So, in your first playthrough is it going to be BG style companions or IWD style companions for you guys ?

 

PoE luckily gives the option for either, or a mix of both.

 

Personally I am probably going for all custom, since I have my mind pretty much made up about classes and race (Elves, or godlike w/ elf parentage) for my party.

 

Leaving the companion stuff for second playthrough, if I hire them in the first I will park them in Stronghold most of the time...

 

I don't think I will mix them though.

I'd just take canon companions since I like the characters I travel with to have depth. Traveling with custom made companions feels kinda empty to me.

Depends on the stronghold content. It would be cool to hire out adventure hall rookies for Keep Security and then take them out for some 'exploratory dungeon diving' once they gained a bit of experience on the job as a final test. It'll be like Xcom, but in Dyrwood. 

Edited January 7, 201412 yr by PIP-Clownboy

I can't even consider IWD, i.e. created characters as a companions - they are just walking templates and faceless units. Even if canon companion have 30 lines of dialogue and have crappy stats and abilities they are infinitely better than faceless models.

I want to learn everything about the companions, so I'll definitely bring Obsidian written companions with me on my first and second run.

For the first play-through I will be using Obsidian's companions. I think they will give the game (and the world) more flavor compared to party members created in the Adventurer's Hall.

For main story and sidequests, I'll probably use companions. For generic adventuring and crafting, I'll probably use custom created characters.

I will probably use a mix. I'd like to take maybe 3 Obsidian companions. I think it will make replaying the game more interesting to use totally different companions on a second walkthrough.

Edited January 7, 201412 yr by forgottenlor

I will usually always play with the games companions.

 

I will also try and get there personalities to clash at times even if its to my own detriment.

I like to have companions for the banter and their stories. Maybe I'll try some custom made ones at some point, but I'm not really that crazy about them.

During the first run I'll want to see who's available and will default to Obsidian's companions exclusively. On the second and subsequent runs I'll likely include one or two of my own companions if I have a special player character in mind to whom said self-created companions would be complementary. I enjoy conversations and banter too much to ever create a complete party of my own--such would quickly get boring.

Companions, all the way. I have sort of a compulsion towards story-oriented characters. They are the flame to my moth. If I try to make an all-adventurer party, for example, I'll just get sad and switch back to companions. I'm weird...

 If I try to make an all-adventurer party, for example, I'll just get sad and switch back to companions. I'm weird...

 

Judging by the poll so far, I'm the weird one; I am the only one going for all-adventurer party.

I think the idea is to take companions and then if you don't like someone you can switch them out with an adventurer. I can't really predict what I'll do, depends on how I like the companions .

Normally, I would like to pick companion to getting better involved in the story. But things always happen like that:

1. I don't like that guy.

2. I really want a character that I knew from elsewhere to go with me.

Definitely Canon companions, I'm not sure my party would feel alive otherwise. It's sort of like sitting around a campfire telling stories to a bunch of lifeless puppets you brought along as company.

 

Besides that there's also something rather fun in making seemingly subpar npcs, useful through tinkering with items and party positioning. There's a bit of an added challenge in that by itself imo. 

I'll try the canon companions. I expect taking non-canon adventurers later.

I'll probably just roll with the canon companions unless I need someone to fill a specific role ('lockpicker', say) and the only ones capable of fulfilling that role are completely insufferable. I don't expect this to happen, but you never know.

i'll start companion, then do adventurer's hall, then i'll probably mix and match.  though the first playthrough will be a putting the game through its paces sort of thing, the second one will be to see what kind of range it has (replayability, non typical stuff, etc.), after that i'll play with a theme or something like that, personalizing the experience.

I want to gain maximum mileage out of the developer's writing, so I'll take companions for the first pass. The second pass depends a lot on what happens in the first pass. If we end up with no companions for a couple of classes, I might want to add a companion from the adventurer's hall to try those out. I also like to try it with a completely different mix of companions. For a hardcore pass though, I'd probably go with the adventurer's hall and optimize the party for my tactical combat preferences.

I'm not just sure how I feel about a sapient cannon. I mean... will it be able to load itself, without hands, in order to contribute to combat effectiveness? Better to avoid cannon companions, I think.

I'm not just sure how I feel about a sapient cannon. I mean... will it be able to load itself, without hands, in order to contribute to combat effectiveness? Better to avoid cannon companions, I think.

Yeah I saw the typo in the poll but daren't change it as the votes were coming in. That said if there was option for 5 cannons, that would be my first pick... they'd be more effective than the 5 adventurers I will pick and have just as much personality

 

That said, I hope the 'Companion' vs 'Adventurer' naming sticks.

Definitely companions created by Obsidian. If they have the type of depth, dialogue, and story that I expect, leaving them out will be like skipping a big chunk of the experience. And the combinations of companions combined with different choices throughout the game may make that experience very different each time playing.

 

If I think I've seen all I can during some future replay, then maybe I'll consider creating my own companions.

Yeah I saw the typo in the poll but daren't change it as the votes were coming in. That said if there was option for 5 cannons, that would be my first pick... they'd be more effective than the 5 adventurers I will pick and have just as much personality

 

That said, I hope the 'Companion' vs 'Adventurer' naming sticks.

Oh wow... you know what's even funnier? I didn't even know there WAS a typo, and was just being silly with homonyms. I must've rolled a 20 on that pun, though, because I inadvertently ended up referencing an actual typo, making my joke, in Pokemon terms, "SUPER EFFECTIVE!"

 

Hahaha. Good times.

 

I hear ya on the cannon party, too. Although, you'd have to pick between combat readiness or storage. You could either stuff loot into their barrels, then roll them around, or keep them loaded so they can actually fire when you're ambushed. And they'd have horrible move speed, 8P

My first preference will be all companions over any adventurers, but in the unlikely event I find companions distancing myself from the story rather than immersing me into it, then I'll swap people out for adventurers. I sincerely believe and hope that this will not be the case, but I will not settle for substandard npcs if they are all that presents themselves.