I've been getting the 1k kills with companions recently and so I've had to use companions I'd never otherwise touch. I've gotten Smuggler, IA, SW, SI, JK, and Trooper to 40+ and the worst tank companion I've come across has been Lt. Pierce, the SW ranged tank.

 

He's so bad at his job, I've turned off his Tank mode and have him in his Sniper Mode. I've also turned off all of his threat abilities. As far as I can tell, his attacks don't seem to be very different than Kaliyo's. The thing is, he likes to sit back at 30 meters even in Tank mode. Even when he's set to tank, the only time I've ever had him actually charge into melee was when every single one of this other abilities are on cooldown. He rarely seems to use his AoE threat abilities... or they simply don't work. I've actually held threat on enemies I haven't even attacked yet. He's just so terrible.

 

I'd love to hear what other people's opinions on the tank companions are.

I've gotten Smuggler, IA, SW, SI, JK, and Trooper to 40+ and the worst tank companion I've come across has been Lt. Pierce, the SW ranged tank.

 

As far as I can tell, his attacks don't seem to be very different than Kaliyo's.

 

They're not. They're also the same as T7's, Corso's and *most* of the other ranged tanks in the game with a few exceptions. (IE Xalek for the SI is a bit different but still functions similarly)

 

I usually notice all of them (the ranged tanks) *charge in* (jump) by their third move.

 

When I first started this game I did think the melee tanks were a little better (Khem and Bowadarr for example) but that may be because their opening move is usually the charge/gap closer. Ironically, after spending so much time with Kaliyo's superb tanking, I went back to my other toons and started using the ranged tanks more and haven't had any of the issues you're describing.

 

It does sound odd that your Pierce doesn't seem to want to jump in though, can't say I've had that problem. If he's not well geared and you're tearing it up you will steal his aggro no matter how many times he taunts though. You could be fighting that if your toon is well geared and you thought you'd break out pierce after all this time in his level 40 greens.

Edited November 18, 2013 by Ridickilis

Skadge. Definitely Skadge.

Iresso is getting on my nerves and it's very fortunate I've managed to max 1000 kills with him because I'm not using him ever again. He's the main reason I love doing S&V so much. Getting trapped and having the privilege of stuffing his face full of Project is a priceless feeling.

Almost all of them seem to function the same and have almost (if not completely) the same abilities with a different skin. It's up to you to keep their gear up to date, having the right abilities turned on and sending them in first (hell, it's one button.)

 

The only exceptions are:

Xalek: He has a completely different set-up than all the other tanks, not to mention how long he was broken. Works fine now though.

M1-4X: Who the hell decided to give a Tank a pull instead of a leap? The whole reason I use Tank is to keep the foes away from me and ofcourse to avoid ability push-back (in case of Commando.) On top of this, it causes his PbAoE to hardly ever reach it's full potentional. For this reason I guess I consider him the worst.

Treek: Unique in her IA and abilities.

 

Their personalities on the other hand... don't get me started. ^^

Edited November 20, 2013 by KittyCheshire

Skadge. Definitely Skadge.

 

Yep he is useless, I even geared him up in verpine gear just to see if it was because he was under-geared and he is still useless. The only thing I use him for is a gatherer for running scavenging crew missions and even then he is not exactly the best for that.

Skadge. Definitely Skadge.

 

I agree. The guy is so lame. I don't like a single thing about him. Maybe someday I will truly gear the guy out after I'm done with everything else.... With every other character....

 

My favorite tanks are the strength/melee/heavy armor characters like Khem Val and Bowdaar. These seem the most effective at holding threat with decent survivability. Blizz is the most fun tank companion to me though even though he's not the strongest. He's adorable and I love his missile launcher animations.

I actually love Skadges personality. "Temper Tantrums? I DON'T HAVE TEMPER TANTRUMS!" that being said I'm about as vain as it gets, I prefer my companions to look a bit better than Skadge. I rather look at Blizz than Skadge so he's still perma benched and I dislike anyone taking Skadge out instead of that adorable little Jawa.

 

I dislike M1-4X, a pull instead of a leap /slap /slap /slap insteadly killing it's own efficiency and giving himself less time to taunt back, leaves him as worst in my book.

 

But besides him all Tanks show similar efficiency to me and parse similar, sport similar stats, I just take who-ever I can put in the best Legacy gear. Except Treek, but for her costs, she deserves it.