Chocobo Companion Question

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Originally Posted by Estellios

The tank role is really good after leveling it up so it got some STR and HP but the huge downside is that it takes him a couple seconds to start using his enmity move. Once he starts using it though, he spams it and can hold hate really well.

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That's good to know, because so far I've been disappointed with the tank. I'm only rank 3 right now, and it can't seem to hold hate for more than a few seconds.

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Originally Posted by Alise

55 point for just one role? you know how much time does it take to level it up....

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Its not like that, you only have to level him up 10 times and you will have all 55 points. Every level gives you that many points, at level 9 you will get 9 ADDITIONAL points. At 10 you get 10 ADDITIONAL points.

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Originally Posted by Victor

Does anyone have any tips on how to level your chocobo effectively? It seems to be a painfully slow process no matter how I approach it. Furthermore, is there any way to have it gain EXP once you are level 50? The reason I ask is because I'm just about 50 on every DoW and DoM class (1.0 player).

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Level Synched FATEs might work. If levees still allow level synch for parties also. For some reason GC levees don't allow chocobo because its considered a party.

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Originally Posted by Camate

Hello, everyone! :)

You’ll be happy to know that we are in fact planning for a way to re-allocate your companion skill points. Once we have the details, including when we plan on implementing this, we will be sure to let you all know!

Also, for those of you who are curious, the maximum amount of skill points you can earn is 55 points. In order to learn the final ability for each role, you’ll need to put in all of these points. Hopefully this information will help you plan out your companion’s abilities a bit better until we introduce the method for re-allocation.

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this should really be adjusted to 57 points, so that you can at least 'unlock' the two other roles at the most basic level. It's fine if I have to specialize, but if i can't change the stat points easily, we shouldn't be completely locked out of the other stances if we focus one.

I disagree, and to be honest I wish there was some way to do the same for characters. i.e., forcing the choice at some stage that a player focusing on one or few classes can level them higher, even if the extra few levels are highly superficial statistically.

I dislike the idea that by the time I 'finish' with a character they'll be "lv 50 everything"
I would prefer a system where for example every character in the game had the option of say 30 more levels, that offered tiny amounts of stats increase.

so one could be level 80 in one class, level 60 in three classes, or level 55 is 6 classes. If for no other reason then to actually distinguish the player;s own role playing choices "oh this guys like the magic roles and wants to be identified as a magician". rather then "Oh look an end game robot" L50 L50 L50 I wonder what his chosen class is and if the gear he's currently wearing is a reflection on that, or wither he's just logged off having reached L50 in a class he'll never be using again.

Lol.
In case it's not obvious, I've always prefered those games where characters have strong unique differences, In FFies that would be those like VI, IX and XIII as opposed to VII, XIII and XII where characters were the statistical equivalent of sacks of meat on which to hang your Materia/GFs/Licences, with end game teams being identically abled demi-gods with nought but a limit-break and superficial differences between them.

I'm hoping that there will be other companions added on that you can then summon the one you need to have specialized. Still a retraining item from the GCs would be nice. In case a later companion is perhaps faster/stronger compared to the current one so you can respec this one to something else.

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Originally Posted by Felis

@Camate: Can we train only our company chocobos or also our self raised chocobos later?

Because my plan was originaly 3 Chocobos each specialized in one of the 3 roles and 1 or 2 hybrid Chocobos.

Maybe also let me be a Chocobo trainer if it is possible ^^
Raise them, train them and then sell them on the market.

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If that's your plan and it does work out that way, is it to late to place an order with you. I want Redwing to be red.

Thanks for the update. Even if it costs 10,000 seals like respec'ing your character does, having an option to do it is better than no option. Especially for those who made the mistake of spreading their points around.

Me personally, I started off as DPS, but now my main is going to be tank, so since I made my Chocobo a tank, I have no real use for him... changing this would be great. That is, of course, unless we can bread multiple chocobos or get other companions in another way so I can have at least one tank and one dps

With regards to choco companions, will we be granted a pet control bar to make it so that we can sic em onto mobs to assist in the aggro build?

Add ability to call choco while in queue and you have a winner.

Being able to use DF while your Choco is out would be nice.. Auto dismiss once you commence.. pop back out after..

I hope in the future, there's a high-level quest along the lines of "My Feistier Chocobo" that would allow us to get our Chocobo up to Rank 20. I'm not asking for gifts. Of course, it would take a long time to level it up, but for those who do, they could have a more versatile bird.

If they continue giving points equal to the Chocobo's level, at level 20 you would have 210 points.

