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[Guide] Companion Optimization, Gearing and Tips


KevMeup

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Last updated for patch: 6.3.2b

 

This guide should be a good starting point for people who want to get more out of their companions. If you have any more suggestions or comments let me know.

 

Most Effective Companions by Stance:

 

DPS:

Shae Vizla is the highest DPS companion in the game right now, parsing over 10k on a dummy, due to a major bonus to her AOE skill.

 

Companions with 2 light sabers parse 8900+ such as Master Ranos, Ashara or Veeroa (Veeroa gets a very minor bonus from not having a delay on her kill shot). D-R3D does not channel his AOE attack (bug) so his dps is slightly less.

 

Any companion with 2 blaster Pistols will be excellent for DPS, parsing 8600+.

 

Q0-77, Nico, Vette, Hamdil Tre, Theron Shan, Andronikos Revel and Ensign Temple (before her respawn) all use 2 blaster pistols and are top Ranged DPS after Shae.

 

Heals:

If you are in fights that don't have a very high healing requirement, I'd recommend using any of the high DPS companions above (with 2 weapons, not Shae Vizla) and disabling their Channeled heal.

 

Z0-0M is the highest heals (because of hidden bonus AOE).

 

Almost all other companions are even on Heals. I usually go for any 2 blaster pistol user for my primary healer.

 

Melee companions can heal just fine, they just may have a small delay in their heals while they move to new targets.

 

Tank:

For short fights, trash or very mobile bosses, any high DPS Melee companion, they will stay in melee range and deliver a high amount of threat from their damage.

 

For long fights, there is a chance that Ranged DPS classes don't teleport within the 5m range, and over the fight will generate more threat per taunt because of it. This still required more testing.

 

I'm taking Dr Lokin off my list for tanks.. He's great because he had no cooldown on his jumps, but he doesn't have real taunts in my tests, so over a long fight he wont be near other comps.

 

Best Leveling Companion:

1. Shae Vizla (dps only, great for grinding story mode FPs)

2. Altuur zok Adon can be unlocked for your account and is great in all 3 specs

3. Q0-77 (anyone can buy on cartel and unlock for all characters, also levels from droid parts/jawa junk)

4. Nico Okarr - DPS/Heals, Paxton Rall - Heals, Master Ranos - DPS/tank

5. Darth Hexid, K1-Z3N, T4-1D or TY-4N are standard blaster users with minimal bugs (bought or unlocked for collections)

 

Cartel Companions:

Most Cartel companions are bugged in some way (need testing since 6.0, some were fixed). K1-Z3N has no known bugs (but didnt get 5.5 damage boost like others). T4-1D or TY-4N functions like a normal blaster riffle user for DPS and Heals. Q0-77 is fantastic.

 

Influence, Presence and Taskmaster:

 

Influence:

As you finish crew skill missions, complete some story missions, or give gifts, your influence with a companion increases. Starting at level 1 and capping out at level 50.

 

Dulfy has an excellent guide on increasing your influence.

 

In addition, some companions will get Influence bonuses from PVP or Star Fortress.

 

For each influence level, you get +50 presence with that companion. This makes it the most important factor in combat effectiveness.

 

Presence:

Presence affects your companions Health, Heals and Damage. Health being the largest improvement you'll see.

 

You’ll get +100 legacy presence from unlocking the human species. If you have not yet, you can find it under legacy and just purchase there.

 

Finish all your companion quest conversations. This means get their influence to 8000-10000 and talk till they are worn out. You’ll get a +10 permanent (legacy) presence bonus for each companion. This can add up to 200 on imp and 200 on pub side.

 

Datacrons also give presence. They are now legacy as well, so they are worth the work once.

 

Drinks from cantinas give a stack-able presence bonus which are great to use for any occasion.

 

Command stims are also available and are not a bad choice for heroics or leveling (once again craftable in 6.0).

 

You can now roll presence on gear (amps) since 6.0. Sometimes you can get some high bonuses like +50.

 

The legacy bound relics from the rakghoul events give a very nice presence bonus and I'd highly recommend them for leveling.

 

Taskmaster:

2 set: 2% alacrity

4 set: "Significantly increase the attack and activation speed of your companion"

 

The Taskmaster gear set gives your companion 3000 additional Alacrity:

3900 in DPS

4130 in heal spec

3000 in tank

 

This helps them in any stance. Generally the DPS increase would be around 10-20%. This is great for a general/shareable dps set for alts.

