So I've been messing around with the spreadsheet
http://www.mbrepository.com/file.php?id=2428, quite a bit, here's what i found out.
- It is actually possible to combine the power of heavy cavalry (Vaegir Knight style) and the cold efficiency of archers during sieges in companions that are basically double-quiver archers on horses. They can be used as Horse Archers, but they are better when used as heavy cavalry with a blunt Heavy Iron Mace or any two handed weapon of your choice.
- However most dedicated fighter companions require anywhere from 15 (Alayen) to 21(Katrin) intelligence total, to fill in all the skillpoints. Thus at around level
32 they reach power draw+power strike from 7 to 10, so there is still room from improvement. On the upside they also get 5 to 7 points trainer. Once the chars are balanced or rather filled up skillwise, you always have 3 useful skills per 3 attribute points.
- They all get 12 agility because, agility isn't all that important for archery, their primary role.
- When filling in skill points using the spreadsheet, the skill total can be [-2],[-1] or [-0] depending on whether you prefer to spend skills every level up or save up to spend 3 skills at a time, after a threshold is reached.
- An intelligence based char can push up to 4 skills, so IMHO it is best to keep the healer out of serious fighting and also give her engineering (rather than trainer), the healer will get to 30 intelligence in the early 20s, and can then slowly work up some fighting skills. The remaining party skills can be off loaded on some other low starting level char, who can at least use a war bow and ride a steppe charger. I use 10 companions, Ymira for healer + engineer, Borcha for path finding/spotting, Nizar for tactics.
- The player char pushes leadership + prisoner management, because all those prisoners the companions are producing need to go somewhere.