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Building Lesser Companions: Who should be improved?

1
AuthorMessage
Commodore
Feb 12, 2015
970
Alright, so, does anyone remember the old series of threads I used to make, discussing ideas on improving underwhelming Companions? Well, with the prospect of new updates on the horizon, I thought it would be a good time to bring it up again.

Essentially, the idea of this thread is to take companions that are generally unusable in most forms of combat, and suggest ideas to make them at least a modestly good choice. These companions are really not given a second thought due to their lack of promotions, Epic Talents, powers, or some combination of the three.

Allow me to give an example of what I mean by 'improve.' Nanu Nanu is a Privateer exclusive companion with base Epic Talents of Turn the Tide 1 and Cheap Shot 1. This Water-mole promotes once at Level 30, giving him the Epic Strike Talent and the choice of a single additional Epic Talent. Nanu Nanu is not even remotely considered on any Privateer's team due to a crippling lack of good powers or Epic Talents. So, how to improve Nanu Nanu?

Nanu Nanu could be improved by giving him one or two additional Promotions as he levels up. This could improve his base skills by giving him another rank of Turn the Tide or Cheap Shot, and improving his Epic Sitrike to a Mega or Super Strike. He could even an ability he doesn't have yet, such as a rank of Repel Borders, or a second power with a different effect. These improvements would bring him up closer to the level of other Companions as you progress through the storyline.

The same improvements could be made to other companions which have the same issues. If you look back at my history on these Message Boards, I made several posts in the past discussing similar ideas for other companions that are still usable.

I'd like to hear the thoughts of other players, either on certain Companions or on issues present in more than one of them. Who or what would you like to see improved or changed?

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Lookit Light on Mar 2, 2021 wrote:
Alright, so, does anyone remember the old series of threads I used to make, discussing ideas on improving underwhelming Companions? Well, with the prospect of new updates on the horizon, I thought it would be a good time to bring it up again.

Essentially, the idea of this thread is to take companions that are generally unusable in most forms of combat, and suggest ideas to make them at least a modestly good choice. These companions are really not given a second thought due to their lack of promotions, Epic Talents, powers, or some combination of the three.

Allow me to give an example of what I mean by 'improve.' Nanu Nanu is a Privateer exclusive companion with base Epic Talents of Turn the Tide 1 and Cheap Shot 1. This Water-mole promotes once at Level 30, giving him the Epic Strike Talent and the choice of a single additional Epic Talent. Nanu Nanu is not even remotely considered on any Privateer's team due to a crippling lack of good powers or Epic Talents. So, how to improve Nanu Nanu?

Nanu Nanu could be improved by giving him one or two additional Promotions as he levels up. This could improve his base skills by giving him another rank of Turn the Tide or Cheap Shot, and improving his Epic Sitrike to a Mega or Super Strike. He could even an ability he doesn't have yet, such as a rank of Repel Borders, or a second power with a different effect. These improvements would bring him up closer to the level of other Companions as you progress through the storyline.

The same improvements could be made to other companions which have the same issues. If you look back at my history on these Message Boards, I made several posts in the past discussing similar ideas for other companions that are still usable.

I'd like to hear the thoughts of other players, either on certain Companions or on issues present in more than one of them. Who or what would you like to see improved or changed?
Short answer, the ones who haven't received any promotions. Especially the WD animal companions - batacuda, Scorpius, Skysnake & Crokogator.
I would mind seeing Froggo get some attention, although for a companion without epic hits he's pretty good!

Ensign
Apr 04, 2020
5
One of my favorite companions, though sadly overlooked for most Privateers, is the Monquisitor.

He gets a promotion at level 30 and... that's it.

I would improve him by giving him more promotions. His epic pool, while not the "greatest" is still pretty good. All he needs is a few more points to put into them.

Unfortunately, when it comes to companions and promotions, this game isn't very fair about them. Some companions - like Old Scratch, Presidio Companions, Bonnie Anne, etcetc get two epic talents upon their first promotion and one every promotion past. On top of this, they get the most epic points in the game.

I propose giving all companions more epic ability points to be on par with the skull island powerhouses OR making any future companions unique so it's worth it to not have as many points.

Assuming Polaris is the world next released, if we get a penguin soldier they could have the unique ability to be ranged OR melee and their epics adjust as such. If I choose Repel Borders and First Strike, when his switch ability is activated, they're changed into overwatch and quickdraw.

Though I'm new to posting to the boards, I have lurked here a lot recently. I really enjoy your lesser companion build posts, and I always enjoy searching up a new companion and seeing your lesser companion build post pop up. I hope you can find a way to continue them.

