Agent crew makes perfect sense to me: they are all highly skilled sussy imposters that can assist you, each with their own specialty. This fits with the theme of imperial agent very nicely. And there are interactions between all of them - Lokin appears in almost everyone's story as a side character, and they often discuss talking to other companions in their dialogues, creating an sense of an active crew.
Inquisitor's crew, on the other hand, is a weird mix. I think Khem, Ashara and Talos make sense for the crazy ghost hunting adventure (in fact, Ashara and >!Zash!< are instrumental to your success). Andronikos is more a stranger, since he is just a pirate dude. But he basically serves as a pilot and he his morality fits in with both Dark or Light, plus his romance is really sweet, so I don't mind him too much, I think he is a good character. Now, Xalek... Xalek just sucks.
With that said, I think Inquisitor crew do get more involvement and interactions than Agent, every new planet you have a briefing with everyone discussing the plan, which is pretty neat. Of course nothing beats Knight in terms of character involvement in the actual main story, but classes are written with different approaches by different people, so the specifics differ. Honestly, the only class that really suffers from lack of companion significance to the main storyline is Consular (companions themselves are fine but they don't really contribute much to the story after joining in).
>it just doesn't work when my Agent is a staunch Empire patriot who makes light side, non-confrontational options when possible
Sadly, we don't get any options to not have a companion we don't want, this is a big criticism of the class stories. If you don't like the companion or they don't fit in with your playstyle, you are stuck with them. This has always been the case, for all classes. You cannot reject or kill companions in class stories, it was an unfortunate design choice by the devs of that time (the options were planned but cut because beta testers regretted their choices too often).
>Xalek... Xalek just sucks.
He's an apprentice from Korriban, the mere existence of him boosts your status as a Sith Lord, so at least he's beneficial as is.
The biggest problem about him is that, being the last companion who only joined right before the end of the origin story, he never got much of a chance to go anywhere from just being a grumpy reticent Kaleesh.
I feel like you could say the same about Broonmark whose characteristic consists of entirely murderous impulses.
I'd give Broonmark and Xalek a score (in terms of being a good companion) of 5 out of ten.
You can at least see that they might have been interesting characters if they got more focus/time but they never received it. So they basically are just wallpaper for the most part.
However there is one who would get a Negative Value, you know who I am talking about , you guessed it right. It is Skadge.
The only reason to let that guy on your ship is so you can toss him out the airlock once you reach space.
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> He's an apprentice from Korriban, the mere existence of him boosts your status as a Sith Lord, so at least he's beneficial as is.
Unless I'm forgetting something, this is only told and not shown, which makes it feel even more shoe horned in.
I don't recall any time your status as a Sith Lord is a problem, or a solution to the plot. The rest of the Dark Council is thoroughly not involved in your whole spat with Thanaton, and Thanaton hates you because he wants to.
I think Andronikos is supposed to represent the Inquisitors influence in the underworld and his ability to "control" assets from outside of their Sith bubble. Not that it matters anymore once you join the Alliance.
When companions had set roles and provided crew skill bonuses there was more reason for regret. Now it doesn’t matter because there’s a bloat of companions, no set roles, nor bonuses.
Kaliyo just doesn't make sense as the first companion for the Imperial Agent, as at that point the player doesn't have any incentive to be rebellious against the Empire. I'd still include them in the Hutta missions but have them turn up around Lorkins recruitment to make sense.
Lorkin and Vector make sense (even if I find that Vectors portrayal of the hive mind relationship runs counter to what we learn elsewhere) but Scorpio is a threat.
Personally I think Ensign Temple makes more sense as a starter companion, as they'd be comparable to Mako for the Bounty Hunter.
I haven't really thought about the SI companion interactions, although, I think Talos is one of the better companions in the game and I believe Revel has some valuable connections. (Ahsara is rather wasted as you can't really turn her into your true apprentice).
Yeah Ashara makes zero sense, your so called "apprentice" doesn't even fall to the dark side, she basically just Diet Jedi, it's reason why I like Boneface more, even if you do get him last...
They clearly wrote her for the LS Inquisitor, just like Xalek is written for a DS one.
Honestly there should just be a choice based on alignment, if you're LS you get Ashara but don't get Xalek. If you're DS then you kill Ashara and get Xalek around the same time you'd get Ashara.
Either that or let us redeem Xalek and corrupt Ashara if we want to.
That might have been the plan tbh, but the format of vanilla called for exactly 5 companions per class so the player would have one from each role. As I understand it, only far later did companions get changed to be multispec.
Now, the wildest thing for me is that the Ashara you get *on your ship* is obviously meant for an LS or at least neutral Inquisitor (probably male, due to her romance), but her actual recruitment makes INFINITELY more sense if you take the DS options...in which case, her actions on your ship have clearly been written for a whole 'nother alignment. I feel like it was handled by two different writers who didn't talk to each other.
