Leveling up Companions

Bravado said:

My playstyle is to get all the INT skills myself and turn all my companions into horse archers.  This is what I do, but this playstyle is not for everyone of course.  I always look for the most OP cookie cutter build and go with that It does get a bit boring sometimes though.

Companion equipment:
Metline bow -> noldor bow -> runed ruby bow
lion/falcon/noldor enchanted shield
Deer horse -> noldor horse
Armor - whatever gives the best protection - they're on a horse most of the time

Skills to get in decreasing order of importance PS > PD > Riding > Training > HA = WM > IF > Athletics = Shield

Here's my Freddy and Siggy.  They're basically Legolas 1 and 2. (as are almost all my other companions other than the knights, donny and boadice)

Spoiler

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Dude, how long have you been on that save? Level 37 companions, rune weapons, noldor armour for them both?

And worst of all, Sweet Fred beeing transformed into a horse acher, not to mention Sigismund Sinclair. An abomination unto Nuggan! Burn at the stake!

Sigismund is the most badass companion so he needs related outfit, here is my version:


Also bought him a Balanced Ebony Flamberge to chop whoever dares to come close to him

Items are easy to get but lvl 37  you cheated or play on minimal dmg ? :>

10(+4) first aid means your companions are always at 80% or more health as long as you don't get knocked-out, so they're always ready to fight even in multiple round battles. Also, last time I exchanged ideas with Bravado he was playing on smaller battlesize.
Combine those two and you have companions that will get a lot of kills, and thus progress faster.
But I'm still curious to know how long that it took to get there.

Yes, 14 FA and small battle sizes is key to your companions staying alive and getting all the kills.  There's other less important skills like trainer, tactics, wound treatment, pathfinding and IF

Almost 900 days played.  It gets boring but you can take out entire armies with only your companions, and they get all the xp of course, so they level up like crazy. Ediz is 38, but getting there and past that is a seriously boring grind.

One thing I did was turn off companion complaints.  I found that constricting, and I needed 20 companions so rogue knights don't get the kills.  And the difficulty isn't too high because I'm not into bashing my head against the wall

I guess I wanted to see how strong your companions can turn out, but it's more fun when you're starting out, everything a threat, and you're small/manageable.

I took a break and stopped playing that game - it got boring.  I guess I should just finish it off after so much time invested.

One trick to force an army to spawn of the type that you like (ie a weak army that gives a gem) is to save right before the weekly wage payment time, then keep loading until an army you want spawns.  You can also get permanant stat boosts that way.  Also, wait for the unique spawn to get above 20% health before releasing them.

noosers said:

And worst of all, Sweet Fred beeing transformed into a horse acher, not to mention Sigismund Sinclair. An abomination unto Nuggan! Burn at the stake!

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Haha, and you have to admit that those 2 make amazing horse archers.  My second and third best after Ediz actually.  Leagues better than crappy Kassim at what he's supposed to be good at.

Bravado -> thats why i asked, cos in my game around 1500 days, difficult maxed, battle size around 300, started fresh from lvl1 etc and my siggy was around lvl 34 -35  and that was my record =)

Under 900 days played, however I "force" an army to spawn every week around the wage payment time, and my companions get most of the kills - that's probably the fastest way for your companions to get xp.

It's a huge grind, you've been warned.  Although not a crazy grind like what some people on the internet do.

Ah, fellow minmaxers! Great advice! This almost made me want to reroll

Force army spawn? How do you do that?

Talk to people about rumors a lot.

Lords and milita patrols in particular.

ericmyrs said:

Ah, fellow minmaxers! Great advice! This almost made me want to reroll

Force army spawn? How do you do that?

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He saves right before the weekly wage, then reloads until the army he wants spawns.