(PoP) What companions should I cut loose? Or do I even need to bother?

[Fried Noodles]

So I'm a Mount and Blade newbie. I've only played Native for about 6 hours before I got bored and started messing around with mods.

Messed around with Last Days of the Third Age, A Clash of Kings, Floris (both the one on Workshop and a different variant on ModDB), and some other minor overhaul mods.

I am now currently playing Prophesy of Pendor. I didn't like it very much at first because it seemed very difficult... But everything else about the mod seems super polished. So I gave it a second go. I took my time and chose my battles, and now I feel like I've gotten out of the super early game and am entering the slightly-later early game.

I'm about... 60ish days into the campaign? Level 18.

I kind of just... Roam around. Looking for small groups of easy bandits to beat up. Run away from anything that sounds even a little bit dodgy. Even if I outnumber them.

I have 0 income. Have not established any local businesses or own any territory. But I make plenty of money selling loot that I claim from the bodies of bandit groups. (Though I really wish there was LESS loot, but each item was worth more... I can only carry loot from one battle before needing to swing back to a shop to sell it!)

I also make a bunch of money betting on myself in tournaments (once I had enough renown to actually enter them).

So... Yeah. I roam around a lot. Hit all the taverns.
And I compulsively hire every companion I come across.

And now they're seemingly starting to self-destruct. They're all a bunch of fussy children and they don't play nice with each other.

I've had a handful of my companions announce that they were going to leave me, but I was able to talk them down. I have a Persuasion of 7 (started with 7... I went with a mostly noble background during character creation).

But I don't think I'll be able to talk them down forever? Eventually someone's gonna take off with my equipment!

Probably best if I cut some troublemakers from my group after stripping them down of all their equipment.

Who should get the cut?

I feel like I have all the companions... But I may be missing some here and there? I'm not sure. If there are any companions that spawn exclusively in the 'Yellow' cities (I forget their name! They inexplicably hate me and I can't enter their territory without getting chased out by huge groups), then I don't have 'em.

Here they are in order of how much they cost to maintain each week (and I heavily favor the most expensive ones as they have the best stats and sometimes outperform me in battles :p)

1. Lethaldiran
2. Sir Roland
3. Sir Alistair
4. Boadice
5. Frederick of Mettenheim
6. Sigismund Sinclair
7. Sir Rayne
8. Kaverra
9. Julia
10. Donavan
11. Ediz
12. Adonja
13. Sara the Fox
14. Riva
15. Kassim
16. Leslie
17. Ansen

[Tuidjy]

If you are new to both M&B and PoP, you should not try to do anything fancy with the companions. What I mean by this, is that you should stick with a group of non-conflicting companions. There are ways to keep all companions, or keep a group where no companion conflicts with more than one, and there is a friend to balance every conflicting companions.

So, in Prophecy of Pendor, there are four companions groups.

A1: Ansen, Raine
A2: Boadice, Frederic
B1: Adonia, Donovan, Kassim, Ediz, Riva,Sera, Roland, Jocelyn
B2: Sigi, Leslie, Kavera, Lethaldrian, Julia, Allysia, Alister, Diev

Choose two groups, one from the As and one from the Bs, and those companions will NOT conflict. This will give you 10 companions, whom you will be able to level without trouble.

Now, there are ways of handling the rest of the companions. You can send them on mission so that they do not upset your A-team, you can make them train your custom knight order, you can appoint one as a minister, etc. Also, you can get your Persuasion to 10, take care as to what actions you allow yourself (no raiding villages, no running from battles, yada, yada) and keep all companions with you.

I would recommend against anything fancy, though. For now, use 10 companions, and learn the ropes. Once you understand better what's going on, you'll be able to juggle companions.

Originally posted by Fried Noodles:

They inexplicably hate me and I can't enter their territory without getting chased out by huge groups

Different character backgrounds set you at odds with different factions. One easy way to get back into their good graces is to assist them in battle against bandits, or to find a lord who does not attack you on sight (because he is busy, because his party is wretched, because he is resting in a castle, etc.) and bribe him to put a good word for you.

[No Name]

Depends on who you want and if you are going to make any of them lords.

Keep

Ansen
Adonja
Donovan
Julia
Kaverra
Frederick of Mettenheim
Sir Roland
Lethaldiran
(Sir Jocelyn) Find this guy.

These nine are stable with each other and have high training skill for the CKO.

