After having noticed in my current experimental(1788) that NPCs have had some major upgrades, I have decided to give companions a try. Which weapons/mods and equipment do y’all recommend I give them?
I usually give them crossbows/bolt drivers. Because ammo is plentiful and NPCs with melee weapons always die on you (and also because melee fighting NPCs slow the game considerably, or used to.)
Nail guns, crossbows, bow & arrows, or guns with easily found/made ammunition.
WE CAN EQUIP NPCS NOW OH HELL YEAHS
MMM! Dat NPC update tho.
I’ll try giving them stuff like crude swords for early game if they still do the ‘KOS EVERYTHING’ tactic, but stuff with easy ammo sounds like a good idea if their combat style is more… ‘refined’.
Do NPC’s gain skills now?
Idk if they gain skills, and you can’t equip them perse, you just drop items on the ground for them to pick up. My current companion is rocking an m14 EBR-RI with as many mods as I could cram onto it which I debugged into the game, but I’m wondering if there is a more effective gun that they can use. I’m basically pretending that he’s a self sufficient fellow survivor who is able to care for himself including find his own ammo, so I just debug ammo for him and drop it for him to pick up.
So any better gun I can equip him with? Or should I stick with what he has?
First, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I DO. The debug menu almost helps with the RP feel I go for sometimes. My fellow survivor uses an elephant gun. What a beautiful weapon that is, doesn’t even leave a corpse from anything smaller than a wolf.
So I should go for accurate long range, or short range high stopping power?
The NPC will probably keep walking towards the enemy even if they have a long-range weapon, so close range.
@Forrest glad some people like my creations 
Does this update mean there is any reason not to take the ugly and truth teller traits now?
More NPCs means more interaction, so I’d consider that a reason.
I was about to add combat skill gain for NPCs but it turns out they already use the same system the player does… a bit of experimentation revealed that they can improve some but I’m not sure if they have a hidden focus value or just linear improvement.
I think that once the NPC is in the player’s party, you should be able to check their stats… I’m going to go ahead and make that an option unless anyone opposes it. It will literally pull the same stat window, ‘@’, that the player uses but it will simply be for the NPC… you can see how your little buddy is improving/diseased/encumbered.
[quote=“acidia, post:14, topic:6800”]I was about to add combat skill gain for NPCs but it turns out they already use the same system the player does… a bit of experimentation revealed that they can improve some but I’m not sure if they have a hidden focus value or just linear improvement.
I think that once the NPC is in the player’s party, you should be able to check their stats… I’m going to go ahead and make that an option unless anyone opposes it. It will literally pull the same stat window, ‘@’, that the player uses but it will simply be for the NPC… you can see how your little buddy is improving/diseased/encumbered.[/quote]
Supporting with non-essential obfuscation request:
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Definitely make that available in debug, ideally as a subcommand under the Check NPC option.
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Ideally, but doesn’t have to happen now: NPC gives better data (in particular, reports non-obvious problems/weaknesses) the more xe likes/trusts you. After all, you wouldn’t open up your character screen to just anyone, I’d imagine, and neither would they, even if you’re working together in the Cataclysm.
You might abandon them as a liability if you found out they’re Asthmatic, Jittery or had no useful skills; and would probably shoot first if it turns out your “friend” is a Cannibal Psychopath who probably thinks you look delicious! (Not to mention anti-furry types finding out that their companion has a Stubby Tail xe was hiding under the clothing, ew mutation gross)
Little late but still:
