Companions are a vital component of SWTOR. Every class uses them to for a multitude of tasks such as combat, crafting, selling inventory goods, gathering crafting materials, and even romance. Every companion has an affection level for the player's character ranging all the way from 0 to a maximum of 10,000. While players can increase their companions' affection through conversation choices, the easiest manner to do so is giving them gifts. To that end, we've put together a complete guide to companion gifts encompassing methods of acquiring them, gift and affection levels, and how to properly use companion gifts.
Some may ask why give companion gifts at all. The reason why you will wish to give you companions gifts in SWTOR is to increase their affection. The higher the companion's affection for the player's character, the faster they'll accomplish whatever crew skill tasks the player assigns them. A companion that has a great deal of affection for a player's character will complete a crew skill task much faster than a companion that really doesn't give a damn. If a player wishes to romance a companion, then you'll definitely want to use gifts to push that affection level as high as you can get it. Overall, there are ten different types of gifts that a player can give to his companions.
| Companion Gifts | |
| Luxury | Republic Memorabilia |
| Technology | Empire Memorabilia |
| Cultural Artifact | Weapon |
| Trophy | Military Gear |
| Underworld Goods | Courting |
The affection for a companion towards the player's character in SWTOR is expressed numerically from 0 to 10,000. Within that range, the affection level can be broken down into five ranks, each approximately at 2,000 point intervals.
Why are affection ranks important in SWTOR? The short answer is that companion gifts are also ranked with a range from rank 1 to rank 5. These ranks become very important when giving gifts to the companion.
There are a variety of ways to gather companion gifts in SWTOR. You can get them from loot drops, mission rewards, vendors, the auction house, and by undertaking certain crew skill missions. You can find companion gift vendors on some worlds (such as Dromund Kaas and Coruscant) and on the fleet stations for both factions. The vendors carry rank 1 and rank 2 companion gifts. The auction house is a good place to find companion gifts, especially the rarer kind, and they can be found in the "miscellaneous" category.
The most common way for players to get their mitts on companion gifts in SWTOR is to send their companions out to complete certain crew skill missions. There are four crew skills that will enable players to gather companion gifts. These four crew skills are:
Players can use the crew skills above to gather companion gifts all the way from rank 1 to rank 5. The level of the crew skill mission will determine the rank of the companion gift acquired.
When you give a companion a gift in SWTOR, it will increase their affection based upon a) how much they like that category of gift, b) the rarity of the companion gift, and c) the rank of the companion gift and what level of affection they are at currently. Gifts, like every other item in SWTOR, has multiple rarity levels, ranging from green (common) to purple (rare). The more rare the companion gift is, the more affection they will gain.
Ranks have a tremendous impact upon affection gain in SWTOR. Gift giving has diminishing returns. Lower level rank companion gifts reward fewer affection points if the companion has a higher affection level for the player's character. Rank 1 gifts stop giving affection at 6000 affection points and rank 2 gifts stop giving affection points at 8000. A gift gives maximum affection if it has equal or higher rank of the companion's current affection level. Higher ranked companion gifts offer the same affection gain as gifts that are of equal rank to the companion's affection level.
Example: You're playing a Bounty Hunter and you're trying to increase the affection level for Mako. She currently has 4200 affection (rank 3 affection). Rank 1 companion gifts will reward the smallest number of points. Rank 2 gifts will reward more affection points than rank 1 gifts, but lower than rank 3 gifts. Rank 3, rank 4, and rank 5 gifts will all give the same amount of affection points.
As you can see from the above example, you will want to give companion gifts of the same level as the affection level of the companion in question. Since giving a gift of rank 5 will net you the same affection gain as a rank 1 gift for a companion with a level 1 affection range, it's wiser to give them lower ranked gifts and save the higher ranked gifts for when they reach higher affection levels or for other companions that have higher affection levels.
Players will need to be aware that if the player is romancing a companion in SWTOR, that companion's taste in gifts may change. What might have been a "like" may become something they "love" or even become a "favorite" to them. Usually, the opportunity to romance a companion occurs at roughly around 5000 affection (this number isn't set in stone) and requires the player to actively flirt with the companion during conversations.
