Sword Coast Adventures (SCA) - Question about good companion combination

littletaller

Hey everyone. I've seen a few topics about SCA, but most are really old so instead of necro-ing one of them I decided to make a new one. Mostly because none of the old ones contain an answer to what bothers me

I've been trying (as many others) to put togeather a good SCA team to relatively easily beat T6 dungeons. Of course there are many possible combinations but I have a few limits, mostly that I do not have any Zen companions nor will I ever have any (I have bought Zen before to get a mount and VIP, but will not be spending money again after the sh*t they've been pulling).
Also, I'm trying to keep it as cheap as possible - for example I know the Sprite is great but I will not be spending 800k AD on it (or whatever it costs nowadays).

I know its best to get one companion that is specialized in each rune, and has the other runes evenly distributed, but my question is: how specialized does it have to be? For example, for a perception-specialized companion, should it have 3 perception dice or 4?

I am currently using a rather poor (but very cheap) team of blue Wandering Scarecrow, blue Wererat Thief, and two greens. Success rate is pretty low and requires a lot of work and luck, as you can imagine, so I stopped running SCA until I put togeather a better team.
Though I must say that the Scarecrow and Wererat handle their part of the challenges really well. If its a magic-heavy challenge, Scarecrow will destroy it with 4 magic dice (I mean magic runes appear on all 4 of its special dice). Likewise, Wererat will destroy thievery-heavy challenges. However it seems most of these challenges could also be done with 3 special dice.
Combat isnt usually an issue, however I fail a lot of perception challenges (the most I have is 2 perception dice).
Naturally it would seem best to get a companion with 4 perception. But would that be overkill? What is in your opinion better (disregarding price/rarity concerns):

1.) a team where each companion has 4 of specialized dice (of the other three runes - combat is fine with 3 dice), for example:
4 1 2 1 (4 in magic)
1 4 1 2 (4 in perception)
1 2 4 1 (4 in thievery)
2 2 1 3 (3 in combat)
total: 8 9 8 7

or 2.) a team where each companion has 3 of specialized dice, for example:
3 2 2 1
1 3 2 2
2 2 3 1
2 2 1 3
total: 8 9 8 7

Team 2 is fictional (as in, I didnt have any specific companions in mind, though I'm sure such distributions exist), and as you can see, the total is the same for both teams (it doesnt have to be, but its easier to compare if it is).

Obviously Team 1 is stronger with each specialized challenge (all-magic etc), but might have a bit more problems with random/evenly-distributed challenges. Or in dungeons where you get a bunch of specialized (all-magic or at least high-magic) challenges in a row, as you will need to waste time/life on other challenges while your magic specialist wakes up.

Team 2 will not be as strong on specialized challenges, but I think it should still be able to do them, right? But it should do a bit better on evenly-distributed challenges or many same-type challenges in a row.

What are your opinions? Am I looking at this wrong? Please share your experience and some insight

beckylunatic

You can squeak by with 3 perception dice for chests if you roll really well. Ideally, I prefer 4. Cockatrice is probably your best bet here.

Nothing wrong with your blue companions, but an Angel is super for magic challenges and does well on combat too. Epic companions get wildcard dice that make them better able to succeed even on challenges they're less suited for.

Specific companions don't necessarily matter that much, but generically speaking, I want one each of strong magic, perception, and thievery. I don't like having more than one with weak combat. I'd rather take a blue companion with a lot of shields than a purple one without. (Weak = 2 or fewer. Strong = 3 or 4.)

Black Ice Prospector is solid for thievery and combat, for example. A Wererat is weaker since it's really only specialized in thievery.

Having multiple companions with at least two perception dice means you'll risk less health on chests.

Just one companion with strong magic is usually ok, but sometimes the portal maps are brutal if you don't have two, especially if you begin on one. Companions with magic + thievery allow doing challenges that I usually skip when playing with my highly specialized dream team though, so you could probably find a good balance with what you have and some budget epics.

littletaller

Thanks for the reply!

I assumed its possible to do specialized challenges with only 3 dice, if you roll well. But is it practical? I mean how well do you have to roll? Do you have at least a 50% chance to beat it with 3 dice? I'm not good at math, but you can have up to 9 of the same rune, though more often I see 8 + 1 of another type. The companion can have what, 2 runes on its 3 special dice + 1 on standard dice, which is a max of 12 runes. Seems like you need a decent roll to get 9 runes up... Of course having 4 dice would be better for such a specialized challenge, but I wonder if you suffer on other challenges for it? For example my current team did very well on magic challenges which were destroyed by Scarecrow, but then if there was a challenge with like 4 perception and 5 magic, it was impossible for him as he has 0 perception dice. if he had 1 perception die and 3 magic dice, he could beat both challenges. but it would require good rolls... so I wonder if it would actually be beneficial to have companions with 3 specialized dice, or would that require even more luck with rolls?

