Companions vs custom party members (and pc vs ps4)

Are custom characters only really needed on Potd difficulty? Debating whether to have fill custom group or use companions. Playing on hard at the mo.

 

I'm also debating changing to Potd difficulty as I die when overwhelmed on hard but it's about learning and sometimes best way to learn is on hardest difficulty.

 

Playing on ps4 and find it frustrating that I can't change angle of camara to see engagements better. Tempted to buy for pc, is the pc version much better control wise with mouse and keyboard?

 

Thanks

Be sure to consider that if you don't go the Companion route, you miss out on a bunch of content, to include xp awards, that is wrapped up in the Companion Quests.

Also, you don't pay them.  Also, most Companions have a bit of special gear or a unique ability.

 

 

Of course, you could collect all the Companions back to Brighthollow, and eventually include them one at a time to chase down their quests.

 

I'd say, if you ARE NOT min/max optimizing for every single damage point and every single defense edge for PotD, include the scripted Companions in some fashion.

(Except maybe Durance - talking - and talking and talking and talking - to him gets old. ;-)  )

 

 

AFAIK (I could be wrong; will bow to any other experienced opinion), you cannot change the camera angle in the PC version either.  Just zoom.

Edited August 3, 2018 by dreamrider

Custom adventurers are never really needed. Official Companions make the game easier on every difficulty setting. That's because PoE's difficulty is front-loaded and the beginning is where official companions excel because they have +1 level. Later on the more optimized stats of a custom adventurer who catches up on XP/level don't matter much because the game gets easy.

Also some companions get special abilities upon completing their quests - which makes them better than customs. For example Zahua gets a stacking speed bonus and Manhea gets additional stat points.

Edited August 6, 2018 by Boeroer

Does using them have any effect on poe2? And also guessing they are more then viable on PoTD difficulty? Was gonna custom them all but if companions are quite capable, are custom adventurers just to fill party at beginning?

Three of the companions return in PoE2, and your choices in the first game carry over to the second one and is brought up in conversations (and certain choices regarding PoE1 companions may lead to certain PoE2 companions leaving the party) . Other than that, not that I can think of 

You don't really NEED to "fill party at the beginning".  2 of your most basic Companions become available the same time you reach somewhere to recruit.  More than 3 party members on those first few maps would almost be overkill, and awkward to manage.

 

You ARE gonna have to solo 1.5 maps, however, no choice.  You can, however, take a least risk run sticking to the road, miss the local encounters, and come back later.  Oh, wait … I think there is one outlaw that you run into if you take that approach.

Three of the companions return in PoE2, and your choices in the first game carry over to the second one and is brought up in conversations (and certain choices regarding PoE1 companions may lead to certain PoE2 companions leaving the party) . Other than that, not that I can think of 

 

Thanks for this answer so I'm glad I explored this avenue of the game. I'm in act iii and trying to do each companion quest including DLCs.  It is one dimension of the game you can explore if you choose, or ignore? If you ignore then you DO lose out on some things in Deadfire according to fgalkin.  Another approach is the adventure pursuit you receive from your stronghold, I suggest exploring those too for extra loot and xp.  Do any of these affect Deadfire?

Edited August 6, 2018 by Mangamina

Also, each Companion Quest provides a nice benefit in xp, and some loot, as well.

I can do most quests it seems by using companions at certain points of story. Durance and grieving mother it seems they have to travel with you? I'm a Cipher MC does tht change anything for grieving mother?

 

Also is the any triggers for durance and GM so tht I can just use them the bare minimum?

Haven't worked thru Grieving Mother yet.

 

But for Durance, just talk to him after each rest.  You don't even have to add him to the current party.  However, somewhere in there, at least two of the rests-before-talking need to be camps, with Durance along.

 

Warning: Be prepared for a LOT of talking / dialogue interactions.  That guy likes to talk.

 

The whole Durance thing won't finish up until after you start Act 3, or maybe its just Dyrford / Cilant Rilag.  There some bits of outside information that you must acquire to allow the Durance quest to finish.  But you DO have to exhaust his dialogues, so start talking.  When trying to solo / keep the party small for xp efficiency, I just talk to him a Brighthollow mostly.

 

Oh.  Yeah.  After about 6-8 questions Durance gets tired of talking, until the next Rest.  You end up having to have about 4 separate jaw session with him.

Rested multiple times with him and exhausted all dialog options with him that I can see. I'm guessing I have to get to a certain point before I get first cutscenes maybe I'll just keep talking to him after each rest and each quest, which is a pain when I want to use custom priest lol

Tried Pillars on PS4, I'm playing on PC now in a PotD run with companions.

 

Companions on PotD: Companions can handle PotD difficulty just fine, but you do want to put some thought into how you're building out your party for synergies. I'd say at least one tanky character, one back up tanky character, 1 or 2 for Crowd Control, and some good damage output, both single target and AoE. There's enough characters to fill this out nicely. Using choke points or single pulling (peeling off) monsters is highly recommended. Even so be prepared for some unexpectedly hard fights.

