About Companions

[Evaz Wiclousky]

About Companion.

As a new player, I was given all the Companions that the mission gave, but I feel that their normal (basic) attack damage is too low.

I don't want to criticize the fact that there are 3 companions in such a short period of time in the game, since I don't know the developer's ideas about the game and maybe the companions are an essential part.

I would like to know the opinion of other users because as a new player (I only reached level 57), I have not reached higher levels. Greetings

[Wisp]

This is possibly a view that you will find out yourself; as you advance in the game.
It should be taken as an opened opinion; and comes from a post by another player.
You can search the Forum for many of the FAQ's. There is good insight and help, some directly aimed to help new players.
This is what I found; it helped me understand when I was finding my way again. :
Lord Dust
Lord Dust replied to The Kinda-Sorta New FAQ
in Players Helping Players
05-24-2022, 05:02 AM
Companions (a.k.a. Minions)

Q: About the shop's Endar (Marksman), Norgrim (Warrior) and Maggie (Healer)...
A: Endar, Maggie, and Norgrim are identical to their free equivalents.


Q: What does Xagan do? Especially his Chain Shock ability?
A: The mage (Xagan) allows you to control his Chain Shock ability, which is a single bolt of lightning that jumps between mobs, does damage and briefly stuns them. Frost Missile is his normal attack, which has a chance to freeze the mob it hits. He also has an AOE knockback spell that he casts when mobs get close to him (similar to Robyn/Endar's Disengage, but it throws the mobs very far away). His Aura increases your Ability Rate by 2%, which affects the cooldown of your skills (but usually not by 2%!).


Q: Do Companion Auras stack?
A: Yes.


Q: Can I put gear on my Companions? Can I upgrade their Abilities?
A: No, you cannot equip your Companions or upgrade their Abilities. Instead, Companions receive some fraction of the experience from your Hero, and gain levels (to a max of 70). Even so, they stay woefully underpowered for the entire game. They are mostly only useful for their special abilities that you control and the small boost their Auras give to your character. Some are even detrimental to particular Hero builds.
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Last edited by Lord Dust; 05-24-2022, 05:16 AM.

Happy Hunting !

Wisp ~S~ BH

[WarriorSeven]

Companions are, by design, an augmentation and enhancement of capabilities used by your main hero. Three are "free" as you progress through ANB Story (but you must first purchase companion slots to utilize them): a Warrior (Marcus), and Healer (Eileen), and a Marksman (Robin). And as you may also already know, you can "hire" other companions from Alice the Inkeeper for 500 gems each: Norgrim (a Warrior, who has the same abilities as Marcus), Maggie (Potioncaster/Healer, who equivalaent to Eileen), Endar (a marksman, who is like Robin), and lastly, Xagan (a mage, which has no other analog in Story).

(As an aside, many of us do wonder about Xagan and his so-called capabilities, however, since he is not found to be of much use, as evidenced by his absence in the Leaderboards; I would suggest he actually works for the enemy, since his design is so poor, LOL.)

Many players use combinations of companion Warriors, Healers, or Marksman. So it is possible -- if you have the gem resources -- to have 3 companion Warrors, or 3 Healers, or 3 Marksman, etc., or ANY other combination of three. And if you inspect the Leaderboards, you'll find that the MOST common/current combinations involve just Warriors and/or Healers.

Companions, as you have noted, do not contribute significantly toward your hero's overall Damage, Toughness, and Recovery. You can do some simple math to compare their individual contributions to that of the main hero. Those companion Damage, Toughness, and Recovery levels, however, do grow proportionally as your main hero's levels grow, and by using them, they can benefit your gameplay by dispatching small/weak mobs or minor individual enemies in Story or in Trials with little to no intervention by the main hero.

But that it is not a companion's lot in life. Each companion's true usefulness is what each brings with her/him uniquely: 2 Special Utilities and 1 Passive Ability. Each of these further augment and enhance the main hero's class attributes, which, of course, are also greatly dependent on the weapons and gear (set) you select for your hero -- in addition to the important combinations of Attacks, Abilities, and Passives. As examples, in some builds, the use of Vortex by the Healers groups large (or small) mobs together so the main hero (like a mage or bounty hunter) can apply a targeted or AOE attack, especially useful in Trial maps. In other builds, Warrior companions have a powerful passive ability (aura) to improve health and armor of all team members, great for "tanky" builds.

The trick, then, is to get ALL of this working together to optimize/maximize your hero's total Damage, Toughness, and Recovery, and selecting the best combination of companions is an important part of maximizing the potential of your hero.