The Outer Worlds has some extremely well-written NPCs that can join your crew. Once they join you, they can also be selected to follow you around and help out in combat. While in most other RPGs you can assign skill points, that isn’t so much the case here. You can only assign their perk points, and whereas you get perks at every second level, they get perks every fifth. However, they also have a special attack that you can activate manually, on top of their normal attacks, which does extra damage and possibly adds negative status effects like Blinded, Maimed etc. Also each of the party-members specialise in three non-combat skills, which can boost your own related skills. The amount of a boost they give is dependent on your Inspiration skill.
Where combat is concerned, they will use whatever weapon and armour you assign them. As long as they have the correct weapon in the appropriate slot, they will use whatever you have told them to according to the tactics page. Each party-member has a list of perks they can choose from, but it is not nearly as large a selection as the main character, but they are only allowed to choose one perk every five levels. Most of these perks are the same for every member, however, every crew member has a group of perks that only they can choose from.
Just like most other RPGs of this kind, they will also sometimes comment on events during and at the end of quests and have conversations with other crew members both on your ship and while following you around the world. It also deserves to be mentioned that each of these companions, except one, have an associated quest that they would like your help with. Most of these are well-written and definitely worth doing, if only for the fact that the companion gains a unique perk once the quest has been completed. Here then is a list of all available party-members, how to get them and what they bring to the table.
Parvati Holcomb
One of the first possible party members you meet is the engineer Parvati Holcomb. She is a very sweet young woman who works at the Spacer’s Choice Saltuna factory in Edgewater, the first town you arrive in. When you meet her she is being chewed out by her boss about why the main canning machine isn’t operational. From there she is basically ordered to accompany you for the duration of the first quest. She is definitely worth keeping around after completing the first main mission though, since she is one of the better written characters in the game. From a skills standpoint, she is only useful if you have a deficiency in your Engineering skill since that is the skill boost she provides.
Her first companion quest ‘Don’t Bite The Sun’ is sweet and very entertaining. You basically take her along to meet the chief engineer of the colony ship Groundbreaker. Ostensibly, this is so she can ask advice about ship maintenance, since this is one area her knowledge isn’t quite as complete. In reality, she has a crush on Junlei (the chief engineer) and you, in essence, play matchmaker. This may sound silly, but it is excellently written and very entertaining.
Combat and skills-wise there is not much to say. Parvati’s main skills are Persuade, Lockpick and Engineering. As far as perks go, they provide an extra boost to your Engineering skill, an increased chance to recover mods when you disassemble them and an increase to your Tactical Time Dilation recovery every time she makes a kill. Her special attack is called Overload and has her running up to the target and slamming her hammer into them creating a blast wave that shocks enemies and stuns automechanicals.
What is great about Parvati:
- Entertaining companion quest.
- Sweet, well-written character.
Pick Parvati if:
- You need a boost to your Engineering skill.
- Need some extra help when fighting automechanincals.
How to get Parvati:
Vicar Max
Vicar Maximillian DeSoto or Vicar Max as he is known, is the religious leader for the town of Edgewater. You are actually introduced to him through Parvati if you do the optional objective of speaking to him before leaving town during the main quest. When you meet him he seems starved for conversation with anyone who is new to the town and – if you accept – proceeds to enlist your help in recovering a mysterious heretical text so that he may study it.
Completing this quest allows Max to join your crew, as he continues his quest regarding the book you helped him recover. You find out a lot of interesting things regarding this priest during the course of this quest, including that he had been in prison for a time before joining the clergy.
As far as combat and skills are concerned, Max specialises in Hacking, Intimidate and Science, and his perks notably offer bonuses in Hacking and increased Science Weapon damage. His special attack is called Trickshot, and has him spiritually enlighten his target by blasting them with a shotgun.
What is great about Vicar Max:
- Very entertaining if you like dry, sarcastic humour.
- Has an interesting outcome if you complete his quest.
Pick Vicar Max if:
- You need an early boost to your Hacking skill.
- The idea of a shotgun-wielding priest appeals to you.
How to get Vicar Max:
Felix Millstone
Felix – as he will tell you – is an orphan who grew up in the Back Bays (which is supposedly the undesirable neighbourhood) on the Groundbreaker, one of the original two colony ships sent to the Halcyon system. He normally works as a box hauler on the docking bays but, when you meet him originally, he is in an argument with his boss and a security guard. If you let the argument play out, you can speak to him afterwards to hear his side of what happened.
This first meeting can be skipped and is not necessary to his asking to join, but can affect whether you let him join or not. As far as skills and combat are concerned, Felix’s main skills are Persuade, Sneak and Lockpick. His special attack, called Dropkick, has him running up to the target, jumping and kicking them in the face with both feet. His perks, give bonuses to Persuade, as well as Dialog combat effects and damage against Corporate Military units.
