WHICH Companion BEST for AoE Damage? Testing 15 + Ranking Document - Neverwinter Mod 21

[@mell.7017]

Lol, Aragon is hilarious. Aragon, "I don't know why he wasn't nerfed?" Cryptic, "Oh we will now Aragon.Ty"

[@Aragon-]

lol xD

[@hennessy_901]

@@Aragon- that is all about their workflow. once they have turned on their computers they have absolutly no idea what they are doing

[@Matt-zs6qx]

🤣 Guess I'm not getting a Githyanki now!

[@mickmuzzmkmz1628]

Hey Aragon, nice video! The revised companion damage graph was a big improvement. I definitely agree with what you said in closing, about the companions needing to be more balanced. There's nothing worse than grinding and grinding for a companion which clearly stands out above the rest, only to have it nerfed just after you buy the damn thing, very frustrating indeed!🤬 I also prefer running an active companion over an augment, as it makes solo work easier, because not only do they add to the killing, but some can ad helpful buffs or debuffs, while allowing you to flank the enemies. Some will also help pull the aggro from you.

[@oldschool5317]

Aragon: puts out "new *best* " Cryptic Nerf Team: "Lock 'n load boys." I swear you do 1/2 their research for them Aragon,.You should be on their payroll.

[@Aragon-]

I know right, lol xD It would be pretty unprofessional for them to rely on my data, but yeah who knows. Perhaps they just look at what companions are just used the most and they nerf them

[@toccandocreacanaleulterior176]

@@Aragon- nah I'm pretty sure they use KZbinrs data lol

[@OverlandingArmyVeteran]

This is why all the veterans left after years. Nerf every other week they do it to make you buy buy buy…. I will never turn this game back on.

[@andrewtomlinson5237]

Yeah... everyone run out and Buy Buy Buy, the... Wayward Wizard... and Con Artist... That's a REAL cash grab on their part.

[@Vile-Flesh]

They really ruined the game.

[@OverlandingArmyVeteran]

@@Vile-Flesh absolutely! I was a day one player. I use to stop playing wait for the bee mod and come back. I have been back in over a year. Will never go back. I support these content creators I just don't know why the continue to support a company like this id never support a company like this.

[@baldgaming6204]

@@OverlandingArmyVeteran it's not like they have a choice, usually shit like this is bound to happen cause of long term contracts, not much can be done

[@OverlandingArmyVeteran]

@@baldgaming6204 The company is a joke a complete joke, it is their fault they have destroyed the game 100% I love seeing people say its not dead when you look at the active player list compared to other games.. How do they pay the bills. As of right now they have 1300 people on PC active, I am sure the numbers are higher on Console because consoles don't have many options... But New world is killing them and Hour ago there was over 500k So yeah tell me the game isn't dead lol.If they are satisficed with 1300 on PC so be it.

[@dazlee3257]

Cryptic bosses: companion token sales are down. Neverwinter dev: Hold my beer.

[@CancianiJuan7]

everything is downhill atm

[@yopp3.016]

I can't believe they nerfed xuna that hard. That's overkill, even compared to previous nerfs.

[@SzaraWilk]

Poor Xuna. Stabbing her with blade and travel her do Bryn Shander wasn't enough for Cryptic.

[@arirytkola8119]

I would like to see Splinters tested/analyzed to see how it performs compared to others. And since Masquerade is coming it would be good time to do it! =)

[@OcelotUwU]

Is hafling wayward wizard good?

[@gioncymusic351]

It makes no sense to buy any of these companions because the nerf is incoming

[@mehmetramazansengun1603]

Can you make a video about buff/debuff or enemy control companions?

[@Aragon-]

yup i can

[@stoneworkmegapup215]

How does the normal Phoera compare with the Mystic Phoera that everyone gets?

[@Aragon-]

The Mystic one is actually a bit better, just tested it, added to the document!

[@stoneworkmegapup215]

@@Aragon- Thanks

[@redtreeapps]

Regis is criminally under-rated. He makes mobs disappear.

