SturmChurro

Yeah, I know all this. I think I outlined earlier they were like non-combat pets, with their passives. Think of Pillars of Eternity 2 where they give you passive buffs, some are definitly better than others like Parvati, etc. for passives for sure. I had parvati in over 120 armor rating, the UDL armor, and she was still getting nuked, by mantis, etc. There are some enemies that they can just never fight.

Lmao! So true! Like you find so much ammo it doesn't matter, and actually I ran through emerald vale with just 4 armor rating. Once you find a sniper/assualt rifle (not light) enemies are a joke. Emerald vale you can also just use a plasma rifle or whatever and kill the primals like nothing, plus the mechanicals. It's hilarious how the game tries to nudge you into using the electricity weapon type when plasma gets the job done faster. It's ridiculous the balance of this game. The actual gameplay is probably the worst aspect of this entire game. In my opinion, they utterly failed at making it dynamic.

I'd be willing to bet the lone wolf build is still superior in anyway than a high leadership build. Especially if having 60 leadership means they still die to packs. It's just too hard to micro them, and too annoying. So much simpler to just solo everything on your own, safer too. Getting hit is a joke with the amount of adreno you find, so even if you don't have high regen it doesn't matter at all, plus you can just kite packs and reset them. So, I'd argue there is only one viable build in Supernova, and that is lone wolf.

Yeah, SAM is a really good companion. A primal behemoth will kill him still, but I found that he could fight most other enemies fine, like he could charge into a marauder group, or the like, and kill them plus tank them. Probably the best companion in the game, I talked about him in an earlier post I think. From what I have gathered from what you are saying, it looks like the companions being such trash has to be completely on purpose. The only way to make leadership an effective build would be to make companions trash, because otherwise why would you invest any points in them? I don't think I like the inclusion of this skillset then. I mean it's a cool idea on paper, but playing low leadership with companions is an utter annoyance. The problem is, if what you say is actually true, then like I have questioned before, the only viable build with companions is high leadership. So if you want to use them (in supernova) then you better be playing high leadership. So any other build you might want to play would be sub-standard, unless you decide to go lone wolf, and invest in personal skills.

The saving isn't as bad as you think. You can just save in one of the many instances in each zone. It autosaves as you enter or leave one. So for example, in emerald vale, you can just walk into the community center for a save at the center of the map. You don't even have to sleep very often either, just drink caffeinated drinks which will sate your thirst, and keep you going. I'm not saying they are weak, their damage is fine. They just end up dying so quickly. I am curious how you actually got through the beginning of the game if you played like that. The weaker enemies my companion and I can burn down quite easily, but if I get one more powerful enemy focusing on them they are dead - very quickly. My build consists of only 20 leadership, and a little bit higher determination (I think). The companion skills are strong, but you gotta be really careful because once you use them they are in the fight and enemies will attack them. Stuff like primals with N-ray will nuke them. Thing is with a proper solo build your character can kill enemies extremely quickly as well. You can kill a large group of marauders with a sniper utilizing time dilation (1-shot headshots) or just run in with an acid machine gun, and mow everything - whilst having high temperament (regen) is another one.

No way! Really?! It's like this is the first time they have ever implemented companions into a game like this then. I mean, at least they don't die permanently. If that is the case, I honestly don't know what they were going for with trash companions then. Like, yeah there are several perks you can take to make it better. I haven't tested a full leadership build (+perks), but I suspect that they balanced them around the bonuses provided in doing so, maybe to try and make leadership more viable?

Update: They are so useless that when I was doing the platforming to get the 'mind control ray' science weapon. One of my companions fell to their death, and then "left the party". I have to redo the entire dungeon now. Great work! I am at the point where I am just gonna say screw the story and interactions. I'll just go lonewolf. I have had to reload against mantis, because when they (my companions) follow me around like headless chickens they get hit by aoe and DIE. I have Parvati with over 120 armor rating and she still can't survive ANYTHING. It is so, SO dumb. Keep in mind I do NOT have my companions on aggressive, they are passive, or defensive at all times. So they are getting killed by the environment, and speaking of environment in that same dungeon I nearly lost BOTH of my companions to the area where the steam vents, because they just stand in it and die. I had to rush through the whole section as fast as I could before they dropped health and died (not like it mattered, see above). Like just when I think it's bad enough, the idiocy just gets worse and worse. I wanted some challenge, supernova is not a challenge, it's just an annoyance. Woe to me if I have to actually play in a lower difficulty not because I am having a rough time, but because my brain dead, glass (not cannon) companions die over and over, and over to the most idiotic things. The fact that the ai can't even jump properly and if I hadn't reloaded I would have lost one of my companions, is unbelievable. I am literally just wondering now, what's next? Like Christ almighty. Side note, has anyone tested the "DON'T GO DYIN ON ME" perk in supernova? It says you can revive downed companions with a quarter health by using your inhaler. I haven't taken it or tested it, because it is a useless perk, but was just wondering.

Yeah, tell me about it. When I first started, I got the first companion, she died to 2 outlaws when I had her on aggressive. At first I was like, "She's just going to get back up right?" thinking like maybe they had an injury system like in Pillars or something. Nope, she just laid their and then died. Tried again... and she died again. It was so stupid. Like I said, even when I put them in heavy armor AND took the defensive perks for them, they still die. I have literally gimped my build not taking lone wolf perk, because I am soloing every single encounter anyway. I put my leadership to 20 just for fun to see their abilities, and I occasionally use them, but if you aren't killing the enemy with their ability they are liable to get killed immediately after they use the ability. Like I am not going to respec just to go pure leadership, screw that. Just gotta have human sized pets..

This is not a bug, who moved this? No need for technical support.

Playing in Supernova difficulty companions are completely, and utterly WORTHLESS. There is no point using them unless you invest HEAVILY into companion perks (leadership). Other than SAM even with the best possible HEAVY armor I can find, they die in just a couple hits. SAM can last in average fights, but might as well put him on passive fighting anything strong, he's dead otherwise. God forbid you try to have a melee companion. Supernova difficulty seems to be exclusively for Lone Wolf, or a pure leadership build. Otherwise, your entire crew will be in the grave. Currently, I have crewmates who are just set to passive or defensive, who follow me around like a non-combat pet from Pillars of Eternity. I have them tag along, because obviously I want them around for the story, and whatever dialogue they might have at locations or to NPC's - otherwise I actually would have taken the Lone Wolf perk. This is absolutely ridiculous, and, in my opinion, companions need a complete overhaul for supernova difficulty. I am not asking for them to be stronger, just not dead after every single damn minor skirmish forcing me to reload, not because I am having trouble, but because they die. Be wary of enemies with aoe, they will die to that too. Primals will kill them pretty much instantly, even if they are on passive if they get hit.