First Mate
Dec 24, 2009
413
I feel like Nurse Quinn has the potential to be a really cool companion but, even with talent-given accuracy buffs, just doesn't hit consistently enough for me to want her on the field.

My idea would be to give her a promotion so that she can either get another epic that gives some kind of buff or heal. Maybe, in addition to Rouse, she could get Rally or Valor's Shield so she can be played like a doctor and doesn't have to focus on fighting
Or
she gets access to the talent Second Chance and/or gets an "epic strike" epic. I remember she missed a fair bit when I tried using her in Cool Ranch, and it made it difficult for me to want to continue to bring her to the front lines, especially since she doesn't really hit for a lot of damage when she does hit.

Commodore
Feb 12, 2015
970
Zleraa on Mar 3, 2021 wrote:
One of my favorite companions, though sadly overlooked for most Privateers, is the Monquisitor.

He gets a promotion at level 30 and... that's it.

I would improve him by giving him more promotions. His epic pool, while not the "greatest" is still pretty good. All he needs is a few more points to put into them.

Unfortunately, when it comes to companions and promotions, this game isn't very fair about them. Some companions - like Old Scratch, Presidio Companions, Bonnie Anne, etcetc get two epic talents upon their first promotion and one every promotion past. On top of this, they get the most epic points in the game.

I propose giving all companions more epic ability points to be on par with the skull island powerhouses OR making any future companions unique so it's worth it to not have as many points.

Assuming Polaris is the world next released, if we get a penguin soldier they could have the unique ability to be ranged OR melee and their epics adjust as such. If I choose Repel Borders and First Strike, when his switch ability is activated, they're changed into overwatch and quickdraw.

Though I'm new to posting to the boards, I have lurked here a lot recently. I really enjoy your lesser companion build posts, and I always enjoy searching up a new companion and seeing your lesser companion build post pop up. I hope you can find a way to continue them.
You flatter me. It's really just one of my interests.

You're absolutely right about the imbalance between main-story Companions and side-story Companions. Companions like Bonnie Anne and Ratbeard are far stronger than certain side companions like the Monquistador. They generally need more Promotions to make them better. (Especially, as Anecorbie said, the ones that currently have none.)

Best-case scenario, I would like some side Companions, one or two for each Pirate, to be upped to the level of Ridolfo Capoferro. Ridolfo is a Swashbuckler side Companion obtained by Musketeers in Valencia Part 1. He has three promotions, higher than any other side companion, giving him an excellent Epic Talent pool. I love using him on my Musketeer because he is a genuinely good choice. If some other companions could get as many promotions as Ridolfo, they would not only be up to the level of other Companions, but could also play a legitimate role in combat.

One thing that's been on my mind is how to deal with Companions obtained near the end of the game, namely the ones in Aquila. Since they are near the end of the current story, giving them a number of promotions would be... unorthodox. A solution I can think of would be to give them a larger pool of base talents (Talents that they have when recruited, before you assign any yourself) instead. If, for example, the Serpent Augur naturally came with a rank of Improved Mojo Blast and Coward's Bane, that could offset the low number of Epic Talents you can give to it. Similar things could be done to Companions in Mooshu and Marleybone, albeit on a smaller scale.

Ensign
Mar 31, 2012
6
Lookit Light on Mar 2, 2021 wrote:
Alright, so, does anyone remember the old series of threads I used to make, discussing ideas on improving underwhelming Companions? Well, with the prospect of new updates on the horizon, I thought it would be a good time to bring it up again.

Essentially, the idea of this thread is to take companions that are generally unusable in most forms of combat, and suggest ideas to make them at least a modestly good choice. These companions are really not given a second thought due to their lack of promotions, Epic Talents, powers, or some combination of the three.

Allow me to give an example of what I mean by 'improve.' Nanu Nanu is a Privateer exclusive companion with base Epic Talents of Turn the Tide 1 and Cheap Shot 1. This Water-mole promotes once at Level 30, giving him the Epic Strike Talent and the choice of a single additional Epic Talent. Nanu Nanu is not even remotely considered on any Privateer's team due to a crippling lack of good powers or Epic Talents. So, how to improve Nanu Nanu?

Nanu Nanu could be improved by giving him one or two additional Promotions as he levels up. This could improve his base skills by giving him another rank of Turn the Tide or Cheap Shot, and improving his Epic Sitrike to a Mega or Super Strike. He could even an ability he doesn't have yet, such as a rank of Repel Borders, or a second power with a different effect. These improvements would bring him up closer to the level of other Companions as you progress through the storyline.

The same improvements could be made to other companions which have the same issues. If you look back at my history on these Message Boards, I made several posts in the past discussing similar ideas for other companions that are still usable.