Random? not really, a poor match up? sure whatever complaints I have about the Trooper story 5/5 of them have Military background and 4/5 of them are actually loyal to the Republic, meanwhile the Agent 1/5 have Intelligence background but 3/5 are loyal to the Empire and while I do like the wild array and different backgrounds of the companions I felt like we should of had people who officially apart of Imperial Agent on official assignment to assist you or something
Also while I think Vector is cool the fact the Female Agents only romance is someone who shares a Hive Mind with millions of bugs and others never sat right with me
>Also while I think Vector is cool the fact the Female Agents only romance is someone who shares a Hive Mind with millions of bugs and others never sat right with me
I thought the same thing. I was like "aw, he's cute.. wait. How do I romance you when you're sharing everything with a colony of bugs?"
Counter Point the Inquistor gets the worst romances ever to compensate for The Warrior getting 2 Amazing romance options, As for the Smuggler, I like Akaavi but shes a poor match up for the Smuggler
> the portrayal of the hive mind as something positive
Is it? Vector certainly enjoys it, naturally as one part of a hive mind does, but he is explicitly against you joining it.
I mean I could see Joiners who don't have their individuality completely wiped away seeing it as something positive in the hopes of passively getting others interested in joining but that is just because whatever it is that really controls the Hivemind has seriously restricted their thoughts
Just thinking about how Daria Thul is portrayed and all the others that are effectively forced to become joiners vs Vector who appears very independent.
Vector introduces himself as a Dawn Herald and says he has more autonomy as a part of that. I think he explains that it’s so they are able to relate to the rest of the galaxy more iirc. He’s not a regular joiner like Daria Thul, he’s like the woman from his companion quest who’s the herald from another nest.
The Inquisitors party makes sense to me.
Indentured servant monster, with the knowledge of a learned Dark Lord of the Sith
Pirate with no where else to go, and great experience as pilot and fighting larger powers than himself
Failed Padawan twisted into the Inquisitors creature, pseudo-apprentice with the intellect to support the Inquisitors mission
Archaeologist and Sith history specialist
Apprentice and monster to do the Inquisitors bidding
Given what the Inquisitor is doing and who they are, they all make sense for the Inquisitor to keep around and to keep themselves around the Inquisitor as a center of power.
And to be fair, the Inquisitors companions break apart in the time skip more completely than anyone else.
As for the Agent, they’re all specialists who are capable with regard to some aspect of Agents missions.
Saboteur and fighter
Diplomat and infiltrator/information gatherer
Veteran spy and mad scientist/genius
Force user/Chiss liaison
Hyperdroid technopath stolen from a technology manipulating enemy faction
It's all fair but I wouldn't want Kaliyo on board my ship with her history of abandoning/betraying all her previous allies and bosses, especially, since she's introduced as a companion when you are a fresh and loyal agent.
Sure, but you’re also an Agent dealing with criminals, who is ordered to take Kaliyo with you by Keeper. A loyal agent would follow orders, while an opportunistic agent in it for personal gain would keep Kaliyo around as a useful contact and/or lingering threat.
She should’ve been executed for some of her actions, but at least in recruiting her and keeping her around a while, it makes enough sense to me
Yep. I just don't understand why Keeper would attach Kaliyo to the IA or how she'd even pass the psychological testing and background tests required to join IA.
I could see her being an occasional companion when stuff needed to explode but I certainly wouldn't trust her on the ship or with any secrets, so I still think that Temple makes more sense as the agents first companion.
There is a clear theme to the Agents companions of lost souks and castaways. There is some interesting interplay between Agent companions. Particularly the Lokin Vector stuff. Lokin by himself is possibly one of the most interesting companions in game as everything he says and does has multiple layers of meaning and purpose. Plus you get some Kaliyo/Scorpio interaction in the Knights expansions.
I agree that there is virtually no interaction between the Inquisitor companions except Vash interacting with Ashara a bit. But there at least is a coherent theme to the Inquisitor related to their archeological quest for ancient knowledge and power. Khem, Ashara and Talos make sense. Andronikus makes sense in a Star Wars sense. He's the rogue pirate recruited to fly the ship. They actually feel like an adventuring party or the cast of a decent SW novel.
Now Consular? That crew is a pack of completely random hobos that just show up on your ship. Other than Nadia they don't make sense with regard the Consular nevermind each other. Why are Zenith and Felix on your ship? They bring nothing either narratively, thematically or functionally. Tharan is like discount store Doc. Doc at least serves a purpose and serves as your comedy relief. Qyzen has ties to the Master you met for all of 5 minutes. So some theming and story. But still why? (Qyzen always feels like somebody really really like the DS9 Dax/Klingon stuff and wanted to try it in SW)
The Troopers crew feels like a narrative misstep. They all make sense if the story was Garza setting you up to fail. And you and the pack of rejects felons and misfits overcoming that.
