I'm aware that each class gets 6 companions (5 uniques and C2-N2). However, I'm not sure which one would be best for a Sentinel. Currently, my options are limited to T7 and Kira (who is only a guest; I haven't gotten her permanently yet on this character); however, I was wondering who would be the best overall companion for a Sentinel in general. I only have experience with T7, Kira, and C2, but I'm willing to take advice on the other three companions. T7 strikes me as more of a Tank, C2 is exclusively healing, and I'm not sure about Kira. She's supposed to be a Consular, but she doesn't stay back and cast; instead, she jumps right into the fray.

 

Short version: who do you think makes the best companion for the Sentinel? If it makes any difference, I'm speccing Combat.

T7, until you get Doc on Balmorra. He's a tank, and you are DPS. It's better than using another DPS like Kira. I leveled up my DPS guardian and used Kira (because I thought two women Jedi traveling around kicking butt would be awesome, but I got tired of her smart mouth... ) and later I leveled a Sentinel with T7 and it was great! Send him in to tank the toughest mob while you take out the lesser ones.

 

There are two places where this will be a problem:

 

 

 

 

Using a healing companion is great for a DPS, too.

Pick one that fits your fighting style. Healer companion (Doc, in your case) is probably easiest, at least if you have some idea on how to use your defensive cooldowns. Tank companion, i.e. T7, is the second-easiest choice, since they give you a little more time to kill the enemies (even though they will die eventually, since you can't heal them).

 

Dps + dps -combination is the hardest one to master, this is mostly "burn them down before they burn you down"-race. However, if you like Kira's character and want to run around with her, here's some tips:

 

1. Send her first. This way she will get the aggro, and even though you will sooner or later overaggro her and get the aggro, this will share the damage between you and Kira. When you get force camourflage, you can also use that to share the aggro. After that, you should send Kira first, then attack yourself, take some damage (i.e. till you have 50% of your health), use force camourflage (aggro goes to Kira again) and then overaggro her again. Worked pretty fine when I was leveling my sentinel (I was using Kira before I got Doc).

Of course, if the fight is easy (i.e. regular mob), you don't have to use force camo, you'll tear down those things fast enough. Save this for harder mobs or bosses.

 

2. Keep you both geared. Especially important with dps + dps -combo. You want to have as much hp yourself as you can (since you are taking the damage most of the time) but you also want Kira to be able to hold the aggro for a while here and there.

One option is the ship droid. If you keep his gear current, he makes a decent healer.

Also, my sentinal was biochem. They can make "squad med packs" which heal both you AND your companion, and the purple ones are reusable.

Makes a HUGE difference when not using a healing companion.

On my Sentinel I've started out with T7. Once I've got Kira, I've used her all the way. Sure died a few times but DPS + DPS combination is possible. Once I've gotten Doc on Balmorra. I've never looked back. Doc all the way. And my female Sentinel agrees with that statement on more then one front

 

Same on my Mara. Once I got my healer companion there. Same story. And the Sith have an advantage. They get their healer companion much earlier.

Speaking from a leveling perspective, Doc is the easiest. While it will take you longer to kill things, downtime is virtually nill. Kira is fun, though. There is some downtime to heal you both, but DPS+DPS makes things pretty darn easy unless it's a real long fight.

I'm currently leveling a Sentinel (Level 43) and dinged the 1000 kills Achievement with both Kira (Coruscant) and Doc (Balmorra), and in terms of ease of play, Doc wins hand down. Things may die faster with Kira, but the PC in that situation tends to draw most of the aggro unless you send her in first, and at that point, I don't think it's 'faster'. Running around with Doc for 2+ planets, I never had to worry about dying, could just wade in and whale on things.

 

I'm currently running with the JKs other tank Companion (not naming for spoilers), and I'm finding that one to be once again a little dicey. He does his job and grabs aggro, but he seems to die a lot, and I don't think it's wholly due to gear. I'd prefer neither my companion nor myself die every third fight, in an ideal world. I'm assuming T7 as a tank would probably play similarly.

Edited June 19, 2013 by AlixMV

You pick who works for you. I switched between T7 and Kira until I got a certain tank companion later in the story but the reason I use him is because I like the character, not because I need a tank. Every person will have their own opinion and their own favourite companion. Some people swear up and down that certain companions suck while others will only ever use healers but I have found all do their job quite well as long as their gear isn't craptastic. I did struggle a bit when I first got this tank because he didn't seem to be able to take the hits too well but I quickly learned how to play with him and then I upgraded his armour and things were great.