I'd like to hear the thoughts of other players, either on certain Companions or on issues present in more than one of them. Who or what would you like to see improved or changed?
There were a lot of cut promotions for catbeard, monkey king, Hawkuleus, etc so maybe it's possible there are some unused promotions out there for some of the less viable companions. All Kingsisle would have to do is to make a quest for companions like Hawkeleus or monkey king or just make you pay to promote companions that arent as important like Nanu Nanu for example.

The assets are there in terms of their designs so I'm sure it wouldn't be that outlandish for Kingsisle to consider these promotions!

Two specific companion I really hope gets a promotion to become more viable is Monkey King and Hawkuleus which had cut animations and appearances for their promotions that never saw the light of day. Both are just average as of now.

For a fairly underrated pick I'd love Corporal Sanders to be more viable. He doesn't have much compared to the other picks.

Bosun
Apr 28, 2014
398
Pretty much any companion that doesnt have any power ... could go as far as those that only have a basic critical strike ... Catbeard and Neko come to mind.

Its not like there are tons of ways to improve companions, more powers and epics, that's it.

Something I'd like to see though it some more companions that can use spell power buffs like Old Scratch.

Why? Because Old Scratch is everywhere, he's become a strategy on his own, people even complain if you dont use him in a team.

Give us some variety ...

Ensign
Apr 04, 2020
5
Lookit Light on Mar 3, 2021 wrote:
You flatter me. It's really just one of my interests.

You're absolutely right about the imbalance between main-story Companions and side-story Companions. Companions like Bonnie Anne and Ratbeard are far stronger than certain side companions like the Monquistador. They generally need more Promotions to make them better. (Especially, as Anecorbie said, the ones that currently have none.)

Best-case scenario, I would like some side Companions, one or two for each Pirate, to be upped to the level of Ridolfo Capoferro. Ridolfo is a Swashbuckler side Companion obtained by Musketeers in Valencia Part 1. He has three promotions, higher than any other side companion, giving him an excellent Epic Talent pool. I love using him on my Musketeer because he is a genuinely good choice. If some other companions could get as many promotions as Ridolfo, they would not only be up to the level of other Companions, but could also play a legitimate role in combat.

One thing that's been on my mind is how to deal with Companions obtained near the end of the game, namely the ones in Aquila. Since they are near the end of the current story, giving them a number of promotions would be... unorthodox. A solution I can think of would be to give them a larger pool of base talents (Talents that they have when recruited, before you assign any yourself) instead. If, for example, the Serpent Augur naturally came with a rank of Improved Mojo Blast and Coward's Bane, that could offset the low number of Epic Talents you can give to it. Similar things could be done to Companions in Mooshu and Marleybone, albeit on a smaller scale.
I absolutely agree. It feels unfair for some companions to be so strong when compared to others. It feels like only the story companions from Skull Island and El Toro are used.

On my Privateer I've been trying my best to use every companion - I've actually turned on First Mate mode and play that way - and it's so much fun. Every battle feels different and I don't get bored like I did on my swash who used the same team, basically, the whole way through. If I make any more pirates, I'm definitely playing with at least first mate mode on.

I really like your idea of later companions starting with more epics. I do feel like it would help balance the scales a bit.
A great example of a companion like this is the Inoshishi Clanlord. He starts with Cheap Shot 2 and Hold the Line 1 and because of this I actually enjoy using him, and he feels really impactful in a fight, especially paired with Repel Borders 2. On top of this, he actually has a critical strike ability which I feel like that alone would fix so many companions.

I'm not saying every companion should be able to have 10 epic talents like Bonnie and Ratbeard do, but it does feel like most companions should have more then 5 - like the Monquisitor and Froggo Villa unfortunately have.

Another thing I think causes this huge gap between the Skull Island companions and every other companion is the fact that you can choose your team in every fight. From what I've heard, this game used to be mainly in first mate mode, and that forced people to be able to play around these "worse" companions, which I feel like made them easier to understand. There was no "this, this, and this should always be around you they make battles easier." You always had a chance for your team to not have, say, a damage dealer or not have a ranged attacker and you were forced to adjust with what you did get.

Lastly, in my opinion the biggest gap between companions is the lack of abilities. Stuff like Froggo Villa just don't have any abilities at all whereas Commander Emmett has 6. At the least a companion should have some sort of epic hit or summon or something.
A lot of Cool Ranch companions actually have this problem fixed once they promote, like the Toreador Maestro. When he promotes he gains an epic strike, which paired with bladestorm allows him at least one guaranteed chain on an enemy.
Gracie Conrad actually kind of fixes this problem as well. She gets two amazing abilities (on top of a critical strike) that makes her a companion lots of people consider to be the best tank in the game.