I dont have an angel yet but its very similar to Scarecrow (one has 0 thievery, the other 0 perception). That reminds me of another question... how important it is to have all-purple team? As far as I can tell, the only difference is that purple companions get 2 of their dragonling dice replaced with scrimshaw dice, which have 8 sides instead of 6 (and 2 different runes on each of the added sides). So they are better, but is the difference actually noticeable in dungeons? And is it worth the higher price?

As for combat, you reckon it requires so many dice? All of my current companions have exactly 2 combat dice and I didnt seem to have many problems beating combat challenges. Of course I would use one of my blue companions to profit from the wildcard rolls, but I definitely think of combat as easier than the other 3. Currently I think there is no need for a 4 combat companion, a 3 combat should be more than enough. The other companions should be fine with 2 or even 1 combat dice... Am I mistaken?

Yes, Black Ice Prospector is very nice, but he's currently available for 400k, which is a bit much for my pocket. His dice are 0 1 3 4, while Wererat's are 0 2 4 2. They both suck at magic, Wererat is better at thievery and perception, while Prospector is better at Combat. As I already mentioned, I dont think I need a 4 combat companion at all, so Prospector is probably not a good fit for me.

True. In the above example, Team 1 has a companion with 4 perception dice, then 2 companions with 2 dice, and 1 companion with 1 die, for a total of 9 dice with perception. I think that's pretty good, its actually the highest amount in that team (magic and thievery follow with 8 and combat with 7). Team 2 has one companion with 3 dice and the other 3 companions all with 2 dice. I'm not sure which is better (overall, not just at perception challenges). I am leaning towards team 1, but I'm not sure (that is why I made this topic in the first place )

Team 1 would have companions with 4-2-1-1 magic dice, Team 2 would have companions with 3-2-2-1 magic dice. Again not sure which is better.

Mind if I ask what do you have in your highly specialized dream team?

dfnce

Just sharing what is my approach. That set was created long ago back in mod 5.

Two companions (legendary) for special tasks

Wild Hunt Rider for thievery/perception
Repentant Dragon Cultist for magic/perception

Rest is for combat/universal (epic)

Eryneas
Ioun Stone of Allure
Rust Monster

I play with simple approach - cherry pick highest combat rolls, most optimal non-combat only, re-roll the rest, repeat.

anoregon

I actually just discovered SCA and I don't know if my job will survive. I'm wasting too much time on it.

beckylunatic

littletaller#4652 said:

Mind if I ask what do you have in your highly specialized dream team?

A long time ago, Cryptic had a special holiday season offer of a pack with every Zen store companion available at the time, which I got for a Christmas treat. I also own the Guardian of Neverwinter pack.

So my ringers are Honey Badger (perception/thievery/combat), Vicious Dire Wolf (thievery/combat/perception), Angel (magic/combat/perception), Sprite (perception/magic/thievery). The only challenges that are really a struggle for this group are ones requiring a lot of thievery and a couple of magic dice, as none of them handle that combination well. They rarely blow a lot of health trying to open chests.

Still, a Cockatrice and a Black Ice Prospector (closer to 100k on my search) are as good as the Sprite and Honey Badger ever were.

littletaller

Thanks for sharing. Those are some nice (and expensive) companions I dont have any legendary companions though and probably wont have any in the forseeable future either But those are all companions with max 3 dice of a single rune... would you say they are better than companions with 4 dice of a single rune?

I'm not sure how long ago they changed combat dice to have a max of 6 runes instead of 4, but it seems combat was far more important before the change than it is now. Unless they change something again, I think its better to get companions with more dice of other runes than combat.

lol, anoregon, I feel ya... the only thing stopping me is my sucky team... if I get a good team, my job will also become endangered

Ah, cool, those are very nice companions too, and two of them with 3 dice and two with 4. So I think you have a lot of insight into which two are better (able to complete more challenges of varying composition/difficulty). Have you noticed some of them doing better than others? Maybe winning a challenge you though they wouldnt, etc?

