companions are a total liability.

[La Bourlingue]

Ok i've like 70 hours of play, the sad conclusion is, companions are so bad, they are the worst part of this game by a long shot.
I have yet to see any instance of any companion serving any gameplay purpose. They all suck at lockpicking way worse than even the player at low level, the "ask for help" promp didn't even have to be there in the first place, since the player outmatches any companion with nada skills it seems.
what they are in terms of gameplay are dialogue-glorified mules as well as a severe combat handicaps, since their skills are just low as hell, they miss constantly even after many level ups, they jeopardize line of sight constantly and kill themselves or the player at the first opportunity, they never repostion exept to break the player's line of sight, they refuse to shoot while having a STORE of all weapon types and ammo in their inventory,they often don't use their stims when it's appropriate and let themselves get killed even with a stack of 20 super stims in their inventory.

handling companions in this game feels like having to look for a bunch of brain-damaged toddlers constantly, you never know when they're gonna pull stupid sh*t, you can't trust them for anything, you spend your time hoping they don't force you to reload by killing themselves or blocking your way jeopardizing a whole fight because they are so stupid. this is way too demanding on the player's sanity and nerves.

at least add a "f**k out the way feature to companions in the player turn" like fallout 2 has, being able to force companions out of the way is vital, since they can't be controlled.
But they are overall a liability if you care about them not dying.
I litterally fire every single one of them for all the boss battle and do them myself rambo style.

mark my words, right now , boss battles are easier without companions even with incredibly OP equipement than the player alone going guerilla and using proper positioning.
Honestly I think in terms of power play and convenience, one is much better off killing them all for xp or not having them at all. I kept them in hope they'd get to speed later down the road and found myself beating the game realizing they never ever cease to be liabilities instead of an advantage. their utility as mules decreases dramatically when you have the car trunk available also.

Could something be done about this ? real time control option, combat-time "f*ck off" option, dismiss/regroup all in one hotkey like FO2 companion control mod.
also , if they are doomed to be stupid, make them way more powerful at least. If they are to charge to their death, It's nice If they at least get ONE shot right.

right now they don't, they only miss, and when they hit, it's the player or eachother, then they quickly proceed to move in front of your heavy machine gun to make sure to die by the last shot of that "almost dead" dude that you cannot hit anymore,thanks a lot, that is going to superstim the next round and burst the hopeless player that got his strategy deliberately ♥♥♥♥♥♥ by his own follower.

they have no impact aside from commenting and making the whole game more frustrating. they're better off added to your XP bar. THe fact I'm even able to just shoot them all dead in one turn out of frustration before reloading should speak volumes about how lame they are lol.

[Worm]

For all the crap I give the game for being poorly designed, you CAN order them by holding left mouse button. Also, you can cycle them in your stat screen by two side buttons and level up their skills to at least 100, and they hit most of the times.

I recommend also telling them to stick close to you, so they don't run off and actively fight when they are near you.

[La Bourlingue]

Well it looks like it doesn't quite work. Hexogen still charges heads on with a rifle in defensive mode, and the two others are stuck on unarmed mode. And they still break line of sight unless they are set to flee mode.half the time they let their HP low without using stims

[Worm]

He shouldn't. You have to tell them out-of-combat in a dialogue about tactics, then select the first option that tells them to keep them close. They keep up to three grid distance from you, and never charge the enemy.

Out of that dialogue, you can either choose defensive, offensive or passive (fleeing), I think in-combat stays only during that combat.

PS: Don't feel bad about not knowing that you could level up manually your allies, as it took me many hours to find it out myself. Still, poor game design that it doesn't teach you that or at least let you know that is possible. When I leveled up Fidel after these many countless hours, suddenly he stopped missing rats point-blank with his Deagle and started sniping everything with no problem.

[texhnolyze]

I've never had such problems with my companions. They do follow my order, charge ahead in aggressive mode, pull back in defensive mode. You can also order them to get out of your way by holding click.

That said, I do agree that they serve little purpose outside of combat. Their base skills are too similar, they're all good with melee weapons and pistols so you'd have to invest heavily if you want them to specialize in other skills. None of them also good at lockpicking, which makes the whole 'ask companion to lockpick' system useless.

