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Should we look for a summoned companion with really low cooldowns?

Hi!

When I started the game, people told me to get summoned companion with really low cooldown on his main ability so he can proc bonding often. I'm using Neverembers Guard now but I want to try Dancing Shield as my summoned. NG has ability cooldown with 1.5 sec and Shield I think 3.5 sec.

Question: Should I stick with NG cause it has low cooldown?

Or maybe some other advice for summoned companion? I'm a GF tactician focusing on tanking and buffing/debuffing.

Comments

  • ghoulz66ghoulz66 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 3,748 Arc User
    edited March 2017
    You don't need a rapid attacking companion like you used to. Though if you're a tank going in first having a companion that will immediately act upon entering combat would be a good idea. Melee companions can be stubborn at times.
  • sadus671sadus671 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 203 Arc User
    edited March 2017
    You don't have to... but faster attacking companions do provide one benefit.

    Building stacks of Protector's Camaraderie.

    In this specific example the shield's debuff is pretty valuable and is worth having to wait a bit for the 3rd and 4th stacks.

    I would still replace the NG regardless... since he doesn't have an active bonus of any worth... and generally you don't want a taunting active companion as a tank. As it complicates mob positioning. You don't want to lose aggro to your companion while trying to move a boss to specific spot for example.

    You should also decide if you want a Companion with Offensive or Defensive or Mix Runestone Slots. I'm going to wager, that you'll get better value out of defensive slots at this point.

    So other Active Companions that I've often seen Tanks use:

    Pewter Golem
    Stawart Golden Lion
    Dancing Shield - Primarily for Debuff (Since it's not ideal with a taunt)
    Rust Monster
    Zhentarim Warlock
    Laughing Skull
    Ambush Drake (Expensive)



    -= Primary Characters =-

    - Forge (GF)
    - Apocalypse - (DC)
    - Sadus (OP)
    - Fireball (GWF)
    - Ixian (CW)

    Thank you Loadouts for allowing my toons to be all the things... they ever wanted to be....

    Member of Ember Legion
  • fluffy6977fluffy6977 Member Posts: 291 Arc User
    edited March 2017
    As Sadus said, it's not necessary anymore with the exception of Protectors camaraderie. Depending on your desired role you may or may not go for that bonus - I run full tank setups, so I don't.

    The Dancing Shield is good, but it does have a taunt. Also, I would be surprised if it's debuff doesn't get adjusted at some point, rumor mill says Devs are going to be looking at uncapped debuffs in the not so distant future (in cryptic time, 1-3 years lol)

    I just picked up the Priestess of Sehanine. 3 defense slots, a neck, a ring, and a belt. The active bonus is meh (300 deflect max) but her ability is amazing - For every level of the companion, enemies in the effected area have their crit chance reduced by 1% and allies have their crit chance increased by .5%. She does take a moment to proc it, but she stays close to me consistently and her secondary attack turns her invisible, dropping any agro she has. At Legendary its a 40% debuff , which means I should take a fair amount less damage on average, and a 20% crit chance increase for me and any party member in range is pretty huge for many toons. 6 second cooldown on a 9 second uptime, so even with no recovery on the pet in theory its a 100% uptime. Highly recommend.
  • rjc9000rjc9000 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,405 Arc User

    As Sadus said, it's not necessary anymore with the exception of Protectors camaraderie. Depending on your desired role you may or may not go for that bonus - I run full tank setups, so I don't.

    The Dancing Shield is good, but it does have a taunt. Also, I would be surprised if it's debuff doesn't get adjusted at some point, rumor mill says Devs are going to be looking at uncapped debuffs in the not so distant future (in cryptic time, 1-3 years lol)

    I just picked up the Priestess of Sehanine. 3 defense slots, a neck, a ring, and a belt. The active bonus is meh (300 deflect max) but her ability is amazing - For every level of the companion, enemies in the effected area have their crit chance reduced by 1% and allies have their crit chance increased by .5%. She does take a moment to proc it, but she stays close to me consistently and her secondary attack turns her invisible, dropping any agro she has. At Legendary its a 40% debuff , which means I should take a fair amount less damage on average, and a 20% crit chance increase for me and any party member in range is pretty huge for many toons. 6 second cooldown on a 9 second uptime, so even with no recovery on the pet in theory its a 100% uptime. Highly recommend.

    Bleh, even if the debuff gets fixed, I'd use the Dancing Shield for its theme for my character, and because of all the stupid aggro stuff I've grown to love and hate. I would also suggest the Priestess of Kelemvor or Rust Monster as backup Bonding comps for their useful bonuses.

    Sehanine Moonbow Priestess was my comp of choice for a long time. Until I ran CN with @tom#6998, wherein he used TC and we all died (this was bugged TC, the "1000%+ effectiveness" TC). I last checked TC + Moonbow with @midnightflares, who "tried" (emphasis on the "tried") to kill me with TC, which it took a good chunk of my HP whenever he used TC.

    Otherwise, I would reccomend the Priestess, albeit barely. Her Crit bonus is amazing, no doubt, but in most teams I run with, everyone has such a high Crit chance (95%-100%) that the Sehanine Moonbow Priestess' crit bonus doesn't really help my team. She also attacks very slowly and she needs to move into melee range. On mobs, this means that your DPSers can potentially wipe out the mobs before the Priestess gets a chance to attack (which means no Bonding for you). Or, she waltzes into melee range and drops dead, which isn't fun.

