Best companions for story during White March

[bmardiney]

My main party for the base game is me (rogue), Eder, Aloth, Durance, Grieving Mother and Kana. I'm pretty bored by Sagani and haven't really done much with Pallegina or Hiravas. I'm assuming that the new companions added for the White March are intended to be used there. Should I switch out people for the new guys (I'm thinking Grieving Mother, Kana and Durance won't add much to the conversations). Also, do Sagani and Hiravas add anything cool in terms of dialague since they are more "wilderness-y"?

Edited May 22, 2018 by bmardiney

[Messier-31]

My main party for the base game is me (rogue), Eder, Aloth, Durance, Grieving Mother and Kana. I'm pretty bored by Sagani and haven't really done much with Pallegina or Hiravas. I'm assuming that the new companions added for the White March are intended to be used there. Should I switch out people for the new guys (I'm thinking Grieving Mother, Kana and Durance won't add much to the conversations). Also, do Sagani and Hiravas add anything cool in terms of dialague since they are more "wilderness-y"?

 

New companions are dull in the extent of the White March (their quests are also meh).

 

Devil of Caroc

 

Devil of Caroc (after finishing her really short personal quest) states that she would like to delve into the Battery, because there might be something that would help her in her trapped-in-bronze-body problem, but nothing ever happens if you let her tag along.

 

 

Zahua

 

Zahua is just a junkie hobo who has a slightly longer personal quest about taking shrooms.

 

 

Hiravias + Eder

 

Hiravias is quite good to have, the best part is having him and Eder simultanously while speaking to the orlan woman in front of the Durgan Battery in the second part of the expansion. But this is more comedic relief, tbh.

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by Messier-31

[bmardiney]

On one hand, that's kind of disappointing. On the other, I guess it's good that I wouldn't be missing out on much by bringing whomever I like the most. So far, Aloth seems to be affected by a few things here and there.

Edited May 23, 2018 by bmardiney

[Skazz]

Zahua

 

Zahua is just a junkie hobo who has a slightly longer personal quest about taking shrooms.

 

 

Ehhh. You're nuts.

 

Since my countryman above appears to be an overtly cynical man who may or may not be Edwin, I'll offer a different perspective:

 

It's true that the new companions have arcs that may feel "meh" - they're too brief, too abrupt, and don't have enough time to breathe. However, this is a problem with the expansion's format, length, limited resources, and the unfortunate split of its content. It's not really a fault of the companions themselves, who - despite their shortcomings - are all very clearly tied into the driving theme/question of the expansion. None of these people are with you for the long game, but that doesn't mean they're inherently bad characters.

 

I mean, I might agree that someone like Maneha is poorly realized, especially seeing how she barely acknowledges the large swaths of plot that are focused on her deity and therefore should be of immediate concern to her. On the other end of the spectrum, however, there is Zahua who is a great companion to have throughout both parts of WM. For one, he's a wonderfully written character created by the lead narrative designer of the game (and, incidentally, the guy who created Eder), and the one dude whose arc in WM2 gets proper foreshadowing in WM1. From a mechanical/content volume standpoint, he also speaks a lot and interjects frequently during conversations (unlike Maneha). He offers insight that is consistent and makes sense (unlike Maneha, again). He's also, well, fun (unlike... eh, you get the point).

 

From a broader perspective, I also felt that his storyline realizes the core theme of the expansion the best, and would probably call him the most Pillars-y of new party members. There is no such thing as a true happy ending for Zahua, certainly not in the way that he envisions as his "happy ending". Naturally, it's ultimately a matter of taste, but I find that way more interesting than a simple binary checkbox of "have you done his personal quest?".

 

To undersell someone like Zahua as a junkie hobo is like saying Eder is a dumb inbred hillbilly - misinformed at best, and disingenuous at worst. If you want to give one of the WM companions a shot, I'd definitely recommend Zahua.

 

As for the core companions, Hiravias is a good pick. There's a scripted event very early into WM1 that has multiples variables and outcomes, and I'm pretty sure Hiravias is the only party member who can fulfill ninety percent of its arcane requirements without absurd prep time.

Edited May 23, 2018 by Skazz

[Messier-31]

Yeah, I thought that my rant about Heihachi Mishima Zahua would lead to this. I just find nothing interesting about that guy. I also forgot about Maneha, but she's just so bad. Ondra's arc is right there, come one. Or she being a giftbearer, let's do something with that! No? Damn you, Maneha, I guess I don't aknowledge your existence anymore.

 

Since my countryman above appears to be an overtly cynical man who may or may not be Edwin,

 

Guess we will never know 

[JerekKruger]

Guess we will never know 

You didn't refer to the other people in this thread as simians. You're not Edwin.

[Messier-31]

Could my opinion of this group drop any lower? Evidently so.

Edited May 23, 2018 by Messier-31

[gkathellar]

To undersell someone like Zahua as a junkie hobo is like saying Eder is a dumb inbred hillbilly - misinformed at best, and disingenuous at worst. If you want to give one of the WM companions a shot, I'd definitely recommend Zahua.

 

As for the core companions, Hiravias is a good pick. There's a scripted event very early into WM1 that has multiples variables and outcomes, and I'm pretty sure Hiravias is the only party member who can fulfill ninety percent of its arcane requirements without absurd prep time.

 

Yeah, Zahua is great, and fits very organically into Pillars. Maneha is underwhelming and Devil is very cool but kind of runs out of content after her personal quest. But Zahua is fantastic.

 

Also, fwiw, Aloth can also do the event in question without too much trouble.

[bmardiney]

Awesome, thanks for the replies. I’m not sure if I’m past that Hiravas moment or not already, but I will say, I like Hiravas’s persoanlity but I utterly hate druid-y, overly nature-y lore in any fantasy setting. I view tree hugging as primitive and boring So here's hoping Aloth can do the job.

 

And I’m glad I can safely leave Maneha behind. She seems very flat as character’s go (maybe that's why they made her a lesbian...the last recourse when you’re out of character ideas). And she doesn’t seem as deadly as everyone else I use.

 

So I guess my white march team will be Eder, Aloth, Zahua, me, Pallegina (haven’t done much with her yet so now’s a good time), and Devil of Caroc (for now, switching her out ASAP since shes just a lesser copy of my character).