Question About Followers/Henchmen

[Jeff Kaos]

Do the voiced followers have quests tied to them, which is why I should have them in my party?

I'm still very early in the game but so far I've come across 3 different followers while adventuring. I found two in Cycael and one in an underground area on that zone. I sent all of them to the Hall of Heroes and when I went there to swap out my party I noticed there was a new NPC there who was "selling" henchmen. I ended up buying one who's skill set looked like it would compliment my play style. But I noticed that unlike the ones I found in the world this follower doesn't seem to have any sort of personality and doesn't speak at all. I get that not every NPC in the game will be voiced but I'm wondering if the followers I find, rather than the ones I buy, would be better in the long run.

And I know that people from Larian post on these and someone from the dev team has already answered a couple of other questions I've had so I just wanted to give a shout out and ask them a question: I know you guys are working on a sequel to DOS but have you considered making a sci-fi themed game after that comes out? I'm as old school as you're likely to find on Steam and love the original Fallout games (as well as a handful of similar games no ones ever heard of) and I'd love to see you guys weave some of your old school design magic into a game with ray guns, mutants and robots.

[Ssenkrad_II]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=607492091

You are not going to miss out on anything as far as "quests", you can still complete them even with them sitting in the HoH. What you are going to miss out on is followers that are not spec'd to utter worthlessness.

There is only one, ONE champion for hire who isn't crippled spec'd wise; the higher their level the worse off they are. Some very very low level hirelings you might be able to make work but still, you only get a limited amount of attr points to spec and 4 of them come at creation, so if they are wasted that is a huge hit...

If you are playing on a lower difficulty then ignore everything I have said and just... have fun?

All four "unique" followers are in Cyceal, one in the tavern, one in the mayor's library on his second floor, one in a prison cage outside of the main legion commanders office, and one under the well...

[Jeff Kaos]

Originally posted by Ssenkrad_II:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=607492091

You are not going to miss out on anything as far as "quests", you can still complete them even with them sitting in the HoH. What you are going to miss out on is followers that are not spec'd to utter worthlessness.

There is only one, ONE champion for hire who isn't crippled spec'd wise; the higher their level the worse off they are. Some very very low level hirelings you might be able to make work but still, you only get a limited amount of attr points to spec and 4 of them come at creation, so if they are wasted that is a huge hit...

If you are playing on a lower difficulty then ignore everything I have said and just... have fun?

All four "unique" followers are in Cyceal, one in the tavern, one in the mayor's library on his second floor, one in a prison cage outside of the main legion commanders office, and one under the well...

Thanks for the heads up. I found three of the four (missed the one in the library) and I like the female Knight with the Southern US accent. I was using the girl in the cage but I ended up buying a level 4 ranger because she had some nice skills right off. Can henchmen respec? Or only heroes? I know there's a room in in Homestead that unlocks later in the game that let's you respec so I was wondering if I could repec a follower.

[Ssenkrad_II]

The four semi unique followers can for sure, hirelings I am not sure about!

EDIT: just loaded a game, hired a hireling and could NOT respec her (she was a lv 20) which means what you see is what you get... So only the very low levels have any chance and frankly only one of them is not spec'd terrible; Tal' rasha/zara, something like that...

[Id3alistic]

Don't even know why they added henchmen to the game.

They were better off just letting you design Madora/Jahan from the beginning and/or let you change their appearances.

I really like this game, but a lot of dumb decisions.

I guess that's why they allowed mods? But it's not available for EE yet so it doesn't work as a valid argument. Also more games will be releasing very soon and I don't intend to come back to this for awhile.

[Ssenkrad_II]

100% backer issue^

they made most of their own problems with the "backer rewards" and now they can't change anything, even for the EE because they would be screwing those that gave a ton of money for this impact on the game.

[Robin of Spiritwood]

I guess this is what happens if players/backers don't have the actual game to try, and build "flavour" characters based on hypotheticals. Of course they don't have the game because it isn't built till there's backing... so we can't possibly expect efficient builds.

It would be useful if they'd at least level up when we hire them. I wouldn't mind using a couple for a spin if they'd just match the party.

[Ssenkrad_II]

People paid more for higher level hireling so having them "auto level up"... Once again, would mean people gave more money for nothing.

I didn't see anything NEARLY as dumb for the backers of DOS;2, so maybe there is hope?

Also, who knows what the mod support will bring.

[Raze_Larian]

The henchmen existed in D:OS before the companions. One of the Kickstarter stretch goals was to add companions, and give some quests/dialogue/personality to recruitable party members.
There weren't different tiers to designing a henchman. They didn't auto-level up because that would make the higher level henchmen pointless.

Most of the Kickstarter content in the game was removed from the Enhanced Edition. In particular, the changes to the skill system and the addition of grenades, wands and dual wielding meant that the henchmen also had to be redesigned.

[Ssenkrad_II]

So the henchmen were designed by Larian and not by backers?

[Raze_Larian]

Yes.

[Ssenkrad_II]

Wow... Just... wow...

Larian needs to go for a full 4 party creation in DOS, because it is clear they have issues with henchmen/follower design choices!

I am positive I read somewhere that all the henchmen were created by backers and that is why some of them have ridiculous 4th wall breaks and such things as +2 to bow and +2 to single, while others yet don't have any bio written at all...? This is news to me, and in fact paints Larian in a much "darker" light, as I thought the issue was stupid backers before and Larian just trying to be nice with their backer bonuses... I will have to look into this more...

[Ssenkrad_II]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/373420/discussions/0/490124466453505476/

He said he was quoting you...?

http://steamcommunity.com/app/230230/discussions/0/45350791819737198/?insideModal=1

Again here..

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larianstudios/divinity-original-sin/posts/462731?cursor=2892317

And this? I don't know Raze, we are either not understanding each other or you are wrong...

"Many people have asked us what happens to the henchmen they design if the 'henchmen become companions' stretch goal is reached.

The way it is going to work is that the henchmen designed by backers..."

[Raze_Larian]

Originally posted by Ssenkrad_II:

I am positive I read somewhere that all the henchmen were created by backers

For D:OS. There were changes made for the EE.

[Id3alistic]

Ohhh I see. Makes sense, but lame.

Wow so the companions did not have priority over the henchmen? Their inclusion made the game a lot better imo. Would have been a shame if they never reached that goal.

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Just saying that level ups and personal building would have suited me more, and made it easier to pick a hire.

Sometimes in the plot a player might want to bring along a smooth talking barterer, a steathy lockpicker, or some extra brute force muscles - instead of the only "Level 12 Cleric" on the list!

Appreciate the concept of hirelings as actual people though.