Right, I see now that there are a few listed at a bit over 100k. When I checked the other day, only 2 were listed at 400k each Still, I dont think I will be getting one for the reason I explained above (since we have 6 combat runes per die, I dont think a 4 combat companion is necessary). A cockatrice though, I might get that one, as my team definitely lacks perception....

wylonus

battle medic are good for thievery, he is master of the keys.
you can get him in few week very soon, with CTA: Neverwinter Siege.

with VIP, just focus on New Life lockboxes until you have enough companion upgrade tokens.

i used war dog/orc wolf, it is most balanced rolls, both have high shield icons. if you got Damaran dog, you need to train it to blue/purple tier.
i have been trying for months until gave up with footloose thief, it is way too elusive. so, i dont know if he is better than battle medic.
getting Battle medic is lot quicker.
also, watch for neverwinter guard, it coming too, heard it is nice tank pet.

littletaller

Thanks, yes the Medic seems great, glad to hear he is coming.

Well I only got 1 month of VIP and I already used the keys on New Life lockboxes and I got a grand total of 6 tokes (out of 30 lockboxes) so that's still a pretty low chance... Do people actually upgrade their companions for SCA? Does it happen often, I mean is it advisable to do so? For me it seems far too expensive, in AD and even more so in tokens....

well the medic and the lightfoot thief have the same dice except thief is blue and medic is purple, so for SCA, medic would be better. unless you upgrade the thief, then I think they'd be equally good. people usually want the thief for actual gameplay, not SCA.
thanks for the heads up on the guard, though I dont need a tank pet, I need pets that are great at SCA

still not sure if its better to get a team with 4 runes or 3 runes? Team 1 or Team 2 from the first post?
it actually seems easier to get Team 1 (some companions you can get from events, others arent too overpriced) than Team 2 (most companions with such rune distribution are either lower qualities or too expensive).... but does that mean that Team 2 is better? Usually higher price means better stuff, but that may mean they're better for actual gameplay, while I'm only interested in SCA here....

blackjackwidow

Personally, I have 2 purple and 2 blue companions that I use, and I have never lost a dungeon with them (since they changed the levels). I would not upgrade a companion just for SCA.

In fact, the one that I upgraded (because I wanted it purple, not blue, in-game) doesn't seem to me to perform any better with the upgrade. The 2 die did change, but I almost feel like the game doesn't "roll" better with them. No data to support it, just a feeling.

*edit - to answer your team 1 or team 2 question, most of the treasure chest challenges are very heavy on perception. I've not had enough coffee to fully get your numbering system, but I rely heavily on my companion that has 2 perception/thievery, 1 magic/perception, and 1 magic/thievery die for those tasks (and thievery tasks). If that one is not available or it's one of those dungeons that has a ton of perception and thievery tasks throughout, I also use my angel for perception tasks. I usually save the 9 perceptions for the stone of allure, but my angel usually manages the perception ones quite well (while only having 2 dice with perception).

Bottom line - I don't think price of companion really has anything to do with SCA, as few people purchase companion specifically for it. I've switched mine around depending on what I picked up through events, etc, so I don't have a dream team, I guess. I have a "specialty" in perception/thievery, magic/perception, thievery/combat and magic/combat. I prefer 3 die in a particular specialty, with at least 2 in a secondary. It works well for my way of playing.

littletaller

Thank you very much for your reply. To first clarify my numbering system, I've adapted it from the Wiki, where every companion listed on the SCA Proficiency page has numbers next to it, meaning how many dice with each rune it has. Magic is always first, then perception, then thievery, and combat is last. So for example, a 4221 companion has 4 magic dice, 2 perception dice, 2 thievery dice and 1 combat die. The companion that you mention could have its dice written like: 2330 (same as the Ioun stone of Allure).

I am also thinking of using 2 purple and 2 blue companions (blue I got from playing, purple would have to be purchased. The blue ones are of course the scarecrow and the wererat, as I think they already do very well in their own fields - magic and thievery. So I would need to buy one for perception and another one, probably a more balanced one or one with 3 combat dice, preferably purple ones.

Interesting to hear that the 2 new dice dont make a noticeable difference. I thought so too, well we'd still need some actual data but for now a feeling will have to do
Also glad to hear your Allure and Angel are managing perception tasks well, as they have 3 or 2 perception dice. Happy that its not "4 dice or nothing" kinda deal.

Yes, I also didnt think SCA plays a role in companion price, but you never know.
I'm not sure yet what my way of playing is, but yours seems good enough Glad to hear 3 dice per rune is sufficient. While my future team will most likely have 4 dice of at least some runes, it will also have at least 2 dice in secondary runes, so I think it will be a decent team. I guess there's nothing left for me but to go out and get the companions and try it out

gabrieldourden

I run with Shadow Demon for thievery, Angel for magic and combat, Chicken for chests and Black Ice Ioun Stone as a great generalist.