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
FireMorgan13 on Mar 3, 2021 wrote:
I feel like Nurse Quinn has the potential to be a really cool companion but, even with talent-given accuracy buffs, just doesn't hit consistently enough for me to want her on the field.

My idea would be to give her a promotion so that she can either get another epic that gives some kind of buff or heal. Maybe, in addition to Rouse, she could get Rally or Valor's Shield so she can be played like a doctor and doesn't have to focus on fighting
Or
she gets access to the talent Second Chance and/or gets an "epic strike" epic. I remember she missed a fair bit when I tried using her in Cool Ranch, and it made it difficult for me to want to continue to bring her to the front lines, especially since she doesn't really hit for a lot of damage when she does hit.
She is better as a support companion, maybe she should get a group heal like the nurses in the Smuggler's Arena?

Ensign
Nov 26, 2011
36
I can only talk about privateer companions, but there's a few to look at.

Horse Crossbowman is in *dire* need of any form of promotion. He has a total of four epics (with one locked into Return Fire). Mind you, Return Fire is requires the incredibly accurate Musketeer class to miss an incredibly easy-to-hit Musketeer. So on one hand, he already has one dead (or very suboptimal imo) epic, but it's impossible to invest in any specific epic without hamstringing the rest. Sure, you can use him (and I do), but you're asking for trouble if you bring him to VP2.

Monquisitor, Bison Chief, and Jim Masterson are lacking in the epics department, having one epic permanently locked into the relatively-situational Witchhunter with only ~four to spread around. If they had even one more epic, I'd be a lot happier to use them. Eric Jolly and Monterey Jack are in much the same boat.

I'm going to keep using these companions either way, but I do inwardly sigh when my team is filled with any three of them. That's a good indicator that they could use a boost.

Commodore
Feb 12, 2015
970
At the moment, my thoughts turn to those Companions that can only be obtained from the Crown Shop. I have purchased several from it over my years playing, and I can honestly say... many of them are rather awful. While there can be a select few good picks, a good deal of them are at best subpar. If we're paying Crowns - and sometimes a LOT of Crowns - for these exclusive Companions, shouldn't we expect them to be respectable choices? These are perhaps the Companions most in need of improvement. I'd like to mention some suggestions on how some of these companions can become better.

While Nikeeta, Madclaw and El Tiburon could perhaps be excused for having less power due to their exceptionally low Crowns cost, they still could do with an additional Epic Talent or two to their name. If they were to get any form of promotion, I'd imagine it making them larger and more fierce-looking. (El Tiburon in particular I am imagining would have scars and sparks coming out of his gills.)

Moresco de Valvida needs some more power to him when he promotes. Upon reaching his current promotion, it would be a good idea to upgrade his Indendiary Shot to a Bonfire Shot. A second promotion, which I'd like to title the Flying Monquistador Warlock, would upgrade his power further to an Inferno Shot, and give him that one extra Epic Talent he needs to be worth considering.

Martin Valvida, when reaching his current promotion, should have his Evil Eye upgraded to Eye Swarm. A second promotion, for which I would suggest Undead Monquistador Lord, would upgrade it to Ocuboros. (I do not think he should gain access to Jobu's Embrace. That would be too powerful.) He should also finally be able to learn additional ranks of Relentless.

Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah is already a decent choice, but lacks the power level needed to make him truly worthwhile. Access to another promotion, giving him one more Epic talent, would probably be enough to make him strong. He could also do with an Epic Strike.

For his incredibly high Crowns cost, Oingo Boingo is absolutely pitiful. His Epic Talents are not useful without access to Relentless, and his access to them is limited with only one promotion. His Epic Talent pool needs to be reshuffled to give him access to Relentless, and he needs two more promotions in order to be worth his Crowns cost.

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Lookit Light on Mar 7, 2021 wrote:
At the moment, my thoughts turn to those Companions that can only be obtained from the Crown Shop. I have purchased several from it over my years playing, and I can honestly say... many of them are rather awful. While there can be a select few good picks, a good deal of them are at best subpar. If we're paying Crowns - and sometimes a LOT of Crowns - for these exclusive Companions, shouldn't we expect them to be respectable choices? These are perhaps the Companions most in need of improvement. I'd like to mention some suggestions on how some of these companions can become better.

While Nikeeta, Madclaw and El Tiburon could perhaps be excused for having less power due to their exceptionally low Crowns cost, they still could do with an additional Epic Talent or two to their name. If they were to get any form of promotion, I'd imagine it making them larger and more fierce-looking. (El Tiburon in particular I am imagining would have scars and sparks coming out of his gills.)

