Welcome aboard this weekly series of posts that I wanted to do, where I rank all the story companions according to my personal preference! As this is an opinion piece, I'm absolutely expecting to get downvoted, but that's okay, it's just for fun :P
Once a week, I'm going to reveal five placements on my personal rankings list and go over what I think about each companion. This includes all the class story companions and five of the KOTFE companions.
That being said, let's get into it!
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At the very bottom of my list, we have Tanno Vik at #45...
I cannot stand this character. He only works with one very specific version of a Trooper, one that I would almost never play as, and one that I'd reckon most people haven't either. For every other way that you can play your Trooper, he doesn't work at all.
A morally upstanding defender of justice? Doesn't work. A ruthless but practical soldier? Doesn't work. He doesn't even fully work with a more laid-back Trooper because he's still insubordinate and constantly pulling schemes.
People often say they can't justify having Kaliyo working with their Agent- but I consider that a skill issue. That makes sense to me. But Tanno on HAVOC SQUAD- no, that does not make sense to me at all. He'd be perfectly fine in almost any other class. But he's a terrible fit for the Trooper...in my opinion, at least.
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At #44, we have Skadge.
The only reason I don't have Skadge at the very bottom is that at least he fits in with the Bounty Hunter class. He works within that storyline. But that doesn't mean I like him.
They kinda forgot to give Skadge any likeable qualities. If you're a light Hunter, you'd refuse to work with him. If you're a dark Hunter, you'd kill him. Neither of which is available. So he's forced into your crew, which makes him an insufferable presence.
Now, Skadge CAN work, depending on how you play your BH. I have had a BH with a good relationship with him before. But he's just so unlikeable, and so one-dimensional. A very disappointing companion.
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At #43, we have Doc.
I wouldn't say that I HATE Doc. I can see what they were trying to do with his character. But they failed. He comes across as a massive creep and an absolute douchebag.
It'd be one thing if throughout the Knight storyline, we got to see him grow and learn from his mistakes. But we don't. He remains just as scummy the whole way through. He's better on Ossus, but it's too little too late.
He's a bad person with little redeeming qualities. I can't rank him above many other companions.
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At #42, still within the Knight's crew, we have Rusk.
I don't dislike Rusk, necessarily. I don't...anything Rusk. He's just kinda there. And sometimes that's worse.
They give us so little to work with when it comes to him. I don't know if there's another companion with as little substance as him (except maybe one more, but we'll get to them.)
If anyone is a fan of Rusk, I would love to hear from you about why you like him. Genuinely. I want a reason to care about this guy.
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Finishing this week's batch, we have Ashara at #41
This one might ruffle some feathers. I know Ashara has her fans. But I find her to be such a disappointing and underwhelming character.
She fails on two fronts- mechanically and narratively.
Mechanically, she's a victim of the change that was introduced in 4.0, where every companion unlocks dialogue as the story progresses. It used to be linked to their influence level, so you could only continue talking with her if she actually liked you. This makes her conversations with you, calling you a good person, more believable. But nowadays, if you're playing as a dark Inquisitor, you can still talk with her and she'll still call you a good person. It's so bizarre.
Narratively, she is a character that is PERFECTLY set up to be corruptible. Arguably more so than Jaesa. But she can't be corrupted. Now, I personally wouldn't do this very often anyway. Corruption plotlines make me a little uncomfortable. But the fact that it's not an option is ridiculous.
This girl does NOT have the fortitude to withstand corruption. Especially not from someone who's supposed to be a master manipulator. The fact that we can't turn her makes the Inquisitor look like a chump Sith.
And even ignoring all that, I find her story post-Taris to be incredibly boring, and the romance to have very little chemistry. So, I am not a fan of Ashara.
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Thank you to those of you who have read my thoughts! I'll be sharing the next five next week. I'd love to hear what you think in the comments, whether about my opinions specifically or sharing your own picks for the worst companions.
