Where/when will Garret accompany me ?

[Matt]

Hi everyone,

I just finished my first playthrough and, oh my !, I love this game.

Regarding the difficulty, I played on underdog, did most of the optional fights (except when nearing the end) and didn't find the game *that* hard. At least, I found it easier than Age of Decadence and way easier than Dungeon Rats. That being said, I find the difficulty just fine, and it probably requires some serious optimization if one wants to be able to do all the endgame fights (hence not allowing to spend as much energy cells in Hydroponics Yellow and Red).

Back on topic :

When Garret joined me (and after Chapter 3 started), I was hoping that he would help with the First Law of Robotics quest, but he refused to come with me. And there are quite a few locations where he won't follow, at least maybe until some checkpoint in the main quest is reached. I can understand that, it really makes sense, but obviously it makes this beast less useful...

So, basically my question is : is it possible to have Garret stay with the team for all of Chapter 3, while still visiting all locations ?

Side question : Assuming it isn't possible, and at some point he leaves the team, does that have any bad repercussion on his Loyalty (in the same way as if you dismissed him) ?

[TwoFace]

So, basically, he (same as any faction companion) can’t enter Habitat area (Maintenance and Shuttle Bay included), but will be with your team in any other quest/location, except the one very hard fight, iirc

[Matt]

That's already quite a few locations. What very hard fight are you talking about ? Is it the one you get if you decide to send the ship back to earth, or another one ?

Also, what about my side question : does it lower his loyalty if you travel to one of these locations and have him consequently leave the party ?

Edit : Tested, going back and forth between the armory and the habitat lowers his loyalty.

[skaudus]

Originally posted by Matt:

That's already quite a few locations. What very hard fight are you talking about ? Is it the one you get if you decide to send the ship back to earth, or another one ?

He won't be there for the Armory assault fight, where you (as the Brotherhood rep) fight Cobra and the Protectors.

Dismissing Garret is just like any other companion -- the loyalty penalty is 0 for the first 3 dismissals, and then gets incrementally higher the more you do it. He also loses 1 loyalty point every time you gain XP and he's not in your party.

Generally you can safely dismiss companions a solid couple of times. The system is in place to abuse disposable skillmonkeys that you only take in your party to do skillchecks and then leave for any fights.

[Matt]

Thanks for the answer.

Are you sure about the -1 Loyalty each time I get exp ?
Cause I've done a big chunck of Chapter 3 without him (the maintenance fights, hydroponics yellow and red, the heart, mission control 5 and 6, a few things in the Pit), and yet he is only displeased if I have him join before the Zeta negociation. My rep with the brotherhood is 19, which certainly helps, but still... I went from level 5 and 330 exp to level 6 and 2000 exp, so there must have been way more than 40 times that I earned exp.

[skaudus]

Yeah, that fits the bill.

[Matt]

how ? I earn approx 60 exp each time I get exp (sometimes less) and have earned about 3600 exp total, so at least 60 times.

Wouldn't his loyalty be -20 (start) +19 (Brotherhood rep) -60 =-61 ?

I guess I'm doing my maths wrong, but can you see where please ?

[skaudus]

Starting disposition is also affected by your CHA, and moreso if you have Cult Leader.

Starting loyalty = (CHA - 7) x 5, CL is +15

Displeased is between -39 and -10 loyalty. Since quests give more XP (because it's given directly to all party members, it's not split), you're right about in the Displeased range.

[Matt]

Hmm, guess that's it. I have 9 Cha, so that's a +10 that I forgot.
And possibly I got exp only 50 times or so...
Still, that feels a bit weird, since I was under the impression that some fights bring not that much of experience, but it's true that on occasions the game also gives some larger chunks.
Thanks again.