Moresco de Valvida needs some more power to him when he promotes. Upon reaching his current promotion, it would be a good idea to upgrade his Indendiary Shot to a Bonfire Shot. A second promotion, which I'd like to title the Flying Monquistador Warlock, would upgrade his power further to an Inferno Shot, and give him that one extra Epic Talent he needs to be worth considering.

Martin Valvida, when reaching his current promotion, should have his Evil Eye upgraded to Eye Swarm. A second promotion, for which I would suggest Undead Monquistador Lord, would upgrade it to Ocuboros. (I do not think he should gain access to Jobu's Embrace. That would be too powerful.) He should also finally be able to learn additional ranks of Relentless.

Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah is already a decent choice, but lacks the power level needed to make him truly worthwhile. Access to another promotion, giving him one more Epic talent, would probably be enough to make him strong. He could also do with an Epic Strike.

For his incredibly high Crowns cost, Oingo Boingo is absolutely pitiful. His Epic Talents are not useful without access to Relentless, and his access to them is limited with only one promotion. His Epic Talent pool needs to be reshuffled to give him access to Relentless, and he needs two more promotions in order to be worth his Crowns cost.
You raise an important point - how powerful should crown shop companions be without dragging in "pay to win"?
The better crown shop companions are the "twins" of the companions we already recruit; should all crown shop companions be at least as powerful as those?
What about bundle or pack companions? We're paying real money for those as well, some are not as powerful as others. Like the Cutthroat shark compared to Nausicca; or Handsome Dan compared to HooDoo Cornelius?

Commodore
Feb 12, 2015
970
Lookit Light on Mar 7, 2021 wrote:
At the moment, my thoughts turn to those Companions that can only be obtained from the Crown Shop. I have purchased several from it over my years playing, and I can honestly say... many of them are rather awful. While there can be a select few good picks, a good deal of them are at best subpar. If we're paying Crowns - and sometimes a LOT of Crowns - for these exclusive Companions, shouldn't we expect them to be respectable choices? These are perhaps the Companions most in need of improvement. I'd like to mention some suggestions on how some of these companions can become better.

While Nikeeta, Madclaw and El Tiburon could perhaps be excused for having less power due to their exceptionally low Crowns cost, they still could do with an additional Epic Talent or two to their name. If they were to get any form of promotion, I'd imagine it making them larger and more fierce-looking. (El Tiburon in particular I am imagining would have scars and sparks coming out of his gills.)

Moresco de Valvida needs some more power to him when he promotes. Upon reaching his current promotion, it would be a good idea to upgrade his Indendiary Shot to a Bonfire Shot. A second promotion, which I'd like to title the Flying Monquistador Warlock, would upgrade his power further to an Inferno Shot, and give him that one extra Epic Talent he needs to be worth considering.

Martin Valvida, when reaching his current promotion, should have his Evil Eye upgraded to Eye Swarm. A second promotion, for which I would suggest Undead Monquistador Lord, would upgrade it to Ocuboros. (I do not think he should gain access to Jobu's Embrace. That would be too powerful.) He should also finally be able to learn additional ranks of Relentless.

Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah is already a decent choice, but lacks the power level needed to make him truly worthwhile. Access to another promotion, giving him one more Epic talent, would probably be enough to make him strong. He could also do with an Epic Strike.

For his incredibly high Crowns cost, Oingo Boingo is absolutely pitiful. His Epic Talents are not useful without access to Relentless, and his access to them is limited with only one promotion. His Epic Talent pool needs to be reshuffled to give him access to Relentless, and he needs two more promotions in order to be worth his Crowns cost.
(A continuation of my quoted post.)

Goronado is already a powerful Companion, and has the capability to do great damage to enemies. However, with only one Promotion, Goronado lacks the Epic Talents required to bring out his true potential and encourage players to buy him. H needs another promotion in order to facilitate interest in experimenting with him.

Bosun Budd... I'm not sure know what to say about Budd. Despite having an appropriate amount of Promotions, and distinctly unique abilities, our dopey-faced friend here lacks the power to do much on the battlefield. I believe the problem lies in his base Epic Talent pool. He could to better for himself if, by his final promotion, he had a second rank of Turn the Tide, as well as one rank of either Relentless or Repel Borders.

Commodore
Feb 12, 2015
970
Lookit Light on Mar 7, 2021 wrote:
At the moment, my thoughts turn to those Companions that can only be obtained from the Crown Shop. I have purchased several from it over my years playing, and I can honestly say... many of them are rather awful. While there can be a select few good picks, a good deal of them are at best subpar. If we're paying Crowns - and sometimes a LOT of Crowns - for these exclusive Companions, shouldn't we expect them to be respectable choices? These are perhaps the Companions most in need of improvement. I'd like to mention some suggestions on how some of these companions can become better.

