Talk: Fallout 3 companions

To do - include all information from http://www.nma-fallout.com/content.php?page=fo3-npc Ausir 18:10, 15 November 2008 (UTC)

Followers and the Patch

Can anyone confirm if the patch will break up a glitched party that was put together before installing the update? I ask because I'm going to have to install the update when the DLC comes out today and I don't want to lose any of my followers.

id like to know this aswell, im playing on the 360 and if the DLC breaks my team up that would realy suck. id probably still buy it though. --Albkan13 07:09, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Fawkes his/her pronouns

This issue has been resolved by Bethesda. Fawkes was and is male, Wes was mistaken. Check the Talk:Fawkes page. Bsdasym 20:23, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Non-Standard Equipment

Servius 21:18, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Do companions require ammo for the weapons you give them?

• I believe they do. I gave Star Paladin Cross a Minigun but no ammo and she kept her Laser Pistol equipped. I gave her 1 round of 5mm Round ammo and she automatically equipped the Minigun. I've given her 1,500 rounds now. After a bit of fighting I'll check her inventory and see if that number's dropped. Servius 21:18, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • Yes, they do. They will consume the ammo they have just like you would, and once depleted, I expect they will revert to their standard weapons with infinite ammo. For example, if/when Star Paladin Cross runs out of 5mm Round, she'll probably stop using the Minigun and switch to her standard Laser Pistol, which has infinite ammo. Servius 22:50, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
• You can give a follower another's weapon with the console (PC version, I've dropped a few item codes here and there), and they will have unlimited ammo for it. This means that any (humanoid) one of them can use Fawkes' crippled gatling (0001A333), or any other follower's weapon, as long as it's stronger than their own. YOU don't get infinite ammo, and can't use the standard - they're unique. (btw, if you want them to do some evocation magic, give them 0007c10c - RL-3's plasma gun). --Kaay 08:39, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Do their non-standard weapons wear out?

• I've given Star Paladin Cross a Minigun at 100%. I'll take her out for a spin, let her tear loose with that gun, and see if the quality drops. Servius 21:18, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • Yes the non-standard weapons that you give them will wear out as your companion uses them. I presume this is true of the armor you give them, though I haven't confirmed that yet. Servius 22:50, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
    • I strongly think companions non-standard weapons only degrade if they are damaged from enemies. Jericho spent over five thousand ECP rounds and his Vengeance didn't degrade, but one time, he spent only 500 and the condition went down a lot(probably the weapon was shot by an enemy.)BSMaker 06:27, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Does their non-standard armor wear out?

• I've given Star Paladin Cross a Power Helmet at 100%. I'll take her out for a spin and see if the quality drops. Servius 21:18, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • I've fought with Cross for several days now. She's even been attacked in melee by Deathclaws, yet that helmet I gave her hasn't degraded at all. Servius 02:04, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
    • I have tested the T-51b power armor on charon as my companion. The armor has not degraded at all, and I've had Charon as my companion from level 8-20. He has fought everything with me, from death claws to enclave soldiers to packs of Mirelurks and Yao Guai. I believe that all armor stays in perfect condition when it is being worn by a companion.

Grenades

Star Paladin Cross will use any grenades you give her. She does not seem to use mines. I don't know if other companions will also use grenades of their own free will. According to the No Mutants Allowed article, Explosives is one of her "Other Skills" and is only 18, so that does not seem to affect whether or not the companion will use them. Servius 02:04, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Stimpacks

Dogmeat and Sydney use them if I give them in dialog, but I've never seen any companion use stims or any heals from their inventory. I'm playing PC version, and I can see their health reset only after a combat, but doesn't regen any other time. --97.81.77.13 16:44, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

I gave Charon 20 stims, and after he and Dogmeat ran off somewhere and a whole lot of noise, he had 18 left and Dogmeat was dead (luckily, I'm on the PC and he's Essential for me). So yeah, they use stims during combat. 74.14.118.127 17:49, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

• This is what I've found out through experimentation with Charon on the 360, and after reading other discussion pages, I think it applies to all permanent companions:

1)All permanent followers heal automatically after combat regardless of what's in their inventory. They do not heal after being hit by traps, no matter what's in their inventory. If the follower is injured outside of combat, try initiating combat with a weak enemy, and they'll be healed after combat. If they were crippled, equip them with a Stimpack first.

2)If a follower has Stimpacks, they'll use it, but only during combat, and only if they're crippled or near death. They can still be killed in combat if they have Stimpacks in their inventory, but it's less likely.

3)Resting in a bed doesn't affect companions, they only heal after combat.

5)Dogmeat, obviously, has no inventory, and can't self-apply stimpacks because he has no thumbs.

6)Temporary companions, like Sydney, don't have accessible inventory and don't heal after combat, thus you have to give them stims on a case-to-case basis.

7)If you're wondering if a companion is injured, target them with a weapon. They limp when crippled, but VATS can tell you what's going on with individual limbs. (Don't shoot them by accident!)