[@Aragon-]

yup, he's good

[@DayOfVictory007]

What's another similar companion like Regis skills-wise? I swear there is one!

[@user-kv1ih9lf5e]

@@DayOfVictory007 succubus/incubus but they have a cone aoe attack so may miss a few and has a slight charge up before using. But it does almost double Regis attack.

[@44bladerunner1]

The razorwood has big aoe and single target hits and hits quite fast

[@Aragon-]

I'll try get him

[@supermanresop5441]

I don't know if the setup is the same on it PC as it is on console but you have that new training area and you can spawn multiple enemies next to each other on the left hand side when you go in there and they're fairly close together

[@Aragon-]

The problem is they die too fast to be able to make a fair test. The only way I could do it is, how fast for the companion to kill all 6 enemies.

[@cienciandu]

What's up, Aragon. Nice! I believe the future for NW will be the buff/debuff companions considering that everyone will be nerfed. Make a video showing the 10 best companions in this category. like Tutor, Spined Devil, Wulfgar, etc.

[@toccandocreacanaleulterior176]

So cryptic can nerf those too lmao

[@shutakah7567]

Gtihyanki deals a lot of dmg but she's kinda annoying bcoz her attacks knock backs enemies XD

[@Vile-Flesh]

Yeah! I used to run with her in Avernus Wastes but her knock back was making it take longer to kill mobs. She knocks them way back and that was a problem for my barb and fighter.

[@cr2370]

Thanks for the run down. I like running with an Intellect Devourer. Can you test that one?

[@funkylilguylol]

I think he already has in one of his last videos

[@SzaraWilk]

My favorite is portal hound (or wild hunt hound). I have it in mythic level.

[@Aragon-]

I added the intellect devourer to the list

[@cr2370]

@@Aragon- Awesome, thanks.

[@jedbrown1800]

My crew and I are curious about the wizard aoe companion "Mystagogue" he does good numbers with a slow effect damaging aoe. Wondering also the " Jagged Dancing Blade". It has good numbers as well. Thank you

[@OneAutumnLeaf572]

Mystagogue attacks enemies at close range, making his aoe much more effective.

[@Smite_Sion]

I would also be interested in the best encounter companions, like you said regis does a lot of damage instant. So maybe more usefull to look into the first 5 seconds of a fight, as most mobs are dead afterwards.

[@grapy83]

This!

[@mr.g8137]

They wayward wizzy and the hafling wayward. Are they identical?

[@Val-vg6df]

Can you add Splinters to the test list ? It should be quite well ranked

[@dustind3960]

I am on ps4 so i have no access to tracking state other then combat log. I do most of my personal tester running the stronghold influance running.

[@cerine5152]

The halfling wayward wizard does the same skills as the wayward wizard/mystagogue.

[@Aragon-]

It should do

[@alphakingdp583]

Question since traveling entertainer suck a single target due to the it's abilities more focus on AoE. would it do well as a AoE companion?

[@T2RIllusion]

thinking they should hall be balanced is not really nice. There needs to be more valuable companions and items that cost more and are harder to get. Unless whats the point to make many? I personally think there needs to be BiS for each situation.

[@andrewtomlinson5237]

Yeah, but you can have that without the best being ridiculously over powered. And not everyone gets the same sort of benefit of having super OP companions, but chase them anyway because everyone says "They are the Best!" For instance, there was little point spending a shit tonne of money to get Xuna or CiW if your character was 30K IL and you had no indomitable Runestones and couldn't upgrade them all to Mythic. But people went after them, ignoring the companions that were way cheaper but were only a slight way behind them, and wasting resources they could have used to improve their character in far better ways. That difference between say Xuna and something like the Vicious Dire Wolf could remain, but just scaled down, so that Xuna IS better, but rather than doing 28/29K DPS compared to the Wolf's 26/27 they could be doing in the range of 17-20, with the ones that currently do 3 or 4K being raised to something like 15-18K. Having something be Good doesn;t need to be compounded by everything else being Crap. If they make one the BIS for a given situation, the question is then, "why bother with anything else?" And if they then make a better one, that only increases the gap between the Best and the Rest, making the richer character even more powerful by comparison. It makes the people who struggled to get the previous Best Available very angry and scream "Pay To Win!!"(despite the fact that their expensive companion is still damned Good), because it's less about the actual performance, and more about having the ability to say "I've Got The Best." But if they follow through with the preview server nerfs and turn what were Best into effectively Worst, without introducing broader changes across the whole base of companions, then that is certainly THE SINGLE WORST WAY to approach the situation, and they need to rethink on that possibility. Personally, I hope the current numbers are a first pass on a wider roll out, and will be adjusted based on their own tests and player feedback. That IS what Preview is supposed to be for, after all...