 

 

Player Buffs, Debuffs and Skills:

Class Buffs:

Your companions benefit from class buffs, just like you do. Make sure they have them on before battle. Finish your chapter 2 with all 4 classes and you’ll have the legacy class buffs for all your characters.

 

Debuffs

Each class has attacks that leave targets more vulnerable to certain attacks. For instance, if you play a sniper you and your companion may do 5% more ranged damage. If you play a warrior, you both may do 5% more melee damage. There is a great article on it here.

 

Unity:

This skill reduces the damage you and your companion take. You can purchase it, or get a lightside character to unlock it for your legacy. This skill is easily forgotten but can save your hide in a tough fight.

 

Sacrifice:

Can be used before mounting up to get a free heal. It's not really useful.

 

Heroic Moment:

This skill heals you and your companion for the duration as well as enabling any of the cool heroic moves you have unlocked (Chapter 3 with any of the 8 classes). Since these are heavy hitting abilities, plan them out as well as possible. You may want to use a stun before your channeled abilities like flame thrower or orbital strike.

 

1 Sample Parse of Legacy Skills on Debuffed Training Dummy:

Legacy Orbital Strike for 16,199 elemental damage (16,199 threat)

Legacy Orbital Strike for 28,371* elemental damage (28,371 threat)

Legacy Orbital Strike for 16,320 elemental damage (16,320 threat)

Legacy Flame Thrower for 14,857 elemental damage (14,857 threat)

Legacy Flame Thrower for 14,847 elemental damage (14,847 threat)

Legacy Flame Thrower for 25,088* elemental damage (25,088 threat)

Legacy Project for 9,949 kinetic damage (9,949 threat)

Legacy Project for 9,843 kinetic damage (9,843 threat)

Legacy Project for 16,505* kinetic damage (16,505 threat)

Legacy Force Lightning for 16,155 energy damage (16,155 threat)

Legacy Force Lightning for 28,350* energy damage (28,350 threat)

Legacy Force Lightning for 28,442* energy damage (28,442 threat)

Legacy Force Lightning for 28,426* energy damage (28,426 threat)

Legacy Force Sweep for 15,761 kinetic damage (15,761 threat)

Legacy Dirty Kick for 32,897* kinetic damage (32,897 threat)

Legacy Sticky Plasma Grenade for 4,273 kinetic damage (4,273 threat)

Legacy Force Choke for 15,092 kinetic damage (15,092 threat)

Legacy Force Choke for 25,053* kinetic damage (25,053 threat)

Legacy Force Choke for 25,032* kinetic damage (25,032 threat)

Legacy Force Choke for 15,039 kinetic damage (15,039 threat)

Legacy Sticky Plasma Grenade for 10,488* elemental damage (10,488 threat)

Legacy Sticky Plasma Grenade for 10,448* elemental damage (10,448 threat)

Legacy Sticky Plasma Grenade for 10,252* elemental damage (10,252 threat)

Legacy Sticky Plasma Grenade for 10,227* elemental damage (10,227 threat)

Legacy Sticky Plasma Grenade for 10,221* elemental damage (10,221 threat)

Legacy Sticky Plasma Grenade for 10,400* elemental damage (10,400 threat)

 

Level Sync and Your Companion:

 

Level Sync and Your Personal Combat Effectiveness:

When you go to a lower level planet for things like heroics, your combat effectiveness and effective level is reduced. They do this by "capping" your health, force/tech power and armor at the max possible for the planet level.

 

This means that if you're farming heroics, much of your higher level gear is only useful for secondary stats, like alacrity, critical or defense.

 

For example on tatooine I can take off all of my gear except for my main and offhand and I'm still at Tech Power cap. On Ilum I can take off 3-4 pieces of gear with no effect.

 

Since power or mastery relics are useless for heroics, you may consider absorb shield, mending (triggered by any self heal) or critical relics since these are not capped or reduced. Depending on your spec these relics might cover all your health issues and let you run with a dps comp.

 

Level Sync and Your Companion:

If you solo/duo heroics with a companion often, you may want to consider some of the above tips, to get your presence up like rakghoul relics, command stim and a corellian cocktail. Presence is not capped, so although you and your companion are level 18, your 4400 presence is in full effect and is really the only way to increase your overall damage output on lower planets. Usually my companion has 2-3x as much health and up to 3x more damage than I do. This means a duo group with a good DPS companion could double the dps output of 4 real level 70 average players.

