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    Star Wars: The Old Republic

    Game » consists of 5 releases. Released Dec 20, 2011

    Star Wars: The Old Republic is a massively-multiplayer role-playing game set 300 years after the events of BioWare's Knights of the Old Republic series, but still approximately 3,600 years before the events of the films.

    Who Do You Equip Better? Yourself or Your Companion?

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    Seppli

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    #1  Edited By Seppli

    So Companions can wear the finest gear available (other than relics aka trinkets). It's pretty easy to get great basic gear via PvP warzone commendations for your companions. From there it's about mods (gear upgrades). I tend to equip my companion first, since it makes a huge difference if the companion is worth his/her salt or not. With subpar gear, companions just kinda do nothing much, other than cost time regging them back into fighting condition.

    With equal or better gear though, they can perform extremely well. I found my range DPS companion to outdo most DPS players of equal level. At first my melee DPS companion was worthless (dualwielding marauder archetype), now with great gear and lots of accuracy... quite beastly! Definitely the most important lesson I learned. To put as much or more effort into my companion gear. Makes life so much more enjoyable.

    That said, I've another 1000 commendations on the bank. I ponder if I shall wait to get my ranged tank companion or if I shall give Khem Val the full make-over with PvP gear. Somebody know a place to buy a slotable vibrosword?

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    Fish_Face_McGee

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    #2  Edited By Fish_Face_McGee

    I typically follow Trickle-down Crononomics. If it's something I can use, the best items go to me.

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    deactivated-5cc8838532af0

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    Myself

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    Red

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    #4  Edited By Red

    Yeah, best items go to me, but it's also harder to get gear for my companions than myself, as we wear different kinds of gear. It's not like I'm going to roll need on a drop for my companion. It's good to have a well-geared companion, but you are your top priority, as otherwise you are useless in those points where you don't have your companion (PVP, Flashpoints).

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    deactivated-5e49e9175da37

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    I'm playing as a trooper, so all my dudes are using the same equipment as me. Then I try consular, and my first two dudes use completely different stats. It's great.

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    Ulain

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    #6  Edited By Ulain

    Unless you're just heal-botting for your tank companion, it's usually more important to gear yourself before them.

    Not sure if it's intentional or not, but companions seem to suffer a bit of AI lag or something; they don't perform top notch unless you're basically controlling them directly, which means you're probably not using your own skills optimally.

    Those other players you grouped with must have really sucked, companions are there to assist *your* DPS, not the other way around.

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    TaliciaDragonsong

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    #7  Edited By TaliciaDragonsong

    Whenever I'm buying upgrades or spending commendations I buy what is the biggest upgrade, be that me or my companion.
    If I can get a  +5 willpower upgrade but my compan a +10 aim/16 endurance and some defense status...
     
    All about who needs it the most, it's gonna benefit both anyway, you're supposed to be a team.

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    Seppli

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    #8  Edited By Seppli

    @Ulain:

    I'm an Inquisitor (Madness Specc = DoTs) and while I was using my ranged DPS companion (Andronikus(, he always held aggro purely with DPS, simply because DoT DPS builds quite slowly. Ranged DPS companions have almost no delay, because pathfinding is not an issue. And there are lots of players out there doing terrible DPS, breaking CC and generally not knowing jack about MMO core mechanics. I'd take Andronikus over some MMO scrub DPS anytime. All it takes is Ctrl+1,2 to be ontop of companion behaviour.

    @TaliciaDragonsong:

    Playing a ranged glass cannon, I find upgrading companion armor first with commendation plating to always perform better for me. Especially since class specific equipment modification upgrades are a common questreward and the companion specific questrewards are complete trash in comparison to 'real' gear.

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    Crypt135

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    #9  Edited By Crypt135

    Typically myself, companion only takes precedence when an upgrade is more significant for him/her.

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    TaliciaDragonsong

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    @Seppli: It totally depends.
    I have a ranged tank as companion, I'm healer myself.
    It's all about who's getting the biggest bang for the buck.
    Don't like spending commendations on a small increase when my tank buddy can get a medium to big increase in stats.
     
