Yet another "companions are useless" thread

[Mindeveler]

Honestly, to say that companions are abysmal in this game would be an understatement.
1) If it wasn't enough that they have fewer attribute points and skill focus points than MC, if it wasn't enough that they're much harder to train than MC, they start with half of those points completely wasted on useless stats.
An engineer or a medic doesn't need a single attribute point in Cunning or Social, but they often start with 3 points in one of those and 2 points in another while also having only 3 points in their primary mental stat. A level 12 Engineer with 3 points in INT can only hope to reach lvl 275 perks (INT 7) by level 28. And he can only dream of ever reaching INT 9 or 10.
SF points of low-level companions are also randomly wasted on useless skills: e.g. your surgeon will have points in roguery and scouting. SF points of high-level companions are often wasted on overall interchangeable skills like 2h, 1h and polearm.
Companions are always short on points, they keep reaching the limits faster than they get new levels.
2) If it wasn't enough that companions can only dream of reaching high skill levels in party skills (like medicine), they can't perform multiple party duties, unlike the MC.
MC is just so much better as a medic & steward & engineer than any companion can hope to be. But intelligent MC is virtually impossible without sacrificing combat skills (because INT specialty or not, you still need high Social skills too). Is it a big sacrifice performance-wise? Nope. But it's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ boring to play as main character who can't do ♥♥♥♥ on the field of battle while the rest of the party has to carry his sorry ass through the fights.
3) Governor. If it was't enough that governor perks are all over the place (and sometimes as high as level 200-250) and a good governor has to be bigbro-tier kind of guy (which no companion can ever reach), if it wasn't enough that governor's effectiveness also depends on matching culture, you can't even have the same person govern more than 1 fief.
A good governor is the hardest and the most demanding build and takes a virtual eternity to train but in the end only a single city can benefit from all this colossal work. What a waste.
4) Fighter companions. Another waste. They cost you as much upkeep as multiple highest-tier troops but are hardly as good as 2-3 fian champions or khan's guards. Not to mention they too have attribute points wasted on INT/SOC/CNG. Their only real use is as captains for those small additional bonuses for your troops.
5) Party leaders. While it's true that even the worst of the companions can function as party leaders (just for the sake of "moar troops"), a dedicated party leader build is almost as impossible as that of a good governor. Instead of encouraging quality, the game encourages you to spam trash.
6) Levelling. While some skills are fairly easy to level (like combat skills or medicine/steward/scout), others like tactics or leadership or roguery require a lot of grinding which makes dedicated governor / party leader builds even harder. I mean, what's even the point of having a governor's +1 security perk at level 250 of Tactics?

Companions in BL are disappointing in so many ways, it's just...aaargh.

[Aven]

Companions are not really meant to be min/maxed. That's what your children are for.

[Grizzly]

i mean it depends a bit. if you max out endurence and put the rest you get into melee you can get a quiet tanki guy who gets in melee sometimes up to 20 kills. (tho thats lategame if you dont want to go into hideouts to level up your companions all the time)and if they are ranged they are just better ranged units we dont need to lie about that.

the biggest advantage in combat they have is to buff units as captain and once again due to thier level beining more limited then a player and getting later into the stats that actually matter if you dont train them in it. (however if you get your brother you could use him to buff units like hell cause of the stats he starts with.

but if you have death enabled a companion in your party usually has only one use and that is a support role like scout engineer and so on. you really dont want to lose them so you usually keep them on the ranged units in cover or even on extra cav that retreats when the combat starts.

so their use in your party is limited but outside of your party they can be huge.
a great governor can make the worst town into a thriving city all by himself.
anyone in a caravan gives you great extra passive money income that in my case pays my entire troops for the entire early to early-midgame without problems.
you can use them to lead extra parties for you that you can call into your army without influence cost for easy sieges
you can use one to do the entire smithing so you get the upside of smithing without the downside of investing points in it.
even tho their XP gain is way lower then a players, choosed wisely (and with luck they arent always all spawning in a playthrough) you can get someone relatively easy to 10 attr. in one skill

https://mountandblade.fandom.com/wiki/Companions_(Bannerlord)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bannerlord/comments/gill8j/bannerlord_skill_cap_formula_tested_verified/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

[Clovis Sangrail]

I have 8 companions.

Three are in my party -- scout, engineer and surgeon. They are progressing slowly but surely in their respective fields. No problems here.

Two are leading parties. When a couple of my family members get old enough, they will take over these parties, and the companions will either lead a couple more caravans or join my party. No problems here, either.

And three are leading caravans, bringing in an average of 1000 d. a day each. Definitely nothing wrong with those numbers.

They are all functioning in their respective roles just fine.

As for governors -- I never make companions governors. Governorships are reserved for family members.

