[PS4] Best active companion for tanking?

audioboxer

Hey everyone I'm currently nearing 60 on my GF and as there is a 20% Zen store sale on PS4 right now on companions I thought picking up a portal hound would be a good idea?

A lot of guides still recommend using it due to 3 defence slots and quick procing of bonding stones. Even with mod 10 (coming to PS4 soon) is the portal hound still recommended as active?

It's only 640 Zen on sale but if it's made redundant by mod 10 I'd rather not waste Zen. Everyone seems to say stay clear of +x stat companions, and stick to +x%, and obviously the portal hound is a set amount of deflect it seems.

Cheers

greyhawk

I don't recommend any companion with three Def slots unless you really need the defense to get you to your personal 50-80% DR cap. Your personal cap is determined by whether or not you use Negation, and how high up its ranked.

Since you're still leveling you probably need the Defense so if you're using Bonding stones I'd highly recommend the Adbar Shield Maiden from the Emporium in PE. Only 2g and has great slot load outs.

I don't recommend the Portal Hound any more, with the ItF nerf imminent. If you must buy a companion id go for one with 1-2 Def slots or, better yet, three Off slots.

If you don't have rank 8 or higher Bondings then use the highest Eldritch runestones in your companion's Def slots, and stack Defense on their gear. That way you get a percentage of their stats, albeit smaller, and can get your DR up.

audioboxer

greyhawk#1973 said:

I don't recommend any companion with three Def slots unless you really need the defense to get you to your personal 50-80% DR cap. Your personal cap is determined by whether or not you use Negation, and how high up its ranked.



Since you're still leveling you probably need the Defense so if you're using Bonding stones I'd highly recommend the Adbar Shield Maiden from the Emporium in PE. Only 2g and has great slot load outs.



I don't recommend the Portal Hound any more, with the ItF nerf imminent. If you must buy a companion id go for one with 1-2 Def slots or, better yet, three Off slots.



If you don't have rank 8 or higher Bondings then use the highest Eldritch runestones in your companion's Def slots, and stack Defense on their gear. That way you get a percentage of their stats, albeit smaller, and can get your DR up.

Thanks! My main is a 70 GWF so I currently have 3 rank 10 bonding runestones. I'm mainly bringing a tank into play to help my guild as we have an abundance of DPS, and a decent amount of healers. We do have tanks but as an EU timezone player in a mostly American guild I can help being a tank in this timezone.

It's my first time focussing on tanking in an MMO though and I want to do it right and listen/learn from others. PUGs are utterly depressing as DPS, so I hope shifting over to a tank I can get more enjoyment out of them and maybe feel like I'm helping others as well. I'm certainly not the rage-quitting and moaning type, and I do like playing support. It's mostly been healing in the past though.

I'll look at the maiden as I've seen her mentioned before. I've got a good idea of decent mixes of the other 4 active companions, it's just trying to nail down what I should go for as active!

audioboxer

Might I add what about a Shadow Demon as active summoned? I have nearly 800 trade bars since starting playing from lockboxes/VIP.

3 offensive slots and a deflection bonus.

The Dread warrior/Blacksmith/Siege master seem like fairly decent active companions. Maybe a Yeti (I use one on my GWF) ~ Doesn't take too long to farm another doing the daily IWD quest.

The Rust Monster also seems to have quite a good bonus.

abmaiden95

If you're looking for a pure tank companion dancing shiekd is 100% the best one (20% buff to the whole group 90% of the time) while if you're looking for a pure dps one fire archin is the best choise... shadow demon has a useless bonus because it procs once every 30 sec.

audioboxer

abmaiden95 said:

If you're looking for a pure tank companion dancing shiekd is 100% the best one (20% buff to the whole group 90% of the time) while if you're looking for a pure dps one fire archin is the best choise... shadow demon has a useless bonus because it procs once every 30 sec.

Thanks, I assume the dancing shield buff is a power rather than bonus? Bonus just says % deflect chance. I would be going tank. I just want to be a solid tank, and do some buffs. I couldn't care about DPS. I have my GWF for dishing damage.

Maybe one day if I can learn to play the GF really well I'll care about creeping up my DPS a bit, but that day will be far off. I know some of the most skilled GFs can drop some of the tank heavy skills/companions and boost their DPS and still be great tanks.

greyhawk

Yes Dancing Shield from the wondrous bazaar has three Def slots and a very useful rank 30 skill (I think it's the rank 30 one). It's a great debuff from what I've read.

