I have a privateer and i have noticed two main,of what i belive to be,problems(bugs) that affect a privateer negativly and should be fixed.
1.not enough compaions in battles.for example, if i have three compaions in battle, there are four enemies and if i have four compaions, there are five enemys.
2. not enough training points for compaions. privateer needs to earn more training points for compaions since they earn more throughout the game.

this is somthing seperate(but please still read)-emmett won't show his name,what he is,damage taken,epics activating,dodged somthing,buffs,and heals

PLEASE fix these now are in a possible update soon

Cunning Thomas Orleans,level 50
Brave William Orleans,level 38

The enemy/companion thing isn't a bug since it effects all classes.

As for the training tomes here is a trick i used for 2 of my chars.

the higher your char level is vs your companions lvl the more xp each tome gives.

So keeping that in mind i only use tomes when my char is 4 levels higher then my companions.When doing this each tome gives a instant level. It cuts down on spending so much gold on tomes and it lets me stack up tomes earned from quests for later down the road when its really needed to level companions.

And somtimes when doing this im able to use 2 tomes and gain 2 levels because of the xp carry over.

If you play smart regardless of your class and regardless of the enemy this method is ideal when it comes to tome spending/companion training

Most points have been answered, just wanted to build on the issue about training tomes.

Each class has different strengths, weaknesses, etc.
Because of this each class dictates different strategies as they develop.

Privateers generally get a few more companions (but not that many more), and this is one of many things that requires a little different strategy when playing a privateer over other classes.

Adjust your strategy to address the difference with this class over other classes. The answer isnt just to make it easier for that class by giving them things other classes dont get.

I personally waited until my companions were 9, yes 9! levels below my pirate, and then each single training tome raised my companions 3 levels. 1 tome for 3 levels everytime. By doing this I had more training tomes than I could carry, accumulated lots of them, and when I hit the game cap, only had to buy a few more training tomes to complete all my companions training to that point (ie level 50). And yes, i did this on a privateer.