Current endgame content(Valencia pt.2, Smugglers Arena, Skeleton Key bosses, etc.) promotes less diversity in companion usage in PVE.

Opposite of current endgame content, is content prior to this which promotes companion diversity while leveling up (unless you are a school that excels at abusing Old Scratch). I am encouraged to use True Grit/Quickdraw companions vs. musketeer enemies, to use Buccaneers with Relentless & Bladestorm vs. Musketeers, to use El Toro + First Strike 3 & Riposte companions vs. Buccaneer enemies, to use Witchdoctor companions with Witch Hunter vs Witchdoctor enemies, to use Burst Fire companions vs. Swashbuckler enemies so as to avoid Ripostes, etc. Endgame content currently promotes using almost the same team in every battle. Usually teams like this involve Old Scratch, Gracie Conrad + Chantal/Mormo/Carcarius/Mojo Flow Abuser/Some DPS Companion for schools like Privateer, Musketeer, and Witchdoctor. These schools are basically forced to run teams like this if they want to be a good supporting member of a team, or survive solo. Swashbucklers are similarly incentivized to use Old Scratch for Mojo Flow boosted Poisons to cheese basically every fight solo with hiding + 500 damage a round poisons, but have slightly better companion diversity. Buccaneer is weirder because they have the least benefit from Old Scratch, but generally use Pete and Toro in almost every fight.

Aside from nerfing Mojo Flow (which most of us expect is eventually going to happen), other companions need buffs to at least have niches or be almost as good as companions like Ratbeard/Bonnie/Emmet/Contessa/etc.

The Magnificent Seven (or most of them) are in an awkward state as they are sometimes used by players who don't buy Exeter/Nausica for countering musketeers as most of them have True Grit, or Quick Draw. They aren't horrible, they are just incredibly niche and often forgotten forever as soon as players buy Exeter (Ensign Emmet clone) or Nausica. I think most of these companions could very easily be made "good enough" by upgrading their power Musketeer's Mastery into Musketeer's Mettle (which debuffs weapon power by 50%) and giving them one more epic talent. Emmet/Exeter have this power which provides extremely good utility and fits in really nicely with their function (being defensive, or countering Musketeers), as 6 of the Magnificent Seven have this exact same function, they should get this power. Bat Masterson is potentially one of the worst companions in the game, he needs a complete revamp. I don't think he is a companion that can be quickly improved with a little balance update and I have no idea what the solution might be. His talents have no synergy with each other, his class, or his power.

Most of the starter companions are fairly good though I believe Kan Po and Kobe Yojimbo should gain more movement.They aren't bad but I think they need a little bit more.The main Swashbuckler companions people use are El Toro, Contessa, Fan Flanders, and to a lesser extent Sarah Steele. They all have more movement than the standard 4 tiles. I believe high movement should be considered an aspect of Swashbuckler companion's identity in a similar way to how Turn The Tide is to Buccaneers. Additionally Wing Chun/Wu Tang is basically only used by Buccaneers because he has little to contribute to the Musketeer playstyle. Musketeers generally use Ratbeard, and Overwatch companions vs. Buccaneers which in theory is the only matchup you would want to run Wing Chun in. In Practice Privateer companions usually do very poorly vs. Buccaneers because they generally get stunned by Vengeance Strike 3, ending their Relentless/Bladestorm chain then die as the Buccaneer chains them back due to Vengeance Strike and their own Relentless/Bladestorm. I have no idea how Wing Chun should be buffed so that he is viable for Musketeers.

The Presidio Companions need more powers than just a Super Strike, for starters I think Milo Greytail should get a Swashbuckler's Stab (the -50% strength & armor attack), Lucky Jack Russel should get more powers some ones that I think would fit are; Discipline (lowest tier critical buff), Reinforce, The Big Guns, and Valor's Shield. The remaining Buccaneer companions should get Buccaneer Smash (the -50 accuracy and agility attack).

Peter Quint, Chantal Livingstone, and Fan Flanders already see a lot of usage and are very solid companions. I believe The Marchioness and Carcarius should gain another power or two. I think the same options I listed for Lucky Jack Russel work for The Marchioness, though I think they should have different powers so that Jack isn't just a slightly worse March. Carcarius should get Mournsong.

Catbeard, Lucky Jack Russel, and The Marchioness, are all very similar in that they are given Relentless and Bladestorm by 90% of players. I do this too, but I personally feel Relentless/Bladestorm Privateer Companions simply don't work in practice. In theory they get epic talent chains, in practice Buccaneer companions do this better than Privateer companions vs. every school. Privateer companions only survive/get chains vs. Swashbucklers and Buccaneers when they have several buffs. In practice Peter Quint/Subodai/Temujin in Tide can often get chains without any buffs, and have decent survivability due to Vengeance Strike 3 stuns, his high armor, and the accuracy boost from Tide 2 lessening the threat of Ripostes.