So I'm having a hard time figuring out just what your point is.

[Mindeveler]

Originally posted by Aven:

Companions are not really meant to be min/maxed. That's what your children are for.

1) Then what's the point of companions? Fillers/flavor? Mediocrities that help us better appreciate the greatness of MC & siblings?
2) What children? I can't imagine playing the game long enough to even see them grow up, let alone train & use them.

Originally posted by Underestimated:

they are just better ranged units we dont need to lie about that.

They are (that's what I said), but they're hardly better than 3 fian champs (and their upkeep does cost you as much as that of 3 fian champs).

Originally posted by Underestimated:

however if you get your brother you could use him to buff units like hell cause of the stats he starts with.

The usefulness of siblings in undisputable. They are what any companion should have been (but unfortunately isn't).

Originally posted by Underestimated:

a great governor can make the worst town into a thriving city all by himself.

Good luck spending en eternity building that governor from a companion.
Because even bigbro can't collect all major governor bonuses, and companions are not even remotely as good as he is.

Originally posted by Underestimated:

anyone in a caravan gives you great extra passive money income that in my case pays my entire troops for the entire early to early-midgame without problems.

Unless that caravan gets destroyed.
Besides, who needs money when smithing exists?

Originally posted by Underestimated:

you can use one to do the entire smithing so you get the upside of smithing without the downside of investing points in it.

Smithing has no downsides. It's one of the most useful skills because it grants extra attribute points.
All of my companions do smithing to a certain extent. Some smelt, some forge, expert smiths complete orders.
Companions being walking pools of stamina is one of their best uses. Sadly.

Originally posted by Underestimated:

you can get someone relatively easy to 10 attr. in one skill

No you can't.
First, grinding a ton of levels throughout the course of the entire game is not "easy".
Second, best case scenario for a companion is 4 points in an attribute at level 11 or less. Then they'll reach 5 points at level 12 and will need 5 more points (20 levels, for a total of 32 levels) to reach 10 points in an attribute.
But there is only a handful of companions with such potential. A very common case (e.g. spicevendor, engineer, swift) is a companion starting with 3 points AND level 12+ so he/she will only reach 10 points in an attribute by level 40.
Level 12+ and 4 points in an attribute is a moderately common case which means 10 points by level 36.
And Vigor is in general the highest attribute (the easiest ot max out) but it's also one of the least useful ones.

Originally posted by Underestimated:

https://mountandblade.fandom.com/wiki/Companions_(Bannerlord)

Thanks for the link to the wiki page I spent the last couple of evenings filling with up-to-date info.
I'm well aware of most companion-related and build-related numbers.
That's why I came here after I did the math and noticed how atrocious the companions are.

Originally posted by Clovis Sangrail:

So I'm having a hard time figuring out just what your point is.

My point is that BL companions are trash.
What you said about governor (family members only) only proves that point because in sandbox you don't even have siblings in the first place.

Originally posted by Clovis Sangrail:

And three are leading caravans, bringing in an average of 1000 d. a day each. Definitely nothing wrong with those numbers.

Oh wow, so useful.
When i can just craft a 2h sword only using cheap steel and sell it for 20k.
And each unprofessional-smith companion can craft 3-4 such swords per stamina pool. 100k per companion per day.
Yeah, smithing is where companions shine. But it's lame af.

[Telerion]

I woudnt say completly useless.

1:
As you pointed out, as fighter on the field they dont make much of an impect once you field 300+ Troops, but they can be assigned as captains, giving the regiment buffs, depending on how you build them. Nothing game changing, but better then nothing.

2:
You are right, they arnt the best gov's, but if you capture a wrong culture fief, you can negate the -3 at least a bit. Look for guids from Strat Gaming on YT to see how usefull companions are as governers depending on what the fief needs atm.

3:
Quests..........i know i know, nobody does any quests in the later game, but that is the point. You get debuffs in villages and fiefs if you dont deal with the quests. Nobody wants to play the errant boy at that point in the game, so sent your companions out. Nobody does the quest for money, we all do them to get rid of the prosperity malus unfinished quests provide.
Companions are great for that, yes it takes a few days, but in these days you can do what ever you want to do.

4:
This is something most ppl forget, companions can fight in tournaments. Yes, you dont get the influence if your companion wins, but you get the price. Sounds like somthing minor, and it is, but in the early game, you increase your chance of the prize, and thats actually not so bad.


Yes, overall companions are not as powerfull as your MC or your family, but they dont have to. They are just normal dudes with a special talent, thats all, they are not the hero of the story, and honestly, i would be pissed, if some randoms are the better suited for ruling over the world then me. Why would i strife in a world, where everyone that stands around in a tavern is better then me, why should they follow me if i am the side character?

