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Companions [CW mod 6]

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  • thefabricantthefabricant Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 5,248 Arc User
    benistvan said:

    I use Zhentarim Warlock as active.
    My problem with Lightfoot thief/Yeti or Air Archon that they are melee and they die often in Bosses/Dragons aoes.
    They are might be good in instances but instances are no problem for a long time...

    The dying is a positive, not a negative. When they die, the cool down on the bonding stones resets meaning you can get more then 3 stacks fairly easily.
  • ironzerg79ironzerg79 Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,942 Arc User
    Yep, and carry a Lliara's Bell with you to make sure they get right back in the fight (plus a window of immunity), and you're golden.

    The Warlock will put out about 3-5k extra DPS, but her primary job is to get Companion's Gift stacks.
    "Meanwhile in the moderator's lounge..."
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  • ultradd#1718 ultradd Member Posts: 39 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    You might want to wait a bit to gear the companions because companion gear sky-rocketed in price.
  • boom782boom782 Member Posts: 183 Arc User

    I would recommend running the lightfoot thief for bonding procs. I am currently in the process of testing active bonusses and whilst I will not say which ones currently seem the best until I have finished testing, I will say the crit severity companions and CA companions have already been toppled in terms of boosting your dps.

    Any update on this @thefabricant ?
  • thefabricantthefabricant Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 5,248 Arc User
    Lightfoot thief/mercenary for active to get bonding procs, followed by blink dog for active, with fire and air archon and finally the siege master.
  • boom782boom782 Member Posts: 183 Arc User
    edited December 2015

    Lightfoot thief/mercenary for active to get bonding procs, followed by blink dog for active, with fire and air archon and finally the siege master.

    Hmm, interesting. What are your thoughts on the Earth archon? I feel as if my HP is full more often than not. Hard to test but in a good group, and especially with an OP, my HP is 100% probably 80+% of a dungeon or fight.

    Also, do you know what the difference is between the intellect devourer and blink dog? I have the ID and haven't switched to BD yet because I figured they did the same thing even though the wording of the active was slightly different. +2% Combat Advantage vs. +2% Combat Advantage Damage.

    I am currently running Air Archon summoned(hate to have a wasted active), fire archon, earth archon, Intellect Devourer, and Erinyes.

    With 100% crit chance shouldn't the Erinyes at Epic raise our DPS by 10% or is my math/thinking incorrect?


    Edit: Sorry for all the questions.
  • ironzerg79ironzerg79 Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,942 Arc User
    Both the Blink Dog and Intellect Devourer stack to boost your damage while attacking a target with combat advantage.

    And I don't think that's correct on the Erinyes. A 10% boost to your critical hit damage wouldn't translate into a 10% damage boost at 100% crit. Your default damage on a critical hit is 175%. With an Erinyes, that's 185%. So 185/175-1 = 5.7% damage increase. If you have more critical severity bonuses, the contribution is less...if you had a P.Vorpal at 50%, then it would be 235/225-1 = 4.4%.

    Multiply that by your actual critical strike percentage to get your damage increase. For example, I generally parse at or around a functional 90% crit rate on my key abilities. So that's 90% x 4.4% or a 3.96% damage increase (just taking into account a P.Vorpal and the Erinyes..

    Of course, someone can correct my math, but I believe that's how it works.
    "Meanwhile in the moderator's lounge..."
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  • boom782boom782 Member Posts: 183 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    That make sense but it also doesn't ha.

    I try to look at things as easily and uncomplicated as possible and it just seems to make sense that with 100% crit chance that means every thing you do crits, no? 10 encounters cast = 10 crit encounters. And if Erinyes increases your crit damage by 10% that would mean every strike you do then does 10% more damage. What am I missing?

    Also, with your math it looks like the Erinyes would still be one of the better companions with 3.96% damage increase over the 2% you get from a blink dog or Intellect Devourer unless I am oversimplifying the damage from Combat advantage too. :)
  • niadanniadan Member Posts: 1,635 Arc User
    I have available for active: shadow demon, z warlock, or Lightfoot.

    I have available for passives:

    Air and fire Archons, Siege Master, blink dog, intellect devourer, yeti, erinyes, wild hunt.

    90% average crit, and maxed out CA.

    What would you guys recommend?

    Currently running shadow, air, fire, siege, and yeti.

    Thanks
  • thefabricantthefabricant Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 5,248 Arc User
    boom782 said:

    That make sense but it also doesn't ha.

    I try to look at things as easily and uncomplicated as possible and it just seems to make sense that with 100% crit chance that means every thing you do crits, no? 10 encounters cast = 10 crit encounters. And if Erinyes increases your crit damage by 10% that would mean every strike you do then does 10% more damage. What am I missing?