If anyone knows different, put it here. Otherwise, should we copy this to the main article? Durty Willy 04:32, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

• • Just to add to this, I noticed Sticky and Sydney have animations for healing themselves. They stab themselves in the hip with the stimpack. You can sort of see Sydney's animation, but because she uses them immediately as the dialogue ends, you can't quite see it because it is just off screen. I've seen Sticky give himself a jab, but not during fighting. Also, their crippled limbs don't seem to heal - ever. I left Sticky and Sydney behind some time ago, and poor Stick's legs are both crippled, and he hobbles everywhere. I gave him a merc cruiser outfit to cheer him up. I went and checked on Sydney at Underworld, and she is the same, well almost crippled, she has a little bit left on all her limbs. I'm assuming this affects their performance. Anyway of knowing if apparel attributes improve their skills, +10 small guns armour for example, or even +1 luck items etc.?

So far, from what I've tested (on the Xbox 360), the only drugs/meds Companions will use are: stimpacks and Buffout. Oh, how I wish we could Use items on them! Pump them up with MedX and Psycho!--206.72.84.130 15:14, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

"Two followers if you are evil"

Related to the statement, "It is also possible to acquire two followers if you are evil: first obtain Jericho then go buy Clover." I'm not so sure this is true. My character is evil, I have Jeri as a follower and I just tried to buy Clover but I wasn't able to. When I offered to buy her from the guy in the red outfit, there was a message at the top-left that suggested I couldn't have another follower. I don't recall the exact message but I can try again and let you all know, if needed. Unless there's some kind of trick to get this to work? Modul8r 04:58, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

• Haven't tried, but maybe you need to: fire Jericho, buy (not talk to) Clover, rehire Jericho, talk to Clover? --Kaay 08:21, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
  • I tried that but it didn't help. After I bought Clover, Jericho told me that I had to ditch her before he'd join, and I saw text at the top-left suggesting I couldn't have any more followers. I can only surmise that this has been fixed in a patch. I'm running the latest patch as of 12-11-2008 and, FWIW, I'm running the PC version. Modul8r 15:51, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

You would have to load from a save before ever talking to Clover..

Walk into Eulogy's pad, Walk up to Eulogy, Fire follower, talk to Eulogy, Re-hire Follower, let Clover talk to you.. Her dialouge is what lets you have both of them.. its a scripting bug but its fun.

Thanks for the detailed instructions. I'll try this tonight. If it works then I suggest we re-word that section so it's clear to other readers. Modul8r 17:16, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

OK I got it figured out. I now have both Jeri and Clover as followers. The way I understand it, the trick is to quickly re-hire Jeri immediately after you buy Clover from Eulogy. When I did this from an old save (before going to Paradise Falls), I had to talk to Jeri before Clover ran up to me and automatically started the conversation. But I was also able to do this in my current save (apparently after I'd already talked to Clover) - the only difference here is that Clover did not automatically run up to me and talk to me. After I re-hired Jeri, I then talked to Clover and she was a follower - I was able to give her instructions like Follow me, let's go, etc. So, in summary I don't think it matters if you've already talked to her or Eulogy, as long as you didn't already buy her. Is this the way you all understand how it works too? Modul8r 16:32, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

My character got Charon's contract early on, got his karma to the lowest possible level, and while exploring the rest of the map before finishing the last quest of the game went to Paradise Falls for the first time. Was able to purchase Clover without even having to fire Charon or have him wait outside the room. Don't know what happened there, but have two followers now. Didn't even realize you weren't allowed to have more than one follower until I read the article here.

Version information

What version are the "more than one follower" tricks from? I've got the latest (and only) patch, afaik, and even with 1000 Karma, Star Paladin tells me she won't join me because of my followers - namely, Charon is in my party, and I get a message in the top left telling me I have too many party members. --DarkJeff 10:15, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

• Unpatched, and I can get 2 the first time I/they offer to join. I've tried: Charon+Star Paladin Cross; Charon+Fawkes; Fawkes+Charon; Star Paladin Cross+Fawkes; Sergeant RL-3+Star Paladin Cross; Sergeant RL-3+Charon. Others have confirmed different combinations. --Kaay 08:16, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Clearly, it's been fixed in the patch, then. --DarkJeff 07:06, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Ok, we need to set precidence here. Do we consider all versions, or do we go with current versions with regards to glitches and bugs? If we go with all we'll end up with questions like the on I had initially, where they've been fixed. If we note only current versions, we'll need a prior versions section if the unpatched version has a glitch. This is compounded by unpatchable console-less console versions of the game. Many problems could end up being fixed by DLCs as well if they include the patches in there. --DarkJeff 01:42, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

How is this handled with other games here? Modul8r 17:16, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

My instincts go with using current versions as default, with brief notes on older versions at the bottom. The problem is that console players can't get patches, can they? --DarkJeff 17:51, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Console players get "software updates" that are actually more of a hassle to avoid than having to go get a patch for PC games. It isn't presented as optional. Something along the lines of "The latest software update has been found. It will now be downloaded and installed." Your options are to hit "OK" and install or restart the console without an internet connection to play. 76.103.182.3 14:59, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

• Are you sure you chose the right option? Asking her to join you will make the 'only one follower at a time' pop up. Saying 'i don't suppose i can stop you' will make her join you.BSMaker 20:05, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

companion skills

im on my second playthrough now and i was wondering, if you are level 20 when you pick up a companion are there skills the same as if you had gotten them at an earlyer level? i heard they level up according to your level, and heard elswhere that they level up through battle. im a little confused as to wich one that would be.