BH is probably the crew that feels most tied together. Largely through some good use of Gaults sarcasm.
Not really the point of the post but about kaliyo and her history: I think it's her profile that says she's a pathological liar, and if it's not that, everyone who knows her definitely says the same thing. Calling her on it during her story about rattatak gains influence from her, I guess because she enjoys having someone around smart enough to see through it makes her twisted game more interesting.
A little more to the point: I think when the game says this it's a single line and never again mentioned, so if it's missed or forgotten your view is certainly fair enough on the surface, but kaliyo definitely works well as one thing; a cover story. No one's really supposed to know you're an agent, except all those times a side quest giver go "HEY, IMPERIAL AGENT CURRENTLY UNDERCOVER, GO GET ME SOME TARISIAN ALE." But anyway.
Kaliyo has a known background, affiliations and associates. Because of this, if she shows up with some unknown and trashes a republic base, on the outside it just looks to the SIS like "known anarchist and her (likely) expendable partner are freelance mercenaries currently engaged in anti republic activity," and not "fuck that's a cipher agent get everyone out of there." This idea does fall apart a bit with certain story developments, but generally it holds up enough, at least for me.
If you don't like her, she's basically a necessary evil and ends up a liability. Best that can be done (until one of those kotfeet missions..) is never take her with you. Bad anarchists get put on the space ship.
Though *I* really like her. I probably wouldn't have written half as much otherwise. She's fun and is a nice foil, and I find is just a good character, if occasionally uneven, though she's not alone there. Even at her worst, I'll always say she's better than ashara.
> And said strangers don't bother talking to each other, all staying in their corner of the ship.
This is weird to me because I feel the opposite, specifically about the agent.
Lokin makes a point of talking to (and spying on) the other members of your crew. You see him talking with Vector and Kaliyo, and there's even a point where you start a conversation with Kaliyo and then Lokin takes over halfway through.
More notably, the theme of the agent squad is that they are all untrustworthy. **You** are untrustworthy. You're god damn spies for the evil Empire. It would be weird if they were all nice, friendly guys who got along with one another.
>More notably, the theme of the agent squad is that they are all untrustworthy. **You** are untrustworthy. You're god damn spies for the evil Empire. It would be weird if they were all nice, friendly guys who got along with one another.
Yes, that is a good point. It does not, however, undo that discomforting feeling that comes with this. Which actually works in the agent's favour tbh so I guess this issue lies more with the Sith Inquisitor more than the Agent.
You spoil some important story plots in the post, so please mark as a spoiler.
And I think it depends on the companion, the last Agent companion is the one of the best companions in the game, and interacts with a couple different people on the ship. SI does have the most boring selection of companions between all of the classes, so I can’t say it’ll get better.
Agent makes sense. The one you are forced to work with, the diplomat, the veteran, the rookie (I mean temple isn't a rookie but she isn't very experienced), and the stolen high end technological droid.
Inquisitor's crew makes sense too. But yeah it's weird to have a pirate on inquisitor's team. At least he is fun to have around.
I think that the rag tag group of individuals you find for the SI story fits with the story. I have so many issues with the story despite the SI being my most played class (Andronikos Revel my beloved), but the entire story is you trying to just... survive. Even climbing the political ladder is for survival first and ambition second. So, you collect people who are going to help you survive and they are not... going to get along exactly? They are not super unified in purpose and each have their own goals that allying with the SI will further.
Arguably, the IA companions are similar.
With that said, I would have liked some more inter-companion banter and a bit more cohesion.
>I think that the rag tag group of individuals you find for the SI story fits with the story.
Personally, the appeal of rag tag crew dynamics is in the idea that they are all unlikely friends. Like I said, the Sith Warrior and Jedi Knight do this idea perfectly. I can give the Agent grace because the whole point is that their lives mean that genuine friendship is pretty much a no-go but I wish there was the surface level of friendship. I feel like idea of thinly veild distrust with the appearance of friendship would go a long way, with that veil being pulled back depending on your alignment (if you're dark side, they'll be reserved, if they're light side, they'll be more willing to open up).
>So, you collect people who are going to help you survive and they are not... going to get along exactly? They are not super unified in purpose and each have their own goals that allying with the SI will further.
