Complete custom party possible?

[F.O.A.D.]

Is it possible to play this game with an entirely custom made party of characters?
Or, does the game require us to include the "story" characters to progress?

[Martialis]

You can certainly complete the game with a custom party. The only time the companions are required is when you are doing their quests, and the areas are clearly marked on the map that you can't enter without a specific character in your party. Just like the previous game you can freely switch characters in a town or camp, and it costs you time if you are far away from one.

The best way to do it is right after the prologue, when you show up in Defender's Heart just shy of the XP to get to level 3. Immediately go outside to sell your stuff, and then go inside to talk to Hilor to recruit your party members. You should have plenty of cash to recruit five level 2 characters (just like the previous game, it doesn't really require 2000 gp per). Everybody will have the same XP as you, and everybody will advance to level 3 when you talk to Gwerm or Woljif or whoever.

[Deo]

Totally doable with custom party. Having played through the game with full mercs and full story companions - I can say that there is not THAT big of a difference immersion-vise. Some interactions here and there, some end game slides - nothing too impactful.

[Chan]

Honestly custom parties are the best way to go seeing as otherwise your choices are pretty meh. Not a lot of exciting choices from the main companions. Only did one play through with story companions and every time after custom party so I can try new things out.

[Mochan]

Originally posted by F.O.A.D.:

Is it possible to play this game with an entirely custom made party of characters?
Or, does the game require us to include the "story" characters to progress?

Yeah, just hire mercs from the tavern.
Your companions are mostly annoying people anyway, so you can do without them if you don't like them. They're also weak and not min-maxed, so if you're playing the harder difficulties they are mostly deadweight.

[Warbird]

I only recommend to at least Recruit all companions so that you get more options during the crusade councils.

And also if you want to do their questlines.

Beside that, playing with only custom mercs works great.

[Aranador]

You may need to slightly hack the game to give yourself enough money to get your custom party off the ground at the earliest opportunity, but you certainly can go all custom.

[Warbird]

Arcemi Pathfinder Savegame Editor is perfect to edit your money and stuff so you can play your game exactly the way you want it.

All that matters is your own fun after all. It is a single player game. Enjoy it the way you like!

[Flechetta]

The companions of wotr feel so worthless (combat wise) and boring comparing to Kingmaker.

[Alpha]

Originally posted by Didntfinishgaming:

The companions of wotr feel so worthless (combat wise) and boring comparing to Kingmaker.

How so? If anything, they are stronger.

[pete3great]

Originally posted by Alpha:

Originally posted by Didntfinishgaming:

The companions of wotr feel so worthless (combat wise) and boring comparing to Kingmaker.

How so? If anything, they are stronger.

Yeah, I don't get it either.

[revan1229]

Originally posted by Didntfinishgaming:

The companions of wotr feel so worthless (combat wise) and boring comparing to Kingmaker.

The majority of companions in this game are quite strong.

[Mr.Damm]

I'd recommend doing a custom party of 5 (MC + 4 mercs), then have the 6th slot open for rotating in a sixth merc when you're not doing a companion quest, or a companion so you can do their quests. Whether you like the companion or not, their quests often have decent XP / loot attached, so you don't want to miss those!

[Incandescence]

To echo others, thankfully such a requirement doesn't exist and you can play a fully custom party, unfortunately you have to play with the companions at the start for a while before you can play solo or with a custom party.

[Starrok]

You would miss on a significant chunk of the game's content by not including companions, as there's a lot of story and personality around them. But you can have a whole party of mercs too, if you wish.

[Yannir]

Originally posted by Mr.Damm:

I'd recommend doing a custom party of 5 (MC + 4 mercs), then have the 6th slot open for rotating in a sixth merc when you're not doing a companion quest, or a companion so you can do their quests. Whether you like the companion or not, their quests often have decent XP / loot attached, so you don't want to miss those!

Yeah, Nenio's quest in Act 5 is worth about 2,6 million gold. I'd call that well-incentivized.