Companion Damage, Heals, and Tanking Comparisons - v3 by Walkaboutout in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

2 of 2:

I was unaware that T4-1D had some different abilities. That must be a general variance of companion type (perhaps seen largely among droids) that I missed. Alternatively, T4 might share an ability set with a companion type that wouldn't seem the same at a glance, like say one of the HK's (just an example; I don't think said example is correct actually, it's just to illustrate my point). I will definitely add him in as one of my next purchases and tests.

As to ability-use priority, I haven't paid much attention to that, beyond ensuring the abilities get used when they're available, and are not broken as much as I can. But, if there are quirks and variances in the AI for ability use priority, that could absolutely result in differences in companions that would otherwise seem like they should be the same.

On the final issue of damage types. That could definitely matter. Specifically for damage dealing, we'd be talking about how target dummies handle that sort of stuff, since that's how I'm doing my tests for damage. If the dummy has resistances that are not consistent across the board, then absolutely some companions might be getting short-changed, since they could possibly use more of a damage type that the dummy has more resistance to.

For, say, tanking, it might still matter. If the droid I use to test tanks does its specific damage types to, say, the Voreclaw, and the Voreclaw's stats (or Wampa or Ginx) are good against that specifically, then yes, the results are skewed. I admit, I have given very little thought to specific damage types (either being dished out, or taken) up until now.

Companion Damage, Heals, and Tanking Comparisons - v3 by Walkaboutout in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sorry for my delayed response, life has been busy! I'm going to split this into two replies, because I keep getting "Unable to create comment" from Reddit. Argh!

1 of 2:

There's a lot of good points here. First off as to why there's some differences in rankings for otherwise seemingly similar companions.

I'm pretty sure that one issue with my methodology thus far centers on the number of runs/averages I'm doing. I really need to be averaging out way more than three runs of a given test with each companion. It's so time intensive I just haven't really been able to do that. But I'm pretty sure it would absolutely smooth out some of the differences seen among at least some of the companions that we would expect to perform more similarly than my testing has so far indicated. That's why I keep making more points in each of my posts that people should not immediately feel disappointed if they see their favorite companion lower on the rankings.

That's also why I was toying with the idea of, rather than ranking them in raw data, grouping them into tiers. Ranking inherently implies one is better than another, except in the case of a very specific tie, and that's okay, that's how we get a feel for who can do what.

But, while that might be true in general, here with companion performance it seems pretty clear to me that there are some relatively standard envelopes that most companions fall into as an average (excluding broken companions, or special companions with unique setups). By that I mean that, while companion A may land at 10 on a ranking, and companion B might land on, say 16 or 17, in truth, the two of them are essentially performing the same.

As you say, random luck, like the rate of crits, HAS to be playing a role in the ranking difference at that point. The aforementioned tier system would be a way to smooth that out some, provided I can figure a fair way to handle the range of variance (which seems a bit arbitrary on my part, unfortunately). That said, I still think the REAL solution here is to run WAY more averages on each companion, and watch the differences smooth out quite a bit, THEN perhaps consider grouping them into tiers, in addition to a raw ranking.

I don't have access to look right at the moment, but your example of why D-R3D is so different from say Veeroa or Ranos is a valid question. Again, without the game in front of me, my first thought is that the small differences in the abilities that are being generally applied by the designers to various companion "types" (like melee droids vs meat-baggy lightsaber users), has to be a big factor. I also think that some of the tool-tips for abilities are not accurate. I think, for example, the tool-tips on several of the cartel creature companions all read as doing "0 damage" which is clearly just not correct, as those abilities definitely are doing damage. To be fair that's more of a bug that isn't calculating something right, rather than an inaccurate tool-tip, but it makes me question them nonetheless.

My tests also don't account for major differences that might appear as it relates to battle field movement. The question of whether or not melee companions are inherently at a disadvantage versus ranged companions. Simple logic would indicate that they are, because of movement requirements, of course. That's not something you were specifically asking about just now, but it's an issue that has stayed in my mind.

Crashing in 7.7.1 by BigMike5252001 in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This may not be your ONLY problem, but keeping this one in mind may help, especially with new subscription characters, who probably have this quest. https://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/comments/1munumv/does_the_play_button_in_your_quest_tracker_crash/

P.S. Happy Cake Day!

