Will we meet our companions sooner?

[SkySlam]

This is a very crucial matter for those - like me - who enjoy story companions with their interactions, banter and personal quests. Also, I find it annoying to start with a team and keep swapping companions in and out: I want a solid group from the early stages of the adventure to the end.

 

In PoE1, we got to know some of our companions too far into the game (Pallegina, GM, WM companions, especially the Devi of Caroc!).

Other companions weren't that far but still many hours away if you like to do quests/areas in order (Sagani and Hiravias).

 

I think this was addressed as a problem by a lot of players. One of the most successful guides on Steam teaches how to get all the companions "as soon as possible". Clearly, it involves a lot of meta-gaming and it feels kinda forced and game-y.

 

I believe that we should meet our new companions sooner in Deadfire compared to PoE1.

 

About returning companions, the fact that Edèr, Aloth and Pallegina are going back to level 1 with the Watcher probably means that they were having some kind of reunion in Caed Nua when Eothas stepped on them all, I suppose.

I'd be quite happy to venture with Edèr and Aloth from the get-go!

[Archaven]

Ya it would be great that we can actually reach out to the companions we want easier so that it won't really be a hassle i guess. 

[Osvir]

About returning companions, the fact that Edèr, Aloth and Pallegina are going back to level 1 with the Watcher probably means that they were having some kind of reunion in Caed Nua when Eothas stepped on them all, I suppose.

 

I guess I could see how they were all invited to the stronghold and then by chance Eothas awakens and everybody gets level drained. But if that's not the case, then Aloth or Pallegina would make more sense to be collected mid-game? Then again, Eothas is a God so his "level drain" powers might affect the whole world, or at the very least the Dyrwood region.

 

​This whole story feels a bit reflective of the refugee crisis (then again, maybe not, Dragon Age II did the whole refugee thing too in 2010. Don't know how actual that was at the time), and "Eothas rebirth" being the "bombs" and we are in the position of having to desperately flee along with everybody else.

 

​I'm also getting this feeling that all of the Dyrwood region is going to be "blown to bits" in some way, and the entire region being uninhabitable. I.E. you won't be able to return to the place because it's decimated, no one lives there anymore. A narrative way of explaining why we can't return to Dyrwood (Something Baldur's Gate II never had, I.E. we couldn't return to the northern Sword Coast and there was never an explanation for it~ the Baldur's Gate Trilogy Mod made it available though).

Edited January 29, 2017 by Osvir

[Quillon]

It would be better if there won't be companion quest progression ties to resting/time spent in player's company.

[ArnoldRimmer]

yes, I hate that half the companions are onyl aquired when a lot of the game is completed... I think there should be a switch that you can enable - maybe when you have completed the the game once - so that all the companions are in the first pub you come a cross so that if you want try out different parties you can do so from the beginning.

[Sedrefilos]

The sooner we gather the companions the better of course. Like if we get Eder, Aloth, Pallegina at prologue and the rest somewhere at the beginning of chapter 1.
Of course this must cope with the learning progress of the game's mechanics. Too many companions at the same time means you have to manage many new mechanics at the same time. This is not good also.

[Sedrefilos]

Sawyer confirms we get all new companions before midgame. Or at least 4 of them (Since full party now means 4+us).
http://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/156538181671/so-with-3-of-the-6probably-7-soon-companions

Edited January 29, 2017 by Sedrefilos

[floredon]

It would be nice if they make companions harder to miss. I had to go searching for a few companions in POE. 

[SkySlam]

Sawyer confirms we get all new companions before midgame. Or at least 4 of them (Since full party now means 4+us).

http://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/156538181671/so-with-3-of-the-6probably-7-soon-companions

 

Thank you for the link! I'm not sure I'm ok with that statement, because one might say that we also met Pallegina before the midgame of PoE1... still she felt so far away! I could say the same about the GM or the WM companions.

 

I think that in the first few hours in Deadfire (without speedrunning or metagaming) we should be able to meet all the possible companions.

 

"Before midgame" is too vague and probably similar to what happened in PoE1

[Starwars]

Personally I like it more when companions are a "spread out" a bit. I think PoE had a really nice balance, especially after The White March was released. Not a huge fan off when games load up all the companions at the "front" so to speak.

[Eurhetemec]

Personally I like it more when companions are a "spread out" a bit. I think PoE had a really nice balance, especially after The White March was released. Not a huge fan off when games load up all the companions at the "front" so to speak.

 

I think you might be a very rare person to think this.

 

I personally found it a huge chore to try and round up all the companions in Pillars, and it's just annoying that some of them aren't even available until level 7-8-ish, by which time you could easily be most of the way through the main game.

 

It'd be much better for Pillars 2 to give you all the companions in the first few hours, given they only have seven of them.

 

The only times it makes sense to have companions available late in a game is when you have a vast number of them (as with some JRPGs), or when you can only have one companion at once (as with TES/Fallout 3/4/NV).

[LordCrash]

 

Personally I like it more when companions are a "spread out" a bit. I think PoE had a really nice balance, especially after The White March was released. Not a huge fan off when games load up all the companions at the "front" so to speak.

 

I think you might be a very rare person to think this.

 

I personally found it a huge chore to try and round up all the companions in Pillars, and it's just annoying that some of them aren't even available until level 7-8-ish, by which time you could easily be most of the way through the main game.

 

It'd be much better for Pillars 2 to give you all the companions in the first few hours, given they only have seven of them.

 

The only times it makes sense to have companions available late in a game is when you have a vast number of them (as with some JRPGs), or when you can only have one companion at once (as with TES/Fallout 3/4/NV).

 

 

This. If PoE 2 offered 16 companions like BG2 did nobody would complain if some of them were met a bit later in the game. But with only 7 companions around you need to meet them pretty early or you can't play with a full party ("the way its meant to be played") until a certain point in the game. And I don't see why this should be a good idea. It also means that some companions had less time and space to express their personality. Why putting all the work into a character if the player hardly gets to know them?