Forum discussions are now taking place on Discord. For all account questions and concerns, please continue to contact Customer Support directly.

Keep updated on Pirate101 on Twitter @Pirate101, Facebook, Discord, and @KI_Alerts!

 Search  Updated Topics  Hottest Topics  Rules

Companion healing TOO punishing/out of balance?

2
AuthorMessage
Captain
Feb 11, 2010
644
It's not punishing, it's so when a companion goes on bed rest, you can use your other trusty crewmembers to fight. I have my own strategy too: I leave 3 companions of the same class for all classes (except for witch doctor, Khord is my only one at the moment) without tasks so in case one is wounded, I can send another strong companion out to replace them.

I recommend you give this pretty good strategy a try, because if you just keep using the same three companions over and over, what's the point of having so many others?
Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
Fiorenza Rosanante... on Apr 11, 2015 wrote:
Thanks, Max, you've answered a question I had about keel haulin': If I'm at 10 tomes can I still collect from my crew? That's a big relief for me to know I can, and may make my companion tasking just a bit different than it is now.
Yup. Just make sure your entire crew is either holding onto an uncollected training tome or is our Keel Haulin', then go buy ten training tomes. Once you do that, go ahead and collect the tomes that are being held, and send them out Sailin' (to get your nautical ability up to one level higher than your pirate) or Plunderin' and Scavengin' (to get gold or items you can sell to get your gold up to 200,000. I usually do a combination, which saves time.) I don't bother with Pet Wranglin' unless I am training a pet and need snacks with Power Boosts.

You will still be able to collect additional Training Tomes from quests on top of the stash you accumulate.
Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
I do find it rather silly to complain about the amount of time bed rest takes. Even at level 65 it's less than 3 hours.
Captain
Mar 24, 2013
732
In addition to level up companions at or close to your main pirate character. Make sure have some back up companions with similar levels to help your adventure to keep going.
Admiral
Nov 23, 2011
1407
Piratin's a dangerous business. Not for the faint of heart, nor the thin of blood. We wade in, cutlasses swingin', crew at our backs*, and try to gut our enemy before they fillet us. 'tis a sad thing indeed to see a one of our brotherhood go down in the bloody affray. Complain that it takes a wee amount of time before they are hale and hardy again?? Never! I be thankful they aren't dead!!

-Indigo

*Unless you are a witchie or a musky, in which case they should jolly well be in front of you!
Dread Pirate
May 27, 2009
2131
DuncanRoland The E... on Apr 10, 2015 wrote:
I can tell others must've had the same issue of whom you've dealt with before, but please don't make assumptions as to how I play. I actually use my arsenal of companions, I have plenty of backups, and every strategy and mixture i can muster just isn't as effective as the 2 sets I have with a "One-Two" feel. Trust me, I've ran experiments with companions of the same level in different combat areas/typings. One is simply better. And when focus fire happens... (Still, I appreciate the A.I. being smart, one of the reasons I enjoy P101, but not the after-effect.) That's when your useful companion tree begins to dwindle. Now I'm not saying wounded just NERFS the companion, but it has a chance to turn into a vicious cycle, rendering their health crippled. This has happened to me several times in a dungeon with multiple different companions, and it quite frustrated me. Maybe I'm plain horrible at the game, but my holding off exceptionally well in a pvp arena says otherwise, companions and all. Plus talents have uses in other battles. There's NO predicting how many melee to ranged units appear in a fight, so the skills they have may be useful, may be not. Get the idea?
Yes, I can see that you're pretty frustrated, and you're taking it out on those of us who are trying to help you and give advice. We HAVE to make assumptions about how you play, because YOU stated you were having trouble. I can't possible know how exactly how you play because I don't know you.

