WARNINGThe following plan is for a leader of four companions with less than the necessary amount of Charisma to lead that many followers. You MUST carry a sustained supply of beer (or Mentats) at all times. If you're walking on the map, leading 4 companions, and suddenly your beer/Mentats wears off, you could be stuck there!
IntroductionThis is a team leader intended to get up to 4 companions, the max. I started this idea as an experiment for new players to have a fun way to start this game, and it turned out to be fun for me too, enough that I now share it here.
The necessary parts of this plan are CH 3, Good Natured, and Speech 300. In particular, this can be used to solo the Military Bunker Special Encounter. You bring 4 companions along to help combat the robots. The whole team uses Pancor Jackhammers with EMP shells, and you end up beating those robots solo, even if you're a beginner.
Getting 4 companions can be done even if you register Charisma 1, but you'd need a CH implant,
and one perk would need to be
Gain Charisma. Nobody uses the
Gain perks, so I say register CH 2 and hope to get a CH implant
**. It will take a while to find 4 perfect SG companions, and then level them up. The good news is, this is how I found so many SE for a while, was by spending so much time on the map leveling companions. In all the time it takes you to get 4 companions ready, and also to get Speech to 300, you might well find a CH implant, either yourself or by trade.
**(At this time, we can purchase SPECIAL implants in San Fran)
So as I see it, the optimal build for a 4-Companion character is as follows:
Characteristics5.1.10.2.3.10.10
Trait 1: Good Natured - Absolutely critical. Build is broken without it.
Trait 2: Small Frame - Use your companions as loot mules to carry stuff out.
About Luck 10: May not help to find SE, but maybe helps get better loot, and combat crits.
Tags: Small Guns 180, Speech 300, Outdoorsman 175
Leveling Perks: ARush, Toughness, Even Tougher, LG, ABoy, BRoF, LG, ABoy.
Critical Support Perks: Magnetic Personality (+50 Party Points), and Speaker.
Hit Points: 265
Carry Weight: 108
Intended DrugsBuffout, Nuka Cola, Psycho, and beer. One of the benefits of PE 1 is...using Psycho and beer virtually yield no pentalty (your PE is already minimal).
Target Levels- Minimum Level 76: SG 180, LP 150, Speech 300, OD 150 + all OD perks.
- Improved Level 93: FA 100, Doc 100, Science 120 + Dismantler
- Extended Level 99: Repair 120 + Mr Fixit
- Advanced Level 111: Traps 125 + Demolition Expert
- Pro Level 123: First Aid 150
- Superior Level 131: First Aid 162, Doc 125
- Turbo Level 148: FA 200
- Overkill Level 152: Science 125, Repair 125, OD 175
Do The MathUltimately, you need 280 Party Points to get 4 Companion followers (at 70 PP each). You get 1 PP for every 3 Speech points. So Speech 300 gives you 100 PP. You get 50 more PP from Good Natured, and 50 more PP from Magnetic Personality, so that's another 100 PP. Finally you get 10 PP from each point of Charisma, so 2 CH yields 20 PP. This totals 220 Party Points. Get an Empathy Synthesizer (Charisma implant) for 10 more PP, totaling 230 Party Points. Only 50 PP short. Finally, get the remaining 50 PP from the following temporary boosts...
- Mentats +20
- Beer +10
- Special Armor +10
- Mirrored Shades +10 (You will find these along the way, don't worry)
NOTEYou do not need 280 PP to keep or lead 4 Companions. You only need 280 to initially get them to become your followers. So once you have them, you can take off those Mirrored Shades and +1 CH armor, and they still follow you. However, as noted in the warning, you do still need sufficient Charisma to lead this many people on the map, and this build is short on CH, so always carry beer for +1 CH (or Mentats for +2).
Best PracticeThe easiest way i know to build a team of companions is to use multiple characters that each have Good Natured. Even at level 12, you have 61 Party Points, so with a beer you have 71 and thus can recruit/dismiss over and over until you find a keeper. Next, have an additional dummy character with Good Natured that you use only to transfer companions from the recruiters over to the main leader. The reason for this is, your leader might be busy leveling 2 or 3 already, and it's much easier to recruit a single companion on an alt that does not already have any followers. The dummy recruiter/transfer guy should have no tents on his map, or any access to any bases, and his account should have a password that is different from your other alts. I don't know any way to transfer companions solo, so find someone you trust, explain the favor you need, and give them that password. They meet you somewhere on that alt, and you on a recruiter with a companion to transfer. You assign the companion to the transfer guy, and switch to your main. Your friend then assigns it to you. Repeat as needed.
TechnicalitiesGetting the first 3 companions only requires Speech 125 and the Magnetic Personality perk. That's easy to reach. The trouble now is manipulating companions from one character to another. You do not have to use the above method. Either way, you cannot check their stats until you recruit them, and once you find a good one, you cannot dismiss additional companions easily. Skipping the Best Practice above, the only way i know, is to bring your good one(s) along when you're recruiting another, get the new guy, check his stats, and take them all back to a tent. Then tell the new guy (the one you want to dismiss because his stats are not good enough) to stay there. Bring the good ones with you back to find your next recruit, and use the
~disbandparty away_team command to dismiss the one you just left behind. This could easily be a disaster, so be careful before you use the command - make sure you bring all he good ones with you first, and that you left the bad one behind. Otherwise you'll dismiss a good one by mistake.
Other LogisiticsTents. When you get a keeper, your first step should be telling that companion where to meet when you get separated. The easiest way to do this is to have only 1 tent on that character, probably at your favorite companion-leveling location. You tell them all to meet at the tent, and they have only one option. You go there to find them and no need to search around. When you find the big robot bunker SE, you build a new tent next to the bunker SE location, and if they die inside it, they will likely regroup there since it's closest. If not, you only have 1 other tent. When you're done with the robot bunker SE, clear the tent of all items, and abandon it. Keep things simple.
Support PerksThe two most important are Magentic Personality and Speaker, but others include:
- Boneyard Guard @ Level 1 is assumed
- Sneakeater/Ranger/Gecko Skinning @ Level 2
- Pack Rat/Strong Back @ Level 6
- Scout/Pathfinder/Explorer @ Level 12
- Treasure Hunter @ Level 24
- Sex Appeal, Light Step, Dismantler, Mr Fixit, Demolition Expert
ConclusionLol. This is a long-term plan, that is mostly a lot of solo work. Don't rush it. You will find Special Encounters along the way, and end up with something very few other players ever get, or ever even see: a team of 4 companion followers backing you up. Bring them into caves when you hunt for Solar Scorchers. Maybe Glow! Try them on the Gunrunners mutie quest or tougher places! But mainly, beat those SE robots solo, including the Nemezis boss. Or just take them to Hub to show off. Fun times.
*** *** ***
Alternate PlanIf this is too much, consider a much easier alternative which allows you to get 3 companions. Register the same plan but Charisma 1 works fine, switch Small Frame to Fast Shot and get better Carry Weight. With this build, you only need Speech 125 to get 3 companions, so don't even have to tag Speech. Tag FA if you want.
Topic: Team Captain (PvE) (Read 10994 times)