I am lvl 46 and got Xalek. I rushed class quests to get him. I put on the best gear I could find at AH and PVP doublebladed-lighsaber on him..

 

Now I am back to Belsavis trying him. First mob 10Khp, I sent him and start dpsing as usual. He nearly dies. I am surprised at how fragile he is as a tank. Is he supposed to be tougher later on? Am I missing something?

I might not be using him correctly myself but I have noticed the Khem tanks better as well. I seem to think that X is a cross of tank and dps, but eh, if I need one role I would not use him as a tank, at least until I know how to use him better. lol

Xalek is more melee DPS, but you can equip him with gear so he might become better with tanking.

With equal gear Khem is just better, slightly more hp, less squishy and slightly more threat, overall better tank. Xalek just has more dps, so he is more useful for quick fights, where you just want to burns things down.

from the info page I found on companions, it says: tank/dps, which leads me to believe that he is a sorcerer companion more than assassin. Khem Val takes less damage, but does less damage too. So, as a sorcerer healer, if you want the mobs to die faster and don't care that the companion takes slightly more damage, use Xalek, since he also has taunt and "wither" ability, he can tank just fine and do decent dps at the same time, a jack of 2 traits, master of none, you can say. While Khem masters tanking and is crap at everything else.

 

But, my guess that Xalek is like assassin tank. without very good gar, he won't last long (light armor n all that).

Xalek = Group tanking.

 

Khem = Single target tanking.

 

I would also like to point out that Xalek fully geared is just stupidly good with an assassin, and of course the more mobs the more he heals for.

I havent used Khem since the day i got Xalek. With the appropriate gear, he makes a fine tank. Make sure he's in his 'shield' stance, as that makes a HUGE difference. Sometimes this gets turned off when he comes out and you wont notice it until he's almost dead! Load him up with defense gear and endurance, and he'll be fine. I appreciate how quickly he establishes threat, while Khem had to back up, then run in, THEN drop his AoE. Xalek leaps in there and aoe's with his initial landing.

 

All that being said, at level 50, I almost never pull out a tank companion anymore, and instead use Ashara to just kill stuff before it ever gets to me.

Xaleks shield rating/absorb rating is broken.

 

Khem is a way better tank since his shield rating and absorb rating work.

Actually, with testing, Xalek and Khem do almost identical dps in their tank stances. And in their dps stances, Khem is clearly superior. As fat as mitigation, Khem is superior in flat mitigation, however when/if Xalek's SR is fixed, he will have better avoidance.

 

Xalek has a single advantage, his "charge" is faster and there is no delay in his use of his PBAoE attack.

Thanks for comments. I have Xalek's shield up. I am getting used to his squishy nature.

 

Ashara has been another disappointing companion for me. Andronikos seems much better at dps and seems to take less dmg. I've been using them both for quite a while now and if I want to quickly burn down groups I actually go with Andronikos.

 

Khem is still my go to guy for single elite/champion tanking. Xalek does not make sense if the fight is going to be close.

 

It's a weird situation right now that I am trying to figure out how to use them in fights... If there are, say 4 mobs, that have about 3K HP, I can easily take them down in two Force Storms. In such cases Andronikos provides the additional dps (There are no dps-meters but when I look at the flying numbers they are putting out in similar gear levels, that's what I see).

 

If once of them has higher HP and will not die with Force Storm then it becomes a challenge b/c neither Andronikos nor Ashara can keep that mob on them. I can see how Xalek could be useful in such a case. Do you folks have a different view on that?

 

ABILITIES

I guess one last question is which ability options you choose for them?

 

Xalek: Force Bomb | Consume Essence | Force Conduit = Off, everything else on.

 

The reason I have consume Essence off is I thought it broke my CC (when fighting groups with a higher HP on the side that I CC)

 

Andronikos: I have all abilities turned on. Depending on single target or group, I choose "Sniper Mode" | "Assault Mode"

 

Ashara: All abilities are on except "Exsanguination". To be honest I am not sure if "Perforation" is better dps. Thoughts?

 

Thanks!

Xakek is bugged, and wears light armor. He has the same skills as khem mostly, but khem wears heavy armor. Khem is a better tank, overall.

