Companions Like Sword to Face

[Assassinator1097]

Anyone else notice that companions seem to drop faster than other troops?

I mean, even before I had my suicide calvary (Mounted companions that charge with me) they seemed to be the first units to drop in my infantry line. Anyone else notice this?

 

[Kenkage]

Thats because in the beginning they are pretty much recruits. If you give them really good gear and high str they dominate the battlefield.

 

[SilentK]

i do that, they still fall like flies....

im waiting for them to be lvl 25'ish +.. maybe then

 

[Nameless_Terror]

To start, they suck... and they take a while to become good. Eventually they are the masters of war.

 

[Assassinator1097]

All right, thanks guy, I was thinking it had something to do with the fact they had no shields at first, but it makes sense 'cause they can't compare with Huscarl stats... anyways, is there any negative affects for them dropping wounded every battle?

 

[zimbabwe]

is there any negative affects for them dropping wounded every battle?

Nope, no negative effect; in fact getting knocked out repeatedly is how they learn to be better!

Also you don't need to worry too much about giving them a shield; companions with a good 2H weapon become absolute killing machines once their STR/AGI/proficiency gets high enough.

 

[Khalim]

Anyone else notice that companions seem to drop faster than other troops?

Never say this again! You will wonder how extremly strong heros can become

My personal record was when my 8 sized band of heros killed an 80 sized Lords-Party.
Okay, I need to help a lot and I was lucky but you see theire potetial

 

[Assassinator1097]

Thanks for the answers, guys.

 

[Bb]

try buying them a shield

 

[xSanGuinEx]

I just boost their experience gain for like x2000 times and my companions now are levels 45-50

 

[Qwertyman]

If you specialise them, they soon get very good at their roles.
for example I play as rhodoks- pure infantry.    I have a line of spearmen-  and i have my heroes as a 2nd row of elite hammermen,  who charge in just after the innital clash-    they smash up enemy infantry with ease, since most of the enemy are too busy fighting my spearmen to defend against the hammers (and blockcrush deals with any shields too).

 

[lag]

i only have 3 companions. i don't really know where to find others. they don't really seem to level at all. one does semi regularly, but there's one i can't remember the last time i was able to level her.

where can i find the best ones?

 

[Qwertyman]

i only have 3 companions. i don't really know where to find others. they don't really seem to level at all. one does semi regularly, but there's one i can't remember the last time i was able to level her.

where can i find the best ones?

They level just like you do,  whilst they get battle experience from victories-  they will level up much faster if you let them get kills (and of course, will get less exp if they fall in battle)

 

[lag]

ah yea, i don't think mine ever get kills and they're almost always getting knocked out. did i read somewhere that having them on horseback was a bad idea? only had the game a few days but i've noticed a few times seeing them get overwhelmed by infantry and taken out. even with 4 in riding.

i need to start working on tactics. up until now i've never had a group bigger than 30 soldiers and we just charge in and fight

 

[Qwertyman]

ah yea, i don't think mine ever get kills and they're almost always getting knocked out. did i read somewhere that having them on horseback was a bad idea? only had the game a few days but i've noticed a few times seeing them get overwhelmed by infantry and taken out. even with 4 in riding.

i need to start working on tactics. up until now i've never had a group bigger than 30 soldiers and we just charge in and fight

It depends on their setup,  if theyre on horseback its pretty much given that they have to have good armour,  on foot i'd say weaponry is more important.

 

[Donivin]

I just started Warband as well but played the original and yes...Companions are....pathetic at first.

Theres a few ways to work with them early on and that is to work with what they start with.

Example. Jeremus...This fat bastard will die every fight for a long time to come unless you keep him safe or give him a horse, shield and watch his back every second of every fight.  And he still dies half the time.  Reason is simple.  He is not a combat type companion when you first pick him up.  90% of his skills revolve around Medical skills and the rest are some party skills with maybe possibly 1 in Power Strike (I think?).

Another Example

Lezalit - This dude is madness.  He is one of the best combat companions when you first pick him up and he also comes with a 3 or 4 in Trainer so he can help levelup troops and other companions to get them where you need them.  Give him a shield, a weapon or two and watch him slice n dice people by foot or by mount (His riding is fail though).

What I usually try and do is either get all my companions right away and ignore regular troops.  Then get either all companions decent mounts or decent at archery sometimes a 50/50 split.  Then just use the archers to plink away at enemies and get them some experience with little risk and use yourself as a distraction (Make sure to tell them to hold fire when you decide to charge the line or else they very well may take out your horse from under you).

The more coordination you use with commands the more likely you are to succeed in your combat adventures.  Get used to finding a nice little rise and sitting on it watching your army fight for a time before you commit yourself to the battle (Bloodlust and tunnel vision can be the downfall of a good army). 

 

[Assassinator1097]

I normally do all the fighting myself, while my army waits on a hill.

(My suicide companion calvary follow me, of course, but they don't understand the concept of charging through enemy lines enless I do the same and go out fifty feet from the enemy and repeat, which is boring as I'd rather circle and stab people in the face with my awlpike)

 

[Falcon Critical]

My medic is always given a crossbow, shield and fast 1h weapon.  He stands in my archer line in medium-heavy armor.  Since I manage my formations constantly my archers are rarely in danger, and my medic stays safe.  Other companions have varying loadouts but err towards heavier armor and horses.

 

[levache]

I set Jeremus as a 4th custom class 'Doctor'. I just tell him to hold at the spawn point... Or I'll keep him with the archers.

Once you get your companions some heavy armor (even the sea raider grade mail is fine for starters, if you don't fight them, just pick up some battered mail from a market), a shield+1h, or a nice 2h, and get them going of some looters/bandits for a while they'll train up quickly. Having a few points in trainer yourself helps level them too, and having your highest level companions with points in trainer as well, will keep all of your companions around the same level.

Since I keep Jeremus away from the fight all the time, he levels mostly from being trained. Me and all my other companions give 20-40 points per day from the trainer skill to him... so he isn't too far behind the others .

I always give mounts to all of my companions. At the early stage of a game they're often the only cavalry I have... and thus they usually get a majority of the kills.

 

[gabriot]

I usually just don't even bother with trying to make my companions good at fighting since it takes such a while, and I'd rather just be the man anyway.  Plus, swadian knights and sarranid mamalukes are just more bad ass than any of the companions anyway, you won't hear bickering from them on every little thing you do.  I just focus them on getting things like pathfinding, engineering, medics, etc. while I focus on makin my guy a god of fighting.

To keep em alive i just assign them all to the archer group and keep them with them, give them all bows, crossbows, throwing axes, etc. and hope that they survive, but in all honesty I don't really care if they die since they'll just heal in a few seconds of waiting anyway.  Plus if it's going to be a long battle I'll gladly have them die, that just means more rodok sharpshooters and mamlukes to fill the spots rather than useless npcs.

I'm not denying that the npc can probably get pretty buff if you put in the effort to make them so, my personal playstyle just doesn't have the patience/motivation for it.