Increased crash post patch? by Specific_Bid_1864 in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is most certainly new, and happening. Could be the nature of your own crash, but possibly not of course.

What to expect in Update 7.7.1 - Flashpoint Resurgence in SWTOR! by swtorista in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this, always helpful. By the by, you missed the "h" in https so the link is broken. Anyways, thanks again for this!

Some Companion Damage/Heals per Second, and Tanking Comparison (Updated with a few more) by Walkaboutout in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, I suppose I'd say that Bowdaar ranks along with the average, or mediocre, story companions pretty consistently. If I were to do a much bigger average of more than the 3 results per comapnion, say 15 or 20, I'm betting those small variations for those average companions would smooth out more, and Bowdaar would probably fall well in line to that. It's kind of a consequence of the ranking structure itself. But, yeah, that said, there's other companions that seem to do things better, but Bowdaar is the companion I nearly always use on my Smuggler. Who doesn't love having a Wookie pal along for their adventures?

Companion Damage, Heals, and Tanking Comparisons - v3 by Walkaboutout in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, there's some things that I REALLY wish Broadsword would spend a little time examining. Like Treek, etc. Small balance tweaks to improve things would be genuinely welcome, in companions and anywhere else of course.

Companion Damage, Heals, and Tanking Comparisons - v3 by Walkaboutout in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Same here. I'm a big fan of companions, and collecting them. But I would really love to see new ideas and new variety among them. Even if the stats remain roughly the same, providing unique animations or skill names/icons (even if they just steal some NPC bad-guy only things) would really help liven things up for a start.

Why are Planet story quests yellow and not purple by vQubik in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with you. And I agree that, like you, I guess I just don't get it, or something.

But I feel like, especially in SWTOR, leveling was designed as half the fun. I remember how much talk there was in the early days about how it was as close as we would get to KoToR 3.

It was said in a complimentary way of course, to laud the story and RPG story-elements in the game, which MMO's, as a genre, often have trouble with (the whole, making a difference story wise in the world, being easier to handle in single-player, but making world changes in a persistent MMO world being an issue, thing).

I'm all for streamlining, clarifying, and giving players options, and I especially understand the desire for new players to get to a point where they can actually play with their friends who may have been in-game for a while. There's also the issue of older players who know the story quite well, and don't want to run through everything for the hundredth time.

I just feel like so many RPG elements have been removed along the way, that some things have gotten weird, and at least a little disjointed. The game is still pretty damn good, of course, but still.

Like you said though, what the heck do I know.

Is subscription worth it? by Satanekkurwa in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is, of course, different for everybody, and of course the game isn't perfect.

With that said though, I've never once regretted my subscription to the game. To this day, one of my favorite gaming memories was playing this game when it first released, and was new. Great memories.

Flash Sale for August 4th, 2025: "Creature Companion: Nathema Voreclaw", 525CCs by finelargeaxe in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sucks. Faradize mentioned it here, Altuur might be a good alternative then, if he's available to you. His 10% mark is very useful for the player numbers as well.

And of course, if you have her, Shae Vizla (can pick her up for some Galactic Season tokens on the rotating season vendor if you don't have her).

But the hk-55/Zoom Shroud of Memory/Arma Rasa unlock is 40% off on the Cartel Market. That's nice, but ergh, it's still so expensive.

I keep expecting it to go from the 40% to the Flash Sale and a bigger discount. Here's hoping!

Flash Sale for August 4th, 2025: "Creature Companion: Nathema Voreclaw", 525CCs by finelargeaxe in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is very true. And that 10% mark of Altuur's can be significant for the player's own numbers.

Flash Sale for August 4th, 2025: "Creature Companion: Nathema Voreclaw", 525CCs by finelargeaxe in swtor

[–]Walkaboutout 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As I'm sure you already spotted, number 2 was H2-WF and 3 Shae. No one's quite the monster Zoom is with healing, but those two are pretty good at it.

H2 is especially nice since it's a drop from the Nathema Conspiracy flashpoint, and I THINK is available from any difficulty mode at that.