As you can see, companion gifts are a big part of increasing the affection of each companion towards the player's character in SWTOR. While there are a multitude of ways to acquire companion gifts, the primary method is by sending your companions out on crew skill missions. Gifts have an impact upon the companion's affection level based upon the rarity of the gift, the companion gift's rank, and what level of affection the companion currently has. Plan out your gift giving to maximize your affection point return and soon you'll be cozying up to a fireplace holo with romance and the air and the remainder of your companions will cheerfully take a blaster shot for you.
One of the most interesting parts of leveling a character is having your companion standing next to you and listening to their unique insights as your leveling up. A lot of the time you can almost feel like your building a rapport with them. Sometimes though you can also really tick them off with your actions. There is a way to fix that though. You can raise their affection by buying your companion a gift. Each companion likes an assortment of different gift types, with some more pleasing then others. In this guide I'll be breaking it down by companion and telling you what will make them love you, and what will make them look for the nearest trash bin.
There are two main reasons to get your companions affection up. The first is that they give you specific missions as you gain more affection, letting you not only get additional experience but add a little more flavor to things as your leveling up. The second reason is to make them more effective at crew skills. The higher their affection for you the faster they'll be able to preform their tasks, and are more likely to be critically successful in the process.
As you get their affection higher, the effect of each gift lowers. There are five ranks of gifts, and you'll want to give your companion the appropriate level of gift. You can tell what's a good gift by taking a look at their affection score. Each level is an even 2000 points and is graphically shown in segments on the companion tab of your character screen.
Qyzen Fess is your Consular's first companion and his role is that of Melee Tank. Qyzen is notable in that he does not have a gift type that he 'loves', which means getting him leveled up with gifts will be a little bit more difficult.
Gift Type |
Affection Gain |
|---|---|
Weapon |
Favorite (+2) |
Military Gear |
Like (+1) |
Courting |
Indifferent (0) |
Luxury |
Indifferent (0) |
Technology |
Like (+1) |
Republic Memorbilia |
Indifferent (0) |
Imperial Memoribilia |
Indifferent (0) |
Cultural Artifact |
Indifferent (0) |
Trophy |
Indifferent (0) |
Underworld Good |
Like (+1) |
Theran Cedrex is your Ranged Healer pet and certainly comes in very handy, especially if you decide to go the Shadow route. You get him at around level 24 when you hit the end of your class quest on Nar Shaddaa.
Gift Type |
Affection Gain |
|---|---|
Weapon |
Indifferent (0) |
Military Gear |
Indifferent (0) |
Courting |
Like (+1) |
Luxury |
Love (+3) |
Technology |
Favorite (+2) |
Republic Memorbilia |
Indifferent (0) |
Imperial Memoribilia |
Indifferent (0) |
Cultural Artifact |
Like (+1) |
Trophy |
Indifferent (0) |
Underworld Good |
Like (+1) |
Zenith is your Ranged DPS companion and is first available on Balmorra when your around level 36. This guy works especially well if your a Shadow and want to keep your companion out of harms way while they rain down destruction.
Gift Type |
Affection Gain |
|---|---|
Weapon |
Favorite (+2) |
Military Gear |
Like (+1) |
Courting |
Indifferent (0) |
Luxury |
Indifferent (0) |
Technology |
Indifferent (0) |
Republic Memorbilia |
Indifferent (0) |
Imperial Memoribilia |
Love (+3) |
Cultural Artifact |
Indifferent (0) |
Trophy |
Indifferent (0) |
Underworld Good |
Like (+1) |
Lieutenant Iresso is your Ranged Tank companion and you meet up with him on the planet Hoth at around level 41. Lieutenant Iresso is the single romance option for the female consular.
