Useful Companions

metalicum1

How many companions are there in the game? 200-ish? Something like that..
How many of them are useful?

Archon (3)
Siege Master
Runt
Debuff companions (Shield, Con Artist/Sellsword, Ambush Drake)
Belial + Magus

about 11 of them. about 5%. the rest is complete trash.
(I can see some argue for niche choices, but let's be real)

The think I don't understand is the way they are trash. Why not to buff some of the base stat ones so that they are at least serviceable for beginners? Something like 2000 arp instead of 200? or instead of 600 Defense while controlled, why not 3000?
Why there is no scaling for the DoTs companion?

There's always going to be something BiS, but why there are no cheaper alternatives? There is only BiS and nothing else even come close.
It can't be so hard to fix or design. And you wouldn't loose money Cryptic if you make then Green or whatever.

mebengalsfan

There are many good companions in the game.

My tank uses the one that buffs the group Crit Chance by 20%. Now with bonding nerf coming to console that companion is a good one to have as many players will lose some critical chance and having her out will push some player back up to their 100% mark.

Sprites are another good one for AP regen.

The companion from the Moon Elf pack is good for PVP and tanks.

Lillend is good on any higher using daily build to help provide group healing.

Archons are good as you stated.

For tanks with low DR there is a companion that boost your DR by up to 10% based on damage taken.

Energon for HP gain

Owlbear cub for low crit build or for support builds running solo content.

The debuff trio.

Greenscale bowman is a good one as he does a 5% damage buff.

Rust Monster

Dragon Loyalist companion from WoD - he has a good buff for DPS (opposite of a Fire Archon)

Dread Warrior (not for the threat he generates but for his buff/debuff)

There are quite a few out there and many players simply won't take the companion for one reason or another. Many want ones to boost there damage and there are quite a few in that regards. There are also some companions that boost healing out and healing in. Some have a chance to process specific bonus effects, Wild Huntrider, NW Guard or the Deva.

metalicum1

mebengalsfan#9264 said:

There are many good companions in the game.

My tank uses the one that buffs the group Crit Chance by 20%. Now with bonding nerf coming to console that companion is a good one to have as many players will lose some critical chance and having her out will push some player back up to their 100% mark.

Sprites are another good one for AP regen.

What companion buffs 20% crit chance?

Also almost all the companions you mention are terrible. (Sprite, Lillend, the nerfed owlbear Cup..)
Energon and rust monster are the low tier bad, but usable under some circumstances.
Greenscale bowman is not a buff but a debuff, and therefore outclasses by 400% by other companions.
Dragon royalist is obscure, but serviceable, though not even close to archons.
... but that's besides the point, even if I add what you added, and I don't want to, that's still like 20 companions out of 200.

And there are still dozens and dozens of those +300 power that are laughing stock.

darthtzarr

metalicum1 said:

mebengalsfan#9264 said:

There are many good companions in the game.

My tank uses the one that buffs the group Crit Chance by 20%. Now with bonding nerf coming to console that companion is a good one to have as many players will lose some critical chance and having her out will push some player back up to their 100% mark.

Sprites are another good one for AP regen.

What companion buffs 20% crit chance?

https://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Priestess_of_Sehanine_Moonbow

Moon Beams Reduces Critical Chance for enemies within 20' by 1% per companion level and increases Critical Chance for allies within 20' by 0.5% per companion level for 6 seconds.
has a 6s cooldown.

40 companion levels = 20% crit chance

metalicum1

darthtzarr said:

metalicum1 said:

mebengalsfan#9264 said:

There are many good companions in the game.

My tank uses the one that buffs the group Crit Chance by 20%. Now with bonding nerf coming to console that companion is a good one to have as many players will lose some critical chance and having her out will push some player back up to their 100% mark.

Sprites are another good one for AP regen.

What companion buffs 20% crit chance?

https://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Priestess_of_Sehanine_Moonbow

Moon Beams Reduces Critical Chance for enemies within 20' by 1% per companion level and increases Critical Chance for allies within 20' by 0.5% per companion level for 6 seconds.
has a 6s cooldown.