Some broader points for companions as a whole. As I said earlier I think movement should be an aspect of Swashbuckler companions identities. Similarly to how every Buccaneer companion has Turn The Tide, I think more Swashbuckler companions should be able to move at least 5 tiles. Having powers should be considered an aspect of Privateer and Witchdoctor companions identities. Another point I want to bring up is that giving companions many powers (like with Old Scratch and Emmet) should be implemented more frequently for Privateer and Witchdoctor companions. I think the pet talents (like Eagle Eyes, Scent, Merciless, etc.) should be given to the various animal companions that no-one uses.

Completely unrelated to any of the previous points, I hope in future content the Magnificent Seven appear in main quest dialogue similarly to how Bonnie Anne, Ratbeard, The Presidio Companions, etc. do. If this is eventually a thing, I would also hope Privateers get dialogue from both Bill Peacock and Jane Canary in the main quest, and not just one.

Excellent suggestions. I agree with all that.

Making "B" grade companions closer to "A", and bringing the "C" team all up to "B" would make the game more interesting and fun. It's also cool to have unique, but useful, companions for special mission. Niche/unusual isn't bad. But at present, some are just useless.

I'd like to add Cat Ninja to Hawkules and Monkey King. All were fun when we got them, but quickly shelved because they didn't remain relevant. Ninja seems like a prime candidate for enhanced movement, as well as more epics. Maybe add a second attack &/or a hide?

While we're at it, how about replacing Sarah Steele's Repel Borders with Relentless? Repel can be useful on some companions, but in her case it ruins Walk in Darkness. Bad combination from the start.

Mustang Sally. She has a small, but enjoyable role in the story, but most of us don't see her again. I'd love it if she were as handy as her husband Toro, or close.

Nurse Quin. No, really. When you are done laughing, consider promoting her to Doctor, reimagined as a support / defense unit. Add a team heal, buff, Triton's Chorus or such.

Comp promotion quests are fun, and can usually be made from existing assets. For sure, we'll do them. Please consider :)

Willowydream on Jun 1, 2022 wrote:

As someone who runs a randomized crew for pretty much every class throughout the game, I don't really see a NEED for all of these changes, but I wouldn't object if they came to fruition. I agree that Companions in general should be much more versatile, but then again, there are certain battles where I dread seeing chains of Critical hits that only serve to kill that Companion instead of the enemy. Not every Companion needs to be Super.

I completely agree with the need for more Promotion Quests -- these are usually quite enjoyable, and several of them are unique to the Companion as well as the Class of Pirate. This is one of the reasons the game is replayable time and again.

"Not every Companion needs to be Super" (well, maybe only in PVP) but don't we have enough "super" killing machines for that?
I agree that companions should have a variety of talents & powers that make them of use in a PVE situation; being able to see a different attack enables a pirate player to develop strategies, instead of using a one team/one strategy set.
Isn't that a little boring? I like having the outcome of a battle just a little in doubt ( at max level this is hard to find).

Prince of Shadows on May 31, 2022 wrote:

Excellent suggestions. I agree with all that.

Making "B" grade companions closer to "A", and bringing the "C" team all up to "B" would make the game more interesting and fun. It's also cool to have unique, but useful, companions for special mission. Niche/unusual isn't bad. But at present, some are just useless.

I'd like to add Cat Ninja to Hawkules and Monkey King. All were fun when we got them, but quickly shelved because they didn't remain relevant. Ninja seems like a prime candidate for enhanced movement, as well as more epics. Maybe add a second attack &/or a hide?

While we're at it, how about replacing Sarah Steele's Repel Borders with Relentless? Repel can be useful on some companions, but in her case it ruins Walk in Darkness. Bad combination from the start.

Mustang Sally. She has a small, but enjoyable role in the story, but most of us don't see her again. I'd love it if she were as handy as her husband Toro, or close.

Nurse Quin. No, really. When you are done laughing, consider promoting her to Doctor, reimagined as a support / defense unit. Add a team heal, buff, Triton's Chorus or such.

Comp promotion quests are fun, and can usually be made from existing assets. For sure, we'll do them. Please consider :)

I like the point you brought up about Cat Ninja in particular, since companions like her, Zeena, and Rooster Cogburn are available to every class buffing them seems like it'd be very safe, make gameplay more interesting, and unit selection more diverse/engaging.

At the moment the only sort of cool thing Cat Ninja can do is if you recruit her at max level she is level 73, which by itself isn't good enough. It'd be cool if Cogburn was modified to be a solid anti-Musketeer unit so Witchdoctors could get a decent True Grit/Quick Draw companion other than Bonnie Anne. And if Zeena was given more epics and an extra critical so she could be a good DPS Musketeer similar to Chantal but not copying her and not as good, just filling a similar role and being good enough to justify picking.

IMO Ideally every school should be able to run teams designed to counter certain classes/units, like how currently Buccaneers (who don't buy Crown Shop companions) could run Toro, Contessa, Kobe Yojimbo all with First Strike 3 if they wanted to to counter hiding/swashbuckler. I think classes should be able to run similar teams with Relentless Buccaneer companions, True Grit/Quick Draw Musketeers, chaining Musketeers, etc.