After this week’s unveiling of upcoming SWTOR companion, HK-51, fans have been excited to find out more information about the little, dangerous guy. We already know he’s going to be a full companion with voice over, and will be pretty hard to get our hands on, but what about his role as a companion? Will he be able to perform multiple roles in combat, or will he be a one-trick droid, excellent at one role but not the others? Let’s speculate a bit, shall we?

In the official forum thread where HK-51′s announcement was first issued, fans have began some speculation of their own:

“What role will he fill? I’m assuming DPS, but he could always be a tank too!”

A sniper-type, ranged DPS role seems to make the most sense, since HK-51 is an assassin droid, but the ability to fill multiple roles would satisfy the most players, I would imagine, since every player has their own playstyle when it comes to combat and companions. Maybe we’ll see a new, improved version of the Imperial Agent’s SCORPIO companion.

“In a way I hope they have modules that you can install in him like the ones for your ship droid. So you can have him fill a particular role, for example Tanking or DPS. Just doesn’t seem right to have a healing mod. Though more than likely he will be a ranged DPS class.”

This is a solid idea. Other players touched on the multi-role capability as well:

“Please please PLEASE make HK-51 a valid multi role companion. And I don’t mean the pathetic excuse for roles we have now, where you can make your tank into a squishy tank. I’m talking about completely different roles with different skills so that HK-51 will fit any character.”

And what about stats?

“Another cunning or aim based companion… “

Aim does seem the most likely, but I could possibly see Cunning or even Strength work, too.

And one pretty awesome final thought:

“He’s the companion you can pull out during Heroic Moment that one-shot kills enemy A.I by firing a shot to the knees of your target 150 Kilometers away with an Arotech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope.”

That would be a pretty cool way of finally tossing some heroism into Heroic Moment. What do you see HK-51 excelling at?

During E3, Darth Hater hosted an interview with Daniel Erickson. Some questions on HK-51, the new companion droid coming sometime in the next year, were asked, and Erickson filled in some juicy details for us.

Here is one quote from the interview:

“HK-51 is actually part of the Legacy system. He is a very hard companion to get, and there is an incredible amount of work that you’ll have to do. I will say right now that if you do not have people on both sides of the war, you probably need to go roll somebody on the other side.”

The fact that HK-51 is part of the Legacy system isn’t too surprising. The fact that it will be very difficult to obtain him isn’t too surprising, either, especially given the nature of many of BioWare’s vanity pet requirements. But that last bit? Interesting information. It almost sounds like players will have to have characters on either side of the Empire/Republic coin in order to get HK-51. SWTOR is obviously a very alt-friendly game, but the community’s response to this is quite varied. Here’s the community feedback thread on it.

One of the reasons players are debating the issue is because it hinges one another issue frequently brought up when the Legacy system is discussed. Some players enjoy having alternate characters, and others do not. But should certain perks require players to have alternate characters, especially if they are on the opposing side that the player prefers? This is where issues often get dicey.

Interesting stuff. We’ll have to see what exactly Erickson means here. It’s possible that guildmates having alts on the other side may suffice.

One other cool tidbit of information on HK-51:

Q: “When you have a companion that’s going to all eight classes, is the dialogue going to differ at all?”

A: “It has to, right? So how you get him, the quest to get him, his dialogue, when he’s with you… all of that is obviously very different if you just decided that you have an assassin droid as a Jedi Knight, which I will say is a bit startling to him, versus getting it as a Sith Warrior. So yeah, there are completely different forks because it is a 100% developed companion character.”

Very nice.

Previously you could send a companion out on a Mission Discovery (like Slicing), and then use the same Mission Discovery a second time to send a different companion out at the same time.  Things change.

In 1.2 this is no longer possible.  So if you banked up several duplicate Mission Discoveries for 1.2 intending to send your companions out while you were sleeping or at work, you’re going to be disappointed. 

Twitter: @SkeletonJack_
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Welcome to SWTOR Mechanics 103.  Previously we discussed Attributes with SWTOR Mechanics 101: Attributes and Game Mechanics with SWTOR Mechanics 102: Game Mechanics.  But what about Crew Skills?  Crafting has been an integral part of many MMO’s over the years, but BioWare’s take on the familiar is definitely a departure from the classic mold.  Click to the “jump” for your new “laws of reality”.