40 companion levels = 20% crit chance

This one is very interesting. It is clear why it's not a part of any meta, but as a catch up, maybe it could work very well.

clericalist

I always say that one should go for the companion that you feel best fits you in terms of role play. If you are a dwarvern guardian and you just have to have a leprechaun, or perhaps you are a drow cleric and your story line dictates the green slime - then go for it!

Regarding stat boosting, the main thing you get out of your companions is the bonding (or the other cheaper alternatives) procs, the ultimate BIS companion is nice to have but I don't think it's a show stopper if you don't. Having said that however, there would be many more companions that would be more useful if not all that mattered was DPS, that is another topic, but in terms of companions go for the one you like as your main. For the companion actives, I wouldn't fret too much on getting what some consider the must have BIS, if you are on a budget then there are way more alternatives that are still reasonably useful.

mebengalsfan

metalicum1 said:

darthtzarr said:

metalicum1 said:

mebengalsfan#9264 said:

There are many good companions in the game.

My tank uses the one that buffs the group Crit Chance by 20%. Now with bonding nerf coming to console that companion is a good one to have as many players will lose some critical chance and having her out will push some player back up to their 100% mark.

Sprites are another good one for AP regen.

What companion buffs 20% crit chance?

https://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Priestess_of_Sehanine_Moonbow

Moon Beams Reduces Critical Chance for enemies within 20' by 1% per companion level and increases Critical Chance for allies within 20' by 0.5% per companion level for 6 seconds.
has a 6s cooldown.

40 companion levels = 20% crit chance

This one is very interesting. It is clear why it's not a part of any meta, but as a catch up, maybe it could work very well.

I run this companion on my GF for the added 20% to my critical chance and the fact the companion has 3 defensive slots. This allows anyone who runs with me to forgo some critical for more power if they feel like swapping enchantments. The other benefit is in lower IL groups where players do not have 100% crit is it benefits everyone and makes the run smoother as we are all doing more damage.

The ghost is another one to consider, it can posses an enemy, which can at times be helpful.

metalicum1 said:

mebengalsfan#9264 said:

There are many good companions in the game.

My tank uses the one that buffs the group Crit Chance by 20%. Now with bonding nerf coming to console that companion is a good one to have as many players will lose some critical chance and having her out will push some player back up to their 100% mark.

Sprites are another good one for AP regen.

What companion buffs 20% crit chance?

Also almost all the companions you mention are terrible. (Sprite, Lillend, the nerfed owlbear Cup..)
Energon and rust monster are the low tier bad, but usable under some circumstances.
Greenscale bowman is not a buff but a debuff, and therefore outclasses by 400% by other companions.
Dragon royalist is obscure, but serviceable, though not even close to archons.
... but that's besides the point, even if I add what you added, and I don't want to, that's still like 20 companions out of 200.

And there are still dozens and dozens of those +300 power that are laughing stock.

The other thing you forget is that bonding was not always in the game. Therefore most of the older companions with stats that give say 300 Power, Deflect, etc..had value when there was no bonding and the meta was using Augment companions. With bonding being added, the value added stats such as 300 power,etc... have less value and the companions with % increases became more valuable as bonding really allowed players to go for the companions that would boost overall damage.

I personally would like to see the Jagged Blade be updated so that processes off our damage for the defensive debuff. This would work well for any class that has DoT it can apply, making that companion worth the slot.

adinosii

metalicum1 said:

This one is very interesting. It is clear why it's not a part of any meta, but as a catch up, maybe it could work very well.

Doesn't work very well, though. I tried her, and there are two problems - one is bad AI - she seems to get killed very easily and spends more time dead than alive. The other issue is that she is not so useful in "end-game" where DPSers may have close to 100% Crit chance already, so the extra 20% is just wasted.