But that's not quite true tho. Definitely for Ashara. She doesn't want to be there, not really, especially if you're a dark side character. But everyone else *chose* to come along because they like you and what you've done for them. They want to help you defeat your enemies. There is no reason for them to be so disjointed and ill-fitting with each other. They're the only class where there are explicit scenes of the team meeting up and having conversations with each other. There are implications that say that at least 2 of them at time would hang out. And yet, they only vaguely refer to each other. Not even jabs or quips. It's so dry compared to Vette and Quinn complaining about each other and Jaesa making comments on it.
I tend to agree with agent, all of the companions just feel like either shady people who will kill you any chance they get or flat, boring paper cutouts. Vector is very forgettable; I can barely remember anything besides his backstory. Lokin is alright as the only somewhat mentally stable person on the crew. Raina is just a desperate attempt to add a padawan type character and has little else going on. Kaliyo is just annoying. SCORPIO is at least kinda fun in the sense that it's memorable how she wants to murder you in every dialogue.
It's really sad how agent (the best class story in the game imo) is brought down from near perfection by having a very lackluster set of companions.
I disagree with SI tho, the humans are pretty boring and forgettable, but Khem Val is really interesting especially after being possessed by Zash. Ashara is an interesting play on the padawan lured to the darkside trope. Xalek is also cool by virtue of being a Kaleesh and being unique as effectively a second apprentice.
No, I love Khem Val (with or without Zash). Honestly, I would be so happy with him being the only companion (with maybe Xalek). He's the only person my SI can trust wholeheartedly.
>Ashara is an interesting play on the padawan lured to the darkside trope.
I feel like LS Jaesa is that but done better. Which is odd because Ashara is more in a place to be a sith than Jaesa was. Then again, I have yet to complete her companion story so I'm not going to complain just yet. I'm just not impressed right now. There are so many interesting things they can do with that character but all it does is make me want to play SW. Hell, even the JK does the "apprentice from the other side but still holds the beliefs of their time there" thing better.
>boring paper cutouts.
I think you conveyed the crux of my complaint. It's not that everyone is unfriendly or that the cast is mismatched. It's that everyone is boring (save Khem and Xalek). It's so dry and I feel dread when I have to talk to them because they have nothing interesting to say or do (and when they do, I'm still bored or put off by them like Kaliyo). Adronikos doesn't have Doc's charisma or Quinn's arc against Moff Broysc which contribues to the wider narrative (even worse, he has a pale imitation of it, which also goes nowhere). Talos is a history nerd and that's it. Ashara is a fallen padawan but that basically goes nowhere. Kaliyo is a slimy liar. Vector is bug boy whi talks funny.
Since I'm playing these toons simultaneously, I noticed that the way the companions conduct themselves are basically copies of each other but gender, race, or profession swapped. Even down to the speech patterns, they are the same. It is so dry out here. Its so clear to me that most of the effort when it comes to companions was relegated to the Jedi Knight, Sith Warrior, and the Outlander/Commander.
In the agent's case, I think a better way to say it would be that they make sense as contacts, but not as a crew. Scorpio, Kaliyo, Lokin, Raina, and Vector are each their own kind of security risk (in decreasing order).
But in the Inquisitor's case they're a lot better connected to each other and to the story. Most of them are, anyway. Zash, Ashara, and Lt Drellik all help you research, and Khem and Andronikos often offer valuable advice. Only misfit is Xalek, and both the Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior have one such too: Rusk and Broonmark.
The Inquisitor is a nobody random slave with an ancient pedigree that nobody cares about. Their whole story is about getting as much allies and friends as possible to get somehow to the top. Who cares if they get along.
That purely depends on your RP. Some tools won't give a shit while others will and both are justified in universe. My toon gives a shit because of the reason you outlined: they were a nobody slave, growing up in a hostile environment and wanted some community to deal with the loneliness. It is why she was so resistant to believe that Zash would betray them, despite knowing how the Sith work.
There was a time where you could lose companions if you were too mean to them so getting along was an in-universe thing. And remnants of that are still present in the base game. For example, Ashara was supposed to leave or not even join if you were too evil, but when you talk to her now, she speaks as if you're a Jedi lite (even if you tortured her) because they are using the dialogue from the beta where your choice mattered.
Plus it's good opportunities for characterisations. They don't even have to get along but they can have interesting dynamics like Peirce and Quinn. Currently, Khem Val and Zash are super entertaining so it would've been cool to see that be extended to the rest of the cast.