 

 

Combat Tips:

Damage Skills and Tips:

I often turn off the stun so I can use it manually on harder bosses. In my testing, there is a damage bonus for companions with 2 weapons (blasters or light sabers).

 

Healer Skills and Tips:

If you don't need a ton of heals, you can get more dps by disabling the channeled heal. Also, comps are not good at prioritizing heals so, try to keep the damage on 1 player at a time.

 

Tank Skills and Tips:

Tank companions are great now. They have multiple absorb and damage reduction skills, even an AOE Pull, which lets you gather up groups for AOEs.

 

PVP:

Remember when you stun a companion, the resolve is shared with the player, so you might want to turn off CCs on your comp. Keep your heroic moment and unity handy, it can make a big difference.

 

Companion Battles:

This is a great use for your guild flagship or guild headquarters. Meet up, duel and tell your companions to fight it out.

 

Remember to bring your presence buffs (cantina drink, command stim) and if you're really crazy you can craft a full set of command gear and aug for presence :) The rakgul vendor has some great presence relics as well.

 

Decide if unity, heroic moment or skill micromanagement is legal before you start. Using a stun or kill shot at the right moment can sometimes make a big difference.

 

Keybindings and Interface:

You can rebind any of your companion skills. Control + whatever can be a pain. Especially for healers, you’ll want to make sure your companion is attacking anything that is trying to hurt you.

 

As heals, if you use operations frames instead of Group frames, you can set your group member’s companion as Focus Target (Alt F) so it’s easy to keep track of it’s health during a fight.

 

Solo Flash Point Tips (Best for Leveling)

Solo Flash Point Tips

Solo Flash Points are in my opinion the fastest way to level they are not bad for decos or conquest as well.

 

You can get the 30% xp bonus for your character in Legacy menu. You can get 25% flash point XP consumables for cheap. Gear doesn't matter, empty shells work just fine (or xp gear). Most importantly, you get your companion AND a "Jesus Droid" so the deck is stacked in your favor..

 

Set your companion to DPS. The Jesus droid has you covered.

 

Hit everything in the FP at least once. Otherwise your companion may never attack and the Jesus droid will sit there tanking the mob forever.

 

Go DPS if you're comfortable with it, more damage is always better.

 

Take a friend. You both get a companion and a Jesus droid, so you can roll through the FP with a small army. Double Heroic Moments can just decimate a boss in 7 seconds as well :)Swap lead if someone gets the message saying they can't summon droid.

 

List of Flashpoints and Solo Modes with Levels

 

Heroics Tips:

Heroics Tips:

Many people Solo or Duo Heroics using companions. Its one of the places they really shine late game. The money is fair and the turn in crates have legacy armor and a chance at the 250k comp gifts (which sell for 50-200k on gtn).

 

First off, having planet level appropriate gear matters for heroics. This is why I don't recommend them for solo leveling, solo FPs are much better in that regard.

 

If you have 2 people, make sure only 1 of you has your companion set to heal. 1 Companion can heal a full group easy.

 

If your companion is set to heal, be sure to turn off the channeled heal for most fights. I find I only need to turn it back on if I pull a whole room on Belsavis or something.

 

If you are well geared and feel comfortable with your survival, consider going DPS with a DPS companion, as this is the fastest way to complete these. You'll have to judge your own comfort level though.

 

Consider using Shae or a companion with 2 weapons. Veeroa Denz, Master Ranos, Ashara, Vette, Theron, Hamdil Tre..

 

Level up your companion. Once you've decided which one you want to use for these, level them up as high as you can. The higher you get them, the easier/better life will be. You might even want to toss on a couple thorn relics, a command stim and a drink from the cantina to increase your presence if you really let your companion do most of the work.

 

Dulfy Heroic Guide - Imp

 

Dulfy Heroic Guide - Pub

 

Heroic Guide and Times per by ArthurDDL

 

Similar spreadsheet with republic side by Jessabeans

 

 

Star Fortress Tips:

Star Fortress Tips:

Star Fortress is fun content. I love companions, soloing flashpoints, free companion influence and free decos.

Star Fortress Story mode is level 65 and does not sink up to your level, so it should be very easy for a 75.

Star Fortress Vet mode (Heroic 2+) will sync you to 70 now.

 

Dulfy's Star Fortress Guide

 

Black Bantha's Star Fortress Guide

 

All the Heroic tips above still apply for star fortress.

 

In story mode, the flashpoint should be pretty easy. I can complete them in about 15 minutes. 3 Decos and 750 companion influence is sure not bad for the time it takes to complete 1 PVP match.