[Morkonan]

Just for reference: https://pop3.fandom.com/wiki/Companions

I tend to have more than just the "minimum stable group" using offsetting bonuses and my own bonuses to keep them all in line. And, when I get to the point where there could be some conflicts, I usually end up sending one of them off to gather support.

However, I do pump up Charaisma/Leadership/Persuasion more than most players would. Once it is maxxed, which is not difficult to do in PoP, there is nothing to worry about with Companions leaving.

I can't remember the combo I normally have, but I usually end up having to let Sara the Fox go seek support for my eventual rise to power... I don't normally recruit Sir Roland, IIRC, so that must mean it's Alyssa I shoot for, not sure why. (I've always been partial to that name, for some reason. :))

Note: In the Camp menu for PoP, I believe you can turn off Companion conflicts if you wish. I wouldn't recommend it, as it really unbalances them due to how strong they can be, but it's an option if you want it.

[Fried Noodles]

Originally posted by Morkonan:

Note: In the Camp menu for PoP, I believe you can turn off Companion conflicts if you wish. I wouldn't recommend it, as it really unbalances them due to how strong they can be, but it's an option if you want it.

That's one of the first things I looked for ;) That option doesn't seem to be there.

I've successfully pruned my companion list down to a more manageable roster... Temporarily, kinda. I've just been sending the miserable whiners off to meet with their connections and do.... something for five days. I'm not actually sure if they're accomplishing anything or what... But it keeps 'em out of my hair. They can't whine if they're not there!

I think Alyssa left me though. She went back to live with snake people.

Now I'm kind of roaming the Pendor region looking for tournaments and interesting enemies to fight. I had a massive mishmash of assorted units from all walks making up my army... I'm now trying to make 'em a bit more uniform. I'm mostly doing so by singling out hostile groups that have interesting prisoners.

Occasionally the giant mega-death stack armies will encounter multiple armies belonging to a nation... I'll just sit there and watch the numbers dwindle a bit, then jump in to 'save the day' when the enemy numbers are nice and tiny.

Then I get first pick of rescuing the prisoners :D Because I'm a big damn hero.

However... Aside from a little side quest I found involving some hidden ruins and dried meat and refugees... I've accomplished literally nothing.

I have ~5-6K weekly income from my productive enterprises which is partially mitigating my staggeringly growing army costs of roughly 10K.

I think I have at least two companions heavily invested into INT, giving me medical coverage... It's a fairly rare thing when one of my troops dies! Though, I don't really engage the very difficult looking enemies.

I'm like 130 days into my campaign now. And I'm not sure where I'm meant to go now.
I COULD swear vassalage into one of the empires?

Also I'm playing as a female character, so despite being a tournament big-shot, I am unable to flex my pro-athlete muscles at anyone for approval/affection.

Am I supposed to just pick a settlement and try to siege it out?

[Tuidjy]

Originally posted by Fried Noodles:

Occasionally the giant mega-death stack armies will encounter multiple armies belonging to a nation... I'll just sit there and watch the numbers dwindle a bit, then jump in to 'save the day' when the enemy numbers are nice and tiny.

Then I get first pick of rescuing the prisoners :D Because I'm a big damn hero.

This works pretty well for prisoners, and maybe even for relationship increases and loot.

The problem is that the named leaders of the unique armies cannot be captured if they are unconscious, and that often happens if you let the fight go on for too long.

No captured leader, no ransom.

And the ransoms are awesome. Unique, super powerful weapons, equipment upgrades for your custom knight order, or Dragon Tears, which you can turn into rune weapons, stat elixirs, etc.

Originally posted by Fried Noodles:

Am I supposed to just pick a settlement and try to siege it out?

You need to be superbly prepared to strike out on your own in Pendor. A war chest, a large army, friendly noblemen, etc.

I would recommend joining an existing faction instead, and establishing a powerbase - a war chest, a city, a castle, a few villages, a custom order, etc.

[Fried Noodles]

Any faction in particular that's better than the others?
I'd prefer to join one of the factions that's more on the outskirts of the map than middle... Though traveling across the map is easy so it probably doesn't matter.
I've suggested marriage to tons of lords, but so far only one lord of Sarleon seems interested. Not sure if anything will come out of that.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by Fried Noodles:

Any faction in particular that's better than the others?
I'd prefer to join one of the factions that's more on the outskirts of the map than middle... Though traveling across the map is easy so it probably doesn't matter.
I've suggested marriage to tons of lords, but so far only one lord of Sarleon seems interested. Not sure if anything will come out of that.

