I have this problem too-- Tricky Vinny and the pirate cat supposedly have less than four percent chance of joining my battles, but it seems whenever I'm in a tight spot they show up to be useless and die horribly. This was a minor annoyance until I hit Cool Ranch, at which point the fights were close and hard and they cost me a dungeon by getting called on. I've kept them up to level, even if it's been an irritating and worthless expense. Seriously, I'd never have redeemed the cat or done the rat pack quests if I knew Vinny was going to be my achilles heel.

Yeah, I want to put them like... Their pets (Like wizard101) Heres like a small idea, you can have 4 selections since you can have up to 4.

While the others never pop up.

I would hug KI if they added that.

There is a reason KI is doing this this way. You'll notice that earning gold is not that quick... with no Bazaar, items sold are sold at a ridiculously cheap price. In order to train all your companions and keep them all up to the same level as you, you need to buy crowns and then convert it to gold... I've done this on one of my characters.... it's expensive, but KI is probably banking on most wanting their companions to be strong, therefore more crowns purchased.

It's the same with Crown Gear... in Wizard101, that gear was not relative to the school you trained... a piece of crown gear would not be restricted to just one school.. in Pirate101, Crown Gear is school specific, therefore you cannot interchange it between characters... I personally think this is wrong of KI to do it this way...

Willowydream on Oct 17, 2012 wrote:

Seriously - how easy do you want to make the game? The random crew factor is one of the unique ways to change up the battles so that you can't become complacent and use just your three or four favorites. If we had an "A-team" that blazed through every battle, we'd soon get bored and want more.
I think it's great that you HAVE to deal with those you don't like, that you think are lame, that you'd like to make walk the plank, that you'd like to leave in the basement at the Kraken Skulls. It's makes you a better manager, strategist, and helps kids learn to deal with the fact that they cannot control everything that happens in life. They will have to work with people they don't like, people who are lazy or have weird ways of doing their job.

I agree only up to a point, like up to around six or eight, beyond that is a pain and takes away diversity in the player classes. Some companions are tied to quest lines, those likely would not be dropable.

Companion management, and versatility is one of the main factors of the game.
If given control over what companions would be used, etc, it would ruin that aspect of the game.
Pirates would only have a select few companions and would concentrate on the development of those companions basically eradicating one of the games primary dynamics.

On my 5th pirate past level 15, and had a few maxed in Beta so i've dealt with this dynamic for quite sometime, and frankly although I get companions I do not like in battle, I love this aspect of the game. This was never a problem, just a variable to overcome each battle. Love the way how no 2 battles are generally the same...

I am only level 11 but have quite a number of companions. I keep Bonnie Anne as my first mate because I combo her with Double Tap. I like having a certain bit of randomness to who ends up on my team. It makes me think and use strategy rather then blasting away. Makes the game more fun and dynamic. As for training, I keep them all 1 level below me. When I level up and they become 2 levels below me, I start to train. By this time I have several companion points and only have to invest in a few to cap them off. It has worked for me and I still have enough gold for more then 10 companion points. The lower level your companions are compared to you, the less points they require (one of the tips the game mentions.) Right now money is hard to come by but from what I have seen the only expensive purchases are new ships or housing. Both of which I have yet to really need.

CoopKoda on Oct 17, 2012 wrote:

There is a reason KI is doing this this way. You'll notice that earning gold is not that quick... with no Bazaar, items sold are sold at a ridiculously cheap price. In order to train all your companions and keep them all up to the same level as you, you need to buy crowns and then convert it to gold... I've done this on one of my characters.... it's expensive, but KI is probably banking on most wanting their companions to be strong, therefore more crowns purchased.

It's the same with Crown Gear... in Wizard101, that gear was not relative to the school you trained... a piece of crown gear would not be restricted to just one school.. in Pirate101, Crown Gear is school specific, therefore you cannot interchange it between characters... I personally think this is wrong of KI to do it this way...

Guys, I am playing through the game right along with you, and I've bought nothing from the crown shop (and not used any dev cheats or anything like that).

Let me share my tips:

1) Never spend a training point unless it raises your companion at least +1 complete level. This usually means that you will be 2 or 3 levels ahead of your companions. You should notice that when you fight mobs, there will always be one of them around your level, but the rest of the mobs' levels are random-- as much as 2 levels lower. Looks a lot like the distribution of you (the captain) and your companions.

If you're trying to keep your companions exactly the same level as you, it is going to be painful and expensive. But the choice is there for you if that's what you want to do.

2) Exception #1 to the above rule: If you know for a fact that your companion will be able to promote (for example, Bonnie Anne at 8th level) it can sometimes be worth it to spend a few extra training points so she'll be ready to promote.

3) Exception #2 to the above rule: Very early in the game (say, until you beat The Presidio), when you don't have very many companions anyway, you can spend more than one point per companion.

4) Pick a "core crew" and make them your priority. I recommend you pick your A-team companions, or as I like to call them, the "Central Cast." That cast is Bonnie Anne, Ratbeard, Old Scratch, your Mooshu Companion, your Kraken Skulls companion, and your Presidio companion. For each player, that's six companions who should be the first on your list every time you have training points to spend. They each always get 1 TP every time I level up, assuming that TP gives them +1 level.

Now, you probably have noticed that there are six in the core crew, but you usually only get +3 TP every time you level up...

5) Complete side quests for extra training points.

6) When you get a new companion, he or she will be a couple levels higher than you. Put them in the roster near the top of the list, ahead of lower level companions (but not necessarily ahead of your core crew).

7) Constantly keep an eye or your roster and shuffle the lowest level guys to the bottom.

8) If you have an extra training point (and you will, if you're doing side quests) then in addition to your core crew, every time you level up, find the BEST low-level guy in the roster (subjectively speaking-- pick the coolest looking guy if you want), and throw him a training point. By the time you hit the mid-20's (in Cool Ranch) that's probably going to bump him 2 or 3 levels at a time.

9) By the time you hit Mooshu (level 35 or above) the power curves smooth out such that your companions will be just fine in combat even if they start to fall behind you a little more. At this point, I switch strategies and don't spend a TP unless it raises my companion +2 levels.

To summarize:

Spend wisely, do side quests, and don't feel that all your companions have to be the same level as you.

On my musketeer I like playing with companions that make me feel like I am playing a musketeer, and when I play my swashbuckler I like playing with companions that make me feel more like I am playing with a swashbuckler. In terms of the companions themselves, all companions should be roughly equal in power as each other as long as their levels are the same but for some reason this is not the case, but if it were then it wouldn't make any difference as to which companions a player chooses to play with and which ones they do not. I don't mind the shuffle. I do however think that a player should have an option as to how many companions are to be included in the percentage chances of showing up even if the option is to only include those who are on the first page of companions or all companions. As to those companions who get special quests and tie into the game's story lines, they can be marked as having such important quests so that even if they aren't being used by a player the player can still see that they need to level the companion up as it has important quests that need be done. Players enjoy control over their characters, this control does not break or unbalance the game at all.