Leveling companions quickly

[felix77]

I've been playing this game forever, but I've never had luck getting my companions to level.

I'm going to try a new strategy, to keep my army tiny, focus on getting them high end equipment and try and level their combat skills before anything else. Anyone have tips? Can a small band of companions become killing machines?

 

[The Hash-singing Slasher]

Ooh. If you want to then turn on cheats and go to their screen and press Ctrl+x. But if you don't want to cheat then I guess you should bother peasants/ fight more?


Matheld is at level 20.

 

[Ivan Khan]

I add training to my highest level companions, it brings the others up fast. It allows you to leave the healers and such just that, and you can leave them out of the fighting and they will still level. As for your fighters, you can buy them better stuff as you do not have as many to buy it for. Hurts a little as you need to build intelligence, but I have never really missed the points put into training. It is only the very top end companion that gets hurt, but then he gets a boast because my main character has training too.

 

[sotamursu123]

[*]increase your training skill
[*]win big battles with only a few troops (sieges can be very rewarding in xp, and very easy if you abuse the **** AI in certain castles)
[*]completing quests gives the same amount of xp to you and each of your companion if i remember right, so questing can be fast, especially early on. Bandit lair quest gives 3000xp to you and each of your companions if i remember right, and you can also have your companions rack up some kills while you clear out the lair itself easily.

 

[Phalnax811]

Other than what has been said already...

I have an all infantry Nord army <3


I gave 8 Companions horses with me.  Marnid with a bow with the archers.  On sure win, no death battles (usually vs 15-30 bandits) I charge my heroes forward and we get all of the kills.

 

[Ivan Khan]

[*]increase your training skill
[*]win big battles with only a few troops (sieges can be very rewarding in xp, and very easy if you abuse the **** AI in certain castles)
[*]completing quests gives the same amount of xp to you and each of your companion if i remember right, so questing can be fast, especially early on. Bandit lair quest gives 3000xp to you and each of your companions if i remember right, and you can also have your companions rack up some kills while you clear out the lair itself easily.

I am pretty sure it gives 3000 to you and 3000 SPLIT between your companions. I think it is always split between companions.

 

[Filou]

[*]completing quests gives the same amount of xp to you and each of your companion if i remember right, so questing can be fast, especially early on. Bandit lair quest gives 3000xp to you and each of your companions if i remember right, and you can also have your companions rack up some kills while you clear out the lair itself easily.

I am pretty sure it gives 3000 to you and 3000 SPLIT between your companions. I think it is always split between companions.

I though it was half the xp to each companion.

In any cases, the bandit lair quest is a great source of training from companions. Put them at the top of your party list and they will be joining you in the raid. Equip them with crossbows and they will get plenty of kills during the raid (also increasing their proficiency) plus whatever they get as the completion reward.
I usually have 1 or 2 companion level up whenever I complete that mission when they're below the mid-teen range.


There's no need to buy armor for your companion, unless your buying them the top of the line stuff like plate armor or great helms. Go fight some Sea Raiders to loot their Mail Shirts, it's more than enough until you fight lords and start looting top tier armors.

Buying weapons can be worth it on the other hand, especially if you're giving them crossbows.
Giving them horses is a great way to increase their killing power and survivability - no need to get fancy, go fight some Desert Bandits or Steppe Bandits to loot their horses. You can upgrade to armored horses later, or by fighting lords that have them.

As for the fights, first change the companions to a unique command group so you can give them specific orders. This is critical since you should not be ordering companions around the same ay you order the rest of your bots.
Then try to keep your party as small as possible so they get more kills and xp after battle.

Personally when I start the game I try to solo bandits for as long as possible, then add companions and keep attacking bandits with just my companions, first Mountain and Forest Bandits, then moving up to Sea Raiders. I give them a crossbow and use them as fire support so they can get a few kills while I do most of the kills. After a few levels I move to Steppe Bandits or Desert Raiders to get horses. Again, bandits lair are a great source for those.

Pretty soon they'll be level 15+ and start to be able to fend for themselves and survive most battles. Afterwards they just get better and it's a question on how you mold them.