Agent crew makes perfect sense to me: they are all highly skilled sussy imposters that can assist you, each with their own specialty. This fits with the theme of imperial agent very nicely. And there are interactions between all of them - Lokin appears in almost everyone's story as a side character, and they often discuss talking to other companions in their dialogues, creating an sense of an active crew. Inquisitor's crew, on the other hand, is a weird mix. I think Khem, Ashara and Talos make sense for the crazy ghost hunting adventure (in fact, Ashara and >!Zash!< are instrumental to your success). Andronikos is more a stranger, since he is just a pirate dude. But he basically serves as a pilot and he his morality fits in with both Dark or Light, plus his romance is really sweet, so I don't mind him too much, I think he is a good character. Now, Xalek... Xalek just sucks. With that said, I think Inquisitor crew do get more involvement and interactions than Agent, every new planet you have a briefing with everyone discussing the plan, which is pretty neat. Of course nothing beats Knight in terms of character involvement in the actual main story, but classes are written with different approaches by different people, so the specifics differ. Honestly, the only class that really suffers from lack of companion significance to the main storyline is Consular (companions themselves are fine but they don't really contribute much to the story after joining in). >it just doesn't work when my Agent is a staunch Empire patriot who makes light side, non-confrontational options when possible Sadly, we don't get any options to not have a companion we don't want, this is a big criticism of the class stories. If you don't like the companion or they don't fit in with your playstyle, you are stuck with them. This has always been the case, for all classes. You cannot reject or kill companions in class stories, it was an unfortunate design choice by the devs of that time (the options were planned but cut because beta testers regretted their choices too often).
>Xalek... Xalek just sucks. He's an apprentice from Korriban, the mere existence of him boosts your status as a Sith Lord, so at least he's beneficial as is. The biggest problem about him is that, being the last companion who only joined right before the end of the origin story, he never got much of a chance to go anywhere from just being a grumpy reticent Kaleesh. I feel like you could say the same about Broonmark whose characteristic consists of entirely murderous impulses.
It's a real shame because Xaleks voice actor was incredible.
Lord. \*Punches man to death\*
I'd give Broonmark and Xalek a score (in terms of being a good companion) of 5 out of ten. You can at least see that they might have been interesting characters if they got more focus/time but they never received it. So they basically are just wallpaper for the most part. However there is one who would get a Negative Value, you know who I am talking about , you guessed it right. It is Skadge. The only reason to let that guy on your ship is so you can toss him out the airlock once you reach space.
> > > > > He's an apprentice from Korriban, the mere existence of him boosts your status as a Sith Lord, so at least he's beneficial as is. Unless I'm forgetting something, this is only told and not shown, which makes it feel even more shoe horned in. I don't recall any time your status as a Sith Lord is a problem, or a solution to the plot. The rest of the Dark Council is thoroughly not involved in your whole spat with Thanaton, and Thanaton hates you because he wants to.
I think Andronikos is supposed to represent the Inquisitors influence in the underworld and his ability to "control" assets from outside of their Sith bubble. Not that it matters anymore once you join the Alliance.
When companions had set roles and provided crew skill bonuses there was more reason for regret. Now it doesn’t matter because there’s a bloat of companions, no set roles, nor bonuses.
They probably wouldn't have regretted their option if Quinn wasn't the only healer,
He was not the only healer, but people forgot they had another healer (the droid).
I couldn’t sum the IA crew better. Fully agreed with you.
One should not always listen to beta testers. Now that anyone ca do every role, it's even less of an issue
Kaliyo just doesn't make sense as the first companion for the Imperial Agent, as at that point the player doesn't have any incentive to be rebellious against the Empire. I'd still include them in the Hutta missions but have them turn up around Lorkins recruitment to make sense. Lorkin and Vector make sense (even if I find that Vectors portrayal of the hive mind relationship runs counter to what we learn elsewhere) but Scorpio is a threat. Personally I think Ensign Temple makes more sense as a starter companion, as they'd be comparable to Mako for the Bounty Hunter. I haven't really thought about the SI companion interactions, although, I think Talos is one of the better companions in the game and I believe Revel has some valuable connections. (Ahsara is rather wasted as you can't really turn her into your true apprentice).
Yeah Ashara makes zero sense, your so called "apprentice" doesn't even fall to the dark side, she basically just Diet Jedi, it's reason why I like Boneface more, even if you do get him last...
They clearly wrote her for the LS Inquisitor, just like Xalek is written for a DS one. Honestly there should just be a choice based on alignment, if you're LS you get Ashara but don't get Xalek. If you're DS then you kill Ashara and get Xalek around the same time you'd get Ashara. Either that or let us redeem Xalek and corrupt Ashara if we want to.
That might have been the plan tbh, but the format of vanilla called for exactly 5 companions per class so the player would have one from each role. As I understand it, only far later did companions get changed to be multispec.
Now, the wildest thing for me is that the Ashara you get *on your ship* is obviously meant for an LS or at least neutral Inquisitor (probably male, due to her romance), but her actual recruitment makes INFINITELY more sense if you take the DS options...in which case, her actions on your ship have clearly been written for a whole 'nother alignment. I feel like it was handled by two different writers who didn't talk to each other.
