Companion Knowledgebase, by John P

Here a few more or less well known facts about companions (as of Aug 14th, 2012) that I have gathered over the last few days, leveling my first companion. I can't claim this to be 100% correct, but I am fairly certain about all of these. If you have something to add you can post here or pm me, if it's confirmed I will include it in this post and give credit.

GENERAL

• They start at a random level, not level 1. Mine was at around 5, hence needed a few more xp for her first level up
• If they have a name and are "well traveled", they are taken. Free Companions are only labelled "a traveler"
• They tend to walk around a lot, don't check only inside but also outside the bars.
• The Companions seem to have a normal SPECIAL like every player character but with predetermined perks, meaning that leveling up will only give them HP.
• Their SPECIAL is completely random and sadly is not connected to their favored combat skills (Brujah)
• You can have up to 4 companions at once (assuming you fit the requirements). (Balthasar)
• No CH 3 is required to talk to a companion. (Though its helpful if you want to get as much Party Points as possible.) (Balthasar)
• For unattended leveling, equip with them with a good armor and a weapon they are proficient with and leave them to die in an area with respawning critters like undergrounds, mines, quest locations etc. (Brujah)

COMBAT

• The combat mode "Kill any npc you see" may cause trouble in bases.
• They seem to reset to a default combat mode after being told to stay. The default combat mode means only hostile encs are attacked, no info about players. Seems to be best one. Not able to switch to this mode via dialogue.
• The "Kill all npc" mode randomly starts combat in TB after an enc is over when approaching dead bodies. (bug)

DEATH

• Respawning my take a while, 5-10 minutes sometimes. They respawn with full HP.
• They seem to keep items that they had in backpack. Only equipped items in the active slot are gone, armor stays.
• In case you die and your companion survives, he will be set to "stay here" mode and *must* be told to follow when he rejoins the group. (racoon) link to post

LOYALTY

• If a companion dies, he loses 20% Loyality, eventually perma-leaving/dying. Refer to http://fonline2238.net/wiki/Followers#Loyality for more info. (Michaelh139)
• It is possible to keep them at a Tent or Base forever if you want to park them for a longer time (Brick)
• They accept iguana on a stick, Beer, "booze" and Nuka-Cola.
• The cheapest method is buying booze at the Maltese Falcon in the Hub for 10 caps each (Brujah)

EQUIPMENT

• Their armor only deteriorates when they die with a critical/burst animation. other than that it stays 100% (racoon)
• They will equip and use every weapon. With varying results. Weapon preference seems to be random, better not let any follower carry explosive or melee weapons.
• The "Arm yourself" command will make them draw a weapon, but it is not automatically the one they will be using in combat. (E.g. drew Rocket Launcher, then holstered it to draw and use throwing knives, then changed back to RL after combat)
• Default is the "put gun away" mode, will make them waste time on drawing weapon upon entering combat so use the above command.

DETERMINING THEIR BUILD

• First, level him up once or twice to determine his current level and Hp gain. This should give you the ST and EN values. Check Carry Weight.

• AG can be checked in TB combat easily, PE could be checked with a help of a friend, setting the companion to autoack everything, then slowly walking towards him with a 2nd char from 56 hex.

• If it doesn't add up, check for possible Lifegivers/strong back/small frame using FCP. My companion seems to have 9st, 10en and 10ag, using Small Frame, Strong Back and one Lifegiver.