    Pure logic though, if you don't gear your companion you can't expect them to excell at their role, gotta make up for the AI.
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    Ulain

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    #11  Edited By Ulain

    @Seppli said:

    @Ulain:

    I'm an Inquisitor (Madness Specc = DoTs) and while I was using my ranged DPS companion (Andronikus(, he always held aggro purely with DPS, simply because DoT DPS builds quite slowly. Ranged DPS companions have almost no delay, because pathfinding is not an issue. And there are lots of players out there doing terrible DPS, breaking CC and generally not knowing jack about MMO core mechanics. I'd take Andronikus over some MMO scrub DPS anytime. All it takes is Ctrl+1,2 to be ontop of companion behaviour.

    With all due respect, I'd hardly call Madness a dot-based spec. Cast Affliction (15s duration) either hard-cast Crushing Darkness or wait for a Wrath proc from Force Lightning for insant, and when that's on CD, use Lightning Storm.

    I don't mean to disagree, maybe I'm missing something, but I would still imagine, given an equal boost to you or your companion, you'd still be higher priority.

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    StarvingGamer

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    #12  Edited By StarvingGamer

    As a tank, I need to make sure I'm decked out for any time I want to group. Keeping myself geared has made all the 4-man content a breeze and most 2-man content soloable.

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    Seppli

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    #13  Edited By Seppli

    @Ulain said:

    @Seppli said:

    @Ulain:

    I'm an Inquisitor (Madness Specc = DoTs) and while I was using my ranged DPS companion (Andronikus(, he always held aggro purely with DPS, simply because DoT DPS builds quite slowly. Ranged DPS companions have almost no delay, because pathfinding is not an issue. And there are lots of players out there doing terrible DPS, breaking CC and generally not knowing jack about MMO core mechanics. I'd take Andronikus over some MMO scrub DPS anytime. All it takes is Ctrl+1,2 to be ontop of companion behaviour.

    With all due respect, I'd hardly call Madness a dot-based spec. Cast Affliction (15s duration) either hard-cast Crushing Darkness or wait for a Wrath proc from Force Lightning for insant, and when that's on CD, use Lightning Storm.

    I don't mean to disagree, maybe I'm missing something, but I would still imagine, given an equal boost to you or your companion, you'd still be higher priority.

    Simple. As a Sith Inquisitor I generally don't have aggro, nor do I deal weapon damage. Why would make a superficial stats upgrade for my main char before upgrading armor & stats for a companion? Same for weapons? Why invest first into a weapon upgrade for my inquisitor, which is only a stats carrier, rather than a companion who gets both stats and an actual damage via weapon's damage boost? I see so many inquisitors with companions doing jack shit for them. Just standing there hitting a wet noodle at mobs, whilst my companions have equal or better gear to a player and are almost as powerful. As soon as you stop caring about companion gear and just give 'em companion specific gear, you hamstring your overall solo performance tremendously.

    As soon as you get the Madness ultimate, the class very much feels like DoT class first and foremost.

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    Ursus_Veritas

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    #14  Edited By Ursus_Veritas

    I can see why some classes would prioritise their companion - especially healers and the Consular/inquisitor - I don't really. As a gunslinger I use my companion - Bowdaar at the moment because, well, he's a wookiee! - pretty much solely for keeping the heat off me whilst I deal the majority of the damage. Sure, if a piece of gear that is good for him comes along I'll give it him, but outside of that he's pretty much getting his specific gear (and on top of that, kind of a shame it doesn't show on him).   I don't actively go and hunt for better loot for him, and so far that's been working for me. Hell, I've had instances where Bowdaar's replaced the 4th man in a heroic and done just fine.

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    FunkyFox

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    #15  Edited By FunkyFox

    As a Marauder I basically ignore my companions. Quinn gets quest rewards and that's about it- everything else is sold, or if it's not a significant upgrade for him, I grab a planet commendation. I've not really seen a major reason to do so yet; can still solo pretty much anything I want to at a very fast speed. I've considered upgrading one of my tanking companions, though, just to see if they can hold aggro.

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    SlashDance

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    #16  Edited By SlashDance

    And then you find yourself in a group, with all your best gear equiped on a companion that's not allowed to be with you. Very smart.