His companion quest has him receiving a message from an old acquaintance, named Clyde Harlow, asking him to visit him at his base. Arriving there, you are asked to eliminate a traitor to Clyde’s group. From there, the quest can go a few ways depending on how you handle the traitor.
What is great about Felix:
- Useful later on when fighting against corporate guards and the like.
- Has strong anti-corporation sentiments, which can make for some interesting playthroughs.
Pick Felix if:
- You are planning to fight corporate soldiers.
- You need someone kicked in the face.
How to get Felix:
Ellie Fenhill
You meet Dr. Ellie Fenhill on the Groundbreaker, in the foyer of the hospital. Not helping patients mind you, but arguing with the person working at the front desk about the possibility of seeing a patient. Once you speak with Ellie, you find out the reason is that Ellie feels she owes this person, not necessarily financially.
Ellie doesn’t much care for helping people or doing something without expecting a reward and thinks it is best to only rely on oneself. This extends to others in that she expects them to act professionally and not try to become her friend. By talking to her and completing her companion quest you can begin to change her mind about this, but not completely.
Speaking of her companion quest. When you arrive in Byzantium, she asks to come along and introduce you to her parents, so that she can upset them with the kind of people she is associating with these days. I won’t spoil what follows, but it is quite entertaining and adds a surprising amount of depth to Ellie.
For skills and perks she specialises in Lie, Medical and Engineering and her perks mostly focus on the Medical Inhaler, either increasing it’s effectiveness or keeping you alive long enough to use it. Her special ability, called Quick Draw, has her pulling out her pistol and firing a series of precision shots at her target.
Why Ellie is great:
- Her perks are useful for people who feel they are dying a lot.
- Her special attack is useful for interrupting a charging opponent.
Pick Ellie if:
- You need a boost to your Medical skill.
- Her space cowboy look appeals to you.
How to get Ellie:
Nyoka Ramnarim-Wentworth III
Simply known as Nyoka, she is an alcoholic hunter native to Monarch. You meet her when you arrive on Monarch and are told to find a guide in order to reach the Information Broker. Given the wildlife of Monarch (which includes packs of Canids and giant Mantisaurs), this seems like a good idea. In order to get her to help you, you have to get her some medication at the pharmacy to help her sober up.
After she guides you to the Information Broker and helps you with the quests related to it, she decides to join your crew permanently. She projects an image of a no-nonsense hard-drinking hunter, but if you travel with her for a while and her companion quest activates you find out the big reasons for this. She had a group she worked with on Monarch, who either left for selfish reasons or were killed by the wildlife of Monarch.
Her skills are divided between Lie, Sneak and Medical. Her perks include a boost to your Lie skill, increased damage against creatures and a decreased radius to the sounds your footsteps travel. This makes her useful if you want a boost to your Sneak ability or are fighting animals. Her perk, called Barrage, has her using her plasma modified machine gun to blast the enemy full of holes.
Why Nyoka is great:
- Her perks make her useful when fighting animals or when sneaking.
- Giving her a heavy weapon actually makes her ridiculously powerful, especially later in the game.
Pick Nyoka if:
- You are planning to fight a lot of animals.
- You want a little assistance with your sneaking.
How to get Nyoka:
SAM
An acronym for Sanitation And Maintenance, SAM is a cleaning robot you can reactivate and have it join your crew. How would a cleaning robot be useful, you ask? Well, the previous captain had modified a specific part of the robot so that it shoots acid. Yes, acid. Of course, what adds to the comedy of this situation is the fact that when you talk to it, all it’s lines are basically how great the SAM is at cleaning and what a great purchase you made.
SAM doesn’t really have a personal quest that you have to help it with. The closest you get is the quest you have to go on to get the final part necessary to activate the unit. As far as the skills and perks go, it specialises in Intimidate, Hack and Science. It’s perks include a bonus to your Intimidate skill, increased damage to automechanicals and lowered timer on harmful status effects. It’s special attack is called Decontaminate (because of course it is), which involves SAM leaping into the air and slamming down on the target area in an explosion of acid.
One of the few negatives I have to mention regarding this character, is the fact that you cannot give him any armour or change the weapons he comes with as standard. His weapons at least level up with him so the character can stay relevant during the late-game.
What makes SAM great:
- The comedy of having a cleaning robot that shoots acid.
- Many of it’s interjections during quests are about cleaning, and they’re hilarious.
Pick SAM if:
- You are going to fight robots.
- You need a boost to your Intimidate skill.
How to get SAM:
A final note: most of the companions are difficult to miss and in a few cases, it is necessary to speak with them to progress the plot. They are all enjoyable in their own way and definitely worth having in your crew. Hope you enjoyed this and found it helpful.