At 55 points for each area, you would only need 165 - those other 45 points would be wasted. OR - the higher ranks would add levels to each of the three stances, and you would run into more of the same issue that people have now, wondering how to optimally spec the bird.

I seen a player earlier today while running some FATES that had a level 13 Chocobo Companion, I made sure to actually target it to be sure but it seems that level 10 is not the max, now if you actually earn SP afterwards is the only thing to find out. I didn't get a chance to ask him anything as he probably teleported right after.

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Originally Posted by Camate

Hello, everyone! :)

You’ll be happy to know that we are in fact planning for a way to re-allocate your companion skill points. Once we have the details, including when we plan on implementing this, we will be sure to let you all know!

Also, for those of you who are curious, the maximum amount of skill points you can earn is 55 points. In order to learn the final ability for each role, you’ll need to put in all of these points. Hopefully this information will help you plan out your companion’s abilities a bit better until we introduce the method for re-allocation.

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Good to know thanks for the heads up. So if we put a point in anything else we can't get the final skill? Skill reallocation will probably be out before I can get that far, but this is a good thing to know anyway thanks very much.

The level of your bird is the same level as the class you're playing. The rank is the actual level that the bird is and I don't think you can see that. That rank can only go up to rank 10. I think the "level" that you see is there to match it up with your HP. Don't want a rank 1 bird to have the same HP as a lvl 1 right? So damage and HP scale with the level of your class, the rank is dependent on the exp it receives from your fights.

I got my bird up a few ranks and have been playing about with the Chocobo abilities
From what we know, you get a maximum of 55 SP Points (at level 10) to spend on Chocobo abilities.

Your chocobo needs to be at a certain level to pick each ability and YOU MUST BUY ALL ABILITIES IN ORDER. This means you can't take a rank 3 ability without taking the rank 1 and rank 2 ones before it.

The higher up a tree you go, the greater the SP cost. Level 1 abilities cost 1 SP, Level 2 Abilities cost 2 SP (plus the 1 SP from level 1), etc. up to level 10.

Basically; if you buy all the abilities from one tree, it will cost you all your SP (at any level). So you can either "Fully spec" into one tree, or mix-and-match lower-rank abilities from different trees.

From what I can determine, it looks like going Hybrid is going to be the best option except for in very specific circumstances -

For reference, Chocobo Ability List:

*** Defender ***
1 SP: 150 Potency Attack with +Enmity
3 SP: +5% Str Trait
6 SP: +10% HP Trait
10 SP: 130 Potency Attack, +20% Slow for 12s
15 SP: +5% Acc Trait
21 SP: +15% Crit Rate Trait
28 SP: 15% Damage Reduction for 15s
36 SP: +5% Str Trait
45 SP: +10% HP Trait
55 SP: 150 Potency Cone Attack with +Enmity

*** Attacker ***
1 SP: 150 Potency Attack
3 SP: +5% Str Trait
6 SP: +5% HP Trait
10 SP: 130 Potency Attack, 20 Potency DoT for 18s
15 SP: +5% Acc Trait
21 SP: +15% Crit Rate Trait
28 SP: 130 Potency Attack, Stun for 5s
36 SP: +10% Str Trait
45 SP: +10% Attack Speed Trait
55 SP: 170 Potency Cone Attack

*** Healer ***
1 SP: 25 Potency HoT for 18s
3 SP: +10% Mnd Trait
6 SP: +5% HP Trait
10 SP: 300 Potency Heal
15 SP: +5% Acc Trait
21 SP: +15% Crit Rate Trait
28 SP: +30% Healing Potency for 30s
36 SP: +15% Mnd Trait
45 SP: +5% HP Trait
55 SP: 150 Potency Heal PBAoE

Observations:

(i) Healer Stance's level 1 regen ability will top you up, but not save you. It is only really noticable out-of-the-box on a GLD or PLD tank. That said, taking the first 4 ability ranks in Healer stance basically gives you a pocket "mini healbot" and is VERY good return for 10 SP.

(ii) Companion AI is very, very dumb. I'd be very surprised if it was able to get much milage out of the level 10 Cone attacks or AoE Heal. This likely makes spending 10 SP on those final abilities (usually) a bit of a waste.

(iii) Traits appear to STACK. Example: 5% HP from level 3 Healer plus 10% from level 3 Defender = 15% HP total.