 

For heroic mode, I hardly see deco drops.. Although I've heard rumor the paladins drop bracers, I've never seen it. I have gotten the speeder off the final boss twice so far.

 

If you have your influence with one of the alliance specialist to 4 you can use the heroic buffs, which make a giant difference. If you are at 10 with all the specialist you can pick up special reusable skills in the mission (2 in the first half, 2 in the second), they are awesome, feel free to use them often, maybe saving the turret for a boss fight. If you don't have the influence yourself yet, you may want to get a friend to join you on the heroic version, the fights go very fast that way.

 

Be sure to get Veeroa Denz from Narshada as she is a super star DPS (top after Shae). Hamdil Tre is a great double blaster user if you can't stand all the fuss around Vette or Theron.

 

 

Eternal Championship Tips:

Eternal Championship Tips:

The legacy weapons are pretty awesome also as they show your color crystal on the sides.

 

The championship is mostly about mechanics, but you'll also want a good gear level and to know your rotation as the faster the bosses die, the safer you'll be.

 

I would NOT recommend doing this in heal spec, even with a good dps or tank companion it's just painful..

 

Most people go DPS with their companion in heal stance. I prefer to go DPS/DPS on the first few bosses, then swap my companion to heals as things get harder. You'll definitely want to do that if you're going for a speed run achievement.

 

If you're companion is set to heals, It's a good idea to practice turning the channeled heal on and off during the fight depending on the damage you're taking. There are many phases when your companion can help out by DPSing an ad or something else.

 

Although the default advice is always use a ranged companion for healing when you have mechanics... I have not seen any advantage to that in the championship. The Breaktown Brawler fight has a reflect that will hurt any ranged companion. Ironically I've only had to put a ranged companion on follow, and never had a problem with a melee in there.

 

Other than that, learn the mechanics, usually that means killing, interrupting or stunning ads and staying out of most things on the floor.

 

Dulfy has an excellent guide here

 

 

Extreme Companion Uses (Master Flashpoints Solo/Duo)

Master Flashpoints Solo/Duo

I can't advise doing these solo unless you're stealth, it's just a ton of work getting through ads. Stealth is even better now though and make some flash points as lucrative as pvp for cxp.

 

Gear matters, as many of the enrage timers are tight, or damage increases over time. The same for companion level, 50 is preferred.

 

Also keep in mind some of the phases deal much less damage than others, if you turn off the channeled heal from your companion on those, you'll get a nice dps bonus. Just that alone helped me get through red reaper, as my companion could help kill the rooting ads.

 

Look for talents that can help with a particular boss. Damage reduction ones are usually important. The break stun and jump to target ones can be crucial for melees to keep the fight moving. Reflect is very nice on some bosses.

 

Unity can help a lot, and if the fight is long enough, heroic moment will pop a second time, so be sure to start the first one early.

 

DPS/DPS is also a crazy option on some fights, if you can share agro and time your cooldowns right, it might help you make it through some of the harder enrage timers. If ads are dead, they are not causing you damage anymore :) In a fight Veeroa Denz does maybe 3k dps tops in heal spec with channeled disabled, she can do almost 10,000 dps in dps stance, and the armor debuff might help all of your damage if you lack one in your tree.

 

When I duo flashpoints, sometimes it pays to have 1 tank comp and 1 heal comp as healing companions get confused when they have to balance healing 4 people at once.

 

If you are a stealth duo and your companion dies, you can quickly re-summon it in a fight by stealthing, then using rocket boots before re-entering combat.

 

 

Gearing:

Gear on companions no longer effects their combat capabilities.

 

Parsing:

Parsing:

Overall DPS Ranking by damage type: (

)

Rating:15 - 11011 - 1 Blaster (Shae) - Shae Vizla

Rating:13 - 9672.5 - 1 Sniper Rifle (Altuur) - Altuur zok Adon

Rating:12 - 9563.5 - 2 Lightsabers (Darkside) - Veeroa Denz

Rating:11 - 9224.5 - 2 Lightsabers (Lightside) - Master Ranos, Ashara

Rating:11 - 9157.5 - 2 Blasters (Tech) - Theron Shan, Vette, Hemdil Tre, Raina Temple, Nico Okarr, Q0-77, Andronikos Revel