While Nikeeta, Madclaw and El Tiburon could perhaps be excused for having less power due to their exceptionally low Crowns cost, they still could do with an additional Epic Talent or two to their name. If they were to get any form of promotion, I'd imagine it making them larger and more fierce-looking. (El Tiburon in particular I am imagining would have scars and sparks coming out of his gills.)

Moresco de Valvida needs some more power to him when he promotes. Upon reaching his current promotion, it would be a good idea to upgrade his Indendiary Shot to a Bonfire Shot. A second promotion, which I'd like to title the Flying Monquistador Warlock, would upgrade his power further to an Inferno Shot, and give him that one extra Epic Talent he needs to be worth considering.

Martin Valvida, when reaching his current promotion, should have his Evil Eye upgraded to Eye Swarm. A second promotion, for which I would suggest Undead Monquistador Lord, would upgrade it to Ocuboros. (I do not think he should gain access to Jobu's Embrace. That would be too powerful.) He should also finally be able to learn additional ranks of Relentless.

Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah is already a decent choice, but lacks the power level needed to make him truly worthwhile. Access to another promotion, giving him one more Epic talent, would probably be enough to make him strong. He could also do with an Epic Strike.

For his incredibly high Crowns cost, Oingo Boingo is absolutely pitiful. His Epic Talents are not useful without access to Relentless, and his access to them is limited with only one promotion. His Epic Talent pool needs to be reshuffled to give him access to Relentless, and he needs two more promotions in order to be worth his Crowns cost.
(Continuation No. 2)

Doctor Noh's second promotion at level 70 does not give him the power that he needs to become a serious consideration, This promotion needs to give a second Epic Talent, as well as potentially an extra base Talent, to be worth buying him.

Some of the Yuletide Companions, namely the Yule Trogg, Prince Yulefest, the Mistle Toad, and the Holiday Treant need promotions in order to be worth their price and limited availability. For particular suggestions, the Yule Trogg could do nicely with the Charge series of abilities, The Holiday Treant could use an Epic Strike, the Mistle Toad needs to differ more from Tricky Vinny, and it would be really cool if Prince Yulefest got the Grape/Case/Canister Shot ability

Bosun
Apr 28, 2014
398
Lookit Light on Mar 7, 2021 wrote:
At the moment, my thoughts turn to those Companions that can only be obtained from the Crown Shop. I have purchased several from it over my years playing, and I can honestly say... many of them are rather awful. While there can be a select few good picks, a good deal of them are at best subpar. If we're paying Crowns - and sometimes a LOT of Crowns - for these exclusive Companions, shouldn't we expect them to be respectable choices? These are perhaps the Companions most in need of improvement. I'd like to mention some suggestions on how some of these companions can become better.

While Nikeeta, Madclaw and El Tiburon could perhaps be excused for having less power due to their exceptionally low Crowns cost, they still could do with an additional Epic Talent or two to their name. If they were to get any form of promotion, I'd imagine it making them larger and more fierce-looking. (El Tiburon in particular I am imagining would have scars and sparks coming out of his gills.)

Moresco de Valvida needs some more power to him when he promotes. Upon reaching his current promotion, it would be a good idea to upgrade his Indendiary Shot to a Bonfire Shot. A second promotion, which I'd like to title the Flying Monquistador Warlock, would upgrade his power further to an Inferno Shot, and give him that one extra Epic Talent he needs to be worth considering.

Martin Valvida, when reaching his current promotion, should have his Evil Eye upgraded to Eye Swarm. A second promotion, for which I would suggest Undead Monquistador Lord, would upgrade it to Ocuboros. (I do not think he should gain access to Jobu's Embrace. That would be too powerful.) He should also finally be able to learn additional ranks of Relentless.

Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah is already a decent choice, but lacks the power level needed to make him truly worthwhile. Access to another promotion, giving him one more Epic talent, would probably be enough to make him strong. He could also do with an Epic Strike.

For his incredibly high Crowns cost, Oingo Boingo is absolutely pitiful. His Epic Talents are not useful without access to Relentless, and his access to them is limited with only one promotion. His Epic Talent pool needs to be reshuffled to give him access to Relentless, and he needs two more promotions in order to be worth his Crowns cost.
Fin Dorsal is also underwhelming for his price ...

One I particularly like but is really bad is Weasel Gambler. he's original I guess?

Oh and I retract my previous statement about Catbeard, I forgot he gets a promotion at 70 ... tho he's still not great but he has a super strike +2 at least.