I'd like to switch my recommendation to that actually, if you have some AD. I think it's 400k before discounts. If I remember right it has three belt slots too, which are pretty cheap to fill. You could potentially get a LOT of your early gear level DR from just that companion and those sweet rank 10 bonding stones.

Good luck! And tanking on a GF is very fun and satisfying!

greyhawk

For other companions you listed some great ones. The Rust Monster is great active or better summoned - I would just never summon mine as it's far to ugly lol.

I've read that the yeti's bonus actually does NOT work, so you may want to test that or decide it's it's worth it. The Dread Warrior s bonus is decent for threat. I used one as active when I was a Tact GF.

Also check out the bear cub. It has a boost to Life Steal that's pretty cool.

Lots of choices, but you're on the right track to be very valuable to your guild and any groups you join.

audioboxer

greyhawk#1973 said:

Yes Dancing Shield from the wondrous bazaar has three Def slots and a very useful rank 30 skill (I think it's the rank 30 one). It's a great debuff from what I've read.



I'd like to switch my recommendation to that actually, if you have some AD. I think it's 400k before discounts. If I remember right it has three belt slots too, which are pretty cheap to fill. You could potentially get a LOT of your early gear level DR from just that companion and those sweet rank 10 bonding stones.



Good luck! And tanking on a GF is very fun and satisfying!

Thanks! I'll consider it. Buying "wrong" can be costly. So I felt asking for some opinions before mod 10 drops on PS4 would be a good idea. I'm beginning to notice a lot of advice from PC players is stacking defence like before isn't as necessary. Still I need to walk before I run and gearing up early on may require defence stacking. Plus PS4 is still on mod 9 for the time being.

Are augment companions worth considering again or are they still largely in the doghouse even in mod 10? Bear cub looked okay from TB store http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Bear_Cub

I've noticed the shadow companion still sells for about 500~600k on PS4 so I could use my TBs to buy it, sell it, and then use the AD for the dancing shield. I'm not totally broke by any means, given that my GWF has been helping me make AD and run decent dungeons. Dancing shield being blue as well means it'll be less costly than a green shadow demon to upgrade. PS4 still has no decent ways to earn companion tokens so it's all about 250k/500k upgrade costs to epic.

My first +4 ring ended up being rising deflect, so that will help on this GF to some extent. I don't think it's the BiS ring type for a GF, but it's decent and two enchant slots. It's the only +4 ring I've seen as well. Damn RNG.

greyhawk

Keep trying and you'll get a better ring. I recently got my very first +5 ring and it was Rising Defense. I would've wept with joy before but now I can't justify putting it on my GF. I just no longer need more Defense, sadly. With my Negation enchant fully stacked I'm just over the 80% cap, and I can't give up my current rings for defensive stats, as a Conq.

I would wholly recommend not getting an augment companion as your summoned if you intend on using rank 8 or higher Bondings. Augments are now the wrong choice, thankfully. I always prefer a companion fighting by my side as opposed to a ball thingy spinning around my head...

If you have the funds ever I'd buy a Negation enchant, too. Even the lesser version gives 10% when fully stacked which means you only need 70% DR on you when your companion gift is going to be at the cap. And at Perfect Negation you only need 50% DR. That's pretty easily achieved even without guild boon if you have decent companion gear and some artifacts. That'll make tanking much easier for you too.

Good hunting

sadus671

Hey @audioboxer#8681 ,

I would recommend the Rust Monster for companion with defensive slots, it has an active power that debuffs the mob's damage by 8% (Corrosive Touch), plus the active bonus - stacking 5% debuff. If you want defense slots and companions with Ring Slots, then I would say Earth Archon. (It boosts Air Archon damage (As well as yours while you are at full health.. which should be often... if you have good lifesteal or an active healer) and has a ring slot)

If you want offensive slots I would recommend Yeti (if anything it's cool to grow and get bigger when active goes off), Shadow Demon (it does good DPS.. which could help yours out a lot at lower ilvls), and previously mentioned Fire Archon.

A couple of good hybrid (mix of Offensive and Defensive Runstone Slots) companions would be Stalwart Golden Lion (group buff), Zhentarim Warlock (Ranged (so it doesn't die much) and has cheap Talisman slots)

I personally use a Pseudodragon... but that's mostly because I'm Dragonborn and I find it cool to have a mini-dragon active companion. (Plus the Stam restore is helpful).

If I had gone Drow as race.. I might have gone with a spider theme... using Phase Spider for Active Companion (with bonus of Combat Damage Reduction) and Spider Mount.... with the rare Faerie Fire proc...