[@jamesandthefatcat9464]

Githyanki warrior has a nasty habit to push enemy all over the place,i have used it for along time. its good but may uset other players cause of that push effect to mops.

[@TheWorryingWolverine]

Well, how is the Death Slad doing with his Poisoncloud? Is it worth upgrading, or just worthless as well now?

[@erevel4473]

I appriciate what you do with those tests. Have a few questions though: 1. Why is it that testing time is not similar between all companions? ACT logs shows that some companions were given like 5 minutes test time while the others got 3 or 12 minutes? How do you actually check encdps? I never really took time to get to know it, just curious. Whenever I check something like that I just look at floating numbers :D 2. I know it's not complete list of all companions, but do you have access to the following: Soradiel(Zariel); Lava Galeb Durh; Water Archon; Razorwood; Splinters; Intellect Devourer; Earth Archon? It might be a lot to ask, but it would also help to know if those could be useful from ACT perspective. Thanks :)

[@Aragon-]

1. if you do a hit of 20k damage every 2 seconds, how much DPS do you have? 20k / 2 = 10k so you have 10k DPS if I leave you hitting for 2 mins, will that number change? no, you will still only deal 20k damage every 2 seconds which equals 10k DPS so, if I test for 1 hour, will the damage still change? no, it will still be 10k DPS 2. tested the intellect just now and added him, the rest I'll try get my hands on.

[@erevel4473]

@@Aragon- Thanks for reply! Sometimes I feel stupid for not knowing that stuff, thanks for clearing that for me :)

[@emmalouiseprocter7021]

Is Incubus exactly the same as Succubus? On PS it says +0 combined rating for Incubus and +300 for Succubus... probably a glitch but is the damage the same?

[@Aragon-]

It should be the same performance from both.

[@emmalouiseprocter7021]

@@Aragon- thanks man! It's just an expensive choice on PS4 if I will need to buy the other so I wanted to be sure! Thank you for all the work you do =)

[@TheWandererBard]

Cryptic watching this video - "ok time to nerf top 4 companions on this list and see who he tests next to nerf them too" xD

[@marie-evegelinas690]

Have you test other companion since? Would be very curious to see the assassin Drake stat.

[@gabrielvillanueva6187]

Great work man. I have a suggestion, for many of us dont have 6 r15 indomitables or the resources ti acquire them. So could you make a list of useful companions?? Like the ones who have def skills or that atrack attention from mobs so mobs target them instead of you?? Or that may debuff mobs??

[@toxuthat1]

making sure i understand your findings: your encdps is for all damage, so we need to divide by number of targets to see what he does to each target? i.e. githyanki actually did 26k dps per target and regis is only 9k~ dps per. or is the enddps already per mob?

[@Aragon-]

The EncDps is how much they dealt against that amount of targets.

[@baldgaming6204]

So here is where I find it troubling to choose. My main is a bard, he lacks ST so maybe I should get ST companion, on the other hand maybe I should get aoe to clear mobs faster. But in certain runs like some trials maybe aoe is not needed as much. So until I get both ST and aoe I can swap out for my situations of plays do I choose ST or aoe?

[@Vile-Flesh]

Well, for what it's worth......I have a warlock that I still don't know how to play and she has a mythic succubus companion who literally carries her most of the time. The succubus does good single target and AOE damage and often one shots many mobs and is seriously underrated.