Rating:10 - 9078 - 1 Blaster (Paxton) - Paxton Rall

Rating:9 - 8755 - 1 Blaster (Z0-0M) - Z0-0M, K1-Z3N

Rating:9 - 8677 - 1 Assault Cannon - K'krohl, Personal Warbot, Phrojo Nuray

Rating:8 - 8564 - 1 Sniper Rifle - Aric Jorgan, Torian Cadera, Provost Marshal Rusk, Risha

Rating:8 - 8548.5 - Rakghoul - Eckard Lokin

Rating:7 - 8450 - 2 Vibroswords - D-R3D

Rating:7 - 8483 - 1 Blaster Rifle - Rokuss, Gault Rennow, HK-55, Kaliyo Djannis, T7-01, Major Pierce, Jakarro, Koth Vortena, SCORPIO

Rating:6 - 8366 - 1 Staff/DoubleBladed - Darth Hexid, Xalek, Kira Carsen, C8-S3C, Vector, Akaavi Spar

Rating:6 - 8282 - 1 Blaster Rifle (Collicoid) - T4-1D, H1-K1, ISO-5R, TY-4N

Rating:5 - 8161 - 1 Sniper Rifle (HK-51) - HK-51

Rating:5 - 8023.5 - 1 Blaster Rifle (H2-WF) - H2-WF

Rating:5 - 8000.5 - 1 Blaster - Blizz, 2V-R8, Cr-N2, Talos Drellik, "Deadeye" Leyta, Malavai Quinn, Quick Vrik, Mako

Rating:4 - 7927 - 1 Lightsaber - Lana Beniko, Languss "Guss" Tuno, Choza Raabat, Lord Scourge, Senya Tirall

Rating:3 - 7656 - 1 Vibrosword/Techblade - Ak'ghal Usar, Bowdar, Broonmark, Qyzen Fess, Skadge, Yuun,

Rating:2 - 6965 - Creature - Nathema Beast, Ginx, K'lor'slug Soildier

Rating:1 - 6450 - 1 Blaster (Treek) - Treek

 

Overall Heal Ranking by damage type: (

)

Rating:15 - 1450 - 18632 - 1 Blaster (Z0-0M) - Z0-0M

Rating:13 - 1841 - 10807 - 1 Sniper Rifle (Altuur) - Altuur zok Adon

Rating:12 - 1545 - 14451 - 1 Blaster (K1-Z3N) - K1-Z3N

Rating:10 - 1764 - 11774 - 1 Blaster Rifle (H2-WF) - H2-WF

Rating:10 - 1744 - 11029 - 2 Blasters (Tech) - Theron Shan, Vette, Hemdil Tre, Raina Temple, Nico Okarr, Q0-77, Andronikos Revel

Rating:10 - 1793 - 11434 - 2 Lightsabers - Master Ranos, Ashara, Veeroa Denz

Rating:10 - 1800 - 10635 - 2 Vibroswords - D-R3D

Rating:9 - 1865 - 12943 - 1 Sniper Rifle - Aric Jorgan, Torian Cadera, Provost Marshal Rusk, Risha

Rating:9 - 1798 - 10999 - 1 Assault Cannon - K'krohl, Personal Warbot, Phrojo Nuray

Rating:9 - 1740 - 11038 - 1 Blaster Rifle - Rokuss, Gault Rennow, HK-55, Kaliyo Djannis, T7-01, Major Pierce, Jakarro, Koth Vortena, SCORPIO

Rating:9 - 1856 - 11505 - 1 Blaster Rifle (Collicoid) - T4-1D, H1-K1, ISO-5R, TY-4N

Rating:9 - 1935 - 11428 - 1 Blaster - Blizz, 2V-R8, Cr-N2, Talos Drellik, "Deadeye" Leyta, Malavai Quinn, Quick Vrik, Mako

Rating:8 - 1555 - 11880 - 1 Blaster (Shae) - Shae Vizla

Rating:8 - 1776 - 12198 - 1 Blaster (Dr Lokin) - Eckard Lokin

Rating:8 - 1612 - 12072 - 1 Blaster (Paxton) - Paxton Rall

Rating:8 - 1460 - 10904 - 1 Staff/DoubleBladed - Darth Hexid, Xalek, Kira Carsen, C8-S3C, Vector, Akaavi Spar

Rating:7 - 1438 - 11158 - 1 Lightsaber - Lana Beniko, Languss "Guss" Tuno, Choza Raabat, Lord Scourge, Senya Tirall

Rating:7 - 1339 - 11139 - 1 Vibrosword/Techblade - Ak'ghal Usar, Bowdar, Broonmark, Qyzen Fess, Skadge, Yuun,

