Paladin Danse. Like? Dislike? Please discuss.

[StormWolf01]

When I first started playing FO4, it was on the PS4. I'd never played any of the previous Fallout games before, and I had no idea of who the BoS were.

I'm running around trying to get to Diamond City, and I get a distress call on my Pip.

Fine, I listen to it, and go check it out. I go in, and what do I see? Some guy in power armor, looking like Buzz Lightyear.

Taking on his request to help him get the tech, me and my roommate started referring to him as Paladin Dumb***, because he'd constantly rush on ahead of us, and we'd end up shooting him in the arse, because he would charge right into our line of fire.

 

That was many, many, many playthrough ago, I can honestly say that I've never finished the BoS plotline, but after having traveled with him, I do respect the man. *cough* not giving spoilers *cough* And I honestly don't mind having him as a companion on some of my runs. (I still really enjoy shooting Reis in the face tho.) And I actually do like him after reaching certain levels of affinity.

 

Tho, in my mind, having a mod to get rid of that stupid Buzz Lightyear space flight cap is a *Must*.

 

Your thoughts?

[LucidLady]

Your experience is alot like mine. FO4 was the first fallout game i've ever played, and I played it on the PS4 in the beginning.

 

I'd seen some gameplay from my fav youtubers of previous fallout games, that's the only reason I gave FO4 a shot at all. Because of a general lack of interest/familiarity with the game, I played the first sections SLOWLY. It probably took me a month to get to Graygarden. And before ever reaching Danse, i'd taken the time to look up all the game's companions. Just general, basic info to learn about the companion system mostly. When I saw Danse on the list, I got excited! I mean, I usually like big armor knight-types. He was on my top-3 list of companions that I was most interested in, just based on the basic info on whatever list I was looking at. (the other two being Valentine and Hancock)

 

So he was one of the first companions I spent time with. I put alot of focus into everything he had to say and whatnot. But over time, I just got more and more frustrated with him. It didn't help that I really wanted to max affinity with him - but found out that it's impossible without reaching a very late point in the main story. So I found myself rushing the story, too.

 

And as I played the game more, and familiarized myself with the lore and everything, the things Danse would say to the other characters just rubbed me the wrong way more and more. He just seemed to get uglier over time.

 

And his personal story, his character struggle, didn't resonate with me at all. I thought it was dumb. He's upset because he spent the last many years living a hateful life, enjoying being a bigot and racist - and now he's upset because he doesn't get to anymore? Except oh wait, he continues to hypocritically be a hateful bigoted racist regardless. Right... such development.

 

Meanwhile, i'd already maxed my relationship with Valentine and Hancock (Hancock was the first companion i'd ever maxed out, actually), and their stories were just so much more interesting. Especially Hancock's, his story genuinely touched me. So every time Danse had some ugly thing to say to my first ever waifu, it was not a good look.

 

So yeah. I don't care for Danse. Him and Piper are my least favorite characters in the game. I'm pretty sure the only reason most people like him is because he "looks good". Or they have played previous games as BOS characters. Or because Danse is shoehorned into the main story so much, practically shoved down your throat compared with most other companions. I've given Danse alot of chances over the years. Whole playthroughs geared toward the BOS/him. But nah, I just can't seem to like him.

 

btw you can just take Danse's hat off y'know. No need for a mod...

[HeyYou]

I have played all of the fallout games. At least, the ones actually classified as "games"..... (never bother with tactics, and there was another one that I think never got completed.....) In FO4, the BoS are arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic,wannabe overlords of the commonwealth. That attitude is reflected in the response you get when you try and talk to them out in the field. (random encounters with them after offing Kellogg.) They ALL just rub me the wrong way...... To the point that I tend to make rocket launchers, with the fire-and-forget siting system, and the Never Ending legendary effect, JUST so I can blow verti-birds out of the sky. I may actually put some perks into pick-pocket, so I can steal fusion cores from knights, and then steal their armor when they leave it. (IF they leave it.... I see a lot of knights in PA, that don't even HAVE a fusion core....... game bug? Intentional???)