Bonding Stones are definitely king. Augments are good place to start... (Since non-bonding Runestones are cheap) if you can't afford them, but shouldn't be your long term gear goal.

My personal value of defensive stats = Def till about 50% > Hps to about 120k > Lifesteal to about 10% (hopefully you've got a guild boon helping here) > Bonus Deflection as it presents itself (Like the 3% from the Boon.. but don't make an active effort to gear for it).

Your Defense will continue to increase as your gear improves. I personally have 70% with Bonding Stones Active, but I didn't specifically gear for it.

Nothing matters past 80% (Except Tac Capstone, but I've mentioned on other threads.. I'm not a big fan of Tac Tree.. since that bonus AP (going all out Defense on gear and compromising other stats) again doesn't matter if you can't hold aggro and fulfill your role as TANK first) and there are a lot of places to get extra Defense. (DC's Astral Shield, Negation Armor Enchant, Feat in Protection Tree, Using an AC providing Artifact Necklace, etc...)

With the mentioned Shield Slam form the Dancing Shield from the Wondrous Bazaar. #1 I hope you are using your Shield Slam on the boss... #2 I can't say I've actually tested it, but I'm going to wager the companion's Shield Slam doesn't stack with yours... so this would likely be a more beneficial Companion to an OP vs. a GF. (Not knocking the poster, just maybe something you didn't think about)

audioboxer

greyhawk#1973 said:

Keep trying and you'll get a better ring. I recently got my very first +5 ring and it was Rising Defense. I would've wept with joy before but now I can't justify putting it on my GF. I just no longer need more Defense, sadly. With my Negation enchant fully stacked I'm just over the 80% cap, and I can't give up my current rings for defensive stats, as a Conq.



I would wholly recommend not getting an augment companion as your summoned if you intend on using rank 8 or higher Bondings. Augments are now the wrong choice, thankfully. I always prefer a companion fighting by my side as opposed to a ball thingy spinning around my head...



If you have the funds ever I'd buy a Negation enchant, too. Even the lesser version gives 10% when fully stacked which means you only need 70% DR on you when your companion gift is going to be at the cap. And at Perfect Negation you only need 50% DR. That's pretty easily achieved even without guild boon if you have decent companion gear and some artifacts. That'll make tanking much easier for you too.



Good hunting

sadus671 said:

Hey @audioboxer#8681 ,

I would recommend the Rust Monster for companion with defensive slots, it has an active power that debuffs the mob's damage by 8% (Corrosive Touch), plus the active bonus - stacking 5% debuff. If you want defense slots and companions with Ring Slots, then I would say Earth Archon. (It boosts Air Archon damage (As well as yours while you are at full health.. which should be often... if you have good lifesteal or an active healer) and has a ring slot)

If you want offensive slots I would recommend Yeti (if anything it's cool to grow and get bigger when active goes off), Shadow Demon (it does good DPS.. which could help yours out a lot at lower ilvls), and previously mentioned Fire Archon.

A couple of good hybrid (mix of Offensive and Defensive Runstone Slots) companions would be Stalwart Golden Lion (group buff), Zhentarim Warlock (Ranged (so it doesn't die much) and has cheap Talisman slots)

I personally use a Pseudodragon... but that's mostly because I'm Dragonborn and I find it cool to have a mini-dragon active companion. (Plus the Stam restore is helpful).

If I had gone Drow as race.. I might have gone with a spider theme... using Phase Spider for Active Companion (with bonus of Combat Damage Reduction) and Spider Mount.... with the rare Faerie Fire proc...

Bonding Stones are definitely king. Augments are good place to start... (Since non-bonding Runestones are cheap) if you can't afford them, but shouldn't be your long term gear goal.

My personal value of defensive stats = Def till about 50% > Hps to about 120k > Lifesteal to about 10% (hopefully you've got a guild boon helping here) > Bonus Deflection as it presents itself (Like the 3% from the Boon.. but don't make an active effort to gear for it).

Your Defense will continue to increase as your gear improves. I personally have 70% with Bonding Stones Active, but I didn't specifically gear for it.

Nothing matters past 80% (Except Tac Capstone, but I've mentioned on other threads.. I'm not a big fan of Tac Tree.. since that bonus AP (going all out Defense on gear and compromising other stats) again doesn't matter if you can't hold aggro and fulfill your role as TANK first) and there are a lot of places to get extra Defense. (DC's Astral Shield, Negation Armor Enchant, Feat in Protection Tree, Using an AC providing Artifact Necklace, etc...)