Rating:5 - 1671 - 9603 - 1 Sniper Rifle (HK-51) - HK-51

Rating:5 - 901 - 10592 - Creature - Nathema Beast, Ginx, K'lor'slug Soildier

Rating: Died - 1980 - 8273 - 1 Blaster (Treek) - Treek

 

Overall Tank Ranking by damage type: (

)

Rating:10 - 3573 - 129249 - 1 Blaster Rifle (H2-WF) - H2-WF

Rating:9 - 3580 - 103148 - 2 Blasters (Tech) - Theron Shan, Vette, Hemdil Tre, Raina Temple, Nico Okarr, Q0-77, Andronikos Revel

Rating:9 - 3744 - 94130 - 1 Blaster (Paxton) - Paxton Rall

Rating:9 - 3371 - 121793 - 1 Blaster (Z0-0M) - Z0-0M, K1-Z3N

Rating:9 - 3232 - 159586 - 1 Blaster (Shae) - Shae Vizla

Rating:8 - 3363 - 108495 - 1 Assault Cannon - K'krohl, Personal Warbot, Phrojo Nuray

Rating:8 - 3418 - 104025 - 1 Sniper Rifle (Altuur) - Altuur zok Adon

Rating:8 - 3396 - 102436 - 1 Sniper Rifle - Aric Jorgan, Torian Cadera, Provost Marshal Rusk, Risha

Rating:8 - 3385 - 105645 - 1 Blaster Rifle - Rokuss, Gault Rennow, HK-55, Kaliyo Djannis, T7-01, Major Pierce, Jakarro, Koth Vortena, SCORPIO

Rating:8 - 3295 - 121793 - 1 Blaster - Blizz, 2V-R8, Cr-N2, Talos Drellik, "Deadeye" Leyta, Malavai Quinn, Quick Vrik, Mako

Rating:6 - 3866 - 42313 - 2 Lightsabers (Darkside) - Veeroa Denz

Rating:6 - 3844 - 42968 - 2 Lightsabers (Lightside) - Master Ranos, Ashara

Rating:6 - 3340 - 33667 - 1 Staff/DoubleBladed - Darth Hexid, Xalek, Kira Carsen, C8-S3C, Vector, Akaavi Spar

Rating:4 - 3436 - 15567 - Rakghoul - Eckard Lokin

Rating:4 - 3823 - 17083 - 2 Vibroswords - D-R3D

Rating:4 - 3341 - 15236 - 1 Lightsaber - Lana Beniko, Languss "Guss" Tuno, Choza Raabat, Lord Scourge, Senya Tirall

Rating:4 - 3248 - 14705 - 1 Vibrosword/Techblade - Ak'ghal Usar, Bowdar, Broonmark, Qyzen Fess, Skadge, Yuun,

Rating:4 - 3427 - 121405 - 1 Sniper Rifle (HK-51) - HK-51

Rating:4 - 3263 - 160610 - 1 Blaster Rifle (Collicoid) - T4-1D, H1-K1, ISO-5R, TY-4N

Rating:1 - 2470 - 11811 - Creature - Nathema Beast, Ginx, K'lor'slug Soildier

Rating:1 - 4150 - 19732 - 1 Blaster (Treek) - Treek

 

Although the raiding part of parsec was disabled, the app is still great for seeing companion DPS and the only one I know of that even shows companions now. It takes some tech skills to get it working though.

 

 

Known Bugs:

Known Bugs:

 

Darkside force using companions only get a 4 second stun instead of a 5 second stun.

 

Lightside force using companions kill shot is channeled, when other types of companions have an instant kill shot.

 

All Ranged Tanks can shoot from 30.5m but fail to charge over 30m, which leaves them standing back and not using full tank rotation (the second damage reduction skill requires 4m).

 

HK-51 Calibrated Taunting Shot is missing Taunt Effect in 6.2a

 

Treek's base damage and skills are not updated correctly for 4.0+ and will perform at 30% less. She also lacks a Cooldown-less heal, which means she'll have trouble keeping up in hard fights.

 

T7-01 as Tank can't charge (it fails), so he can't use his full rotation and makes a very poor tank.

 

k’lor’slug soldier has minor nerf to crit and MAJOR nerf to DPS skills and base attacks. Will perform at less 60% less. I'm told this effects all creature cartel companions. It's also had some health problems...

 

T4-1D as Tank does not have a charge attack (its a special ranged one), so he'll never get within 4m to use his second damage reduction skill and as such sucks as a tank.