She might be useful for a less-geared group, though - but I am not convinced whether is any better than one of the 4 most common debuff companions.

metalicum1

adinosii said:

metalicum1 said:

This one is very interesting. It is clear why it's not a part of any meta, but as a catch up, maybe it could work very well.

Doesn't work very well, though. I tried her, and there are two problems - one is bad AI - she seems to get killed very easily and spends more time dead than alive. The other issue is that she is not so useful in "end-game" where DPSers may have close to 100% Crit chance already, so the extra 20% is just wasted.

She might me useful for a less-geared group, though - but I am not convinced whe is any better than one of the 4 most common debuff companions.

You are right, though imagine how incredibly powerful it could be in preconstructed groups, where players rely on this boost with their stat and intentionally cap at 80%. The companion would potentially provide 40 000 worth of stats based on its active bonus alone. Of course, that's only a potential, because it seems it's just not there with functionality.

But unfortunatelly, the skill bonus is too unreliable it seems.
Shame. It has potential to be the best support companion in the game.

sundance777

I would tend to agree with the general theme of the thread, there are lots of companions and only a handful are actually worth using.

mebengalsfan

metalicum1 said:

adinosii said:

metalicum1 said:

This one is very interesting. It is clear why it's not a part of any meta, but as a catch up, maybe it could work very well.

Doesn't work very well, though. I tried her, and there are two problems - one is bad AI - she seems to get killed very easily and spends more time dead than alive. The other issue is that she is not so useful in "end-game" where DPSers may have close to 100% Crit chance already, so the extra 20% is just wasted.

She might me useful for a less-geared group, though - but I am not convinced whe is any better than one of the 4 most common debuff companions.

You are right, though imagine how incredibly powerful it could be in preconstructed groups, where players rely on this boost with their stat and intentionally cap at 80%. The companion would potentially provide 40 000 worth of stats based on its active bonus alone. Of course, that's only a potential, because it seems it's just not there with functionality.

But unfortunatelly, the skill bonus is too unreliable it seems.
Shame. It has potential to be the best support companion in the game.

For end game, yeah she is not BiS.

The thing is though for a salvage run character that needs a boost in critical chance she is nice to have around. The other thing I like about her is that she provides my GF a bit more recovery as it is a primary stat for her as leader companion.

As for the companion going down and uptime on the critical chance ability: I use her to boost my defense and deflect on my GF therefore she is defense and deflect heavy, because of this she is a bit more sturdy than if you went with power or crit for stats on companion gear and enchantments. The boost in critical chance for me is usually up and active about 80% of the time.

Since I use my GF mainly for RAD salvage runs and I rarely do preformed groups; the companion is helpful for most groups and it makes content easier due to my companion boosting the groups critical chance. Is it BiS, no. Is it a worthless companion, no. If you do not do preform groups and do RAD salvage runs like I do, she is decent enough to help most groups out and when not in groups the bonus to my crit chance is a big help as my GF is a tank and when I run my conquer build the extra crit helps boost my damage and reduces my time running solo content by a decent margin.

The game does need more companions but there are some options for us. The thing with this game is that everything is about DPS output and buffing/debuffing. Because of this the view the value of a companion is limited to a bit more than two handfuls.

Rebel Mercenary
Sell Sword
Con Artist
Fire Archon
Air Archon
Earth Archon
Siege Master
Tamed Raptor
Cambion Magus
Dancing Blade
Erinyes of Belial
War Boar
Owlbear cub (was good at one point)


I honestly don't care about the BiS view of the community. I run with what I value as a companion for each one of my characters. If the companion does help me do my job, it gets a spot.

c1k4ml3kc3

metalicum1 said:

How many companions are there in the game? 200-ish? Something like that..
How many of them are useful?

Archon (3)
Siege Master
Runt
Debuff companions (Shield, Con Artist/Sellsword, Ambush Drake)
Belial + Magus

about 11 of them. about 5%. the rest is complete trash.
(I can see some argue for niche choices, but let's be real)

The think I don't understand is the way they are trash. Why not to buff some of the base stat ones so that they are at least serviceable for beginners? Something like 2000 arp instead of 200? or instead of 600 Defense while controlled, why not 3000?
Why there is no scaling for the DoTs companion?

