechanics to be geared up. I don't. I used to slap the least useless gear I could find on them and hope they'd survive the next fights.

Now I can go adventuring with whoever the f*** I want, when I want, without restrictions. I finally feel like I'll be able to dust up some companions that I've never, ever, used. (Rusk, even though I got him around the time achievements were implemented, hasn't even unlocked the 100 kills achievements and Skadge, hasn't even has 10 in total on two BH.)

So here, your answer: Not everyone feels like changes to companions in KOTFE are a bad thing.

Yeah, I have to agree with you. I am very excited for the change. Now I can quest with companion A for a while and when I go tired of A, I simply switch to B.

Tl;Dr

Opening up all 3 roles to companions is as significant change to the game as NGE was to SWG.

My ship droid healer may not be as powerful as it used to be now it will have set gear scaled to character level.

Did I miss anything?

Personally I can't wait for the proposed changes to companions coming in 4.0.

Hated the fact the game forced you to level with certain companions or change your playstyle to accommodate the companions you had available. Not to mention some classes getting healer companions straight out of the starter planet while others had to wait till Hoth.

And then there were the companions that just didn't seem to match their bio. For the Sith Warrior Vette would have made a more sensible healer than Quinn. Or ones that just didn't mesh with the character (I don't think I've ever used Rusk, Iresso or Zenith for example).

It sounds like we may be able to recruit companions across from other classes (don't know if this is based in unlocking them or their new influence system), as well as acquire some completely new companions. If the loss of individual gear (not appearance, just the stats) is the price to pay for having so many more companion options I can live with that.

These changes mean I will get far more use out of companions rather than less.