With the mentioned Shield Slam form the Dancing Shield from the Wondrous Bazaar. #1 I hope you are using your Shield Slam on the boss... #2 I can't say I've actually tested it, but I'm going to wager the companion's Shield Slam doesn't stack with yours... so this would likely be a more beneficial Companion to an OP vs. a GF. (Not knocking the poster, just maybe something you didn't think about)

Thanks guys, good advice! Hope it helps other readers on PS4 before mod 10 hits as well. I'll avoid the bear cub and other augment companions as I have rank 10 bonding stones.

Good to know about the dancing shield slam as well. I haven't gone and bought it (or anything) as of yet. The golden lion isn't on PS4 as we got the shaunkadul lockbox at launch, which has just changed to glorious resurgence. The rust monster looks like a good choice, regardless of how ugly it is :P I love how the honey badger looks but 2000 zen for a companion with a bonus that isn't that great is a waste of money/AD right now. I really shouldn't be below 35% health often!

I'll definitely get a Negation enchant.

As for rings I still farm on my GWF, so any decent rings for GF I'll pass over until my GF is at 70 and well geared. Almost at 60 now.

But yeah, companions, def rust monster, and I'll probably get the Dread warrior for help with aggro starting off. A tanks job can be taking on a ton of flak from DPS in chat so I want to try and do everything I can to help myself out the gates. The Yeti will just come down to RNG with my treat I farm each day on GWF. I'm not buying it as it's still 500K+ AD on PS4, and that's the price coming down. Was 800k not long ago.

Archon prices are coming down on PS4 due to new lockbox. I also have the slime/golem companions from the recent monthly event. Was just going to hold onto them and then sell at a later date though.

dupeks

Just adding my 2 cents: but the rust monster debuff doesn't trigger very reliably, and I believe get's double-mitigated (like PF and terror wep enchants do too, currently). Which means it's giving you much closer to 1-2% damage, and up less than half the time.

I run a Dread Warrior on my GF, because the threat bonus is nice, the lifetheft attack replaces the need for almost any lifesteal, and the 10% dps bonus from the r30 attack power triggers pretty reliably.

The debuff from dancing shield is nice, but the 3 defense slots are sad. Sellsword has a similar good debuff, but has 3 offense slots and dies pretty often.

Sharpedge is reporting that yeti bonus currently isn't counting (even though it triggers) and I'd trust his testing. So that's a bummer until they fix it.

greyhawk

I use an epic Sellsword on my Conq GF for the debuff. She dies a lot but any melee companion does, and I don't want to be another in the ever growing sea of Fire Archons lol.

I also run a legendary Air Archon for the bonus, a Fire Archon, an Earth Archon cause I'm at full health a lot, and a Siege Master. But I'm a dps/tank GF now in preparation for mod 10 in a few weeks.

When I was Tact I ran a Harper Bard summoned, a Dread Warrior, a rust monster, the bear cub, and another one that is escaping me at the moment... Damn old age. I think a Yeti, for the hugeness factor when all three procd

sadus671

greyhawk#1973 said:

I use an epic Sellsword on my Conq GF for the debuff. She dies a lot but any melee companion does, and I don't want to be another in the ever growing sea of Fire Archons lol.



I also run a legendary Air Archon for the bonus, a Fire Archon, an Earth Archon cause I'm at full health a lot, and a Siege Master. But I'm a dps/tank GF now in preparation for mod 10 in a few weeks.



When I was Tact I ran a Harper Bard summoned, a Dread Warrior, a rust monster, the bear cub, and another one that is escaping me at the moment... Damn old age. I think a Yeti, for the hugeness factor when all three procd

Nice... Huge for the Win!

audioboxer

dupeks said:

Just adding my 2 cents: but the rust monster debuff doesn't trigger very reliably, and I believe get's double-mitigated (like PF and terror wep enchants do too, currently). Which means it's giving you much closer to 1-2% damage, and up less than half the time.

I run a Dread Warrior on my GF, because the threat bonus is nice, the lifetheft attack replaces the need for almost any lifesteal, and the 10% dps bonus from the r30 attack power triggers pretty reliably.

The debuff from dancing shield is nice, but the 3 defense slots are sad. Sellsword has a similar good debuff, but has 3 offense slots and dies pretty often.