Well, I've been using T7, since he's a Tank, but I'm starting to realize that he isn't going to work. The main reason for this is the fact that he uses Droid Armor. I'm on Taris, and I've only upgraded three pieces of his armor the entire time. Droid armor seems to be extremely rare, so eventually, he's going to fall behind (unless Droid armor becomes a lot more common on later planets, but I don't see that happening). The same issue apples to C2, so the only companion I can really expect to be able to keep current is Kira. Edited June 20, 2013 by Deathstalker_

Well, I've been using T7, since he's a Tank, but I'm starting to realize that he isn't going to work. The main reason for this is the fact that he uses Droid Armor. I'm on Taris, and I've only upgraded three pieces of his armor the entire time. Droid armor seems to be extremely rare, so eventually, he's going to fall behind (unless Droid armor becomes a lot more common on later planets, but I don't see that happening). The same issue apples to C2, so the only companion I can really expect to be able to keep current is Kira.

 

There are a lot of quest rewards that are for companions and each one has a droid part option.

 

Also:

 

 

Switched from Doc to Kira in the 40's and been unstoppable since.

 

Took waaay too long to kill stuff with Doc in my way

For most efficient leveling:

 

Newer and intermediate players: DPS player+ Healer Companion.

Advanced players: DPS player+DPS companion.

 

That said, I fully advocate using whatever companion you enjoy the most.

There are a lot of quest rewards that are for companions and each one has a droid part option.

 

Also:

 

Don't let T7 fall too far behind as you will need him to defeat the Emperor

 

Unfortunately, the missions that have offered Droid Parts as rewards have also offered Planetary Commendations, and I take Planetary Comms over anything else whenever they're offered.

Unfortunately, the missions that have offered Droid Parts as rewards have also offered Planetary Commendations, and I take Planetary Comms over anything else whenever they're offered.

 

Buy the missing moddable droid parts you need from vendors or GTN (or craft them yourself if you have a Cybertech). Once you have all the moddable parts you can get, then you use the planet comms to upgrade the mods just like you do all other moddable armour. I don't know where all the vendors who sell different droid parts are but I know of one on Coruscant in the black market area because that is where I bought a couple of pieces for T7 early on.

 

To the person who said don't let T7 fall behind because of your final class quest, you can get a lot of the armour you need before that fight by solving the puzzle and it's more than sufficient for the fight. I didn't get the gear until after the fight because I didn't know the puzzle had a reward, but some of the pieces matched what I had while others were better. I'm not saying a person can't have better gear than that, I'm just saying don't fret if all of T7's gear isn't up to par because you get a little help in that department.

I've got a couple of Orange items I picked up on Coruscant, but I'm afraid that just two items that I'm upgrading religiously won't keep him up to par. And everything on the GTN is extremely costly; a single item wipes out a significant chunk of my available credit, so I'd only be able to buy one or two items before I'm broke again.

I like T7 as a sentinel companion. If you take the Cybertech crew skill (or have an alt with it) you can make your own droid parts, as well as armorings and mods, and then it's pretty easy to keep T7 geared up. Either make the "blue" non-modable parts, and replace them periodically as you go, or make the modable ones and upgrade the modifications as you level. I personally do a mix of them, though I expect eventually I'll have him outfitted with a full set of modable gear. Edited June 22, 2013 by Adric_the_Red

If I had a full set of Orange gear for him, I'd be happy with him. The only reason I'm not is because I don't.

Just use Kira

Yeah i know that many other will say use Doc and such and yes he is a very good comp,

but I used Kira from Coruscant to the end of Makeb and i never had any problem while leveling my sent

And Kira says some pretty fun things too

Just use Kira

Yeah i know that many other will say use Doc and such and yes he is a very good comp,

but I used Kira from Coruscant to the end of Makeb and i never had any problem while leveling my sent

And Kira says some pretty fun things too

 

"Eat lightsaber jerk" has to be one of my favourites

Doc all the way.

 

For me if im a dps or tank then ill use a healing companion, if i'm a healer, ill use a tank companion, thats how i roll

Full set of moddables is a high mark, for any of my companions, early on, tbh. Except you don't mind the look of social vendor stuff, or it does not show on your companion. I cannot stand Kira, so T7 was all my knights get for a pretty long time.

 

 

 

Power leveled a Sentinel from scratch over the double xp (literally just hit level 50). Used T7 until Kira, then Kira until Doc and then Doc all the way, and it's pretty simple undergeared. Hell, I hit 50 and I'm still using level 33 gear lol.

 

All be it, I just started Makeb at level 48 and it's pretty challenging.