 

Danse is fun for one mission, but, I still don't care for his attitude, towards me, or the rest of us 'civilians' in general. I don't mind making the BoS my enemy. I actually rather enjoy it. :D

[TheSpaceShuttleChallenger]

I like him, but I can definitely see why other people hate him, with his obnoxious shatneresque shouting and the blind conviction in his own delusions. There's also the fact that Danse's behaviour is completely broken after Blind Betrayal--almost like Bethesda didn't anticipate anybody actually liking Danse enough to NOT kill him, so they didn't bother coding new behaviour for that eventuality. And honestly... bigots in general in this game. I'm not sure if Bethesda read their audience wrong or if they were too lazy to update the lore, but I feel like they expect us to be a lot more okay with the mass killing of sentient beings than most people after 2015 actually are...

But yaknowwhat.... I like Robocop. Yeah he was definitely dropped on his head as a kid, but you know, he's doing his best despite having a brain the size of a caper. Sometimes you just have to pat him on his head and say 'ok sweetie,' but he's so cute when he struggles to comprehend the most basic of things. But he usually just goes along with what smarter people tell him, which is great when I'm the 'smarter person' in question.

Blind Betrayal got me good, though. The first time I played through that was the first time in my life that I've been so wrapped up in a game's storyline that I got like... actually upset. And I had to take a few minutes after to just walk around the commonwealth, look at the stars, think about thing. Somewhere between,"Dammit Danse I told you they weren't your family" and "Dammit Brotherhood you were supposed to be his family," but also I was genuinely pissed that Bethesda didn't give us the option to shoot Maxon in the face because nobody hurts my puppy.

But I gotta tell ya, Blind Betrayal is what makes Danse actually good as a character. He's a chronic follower who'll do anything--hell, he'll believe anything--just to be part of a group... only his group is a cult. And then we watch that cult chew him up and spit him out. I think we as members of a society don't tend to appreciate just how damaging it can be for someone to get in with the wrong crowd, and dangerous isolation and insecurity can be for the human psyche. On one hand, we need to hold people individually accountable for the choices they make, but when people behave so *predictably* under certain circumstances, to the point of seeming as though they're brainwashed, it kind of makes you wonder how much agency people actually have.

So that's what I like about Danse. He helps me engage my emotions when I think about human issues, so that I'm able to understand what actually goes on in peoples' heads when they make these horrible choices. And I tell ya, these fast few years I have dealt with a lot of people like him, who will say and think literally anything to toe the line with their political party, it's nuts.


Post Blind-Betrayal Robocop is literally broken. Like... maybe he's so traumatized that he's receded into an imaginary reality where shouting "Ad Victoriam" for no reason still makes sense. But yeah, probably not. There is a mod that removes that dialogue and also makes him call you "hun" all the time, which is a win-win situation for me.

\

[AeonsLegend]

I dislike him. Or was that not the topic? XD

 

Anyways, I think a flaw in the game is with the affinity system and the perks that come with it. Spending time with person X rewards perk Y. Meaning that if you want all those perks you're going to have to spend a tedious amount of time baby sitting them and pleasing them. That's just annoying. I like it far better when you select someone who can join you on your merry travels and is more like how YOU want to play. Nowadays I just add the perks through console and don't bother with them. Although I do like Curie, especially with my own preset for her. Paladin Danse is ehm, well I don't know. He feels like a soldier and he has a decent voice actor, but in the end he doesn't strike me as an actual person. And even if I join the BoS then I don't take him along either.

 

I'm one of the older players and played FO1 around the time it came out. It was a really incredible experience and the BoS were as much mysterious as they were powerful and you definitely don't join or even meet them early on. Power armor and miniguns and the like which they grant access to are basically end game material. You find yourself in a random encounter with super mutants with miniguns you usually reload the game. Which is why I dislike the way it is set up in this game. They grant you end game material at the start including an introduction to the BoS, but have to dumb em down and make it weaker for it to work. It's just a disappointment.

