Who are the best companions?

[Alessandro Ferrari]

I'm talking about those who costs 500 gems, and my main is a warrior. Nogrim is pretty good, but what other companions are the best ones to get? Thanks.

[Wisp]

Search About Companions:

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.

[TheExorcist]

In the old days we have an unwritten law. (now I dunno):

We don't hire Xagan. Why?

HE WORKS FOR THE ENEMY (forgot whose saying)

Hv a nice day

[LodWig]

It was in the signature of Cultusfit

[WarriorSeven]

Tin Man suggested to me that he thinks Xagan is Ragadam in disguise, LOL!