I had the same issue with Hammer Station, last boss was just too tough for my Khem Val even with decent gear. Tried a bunch of times and then had a PC tank join us and the difference was night and day. Black Talon was the only one I found doable 2 boxing with 2 companions.
The only good thing about using companions instead of players is skipping through the cut-scenes you've already done.
Players should be better than a companion in every aspect besides that.
Meh; I don't know if I understand that logic. It seems to be similar to the logic that people use [negatively] about boxing; "why box, real players should be better in almost every aspect than box-d toons, so why box, get some friends, learn 2 play, etc"
I'm actually OK with that, really. But if you [and this is getting into design mechanics] design companions as player stand-ins, as opposed to 'eye candy' or 'a gimmick' then taking that approach to that extreme seems sort of nonsensical. and the whole 'taking a player slot' bit would indicate that their going for player stand-ins.
If they are going for the other, then forcing companions to take group slots simply limits the effectiveness of the eye/candy gimmick.
Seems like it'd be better to go with one or the other extreme, rather than sorta straddle the middle. One wonders where companions will end up; as content gets "harder" over time, will they scale companions or will they eventually be relegated to more of a gimmick for leveling up/soloing. I mean, sure you can give them gear, but if there abilities don't scale then better gear is more of a band-aid.
Also, whatever happened to the old argument that [competent] players are better than companions because they are *gasp* smarter and don't stand in the fire. =p I mean, irrespective of how powerful or weak they are, they will never really match another player in terms of intelligent application of force.
Well in my opinion i see Companions as Star Wars way to influence your game play. I mean they alter the choices you make when responding to quests. As far as combat they are more like helpers than a player. Kinda like a hunter pet etc.
I mean you wouldnt expect them to make the decisions like a person would. You dont expect a hunter pet to tank bosses in wow do you? Sure its been done... but thats very few and far between.
All in all i enjoy progressing with my companions and using them. but when i run flashpoints i'd rather have a group of people/friends.
exactly; hunter pets are in no way billed to be a player replacement; they don't take group slots, and have a function within group combat. they are not equated in any way, via game mechanics, to a player or independent entity.
contrast with companions; the whole 'taking a group slot' thing, the whole 'if player leaves instance, finish it out with companion' etc logic goes out the window if you consider companions that way. furthermore, they'd be more effective [as a decision influencer] if you allowed them [similar to hunter pets] to be omnipresent. [or nearly so].
So, in short: they are more 'powerful' than pets in other games, e.g. not pets, so they take group slots.
but, turns out in the end, they are fundamentally weaker than players, making them basically a gimmick.
Still perplexed why this is surprising or so disagreeable. Also, companions seem to be there to add "Star Wars" flavor to the game not to replace the need for other players.Originally Posted by Ishar
The point he is making I think is that Bioware has nerfed tank companions to the point where they are completely useless for filling the tank role.
Not only were players better before, they had that dynamic decision making ability that has already been mentioned. Companions not only do not have that, the tanks no longer can boast a mitigation level higher than any other heavy armor wearing companion.
All tank companions do now is ensure that you will lose your companion rapidly in any sort of fight. They cannot tank but they still pull agro like champions. This means they die super fast. On the other hand a DPS companion in heavy armor has the same mitigation doesn't pull agro and will split agro with you appropriately!
Do you know how uber a heal class and a heroic capable companion tank would be?
Eh well thats part of it; a big part of it. They are like half/half, as opposed to one way or the other.
for example, the way blizzard/other MMOs treats hunter pets is as total pets; they are secondary, not necessary at all, in any way, not intended to replace players, more a mechanic inherent to certain [pet] classes
tor has this weird, pets are pets++, their sorta-players, take group slots, intended to allow partial groups to access content that they otherwise would be locked to...cept, they are going all weird now and nerfing tank companions, which is a blizzard/other move, BUT, companions still take group slots, and otherwise kinda-sorta try to function like player stand in's, just sort of failing hard.
anyway, as a direct reply, do you know how ubur a tank class and a heal companion is? =p [the answer, not really that ubur, nor would the opposite be] The only real difference is my dual sorcs might have a snowballs chance in hell of doing a group instance, or heaven forbid, a 4 player heroic quest, without a player tank. The horror, game breaking, totally.
do you play a tank, or something?
Not caring?
The tank cannot tank. Why is it a tank if it can't tank?
I don't really care if this is a zero sum type deal. If it's called a tank it should have the ability to actually tank. I don't care if it has 10% more mitigation or 20% more like it used to have. It should have more mitigation to account for being a tank.
Right now tank companions are far and away the worst companions in the game. Medium armor players tank better than they do. I'm clearing heroic flashpoints right now with a sentinel tanking and the sentinel has higher mitigation than my tank companions that are wearing full epic tank sets.
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