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Silver Angel on Mar 10, 2021 wrote:
Fin Dorsal is also underwhelming for his price ...

One I particularly like but is really bad is Weasel Gambler. he's original I guess?

Oh and I retract my previous statement about Catbeard, I forgot he gets a promotion at 70 ... tho he's still not great but he has a super strike +2 at least.
As a swashbuckler, I recruited Weasel Gambler, he's not too bad, I've used him; but I much prefer Tricky Vinnie!

Gunner's Mate
Sep 04, 2018
268
Zena needs to be put back to how she was before she got nerfed, or close to where she was. She went from being an essential main companion to being next to the last companion in my order lists, clear back on the last page.

Commodore
Feb 12, 2015
970
Takhethis on Mar 11, 2021 wrote:
Zena needs to be put back to how she was before she got nerfed, or close to where she was. She went from being an essential main companion to being next to the last companion in my order lists, clear back on the last page.
I agree. I used to see Zeena everywhere, but now she's as obscure as Ju Hao. She really needs her old power back. (And Ju Hao is desperately wanting improvement as well. All Pirates get him, yet his power is underwhelming from the moment you recruit him.)

Commodore
Feb 12, 2015
970
OK, I have a stellar idea to improve Monkey King, and I want to share it now before I up and forget about it.

Base Epic Talents: Monkey King could do with base Epic Talents of Second Chance and Elusive to bring him to a suitable power level. (Honestly, I don't understand why Swashbuckler Companions don't get Elusive. It's so appropriate!)

Powers: Monkey King should get a "Stealth" Mega Strike (specifically Mega) that doesn't provoke opportunity attacks from things like First/Vengeance Strike. The Stealth portion can be foiled by Epic Talents that break/see through stealth, such as high ranks of First Strike.

He should also get a power that allows him to summon Monkey King Doppelgangers in squares next to him. They would look similar to the enemies we fight after first freeing Monkey King in the storyline, and manifest in a square pattern with Monkey King at the center. In his current form, there would be two Doppelgangers, with their squares chosen at random. They would have Epic Talents of Blade Storm, First Strike, and Riposte, decent Dodge, and about 3/5 of the health Monkey King has. Their power would scale appropriately as Monkey King levels up, similar to other minions.

When he promotes, he would gain a third power that lets him do a "Blinding Strike" (Doesn't have to be an Epic Strike) that stuns an enemy in a similar fashion to high ranks of Vengeance Strike or True Grit. For those that aren't aware, stunning an enemy makes them unable to activate any of their Epic Talents. This power can trigger Epic Talents on part of Monkey King himself or other enemies

Promotions: Monkey King should have a single promotion that happens sometime around late Marleybone or early Aquila. Appropriately for main-story Companions, it should be a Quest promotion. It would probably be centered around the Temple of the South Wind, since he is so strongly tied to that place.

Once he receives this promotion, his Base Epic Talents should expand to give him another rank of Second Chance (or possible Riposte, though that may make him too powerful) and Elusive. His "stealth" Mega Strike would be upgraded to a Super Strike. His Doppelganger ability would summon a third minion, and the Doppelgangers would gain an extra rank of First Strike. He would also gain that "Blinding Strike" I mentioned.

As per usual, players would also be able to pick an additional Epic Talent for him.

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Lookit Light on Mar 15, 2021 wrote:
I agree. I used to see Zeena everywhere, but now she's as obscure as Ju Hao. She really needs her old power back. (And Ju Hao is desperately wanting improvement as well. All Pirates get him, yet his power is underwhelming from the moment you recruit him.)
It seems I have to remind you what Zeena's power did: her fire did damage to anyone on the board (that includes friendly units) and the damage was too powerful. This was an intelligent choice of KI to reduce the damage and make so it only damaged enemies.

Lieutenant
Sep 04, 2013
150
Lookit Light on Mar 7, 2021 wrote:
At the moment, my thoughts turn to those Companions that can only be obtained from the Crown Shop. I have purchased several from it over my years playing, and I can honestly say... many of them are rather awful. While there can be a select few good picks, a good deal of them are at best subpar. If we're paying Crowns - and sometimes a LOT of Crowns - for these exclusive Companions, shouldn't we expect them to be respectable choices? These are perhaps the Companions most in need of improvement. I'd like to mention some suggestions on how some of these companions can become better.

While Nikeeta, Madclaw and El Tiburon could perhaps be excused for having less power due to their exceptionally low Crowns cost, they still could do with an additional Epic Talent or two to their name. If they were to get any form of promotion, I'd imagine it making them larger and more fierce-looking. (El Tiburon in particular I am imagining would have scars and sparks coming out of his gills.)