[@baldgaming6204]

@@Vile-Flesh yeah I was looking at succubus, as far as I know only can get in lockbox, unless it can come in juma bags? But yeah that succubus seems nice.

[@ravenlocke42]

Mystagogue has the same powers as wayward wizard, but has different combat algorithms. Wayward defaults to a ranged attack mode while Mystagogue runs right into the middle of combat and his large radius spells hit many more enemies then wayward. Mystagogue is superior to Githyanki if you were to test him. His slow is actually very useful as well…

[@Aragon-]

I'll check the mystagogue, trying to get my hands on him

[@illixer8139]

is githyanki still the best AoE striker for dmg as of mod 24?

[@Aragon-]

no, Incubus/Succubus is the best in AoE

[@percyvaliv684]

Which one is more reliable to hit the most mobs at the start of the fight succubus or wayward? (And there is another succubus pet calles inccubus?)

[@Aragon-]

Succubus and Incubus, they are both the se companion, they are pretty good with their debuff on their attack also

[@toccandocreacanaleulterior176]

I wish my companions had the same intelligence as the enemies instead of attacking behind me and following me when I try to get combat advantage

[@Aragon-]

yes xD

[@harkonmmo4478]

Hey m8 really appreciate your informative videos. Very helpful. Can you please test the Water Archon for me. He seems pretty good to me on AOE at least and his tidal wave has a nice DOT tick on it… please test him and let me know how he goes. Ty in advance 😀👍

[@Aragon-]

I'll try get my hands on him

[@gerbertbalmes450]

Hey aragon. Thanks for the helpful vid. Question though - is the mystic phoera at par with the normal one (phoera)?

[@Aragon-]

The mystic one is a bit better

[@Tatzie]

HI, thx a lot for this video !!! I wonder if the Honey badger is a good companion on AoE targets ?? did you test it ? best regards

[@Aragon-]

its area is far too small to be viable

[@dustind3960]

Aragon Question. Why not do you field testing in solo master of the hunt one of the best places to test target damage?

[@Aragon-]

because I can't do every run the exact same with my own powers. Sometimes I might kill everything and the companion does nothing, other times I may not and the companion gets to do lots of damage, or it dies and does nothing. Too many inconsistencies. I'd have to do like 10 runs per companion and then get the average, and I personally am not up for that xD

[@witheringcadaver9018]

Hey Aragon, awesome video! What's your thoughts on Razzorwood and Slybold Kabol? I'm currently using a Wayward Wizard but because It's at purple right now, I've been using the Slybold this week and it seems to be really good especially with it's ability to hold enemies? As for when I used the Razorwood it seems to hit pretty hard too! They both seem like they've got to be pretty great but I would be just guessing because I'm on ps4 and don't have any real way to test lol! Thanks for your great videos and the time you spend on testing it's very appreciated! Btw I play a Rogue!

[@Aragon-]

I'll give them a check

[@louisdavis5258]

What about the leprechaun is it any good ?

[@thisisgonnahurt2574]

you forgot the moonshea druid with his call lightning and his single target fire seed that keeps burning them

[@Aragon-]

moonshae druid can only hit one dummy in Dread ring, so don't think I'll add him, he should be in my single target list

[@thisisgonnahurt2574]

@@Aragon- his call lightning ability hits many.

[@justinyearing3489]

@@thisisgonnahurt2574 is it possible the aoe attack doesn’t hold up against this list?

[@emmaswan5306]

Hello, I was thinking about Xuna's closest friends... is Makos any good?

[@Aragon-]

sadly, nope. He performs pretty bad, same as the other "famous" companions in the Elite pack

[@vAaron-X]

What about the dread warrior. Is the 10% damage buff any good

[@Aragon-]

unfortunately, when testing it doesn't give 10% damage buff, only 10k Power rating for a few secs

[@johnsherman1544]

Is there a difference between the dancing sword and the jagged sword in regards of ST damage?

[@Aragon-]

I believe the jagged one does more damage, I'll need to check my document, pretty sure I tested both

[@johnsherman1544]

@@Aragon- you did, apparently I just missed it, I apologize.