(iv) If your bird is set to 'Free Stance' then it will try to cycle heals in between auto-attacks and other abilities if anyone needs them. If your bird is set to 'Healer Stance' then it shouldn't try to use any other abilities or auto-attack, and should only heal. (Hopefully in future patches it will also learn to STAND AWAY FROM ENEMY PBAoEs...) :p

With that in mind, four Hybrid builds suggest themselves to me:

Build #1 - "DD/Healer Hybrid"
Take the first 4 ranks in Healer Stance (10 SP), and 9 ranks in Attacker Stance (45 SP) for 55 SP total.
= Three good Weaponskills, one HoT, one Heal, a Stun, and a DoT.
+10% HP, +5% Acc, +15% Str, +15% Crit Rate, +10% MND, +10% Attack Speed

Build #2 - "Balanced Tank/DD/Healer"
4x Healer (10 SP), 6x Attacker (21 SP), 6x Defender (21 SP) = 52 SP Total
= Four good Weaponskills, one HoT, one Heal. Has a Slow, a DoT, and an +enmity ability.
+20% HP, +10% Acc, +10% Str, +30% Crit Rate, +10% MND

Build #3 - "More Attack, Less Tank"
6x Healer (21 SP), 7x Attacker (28 SP), 3x Defender (6 SP) = 55 SP Total
= Same as #2, but trades the +Slow Weaponskill for a +Stun Weaponskill.

Build #4 - "More Tank, Less Attack"
6x Healer (21 SP), 3x Attacker (6 SP), 7x Defender (28 SP) = 55 SP Total
= Same as #2, but trades the +DoT for a damage reduction ability.

Hey these four posts are awesome! I would almost suggest a separate thread with a guide of sorts to help people out and also get feedback on these suggested builds. Just as a tip, you can stick more than 1000 characters in a post if you type the whole thing up, cut out the excess to get under the 1000 limit then edit the post sticking it all back in afterward :)

As an Arcanist/Summoner, I really have no idea what to have my chocobo do. Should I have my summoned pet be an attacker, and have chocobo tank? Or have my summoned pet be a tank, and let chocobo attack? There's no way to know unless I can test it out for myself and see what works. But, if there is no way to rearrange or reset the chocobo's points, then that goes right out the window.

Not to mention, supposedly this game is intended for people to level potentially every class/job in the game. So, a tanking chocobo might work fine for a squishy caster -- but for a Gladiator or Marauder, it may not be necessary. Once all the people throwing snark at the OP get to this stage of their game, they will be the ones screaming at SE to allow chocobo respecialization.

If they don't want us to retrain our chocobos, maybe there is a possibility of getting different kinds of companions down the road? Or, chocobo breeding sounds great too...

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Originally Posted by Fyrebrand

As an Arcanist/Summoner, I really have no idea what to have my chocobo do. Should I have my summoned pet be an attacker, and have chocobo tank? Or have my summoned pet be a tank, and let chocobo attack? There's no way to know unless I can test it out for myself and see what works. But, if there is no way to rearrange or reset the chocobo's points, then that goes right out the window.

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They already posted earlier in this very thread that they're intending to bring out a means to respec your Chocobo, but it'll take a while to get to us.

That said, for an Arcanist/Summoner you might not think that you're going to get much usage out of the chocobo's meagre healing abilities, but if you ever intend to level up other classes they will prove quite useful, and any healing used by the chocobo will help towards allowing it to hold hate.

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[LEVELLING CHOICES EDITED OUT due to later observations, see next post!]

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Also, one additional build suggests itself to me:

Build #5 - "Maximum ST Damage"
9x Attacker (45 SP), 4x Defender (10SP) = 55 SP Total
(Compared to Build #3, trades 15% Crit Rate, 5% Acc, 5% HP and any Healing capability for 10% STR, +10% Attack Speed and a fifth Weaponskill)

It loses a lot of utility, but the extra STR and Attack Speed would probably be slightly better than the Crit Rate and Acc in a damage race. This will also make the Chocobo's damage output much more consistent over time since it doesn't rely as much on Critical Hits. For someone who is never going to play a melee class and can handle their own healing, this companion setup might make sense.

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Originally Posted by ChickensEvil

Just as a tip, you can stick more than 1000 characters in a post if you type the whole thing up, cut out the excess to get under the 1000 limit then edit the post sticking it all back in afterward :)

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Thanks, SE's posting limits seem to be a bit harsh! :p

The builds are based mostly on conjecture rather than hard information, so I'm not sure a 'guide' would be appropriate yet; but I've updated the Consolegames wiki page with the new information we've been given about SP and respecs.

Here is my Healer base build, for those who like a good healing Chocobo.