Now, since I don't know you, whether you feel the need to vent your frustrations in my direction is neither here nor there, but the majority of the replies in this thread here are similar to mine. If so many people are giving you the same advice, perhaps you should re-think your reaction?
Admiral
May 30, 2010
1221
Max DeGroot on Apr 13, 2015 wrote:
I do find it rather silly to complain about the amount of time bed rest takes. Even at level 65 it's less than 3 hours.
Not for my crew it isn't, but I don't mind waiting a several hours for them to recover. Actually, I cheat and wake them up and send them on some other errand while they're out of action. As long as I'm never reduced to using a totally Cool Ranch crew, it's all good.
First Mate
Dec 24, 2009
413
Max DeGroot on Apr 13, 2015 wrote:
I do find it rather silly to complain about the amount of time bed rest takes. Even at level 65 it's less than 3 hours.
Do you have Scrapper 4? I don't have scrapper on any of my companions and it takes about 5-7 hours.
Bosun
Dec 16, 2012
331
FireMorgan13 on Apr 16, 2015 wrote:
Do you have Scrapper 4? I don't have scrapper on any of my companions and it takes about 5-7 hours.
I am pretty sure scrapper 3 and 4 are not even in the game yet. I dont think any companion at level 65 directly after fainting will be revived in less then 4.5 hours.
Ensign
Oct 28, 2012
45
Fiorenza Rosanante... on Apr 11, 2015 wrote:
But why is that companion a main pivot? Why are you so heavily dependent on just a few companions?
What I meant by main pivot was the stats, not the companions themselves. As I said previously I'm focusing on the punishment itself. I can live with losing a favorite, but it builds up when I try progressing through the game at a decent pace.
Ensign
Oct 28, 2012
45
Blixet on Apr 10, 2015 wrote:
the benefit is that the player has to play better. plain and simple, no fluff or kindness. if your losing companions in such a way that you cannot progress, you need to:

A) adapt and adjust tactically to different situations: a one trick pony WILL NOT WORK IN A STRATEGY GAME.

B) Guard your companions with your life. an interesting part of pirate is that if the player is killed, companions can still win the fight and the player will revive afterwards with one hp. in other words: A good captain is the one that is carried by their crew, not the one that sacrifices them.

I have soloed every dungeon in the game (except the tower) on every class (except for WD, who i am just now entering monquista with) with success. did I lose companions? sometimes. does everyone lose companions? of course. why do you think that you get so many companions? because your expected to lose some. what ISNT expected is for players to look at an obvious and good solution (Using 'weaker' companions) and say "IMPOSSIBLE!" your tools (companions) are only as good as the Carpenter (you).