 

However, I still suggest using Xalek, just send him in with his charge ability. He engages packs faster then khem and will provide for a fated leveling experience.

Xalek gets really good when you can dump your excess Cent comms into gear for him.

Exsanguination is superior to perforation. I have tested this.

 

Let me break it down.

 

Khem and Xalek can both tank effectively. Khem is better, atm. He has better long term mitigation and his dps stance is clearly superior.

 

Andi for trash

 

Ashara for anything under a champion, and yes, she will require a bit of maintenance, she is the best single target dps you have.

 

Talos for truly hard fights.

Kantoro:

 

Your recommendations are based on what class/spec? As an assasin tank, I haven't used anyone but Talos since I got him b/c being able to survive was way more important to me than DPS that didn't get the mobs dead before I was.

 

At this point, my gear is good enough that I'm going to try Ashzara out, but she's in lvl 30greens so I have a ways to go before I can do that.

I have Ashara in Tionese/Columi Marauder gear and she's beastly for solo'ing most everything, even elites. She will require some shielding and heals, but her dmg output in good gear is awesome. She has over 15K hps (which is more than most fresh lvl 50 players!). She far outstrips the dmg of either Khem or Xalek. I shield her, send her into the strongest mob in the pack, then drop force storm and stuff falls over.

 

I suppose I should add that I currently play as Corruption (heal) spec, and so her dmg output is actually better than mine!

 

I have always thought Andronikos was a tool, and so I never used him. Talos really does nothing for me as a heal-spec'd sorcerer.

 

When I actually need a tank for a champion elite, I pull out Xalek, whom I have decked out in full Tionese and Columi gear from excess drops that I dont need. He is able to tank the Champion elite from the heroic 4 on Belsavis with np (i've even solo'd him with Xalek tanking, although it took almost 15 minutes!). Khem has simply become my Artificing slave.

Kantoro:

 

Your recommendations are based on what class/spec? As an assasin tank, I haven't used anyone but Talos since I got him b/c being able to survive was way more important to me than DPS that didn't get the mobs dead before I was.

 

At this point, my gear is good enough that I'm going to try Ashzara out, but she's in lvl 30greens so I have a ways to go before I can do that.

 

Her sabers are green, so the dailies can quickly give her 126 (I think that's the number) rating on her weapons.

Thanks for comments and insights folks. At this point, I am using Xalek if I do not want to be bothered with taking dmg. while dps'ing. That was one sore point with both Ashara and Andronikos for me.

Kantoro:

 

Your recommendations are based on what class/spec? As an assasin tank, I haven't used anyone but Talos since I got him b/c being able to survive was way more important to me than DPS that didn't get the mobs dead before I was.

 

At this point, my gear is good enough that I'm going to try Ashzara out, but she's in lvl 30greens so I have a ways to go before I can do that.

 

Sorry, my recommendations are for a sorc. I have a 'Sin as well though. With a 'Sin, Ashara is even more superior to Andronikos, cuz if she pulls threat, you don't have to run over to where she is to finish the mobs like you would with Andronikos. The same holds true for everything else mostly. As a dps 'Sin, you will mostly likely want to have a tank out to use Maul, unless it is a mob you will have trouble killing before you yourself run out of help, in which case, use Talos.

 

While leveling my Sorc, I used Talos for exactly 3 fights. It would involve spoilers, so that I will leave to your imagination. I used Khem til I got Xalek, then I used Xalek til I got Ashara geared, and now I never use anyone but Ashara unless I am testing something.

 

While leveling my 'Sin (as a tank) I used Khem til I got Andi, Andi til I got Ashara. And now I used Ashara unless I am fighting a particularly nasty Elite or a champion. Use of CC and my own AoE capabilities makes using Ashara very easy to manage.

 

Just my 2 creds:

 

Sorc, Ashara > Khem > anyone else

'Sin, Ashara > Talos > everyone else.

 

Imo, Ashara is clearly the best companion. But you have to know how to use her and be willing to gear her. You also have to utilize all your abilities, CDs, etc.

Imo, Ashara is clearly the best companion. But you have to know how to use her and be willing to gear her. You also have to utilize all your abilities, CDs, etc.