Crafting Skills

While you may have up to 3 Crew Skills, only one of them may be a Crafting Skill.  Crafting is performed by your Companions, not you.

Armormech
Crafts:  Heavy and Medium Armor for Smugglers/Agents and Troopers/Bounty Hunters.
Supporting Skills:  Scavenging & Underworld Trading

Armstech
Crafts:  Assault Cannon, Blaster Rifle, Blaster Pistol, Scattergun, Techstaff, Techblade, Vibroknife, Vibrosword, Electrostaff, Sniper Rifle, and Barrels.
Supporting Skills:  Investigation & Scavenging

Artifice
Crafts:  Color Crystal, Hilt, Non-weapon off hand items (shield generators, focus, etc…), Enhancement, Relic, Lightsaber, and Double-Bladed Lightsaber.
Supporting Skills:  Archeology & Treasure Hunting

Biochem
Crafts:  Implants, Medpacs, Stims, and Adrenals.
Supporting Skills:  Bioanalysis & Diplomacy

Cybertech
Crafts:  Armoring, Mods, Droid Armor (droid armor slots), Ear (armor slot), Ship Parts (ship armor slots), Grenades, and Speeders.
Supporting Skills:  Scavenging & Underworld Trading

Synthweaving
Crafts:  Light, Medium, and Heavy Armor for Jedi Knights/Consulars and Sith Warriors/Inquisitors.
Supporting Skills:  Archeology & Underworld Trading

Gathering Skills

Gathering skills allow you to harvest materials used for crafting out in the world at no cost in addition to companion missions.  These usually yield white and green quality materials.

Archeology
Supports: Artifice & Synthweaving

Bioanalysis
Supports: Biochem

Scavenging
Supports: Armortech, Armstech, & Cybertech

Slicing
Supports: Nothing
Provides: Augments, Lockboxes, Mission Discoveries, & Cybertech Schematics

Mission Skills

Mission skills only provide rewards by doing companion missions.  These usually yield blue quality materials.

Diplomacy
Supports: Biochem
Provides: Lightside/Darkside Points & Companion Gifts

Investigation
Supports: Armstech
Provides: Prototype Schematics (all Crafting Skills) & Companion Gifts

Treasure Hunting
Supports: Artifice
Provides: Lockboxes, Relics, & Companion Gifts

Underworld Trading
Supports: Armortech, Cybertech, & Synthweaving
Provides: Custom Schematics (Orange Customizable Gear Schematics) & Companion Gifts

Reverse Engineering

Reverse Engineering (RE) is the process of deconstructing an item that you can make with your crafting skill into a variable amount of base components used to create the item in the first place.  This also grants a chance to learn an improved schematic of the item you just RE’d.

Color Coding

• Premium = Green
• Prototype = Blue
• Artifact = Purple

Standard Reverse Engineering

When Re’ing a Green item you can learn the Blue recipe for the same item.  When Re’ing a Blue item you can learn the Purple recipe for the same item.  Each new schematic offers and improved version of the previous schematic.

Progression Reverse Engineering

When Re’ing a Green item you can learn the Blue recipe for the same item.  When this happens you get one of three prefixes added to the item’s name randomly:

• Redoubt (adds Defense)
• Critical (adds Critical)
• Overkill (adds Power)

When Re’ing a Blue item you can learn the Purple recipe for the same item.  When this happens you keep the prefix from the RE’d item and then get one of four or five prefixes added to the item’s name randomly:

Redoubt (adds Defense)

• General (adds Presence)
• Veracity (adds Shield)
• Anti-Armor (adds Surge)
• Exactitude (adds Accuracy)
• *Name Unknown* (adds Alacrity)

Critical (adds Critical)

• Leadership (adds Presence)
• Tempest (adds Shield)
• Endowment (adds Surge)
• Fervor (adds Accuracy)
• Supremacy (adds Alacrity)

Overkill (adds Power)

• Commander (adds Presence)
• Rampart (adds Shield)
• Expert (adds Surge)
• Hawkeye (adds Accuracy)
• Vehemence (adds Alacrity)

Companions

In SWTOR your companions are an integral part of Crew Skills.  They craft items for you and can be sent on missions in order to gather resources to make things.  In addition to that, Companions usually have a bonus to specific Crew Skills making them better with specific skills.