 

[Ivan Khan]

[*]completing quests gives the same amount of xp to you and each of your companion if i remember right, so questing can be fast, especially early on. Bandit lair quest gives 3000xp to you and each of your companions if i remember right, and you can also have your companions rack up some kills while you clear out the lair itself easily.

I am pretty sure it gives 3000 to you and 3000 SPLIT between your companions. I think it is always split between companions.

I though it was half the xp to each companion.

I did a little test to see if my in game impression was right. Took down the Steep Bandit Lair with one, four and thirteen companions.

Here is how many points Klethi received in each case:

alone =  3000

w/4 companions = 750

w/13 companions = 230

 

[Phalnax811]

[*]completing quests gives the same amount of xp to you and each of your companion if i remember right, so questing can be fast, especially early on. Bandit lair quest gives 3000xp to you and each of your companions if i remember right, and you can also have your companions rack up some kills while you clear out the lair itself easily.

I am pretty sure it gives 3000 to you and 3000 SPLIT between your companions. I think it is always split between companions.

I though it was half the xp to each companion.

I did a little test to see if my in game impression was right. Took down the Steep Bandit Lair with one, four and thirteen companions.

Here is how many points Klethi received in each case:

alone =  3000

w/4 companions = 750

w/13 companions = 230

Cool, good to know.

 

[Filou]

I did a little test to see if my in game impression was right. Took down the Steep Bandit Lair with one, four and thirteen companions.

Here is how many points Klethi received in each case:

alone =  3000

w/4 companions = 750

w/13 companions = 230

So now we know for sure. Thanks for testing it.

 

[Cheezeninja]

A really easy way to level them up fast is to complete the follow the marshals army task.

Other quests that you do are also a benefit to your companions, especially when you take out a Bandit Lair.

My characters items are all made up of stuff i got from battles. All of them have Good Iron flesh and Power Strike. That helps a lot. Just giving your characters good high damaging weapons works well. That way they can kill lots of enemies and gain experience from that. Most of my companions have some type of bardiche which is VERY effective.

 

[RamonNZ]

In any cases, the bandit lair quest is a great source of training from companions. Put them at the top of your party list and they will be joining you in the raid. Equip them with crossbows and they will get plenty of kills during the raid (also increasing their proficiency) plus whatever they get as the completion reward.
I usually have 1 or 2 companion level up whenever I complete that mission when they're below the mid-teen range.

There's no need to buy armor for your companion, unless your buying them the top of the line stuff like plate armor or great helms. Go fight some Sea Raiders to loot their Mail Shirts, it's more than enough until you fight lords and start looting top tier armors.

Buying weapons can be worth it on the other hand, especially if you're giving them crossbows.
Giving them horses is a great way to increase their killing power and survivability - no need to get fancy, go fight some Desert Bandits or Steppe Bandits to loot their horses. You can upgrade to armored horses later, or by fighting lords that have them.

As for the fights, first change the companions to a unique command group so you can give them specific orders. This is critical since you should not be ordering companions around the same ay you order the rest of your bots.
Then try to keep your party as small as possible so they get more kills and xp after battle.

Personally when I start the game I try to solo bandits for as long as possible, then add companions and keep attacking bandits with just my companions, first Mountain and Forest Bandits, then moving up to Sea Raiders. I give them a crossbow and use them as fire support so they can get a few kills while I do most of the kills. After a few levels I move to Steppe Bandits or Desert Raiders to get horses. Again, bandits lair are a great source for those.

Pretty soon they'll be level 15+ and start to be able to fend for themselves and survive most battles. Afterwards they just get better and it's a question on how you mold them.

Eerily enough exactly the way that I play. Though personally I give them bows instead of crossbows, since they're levelling strength mostly anyway, and it makes them more kickass by the mid to endgame.

And yeah, soloing Sea Raiders/Vanskerries (Pendor Sea Raiders) gets you to level 15-20 easily in the beginning. After that just add companions and continue to power level. I just take one medic (Jeremus) along when I'm soloing and have him run away in every fight, but since he's alive at the end he heals me afterwards and gives me 3 trade early game. He leeches some xp as well after fights which is good because the medic needs a bit more help levelling.

As Filou pointed out when you add companions and you can already easily solo the Sea Raiders they're just there to get easy xp.

Big tasks are great when you have companions but not troops for xp levelling.