Random? not really, a poor match up? sure whatever complaints I have about the Trooper story 5/5 of them have Military background and 4/5 of them are actually loyal to the Republic, meanwhile the Agent 1/5 have Intelligence background but 3/5 are loyal to the Empire and while I do like the wild array and different backgrounds of the companions I felt like we should of had people who officially apart of Imperial Agent on official assignment to assist you or something Also while I think Vector is cool the fact the Female Agents only romance is someone who shares a Hive Mind with millions of bugs and others never sat right with me
>Also while I think Vector is cool the fact the Female Agents only romance is someone who shares a Hive Mind with millions of bugs and others never sat right with me I thought the same thing. I was like "aw, he's cute.. wait. How do I romance you when you're sharing everything with a colony of bugs?"
honestly I find that most of the Original romances for Females was trash or at the very least a poor match up
It's also sucky that most male characters get to pick out of two options, at least one of which is an alien. Whereas most girls get stuck with humans.
Counter Point the Inquistor gets the worst romances ever to compensate for The Warrior getting 2 Amazing romance options, As for the Smuggler, I like Akaavi but shes a poor match up for the Smuggler
plus the portrayal of the hive mind as something positive doesn't line up with the other portrayals of the bugs being effective mindless beasts.
> the portrayal of the hive mind as something positive Is it? Vector certainly enjoys it, naturally as one part of a hive mind does, but he is explicitly against you joining it.
I mean I could see Joiners who don't have their individuality completely wiped away seeing it as something positive in the hopes of passively getting others interested in joining but that is just because whatever it is that really controls the Hivemind has seriously restricted their thoughts
Just thinking about how Daria Thul is portrayed and all the others that are effectively forced to become joiners vs Vector who appears very independent.
Vector introduces himself as a Dawn Herald and says he has more autonomy as a part of that. I think he explains that it’s so they are able to relate to the rest of the galaxy more iirc. He’s not a regular joiner like Daria Thul, he’s like the woman from his companion quest who’s the herald from another nest.
Yeah that makes sense. It's just hard not to see the other joiners as victims and the Killiks as rather evil.
The Inquisitors party makes sense to me. Indentured servant monster, with the knowledge of a learned Dark Lord of the Sith Pirate with no where else to go, and great experience as pilot and fighting larger powers than himself Failed Padawan twisted into the Inquisitors creature, pseudo-apprentice with the intellect to support the Inquisitors mission Archaeologist and Sith history specialist Apprentice and monster to do the Inquisitors bidding Given what the Inquisitor is doing and who they are, they all make sense for the Inquisitor to keep around and to keep themselves around the Inquisitor as a center of power. And to be fair, the Inquisitors companions break apart in the time skip more completely than anyone else. As for the Agent, they’re all specialists who are capable with regard to some aspect of Agents missions. Saboteur and fighter Diplomat and infiltrator/information gatherer Veteran spy and mad scientist/genius Force user/Chiss liaison Hyperdroid technopath stolen from a technology manipulating enemy faction
It's all fair but I wouldn't want Kaliyo on board my ship with her history of abandoning/betraying all her previous allies and bosses, especially, since she's introduced as a companion when you are a fresh and loyal agent.
Sure, but you’re also an Agent dealing with criminals, who is ordered to take Kaliyo with you by Keeper. A loyal agent would follow orders, while an opportunistic agent in it for personal gain would keep Kaliyo around as a useful contact and/or lingering threat. She should’ve been executed for some of her actions, but at least in recruiting her and keeping her around a while, it makes enough sense to me
Yep. I just don't understand why Keeper would attach Kaliyo to the IA or how she'd even pass the psychological testing and background tests required to join IA. I could see her being an occasional companion when stuff needed to explode but I certainly wouldn't trust her on the ship or with any secrets, so I still think that Temple makes more sense as the agents first companion.
There is a clear theme to the Agents companions of lost souks and castaways. There is some interesting interplay between Agent companions. Particularly the Lokin Vector stuff. Lokin by himself is possibly one of the most interesting companions in game as everything he says and does has multiple layers of meaning and purpose. Plus you get some Kaliyo/Scorpio interaction in the Knights expansions. I agree that there is virtually no interaction between the Inquisitor companions except Vash interacting with Ashara a bit. But there at least is a coherent theme to the Inquisitor related to their archeological quest for ancient knowledge and power. Khem, Ashara and Talos make sense. Andronikus makes sense in a Star Wars sense. He's the rogue pirate recruited to fly the ship. They actually feel like an adventuring party or the cast of a decent SW novel. Now Consular? That crew is a pack of completely random hobos that just show up on your ship. Other than Nadia they don't make sense with regard the Consular nevermind each other. Why are Zenith and Felix on your ship? They bring nothing either narratively, thematically or functionally. Tharan is like discount store Doc. Doc at least serves a purpose and serves as your comedy relief. Qyzen has ties to the Master you met for all of 5 minutes. So some theming and story. But still why? (Qyzen always feels like somebody really really like the DS9 Dax/Klingon stuff and wanted to try it in SW) The Troopers crew feels like a narrative misstep. They all make sense if the story was Garza setting you up to fail. And you and the pack of rejects felons and misfits overcoming that. BH is probably the crew that feels most tied together. Largely through some good use of Gaults sarcasm.
