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Scrapper Talent Worth using?

AuthorMessage
Lieutenant
May 09, 2009
110
Hi everyone!

So recently on test I have thought about training the "scrapper" set of talents on all of my companions who were going to have talents for battling. But i'm not sure which talents they should replace or if they are worth training in the first place. Any advice will be appreciated!

Noble Ryan Thompson

Commodore
Apr 28, 2012
962
My two cents are it is not worth training the Scrapper talent early in the game because the healing time is low and it only cuts down on 10% the amount of time to heal. Also, it is only useful if you find yourself with Companions that are wounded (defeated in battle).

Dread Pirate
May 27, 2009
2131
I'm not sure that the 10% faster really would make that much of a difference, really. At lower levels, the wait time isn't very long, and at high levels, you'd probably want to just pay Miracle Mitch and get them back immediately since the wait is so long. Mid-levels, it would be a toss-up.

Personally, since I plan to use random companion selection, it wouldn't matter if any particular one got wounded, so Scrapper would not be worth the training point to me.

Dread Pirate
Jun 17, 2013
2743
With the game in it's current state, I would have to agree with the others. I have not designated the Scrapper talent to any of my companions, mainly because for the last few months most of us that have reached max level, have been also maxing out the majority, if not all of our companions. Currently, at max you should be able to get by with your 2nd, 3rd or even 4th+ row companions, if you lose a few of your favorite heavy hitters in battle. More than likely you will not be losing enough of them to where you are scraping the bottom of the companion barrel.

If you are mid-level, especially in Cool Ranch- pre El Toro, you may run into more problems with lost companions and bed rest thanks to those blasted Scorpions and Buffaloons. But you won't have to wait terribly too long to get your 'big guns' back, should you lose 1 or 2 of them- especially if they are trained well and kept closer to your pirate's level.

I use to keep only my 1st mate at my pirate's level and the rest of the 1st and 2nd rows about 4 or 5 levels lower, and the rest of the 1st page even lower...that is until things would get a little more dicey. Then I would adjust to the current 'difficulty level' that I was facing, with my companions able to move up 2, 3 or even 4+ levels from one companion point. There really wasn't any consequence to losing a companion before, since a quick port to a life fountain would fix them right up. This new system makes that strategy quite a bit tougher and keeping your crew closer to your pirate's level seems to be more essential than ever....especially in those tougher Cool Ranch/MooShu instances.

Maybe, when any new worlds are released, we may find that we can't do without those trusty, top notch companions and we may have to invest some 'Talent Points' on the Scrapper Talent just to get them back in the line up quicker. But until that happens, I personally wouldn't spend them on Scrapper and would use them towards something more beneficial.

Hope this helps!

Lieutenant
May 09, 2009
110
Thanks for all the opinions! I decided I wasn't going to use it when I remembered that my swashbuckler had some companions on the third page. Maybe I have too many companions.

Noble Ryan Thompson 65
Loyal Garret Jones 65
Cautious Joshua Ironside 53
Smart Todd Wright 14
Fearless William Ashburn 12?
Sneaky Blaze Dodger 1

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
IMO it is worth it to train scapper 1 and 2. Getting your companion healing 20 % faster may not seem much, but it's better than a loooong wait or spending all your gold.

Pirate Overlord
Mar 10, 2009
6204
The Loyal Swashbuc... on May 18, 2014 wrote:
Thanks for all the opinions! I decided I wasn't going to use it when I remembered that my swashbuckler had some companions on the third page. Maybe I have too many companions.

Noble Ryan Thompson 65
Loyal Garret Jones 65
Cautious Joshua Ironside 53
Smart Todd Wright 14
Fearless William Ashburn 12?
Sneaky Blaze Dodger 1
Considering that they now can be off getting you plunder, me, myself & I think that there is no such thing as too many companions.

Admiral
Nov 23, 2011
1407
Prior to this recent update, you could absolutely have too many companions. My first character and to an extent my second tended to be companion-crazy, because they were all just so cool (with one or two exceptions...). My third and fourth characters were much more conservative. Consequently their companion training points stretched further, and even their lower-tier companions, when they showed up, were not push-overs in the fight.

Now... I can't think of any downside to additional companions. Just make sure the ones you don't especially want in a fight are busy when you start the fight.

So far, I have not trained anyone with "Scrapper". I have a brand-new swashbuckler (so he can go through the changed Skull Island quests) and when he has someone go OOA, they bounce back in under five minutes (he is currently abotut 14th level). My lvl 62 Privateer has seen some action, and her crewman who went down took longer to come back (I forget... but I want to say in the neighborhood of an hour). but she has a larger crew so having someone in need of a little lie down isn't a critical problem. Interesting observation about it possibly being more useful in Cool Ranch - my musketeer is there, but I have not played him since the update (although he is happily training pets and sending his crew scampering all over the place while he waits his day).

-Indigo

Lieutenant
May 29, 2009
124
All of the above posters have given great advice.

Anything to consider also depends on your own playing style. With the new updates you have the option to use only your first 3 companions at all time, make them random, or always use your First Mate. I would definitely take this option into consideration when deciding whether the Scrapper talent is worth having.

For example, you may choose to use your top 3 companions. To many players this would include El Toro, Bonnie Anne, and perhaps your Starter, Kraken, or Presidio companion. While you have these "top guns" trained in battle techniques and all your other companions off doing tasks, you DO run the risk that one of these will get injured and then you have several choices: Pay to heal them faster, reorder your roster, or take a companion off collecting duties so they can join you (unless you plan to go into battle with only one or two companions).

Therefore, I do find it useful to have the Scrapper talent trained on a few select "battle" companions.

The best way for YOU to decide which ones would benefit from this is to pay attention to them in battle. Which ones are dying a lot? Which ones come VERY close? Which companion(s) can you NOT afford to go into battle without them on your team?

Once you have figured those questions out, then you have the question you posed in your original post; "which talent do you eliminate to make room for the Scrapper?" That also depends on your playing style. Most players choose to go all the way with Rough, Armored (if available), Accurate, & Dodgy. So weigh the other options that are available. Strength, Will, & Agility: you would need to train 2 ranks to equal the +5 in order to give you +1 damage. Health gives +10 with 1st rank then +100 with the 2nd. Not a whole lot when you think about the damage one hit could do to them.

Hope this helps you (and anyone else) when deciding whether the Scrapper is worth it :)

~SM~