Sharpedge is reporting that yeti bonus currently isn't counting (even though it triggers) and I'd trust his testing. So that's a bummer until they fix it.

greyhawk#1973 said:

I use an epic Sellsword on my Conq GF for the debuff. She dies a lot but any melee companion does, and I don't want to be another in the ever growing sea of Fire Archons lol.



I also run a legendary Air Archon for the bonus, a Fire Archon, an Earth Archon cause I'm at full health a lot, and a Siege Master. But I'm a dps/tank GF now in preparation for mod 10 in a few weeks.



When I was Tact I ran a Harper Bard summoned, a Dread Warrior, a rust monster, the bear cub, and another one that is escaping me at the moment... Damn old age. I think a Yeti, for the hugeness factor when all three procd

I picked up a Glorious Resurgence Epic Companions Pack for 450k ~ http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Glorious_Resurgence_Epic_Companions_Pack

People on the PS4 still seem to forget to look up packs lol. Instead they search for the companion they want which always sell for much more on their own. If a pack of choice is available look it up first!!!

Anyway I haven't opened it yet and might sit on it for a while. I should always be able to make my money back on it, or near enough. It was for getting the rust monster, and at epic, as no point in spending 800 TBs for green now (which then needs 250k upgrade -> 500k upgrade to reach epic).

Sad to hear about the rust companion debuff, but I did read elsewhere it is inconsistent.

I'll consider the sellsword as well. I think though as much as I'm being advised not to for mod 10 anymore I need to consider starting out with defensive companions to help me learn to tank. The Dread Warrior might be a good middle-ground because it's not 3 defence slots and can most likely still be used once I'm geared in mod 10.

Air Archons are still a bit pricey as they've just dropped on PS4, but Fire/Earth are going cheap. Water seems to be such a weak active lol.

So yeah, The Dread Warrior/Blacksmith and Siegemaster for some damage (even higher on Stronghold helps guild) seem good choices. Maybe I'll go with the Rust monster as well to start out. It's got 1 offensive slot compared to 3 defensive on dancing shield. Plus that poster above points out why the dancing shield might be better for OP vs GF.

audioboxer

Slightly OT but is the Lord's Armored Polar Bear a good epic to pickup for the +2000 defense boost? I already have the armoured brown bear, which I bought primarily for wanderers fortune. The Lords bear was added to the PS4 store at a later date.

I know people are moving away from stacking defence, but having a mount power handle a defence boost seems like you could focus gear on other things?

The brown armoured bear is +8000hp.

greyhawk

If you don't have a guild Defense boon then I think the 2k mount bonus will go a long way to getting your DR up. I highly recommend it unless you have a good guild boon.

I used the Giant Crab with the same bonus even with a guild boon until I switched to Conq and got my Negation high enough.

Plus that mount looks cool. Wish I had it...

audioboxer

greyhawk#1973 said:

If you don't have a guild Defense boon then I think the 2k mount bonus will go a long way to getting your DR up. I highly recommend it unless you have a good guild boon.



I used the Giant Crab with the same bonus even with a guild boon until I switched to Conq and got my Negation high enough.



Plus that mount looks cool. Wish I had it...

Cheers I thought so. Nah my guild is just about to hit level 3. We're slow to do things but a tight nit bunch that do our best. It's a marathon not a sprint for most of us. Gone are the days of loving the 125~200 AD exchange mind you. We're sitting firm around 350~400 now. The PS4 will probably hit PC levels within the first 12 months.

lirithiel

The Bulette Pup is pretty good for its active bonus alone. No need to use as as summoned, just have it as one of your 5 actives.

I used to run with the Honey Badger as summoned, but I recently got a Dread Warrior which I use now; it dies a lot but then it's only blue so it is expected. The one thing I don't like about the Dread Warrior is its immense size. Ima dwarf so it looks rather weird having this massive companion with me.

About 3 Defensive-slot companions: there are mixed messages here. Some are saying to stay away from them in Mod 10 while others recommend using certain ones like Dancing Shield. As someone who is not in a guild and has no access to the Defensive boon I am forced to stack Defense to get to 50% DR. Would the Defensive slots not be helpful then?

I wouldn't recommend the Portal Hound regardless as Dimensional Jaws (5-sec CD) taunts, which won't help you as a tank, especially in group content.

audioboxer

lirithiel said:

The Bulette Pup is pretty good for its active bonus alone. No need to use as as summoned, just have it as one of your 5 actives.

I used to run with the Honey Badger as summoned, but I recently got a Dread Warrior which I use now; it dies a lot but then it's only blue so it is expected. The one thing I don't like about the Dread Warrior is its immense size. Ima dwarf so it looks rather weird having this massive companion with me.

