Which companions should i take + combat questions

[Pec]

Having a hard time liking some of them and unfortunately it seems some of their quests / story is in random encounters when travelling. Could you rank them in terms of who i should pay attention to / keep in the party.

For combat im having trouble keeping control of the battlefield since it seems almost every enemy has some form of teleport and even ones that don't can still rush though my front liners since attacks of opportunity seem mostly negligible

[SunflowerFactory]

It really doesn't matter who you take with you, only how you set their stats/skills up. Some characters have builds they're predisposed to (Ifan makes a good summoner because of his personal + racial skills, etc) but you shouldn't let that dictate what your companions "have" to be. As for personal quests, you can check the quest log or ask your companions what to do next for names and places to keep an eye out for. The only companions who can have conflict/overlap are Sebille and the Red Prince, but you can usually get around that by unchaining one of them to do the other's quest first.

For combat, DOS2 really rewards you for investing in warp skills. Those and high Wits will help you control the battlefield, which is especially important the later you get in the game. Plus, there's a damage bonus when you use a ranged attack from an elevated position. It's a good idea to have at least two warp skills on each character: one for when you initially get set up at the start of the fight, and one for mobility (or a get-out-of-jail-free card) later on in the fight. Having Teleport on at least one person also helps, since you can warp enemies into environmental hazards or closer to your close-range fighters.

Here's a list of the warp skills in the game:
-Teleport - 2 aero - If you're still in Fort Joy, doing Gawain's quest (The Teleporter) will get you gloves with the skill in them. You can also craft a bunch of Teleport scrolls for emergencies (air essence, feather [which you can get from combining a knife and a pillow], sheet of paper).
-Tactical Retreat - 2 hunt - My personal favorite, since it applies Haste to you for free. Huntsman is good to invest in for both mages and archers because of the passive damage bonus from elevation.
-Spread Your Wings - 2 poly - Flying (or hovering) lets you ignore ground surfaces. You get Wings for 3 turns, which costs 1 AP to use. If you have an elf (or Fane's mask) you can eat the Magister head near Wendigo just after leaving Fort Joy to get the skill for free.
-Cloak and Dagger - 2 scound - Allows you to warp without breaking invisibility/Sneaking.
-Summon Cat Familiar - n/a - If you manage to get the Black Cat out of Fort Joy, the skill will be granted to whoever the cat followed. This skill is really only useful in Act 1 (or until you get access to more warp skills), since it requires going through the steps of summoning the cat, positioning it where you want to go, then having the cat swap places with you.
-Phoenix Dive - 2 war - Creates a fire surface where you land, making it super useful for maximum chaos.
-Warp Infusion and Planar Gateway - 3 summ - For Summoners later in the game.
There are also some skills that don't warp you, but do move you through/around enemies. These include Bull Horns (1 poly), Backlash (1 scound), Battering Ram (1 war), and Blitz Attack (2 war). Other tricks for close-range fighters to move around easily are investing in certain Talents (The Pawn, Executioner, Duck Duck Goose), or going Invisible (Chameleon Cloak [1 poly], for example) to avoid opportunity attacks.

[Chaoslink]

Don't expect to frontline/backline and ignore trying to build "tanks" that can soak damage. Build everyone for damage and land as much hard CC as possible.

[Aetemes]

I am trying to be concise as possible cause there's a lot to discuss lol.

First of all mechanically you can adjust any companion to be something other than what they start with.

So to me aside from Fane cause he is undead, and undead means be aware how he functions health wise you can easily forget and kill him lol, they are all more or less the same, but the racial bonuses do help amplify class archetypes for sure.

My favorites are
(I just like the characters there's no need for them to be the *specific companion* tbh)

Beast as a knight cc machine /dps.

Ifan Conjurer, grab every supportive high value spell from all schools lots of memory, after getting to like 12 summoner I believe is when the summon evolves the most?.

Sebille Shadowblade that will just go full blown ranged damage really. (She like one shots stuff using sneak/assasinate huntsman).

I like to main a "nature/healer/druid/shaman" situation so mine was enchanter prioritising hydro then aero then geo. Just what I like to rp really, but is it the best...questionable lol.

Discussing the classes is kind of a lot tbh, there's a few pointers that helped me understand a few things.

As SunflowerFactory mentioned, teleportation/blinking skills are just too good. Every single character is so much stronger for having 2s point in aero just for teleport/netherswap (even uncanny evasion is kinda good), 2 points scoundrel for adernaline, cloak'ndagger blink, then huntsman 2 is if you can push it for tactical retreat. This will drive your enemies crazy lol. Smoke cover/Blessed verson also can be a super lol ability.

Polymoprh invis is good, but that ability is a little wonky sometimes you are better off being already far away from the enemy before they decide to focus you cause if you do it too close to an enemey it doesnt work sometimes or something.

As for the companions from a story point of view...I haven't tried full on Fane or Lohse or Red prince, cause they, I think are...hmm...the twisted what am I dealing with here exactly lore characters xD. I feel like Sebille/Beast/Ifan are easier to go like..."feels good'n'wholesome" ok I gotchu buddy....the other three...I am like...I don't want to face/materialise my demons like that xD I dunno. xD. But it's fun all around I dunno about "ranking them".

[EolSunder]

Fane should always be in the party simply because his source ability is far and beyond the most powerful. I like the Red Prince also because his breath ability makes him a good up front tank since he will be close to enemies, so i always have the Red Prince as my tank up front to take the heat of attacks. Other than that, and some basic companion quests, it doesn't matter. Since you can adjust them the first time they join the party, they work out pretty well.

Elf companion can eat some stuff to gain a few abilities, and self bleed lets her get another AP in combat. Fane of course is the strongest. Beast against logic works best as a mage type if you have a mage party. Humans? ick do what ever you want with the others.