[Worm]

Originally posted by texhnolyze:

None of them also good at lockpicking, which makes the whole 'ask companion to lockpick' system useless.

You can level up those. I specialized Fidel in lockpicking and he is my walking lockpick tool currently, given how he always opens doors or containers without any trouble. I don't even bother looking for passcodes anymore.

[texhnolyze]

Originally posted by Worm:

Originally posted by texhnolyze:

None of them also good at lockpicking, which makes the whole 'ask companion to lockpick' system useless.

You can level up those. I specialized Fidel in lockpicking and he is my walking lockpick tool currently, given how he always opens doors or containers without any trouble. I don't even bother looking for passcodes anymore.

But they all have like 25 lockpicking as the base. Investing in it would make them liable in combat.

[Worm]

It's rather quick to level them up to 100 so they aren't worthless. Currently, my Fidel is at level 14 with 123 Pistols & SMG, 101 Lockpicking and 88 Technology.

[Peak Imouto]

I know, I made the grave mistake of giving Fidel a burst pistol... I decided he wasn't ready for the responsibility the third time he killed me by insisting on shooting through me, when there are targets to the side.

[Ceepert]

Originally posted by La Bourlingue:

Ok i've like 70 hours of play, the sad conclusion is, companions are so bad, they are the worst part of this game by a long shot.
I have yet to see any instance of any companion serving any gameplay purpose. They all suck at lockpicking way worse than even the player at low level, the "ask for help" promp didn't even have to be there in the first place, since the player outmatches any companion with nada skills it seems.
what they are in terms of gameplay are dialogue-glorified mules as well as a severe combat handicaps, since their skills are just low as hell, they miss constantly even after many level ups, they jeopardize line of sight constantly and kill themselves or the player at the first opportunity, they never repostion exept to break the player's line of sight, they refuse to shoot while having a STORE of all weapon types and ammo in their inventory,they often don't use their stims when it's appropriate and let themselves get killed even with a stack of 20 super stims in their inventory.

handling companions in this game feels like having to look for a bunch of brain-damaged toddlers constantly, you never know when they're gonna pull stupid sh*t, you can't trust them for anything, you spend your time hoping they don't force you to reload by killing themselves or blocking your way jeopardizing a whole fight because they are so stupid. this is way too demanding on the player's sanity and nerves.

at least add a "f**k out the way feature to companions in the player turn" like fallout 2 has, being able to force companions out of the way is vital, since they can't be controlled.
But they are overall a liability if you care about them not dying.
I litterally fire every single one of them for all the boss battle and do them myself rambo style.

mark my words, right now , boss battles are easier without companions even with incredibly OP equipement than the player alone going guerilla and using proper positioning.
Honestly I think in terms of power play and convenience, one is much better off killing them all for xp or not having them at all. I kept them in hope they'd get to speed later down the road and found myself beating the game realizing they never ever cease to be liabilities instead of an advantage. their utility as mules decreases dramatically when you have the car trunk available also.

Could something be done about this ? real time control option, combat-time "f*ck off" option, dismiss/regroup all in one hotkey like FO2 companion control mod.
also , if they are doomed to be stupid, make them way more powerful at least. If they are to charge to their death, It's nice If they at least get ONE shot right.

right now they don't, they only miss, and when they hit, it's the player or eachother, then they quickly proceed to move in front of your heavy machine gun to make sure to die by the last shot of that "almost dead" dude that you cannot hit anymore,thanks a lot, that is going to superstim the next round and burst the hopeless player that got his strategy deliberately ♥♥♥♥ed by his own follower.

they have no impact aside from commenting and making the whole game more frustrating. they're better off added to your XP bar. THe fact I'm even able to just shoot them all dead in one turn out of frustration before reloading should speak volumes about how lame they are lol.

Weird. My companions always take their Stims when they are "injured" or "almost dead", They hit almost every shot (but it did put all their levels into the guns they are using, they have 90-100 in those skills) and they take the weapon they do the most potential damage with.
For example I have a guy with 8 Action points and I gave him the perk that he uses one less actionpoint while using a pistol. Then I gave him a handmade Revolver+ that needs 2AP per shot. Now he uses that gun over alot of other guns, cause he can shoot 6 time and still has 2 AP left.