Personal opinion I will say only Healer tree is worth to max. AOE heal is not really about your party healing but just healing yourself and your chocobo at the same time to keep both alive, less confusion to AI. Healing is also AOE enmity will be better then any AOE enmity skill from Defender unless you position well for skill.

Healer Chocobo can take longer to Rank up due to slow killing but will suit all class/job.

(High HP & Heal) HEAL/AOE TANK -

Lvl 9 Healer (45 SP), Lvl 3 Defender (6 SP), Lvl 2 Attacker (3 SP). 1 SP left over

+10% STR
+20% HP
+25% Mind
+5% Acc
+15% Crit Rate
+30% Healing/30s
150 Potency ATK + Enmity Skills
150 Potency ATK Skills
25 HoT/18s
300 Potency Heal

Maelwys's build No. 3 should also be a good healer too. Heal do Critical but will also be a bit of a hit and miss feel, since it more about luck and Stun 5 sec = 5 sec of no damage (SOLO MOB BASE).

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Originally Posted by UBERHAXED

Wah...
At least look like you know what you're talking about. Why would the top DPS want to put points in to Attack stance when any of the others would be far better (Bard has large aggro pull and inability to use healing spells, etc.)?

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I lol'd hard when I saw him say spec a CNJ choco into heals HA!

Quick update:

OmegaXTC has hit Rank 10 Chocobo and in the process has revealed a few interesting bits of additional information.

Firstly, the Chocobo's summon duration at Level #10 does appear to be 15 minutes as-predicted.
Secondly, getting from Level #9 to Level #10 takes a LONG time.
Thirdly, the Rank #7 Healer Stance's +30% Healing Buff looks to be very high uptime (75% or higher) which makes it probably the best survivability buff you can get aside from the Rank #4 Cure.

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For a min/maxxed general-purpose hybrid build, I'm now leaning towards:
+ Rank #3 Defender, Rank #6 Attacker, Rank #7 Healer (55 SP total)

Only having one weaponskill available in Defender stance (an +enmity attack) should mean that you can switch your Chicken into that stance whenever you want to force him to pull maximum hate on something. Healing Stance will prevent him from autoattacking or using any weaponskills, and will make him start curebombing you whenever you drop below ~75% HP (in Free Stance he waits until ~50% HP). Free Stance would be used for the majority of situations, letting the Chocobo autoattack and cycle his heals and other damaging abilities as needed.

A note about Healing Stance: I could see it being useful for a Non-Melee Damage Dealer - someone who doesn't need any extra damage output and instead wants maximum survivability, but as a Paladin I REALLY don't like using it. Aside from the DPS loss, my Chocobo has far too much of a tendency to stand right beside me and get hit with cone attacks, which means he now has to heal himself as well as me. Whilst tanking things I find leaving the Chicken in Free Stance makes me last longer, even with the lowered Cure trigger threshold... and the additional DPS doesn't hurt either! :)

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Suggested Chocobo Progression:
+ Level 1 (1 SP) - Rank 1 Healer (HoT) [0 SP remaining]
+ Level 2 (2 SP) - Rank 1 Defender (Enmity WS) + Rank 1 Attacker (WS) [0 SP remaining]
+ Level 3 (3 SP) - Rank 2 Healer (MND Trait) [1 SP remaining]
+ Level 4 (4 SP) - Rank 3 Healer (HP Trait) + Rank 2 Attacker [STR Trait] [0 SP remaining]
+ Level 5 (5 SP) - Rank 4 Healer (Cure) [1 SP Remaining]
+ Level 6 (6 SP) - Rank 3 Attacker (+HP Trait) + Rank 4 Attacker (DoT WS) [0 SP remaining]
+ Level 7 (7 SP) - Rank 5 Healer (Acc Trait) + Rank 2 Defender (STR Trait) [0 SP remaining]
+ Level 8 (8 SP) - Rank 6 Healer (Crit Rate Trait) [2 SP remaining]
+ Level 9 (9 SP) - Rank 7 Healer (+Potency Buff) + Rank 3 Defender (HP Trait) [1 SP remaining]
+ Level 10 (10 SP) - Rank 5 Attacker (Acc Trait) + Rank 6 Attacker (Crit Trait) [0 SP remaining]

Since it appears to take a very LONG time to get from Level 9 to Level 10, you could swap the level 9 + 10 choices around depending on whether you want more Survivability or more DPS earlier.