• Efficiency reduces the total time required to complete crafting and missions.
• Critical increases the chances of getting a crit when crafting or doing missions.
• Critting on missions can generate variable bonus rewards, higher quality rewards, etc…
• Critting on crafting generates an augment slot for items or duplicates for consumables.  There are some items that gain no benefit from crits.
• Companions complete missions/crafting 1% faster for every 750 affection.
• Companions with higher affection also receive a bonus to crit (value not confirmed).
• You can have 1 companion crafting or doing missions once you have one.
• You may have 1 additional companion crafting or doing missions as levels 15, 25, 40, and 48 for a total of 5 companions working at one time max.
• You can have one companion with you out in the world while having other companions crafting or doing missions at the same time.

Q&A

When do you get Crew Skills?

Once you reach the Republic/Imperial Fleet.  There are no Crew Skill trainers on the 1st (or starter) planets.  Once you complete your quest lines to the point where you can go to the Fleet (which is usually around level 10) you can train them.  Note that it is possible to go to the Fleet earlier if you so wish.

How do you gather components?

Mission and Gathering Skills allow you to send your Companions out to gather components for you.  These “missions” do not impact you at all outside of making that specific Companion unavailable until they are finished, which can last anywhere from a few minutes up to just under 3 hours.  In addition to that it will always cost you credits to send them out, whether they succeed or fail.  Failure can still result in a skill increase, but will not grant anything beyond that.

How do you craft items?

You can give your companions a queue list of up to 5 items to make at a time.  They will automatically access whatever components you have on you or in your cargo hold, and all crafted items are put directly into your bags.

What should you take?

You can either go with 1 Crafting and 2 Gathering/Mission skills or you can choose 3 Gathering/Mission skills.  The thing to remember here is that each crafting skill has exactly one gathering skill and one mission skill to provide components for crafting items.  The one “aberrant” skill is Slicing which does not provide components for crafting at all.  In the end it really comes down to what you’re looking to gain from your Crew Skills.

Custom Gear

The way in which your improve existing Custom items (orange) is by adding “Mods” to them.  Orange Items will have slots where you can add an Armoring, Enhancement, Mod, Hilt, Barrel, etc…in order to improve the item.  Due to this it is possible to keep a custom item with a specific appearance that you like and continually upgrade it over time.

Summation & Discussion

Covering every mechanic in game can be a daunting task.  So if there is a specific mechanic that you have questions about, or one that has not yet been covered, please leave a comment so that I can answer your questions.

This concludes the basics on game mechanics, but there is more to come on the mechanics of the game.  If you have questions or comments please leave them below so they can be answered.

Today’s SWTOR Force Junkies Pro-Tip is for all of you people out there that collect different sets of gear. Some max level players will often carry different sets of gear for PVP, Tanking, Healing, DPS or solo play and often enough they have to keep them in their inventory taking up a lot of space. In SWTOR there is a little trick that you might not have thought of: Use A Companion!

Find a companion that you don’t use and can wear the same type of gear you do and equip them with your second set of gear. So now when you need that set of gear you can just summon that companion and un-equip your gear! You no longer need to keep it in your inventory or cargo hold.

As you gain companions you might want to find different ways to make them like you more. Even your occasional Sith Lord who enjoys a good weekend of shocking Vette might want to buy her a gift from time to time. The follow guide is to show you, at a single glance, how each companion favors different types of gifts. The more a companion likes a gift the more favor you gain.

You might see companions have two different types of attitudes towards gifts in each column. This means that a companion likes or dislikes a gift based on your characters sex. You will always see how your companion views a gift from a female first in the table then the male (see courting column).

Keep reading to see the full guide.

