Magistermundisum on Nov 30, 2014 wrote:

I have been enjoying the game for years now off and on. And the improvements that have been made are most impressive steps forward. The combat is entertaining and the story is good. However I still have one major issue with the game. And that is crown companions and especially the ones from packs.

Now this has always rubbed me a me a bit wrong as I didn't like the idea of companions you can't earn in game to begin with. Now I don't mind it with other gear and items you get from the store as you can find comparable gear in game or is just cosmetic having little impact on game play. This is not the case with companions as each one is a unique resource. If there was a way to earn companions via gold or boss farming in addition to paying I would have no complaints. But I understand KI needs to make money and are roughly $10 a companion for the most part I swallowed my distaste. Then came the packs. With no other way to get these companions except through the packs they are the highest tier reward from them. At I believe an odds of 1:100 packs. No I know they want an epic item everyone will want but this was to much. At a price of 399 a pack that means on average it is going to be 39900 crowns a companion. And if your unlucky alot more.

Now again if there was another way to earn these companions I would have no complaint. Honestly I would even feel better if they were all sub-par companions as the would be more collectors items then anything. But they are arguably the most useful/Powerful companions out there. With no way to get them but on a gamble with crowns.

All I am asking is for KI to think about adding an alternate way of obtaining these companions or at least bumping the rarity down a bit. Perhaps adding a crown only auction house, maybe super packs that guarantee 1 epic at 20x the normal price.

The last thing I ask is if the keep them as crown only items that they make them account unlocks. Nothing quite saps my will to play one of my other class are realizing that I would probably have to rebuy the same companions.

Trust me, I could say the same with both packs, but it is a roll of the dice with them. However, I can give you some advice. Look at the companions in each pack. The Tribal Crew Pack has 5 companions (I have gotten 2 of them. and ), and the Grizzly Beast Pack has 6 companions (I have 3 of them. , , and Baar). Here are the upsides and downsides to each.

Tribal Crew Pack: Companions available: Chilam Bak, Itzen Kaan, Holkun Doomhorn, Lemba Moonskull, Kawil Doomclaw. Power level: These guys are powerful, but they're also COOL. Their designs are second-to-none, and each one has their own set of moves and each one is unique. Choose their Epics right, and each one will be a force to be reckoned with. Other things: If you want good gear, this pack will meet all your expectations! And if you don't want the items.......you can sell them for TONS of gold!

Grizzly Beast Pack: Companions available: Athor, Ghor Khord, Laarn Yohr, AND Baar. Power level: They're EXTREMELY powerful. The amount of Epics they can get is astronomical. The first 5 bears not only have pet epics already given to them, like Bloodsucker and Eagle Eyes, but they also can summon pets at random as well, and each one can learn 5 Epic abilities. Baar is the MOST POWERFUL. He can learn SIX epics, making him extremely deadly. Add onto that, he can summon a War Hawk or a Panther, and can use three variations of Weasel War Dance. In terms of design though, they fall far below the dinosaurs. The close combat bears have all the same moves and even the same sort of design. Khord and Ghor are the only ones who have completely different moves than the others. Baar, however, has his own set of moves, and he is different in other ways in terms of design. Other things: If you want pet snacks and pets, go for this pack. The housing stuff can be sold for gold.

In summary, if you want companions that look cool and are powerful, go for the Tribal pack. If you want companions that were just made for POWER, go for the Grizzly pack. Either one is a good choice, but out of all 11 pack companions, BAAR is the best. And just be patient. Trust me, you'll get a dino or bear sometime.

Well, the only companions you can't earn in-game are promotion companions such as the Ninja Pig and bundles companions such as the Cat Pirate, the Cutthroat Shark, Handsome Dan, Nausica and Hoodoo Cornelius. Every other companion is earned in-game. Each companion is a unique source, which is why I like each companion individually, if they were all the same, the story would have allot less replay value. Companions for gold doesn't seem like a bad idea, although we already use gold to promote some of them and companions dropped by bosses would be a bit awkward, just them coming out of nowhere, unless we fought a giant and someone was trapped in his pocket. There is no average amount needed to obtain a companion, it's all random luck, someone might even be able to obtain all the companions in a pack for their first pack, the odds are very random and very small, but that's what make them more fitting rewards.

If they were sub-par companions, there wouldn't be much point in spending allot of crowns on a pack that practically gives you every item in the first couple of opens, at least for me the packs give me most of the items I needed in the first few opens. They are arguably the most useful/powerful companions? Well that all depends on how you use your companions and what talents you give them. Also, there is another way to obtain companions, I see many fansite competitions for specific companions allot, including bundles and even codes for the seemingly retired Ninja Pig!

I object to the idea of decreasing the rarity, it would help me with my collection but then companions would just be another common thing from packs, besides it wouldn't be fair on the people that spent so much already. The only pack that should guarantee an epic item is a mega snack pack, which they do.