 

In FO1 the only way you get power armor is if you join the BoS if I recall correctly, but you have to earn it. You cannot find it anywhere else in the game. But it's been such a long time I may be wrong.

 

I think the BoS are one of the more likable and enjoyable factions to join. Even if they're a bunch of facists. At least they're open about it. Unlike the Railroad or the Institute.

Edited January 14, 2020 by AeonsLegend

[StormWolf01]

His affinity, when I had him along was pretty easy. Before I would go out with him, I'd mod guns, armor, or power armor. He likes that. Then just send him off, and take whoever I was gonna take with me in the first place.

I've played with a few mods that mess with him. There's a set of mods that transgenders him. Both his preset, and his voice (seperate mods) that was amusing. At one point, I tried turning him into a child, using the Nat Companion as a basis, but that didn't work out.

The whole sneaking thing aside (AFT takes care of that!) of having somebody along with Power Armor along for the ride, I kinda like the idea. Somebody to have along to tank (that is NOT Strong!!!) could make for an interesting play. Let them draw all the fire, I'll sneak around to the flank and put lead up their flank (errr, I mean, snipe them in the head). :whistling:

 

So, how many of you all get a smile on your face, if you chose to ROAST him while he's fighting the synths, while on that first quest with him?

Edited January 16, 2020 by StormWolf01

[AeonsLegend]

I did that the first time and the second time. I was like, but waitaminute he's still in there. Oh lol. But I don't think you get exp from that so now I just kill the Synths myself.

 

Turning him into a female would actually be preferable. I might try that on another BoS run. The biggest downside is that the only BoS companion in this game gets ousted by the brotherhood. That's so lame.

 

but my first PT was really weird. I made choices I thought were alright, but it all ended up crap. That's what you get when you join the Railroad.

[HeyYou]

I did that the first time and the second time. I was like, but waitaminute he's still in there. Oh lol. But I don't think you get exp from that so now I just kill the Synths myself.

 

Turning him into a female would actually be preferable. I might try that on another BoS run. The biggest downside is that the only BoS companion in this game gets ousted by the brotherhood. That's so lame.

 

but my first PT was really weird. I made choices I thought were alright, but it all ended up crap. That's what you get when you join the Railroad.

Well, considering the Brotherhood, and the Railroad, have basically diametrically opposed positions on Synths, that really shouldn't come as a surprise. :D

[AeonsLegend]

 

I did that the first time and the second time. I was like, but waitaminute he's still in there. Oh lol. But I don't think you get exp from that so now I just kill the Synths myself.

 

Turning him into a female would actually be preferable. I might try that on another BoS run. The biggest downside is that the only BoS companion in this game gets ousted by the brotherhood. That's so lame.

 

but my first PT was really weird. I made choices I thought were alright, but it all ended up crap. That's what you get when you join the Railroad.

Well, considering the Brotherhood, and the Railroad, have basically diametrically opposed positions on Synths, that really shouldn't come as a surprise. :D

 

Yea the BoS basically want to kill anything that isn't human and want to take all technology for themselves. (to keep it safe.) And the Railroad. Well they're just retarded. Wiping the minds of synts and then setting them free. They have no idea what technology they're dealing with. That plus they're the dumbest shadow organization you could ever have. But the thing that bothered me most about the Railroad is not that they're idiots with the iq of a potato, no it's that they value synth life higher than human life. they're like animal rights extremists. Those kinds of people are dangerous to any society.

[StormWolf01]

Aeons- for me, it kinda depends on my mood at the time. If I'm feeling patient, yeah... I'll go ahead and help him kill them off.

If not... well... it's marshmallows and graham crackers time :D

 

I've played with the Dina (Gina?) Danse mod and for some reason the body weight setting on that one makes the head look really wierd, in my game. But after turning him female, just about any femme preset will work.

If you kinda wanna stay a little bit lore friendly, I've got a Knight Astlin preset that works pretty well for him (shameless plug) once he's been changed from a rooster to a hen. Or I can just send you a link for the preset I've got that changes him over without needing to use LooksMenu (esp edit).

Edited January 17, 2020 by StormWolf01