AFAIK, after the latest revamp with rebalancing vanilla factions, they've now all got some appropriate advantages and disadvantages. Unit by unit, there's no one overwhelmingly more advantageous vanilla faction troops.

So, considerations should then be focused on strategic advantages. The most strategically placed vanilla faction is Ravenstern, followed by D'Shar.

Each faction, though, has issues it has to deal with involving minor factions/specials/etc. IMO, for the player looking for the most advantages and easier gameplay in the early/mid game, then Ravenstern is probably still the "best choice" for new players.

[Tuidjy]

Originally posted by Morkonan:

Originally posted by Fried Noodles:

Any faction in particular that's better than the others?

Each faction, though, has issues it has to deal with involving minor factions/specials/etc. IMO, for the player looking for the most advantages and easier gameplay in the early/mid game, then Ravenstern is probably still the "best choice" for new players.

I'll second that.

Geographically separated, a very well rounded assortment of units, less terrifying unique spawns, relatively easy outlaws, easy access to territory to conquer, etc.

For a bit more advanced players - D'Shar, and for players who want to grind quickly - Empire.

[Fried Noodles]

Ravenstern sounds good to me I guess. I believe that's where I started this game as well...

And I already have a pretty okay reputation with the snow-blues since I've rescued and released a number of their Ladies-In-Waiting for Honor and opinion.

I do kinda like being neutral... Freedom to roam around to all the cities and do tournaments wherever they pop up.

Not sure who Ravenstern is at war with currently. My income from productive enterprises might take a dramatic dive.

[ricklong]

Pendor also is very kind to mercenaries. The pay typically covers your payroll, but the fact that you can switch sides (or just take a few days off) each month is great. I normally fight for whoever is fighting the kingdom that I plan to start in, since that gets me rep with lords I help and more with lords I release. Preference also goes to whoever is the most beat up (as long as they aren't my target kingdom), since I don't want anyone getting too big.

[Fried Noodles]

I ended up joining the blue folks and found a few lords who were interested in marrying.

Of the interested parties, only one of 'em had at least a castle -- None of the lords who owned a major city were available for marriage!

So now I've got control over my husband's garrison and prisoners. I've been carting prisoners out of there 20 at a time and selling them off to the slavers.

I also contributed to the garrison with some quality Ravenstern soldiers that I rescued from a fairly large Veccavi party of ~150 that I took out myself.

I notice that I'm able to put my own troops into the garrison...
If I were to store my troops in his garrison, he would presumably pay for their upkeep. But would they be safe from him?
Do the NPC lords come by their garrisons and withdraw troops out into their army?
I know there's a chance that the garrison could be killed off in a siege, but as Ravenstern is not at war with anyone, it'd be nice if I could treat the castle garrison as free storage for my quality units that I'd like to save for later.

[Erei]

Lethalridan is OP by itself, can get you Noldor (if you are lucky) once in a while (which are OP), and can train you CKO for bow and stuff. I suggest making your hero team around him :D

You can use that to pick what to choose :
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/pop3/images/9/91/Companion_relations_and_LORD_selection_v2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20180403204402

Essentially, pick the companions you want with one between them. IE, if you pick lethal, don't pick ediz nor riva. You skip one every time and it will be fine. Internal and external circle are not connected.


I usually go for lethal in the external circle, and ansen from the internal one (medic).

Also, note that donavan, I think, have the gun, you might want to take it from him, wether you keep him or not.

Originally posted by Fried Noodles:

Any faction in particular that's better than the others?
I'd prefer to join one of the factions that's more on the outskirts of the map than middle... Though traveling across the map is easy so it probably doesn't matter.
I've suggested marriage to tons of lords, but so far only one lord of Sarleon seems interested. Not sure if anything will come out of that.

Be aware that factions are early game troops. Mid-late game they are cannon fodder at best. Knight order, noldor and mercenary are superior in every way.
Late game it's unlikely you'll use a single faction troop in your roster. Except for garrison.

I avoid the fierdsvain because they are infantry heavy, and in this mod infantry is very meh. Still, good at sieges, I guess^^
Ravenstern is very defensible (only 2 way in, and one have massive jatu armies) with the best archers, and archers are OP in pendor, so they are a good pick.
Empire have good armies, despite the lack of cav, but are constantly wrecked by massive snake armies and noldors.
Sarleon is basically pendor's swadia. Not only for the heavy cav roster, but also because they are everyone's punching ball, including noldors and jatu.
The D'shar have the inquisitor issue, but usually tend to only have that as a problem.