Moresco de Valvida needs some more power to him when he promotes. Upon reaching his current promotion, it would be a good idea to upgrade his Indendiary Shot to a Bonfire Shot. A second promotion, which I'd like to title the Flying Monquistador Warlock, would upgrade his power further to an Inferno Shot, and give him that one extra Epic Talent he needs to be worth considering.

Martin Valvida, when reaching his current promotion, should have his Evil Eye upgraded to Eye Swarm. A second promotion, for which I would suggest Undead Monquistador Lord, would upgrade it to Ocuboros. (I do not think he should gain access to Jobu's Embrace. That would be too powerful.) He should also finally be able to learn additional ranks of Relentless.

Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah is already a decent choice, but lacks the power level needed to make him truly worthwhile. Access to another promotion, giving him one more Epic talent, would probably be enough to make him strong. He could also do with an Epic Strike.

For his incredibly high Crowns cost, Oingo Boingo is absolutely pitiful. His Epic Talents are not useful without access to Relentless, and his access to them is limited with only one promotion. His Epic Talent pool needs to be reshuffled to give him access to Relentless, and he needs two more promotions in order to be worth his Crowns cost.
One of Kingsisle’s biggest mistakes with this game is not having all the purchaseable companions be good sidegrades, if I had the ability I’d give more companions wacky gimmicks to make people want to try them, like Bosun Budd and baar have. Blanket change I’d do is give almost every meh unit a guaranteed crit, power creep is real and a lot of units that aren’t viable desperately need it

Oingo Boingo I’d reevaluate his talent choices since they’re trash, then give him a deployable totem that makes him heal back to back to 100% health if he dies and the totem isn’t destroyed, him healing would destroy the totem automatically.

Eep I’d give the 5 round poison after his final promo, would definitely be nice to have.

Nurse Quinn I’d change to a privy since witch melee units are practically unusable, then I’d give her a talent called Combat Medic where if an enemy she is targeting is defeated that round, she gains a rally power to use on her teammates and maybe even self heals, I mean why not have some summon spam counterplay. Also it would be funny if nurse Quinn went from a meme to a useable companion

Finn dorsal I’d give a rank of follow-through because why not, maybe give him access to vengeance strike as well

Moresco and Martin I’m on the same boat as you, they’re pretty close to having a use but they’re stuck in low level power limbo, maybe give moresco something stupid since he’s a sorcerer, like an ability that’s basically powder kegs but instead of powder kegs they’re blood vines.

Doctor Noh I’d make all his attacks’ accuracy based on his will rolling against the enemy’s will, least he’d be able to hit then. I remember in some tournament where only Mooshu companions could be used I brought him out and he got manhandled by scorpion summons because he couldn’t hit them despite being several levels higher then them, ironically I brought him to try to counter them with his aoe, they weren’t even banner boosted was kinda sad.

The animal companions sort of have a place with that whole banner gimmick but giving them a promo and a crit move wouldn’t break the game in the slightest.

Commodore
Feb 12, 2015
970
Personally, I would love it if more unique powers were given to Companions. For example, I would love to see Private Mills get the same power Mark of Marleybone Grenadiers have, where he throws explosives onto opponents. When he promotes, he could even get Powder Monkey's Palisade. It would be thematically appropriate, and perhaps make him more usable.

In the same vein, it wold also be nice for Lt. Springer to get Tower of Iron Will, Masamune Goto and Taro Moomori to get Gambit of Steel, and Nanu Nanu to get Raise Barricade (And possibly Holkun Doomhorn). I'm certain there are plenty of other combinations out there as well.

Having more powers - some of them new - on Companions that don't already have them would encourage greater variety in combat, having players switch around which Companions they use and adopt their own unique playing style.

Lieutenant
Oct 18, 2014
147
Make the Weasel Gambler a ranged Swashbuckler.

Commodore
Feb 12, 2015
970
Angel Angle The Li... on Apr 10, 2021 wrote:
Make the Weasel Gambler a ranged Swashbuckler.
Oh, hello! Haven't seen you since 2019!

Maybe that could happen, but I'm not sure. Nonetheless, it can't be denied that these odd styled of Companions (Ranged Privateers, melee Witchdoctors, etc.) are rather interesting. Some of them are even quite steller, just look at Emmet.

I've seen others mention the Weasel Gambler as well. Seems everybody secretly likes this little fellow, so it would be just lovely if we could see him get better.

Bosun
Apr 28, 2014
398
Angel Angle The Li... on Apr 10, 2021 wrote:
Make the Weasel Gambler a ranged Swashbuckler.
Yes! :)

There's actually an enemy like that, some rat that throws knives ... but no such companion :(

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