Jedi Consular — Indifferent: Like: Favorite: Love:

Companion	Courting (F) (M)	Cultural Artifacts	Imp Memorabilia	Luxury	Military Gear	Rep Memorabilia	Tech	Trophies	Underworld Goods	Weapons
Qyzen Fess
Theran
Zenith
Lt. Iresso
Nadia

Jedi Knight — Indifferent: Like: Favorite: Love:

Companion	Courting (F) (M)	Cultural Artifacts	Imp Memorabilia	Luxury	Military Gear	Rep Memorabilia	Tech	Trophies	Underworld Goods	Weapons
T7-01
Kira
Doc
Rusk
Scourge

Smuggler — Indifferent: Like: Favorite: Love:

Companion	Courting (F) (M)	Cultural Artifacts	Imp Memorabilia	Luxury	Military Gear	Rep Memorabilia	Tech	Trophies	Underworld Goods	Weapons
Corso
Bowdaar
Risha
Akaavi
Guss

Trooper — Indifferent: Like: Favorite: Love:

Companion	Courting (F) (M)	Cultural Artifacts	Imp Memorabilia	Luxury	Military Gear	Rep Memorabilia	Tech	Trophies	Underworld Goods	Weapons
Aric
Elara
M1-4X
Tanno Vik
Yuun

Bounty Hunter — Indifferent: Like: Favorite: Love:

Companion	Courting (F) (M)	Cultural Artifacts	Imp Memorabilia	Luxury	Military Gear	Rep Memorabilia	Tech	Trophies	Underworld Goods	Weapons
Mako
Gault
Torian
Blizz
Skadge

Imperial Agent — Indifferent: Like: Favorite: Love:

Companion	Courting (F) (M)	Cultural Artifacts	Imp Memorabilia	Luxury	Military Gear	Rep Memorabilia	Tech	Trophies	Underworld Goods	Weapons
Kaliyo
Vector
Lokin
Raina
Scorpio

Sith Inquisitor — Indifferent: Like: Favorite: Love:

Companion	Courting (F) (M)	Cultural Artifacts	Imp Memorabilia	Luxury	Military Gear	Rep Memorabilia	Tech	Trophies	Underworld Goods	Weapons
Khem Val
Andronikos
Ashara
Talos
Xalek

Sith Warrior — Indifferent: Like: Favorite: Love:

Companion	Courting (F) (M)	Cultural Artifacts	Imp Memorabilia	Luxury	Military Gear	Rep Memorabilia	Tech	Trophies	Underworld Goods	Weapons
Vette
Malavai
Jaesa (DS)
Jaesa (LS)
Lt. Pierce
Broonmark

You can make your companion do almost everything for you. However, there are two primary uses that might not be evidently clear to you when you first get your companion and move off the newbie world. If you take a gathering skill, like Bio-Analysis, you can have your companion gather all your materials for you. When you see a node or a beast-corpse you can right click it and have your companion farm it for you while you move on to your next objective.

By default, a single right click is the command to order your companion to gather, however in preferences you can change this to shift-right click among others if you wish.

The second best thing your companion can do is run off and sell all of your grey vendor trash items! No more walking back when your inventory is full, or cutting an adventure off early. Many people might miss this option since it’s not obvious for you in the UI.

COMPANION NEED ROLLS

Companions need gear just like everyone else because they are an important back-up. Would you rather a geared Khem Val or a non-geared Khem Val tanked a flashpoint for you? Some may believe that a companion should be treated just as a player would be; if you need it for your companion, then need it.

Some feel that it would be best for players to need roll first, and if no one needs it, then a companion can roll need. This is a valid point, as the player is the 0ne who pays to play, and not the companion. While I would want my companions to be just as geared as I am, I would rather get gear for myself first. If someone else needs it, than my companion can wait, and I will pass or greed roll for it.

COMPANION GREED ROLLS

Some may feel that if a companion needs an item, then their player should just greed roll for it. They see it as, “why take from another player for your companion?” It may be best to just greed roll for companions at first, since everyone else is trying to gear up as well. It may not be the best idea to you at the time, but it may ensure that you have groups for operations or flashpoints later in the game.

COMPANION OTHER OPTION

The other option for companions, which is probably what most players will do, is to create guidelines when you first group-up. Everyone should come to an agreement as to what is Ok when it comes to rolling for gear. While everyone may not actually abide by the rules, this makes for a more level playing ground when it comes to gear. If your group decides that your companions can be equally important, then by all means need roll. If the group decides that players come first, than greed roll is what is best.