 

PS4 vs PC: Honestly PC version is way better here. The PS4 version is good, and they really did a good job on the controls for the most part. But using the inventory is tedious because it involves a virtual mouse. Also the PS4 version has some bugs the PC version doesn't, is behind on content updates, and seems to be no longer supported in favor of the upcoming Deadfire PS4 release.

Tried Pillars on PS4, I'm playing on PC now in a PotD run with companions.

 

Companions on PotD: Companions can handle PotD difficulty just fine, but you do want to put some thought into how you're building out your party for synergies. I'd say at least one tanky character, one back up tanky character, 1 or 2 for Crowd Control, and some good damage output, both single target and AoE. There's enough characters to fill this out nicely. Using choke points or single pulling (peeling off) monsters is highly recommended. Even so be prepared for some unexpectedly hard fights.

 

PS4 vs PC: Honestly PC version is way better here. The PS4 version is good, and they really did a good job on the controls for the most part. But using the inventory is tedious because it involves a virtual mouse. Also the PS4 version has some bugs the PC version doesn't, is behind on content updates, and seems to be no longer supported in favor of the upcoming Deadfire PS4 release.

 

well just to clarify obsidian doesnt support the ps4 version at all as for as i know. Another dev team did the port for paradox poe1 publisher. Deadfire PS4 is being done through versus evil i believe. 

Edited August 10, 2018 by draego

 

Tried Pillars on PS4, I'm playing on PC now in a PotD run with companions.

 

Companions on PotD: Companions can handle PotD difficulty just fine, but you do want to put some thought into how you're building out your party for synergies. I'd say at least one tanky character, one back up tanky character, 1 or 2 for Crowd Control, and some good damage output, both single target and AoE. There's enough characters to fill this out nicely. Using choke points or single pulling (peeling off) monsters is highly recommended. Even so be prepared for some unexpectedly hard fights.

 

PS4 vs PC: Honestly PC version is way better here. The PS4 version is good, and they really did a good job on the controls for the most part. But using the inventory is tedious because it involves a virtual mouse. Also the PS4 version has some bugs the PC version doesn't, is behind on content updates, and seems to be no longer supported in favor of the upcoming Deadfire PS4 release.

 

well just to clarify obsidian doesnt support the ps4 version at all as for as i know. Another dev team did the port for paradox poe1 publisher. Deadfire PS4 is being done through versus evil i believe. 

 

Yes, and that same developer is porting Deadfire to PS4 now. PoE 1 hasn't been updated on consoles since October of last year, and isn't current to the PC version. It's also missing content such as the Deafire pack.

Tried Pillars on PS4, I'm playing on PC now in a PotD run with companions.

 

Companions on PotD: Companions can handle PotD difficulty just fine, but you do want to put some thought into how you're building out your party for synergies. I'd say at least one tanky character, one back up tanky character, 1 or 2 for Crowd Control, and some good damage output, both single target and AoE. There's enough characters to fill this out nicely. Using choke points or single pulling (peeling off) monsters is highly recommended. Even so be prepared for some unexpectedly hard fights.

 

PS4 vs PC: Honestly PC version is way better here. The PS4 version is good, and they really did a good job on the controls for the most part. But using the inventory is tedious because it involves a virtual mouse. Also the PS4 version has some bugs the PC version doesn't, is behind on content updates, and seems to be no longer supported in favor of the upcoming Deadfire PS4 release.

 

Just curious, what bugs are those that you mention above?  I haven't heard anything about that anywhere else.  Also note that the Deadfire Pack never really worked right on the PC, several problems with items, these problems are discussed at length in other threads.  Therefore deemed not worthwhile by many so they probably decided not to infect the console versions with it.

 

I'm playing on the PS4 as I have no desire to hunch over a keyboard/mouse only to peer at my tiny party on a small screen.  The game is absolutely beautiful on the PS4 with a 60" Bravia monitor.  The inventory manipulations on the PS4 are not tedious at all to me, but as a PS4 savant I'm very proficient with the controls.    I'm halfway through Act III planning to end the game at the same time DOS2 is released on consoles at the end of August.  Then by the time I get done with DOS2 this holiday season, the console Deadfire will be released.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Mangamina

I find it's helpful to create a few custom characters for 250gp right as you reach Gilded Vale and hit level 2. I avoid as much unnecessary XP along the way as possible and dodge Aloth so I can pick him up at level 3+.

 

Custom characters can handle various tasks at your stronghold, and are nice in a pinch for certain areas where some classes are more useful than usual - having two priests for some encounters is amazing especially early on.

