ArenaNet:Guild Wars 2 suggestions/Hero/Companion gear should be account based

Guild Wars 2 suggestions/Companion gear should be account based(Discussion)
Heroes are the single best feature to be added to GW. They are a far better alternative to henchmen when a full party can't be gathered, and are excellent for rounding out parties that have a few slots to fill. Unfortunately for heavy PvE players heroes tend to be a significant money sink, requiring vitae, attunement, and the odd Superior Vigor rune, as well as 40/40 sets or the best that a particular player can gather.

The problem is that when trying to run multiple characters concurrently, keeping heroes sufficiently equipped either requires a boatload of micromanagement(salvaging and storing runes/inscriptions as well as weapons and transferring them each time), or cash (buying the same equipment for the small handful of Heroes that are actually used.)

There is currently very little information about Companions, but if they are to be acquired much the same way as Heroes (Unlocked during PvE with their own backstory and whatnot,) wouldn't it make sense for that backstory to involve adventuring with other characters before meeting up with the player's current one, and adventuring with others while not in the player's current party slot? Why can't the enter the employ of one's current character better equipped from the hours of adventuring with a previous character instead of with the same noob stuff that gets trashed at the first opportunity?

Some people may bring up the fact that different classes may need to use a certain Hero/Companion in different ways, requiring custom rune/insig setups and different staves/weapons. However, isn't each Hero in NF and EoTN capable of acquiring 3 different armors? Don't players sometimes buy multiple armor sets for their own characters and customize them for the various builds they need to run? Instead of being purely a vanity feature, those Hero armors can be put to some actual use.

Also, it will still be expensive to buy and equip 3 hero armors on one account. However, it pales in comparison to equipping 6 of the most commonly used Heroes per character.

I realize I spent alot more time discussing Heroes than Companions here, but it's a good bet that the Companion concept will be directly modeled off of the heroes and this is one mistake I really don't want to see repeated.

End of comment, any questions comments or concerns are appreciated.


 * Why this is a good idea
 * Lessens the cost of starting new characters
 * Smoother progression for new characters of veteran players in PvE;
 * Saves on server/storage costs


 * Why it may not work out
 * Heroes don't require any investment at all. A player may choose to upgrade them with as many runes as possible, but that's only a player's choice, not a requirement. Which means, a hero only costs as much as a player wants it to cost. Therefore, this change would not really change the cost heroes have for players, unless said players want to.
 * Different characters may use different heroes not only with different rune sets, but also with different weapons. Having all heroes/companions on an account sharing the same gear would only make some players lose inventory/storage space.
 * Different characters may use different heroes not only with different rune sets, but also with different skills. The current system in GW1 allows players to keep each hero with its own skill bar; making the heroes account based would require some players to change the hero's skill bar whenever they change characters.