[@blade7371]

Can you test the earth archon for single target please? Or if you had it in a vid which one was it?

[@Aragon-]

I'll try get my hands on the comp

[@billyk1516]

Basically grab githyanki now for 4m AD before they nerf it in 6 months time

[@Aragon-]

or you could get the zen pack

[@billyk1516]

@@Aragon- lol yeah 5k zen smooth cryptic real smooth 😎

[@user-kv1ih9lf5e]

The spin attacks have generally not been that good for aoe since by the time they charge up their spin everything is already dead. Regis is looking pretty good though but who knows what they'll nerf next

[@xovaqiin4844]

@@Aragon- I think you HAVE to get the Zen pack for the Githyanki. When I got it years ago, it was bind to account immediately. I don't think I've ever seen her on the AH. That means the new BIS is literally a pay to win item. And nerfing an item only available from the Zen store is bait and switch, illegal in some countries and unethical as hell.

[@jimmycricket6592]

Astral deva does good damage at least his main attack does and heals too it might be worth checking him out.also the fey panther seems not too bad

[@andrewtomlinson5237]

The issue is, we don't know what the intended level of support Cryptic have in mind when talking about Companion Damage. If they are dumping Xuna and co down to single figure DPS, and that is deliberate and not the result of them just throwing mud against the wall to see what sticks, then we have to assume that THAT is the expected level of damage they intend from companions. There is no logical reason to nerf just a few so heavily, while leaving others pretty close to that upper level. Once again we are left not knowing what they want us to be doing with companions. They release patch notes and posts on social media saying "These companions are doing too much so we are reducing them..." without saying whether this is just part of a rolling process where there will always be some that do outrageous amounts of damage compared to others or whether they want to get to a point where the new levels of damage they are applying to these nerfed companions will be around the level we should expect to get from companions in general. There needs to be a median point where it IS viable to run a companion that can be a fighter that also buffs your stats without needing Indomitables, AND have the option to run Augments OR Buff/Debuff companions instead of a hard hitting fighter. And that option should not only apply to the top 1% who are so hard they don't need to run damage dealers to complete the tougher content. Its clearly not a "Cash Grab" as the Wayward Wizard and even Con Artist are now back in contention as high damage dealers... But there needs to be some moderation in the disparity between damage dealt by companions. Especially when Indomitable Runestones can make that disparity even bigger.

[@keinname353]

If they're bringing comps down to the level of Xuna and CIW then they may as well dispose of them altogether except perhaps as buffs of some kind. You say it's not a cash grab but I'm not so sure of that. I suspect comps like Wayward Wizard and Con Artist, etc will also be heavily nerfed in the future only to be replaced by a new comp sold exclusively through Zen which, surprisingly enough, will turn out to be the best comps ever.

[@Mar07co]

is this still viable now with the M22 drop?

[@Aragon-]

Not entirely, some changes

[@Mar07co]

@@Aragon- Will wait for the video about the updated version then. Chapeau to your work!

[@-trmxzer0-235]

My splinters broom comp hits like a mack truck

[@federicodevincentiis9953]

Hello aragorn good video!!😉 I don't know if I've understood correctly: are the Wayward wizard and the stubborn wizard equal about power and aoe damage?

[@Aragon-]

The mystagoge and the wayeard wizard are the same, just a reskin of each other

[@gabs_salem]

Is the mystic phoera (the one you gain from lvling adventures) the same as the phoera?

[@Aragon-]

I better check ;p

[@funkylilguylol]

I have both and can't see a difference

[@Aragon-]

The Mystic one is actually a bit better, just tested it, added to the document!

[@sandaldave]

I think Minsc is a bit slept on although he does lose dps time with his aoe CA buff.

[@joejohnson6594]

Wow and I just now got xuna ☹️ spent everything I had on her with buying and upgrading. Just glad I have the Incubus and the Mystagogue 😥

[@taehyungismysin5653]

Is it worth to buy xuna now? I wouldn't want my ad to go waste because i had been grinding so hard for AD

[@joejohnson6594]

According to this video, no. Save a little more and get Regis or one of those. Regis is account wide also.