    Also, with your math it looks like the Erinyes would still be one of the better companions with 3.96% damage increase over the 2% you get from a blink dog or Intellect Devourer unless I am oversimplifying the damage from Combat advantage too. :)

    It isn't adding 10% damage on crits, its adding 10% critical severity.
    When you are calculating how much your dps is increased by, you need to compare your "new" critical severity to your "old" critical severity. This is why it is not a 10% dps increase and instead it works exactly as ironzerg has posted.
  • smulchsmulch Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 625 Arc User

    Both the Blink Dog and Intellect Devourer stack to boost your damage while attacking a target with combat advantage.

    And I don't think that's correct on the Erinyes. A 10% boost to your critical hit damage wouldn't translate into a 10% damage boost at 100% crit. Your default damage on a critical hit is 175%. With an Erinyes, that's 185%. So 185/175-1 = 5.7% damage increase. If you have more critical severity bonuses, the contribution is less...if you had a P.Vorpal at 50%, then it would be 235/225-1 = 4.4%.

    Multiply that by your actual critical strike percentage to get your damage increase. For example, I generally parse at or around a functional 90% crit rate on my key abilities. So that's 90% x 4.4% or a 3.96% damage increase (just taking into account a P.Vorpal and the Erinyes..

    Of course, someone can correct my math, but I believe that's how it works.

    It's even less than that due to how CA bonus works on crits
  • madnitezzmadnitezz Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    I am having Zen Warlock (active), air + fire archon, Erinyes, and blink dog. I am having 92% crit severity + pure vorpal, 60% unbuffed crit% (buffed ~ 70-100%). Should i switch out the Erinyes for Intellect Devourer? *I am a renegade.
  • smulchsmulch Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 625 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    intellect devourer and blink dog are the best non active pets there is (at epic), so yes. edit: fire archon is likely the worst of the lot, I,d suggest to remove that one.
  • thefabricantthefabricant Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 5,248 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    smulch said:

    intellect devourer and blink dog are the best non active pets there is (at epic), so yes. edit: fire archon is likely the worst of the lot, I,d suggest to remove that one.

    They are not, fire and air are definitely better because of the way they work. Rather then adding, their bonuses multiply meaning when both conditions are met, its a 12.8% damage increase.
  • niadanniadan Member Posts: 1,635 Arc User
    I know there may not be much difference, but given the choice, what do you fellow wizards think is the best active companion?

    Warlock
    Lightfoot
    Shadow?
  • thefabricantthefabricant Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 5,248 Arc User
    niadan said:

    I know there may not be much difference, but given the choice, what do you fellow wizards think is the best active companion?



    Warlock

    Lightfoot

    Shadow?

    Lightfoot.
  • boom782boom782 Member Posts: 183 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    Ok, so I think we seem to know the best active companions and the best bonding pricing companions. Now the question is does having the Lightfoot Thief/Warlock summoned outweigh the Air Archon enough to warrant giving up an active slot?

    To clarify...is it better to have a companion that procs bonding faster or just to settle with the air archon and have another active companion such as Intellect Devourer for 2% CA?
  • smulchsmulch Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 625 Arc User

    smulch said:

    intellect devourer and blink dog are the best non active pets there is (at epic), so yes. edit: fire archon is likely the worst of the lot, I,d suggest to remove that one.

    They are not, fire and air are definitely better because of the way they work. Rather then adding, their bonuses multiply meaning when both conditions are met, its a 12.8% damage increase.
    So do the intellect devourer and the blink dog. And unlike the fire archon, the bonus isn't there only half the time.
  • commanderdata002commanderdata002 Member Posts: 312 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    niadan said:

    I know there may not be much difference, but given the choice, what do you fellow wizards think is the best active companion?



    Warlock

    Lightfoot

    Shadow?

    Happen to have Zhentarim and Shadow. My Shadow is only purple.
    My stats(critical chance is very noticable on ACT) is somewhat higher on Zhentarim. Ergo it stacks bonding more.
    The shadows active bonus is low. Maybe I should boost deflection more which I don't really want on this character.
    Shadow damages 3 times more yes which can be good on low gear or on solo but its minor on high gear and doesn't cover up for the loss of bonding stacks I think.

    Shadow is rogue type has stealth and higher deflection so it doesn't die often nor Zhentarim which is ranged.
    Shadow teleports to target which is faster as an Air Archon slowly reaches target.

    I had high hopes for Shadow but I think I switch back to Zhentarim. Maybe I should check it on yellow but its pricey.