    By the way, according to the tooltip, the Priestess debuffs enemy crit chance , which means it isn't a straight debuff. However, we all know how the tooltips are of .... questionable... quality. I personally think the tooltip is correct (because the Crit bonus works as described), but you could be on to something (could test, a bit lazy and got essays/calculus to do).

  • fluffy6977fluffy6977 Member Posts: 291 Arc User
    I would be very curious to see the results of that test. I didn't mean to imply she does a debuff other than the crit chance for enemies, just that with 40% less chance for an enemy to crit I should in theory take less large hits. But yea, loltooltips.

    Wish I could port my toon from xbox to preview for some act testing, sadly limited to what I see on average.

    I heard about the bugged TC, but my understanding is that it was fixed. Is this not quite true?

    I hear ya on the bonus being dependent on the team running with. I like to random queue with a friend on a DC for dungeon runs, so I usually don't run into that case. Just depends on who ya play with I guess. Excellent point, thanks. I don't really care about the bonding proc on trash mobs, built my toon for whatever future bonding nerf happens so I don't really need the bondings to tank, just for extra damage/stats. And gotta love that Liara's bell lol.

    Thanks for the feedback RJC!
  • rjc9000rjc9000 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,405 Arc User
    TC + Moonbow is still bugged, to my knowledge.

    Llira's Bell does solve some issues of the comp dying, but there's only so much you can do if the Priestess decides to bungee jump off the arena of FBI boss 1.

    On the subject of Bonding nerf, I doubt Bondings will get nerfed "too" severely. Remember that most players get them out of the Winter Fest, or via Zen transactions (Lockbox/Zen Store comps). I doubt PWE would want to nerf Bondings that is part of a large part of their player revenue.

  • wizardlvl80#5963 wizardlvl80 Member Posts: 519 Arc User
    Like I said, currently I use Neverembers Guard and stack defensive items on him, so when he proc I get 95% DR. It was mentioned as a good companion for tanks so I got him. When I want to go for solo content I switch my companion to Lilliend for 3x offensive slot.

    I was considering Rust Monster but it has 1 offensive slot and as well long cooldown on his main ability. A guy from my alliance recommended also Jagged Dancing Blade but it has 3x offensive slot, so not for my playstyle.


    Btw. is Protectors Camraderie worth it? I have this insignia bonus, but never thought it's that good.
  • rjc9000rjc9000 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,405 Arc User

    Like I said, currently I use Neverembers Guard and stack defensive items on him, so when he proc I get 95% DR. It was mentioned as a good companion for tanks so I got him. When I want to go for solo content I switch my companion to Lilliend for 3x offensive slot.

    I was considering Rust Monster but it has 1 offensive slot and as well long cooldown on his main ability. A guy from my alliance recommended also Jagged Dancing Blade but it has 3x offensive slot, so not for my playstyle.


    Btw. is Protectors Camraderie worth it? I have this insignia bonus, but never thought it's that good.

    I know Fatshroom reccomended a Neverember Guard back in the day.

    I personally wouldn't get "too" worked up over the offensive slots unless your build absolutely requires 3x Defense slots. Remember to consider companion abilities when considering a comp.

    Rust Monster isn't bad. It is one of the few comps which has a damage debuff (from its active bonus) in addition to a damage debuff (summoned ability). I know it has an offense slot, but it provides extra flexibility by "opening up" another slot for your companions (ex: normally, I'd commit a Dancing Shield to my Bonding comp lineup. With the Rust Monster, I get 1 extra companion slot).

    Another good comp is the Harper Bard, which has an offensive slot, but provides a gamut of buffs/debuffs which help a party.

    Don't bother with the Jagged Dancing Blade.

    Your guys suggested it for the debuff, but @michela123 found that the debuff only applies to the Companion. In other words, it's useless for players.

    A thread dedicated to the Jagged Dancing Blade and its mechanics was made here or on the DC forums. I believe it was on the DC forums, but it's been a while since I saw it.

    Protector's Camraderie + Friendship are pretty decent, granting free Power/Defense. It may not be as good as prepatch Warlords (prepatch Warlords multiplied your stat total by 4x. Imagine a DO DC walking around with ~100K power with just Bondings).

    Best insignia bonus imo has to go to Gladiators, even though us GFs burn through stamina easily, there's not much else that gives as good of a movement speed bonus. Wanderer's is good too, because it gives better drops than some dungeons.

  • wizardlvl80#5963 wizardlvl80 Member Posts: 519 Arc User
    Okay, I decided to farm AD for Rust Monster. I could buy it from Tradebar store but it's green lvl and upgrade would be way too expensive. Funny thing, I haven't seen a GF with Dancing Shield for a while. Quite a lot running with Priestsess of Sehanine, but thanks to you guys I haven't made this mistake :smile:
  • wizardlvl80#5963 wizardlvl80 Member Posts: 519 Arc User
    Hello. I actually got Dancing Shield and the debuff is amazing! I have one problem with it tough. It proc slow and sometimes I get some heavy damage before it proc. I currently run with Sudden deflect +5 and rising defense +4. Should I switch defense to sudden defense, so I get extra def before Dancing Shield proc?
  • rjc9000rjc9000 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,405 Arc User
    I would take the Sudden Defense and Deflect, and if you have a Charging Bull, I'd take that in place of the Sudden Defense.

    All of these rings give you a nice intermediary DR cushion while your Dancing Shield gets set up.

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