There's always going to be something BiS, but why there are no cheaper alternatives? There is only BiS and nothing else even come close.
It can't be so hard to fix or design. And you wouldn't loose money Cryptic if you make then Green or whatever.

The chosen companions are useful for the end-game builds due to the amount of Damage/Debuff they provide.

For the early levels of the run I prefer to use a Renegade mage companion since he uses steal time and wrecks anything in the path.

There are other useful companions out there depending upon your class, but they might be underperforming when compared to the meta builds.

Also, you can't expect all companions to be as useful. Not all are made for that.

preechr

Epic Shadow Demon is a really fun summoned pet for soloing, rarely going down and hitting for 100k+ on his third swing

Not an "end-game" pet, sure, but not a bad pet... My GF has one and the look on Orcus' face when those 100% Deflects hit is worth keeping him in the stable

c1k4ml3kc3 said:

Also, you can't expect all companions to be as useful. Not all are made for that.

Uh, sure I can... I can expect at least some level of niche usefulness out of everything I pick up in the game if I want

There will always be BiS pieces for every build, and I wouldn't propose that every pet available be rebuilt to be a BiS DPS pet on par with Archons, but that was not the OP's point, and nobody is trying to get that

The point is that +300 any stat is useless, and laughably so when compared to the very few pets out there among the hundreds we can choose from that have something actually useful to offer

mebengalsfan#9264 said:

Rebel Mercenary
Sell Sword
Con Artist
Fire Archon
Air Archon
Earth Archon
Siege Master
Tamed Raptor
Cambion Magus
Dancing Blade
Erinyes of Belial
War Boar
Owlbear cub (was good at one point)
adding in Shadow Demon

If these were taken out of the game, no build guides would even talk about pets other than to say "get at least one to hold your bonding stones" and the new meta would be whatever pet had 3 offensive slots, reasonably obtainable gear and didn't die when a strong breeze hit it

forumnamesuxs

Ah, some companion diversity would indeed be most welcome.

mebengalsfan

preechr#2215 said:

Epic Shadow Demon is a really fun summoned pet for soloing, rarely going down and hitting for 100k+ on his third swing

Not an "end-game" pet, sure, but not a bad pet... My GF has one and the look on Orcus' face when those 100% Deflects hit is worth keeping him in the stable

c1k4ml3kc3 said:

Also, you can't expect all companions to be as useful. Not all are made for that.

Uh, sure I can... I can expect at least some level of niche usefulness out of everything I pick up in the game if I want

There will always be BiS pieces for every build, and I wouldn't propose that every pet available be rebuilt to be a BiS DPS pet on par with Archons, but that was not the OP's point, and nobody is trying to get that

The point is that +300 any stat is useless, and laughably so when compared to the very few pets out there among the hundreds we can choose from that have something actually useful to offer

mebengalsfan#9264 said:

Rebel Mercenary
Sell Sword
Con Artist
Fire Archon
Air Archon
Earth Archon
Siege Master
Tamed Raptor
Cambion Magus
Dancing Blade
Erinyes of Belial
War Boar
Owlbear cub (was good at one point)
adding in Shadow Demon

If these were taken out of the game, no build guides would even talk about pets other than to say "get at least one to hold your bonding stones" and the new meta would be whatever pet had 3 offensive slots, reasonably obtainable gear and didn't die when a strong breeze hit it

Not 100% true...Using a HR as an example if the archons were removed the guides would state get Crab and Skyblade Kobold as these could potentially increase a HR damage.

For a CW, Paranoid Delusional would be a must have for the added DPS it offers.

All DPS would probably pick up the Young Yeti for its added damage, especially melee DPS that are more prone to being hit.

Wild Hunt Rider would make a come back as well.

