Basher SBC

I've been working my way through a Supernova playthrough, centered around a companion build. I have 84 in Leadership and 100 in Determination. My skills in the Stealth tree and the Science tree are around 50ish, and always have options for persuading in dialogue. The build itself has been effective (I'm at level 23) so far, but my biggest complaint is I never feel like I'm doing anything in combat except turning companions loose and keeping them healed. My gun skills are only around 12. Other than putting more points into Long Guns/Heavy Guns, is there a way to use any of my existing skills to give me more punch in combat? My stealth is good, so I wondered if maybe I should try to use sneak attacks as more of a tactic, then turn companions loose when things go sour.

And I won't lie, the first 6 or 7 levels on Terra were a nightmare. I only had one companion, and had to do the "ship travel save" every time I met more than 3 enemies. But once I had Max and did some side quests on Groundbreaker, started tinkering, it really took off. Now I just turn the two of them loose and sometimes never fire a shot. I just manage their focus fire and watch their health while they mop up. It's great for someone like me, who is a terrible shot!

I went with Supernova right from the start because I like the idea that I have to be careful and measured in combat. I love almost everything about Supernova, EXCEPT the sleeping. I compare it to Fallout 4, where at least you had other beds around that you could sleep in. Making only one spot on a planet to sleep makes no sense. In fairness, I did discover that on Monarch you can move your ship to other locations (Stellar Bay, Fallbrook, Cascadia, etc). But if they were going to do this, then why not simply make it so you have a place to sleep in each location? As far as followers, mine seem to be fine, but only because I went deep into the Leadership tree. But I certainly sympathize with those who didn't. If Obsidian wants to have a hardcore mode, it has to be viable for any build.

I've reached level 18 on Supernova, using a Companion build, and they rarely die, which is often a big complaint about the difficulty. I could probably grind through this, but I have to say even though the combat is going well, I coming close to dialing it back to hard. Simple reason: the sleeping thing. I can't sleep anywhere but my ship, and on Monarch this is starting to turn into a slog, walking back where I left off every time, even with the roads cleared of enemies. They really need to allow you to sleep in other beds, even if you have to pay a bunch of money to rent them.

I'm playing on Supernova, and decided to go for a dedicated a dedicated Companions build, putting 60% of my points into the Leadership/Determination branch, and then the rest in Dialogue and Stealth (for lockpicking). After a rough beginning, the sidekicks seem to be holding their own in heavy armor and the best weapon I can find (I'm always careful to manage their positioning a bit when there is a big mob). Essentially I play it the way I used to play Dragon Age: Origins, since I'm a terrible shot anyway and like the idea of micromanaging a party. Just wondering, is there an upside to pushing Leadership to 100, so that companions get a full bump to their damage output? Or are there any sort of diminishing returns that I should be aware of? Thanks.