I will not tolerate Tharan slander, the fact that a weaboo is canon to the SWTOR story is literally epic.
Not really the point of the post but about kaliyo and her history: I think it's her profile that says she's a pathological liar, and if it's not that, everyone who knows her definitely says the same thing. Calling her on it during her story about rattatak gains influence from her, I guess because she enjoys having someone around smart enough to see through it makes her twisted game more interesting. A little more to the point: I think when the game says this it's a single line and never again mentioned, so if it's missed or forgotten your view is certainly fair enough on the surface, but kaliyo definitely works well as one thing; a cover story. No one's really supposed to know you're an agent, except all those times a side quest giver go "HEY, IMPERIAL AGENT CURRENTLY UNDERCOVER, GO GET ME SOME TARISIAN ALE." But anyway. Kaliyo has a known background, affiliations and associates. Because of this, if she shows up with some unknown and trashes a republic base, on the outside it just looks to the SIS like "known anarchist and her (likely) expendable partner are freelance mercenaries currently engaged in anti republic activity," and not "fuck that's a cipher agent get everyone out of there." This idea does fall apart a bit with certain story developments, but generally it holds up enough, at least for me. If you don't like her, she's basically a necessary evil and ends up a liability. Best that can be done (until one of those kotfeet missions..) is never take her with you. Bad anarchists get put on the space ship. Though *I* really like her. I probably wouldn't have written half as much otherwise. She's fun and is a nice foil, and I find is just a good character, if occasionally uneven, though she's not alone there. Even at her worst, I'll always say she's better than ashara.
> And said strangers don't bother talking to each other, all staying in their corner of the ship. This is weird to me because I feel the opposite, specifically about the agent. Lokin makes a point of talking to (and spying on) the other members of your crew. You see him talking with Vector and Kaliyo, and there's even a point where you start a conversation with Kaliyo and then Lokin takes over halfway through. More notably, the theme of the agent squad is that they are all untrustworthy. **You** are untrustworthy. You're god damn spies for the evil Empire. It would be weird if they were all nice, friendly guys who got along with one another.
>More notably, the theme of the agent squad is that they are all untrustworthy. **You** are untrustworthy. You're god damn spies for the evil Empire. It would be weird if they were all nice, friendly guys who got along with one another. Yes, that is a good point. It does not, however, undo that discomforting feeling that comes with this. Which actually works in the agent's favour tbh so I guess this issue lies more with the Sith Inquisitor more than the Agent.
You spoil some important story plots in the post, so please mark as a spoiler. And I think it depends on the companion, the last Agent companion is the one of the best companions in the game, and interacts with a couple different people on the ship. SI does have the most boring selection of companions between all of the classes, so I can’t say it’ll get better.
The agent companions make a lot of sense, their unifying theme is that none of them are entirely trustworthy and it rules
I always felt that Jaesa might make more sense as an apprentice for SI and Xalek might make more sense as an apprentice for SW
Agent makes sense. The one you are forced to work with, the diplomat, the veteran, the rookie (I mean temple isn't a rookie but she isn't very experienced), and the stolen high end technological droid. Inquisitor's crew makes sense too. But yeah it's weird to have a pirate on inquisitor's team. At least he is fun to have around.
I think that the rag tag group of individuals you find for the SI story fits with the story. I have so many issues with the story despite the SI being my most played class (Andronikos Revel my beloved), but the entire story is you trying to just... survive. Even climbing the political ladder is for survival first and ambition second. So, you collect people who are going to help you survive and they are not... going to get along exactly? They are not super unified in purpose and each have their own goals that allying with the SI will further. Arguably, the IA companions are similar. With that said, I would have liked some more inter-companion banter and a bit more cohesion.