[@Nicomancer001]

@@joejohnson6594 I second this. Regis i recently featured in the Zen store so they are unlikely to nerf him for a time.

[@Knightpanther_]

Hi, i need some advise, what is the best compagnion for dps warlock ? Thank you 😉

[@Aragon-]

that's a hard question to answer. I can only suggest, one that fits your budget, and does what you want, more damage, aoe or st or both. Or get a companion that will buff everyone's damage

[@Knightpanther_]

Ok 👌 thank you 😉

[@Phenomenonx82]

You can try Water Elemental and Intelect Devourer

[@KingArtoriusTV]

The Gifh looks great on sparring targets but not in dungeons. If you run her in a strong DPS group, everything is dead before she can get to her spin attack. She's slow, Xuna had power and speed. she was faster than the players. I'll take Regis over the Gith as Regis goes for his big hit right away and even if he hit only 1 target for 200k. it's better than the gith doing 20k here and there before she goes for the spin and by that time, everything is dead. Maybe on the 1st boss in VOS, she'll shine a little. You should take your testing to another level by running an end-game dungeon for the Aoe testing with the same group 3x for each comp. You don't even have to finish it, just run Vos up to the 2nd boss with the same group 3x. Especially in the forest with Lumi, the gith don't stand a chance against Regis with all the mobs spawning nicely around.

[@xX_N_E_O_Xx]

Razorwood?

[@grapy83]

I am pretty sure by this time that cryptic management simply opens ur vids to decide wat to nerf next time! Please ask them to pay you for doing 80% of their jobs:)

[@Aragon-]

lol xD

[@MirroringTruth]

think im going augment....the ad spent on xuna was it....

[@Draxxus86]

are this changes Live or at Testserver?

[@Aragon-]

Test server for now,

[@talt9789]

Can u do single target ones too

[@Aragon-]

I have done, my last vid

[@rdetorres1607]

Why you adding M in succubus and incubus?. There is no M dude

[@Aragon-]

idk xD

[@rdetorres1607]

@@Aragon- cheers 😝

[@TGday]

Owl?

[@angrypossum2152]

Yes please the owl has a nice AOE, I suspect close to the phoera

[@Aragon-]

done ;p

[@kittywampusdrums4963]

Chicken is still pretty awesome.

[@DuskbladeOfDraktharr]

thx a lot Aragon, King

[@Aragon-]

cheers :)

[@ChuckRitt]

They didn't nerf the Githyanki because they sell it in the Zen Market.. These assholes greed knows no bounds.. Unbelievable..

[@foggynelson1686]

Wulfgar, aragorn. His attack is aoe.

[@gemsstr7933]

Did this nerf go into effect aleady?

[@Aragon-]

Not just yet, next patch most likely

[@josephjohnson5415]

The worse thing about aoe nerfs is all trash fights are aoe fights. Most bosses now have trash adds which make most modern bosses aoe fights.

[@catorgy2785]

I doubt the devs will nerf zen store comps but with how stupid the devs are and how much they love pissing off the player base I probably will

[@davidkey7991]

Xuna was zen store companion tho right?

[@catorgy2785]

@@davidkey7991 nope. You can get xuna pretty much anywhere she has a chance of dropping from the end chests from most queues I've seen her drop from demo, and jump bags

[@davidkey7991]

Thats right, i actually got mine from a juma. Forgot til you mentioned it just now. Lol I just know they sold packs with a chance at her as well as others in zen store. Thats how alot got xuna. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[@KingArtoriusTV]

Did I just see Xuna hit for 570? It thought they were rebalancing and not destroying it.. (I guess they want everyone to buy the gith pack) lmao

[@xirivoz4139]

Nice!

[@keithcarey6016]

Re: Githyanki - He is a she

[@Aragon-]

oops xD

[@BalthierGR]

as long is players like you that spend tons of money on the game developers will nerf everything , and they will destroy the game till there will be only dumb rich players that have no skills only the wallet power