Augment companion better then bonding?

krule246

So, if my goal is not to increase defense or power but some other stat, then augment is a better choice? Lets say I want more deflect, in that case is augmented companion with defensive slots much better then regular bonding pet? Because you can slot deflect runestone in defense slots and get a better outcome then with bonding? Is this true or am I mistaken?

sundance777

Let's assume R14 stones and I think the math goes like this:

3xr14 bonding is 195% stats passed which would be 1950 deflect per R14 silvery on companion, you can have 6 slotted so 11.700 deflect and some of the gear could have deflect as well to pass from the comp, so there is potentially depending on the gear.

3xr14 runes is 6000 deflect plus the slots of silvery for another 6000 and if you have an augment that passes 100% stats it would pass slightly more deflect but you lose out on receiving the other stats such as power/defense from the bondings themselves and the multiplier on stats from gear.

It is possible the augment option is a bit more cost effective but almost every class benefits from power or defense so I would take the extra stats if possible.

krule246

Lets talk in a bit more realistic scenario, not bis - lets say rank 10 runestones and enchantments,and ofc just normal rings - gear with 1 offense and 1 defense slot, then the math will be much in favour of augment i think?

preechr

It depends

I have a Pally alt that has never tanked a dungeon, as he is only used to solo in campaigns

He runs a Bulette Pup with empowered Runes and gear that gives HP, so he's at 200K HP under 10k iL, and unless the game decides to send Drizzt or Makos along to "help," he can run the Solitary Aura and do quite a bit of damage on his own... plus his pet can't die

at higher item levels, with top end gear, the stats will always favor a bonding pet, but there is nothing stopping you from using an augment situationally if its the more efficient investment

As for your example of building a deflect pet, that's probably not a path to proving an augment can outclass a bonding pet... Pretty sure there just isn't enough value in deflection to warrant such an investment in that one stat for any class

jonkoca

Basically, it's about cash. If you have cash, bonding is better, if you haven't, augument is better. You only really need a good pet in tong tbh.

krule246

@preechr - if you can have 100 percent deflect chance and 85 percent deflect severty im sure deflect is much better investment then defense, and all the procs that are coming from deflect - mount bonuses and boons
@jonkoca - i know that in a perfect situation bonding is better,but as i said lets be realistic,for average joe who looks for something other then power or defense to boost up,augment is better solution - cheaper and easier to aquire
And on a side note - hit points are transfered to you with augment,not with bonding - just a one more little +.

darthtzarr

Pretty much as soon as you can afford 3x r8 bondings and a blue con artist, they outclass augments in every way. More stats, more power share from your supports, more debuffs, and easier to obtain companion gear.

preechr

I didn't say it was a bad stat, just that going "all-in" at the expense of power or crit or arm-pen assuming those stats haven't been capped probably isn't super-efficient, even considering the proc on deflect boons and mount insignia bonuses (and possibly some pet actives I'm unaware of)
In most cases, offense > defense in this game, though there are niche cases and price considerations
In the case of a sub-13k OP or GF, sure its a perfectly viable idea, but after that a bonding pet would probably be more valuable
In the case of a sub-10k DPS class, probably not worth fooling around with
For other support classes or builds, it depends on what you are trying to do

NWO just is not difficult enough to worry too much about defense stats unless you are a tank class

preechr

...and yes, just pulling those numbers out of my hamster, but the answer to your original question is still pretty much: "No, but it depends"

mebengalsfan

Augment vs Bonding

Bonding is still BIS but Augment now has a place in the game vs. what existed prior to mod 12b.

Augment provides 100% of your companion stats to your character. If you have 5 legendary companions you get 31% more so you will end up with 131% of your companion stats all the time. Normal runestone have 2x the base stats of bonding so a R14 bonding will give 1K power but a none bonding will give 2K in stat.

If you want constant stats that do not change or can vanish if your companion is knock off the map (FBI, MSPC, etc...) than use Augment. If you want more stats for your character than go with Bonding.

Though getting to R14 cost quite a bit. Most of the players I discussed this issue with have stated getting R13 is a great start and what most of us should aim unless you have real world money to throw at the game or spam TONG or are lucky with your LB.

mebengalsfan

preechr#2215 said:

I didn't say it was a bad stat, just that going "all-in" at the expense of power or crit or arm-pen assuming those stats haven't been capped probably isn't super-efficient, even considering the proc on deflect boons and mount insignia bonuses (and possibly some pet actives I'm unaware of)
In most cases, offense > defense in this game, though there are niche cases and price considerations
In the case of a sub-13k OP or GF, sure its a perfectly viable idea, but after that a bonding pet would probably be more valuable
In the case of a sub-10k DPS class, probably not worth fooling around with
For other support classes or builds, it depends on what you are trying to do

NWO just is not difficult enough to worry too much about defense stats unless you are a tank class

You do not need to be a tank to reach max DR. Many GWF reach the DR cap. Many tanks go offensive as it is each to reach the max DR needed in this game.

jumpingmorks

Only my 2 mains, GF/OP use bondings, the rest use Augments. I buy the Eldritch Runestones and rank 9 and level them up slowly with whatver they accumulate themselves. With Winterfest over I was able to upgrade Rank 9 Eldritches on 4 characters to Rank 10.

The thing I hate about Bondings, although not so bad now, is that at a high level changing just one piece of gear means sitting in PE for hours, sometimes days, trading your enchantments to rebalance your stats.

With my ALTS as long as they can earn their weekly AD, run RQ Skirmish when/if I have time I don't really care if they perform at a high level, as long as they look the way I want them to look and contribute to any team effort so I am not being carried by the goodwill of others.

mebengalsfan

jumpingmorks said:

contribute to any team effort so I am not being carried by the goodwill of others.

This is all that should matter for content. Are you contributing to beating the content.

jumpingmorks

I'd say for a tank that's ALSO your main, you'd want bondings, but only because it's better to have a pet contribute it's powers to the team too, not because the stats are better. So Dancing Shield/Con Artist/Sellsword/Rebel Mercenary/Ambush Drake for additional team debuffs. Harper Bard is attractive for tanks since it has a large buff area and buffs your hit points. Sehanine Priestess is nice if you run with groups that don't have 100% crit, but her range is only 15 feet, 3 defense slots though which is nice.

Am sure there are other decent pets with interesting powers but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head,

For a defensive GF you can do pretty much any group content with just full rank 10's so pretty attainable pretty quickly even if you aren't running TONG or even FBI etc yet and I can't think of any buff a GF has that is more effective at 16k than it is 10k so in that respect progression can be simplified to just increasing your own suvivability.

For OP's it's a bit more difficult, if you go full raidants at R10 the power share mechanic forces you to upgrade them but I guess if it's your main then it's something you will work towards anyway.

pitshade

"Am sure there are other decent pets with interesting powers but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head,"

Repentant Air Cultist is quite useful if you frequently find yourself running out of mobs to fight.

jumpingmorks

pitshade said:

"Am sure there are other decent pets with interesting powers but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head,"



Repentant Air Cultist is quite useful if you frequently find yourself running out of mobs to fight.

That pet looks awesome and his AoE's are VERY impressive, although, and I've said this before, he'll pull Powries from Sharandar while you are questing in WoD given half a chance xD

drewhayes

jumpingmorks said:

pitshade said:

"Am sure there are other decent pets with interesting powers but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head,"



Repentant Air Cultist is quite useful if you frequently find yourself running out of mobs to fight.

That pet looks awesome and his AoE's are VERY impressive, although, and I've said this before, he'll pull Powries from Sharandar while you are questing in WoD given half a chance xD

So I should make him active before entering ToDG. Gotcha!