 

D-R3D has a broken AOE damage skill, it only ticks once which means he's not as high of dps as other 2 weapon companions.

 

Broken companion list (more convo and visual issues)

 

 

Update History:

 

Dec 13th 2021: Added Altuur zok Adon parses and video.

 

Dec 31sr 2020: Added Tank and Heals parse ratings including videos.

 

Dec 20th 2020: Provided clear DPS ranking for nearly all companions (based on over 300 documented parses). Added link to current HK Tank bug.

 

Aug 9th 2020: Did some cleanup and reorganizing to celebrate 200k views :) Thank you! Also added Taskmaster/Alacrity info as well as Heroic Moment parse.

 

Aug 3rd 2020: Added nightlife companion DPS parses.

 

July 31 2020: Added parse details. Clean up.

 

Oct 28th 2019: Updating for 6.0. Q0-77 and Personal Warbot seem to be fixed. Command stims back. Presence amps are out. Shae Vizla still rocks at over 10k dps. Z0-0M on the cartel!

 

Dec 23rd 2018: Updated for 5.10, Paxton Rall and recent tank findings.

 

Apr 21st 2018: Updated for 5.8.

 

Feb 27th 2018: Added D-R3D parse.

 

Nov 29 2017: Added Darth Hexid notes

 

Nov 21sr 2017: Updated for patch 5.5.1a. Added some new parse numbers. Most companions now do 200-300 more dps. Tested the melee droid, he's a fair Scorpio replacement.

 

March 19th 2017: Updated for patch 5.1.3 and the fact that Shae Vizla is OP AF.

 

March 5th 2017: Updated for patch 5.1.2 and adjusted recommendations.

 

Febuary 9th 2017: Updated for patch 5.1.1. Added extensive heal parses.

 

Febuary 3rd 2017: Updated for patch 5.1

 

September 4th 2016: Added Eternal Championship tips section.

 

August 24th 2016: Added Level Sync Info and some HM Star Fortress parses.

 

August 16th 2016: Added more tips on Solo HM FPs.

 

August 8th 2016: Updated known bugs list. Poor Veeroa Denz. Other minor clean up.

 

August 6th 2016: Added Most Effective Companions section.

 

August 2nd 2016: Added Heroics, Star Fortress and Solo Flashpoint Tips.

 

August 1st 2016: Cleaned up formatting a bit. I've also been adding some parses and notes as I find them.

 

July 26th 2016: Updated for patch 4.6a and all the changes since 4.0.

 

June 26th 2015: Added Links to Suggestion Posts for fixing companion DPS and Legacy ability imbalances

 

June 14th 2015: Updated companion parse data and rechecked Legacy abilities. Added Healer Parses! Removed Old HK part info. Added notes on Nico Okarr.

 

June 9th 2015: Added Devoted Allies companion gear info. Expanded Presence section. Added note on player debuffs.

 

Oct 9th 2014: Added Companion Battle section and alacrity note.

 

July 20th 2014: Swapped Tank aug priority. Shield > Absorb.

 

July 19th 2014: Added DPS Parse summary.

 

July 13th 2014: Added Parse Examples/results, check out Vector!

 

July 12th 2014: Minor corrections. Added parse info on all Heroic Moment Skills!

 

Jan 12th 2014: Updated Gearing section with differences, augs and improved recommendations. Couple more notes on HK and Treek.

 

Dec 29th 2013: Updated Parse section with Parsec data. Added HK Droid part Mat list.

 

Final Notes:

 

I hope you found this guide helpful. Please add any questions or comments. I'll edit and clean up along the way.

Edited by KevMeup
Added parse details for companion types
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Stumbled on this by accident through Google. Excellent info - thanks for the nice summary!

 

Same. Thanks for putting something together, there's amazingly little info on the subject.

 

And everyone says, "Check the Codex," when the Codex basically only says "Main stat: Aim. Secondary Stat: Endurance" which is incredibly worthless, given Endurance is kind of a constant on gear.

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I guess this is still the way to go?

 

Power, Surge, crit, forget alacrity and accuracy unless your companion is in top raid gear?

 

Yup. Power, Surge over 60%, after that I don't think you'll see major changes. I'll post though if I find anything conclusive in future tests.

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The only question I have is HOW is crit bugged?

 

Oh, and Treek is female also.

 

Good write up besides those two points.

 

Thank you!

 

I updated wording for Treek.