The thing is though when a companion is OP due to how things process it ends up getting a cool down that makes it a bad companion. Examples of this include the Wild Hunt Rider and Owlbear. Both were good companions, a bit OP, but good for certain builds and now they are well, replaced by something else.

If the devs removed the ones from my list than others would pop up and replace them based on builds.

If there were no X% increase damage ones even with special conditions, than yeah, it would be pick whatever companion you want. But as long as a companion can provide a % increase in damage they will be sought after.

demolitioninc

You guys forget the Dancing shield and its 20% debuff...the biggest single debuff of all companions.

mebengalsfan

demolitioninc#2453 said:

You guys forget the Dancing shield and its 20% debuff...the biggest single debuff of all companions.

It is not the only companion with that debuff. A drake has the same one.

IMO best buffing/debuffing companions are...

Harper Bard
Dancing Shield
Drake
Sell Sword / Rebel Mer / Con Artist
Dread Warrior
Dragon Cultist

The thing is though many DPS players run with a Air or Fire Archon instead of running with a companion that would boost the group damage.

All but my HR run with a buffing/debuffing type of companion.

wizardlvl80

I would add Rust Monster to your list @mebengalsfan#9264

Debuffs both damage resistance (8%) and damage of mobs. Also it's active ability is one the best for tanks.

mebengalsfan

wizardlvl80#5963 said:

I would add Rust Monster to your list @mebengalsfan#9264



Debuffs both damage resistance (8%) and damage of mobs. Also it's active ability is one the best for tanks.

More to come in Mod 13.

mamalion1234

metalicum1 said:

How many companions are there in the game? 200-ish? Something like that..
How many of them are useful?

Archon (3)
Siege Master
Runt
Debuff companions (Shield, Con Artist/Sellsword, Ambush Drake)
Belial + Magus

about 11 of them. about 5%. the rest is complete trash.
(I can see some argue for niche choices, but let's be real)

The think I don't understand is the way they are trash. Why not to buff some of the base stat ones so that they are at least serviceable for beginners? Something like 2000 arp instead of 200? or instead of 600 Defense while controlled, why not 3000?
Why there is no scaling for the DoTs companion?

There's always going to be something BiS, but why there are no cheaper alternatives? There is only BiS and nothing else even come close.
It can't be so hard to fix or design. And you wouldn't loose money Cryptic if you make then Green or whatever.

IS all about the " will from the devs" not if is hard or not to fix.
IN first place the sword trio shouldnt stack the poeple investment into them is an excuse for them to not fix this isssue the fact the same debuff stacking from the same ability. ( bonding got nerf so do they care about investments).
IF wasnt that big incosistensy about the stacking then you would have to chose an another companion.
Same thing they want to do with module 13 force everyone to buy the zen market companion and i guess it stacks too its debuff.

They will not impove the old companions with the stats you mentioned simple because we already have many of them they have to be inferior to the " new ones coming".

demonmonger

I use
Dire wolf- interrupt
Manticore- knock down
Black dragon ioun stone - bonus critical
Phoera - for farming rp
Earth archon - good for soloing orcus

I love this setup

santralafax

The OPs list is excelllent for DPS, but my cleric only uses 2 of them. She also has 2 sprites and getting ready for a third. War Boar is another good DPS companion if someone is marking.

kamehameha069

A couple that don't look that bad which I haven't tried are the Ghost and Hunting Hawk

santralafax

Hawk is the best looking companion in the game. Not aware of its active, though.

preechr

I use Ghost on my SW... It reliably possesses a minion which does help some, though it takes time for the minion to die if you don't let the mobs kill it before the fight is over, which can leave you in combat for some extra time

Its not unmanageable, at least in the easy campaigns I was running with him, but in areas where minions aren't in every group, what little value Ghost might have is diminished

I just liked the pairing of the ghost with the SW, but I might trade off for a Shadow Demon, which is a great companion

mebengalsfan

The regular hawk has a nice debuff on it if you want a different companion but the debuff is damage reduction, not as good as a defense reduction.