I don't personally think you should buy companions and get them on every Pirate, that means if you bought most of the companions, you start off with too many for you to train.

Optional...yes and no. They are optional in that you have the "Option" to not get them but as has been stated the pack companions are among the most powerful companions available. If I want to play pvp and have a chance to win do I "have" to have pack companions to be competitive. I am hoping to keep the game from becoming pay to win.

Now if there are in-game companion that are just as good then it is truly "optional" however I do not believe this to be the case.

If you train your in-game companions well and keep them leveled as near to your level as you can, then they are as good ( and sometimes better ) than pack and bundle companions.
It is true that pack companions look cool and have cool animations add to the fact that it is super hard to get one so they're rare ( although I see so many bears around me, I'm beginning to wonder why I don't have one ) the point is that the 'rare' factor adds to the status of the player.
Bundle companions come with the bundle so the 'rare' factor isn't as important.
It all comes down to the training and strategy of any companion. Ratbeard can stop and beat Nausica for example. Samocles is one of my top tier companions.

zuto4011a on Dec 6, 2014 wrote:

the 3 bears yhor, baar, and ghor are OP, for a privateer having yohr is a huge advantage, on their turn he cant be hit cause of sneaky sneaky, on my turn he ripostes their first strike or vengeance or repel boarders because of my buffs, then he unleashes a chain of relentless and bladestorms, their companion is dead, I win, for bucks baar takes advantage of the current strength spam tactic, he summons a pet, then weasels and destroys the opponents accuracy, then the buck goes in with pete, baar and whoever else he or she chose and bladestorm spams critcals, for muskets having ghor means 7 range with most musket companions, and companions without an increase movement power would get torn up trying to get to them, bonnies aoe covers an incredibly ridiculous portion of the map with ghors eagle eyes, for a witch, having ghor means a 9 range on storms and charm, these bears cannot be topped by any in-game companions, the special talents and powers they have are just to strong, and ratbeard could never beat nausica, she has 4 guaranteed hits and 3 of them criticals which would trigger her double tap and he has just 1 accuracy reduce with no relentless, he can certainly stop her but could never actually beat her by himself

No companion is truly overpowered.
Yohr's Sneaky Sneaky talent has a chance to activate per round, meaning that it could never activate in the whole battle or activate at the end of each turn for the whole battle. He can riposte but not if he is hit or critical hit by a melee, ranged or magic unit. Also, relentless and bladestorm are also chance based talents as they could never be activated the whole battle, although bladestorm always activates after defeating an enemy, but what's to stop it from being blocked?
Baar's pet summons are cool but they aren't the strongest allies to have in battle, although they are still useful, criticals only have a chance of occurring as well, remember that critical rating doesn't depend on the attacking companion's stats but also the defending companion's and no matter how high you increase a stat, there is always a chance of it failing.
Ghor's talent only activates if you walk into a square adjacent to him and not the other way around.
These companions can and have been topped by in-game companions, it all depends on strategies and luck really.
Ratbeard can beat Nausica, I've seen Ratbeard bladestorm her three times each turn and defeated her on the second turn thanks to his critical hits, not to mention Ratbeard can take damage, Nausica's double tap can occur but remember that ranged attacks can still be blocked or dodged.
As for the bears I've seen a Sky Snake beat one with the aid of buffs, a good strategy and luck.

Noble Tyler Strong on Dec 8, 2014 wrote:

No companion is truly overpowered.
Yohr's Sneaky Sneaky talent has a chance to activate per round, meaning that it could never activate in the whole battle or activate at the end of each turn for the whole battle. He can riposte but not if he is hit or critical hit by a melee, ranged or magic unit. Also, relentless and bladestorm are also chance based talents as they could never be activated the whole battle, although bladestorm always activates after defeating an enemy, but what's to stop it from being blocked?
Baar's pet summons are cool but they aren't the strongest allies to have in battle, although they are still useful, criticals only have a chance of occurring as well, remember that critical rating doesn't depend on the attacking companion's stats but also the defending companion's and no matter how high you increase a stat, there is always a chance of it failing.
Ghor's talent only activates if you walk into a square adjacent to him and not the other way around.
These companions can and have been topped by in-game companions, it all depends on strategies and luck really.
Ratbeard can beat Nausica, I've seen Ratbeard bladestorm her three times each turn and defeated her on the second turn thanks to his critical hits, not to mention Ratbeard can take damage, Nausica's double tap can occur but remember that ranged attacks can still be blocked or dodged.
As for the bears I've seen a Sky Snake beat one with the aid of buffs, a good strategy and luck.

all these scenarios are with huge amounts of luck or aid of others, i'm talking about companions by themselves, and yea even a troggy could kill a bear with the aid of buffs, anything could kill anything with buffs, and your ratbeard scenario makes no sense, he's a defensive companion, not giving him hold rank 3 or repel rank 3 is a waste of his epics, and I did say with my buffs yohr kills, nothing can really hit a swashbuckler with zeal and espirit