I really wish they'd improve hirelings.

[Rhalius]

As it is, they just feel a bit empty, and I think a bit more should be possible.

They could be given A personality, but it would be the same for all hirelings.
The quiet mercenary type is what their personality could be.
Not someone very talkative, but who might occasionally mention they aren't getting paid enough or signed up for this when something really crazy happens.

No story arc, just the hired help and some NPC's could respond to them too, giving those NPC's more character in the process, and also giving your character different ways to treat these hirelings. Could be expendable or troops you care for.
Could even be moments you can outright sacrifice them for your own benefit.

[Henry-NYC]

Technically, hirelings are no more than your backups in case you choose to ignore/slaughter all or most of your normal companions and yet wish to get a permanent helper or two at your camp.

They are meant to be story-less. If you truly love one or more of the existing hirelings, in theory, Larian could technically make them your normal companions. However, Larian would need to add new hirelings to fill up the vacant slots left behind. Players could always want some of the hirelings to be upgraded to become a normal companions. In theory, the number of potential companions could go 100+, but in practice, it has to be limited to a small manageable number.

For now, I believe Larian thinks the max number of your normal companions and the max number of your available hirelings are already well balanced.

[Mike Garrison]

Besides being "backup" in case you don't have enough companions, they also allow you to easily pick up companions of any class.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

I don't care about their story or personality, but it sure does seem like Larian gave us such a lame hireling system out of spite because they want to force us to use the origin characters.

[seeker1]

I just want a non-SE based mod that would let us change the race of hirelings. I would use it, would be the easiest way to test out custom mod races, instead of just starting playthroughs.

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by Pan Darius Cassandra:

I don't care about their story or personality, but it sure does seem like Larian gave us such a lame hireling system out of spite because they want to force us to use the origin characters.

No other BG game had *any* system for adding non-companions to your party. You fault Larian for adding one because it wasn't good enough for you?

[Zeel Ara]

Originally posted by Mike Garrison:

Originally posted by Pan Darius Cassandra:

I don't care about their story or personality, but it sure does seem like Larian gave us such a lame hireling system out of spite because they want to force us to use the origin characters.

No other BG game had *any* system for adding non-companions to your party. You fault Larian for adding one because it wasn't good enough for you?

Holy bad faith argument, Batman!

[The Yeen Queen]

Originally posted by Moffle:

Originally posted by Mike Garrison:

No other BG game had *any* system for adding non-companions to your party. You fault Larian for adding one because it wasn't good enough for you?

Holy bad faith argument, Batman!

How exactly is that a "bad faith argument"?

[RoboSauce]

Solasta had the great idea of giving generic content based on Background. Between class, race and background and maybe a sprinkling of Tyranny backstory generation a lot can be done with a custom party.

[jonnin]

It would be kinda cool but you have a large number of personality infused misfits at your disposal. These guys are there to cast goodberry and such for the A team, or to fill in for things like a dedicated rogue to raid the shoppes or dedicated transmute wizard etc -- the classes you don't really want but are useful as camp zombies.

[Worlord]

In Skyrim, I'd probably shoot Lydia if she had a backstory. I'm just sayin'.

[wtiger27]

The Hirelings in the game are a great addition. You can change their appearance and the class. Adding a background story also, like what you get with the Origins chars, would have taken a lot more time and cost to implement. It's beneficial to be realistic.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Rhalius:

I really wish they'd improve hirelings.
As it is, they just feel a bit empty, and I think a bit more should be possible.

They could be given A personality, but it would be the same for all hirelings.
The quiet mercenary type is what their personality could be.
Not someone very talkative, but who might occasionally mention they aren't getting paid enough or signed up for this when something really crazy happens.

No story arc, just the hired help and some NPC's could respond to them too, giving those NPC's more character in the process, and also giving your character different ways to treat these hirelings. Could be expendable or troops you care for.
Could even be moments you can outright sacrifice them for your own benefit.

They are empty husks to begin with

[Popsicles]

Wish they'd give us full customization. I hate that so much of the game is tied to origin companions.

[Humpenstilzchen]

Originally posted by Pan Darius Cassandra:

I don't care about their story or personality, but it sure does seem like Larian gave us such a lame hireling system out of spite because they want to force us to use the origin characters.

True. It´s like "take one of our few Mary Sue characters" or go f yourself.

I understand they want to enrich the game with characters that have a story and a lot to say in various situations which they do but after hearing the same lines over and over it were nice if we had the option to fully customize hirelings/companions from top to bottom and right from the start of the game because playing blank slates also has its appeal for some people..the good old from zero to hero thing.

In the end you have four characters in your group within mere minutes of playing the game anyway so it wouldn´t hurt to have an alternate start option where you start with a full custom group.

Would be even better if they allowed us to skip that boring intro on the nauthiloid too.

[Rhalius]

It does make especially chapter 1 a bit too similar, it's always the same six companions you have in chapter 1.
And after spending so much time with them, it can be more challenging to switch someone out later.
Not sure why they even bothered adding Minsc as a chapter three companion, and not even from the start either. I didn't bother looking for him since I felt it was too late in the game.

Could be neat if they added some companions in chapter 1 that are not origin companions. They could still carry a tadpole and have their own story and goals, but possibly a bit less of a dramatic arc. A more straight forward, simpler goal.

Could be a good way to add some companions using classes and species no companion has yet.

Like maybe a dwarf paladin guy to get both our good paladin companion and dwarf companion fix. How could any D&D game go without a dwarf companion?
Minthara's recruitment is also less likely and she does not exactly embody a paladin.
He could maybe be a paladin of Lathander, giving him some unique dialogue and interactions within that ruined temple. He could be bright and cheery, very much a morning person.

Or a ranger halfling woman who was part of Aradin's posse but got left behind, dragged herself to safety and got captured by some nutter who put a tadpole in her to see what it does, part of an experiment. She could just be a pretty humble and modest person who doubts herself, representing more the average person getting caught up in stuff way bigger than her. The halfling who regrets leaving her cosy home for adventure.

Or an old Gnome wild magic sorcerer who might be a little insane, causing the tadpole to not have the desired effect.