For the running infront of you. If you put them on "stay near you" instead of charging over the battlefield to get into weapon range they will rarely walk infront of you.
Idealy you want you companions to have guns with higher range than yours, cause then they only walk infront of you, if no enemy is in your sight

[Ceepert]

Originally posted by Worm:

It's rather quick to level them up to 100 so they aren't worthless. Currently, my Fidel is at level 14 with 123 Pistols & SMG, 101 Lockpicking and 88 Technology.

yeah mine too, pretty much sever misses a shot at this point

[bati]

Couple questions - is XP shared across party or does each party member get the same amount of XP that is displayed after each encounter?

Second - and this is aimed at OP specifically - do you think picking Lone Wolf is a viable option or do you miss out on too much (story/quest wise)? What level of endurance would you recommend for going solo?

I'm thinking of starting a parallel run to my main campaign and was thinking of going solo for as little micromanagement as possible.

[Supply Side Jesus]

I mostly agree with OP, companions, just like in Fallout 1, are very fragile and prone to random death and wasting ammo.

[Priestie]

HI, so on my game Fidel, with whatt 60 points in lock picking, and a lockpick set, and the lockpick skill has yet to be defeated by any lock. Both fidel and Hex for the most part do REALLY well in combat, especially when we get ambushed and surrounded. It helps to have an extra 100 hitpoints collectively to soak damage. Yes they can accidently shoot eachother, but its pretty rare, especially if you use commands to select thier targest. However, if you dont like companions, justt take the lonewolf perk.

[La Bourlingue]

Originally posted by Priestie:

HI, so on my game Fidel, with whatt 60 points in lock picking, and a lockpick set, and the lockpick skill has yet to be defeated by any lock. Both fidel and Hex for the most part do REALLY well in combat, especially when we get ambushed and surrounded. It helps to have an extra 100 hitpoints collectively to soak damage. Yes they can accidently shoot eachother, but its pretty rare, especially if you use commands to select thier targest. However, if you dont like companions, justt take the lonewolf perk.

that's not the botton line, they sure can hit hard eventually, but the AI doesn't check for friendly fire nor do they check for preserving allie line of sight.
This is like the first ever concern for squad tactic. The first thing you learn irl when you learn warfare at the army is 1 how to not kill yourself, 2 how to not kill friends.

It's not "accidental" I think there is simply no code telling the AI to check for friendly fire or telling it to avoid breaking sight.
No matter how powerfull they are, a chain is always just as strong as it's weakest bind, if companions consistantly shoot eachother carelessly, the more powerful they get, the more they kill eachothers.

right now you can't play with a companion using burst and a melee companion for exemple. because they are not coded to be able to give a ♥♥♥♥ about killing eachother. the result is hexogen will kill the dog or alexander constantly after you give it automatic longrange stuff with AP rounds.

it's just a matter of the dev adding code to support fire logistics, it's quite some work but that is kinda vital to the companion system. I think the companions only reposition regarding the player, and not enough so anyways, they still burst too close.
I am positive they don't take eachothers positions in calculation when they shoot, so they remain a hazard each time. it's a shame, the AI should handle the repositionning work in a sound fashion and check for the squad position in combat, since we can't control companions positionning.

[Priestie]

Frankly, La Bourlinque you are entirely welcome to your opinion. I just wanted to let you know what works for me.

I very seldom have friendly fire issues, mostly because I direct my companions attacks, and move them with forsight to make sure they arnt stacked on top of eachother. If your teammates are stacked up on eachother, whats to stop a random grenade from taking out your whole unit?

I much more often have bandits and slavers killing eachother due to friendly fire than the other way around.

Personally i'd much rather the devs spend the effort to add formations (so that your unit moves together in a certain pattern) so that I dont have to spend the first turn moving my people around while being shot at. If they were to code in some kind of if/then logic to prevent friendly fire, who's to say what the correct level of risk is? If there is a 10% risk of shooting an alley (which there is when there is a 90% to hit the bad guy) should your companion not take the shot? Everyone has different difinitions of acceptable risk.