About 3 Defensive-slot companions: there are mixed messages here. Some are saying to stay away from them in Mod 10 while others recommend using certain ones like Dancing Shield. As someone who is not in a guild and has no access to the Defensive boon I am forced to stack Defense to get to 50% DR. Would the Defensive slots not be helpful then?

I wouldn't recommend the Portal Hound regardless as Dimensional Jaws (5-sec CD) taunts, which won't help you as a tank, especially in group content.

We can't get the pup on PS4 yet

The Honey Badger looks like a decent offense slotted companion for when you have defence stacked through other means. Although at this point there are other options like the Yeti or Shadow Demon.

I think the Dread Warrior looks cool, pretty imposing! Although yeah as a Dwarf you probably feel even smaller lol.

I also think the 3 defence slot companions are incredibly useful starting off as a tank, and especially until you get all boons unlocked. It's just about trying to pick the best one that leaves you with a useful active bonus if you switch companions in the future. Especially on PS4 as companion upgrading is rather expensive. We have no way to gain decent amounts of companion tokens as of yet.

I've hit level 62 and I'm starting to feel my damage is hitting a wall. I might need to get one full on offensive companions to help with levelling/dailies. People say the Shadow Demon is decent as it does a ton of damage. I'm wondering how the Honey Badger damage compares? Usually ranged companions are recommended to try and keep them alive longer.

Honey Badger works out cheaper for me on PS4 right now. 20% off companions = 2000 zen. Given the current exchange that is about 710~740k AD. HB comes as epic.

Shadow Demon is 800 TB's (as I have 800 TB's), but then 250k to upgrade, and another 500k to upgrade to epic. Where as I could buy the Shadow Demon and sell it for around 500k to help fund HB purchase.

greyhawk

The Burette Pup sounds good but it's rare to take that big of a hit through all of our defenses. I've heard it's not great due to that - I can't afford one so don't know for sure.

The choice of summoned companion is very personal, due to several factors. That's why you see mixed messages. Until you have a guild Defense boon, and/or a Def mount bonus, stacking Defense on a companion is almost required to hit the DR cap. Once those other things are available you can change to a more offensive focused companion.

My personal goal now is to switch to the Life Steal guild boon, but I'd need to rework a lot of stuff to do it, and it may not be worthwhile for me since my stats are about where I want them now. But, I'm a 3.3k Conq GF, so my gear is better than most. And, I'm in an awesome guild that's building GH 20 very soon.

It all depends, is the best advice, unfortunately...

lirithiel

audioboxer#8681 said:

lirithiel said:

The Bulette Pup is pretty good for its active bonus alone. No need to use as as summoned, just have it as one of your 5 actives.

I used to run with the Honey Badger as summoned, but I recently got a Dread Warrior which I use now; it dies a lot but then it's only blue so it is expected. The one thing I don't like about the Dread Warrior is its immense size. Ima dwarf so it looks rather weird having this massive companion with me.

About 3 Defensive-slot companions: there are mixed messages here. Some are saying to stay away from them in Mod 10 while others recommend using certain ones like Dancing Shield. As someone who is not in a guild and has no access to the Defensive boon I am forced to stack Defense to get to 50% DR. Would the Defensive slots not be helpful then?

I wouldn't recommend the Portal Hound regardless as Dimensional Jaws (5-sec CD) taunts, which won't help you as a tank, especially in group content.

We can't get the pup on PS4 yet

The Honey Badger looks like a decent offense slotted companion for when you have defence stacked through other means. Although at this point there are other options like the Yeti or Shadow Demon.

I've hit level 62 and I'm starting to feel my damage is hitting a wall. I might need to get one full on offensive companions to help with levelling/dailies. People say the Shadow Demon is decent as it does a ton of damage. I'm wondering how the Honey Badger damage compares? Usually ranged companions are recommended to try and keep them alive longer.

Honey Badger works out cheaper for me on PS4 right now. 20% off companions = 2000 zen. Given the current exchange that is about 710~740k AD. HB comes as epic.

Shadow Demon is 800 TB's (as I have 800 TB's), but then 250k to upgrade, and another 500k to upgrade to epic. Where as I could buy the Shadow Demon and sell it for around 500k to help fund HB purchase.