The issue with creating a Chocobo that has skills from two or more classes is that you won't be able to get a Rank 10 Barding. :(

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Originally Posted by Maelwys

Build #2 - "Balanced Tank/DD/Healer"
4x Healer (10 SP), 6x Attacker (21 SP), 6x Defender (21 SP) = 52 SP Total
= Four good Weaponskills, one HoT, one Heal. Has a Slow, a DoT, and an +enmity ability.
+20% HP, +10% Acc, +10% Str, +30% Crit Rate, +10% MND

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Seeing as I don't really care if I unlock the barding or not... I will probably go for build number 2 (Or the update above in post 106, copied below), since I can utilize almost every class myself, and need a companion that can "Do it all."

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Originally Posted by Maelwys

Quick update:

OmegaXTC has hit Rank 10 Chocobo and in the process has revealed a few interesting bits of additional information.

Firstly, the Chocobo's summon duration at Level #10 does appear to be 15 minutes as-predicted.
Secondly, getting from Level #9 to Level #10 takes a LONG time.
Thirdly, the Rank #7 Healer Stance's +30% Healing Buff looks to be very high uptime (75% or higher) which makes it probably the best survivability buff you can get aside from the Rank #4 Cure.

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For a min/maxxed general-purpose hybrid build, I'm now leaning towards:
+ Rank #3 Defender, Rank #6 Attacker, Rank #7 Healer (55 SP total)

Only having one weaponskill available in Defender stance (an +enmity attack) should mean that you can switch your Chicken into that stance whenever you want to force him to pull maximum hate on something. Healing Stance will prevent him from autoattacking or using any weaponskills, and will make him start curebombing you whenever you drop below ~75% HP (in Free Stance he waits until ~50% HP). Free Stance would be used for the majority of situations, letting the Chocobo autoattack and cycle his heals and other damaging abilities as needed.

A note about Healing Stance: I could see it being useful for a Non-Melee Damage Dealer - someone who doesn't need any extra damage output and instead wants maximum survivability, but as a Paladin I REALLY don't like using it. Aside from the DPS loss, my Chocobo has far too much of a tendency to stand right beside me and get hit with cone attacks, which means he now has to heal himself as well as me. Whilst tanking things I find leaving the Chicken in Free Stance makes me last longer, even with the lowered Cure trigger threshold... and the additional DPS doesn't hurt either! :)

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Suggested Chocobo Progression:
+ Level 1 (1 SP) - Rank 1 Healer (HoT) [0 SP remaining]
+ Level 2 (2 SP) - Rank 1 Defender (Enmity WS) + Rank 1 Attacker (WS) [0 SP remaining]
+ Level 3 (3 SP) - Rank 2 Healer (MND Trait) [1 SP remaining]
+ Level 4 (4 SP) - Rank 3 Healer (HP Trait) + Rank 2 Attacker [STR Trait] [0 SP remaining]
+ Level 5 (5 SP) - Rank 4 Healer (Cure) [1 SP Remaining]
+ Level 6 (6 SP) - Rank 3 Attacker (+HP Trait) + Rank 4 Attacker (DoT WS) [0 SP remaining]
+ Level 7 (7 SP) - Rank 5 Healer (Acc Trait) + Rank 2 Defender (STR Trait) [0 SP remaining]
+ Level 8 (8 SP) - Rank 6 Healer (Crit Rate Trait) [2 SP remaining]
+ Level 9 (9 SP) - Rank 7 Healer (+Potency Buff) + Rank 3 Defender (HP Trait) [1 SP remaining]
+ Level 10 (10 SP) - Rank 5 Attacker (Acc Trait) + Rank 6 Attacker (Crit Trait) [0 SP remaining]

Since it appears to take a very LONG time to get from Level 9 to Level 10, you could swap the level 9 + 10 choices around depending on whether you want more Survivability or more DPS earlier.

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i hit rank 10 chocobo as my healer a few weeks ago and it was a good investment. not only does my chocobo look awesome in whm barding but it does heal more than people expect, so im satisfied :)

I really hope we can reset points eventually. I didn't know the reward for rank 10 was chocobo barding at first. Since my main job is white mage, I put a point into tank when I started. But I want the white mage barding, so the companion system is completely useless to me now. If I can never get the barding I want now, then what's the point?

Let,s say the make a way to breed or have more than one choco. That would awesome. Though you maybe only able to call one choco at a time. We may see some changes when they release an expansion and maybe they can make new jobs. So that we can further train or allow more ranks like up to 20. I think being able to form your own party is nice with a choco. As for the choco i have all 3 job abilities unlocked though limited for each. For now i appreciate we can use chocos to aid us in fight.