Control companions

[Meuh]

Whenever I try to open a locked box, my companions want to brute force it and before I even lock pick it, they break everything. Is there a way to prevent them from attacking objects?

[Jhonny G]

Talk to your companion and say you want to change their tactics. One of the options reads something like "don't assist me when I fail to open a lock or disarm a trap". Select that one.

[Slainpessimist]

As above.
You can also right click your character, select talk (bottom left of the radial menue) and select things like, stay, follow me, attack, heal.

[Meuh]

Thank you all!!

[DrLoboto]

There are also keyboard shortcuts for the companion commands which at first might sound a bit intimidating but I find them more convenient than the radial in the long run, once you get used to them. For example, whenever a companion does stuff they're not supposed to do, just press V-W-X (stop!). V-E-E is follow, V-W-E is attack nearest, V-W-D is heal me, V-W-F is protect me / attack the same opponent I'm currently fighting etc. Just try it, you'll soon be able to do it in your sleep, so to speak. There's actually a menu that pops up at the left bottom of the screen once you press V that shows you what other keys you can press for which commands.

Note, these commands go to all companions/summons at the same time, in case you have more than one. If you want to give commands to specific companions and not others, you'll still have to use the radial on them (not on your character - if you use it on your character it applies to everyone again!).