 

I will look into rewording the crit part. The devs are not happy with how crit performs in 2.0. Comps take a further hit to their stats since they don't have skill tree bonuses. I don't think I'd ever prioritize crit over power for a comp. Up to 300 crit isn't bad though, HK's parts give him that, and Cunning/Power/Accuracy on everything else works well.

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I would definitely say that crit isn't broken, but it has a much higher conversion rate from rating to % than surge, accuracy, or alacrity even before you get into any kind of Diminishing Return. The Devs gave it such a big value during Beta because of how good it turned out for every DPS and Healer.
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  • 4 weeks later...

Class Buffs:

Your companions benefit from class buffs, just like you do. Make sure they have them on before battle. Finish your chapter 3 with all 4 classes and you’ll have the legacy class buffs for all your characters.

 

The legacy buff for that archetype is unlocked after completing Chapter 2. This can verified by hovering over the buff in the legacy window.

 

Chapter 3 completion unlocks the legacy ability for that archetype, IE Legacy Lightning Storm for Sorcerer's, which you would use during the heroic moment.

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Thanks for writing this it has been helpful. I love to run with Scorpio with my concealment IA . I do retain the ability to heal yet I'd rather dps. I wonder how my mileage would differ gearing her endurance heavy or absorb heavy?
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This is a really great guide. Just a note, the 174 HK Czerka gear comes with bugger all accuracy. So you may want to include the tip to throw some accuracy augments on him, or ensure that you are picking left side items with max accuracy to get him to the 97%
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So from what you showed on Vector, DPS DOT willpower characters deal the most damage then? That would mean Nadia would deal the same kind of damage too right?

 

If possible, could you make a test on all the companions?

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This is a really great guide. Just a note, the 174 HK Czerka gear comes with bugger all accuracy. So you may want to include the tip to throw some accuracy augments on him, or ensure that you are picking left side items with max accuracy to get him to the 97%

 

So far, I would only recommend Power augs for any dps or heal companion (or mainstat if you're sharing gear with a character). Accuracy isn't too important, it's just a better use than surge (over 400 rating) or alacrity.

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So from what you showed on Vector, DPS DOT willpower characters deal the most damage then? That would mean Nadia would deal the same kind of damage too right?

 

If possible, could you make a test on all the companions?

 

Jaesa Willsaam Armor Pen 1100 dps (better geared)

Jaesa Willsaam DOT 1320 dps (better geared)

 

This was using a normal saber instead of a 2hand, which would bring her back up to Vector. I'd assume she is the same as Nadia and the Jedi night shadow companion. The DOTs are applied randomly, so sometimes damage can go up all the way to 1600 and drop down to 1250. It's consistently higher than the armor pen though.

 

I'll keep updating the parsing as I get them and I'll see if I can make a general damage chart for them once I have some good conclusions.

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Interesting that the Vector/Nadia parses are so high? Were they significantly better geared than ur HK?

 

I had always assumed that HK was just the better dps comp all round. Does this throw some uncertainty on that assumption?

 

I did my best to account for gear differences in my latest update and list each type in order of dps, it's a bit rough though still.

 

I believe that evenly geared HK is the highest single target Ranged dps, from my testing Melee will always be ahead. HK does have a 30% kill shot that would raise his dps up slightly as well if I wasn't parsing on a dummy.

 

For my operative, now that I swapped from ranged dps(ensign and HK) to Vector and geared him all out, I can solo Czerka Meltdown, before I used to hit some enrage timers if I went Heals. I definitely recommend giving melee a shot, especially if you have a legacy set of uber gear to pass over :)

Edited by KevMeup
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Another thing, I've read that companions like Torian, Akaavi or Yuun, which are melee DPS with Aim as their primary stat are not dealing their most optimal damage because some of their attacks are Wilpower based, could you shed us a light about this with some parses please? Edited by yoomazir
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Another thing, I've read that companions like Torian, Akaavi or Yuun, which are melee DPS with Aim as their primary stat are not dealing their most optimal damage because some of their attacks are Wilpower based, could you shed us a light about this with some parses please?

 

I just ran a parse and confirmed, all of Torian's attacks are Tech or Physical, I would assume if he did a Force attack, it might be willpower based. One challenge with these companions is you'll always have to craft their mainhand weapon, since there are no drops or com purchases for a melee aim mainhand. I'd guess that people think they do less dps because they don't take the time to setup their mainhand correctly. Main and offhand make a big difference for companions since most of their damage comes from basic attacks.

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