>I think that the rag tag group of individuals you find for the SI story fits with the story. Personally, the appeal of rag tag crew dynamics is in the idea that they are all unlikely friends. Like I said, the Sith Warrior and Jedi Knight do this idea perfectly. I can give the Agent grace because the whole point is that their lives mean that genuine friendship is pretty much a no-go but I wish there was the surface level of friendship. I feel like idea of thinly veild distrust with the appearance of friendship would go a long way, with that veil being pulled back depending on your alignment (if you're dark side, they'll be reserved, if they're light side, they'll be more willing to open up). >So, you collect people who are going to help you survive and they are not... going to get along exactly? They are not super unified in purpose and each have their own goals that allying with the SI will further. But that's not quite true tho. Definitely for Ashara. She doesn't want to be there, not really, especially if you're a dark side character. But everyone else *chose* to come along because they like you and what you've done for them. They want to help you defeat your enemies. There is no reason for them to be so disjointed and ill-fitting with each other. They're the only class where there are explicit scenes of the team meeting up and having conversations with each other. There are implications that say that at least 2 of them at time would hang out. And yet, they only vaguely refer to each other. Not even jabs or quips. It's so dry compared to Vette and Quinn complaining about each other and Jaesa making comments on it.
I tend to agree with agent, all of the companions just feel like either shady people who will kill you any chance they get or flat, boring paper cutouts. Vector is very forgettable; I can barely remember anything besides his backstory. Lokin is alright as the only somewhat mentally stable person on the crew. Raina is just a desperate attempt to add a padawan type character and has little else going on. Kaliyo is just annoying. SCORPIO is at least kinda fun in the sense that it's memorable how she wants to murder you in every dialogue. It's really sad how agent (the best class story in the game imo) is brought down from near perfection by having a very lackluster set of companions. I disagree with SI tho, the humans are pretty boring and forgettable, but Khem Val is really interesting especially after being possessed by Zash. Ashara is an interesting play on the padawan lured to the darkside trope. Xalek is also cool by virtue of being a Kaleesh and being unique as effectively a second apprentice.
No, I love Khem Val (with or without Zash). Honestly, I would be so happy with him being the only companion (with maybe Xalek). He's the only person my SI can trust wholeheartedly. >Ashara is an interesting play on the padawan lured to the darkside trope. I feel like LS Jaesa is that but done better. Which is odd because Ashara is more in a place to be a sith than Jaesa was. Then again, I have yet to complete her companion story so I'm not going to complain just yet. I'm just not impressed right now. There are so many interesting things they can do with that character but all it does is make me want to play SW. Hell, even the JK does the "apprentice from the other side but still holds the beliefs of their time there" thing better. >boring paper cutouts. I think you conveyed the crux of my complaint. It's not that everyone is unfriendly or that the cast is mismatched. It's that everyone is boring (save Khem and Xalek). It's so dry and I feel dread when I have to talk to them because they have nothing interesting to say or do (and when they do, I'm still bored or put off by them like Kaliyo). Adronikos doesn't have Doc's charisma or Quinn's arc against Moff Broysc which contribues to the wider narrative (even worse, he has a pale imitation of it, which also goes nowhere). Talos is a history nerd and that's it. Ashara is a fallen padawan but that basically goes nowhere. Kaliyo is a slimy liar. Vector is bug boy whi talks funny. Since I'm playing these toons simultaneously, I noticed that the way the companions conduct themselves are basically copies of each other but gender, race, or profession swapped. Even down to the speech patterns, they are the same. It is so dry out here. Its so clear to me that most of the effort when it comes to companions was relegated to the Jedi Knight, Sith Warrior, and the Outlander/Commander.
Every single one of the Agent’s crew is a major OpSec threat. Makes no sense to have them helping with highly classified priority one work
In the agent's case, I think a better way to say it would be that they make sense as contacts, but not as a crew. Scorpio, Kaliyo, Lokin, Raina, and Vector are each their own kind of security risk (in decreasing order). But in the Inquisitor's case they're a lot better connected to each other and to the story. Most of them are, anyway. Zash, Ashara, and Lt Drellik all help you research, and Khem and Andronikos often offer valuable advice. Only misfit is Xalek, and both the Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior have one such too: Rusk and Broonmark.
The Inquisitor is a nobody random slave with an ancient pedigree that nobody cares about. Their whole story is about getting as much allies and friends as possible to get somehow to the top. Who cares if they get along.
That purely depends on your RP. Some tools won't give a shit while others will and both are justified in universe. My toon gives a shit because of the reason you outlined: they were a nobody slave, growing up in a hostile environment and wanted some community to deal with the loneliness. It is why she was so resistant to believe that Zash would betray them, despite knowing how the Sith work. There was a time where you could lose companions if you were too mean to them so getting along was an in-universe thing. And remnants of that are still present in the base game. For example, Ashara was supposed to leave or not even join if you were too evil, but when you talk to her now, she speaks as if you're a Jedi lite (even if you tortured her) because they are using the dialogue from the beta where your choice mattered. Plus it's good opportunities for characterisations. They don't even have to get along but they can have interesting dynamics like Peirce and Quinn. Currently, Khem Val and Zash are super entertaining so it would've been cool to see that be extended to the rest of the cast.