10 replies to this topic

[swavek]

Does how you distribute points into abilities, proficiencies and talents make a difference for your companion(s)? Seeing as how the game AI controls them and determines when/how they use their abilities, I'm thinking that it won't make a huge (if any) difference. Nevertheless, I'd like to hear what others have done. I just had Reinhart Manx join my party, but I haven't activated him so I'm assuming that he's at level 1. As soon as I make him an active companion then I'll have to pick his abilities and proficiencies.

[FireMist]

Does how you distribute points into abilities, proficiencies and talents make a difference for your companion(s)? Seeing as how the game AI controls them and determines when/how they use their abilities, I'm thinking that it won't make a huge (if any) difference. Nevertheless, I'd like to hear what others have done. I just had Reinhart Manx join my party, but I haven't activated him so I'm assuming that he's at level 1. As soon as I make him an active companion then I'll have to pick his abilities and proficiencies.

The first time I played I also got confused about AI companions' proficiencies/talents, but after having each one for a while I noticed that:
Anjali : almost always summons fire jackals before battles ; goy kinda frustrated when I allocated her proficiency points in pillar of fire and she didn´t use it much; seems that in human form she prefers the hurl spear ability instead of spinning kick or fall from the heavens. Rarely seen her cast volatile barrier (it would be nice if she did...) Frequently used Aura of Immolation and it is damn useful (can injure foes & heal allies) so upgrade it ASAP.
Lucas: for me, the AI companion with the most reasonable proficiency choices .ALWAYS uses shield pummel. So invest in it, for it is damn useful. And he invariably chooses Heroic Strike as his favorite one-handed stance attack. Rarely uses blade dash (misses on that nice criticals), but instead, likes Wind Shear which is also nice. Almost always casts shield barrier before battles. Never seen him use Vanguard Strike. Rarely uses earthquake (fortunately, cos it has a loooong winding time and makes him vulnerable while casting it).
Reinhart: stays at a distance, does regular attacks with entropy stance, then unleashes Geometry of Annihilation (the best spell for him IMO, but it takes a long time to cast , which in turn leaves him vulnerable to attacks). Since it has HUGE area effect I recommend upgrading his GoA as soon as you can. He uses Mirror Leap quite often, which is nice for distracting the baddies. About his Dynamic stance, when I had him as a companion, he cast Ligtning Strike at the beginning, but stopped using it as soon as he got Electrocute...personally, I think Electrocute wasn´t as effective as Ligtning Strike. Died quite easily as an AI companion when outnumbered because he insisted in casting slow spells, so I recommend that your player character go up front to protect him.
Katarina: as an AI companion, once I got Flintlock Fury she forgot about Heartseeking Shot...it is nice for most fights (just a few mobs survive the hail of bullets long enough to come close), but quite annoying in bosses where Heartseeking Shot would do more damage and more critical hits. In my games she summoned Dark Hounds quite often, but less than Anjali. Upgraded her Warding Ritual to slow/cause damage to enemies but she didn't use it much when controlled by AI...different from what I did when using her as a player char. I got quite frustrated with it. I wish she used more her Chosen Prey and Call of the Hunt but for me she didn´t.

[leeloodallas]

I've had the best results when I've allocated points into whatever my companion uses most. The AI seems to be a little bit adaptive, depending on what character you've chosen. Anjali paired with Lucas uses a lot more of her fire-form abilities, and with Reinhart, she's almost always in human form. With Kat, she flickers in and out between forms.

Anjali : almost always summons fire jackals before battles ; goy kinda frustrated when I allocated her proficiency points in pillar of fire and she didn´t use it much; seems that in human form she prefers the hurl spear ability instead of spinning kick or fall from the heavens. Rarely seen her cast volatile barrier (it would be nice if she did...) Frequently used Aura of Immolation and it is damn useful (can injure foes & heal allies) so upgrade it ASAP.

It's interesting-- this go-round with Reinhart, she's using a ton of Spinning Kick (she went nuts with it on a cyclops not that long ago this playthrough, six in a row, and got stuck in the pose), Hurl Spear every once in a while, and she's used Fall From the Heavens three times this playthrough and I'm at the Spire. Aura of Immolation she's only occasionally using. In fact, she switches to summon a jackal, throws a few fireballs, and goes to town with Spinning Kick. She's barely been using Volatile Barrier, even though she should have several times. I've had to revive her a *lot.*

[FireMist]

I've had the best results when I've allocated points into whatever my companion uses most. The AI seems to be a little bit adaptive, depending on what character you've chosen. Anjali paired with Lucas uses a lot more of her fire-form abilities, and with Reinhart, she's almost always in human form. With Kat, she flickers in and out between forms.