The Young Yeti doesn't do much damage - it is a tanking companion after all. I wouldn't recommend the Shadow Demon either for a tank even if it does the most damage out of all the companions out there. Its active bonus isn't very useful without high Deflect, though it does provide 100% Deflect Severity. I did notice that the Honey Badger has the ability to do huge damage on occasion which is helpful during soloing. It dies quite often too, however, as a melee companion.

audioboxer

greyhawk#1973 said:

The Burette Pup sounds good but it's rare to take that big of a hit through all of our defenses. I've heard it's not great due to that - I can't afford one so don't know for sure.



The choice of summoned companion is very personal, due to several factors. That's why you see mixed messages. Until you have a guild Defense boon, and/or a Def mount bonus, stacking Defense on a companion is almost required to hit the DR cap. Once those other things are available you can change to a more offensive focused companion.



My personal goal now is to switch to the Life Steal guild boon, but I'd need to rework a lot of stuff to do it, and it may not be worthwhile for me since my stats are about where I want them now. But, I'm a 3.3k Conq GF, so my gear is better than most. And, I'm in an awesome guild that's building GH 20 very soon.



It all depends, is the best advice, unfortunately...

Nah not at all, I've learned a lot. It's good to get varied opinions, it all helps before blowing AD/Zen! This is one game regrets can be costly. Not that much is a TERRIBLE purchase, but some things are definitely better than others. For example if I had know the polar bear mount with +2000 defence was coming to the PS4 zen store I'd have held off. The brown bear +8000hp is pretty useless. I got it for wanderers fortune, but the polar bear has that as well. I mean I guess it's paid for itself anyway, the amount of stacks of refinement I've had/currently have are insane. Just in time for the 2 x refinement coming up next weekend.

lirithiel

greyhawk#1973 said:

The Burette Pup sounds good but it's rare to take that big of a hit through all of our defenses. I've heard it's not great due to that - I can't afford one so don't know for sure.

I don't have one myself - I'm just going by what @abmaiden95 said in another thread. He/she thinks the active bonus is pretty good.

audioboxer

lirithiel said:

audioboxer#8681 said:

lirithiel said:

The Bulette Pup is pretty good for its active bonus alone. No need to use as as summoned, just have it as one of your 5 actives.

I used to run with the Honey Badger as summoned, but I recently got a Dread Warrior which I use now; it dies a lot but then it's only blue so it is expected. The one thing I don't like about the Dread Warrior is its immense size. Ima dwarf so it looks rather weird having this massive companion with me.

About 3 Defensive-slot companions: there are mixed messages here. Some are saying to stay away from them in Mod 10 while others recommend using certain ones like Dancing Shield. As someone who is not in a guild and has no access to the Defensive boon I am forced to stack Defense to get to 50% DR. Would the Defensive slots not be helpful then?

I wouldn't recommend the Portal Hound regardless as Dimensional Jaws (5-sec CD) taunts, which won't help you as a tank, especially in group content.

We can't get the pup on PS4 yet

The Honey Badger looks like a decent offense slotted companion for when you have defence stacked through other means. Although at this point there are other options like the Yeti or Shadow Demon.

I've hit level 62 and I'm starting to feel my damage is hitting a wall. I might need to get one full on offensive companions to help with levelling/dailies. People say the Shadow Demon is decent as it does a ton of damage. I'm wondering how the Honey Badger damage compares? Usually ranged companions are recommended to try and keep them alive longer.

Honey Badger works out cheaper for me on PS4 right now. 20% off companions = 2000 zen. Given the current exchange that is about 710~740k AD. HB comes as epic.

Shadow Demon is 800 TB's (as I have 800 TB's), but then 250k to upgrade, and another 500k to upgrade to epic. Where as I could buy the Shadow Demon and sell it for around 500k to help fund HB purchase.

The Young Yeti doesn't do much damage - it is a tanking companion after all. I wouldn't recommend the Shadow Demon either for a tank even if it does the most damage out of all the companions out there. Its active bonus isn't very useful without high Deflect, though it does provide 100% Deflect Severity. I did notice that the Honey Badger has the ability to do huge damage on occasion which is helpful during soloing. It dies quite often too, however, as a melee companion.

Yeah you are right the Yeti is more of a tank. Would really be a waste as summoned on a GF, even with the 3 offense slots (active is okay, although everyone keeps saying Yeti active is broken ). I think I'll go Shadow Demon/Honey Badger or white quality companion you can buy for 2 gold with 3 offense that shreds 10% of armour IIRC. I'm trying to avoid having to spend too much AD to upgrade companions until PS4 has better companion token options. I mean I have an epic lockbox with a rust monster for 450k. It's annoying having to spend 250/500k to upgrade other companions to epic, plus their purchase cost.