What do you think? Should player’s need for companion gear? Or should companion gear be strictly greed?

Today I’m continuing my focus on early Smuggler gameplay and introducing Corso Riggs, the first Smuggler companion. You’ll get him around level 7-8 on Ord Mantell after you complete a certain story progression quest. You’ll be quick to pick up on the fact that you’re going to get him for a companion since he randomly whines about wanting to join you as you complete Smuggler quests. He’s not a bad guy– just a little eager to help you shoot down enemies. Hey, the more the merrier, right?

Corso Riggs wears heavy armor and rifles, and starts out as a ranged tank. He later gains the ability to perform just as ranged DPS. He comes with a nifty ranged taunt ability, and later gets a ranged AoE taunt along with some ranged AoE abilities. He also has a harpoon-type ability that can be used to bring enemies into melee range, but it’s toggled off by default.

Companions are a vital part of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Not only do they help you in combat (except in operations), they also serve as your own personal little crafting crew. Have them go out and chink away at rocks and scavenge for metal pieces while you go about your business of doing important uh, Smuggler activities. Yeah. You can have your crew run crafting missions while you’re running flashpoints, while you’re checking the Trade Market, or while you’re just sitting around in Coruscant waiting for a group to form up.

It’s also pretty handy to have your crew gather crafting material in the combat field. Since most harvesting options have a casting time, you can set them over to scavenge or slice a junk pile or body, continue killing, and let them catch up. Make sure you keep them around while you’re turning in quests, because as you level, your companion will have an opinion about decisions you make. If they like what you’re saying, you will gain affection points with them. If not, you’ll see points subtracted. These points will have an affect on what kinds of dialogue and quest options they provide, and may also lead to a romance.

Corso’s personality is pretty light-influenced. If you offer to help someone out or let a prisoner live, he’ll likely be impressed. If you plan on going dark side, however, don’t worry. You can sway Corso back to liking you with a little help from companion gifts. Companion gifts can be crafted, gained during crafting missions, bought off vendors, and received from certain quests. Not all companions like all types of gifts. Toss Corso anything that looks like it belongs in a military duffel bag, and he’ll be happy.

If you’re playing a female Smuggler like I am, you’ll see that it’s possible to have a romance with Corso. He’s the only Smuggler male companion that’s romance-able, which is a bit of a shame considering there are two romance-able females. On the plus side, Corso is very customizable. Before you finish with Ord Mantell, you’ll get a choice between three Corso Riggs Customizations. For your convenience, here’s a diagram of all three, the icons on each item, and the default Corso for comparison purposes:

More customization options will appear as you level. Corso’s appearance also changes with the armor he has equipped, as you can see in model 1. Make sure and keep him well-equipped as you level, and he’ll perform well in combat and out on the dance floor. Maybe. Or not.

As you wander the planets of SWTOR, Corso will randomly make comments, engage in conversation with your character, offer suggestions, quests, and even shout battle cries during combat. My Smuggler kept referring to him yesterday as a farm boy, which amused me greatly. BioWare did an excellent job with their companion system in my opinion. Corso isn’t anything like the combat pets we’ve seen in past MMOs, and to me, that’s a great thing. He doesn’t even aggro entire rooms of mobs if the two of you happen to get split up. Talk about progress!

Some of you might be wondering when you can begin customizing your companion character’s appearance. We found out originally in our interview with James Ohlen that you will be able to purchase and find kits to change your companion’s physical appearance. Today we find out when you can do that for the first time.

Originally posted by Georg Zoeller (Source)

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It’s fairly simple.

At the same quest step where you get your companion, you get to chose from several alternate appearance options. These are ‘customization kits’ that can be equipped on your companion’s character sheet.

Since you meet most of the companions earlier in the story, you already know their default appearance, so there’s no sense in ‘hiding’ that you’re changing something here. Think of it like a forced reconstructive surgery on your companion

So apparently you get them right away! We also find out that companions will be part of your story early on. So when you fire up the game for the first time and start a new character, keep an eye out for future friends.

Now as far as “forced reconstructive surgery”, maybe we need a Star Wars version of Nip/Tuck?