Lookit Light on Jan 18, 2022 wrote:

Yes, I'm actually back on here again. And yes, I'm bringing up my old series of posts again, because why not. With the prospect of Pirate101 returning to regular development in the (finally) not-so-far future, I thought I should bring this up again because there might actually be a realistic possibility of this scenario being addressed.

If you're familiar with my old posts in this series, you know what I'm saying. Old Companions, primarily those from Side Quests in earlier worlds, are left behind as our Pirate progresses, primarily due to a lack of advancements to keep them interesting or worthwhile. They need Promotions and/or Powers to keep them interesting, etcetera, etcetera.

As a first step to returning to Pirate101 as a game, I feel that bringing underwhelming Companions back into the limelight is something that is not only possible, but plausible and low-effort. I won't go over specific improvements, because I've done that in the past (Seriously, look up "Building Lesser Companions" on these boards and I made an entire series of threads two or three years ago.), but I will talk about general improvements based by world, assuming a max-level Pirate.

Skull Island, Monquista, and Valencia Part 1: Most Companions from these world already have promotions. Some even see occasional, legitimate use, like Ridoldfo Capoferro from Sivella and Bones McGee from the Abandoned Lighthouse. However, most of them aren't so lucky and fall to the wayside. Companions from these worlds need at least three, possibly even four Promotions over game progression to remain considerable.

Cool Ranch: Most Companions from this world are usable when first acquired, but not beyond that. Most or all are quickly forgotten by players by the time of Mooshu, and stay that way. Early Cool Ranch Companions need at least three Promotions to stay usable over game progression. However, due to Cool Ranch's length, later Companions should, more likely, get two Promotions, as well as an extra innate Epic Talent to choose from upon their acquisition by the player.

Mooshu: Companions from this world are desperately in need of promotions. In my opinion, they need one around Mayleybone and another around Valencia Part 2. In addition, one innate extra Epic Talent would be useful in their usability.

Marleybone: By the time you get Marleybonian companions, only a single promotion near the end of the current game is reasonable. Thus, they should get two innate Epic Talents to choose from.

Aquila & Valencia Part 2: Companions from Aquila are in that strange state where they can't reasonably get promotions given the current story of the game. Thus, two or even three innate Epic Talents are appropriate. Contessa Argento, the only Companion from Valencia Part 2 currently, is surprisingly capable even with less Epic Talents. To keep her up with other Compaions, she should get one or two extra Epic Talents, but too many will likely cause to become, in the words of the community "broken."

Beyond the Current Game: If we do indeed get a World in the next update, it may be possible to improve Companions even further. Companions from Skull Island and Monquista would likely receive their fourth Promotions, while Companions from Mooshu would get their second Promotion if they didn't already. Companions from Aquila could reasonably get their first Promotion, while ones from late Cool Ranch would get their second or third. There would be a number of improvements all around.