I've said it before, and i will likely say it again: the game does not adapt to you. your the one who needs to adapt.
I again apologize for my lack of explaining what I mean to say. I'm focusing on the punishment of having to wait for long periods of time (However this isn't the case at the beginning of the game, just gotta grab a drink and come back and it's done) For simply making an innocent mistake. True, you better adapt to the area, there is no one trick pony. The problem on the guarding companions bit is that the A.I. has tendencies to hunt one down like an animal and not cease. Again, I still love KI for making the enemies NOT mindless drones with no strategy. I'm also focusing on that say I lose a companion that was not particularly good for the fight unexpectedly, sure, bad on me, I should get a slap on the hand for messing up. The bad part is that's one less strategy, and it may be the one I needed within that 7 hour time span. Of course losing just ONE companion and/or having it come back weaker isn't really up to snuff to actually faze a player, or, at least, it shouldn't. I'm just disliking how the effect can rapidly snowball because of that. Sure the solution is "get good" mostly, but the way it was before was perfectly fine, since it went like: Ok that companion's gone, was it really that good? Should I bother to mojo potion? Then if they do and it faints again, they SHOULD learn that: Ok that companion is just bad for that area. Then it imprints better and the player can blame themselves for it. The thought pattern with this new way is (for people that are new to it) going somewhat like this: Oh that companion's gone, WHAT? seven hours? and i have to pay WHAT for reviving? Alright fine I'll deal with that and continue. Then this continues again and feel they have to revive the companion as wounded, Then it dies again due to low health. Somewhat like that, hopefully you get what I mean. Then the player blames the game, not themselves, and they learn nothing. Of course I learned to live with it, but I still don't appreciate the unbalance that it can be at times.
Ensign
Feb 02, 2013
10
Honestly this companion punishing thing is really unfair and really ruins things in the game. I have no idea how can anyone like this new companion tule thing cause i'm going to be straight up i dont like it. I'm a max swashbuckler and as everyone knows, it takes too long for high level companions to revive. I'm one of those type of players who uses companions based on my favoritess and who i find useful. For the people who says "oh well just use other companions and stop using thes same ones" The reason we do that is cause we like them the most and try to get our favorite companions as strong as possible. I dont know why some of ya saying your givibg us advice because ya not if anything ya making it worse why would you like consequence? Losing our companions that we like isnt something fun and wasting our time to go farm for gold to revive the is a waste of time we could use that time to quest. The old way of restoring companions was better and i liked it but then when things are nice and simple it has to be ruined for no reason. Some people dont got all their companions maxed we cant all keep up having our companions the same level as us so that's when we decide to make which companions to be ahead and which companions to level up later. We are all aware that we got plenty of other companions to use but those other companions might not be strong enough or the same level. This dont nake sense: Why would you incourage us to use the other companions we dont often use and then when the good companions already dead the other companions that you dont use will die along with them.So basically that just make things worse and that just leads the pirates whole crew to collapse and be wounded. Waiting all those hours to wait for your companions(especially the ones you like)isnt pleasent. Some people dont want to waste their time farming for gold to just revive a companion because it interfere with questing and other stuff they want to do in the game. I want the old way back!
Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
KingKeeler101 on Jun 9, 2015 wrote:
Honestly this companion punishing thing is really unfair and really ruins things in the game. I have no idea how can anyone like this new companion tule thing cause i'm going to be straight up i dont like it. I'm a max swashbuckler and as everyone knows, it takes too long for high level companions to revive. I'm one of those type of players who uses companions based on my favoritess and who i find useful. For the people who says "oh well just use other companions and stop using thes same ones" The reason we do that is cause we like them the most and try to get our favorite companions as strong as possible. I dont know why some of ya saying your givibg us advice because ya not if anything ya making it worse why would you like consequence? Losing our companions that we like isnt something fun and wasting our time to go farm for gold to revive the is a waste of time we could use that time to quest. The old way of restoring companions was better and i liked it but then when things are nice and simple it has to be ruined for no reason. Some people dont got all their companions maxed we cant all keep up having our companions the same level as us so that's when we decide to make which companions to be ahead and which companions to level up later. We are all aware that we got plenty of other companions to use but those other companions might not be strong enough or the same level. This dont nake sense: Why would you incourage us to use the other companions we dont often use and then when the good companions already dead the other companions that you dont use will die along with them.So basically that just make things worse and that just leads the pirates whole crew to collapse and be wounded. Waiting all those hours to wait for your companions(especially the ones you like)isnt pleasent. Some people dont want to waste their time farming for gold to just revive a companion because it interfere with questing and other stuff they want to do in the game. I want the old way back!
We are trying to give advice to all who are having troubles with wounding and bed-rest. If, as you say, your favorites ( who you claim to be the strongest and best ) are constantly defeated and interrupting game play; then you must look at how you are using them. Perhaps changing strategies will help you, or, maybe they are not the best for that battle and using a different companion is what you need to consider.
I can't believe anyone would wish to go back to the old way of companions. Keeping them leveled and useful was much more difficult than now; we could only bench three companions, which meant there was a chance for an un-trained and under- leveled companion to appear in battle ( a sure recipe for disaster ).
Now our companions that we don't wish to see can be assigned tasks which help them and us.
You want the old way back? Then why have so many companions if you're not going to use them? Using the top 4 is boring and repetitive, I like changing up companions. Yes I have favorites, but now I'm certain that even Nurse Quinn can hold her own in all but the toughest battles.
Post Edit: Please stop thinking of it as a 'punishment' and more of an opportunity.
Lieutenant
May 07, 2009
102
I think it's pretty fair, but I think that's just because my companions don't die too often.
Ensign
Feb 02, 2013
10
anecorbie on Jun 10, 2015 wrote:
We are trying to give advice to all who are having troubles with wounding and bed-rest. If, as you say, your favorites ( who you claim to be the strongest and best ) are constantly defeated and interrupting game play; then you must look at how you are using them. Perhaps changing strategies will help you, or, maybe they are not the best for that battle and using a different companion is what you need to consider.
I can't believe anyone would wish to go back to the old way of companions. Keeping them leveled and useful was much more difficult than now; we could only bench three companions, which meant there was a chance for an un-trained and under- leveled companion to appear in battle ( a sure recipe for disaster ).
Now our companions that we don't wish to see can be assigned tasks which help them and us.
You want the old way back? Then why have so many companions if you're not going to use them? Using the top 4 is boring and repetitive, I like changing up companions. Yes I have favorites, but now I'm certain that even Nurse Quinn can hold her own in all but the toughest battles.
Post Edit: Please stop thinking of it as a 'punishment' and more of an opportunity.
Lol i'ma try that out and see if this companion switching thing will work out but i am not going to use that witchdoctor crab hermit dude.
Ensign
Feb 02, 2013
10
anecorbie on Jun 10, 2015 wrote:
We are trying to give advice to all who are having troubles with wounding and bed-rest. If, as you say, your favorites ( who you claim to be the strongest and best ) are constantly defeated and interrupting game play; then you must look at how you are using them. Perhaps changing strategies will help you, or, maybe they are not the best for that battle and using a different companion is what you need to consider.
I can't believe anyone would wish to go back to the old way of companions. Keeping them leveled and useful was much more difficult than now; we could only bench three companions, which meant there was a chance for an un-trained and under- leveled companion to appear in battle ( a sure recipe for disaster ).
Now our companions that we don't wish to see can be assigned tasks which help them and us.
You want the old way back? Then why have so many companions if you're not going to use them? Using the top 4 is boring and repetitive, I like changing up companions. Yes I have favorites, but now I'm certain that even Nurse Quinn can hold her own in all but the toughest battles.
Post Edit: Please stop thinking of it as a 'punishment' and more of an opportunity.
Lol i'ma try that out and see if this companion switching thing will work out but i am not going to use that witchdoctor crab hermit dude.
Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
KingKeeler101 on Jun 12, 2015 wrote:
Lol i'ma try that out and see if this companion switching thing will work out but i am not going to use that witchdoctor crab hermit dude.
True, he's on permanent Pet Wranglin' duty for me!
Gunner's Mate
Jan 27, 2011
222
Well, I know my post has already addressed this issue and I also see some familiar faces here, so I'll just slide right in here and give my opinion in a more 'updated' fashion.