[Mindeveler]

Originally posted by Telerion:

i would be pissed, if some randoms are the better suited for ruling over the world then me. Why would i strife in a world, where everyone that stands around in a tavern is better then me, why should they follow me if i am the side character?

Well, I'm not saying they should be better than MC, I'd just like for them to be at least good at their job.
E.g. an MC can be an excellent surgeon AND quartermaster AND engineer at the same time. While a companion can't reach the same heights even in 1 out of 3 jobs and thanks to game limitations can never do all 3 (unless he/she is a party leader too).
Or governor - an immensely hard and time-consuming build because of how many different perks from all sorts of skills it requires. And what do you get in the end? Just 1 fief. All this effort for just 1 fief. I mean, "crisis governor" still works as a short-term fixer for recently capturted fiefs, but a prosperity/taxes/wages governor is kind of a waste unless you focus all your efforts on a single city. They could have at least allowed us to assign a governor to 2-3 fiefs at the same time (maybe not by default, but tied to a perk or if fiefs are close enough to each other or smth like that).

[Galroche]

Originally posted by Mindeveler:

Oh wow, so useful.
When i can just craft a 2h sword only using cheap steel and sell it for 20k.
And each unprofessional-smith companion can craft 3-4 such swords per stamina pool. 100k per companion per day.
Yeah, smithing is where companions shine. But it's lame af.

well, that part is more related to how absurdly OP smithing is than how useless companions are.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by Mindeveler:

Originally posted by Aven:

Companions are not really meant to be min/maxed. That's what your children are for.

1) Then what's the point of companions? Fillers/flavor? Mediocrities that help us better appreciate the greatness of MC & siblings?..

The "point of companions" and why there are so many RNG companions is in order to fill the very greatly expanded roles TW has written for them...

That. Is. It. They're there for little other reason than that.

It is assumed that such important roles in one's "family" would be filled by children/relatives. However, the progression cycle there is "off." IOW, one gains access to these mechanics long before one gains grown children and family to fill all of these potential roles. Thus, companions are actually very much in demand, even in the late-early to mid-game in some playthroughs.

Other than role-fillers, they serve no other game purpose that I can detect. They are plug-in sets of variables. Enjoy...

[stevenbanks1]

Companions are better than family they can serve 4 roles as opposed to 3 with family Vassals being the most important.

[Mindeveler]

Originally posted by stevenbanks1:

Companions are better than family they can serve 4 roles as opposed to 3 with family Vassals being the most important.

Yeah, being terrible at 4 things is clearly better than being good at 3 things.

[Triple G]

Companions can be used in certain roles, as governors and as captains - they make a significant difference there. Children are useless, because i don´t know why i should play the game as long as they are raised. It´constant random war after a certain time. But You can have companions from the start. The skill system is imho crap - and the perks. But that´s not the companion´s fault. :o)

[Demon of Razgriz]

Just because something isn't absolutely 100% min maxed doesn't mean its useless...Even your initial post points out that they aren't useless. You admit that you can't do both all the party skills as well as combat skills, so don't try. Use your companions for the party skills.

[Ken-sama]

The whole leveling, skill, and perk system is too cumbersome, and companion problems are downstream of that. I always have a much more fun game by just cheating max attribute and focus points for everyone.

[Mindeveler]

So after a bit of experimenting I noticed that companions can be made relatively bearable by farming fresh ones.
If you keep hiring & firing them every time you visit a town, new companions will keep spawning.
They spawn at some point at night and they spawn with unspent attributes (1/1/1/1/1/1) and skill focuses. Then half a day later, at midday, another trigger wastes their points (which makes me wonder if it's even supposed to happen) and ruins their builds.
So if you stumble upon such a wanderer during this 1/2 of a day, you can get a bro-tier companion.
It happens quite rarely but it does happen, especially if you're not very damanding in terms of traits and origins (in 90 in-game days, although with a bit of savescumming, I've stumbled upon 1 good companion, 1 average one and 2 with bad traits that I didn't hire).
Just keep travelling around the world trading & participating in tournaments, hire & fire all companions you see. Move during the day & rest at towns at night and there is a chance that a new wanderer will spawn in the same town as you are (just make sure to keep checking tavern destrict before leaving in the morning).
The game revolves a lot around travelling anyway so it's not even particulary time-consuming or "distracting".

[Trip]

I'm using the "Recruit Anyone" mod and "Character Respect" mod. I went around and recruited a barmaid in each town and reset them all back to level 1. After finally getting them in some matching decent tier 3 armour and skilled up fighting looters, they really start to kick ass.

However extreme this example is, it does show how powerful they can become if they start at low level and you tailor build them for their role. Perhaps this was a conscious decision by the devs to give them suboptimal builds.

To sum up, use the Respec mod and reset your companions.