For now though I need defence slots, and the dancing shield looks to be the best. The Dread Warrior and Rust for a mix of slots also (If I get a +2000 defence mount a mixed slot companion might be okay starting out). Ring slots seem quite important also given that the PS4 companion gear options are absolutely woeful. There is literally nothing for us outside of some random Stronghold drops. I guess waist slots are okay also, as with JC you can make personalised gear. Therefore the Dread Warrior on gear slots looks a bit iffy for PS4 with a Sword Knot and Neck slot. Although I guess JC can make personalised neck pieces too.

I forgot to say I have the GWF pack, so I have the boar that increases damage against marked targets. It's not bad given our targets should always be marked, but it's understandable why people prefer things like the siege master which just give +x% damage against everything.

greyhawk

That epic companion pack also has the Pseudodragon. It's epic with 3 Off slots and two ring slots. I hear the active isn't great but it gives back some stamina which can't hurt as a GF.

I use it on my CW - more for the Wizard's familiar vibe and to again avoid being too cookie cutter with a Fire Archon - and I love it.

Or the Aranea - which has a slow iirc - 3 Off slots and two rings again. Both aren't ideal but they are epic and you can get a lot of defense if you gear them for it. Plus, when you do want a more offensive companion they have the runestones slots and the gear choices that you'll just have to modify what they wear...

Just adding more options for ya.

lirithiel

The best advice I can actually give you is not to rush things with companions. I have wasted so much money and AD on companions I don't even use anymore. Try to pick companions that you plan on running with for a long time. As upgrading them costs a kidney and a spleen I won't recommend a white companion for starters. The Sellsword's debuff only unlocks at lvl 30 (blue). Take your time, make informed choices.

audioboxer

greyhawk#1973 said:

That epic companion pack also has the Pseudodragon. It's epic with 3 Off slots and two ring slots. I hear the active isn't great but it gives back some stamina which can't hurt as a GF.



I use it on my CW - more for the Wizard's familiar vibe and to again avoid being too cookie cutter with a Fire Archon - and I love it.



Or the Aranea - which has a slow iirc - 3 Off slots and two rings again. Both aren't ideal but they are epic and you can get a lot of defense if you gear them for it. Plus, when you do want a more offensive companion they have the runestones slots and the gear choices that you'll just have to modify what they wear...



Just adding more options for ya.

I seen those and as tempting as purchases around 500k for epic are I don't think the actives are too great. I'd probably rather save up and begrudgingly get other companions to epic.

lirithiel said:

The best advice I can actually give you is not to rush things with companions. I have wasted so much money and AD on companions I don't even use anymore. Try to pick companions that you plan on running with for a long time. As upgrading them costs a kidney and a spleen I won't recommend a white companion for starters. The Sellsword's debuff only unlocks at lvl 30 (blue). Take your time, make informed choices.

For sure x 100. I mean gearing up is the first most important thing, as are enchants, and then companions. It's just hard not to get sucked into the companion world. Like Pokemon you feel you gotta catch them all... except in Neverwinter it costs and arm and a leg to "catch them all".... and give them experience, and upgrade them, and kit them out. Stupid companions can't do anything for themselves! They even die all the time ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

At least the Shard of Oculus wand isn't BiS for a tank. That thing is fetching 7m+ AD on PS4 as every GWF needs one. Hey, maybe once my tank is good enough I can farm CN on it for a chance at the shard for my GWF lol.

lantern22

I'm using a lilend now

1. Purple Companion
   
2. 3 offensive slots
   
3. 3 ring slots (means you can use +4 sudden rings on it)
   
4. has some minor healing capabilities and I think some debuffing (need to check)
   
5. 300K on AH atm - bargain
   
6. I like the harp sound
   

But I don't need defence. Also the active bonus is pretty HAMSTER but for points 2 & 3 (and 5) I think it is worth it.

I also have angel, young yeti, rust monster and blacksmith (some of these aren't that great - i.e. blacksmith)

audioboxer

I have the Polar bear mount now, +2000 defence will be nice to start out with Almost at 70 and then it will be mote grinding. Ughh. Managed to avoid it on my GWF as elemental artifact weapon choice packs were at one point 300~400k on PS4. Over 1 million now. Pointless with twisted artifact packs dropping with mod 10.

The rust monster is ugly AF, but I like the big fellow so far! Honey badger and others from Zen store can wait for a 50% off sale. I spent the rest of my Zen on the Polar bear mount.