In short: the system needs to be fixed. Mojo Potions now are no different/special than a regular Potion from Wizard101. Ships don't need healing, you have a steering wheel that gives you that ability. You also have the fleeing option if you know you're going down and can't bear to watch yourself be boarded by the enemy. So, Mojo Potions really only heal the player; boring, and quite ineffective as I've rarely used them since I have access to all these wonderful life fountains.

Quit using your faves if they keep dying? Well that's a bit harsh, people play for their own reasons and choose their Companions for their own reasons. There is nothing wrong with playing with one's faves and having an issue with them constantly dying. Quite frankly, my faves tend to be targeted a lot for no real reason half the time; the AI is just too smart sometimes. Stuff happens, whether you're a pro or a noob you're going to lose your favorite Companion one time or another. Simple fact. May not be as often, but it will still happen.

Use your other Companions? Well that would be a valid argument, if all classes had the same number of Companions. Buccaneers have the least amount of Companions available to them, and most aren't even worth using as they'll just die quicker than our 'faves' did; considering most don't even have a Power. Sheriff Cogburn, Skeletal Warrior dude, Water Mole, Monquistan Monkey, seriously these guys are all pretty useless (currently). They simply rely solely on Talents and Stats, no Powers to speak of. 'Resorting' to those just means you're going to end up losing more Companions faster as these backshelf dust collecting 'workers' are not only pretty weak in Combat but are pretty much only useful for carrying out Orders (for me).

(continued......)
Gunner's Mate
Jan 27, 2011
222
(.....continual)

Your play strategy is wrong? There is no right or wrong way to play a game, everyone does what benefits their personality and style. I hate buffing, I like to just charge in and end the fight immediately. Guess what? It works! As a Buccaneer, that is. Guess what else? I have Threat 3 and should be generating around 50% threat but you want to know how often that works? Not at all. I've been bypassed completely by AIs after being the only one attacking and watch as Kobe is being surrounded for no reason at all. It's not just about how people play, it's also about the game itself. There are things that need fixing, and once these things are fixed then you'll see less complaints as there'll be less Companions dying. Then there'll be no reason for anyone to 'cry' about the recovery times.

Scrapper? We've already discussed how useless it currently is on my other post, but I'm going to repeat it for those who haven't seen/read it. Scrapper is pretty much just you preparing for defeat, if you're as skilled as you say you are then what do you have to fear? You shouldn't lose any Companions, if you play 'smartly'. All Scrapper does is waste a spot that could've been used to fortify a different Stat that could've made a difference in keeping one's Companion alive. The amount of time Scrapper currently reduces is nothing to even consider, it's no different than waiting the full time. I'll leave it there, if you want more details it's all on my post.