    I have no information on Lightfoot. They say its good but it was said about Shadow too...
    stock and stone I can master, but there's a Wizard to manage here!
  • boom782boom782 Member Posts: 183 Arc User
    Still curious to know if the zhen warlock is worth giving up an active slot when you could just use air archon. Zhen may proc bonding faster but the active bonus is fairly worthless while there are many companions that have actives that may outweigh the zhens bonding proc speed.
  • niadanniadan Member Posts: 1,635 Arc User
    After extensive testing I have to agree with Fab on the Lightfoot recommendation for summoned pet. As to actives, I am still wondering about which is better, two archons and one CA companion or one archon (air) and two CA companions.
  • tamsirlidiantamsirlidian Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 27 Arc User
    Still pondering on what's best as companion, as active i'm using a legendary shadow demon and don't want to upgrade another to legendary for the moment, so i'm good. I was pondering which of the three couples I should take:

    - Air Archon + Fire Archon, makes an average +~9% damage as explained page 2.
    - Blink Dog + Intellect Devourer, my math is kinda sketchy but it'd be +25% CA Damage. Translating into (15 + 12 (22 char) + 8 (1000 CA Bonus) +10 (Underdark Boon) * 0,25 = 11,25% more
    - Siege Master + Young Yeti, meaning +5% everytime and a 10% on proc (not sure about that)
  • smulchsmulch Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 625 Arc User


    - Siege Master + Young Yeti, meaning +5% everytime and a 10% on proc (not sure about that)

    Siege Master is 4% at epic.
    Wild hunt rider is better than young yeti

  • commanderdata002commanderdata002 Member Posts: 312 Arc User
    edited January 2016

    Still pondering on what's best as companion, as active i'm using a legendary shadow demon and don't want to upgrade another to legendary for the moment, so i'm good. I was pondering which of the three couples I should take:

    - Air Archon + Fire Archon, makes an average +~9% damage as explained page 2.
    - Blink Dog + Intellect Devourer, my math is kinda sketchy but it'd be +25% CA Damage. Translating into (15 + 12 (22 char) + 8 (1000 CA Bonus) +10 (Underdark Boon) * 0,25 = 11,25% more

    I think blink dog+devourer is 1,05*1,05=1,1025 or 10,25% more dmg if you are in combat advantage.

    stock and stone I can master, but there's a Wizard to manage here!
  • boom782boom782 Member Posts: 183 Arc User
    edited January 2016
    I currently do not have any legendary companions. Does the legendary bonus help whether or not the companion is summoned?

    Basically I want to know if I am better off making my summoned companion legendary or a companion I never plan on making inactive(Air Archon)?
  • smulchsmulch Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 625 Arc User
    boom782 said:

    I currently do not have any legendary companions. Does the legendary bonus help whether or not the companion is summoned?

    Basically I want to know if I am better off making my summoned companion legendary or a companion I never plan on making inactive(Air Archon)?

    The active companion is always the best choice because going to legendary (or to be more exact, going from lvl 35 to 40) increases the stats of the companion too, which is then transferred to you via bonding runestones.
  • boom782boom782 Member Posts: 183 Arc User
    smulch said:

    boom782 said:

    I currently do not have any legendary companions. Does the legendary bonus help whether or not the companion is summoned?

    Basically I want to know if I am better off making my summoned companion legendary or a companion I never plan on making inactive(Air Archon)?

    The active companion is always the best choice because going to legendary (or to be more exact, going from lvl 35 to 40) increases the stats of the companion too, which is then transferred to you via bonding runestones.
    Thanks! But your currently summoned companion still gets the legendary bonus even if a different active companion is the one you made legendary?
  • niadanniadan Member Posts: 1,635 Arc User
    Correct
  • sorce#8115 sorce Member Posts: 1,009 Arc User
    boom782 said:

    smulch said:

    boom782 said:

    I currently do not have any legendary companions. Does the legendary bonus help whether or not the companion is summoned?

    Basically I want to know if I am better off making my summoned companion legendary or a companion I never plan on making inactive(Air Archon)?

    The active companion is always the best choice because going to legendary (or to be more exact, going from lvl 35 to 40) increases the stats of the companion too, which is then transferred to you via bonding runestones.
    Thanks! But your currently summoned companion still gets the legendary bonus even if a different active companion is the one you made legendary?
    No - this isn't correct. Only make Legendary the companion which is summoned - it will then have higher stats and 15% will be transferred to you (before Bondings, etc). If you have a companion in one of the active slots (but not summoned), then there is no need for it to be Legendary.
  • zekethesinnerzekethesinner Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 805 Arc User


    No - this isn't correct. Only make Legendary the companion which is summoned - it will then have higher stats and 15% will be transferred to you (before Bondings, etc). If you have a companion in one of the active slots (but not summoned), then there is no need for it to be Legendary.

    U r mistaken. First of all, even if that legend companion is not summoned, as long as its in active slot (first spot preferably to avoid bugging) legend boonus still works on summoned companion. Now there is that option, u may want ur summoned companion to die rly often, so u keep him on blue or even green quality, and when one of ur active companions is legend, u still get legend bonus.

    Win-Win.

    Tho i prefer my merc to be legend, since im not rly into abusing bonding mechanics.

    (Sin)cerely
    Kain


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