 

So, what exactly 'knowing how to use her' means? Can you please expand on that?

So, what exactly 'knowing how to use her' means? Can you please expand on that?

 

Pressing ctrl + 1 I think

I have used Xalek since lvl 34, had no reason to not do so mind you. He was equpped with lvl 45ish gear and so totally outgeared everything I fought whilst leveling. Just upgrading bits and pieces of his gear as I went along, some crafted armour and some handed down customisable armour that upgrade when not doing my own.

 

Even as a dps spec Sorc I could keep him alive with my heals and shielding between fighting. Pretty much was just a case of popping a shield, recklessness, 2 crit heals, back to fighting.

 

(note: I had Xalek at lvl 34, that is not a typo. I was a Darth by lvl 36 with entire class quest completed. Shame you have to be lvl 33 at one point to continue the class quest (Think it was voss, lvl 33 quest requirement to get on planet))

Knowing how to use her, simple.

 

She is a single target dps machine. As such, you need to realize that she will not hold aggro on multiple targets well, so don't ask her to. Turn off her AoE ability. So you can effectively CC the mob you want taken out of the fight. Send her to attack the mob you want her to take out 1st. As you are attacking, when she is finished, micro manager her, send her to attack the next mob you want taken out. Next, perf stance is crap, exsang is better, use it.

 

As a sorc, I play as a healer/support. I know which mob i will be CC'ing ahead of time. I send her in so she gets initial aggro and then CC. Since she is only using single target attacks, I assist her and heal her as necessary. If I get aggro I fade (or whatever it is called for a sorc, I am not logged in, so I don't remember) or have her break off an attack the mob attacking me. She is my dps and I am the healer.

 

As a 'Sin, you have considerable AoE, but no real way to round them up. I CC one on the edge of a group and send her to the other. CC'ing a ranged mob and sending her at the other ranged mob allows me to round up the melee mobs and AoE them down. I didn't mean to sound like it was rocket science, but there is a tad of strategy involved. A lot of players think that companions suck becuz they are unwilling to utilize them as an extra seet of hands, they just attack and hope their companion will do something useful with the AI provided to them.

@Kantoro: OK. That's commonsense. I thought maybe there were things that I had to do so that she can hold aggro but I guess that's b/c you are a healer. As sorc. dps, I almost immediately get aggro when I start hitting mobs.

 

In fact, this is why I am using Xalek more now. He is as squishy as others but holds aggro for a bunch just fine and no matter how hard I dps I do not have mobs coming all over me. I guess I understand the point of Xalek better now. He is not Kem, but he is just fine if I need an OK tank (tank = holds aggro), with some dps (I will provide the rest).

 

It's kinda unfortunate that we cannot really measure who is doing how much dps... Game is too young for fine-grained tools WoW provided for min/maxing

@Scorions - also, to get the best use out of Ashara, make sure she's equipped with two lightsabers instead of just one. That makes her dps sky-rocket. I find most often, the people saying she's weak only have her equipped with a single blade. -M

@Kantoro: OK. That's commonsense. I thought maybe there were things that I had to do so that she can hold aggro but I guess that's b/c you are a healer. As sorc. dps, I almost immediately get aggro when I start hitting mobs.

 

In fact, this is why I am using Xalek more now. He is as squishy as others but holds aggro for a bunch just fine and no matter how hard I dps I do not have mobs coming all over me. I guess I understand the point of Xalek better now. He is not Kem, but he is just fine if I need an OK tank (tank = holds aggro), with some dps (I will provide the rest).

 

It's kinda unfortunate that we cannot really measure who is doing how much dps... Game is too young for fine-grained tools WoW provided for min/maxing

 

You can test dps actually. I have, by hand, using a mob with 130k health and a stopwatch.

 

Simple put on single target Ashara (Exsang) > Ashara (perf) > Revel > Khem in dps stance > Khem in tank stance/Xalek in tank stance (they are almost identical in tank stance).

 

If you need numbers look up my posts, I have the actual numbers in there somewhere. Ashara is easily the best single target dps companion you have, Revel is the best AoE dps.