Gift Type |
Affection Gain |
Romance Affection Gain |
|---|---|---|
Weapon |
Like (+1) |
|
Military Gear |
Indifferent (0) |
|
Courting |
Indifferent (0) |
Love (+3) |
Luxury |
Like (+1) |
|
Technology |
Indifferent (0) |
|
Republic Memorbilia |
Favorite (+2) |
|
Imperial Memoribilia |
Indifferent (0) |
|
Cultural Artifact |
Indifferent (0) |
|
Trophy |
Love (+3) |
|
Underworld Good |
Indifferent (0) |
Nadia Grell is your Melee DPS companion which you will get when you hit Belsavis somewhere around level 44. Nadia Grell is the single romance option for the male Consular.
Gift Type |
Affection Gain |
Romance Affection Gain |
|---|---|---|
Weapon |
Indifferent (0) |
|
Military Gear |
Indifferent (0) |
|
Courting |
Like (+1) |
Love (+3) |
Luxury |
Like (+1) |
|
Technology |
Indifferent (0) |
|
Republic Memorbilia |
Favorite (+2) |
|
Imperial Memoribilia |
Indifferent (0) |
|
Cultural Artifact |
Love (+3) |
|
Trophy |
Indifferent (0) |
|
Underworld Good |
Like (+1) |
Your ship droid can only have its affection raised through gifts, but unless you plan on buying the legacy sensor units and send him on specific crew skill runs it's likely not worth it to max out his affection.
Gift Type |
Affection Gain |
|---|---|
Weapon |
Indifferent (0) |
Military Gear |
Indifferent (0) |
Courting |
Indifferent (0) |
Luxury |
Like (+1) |
Technology |
Favorite (+2) |
Republic Memorbilia |
Like (+1) |
Imperial Memoribilia |
Indifferent (0) |
Cultural Artifact |
Love (+3) |
Trophy |
Indifferent (0) |
Underworld Good |
Indifferent (0) |
HK-51 is the first additional companion added to the game. You must have a level 50 character to unlock him initially, but after that he can be unlocked on every character on your account. This character is mainly a ranged DPS type with some fun extra abilities. Due to the generic bonus to crew skills in both critical and efficiency rating its well worth it to raise his affection to the max.
Gift Type |
Affection Gain |
|---|---|
Weapon |
Favorite (+2) |
Military Gear |
Like (+1) |
Courting |
Indifferent (0) |
Luxury |
Indifferent (0) |
Technology |
Like (+1) |
Republic Memorbilia |
Indifferent (0) |
Imperial Memoribilia |
Indifferent (0) |
Cultural Artifact |
Indifferent (0) |
Trophy |
Like (+1) |
Underworld Good |
Indifferent (0) |
Treek is the second optional companion character that you can get. Treek is the exact opposite of HK-51 in that where HK only holds a DPS role, Treek's roles are only that of either Healer or Tank. Treek can be acquired through credits if you have a Legacy level of forty or above, otherwise you must use Cartel Coins to purchase her. No matter the way you first get her, you can unlock her in your collections menu and make Treek available for all of your characters once they can reach the fleet.
Gift Type |
Affection Gain |
|---|---|
Weapon |
Like (+1) |
Military Gear |
Like (+1) |
Courting |
Indifferent (0) |
Luxury |
Indifferent (0) |
Technology |
Love (+3) |
Republic Memorbilia |
Indifferent (0) |
Imperial Memoribilia |
Indifferent (0) |
Cultural Artifact |
Indifferent (0) |
Trophy |
Favorite (+2) |
Underworld Good |
Indifferent (0) |
Companion |
Best Gift Type |
|---|---|
Qyzen Fess |
Weapon |
Theran Cedrex |
Luxury |
Zenith |
Imperial Memorabilia |
Lieutenant Iresso |
Trophy |
Nadia Grell |
Cultural Artifact |
C2-N2 |
Cultural Artifact |
HK-51 |
Weapon |
Treek |
Technology |
Sometimes you don't really need to know every possible gift for your companion, you just need to know the best type in order to maximize your investment. To make it easy I've assembled the information in the table to the right. This details the top gift that you can get for each individual companion. Some companions don't have a gift that gets top results, and some gifts only work if you're in a romantic relationship with them, but your best shots are right here.