Anjali : almost always summons fire jackals before battles ; goy kinda frustrated when I allocated her proficiency points in pillar of fire and she didn´t use it much; seems that in human form she prefers the hurl spear ability instead of spinning kick or fall from the heavens. Rarely seen her cast volatile barrier (it would be nice if she did...) Frequently used Aura of Immolation and it is damn useful (can injure foes & heal allies) so upgrade it ASAP.

It's interesting-- this go-round with Reinhart, she's using a ton of Spinning Kick (she went nuts with it on a cyclops not that long ago this playthrough, six in a row, and got stuck in the pose), Hurl Spear every once in a while, and she's used Fall From the Heavens three times this playthrough and I'm at the Spire. Aura of Immolation she's only occasionally using. In fact, she switches to summon a jackal, throws a few fireballs, and goes to town with Spinning Kick. She's barely been using Volatile Barrier, even though she should have several times. I've had to revive her a *lot.*

That may explain why my AI Anjali used aura of immolation a lot...my main char was Lucas. I wish she didn´t go with that jackal spell *that* much. It requires 50 Focus, takes time to cast (leaves her vulnerable while doing that) and the dog does not last enough.

[FireMist]

How interesting. Now in my second playthrough with Reinhart, I decided to stick with Anjali throughout the game (last time I played with him I ditched her for Lucas). I´m done through the Stonebridge/Glitterdelve Mines area and unlocked all her special attacks. Anjali´s mastery bar for Hurl Spear is full and her Fire Jackal is halfway full , but I´ve seen that she uses her most powerful moves just once in a while...and even spinning kick hasn´t been spammed so frequently. She hurls her spear, summons a jackal, turns into archon and uses regular attacks - that´s what she has been doing. Once in a while, when surrounded by large groups of enemies or when her health drops to half, she uses aura of immolation.

[FireMist]

[/quote]

It's interesting-- this go-round with Reinhart, she's using a ton of Spinning Kick (she went nuts with it on a cyclops not that long ago this playthrough, six in a row, and got stuck in the pose), Hurl Spear every once in a while, and she's used Fall From the Heavens three times this playthrough and I'm at the Spire. Aura of Immolation she's only occasionally using. In fact, she switches to summon a jackal, throws a few fireballs, and goes to town with Spinning Kick. She's barely been using Volatile Barrier, even though she should have several times. I've had to revive her a *lot.*
[/quote]

In my games, the girls didn´t seem to like to activate their shields, even though they * should*. Could have saved them several revives. Damned AI...
But Reinhart and Lucas always activate their shields. You can see that when they turn sparkling blue. And their mastery bar for said abilities has always been past half in mid- to late game for me.

[Seagloom]

The AI for Anjali is terrible. I was playing Reinhart for the first time, and hadn't chosen hard mode before. Most of the time she lobbed fireballs and used aura of immolation. Once in awhile she'd summon a jackal. The only spear technique she used frequently was spinning kick. She rarely bothered with fall from heaven even though I maxed out its damage. Reinhart's mirror leap companion contributed more than she did.

[FireMist]

Totally agree. AI companions sometimes do weird (and dangerous ) things like "Not Using Volatile Barrier" or " Performing Spinning Kick on Large Enemies". Ugh. I am almost falling in the temptation of ditching her for Lucas again, at least in this Reinhart plythrough. But I spent a lot of of money buying her the best gear I could, so Lucas will have to wait

[Seagloom]

I don't see myself using her again in the near future. Out of the three I tried, she was the worst by far. Next I plan to take Reinhart along for the first time. Hopefully that goes better.

[FireMist]

Katarina: as an AI companion, once I got Flintlock Fury she forgot about Heartseeking Shot...it is nice for most fights (just a few mobs survive the hail of bullets long enough to come close), but quite annoying in bosses where Heartseeking Shot would do more damage and more critical hits. In my games she summoned Dark Hounds quite often, but less than Anjali. Upgraded her Warding Ritual to slow/cause damage to enemies but she didn't use it much when controlled by AI...different from what I did when using her as a player char. I got quite frustrated with it. I wish she used more her Chosen Prey and Call of the Hunt but for me she didn´t.
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Also annoying with Katarina is that as an AI companion, she often continues to use flintlock fury AFTER the enemy is dead. Such a waste of focus. But at least AI- Katarina seems to be wiser than AI- Anjali.

[FireMist]

I don't see myself using her again in the near future. Out of the three I tried, she was the worst by far. Next I plan to take Reinhart along for the first time. Hopefully that goes better.

In my games when I had Reinhart as an AI-companion he did it well, with a few flaws (only when extremely outnumbered, but I supposed this will happen with most AI-companions.). His Mirror Leap was quite useful.