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Companions Pros and Cons


MuggleDude

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I like the idea of companions having come from a Dragon Age-Forbidden Realms background. However, Oblivion doesn't seem to have companions other than the CM mods. What are the upsides and downsides of playing with companions? I like having other characters around and I really like the romancing of Leliana in Dragon Age.

 

What can be done/ not done in Oblivion?

 

Chip

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Companion Vilja ... once you have met Vilja you will not be able to use CMs for anything except cluttering your houses (and they are very good at moving all that clutter on to the floor). Check out Emma's other mods (especially her house mods) to get an appreciation of the synergy built into Vilja (and do read her manual to get an idea of how much more than a CM Vilja offers).

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Oblivion does provide a few temporary companions, e.g. Viranus Donton during the Fighter's Guild quest. If you pause the quests in the right places you can keep these companions permanently. I did so with Donton and now I can't imagine playing the game any other way. They've very valuable for handling pesky wildlife while I'm exploring, helping with tougher enemies etc. And they're usually marked as essential so they can't be killed.

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Thanks Master's Son. I did not know that.

 

I was wondering about things like, how much control do you have over them. Do they act stupidly in battle or can you plant them somewhere with a bow? Can you choose their targets?

If they kill an enemy, do you get experience?

 

That kind of stuff. Is it some ways better to work alone?

 

Chip

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Vilja has a menu to select her combat options (I like to have her to just give me backup ... if you're getting your butt handed to you she'll jump in before you get too low on health with a "You leave my friend alone" and lay a beating on whoever you were fighting and losing). Once she progresses a bit in her own skills she will also optionally heal you. Being able to have that kind of control over when she fights and heals you gives your character the opportunity to develop his/her own skills. You can also cast a spell on a target and tell Vija to attack that target, handy when you have more than one foe to tackle at the same time and independent of her other combat orders. Don't think you'll find any other partners with those kinds of options, certainly not CMs (the CMs fall into the category of "act stupidly in battle" and are always in the way if you don't want to just sit back and watch).

 

Can't say for certain how it works with vanilla (I think you just get so much per your own hit), but generally with the various leveling/XP type mods I think you get credit for your own kills, not theirs. I don't use any of the leveling/XP mods and prefer to do my own killing (I would often leave Vilja standing guard over the packdonkeys, though they don't actually need guarding).

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Thanks Master's Son. I did not know that.

 

I was wondering about things like, how much control do you have over them. Do they act stupidly in battle or can you plant them somewhere with a bow? Can you choose their targets?

 

If they kill an enemy, do you get experience?

 

That kind of stuff. Is it some ways better to work alone?

 

Chip

Donton definitely falls into the gung-ho category, and will attack whatever the problem is and regardless of the odds. It's funny to watch since he's marked as essential and can't die, but I usually do quests alone at first (he's easily losable) to avoid strategy problems.

 

If I understand your second question, kills by companions do count toward quest advancement, but I don't think they change the PC's kill stats.

 

The answer to your last question is absolutely. In fact it's usually better to do quest work alone. I learned that lesson at Silorn, during Ambush (Mage's Guild quest). Donton screwed up the entire operation. :D

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