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    Seppli

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    #17  Edited By Seppli

    @SlashDance said:

    And then you find yourself in a group, with all your best gear equiped on a companion that's not allowed to be with you. Very smart.

    That's not how it works really. Either you care about companion gear and buy them PvP gear with PvP commendations, roll on appropriate drops in flashpoints and heroic groups (after asking nicely of course) and upgrade all the upgradeable goodness with planet commendations and crafting - or you don't. In my case, being a caster, I prioritize companion armor and weapon upgrades over mine. Still I get the bulk of all quest rewards and am better equipped, since they're tailored to my class by the game.

    I believe people either put some effort in their companions and get the most out of them (companion gear equal to player gear) or they don't care at all (companion specific questrewards at best). Especially when I read that companions aren't as good on higher levels in reviews and such, I think plenty people just don't know that they can deck out their companions just like they can themselves, because they definitely get more powerful on higher levels.

    Smart is to care. Because you'll effortlessly have way stronger companions than otherwise.

    @FunkyFox said:

    As a Marauder I basically ignore my companions. Quinn gets quest rewards and that's about it- everything else is sold, or if it's not a significant upgrade for him, I grab a planet commendation. I've not really seen a major reason to do so yet; can still solo pretty much anything I want to at a very fast speed. I've considered upgrading one of my tanking companions, though, just to see if they can hold aggro.

    That's mostly because everybody is overleveled at all times. If you zone properly, difficulty can be challenging. You'll notice on the last couple of planets, when being overleveled isn't an option anymore. Not that it's ever really hard, unless you chose to tackle group content on your own. Though I enjoy taking on H2+ quests on my own every now and then.

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    FunkyFox

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    #18  Edited By FunkyFox

    @Seppli: I'm not overleveled at all. I also solo some group quests from time to time. It just isn't that hard. Keep in mind Marauders dual-wield lightsabers so keeping weapon damage up-to-date is a huge DPS-spike.

    I don't PvP at all and when I get bored of a planet I leave (usually around the time I do class stuff). I don't do a planet to exhaustion as that's not fun, IMO, so my level usually reflects the lower-end of the level you should be on a planet. Until I leave, when it's on the higher-end.

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    Seppli

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    #19  Edited By Seppli

    @FunkyFox:

    Warzones are the shit and you'll get great gear for lvls 20 & 40 without grinding. If you PvP a lot, you can easily deck out companions too. I'll quite certainly gear all companions with lvl 40 PvP gear and then upgrade from there.

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    FunkyFox

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    #20  Edited By FunkyFox

    @Seppli: Not interested in doing any PVP on this character at the moment. Maybe in 6 levels when I'm 50 and if content is low enough, though I'd be just as likely to roll an Agent for that and only pursue the class story on it.

    Basically, I feel pretty good about the gear. Quinn hadn't had an upgrade since roughly Tatooine when I got to Belsavin and I still managed it just fine, including soloing heroics. Upgrading companion and character are both viable from what I've seen, varying depending on how well your class scales with gear (from what I've seen, Marauder does quite well here).

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    sins_of_mosin

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    #21  Edited By sins_of_mosin

    On the trooper, my healing companion gets all my used stuff unless a quest reward is for them. Even so, she is pretty well geared. On the consular, since the lizard uses heavy and I light, he gets upgrades quicker. Either way, I find that the companions do a great job. Sure, they tend to wait a few secs to attack but you can just simply click the attack button instead of waiting.

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    Scotto

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    #22  Edited By Scotto

    I constantly forgot to gear up my companions between levels 10-30. At that point, I started giving them any applicable greens that I acquired from enemies I killed. I still only rarely take companion-specific greens as quest rewards, because commendations are generally better.

    I also only really focus on gearing the two companions I actually use - Qyzen Fess and Tharan Cedrax. The rest are almost entirely wearing whatever junk they came with.

    Honestly, I wish your companions' gear took care of itself. It's enough to think about, trying to get new stuff for yourself - especially when you've got lots of orange equipment, and you're trying to manage three modification slots per item.

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    oasis789

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    #23  Edited By oasis789

    Depends on whether you think the companion AI is gonna make more of a difference than you.

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