 

I usually have a custom priest and cipher.. For act 1 it's nice to have a druid as well, shapeshift wrecks act 1 enemies hard, plus you can charm animals and heal in a pinch. The companion's stats become less of a problem later on though(itemization and food and spell buffs and etc.), they're all serviceable for PotD.

 

Tried Pillars on PS4, I'm playing on PC now in a PotD run with companions.

 

Companions on PotD: Companions can handle PotD difficulty just fine, but you do want to put some thought into how you're building out your party for synergies. I'd say at least one tanky character, one back up tanky character, 1 or 2 for Crowd Control, and some good damage output, both single target and AoE. There's enough characters to fill this out nicely. Using choke points or single pulling (peeling off) monsters is highly recommended. Even so be prepared for some unexpectedly hard fights.

 

PS4 vs PC: Honestly PC version is way better here. The PS4 version is good, and they really did a good job on the controls for the most part. But using the inventory is tedious because it involves a virtual mouse. Also the PS4 version has some bugs the PC version doesn't, is behind on content updates, and seems to be no longer supported in favor of the upcoming Deadfire PS4 release.

 

Just curious, what bugs are those that you mention above?  I haven't heard anything about that anywhere else.  Also note that the Deadfire Pack never really worked right on the PC, several problems with items, these problems are discussed at length in other threads.  Therefore deemed not worthwhile by many so they probably decided not to infect the console versions with it.

 

I'm playing on the PS4 as I have no desire to hunch over a keyboard/mouse only to peer at my tiny party on a small screen.  The game is absolutely beautiful on the PS4 with a 60" Bravia monitor.  The inventory manipulations on the PS4 are not tedious at all to me, but as a PS4 savant I'm very proficient with the controls.    I'm halfway through Act III planning to end the game at the same time DOS2 is released on consoles at the end of August.  Then by the time I get done with DOS2 this holiday season, the console Deadfire will be released.

 

Various things, some minor and some bigger. Like in the first cutscene in Gilded Vale there are 3 bells that are supposed to ring that do not play. So when I played it on PS4 the npcs are talking about bell rings that you never hear. The load times are a much bigger issue that the PC doesn't have.

 

The Deafire bugs and balance issues have all be fixed on PC pretty much. Also there were some balance changes to the base game that the PS4 version doesn't have. So there's no good reason I can see not to give console players the final game patch.

 

 

Tried Pillars on PS4, I'm playing on PC now in a PotD run with companions.

 

Companions on PotD: Companions can handle PotD difficulty just fine, but you do want to put some thought into how you're building out your party for synergies. I'd say at least one tanky character, one back up tanky character, 1 or 2 for Crowd Control, and some good damage output, both single target and AoE. There's enough characters to fill this out nicely. Using choke points or single pulling (peeling off) monsters is highly recommended. Even so be prepared for some unexpectedly hard fights.

 

PS4 vs PC: Honestly PC version is way better here. The PS4 version is good, and they really did a good job on the controls for the most part. But using the inventory is tedious because it involves a virtual mouse. Also the PS4 version has some bugs the PC version doesn't, is behind on content updates, and seems to be no longer supported in favor of the upcoming Deadfire PS4 release.

 

Just curious, what bugs are those that you mention above?  I haven't heard anything about that anywhere else.  Also note that the Deadfire Pack never really worked right on the PC, several problems with items, these problems are discussed at length in other threads.  Therefore deemed not worthwhile by many so they probably decided not to infect the console versions with it.

 

I'm playing on the PS4 as I have no desire to hunch over a keyboard/mouse only to peer at my tiny party on a small screen.  The game is absolutely beautiful on the PS4 with a 60" Bravia monitor.  The inventory manipulations on the PS4 are not tedious at all to me, but as a PS4 savant I'm very proficient with the controls.    I'm halfway through Act III planning to end the game at the same time DOS2 is released on consoles at the end of August.  Then by the time I get done with DOS2 this holiday season, the console Deadfire will be released.

 

Various things, some minor and some bigger. Like in the first cutscene in Gilded Vale there are 3 bells that are supposed to ring that do not play. So when I played it on PS4 the npcs are talking about bell rings that you never hear. The load times are a much bigger issue that the PC doesn't have.

 

The Deafire bugs and balance issues have all be fixed on PC pretty much. Also there were some balance changes to the base game that the PS4 version doesn't have. So there's no good reason I can see not to give console players the final game patch.

 

 

I'm near the end game having done 95% of the quests on the PS4 with no problems with the application (I heard the bells so...).  The problems I have are SYSTEM problems, crashes periodically now when it saves during travelling between areas.  I always save just before travelling now.  This happened to me with DOS1 near the end of that game too, these old style RPGs get bloated on the consoles as you progress in the game. PCs can handle the growth because they have unlimited storage. I'm really surprised these products were not system-tested better on the consoles, the applications are fine.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Mangamina

That reminds me.  I want to cold cycle my PC before I play again...