Miracle Mitch definitely needs to have his prices cut. Obviously your Companion's not 'dead', they're unconscious. If they were dead then they wouldn't return after 4 hours of bedrest. Mitch's job is no different than a normal doctor's, so I don't see how he performs 'Miracles'.

I'll end this all with this: either Mitch needs price cuts or the Mojo Potions should be able to revive one Companion per Potion. That'll also put the Yum-N-Ade (can't spell it) stand to more viable use.
Gunner's Mate
Jan 27, 2011
222
After a bit more playing today I realized something else to bring to the table on this issue: the 'wounded penalty' isn't much of a penalty at all. You can wake up your Companion and keep using them, their health is just slightly decreased. Your Companion and 'fall' three times total, any more and the timers for all three wounds just keeps resetting. In other words, you can 'torture' your Companion and force it to continually hop into the fray, use its abilities and sacrifice it afterwards; just to repeat the process in the next battle. Completely defeats the purpose of a 'penalty'.

Personally, since I recently got fed up with Kobe always dying, I've been sending Kobe out whether he's wounded or not and just using him for his Powers. If he survives, great, if not who cares? I'll just wake him up, use him as a 'suicide bomber' once more and continue on with little care in the world for his 'well-being' as he's not really worth taking the time to fully heal; he'll just die again anyways.

So, really, this whole timer-penalty system KI implemented is just a waste of time and, quite frankly, a joke. It doesn't penalize you by much, and if they were to incorporate damage reductions and whatnot per wound then they'll just be infuriating more players. They had a great idea, but it needs to be scrapped and redone. I propose either fixing it so that you can fully revive a Companion with 1 Mojo Potion while keeping the current system in place, or add back in the Life Fountain Companion revival system while keeping the current penalty system. In short, they need a better 'immediate revival' system than Miracle Mitch. The only reason I even agree to keep the timer system in place is for dungeon purposes.

Btw: still love Kobe and he's still my favorite; I just hate how Loud is useless and he's always being swarmed standing still.
Admiral
May 30, 2010
1221
Nightblood1995 on Jun 13, 2015 wrote:
Well, I know my post has already addressed this issue and I also see some familiar faces here, so I'll just slide right in here and give my opinion in a more 'updated' fashion.

In short: the system needs to be fixed. Mojo Potions now are no different/special than a regular Potion from Wizard101. Ships don't need healing, you have a steering wheel that gives you that ability. You also have the fleeing option if you know you're going down and can't bear to watch yourself be boarded by the enemy. So, Mojo Potions really only heal the player; boring, and quite ineffective as I've rarely used them since I have access to all these wonderful life fountains.

Quit using your faves if they keep dying? Well that's a bit harsh, people play for their own reasons and choose their Companions for their own reasons. There is nothing wrong with playing with one's faves and having an issue with them constantly dying. Quite frankly, my faves tend to be targeted a lot for no real reason half the time; the AI is just too smart sometimes. Stuff happens, whether you're a pro or a noob you're going to lose your favorite Companion one time or another. Simple fact. May not be as often, but it will still happen.

Use your other Companions? Well that would be a valid argument, if all classes had the same number of Companions. Buccaneers have the least amount of Companions available to them, and most aren't even worth using as they'll just die quicker than our 'faves' did; considering most don't even have a Power. Sheriff Cogburn, Skeletal Warrior dude, Water Mole, Monquistan Monkey, seriously these guys are all pretty useless (currently). They simply rely solely on Talents and Stats, no Powers to speak of. 'Resorting' to those just means you're going to end up losing more Companions faster as these backshelf dust collecting 'workers' are not only pretty weak in Combat but are pretty much only useful for carrying out Orders (for me).

(continued......)
Ships can need healing, if you're being attacked by a couple of other ships while you're on those interminable 'shoot at them and hope they drop something' quests. The better heals on the steering wheels have longer reset times; I don't always have those 40 seconds if I'm coping with multiple ships. That's really what I use my mojo potions for.

Since you don't find wounding much of a penalty, then keep tossing poor Kobe out there. That's your play style and it works for you.

OK, Mitch isn't working Miracles in your book. But his prices are still pretty in-line with basic hospital care (and PT afterward) so no price reduction needed.

As for the idea of a mojo potion (not a life fountain) reviving a single companion, that'd be a nice addition if you got to determine which companion. The only problem I see is then everyone would complain about how much poor Ryan charges for his yum 'n ade, even though he's generally cheaper than Mitch.
2