Companions are always the same level as you are (they level with you). In combat companions don't help you gain XP, in fact they often steal it. You'll only get XP if you do the majority (51%) of the damage that kills a creature.

Rename follower

The GECK editor refers to them as "follower". Should we rename according? --Voidvector 14:05, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

I think so. "The game" also calls them followers, i.e. the message "You can only have one follower at a time". Modul8r 16:24, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Everybody calls them Companions on the forum and wiki (when talking about FO3). I tried a search for "companions" on the wiki and there isn't a single page with that in its title. That's simply absurd. Can one of you please fix this and note for the historical record that they were called followers in past games? Or maybe some kind of redirect or disambiguation would work. Thanks! -RedKnight7 07:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

The searches on this wiki is unnecessarily strict. I think it only matches full article names, it does not seem to match redirect names. In fact, it is case sensitive for some odd reason. on most other wikis I have been to, if I search for something like "take it back" it will match "Take it Back!", but not here. Very annoying. --Voidvector 13:52, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

The case sensitive issue with the fallout wiki search engine is garbage. Redirects do work, but you have to guess all variations of the name and set the pages up beforehand. And who wants to do that? --AshRandom 14:52, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

Searching on Followers or followers goes directly and only to Followers of the Apocalypse. There's simply something wrong there - why isn't there a disambiguation page on Followers? But it doesn't matter since everybody calls them Companions for FO3. Yet there's not a single page with Companions in its title. Most everybody new and old to Fallout is playing Fallout 3 right now, and for FO3 they're called companions.

I guess I'm asking if some wiki wizard can help here somehow? Nobody wants to rename the hundred pages linking here. Can some god-op rename this page and all the links to it? From what little I know, the practical answer is "no, unless you send me $10k", hehe. But maybe some disambiguation or redirect skills can help? I don't know, I've never been an op.

I will make a work-around - a page called Fallout 3 Companions which says "Please see Fallout 3 followers". Coming right up -RedKnight7 12:50, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

I redirected Fallout 3 Companions here, but created Followers and Companions as disambiguation pages. Ausir 13:51, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

THANKS Ausir! That pretty much solves the problem! We can probably delete this section in a few days (so others have time to read it) and (and Fallout 3 Companions already). -RedKnight7 15:08, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

S.P.E.C.I.A.L. and TAG Skills

I've played Fallout 3 a couple of times now and I was wondering how do you find out your companions' S.P.E.C.I.A.L., TAG skills, and how much can they carry. Also, can you find out the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. and TAG skills of other NPCs that are not your companions? Super Mario 126 22:06, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

It is not really their "tag" skills. People here just call them tag skills cause those skills level up as the NPC level up. You can check it on the PC version using console commands. Open the console using "~" key, click on the NPC, type "getav strength" or "getav smallguns". You can also find out using the G.E.C.K. (editor), but that's more complicated. --Voidvector 22:37, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I was just wondering. I have an Xbox 360 so I wanted to see if you could find it on there also. Super Mario 126 00:09, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Armor and Equipment

Is there only specific armor/clothing/weapons that each companion will use? I tried equipping Clover with a plasma rifle and she stuck with her shot gun. (Patched Xbox version) 207.61.149.175 12:10, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

They will usually use any weapon better than their own, provided you give them the ammo for it too.Sipli 00:02, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Follower Equipment

When your follower equips gear that you give em, does anybody know if the stats on the gear changes their stats? Like if something that you had them equip has a +2 to strength, would they get the +2 to their strength? Another example would be the lucky 8 ball, do they get the luck bonus if you give it to em? I play on the xbox 360 so no real way for me to find out. --Thq95 04:50, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

Will this work...?

First of all, I play on the Xbox 360. Now, what I want to do is get Jericho, Clover, Charon and Dogmeat into my party. Would this work if I got Charon first, went to Paradise falls and used the glitch to get Clover, then went to RobCo and use the glitch to get Sgt. RL-3, then destroy Sgt. RL-3 and go hire Jericho and finally rescue Dogmeat and have him join?

Thanks for the help.

• Yes, this will most probably work. I've done something similar(firing Clover to hire Star Paladin Cross), so i'm pretty positive. But no need to kill Sgt. RL-3, just fire him.

Of course, keeping some saves is always reccomended.BSMaker 22:45, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

=Stealth and companions

I actually think having companions that can't sneak is actually more beneficial for your sneak attack criticals. Sometimes, enemies detect your companion, but not you. When this happens, it seems they get completely blinded for anything other than the companion. Fawkes get detected, super mutant goes to his direction, pushes me, and doesn't notice me.BSMaker 17:27, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

this is true, and very funny! i have 6 companions and it happends all the time. ill be sneaking up to an enimy and they'll detect him and im able to do whatever i want after that. it works with the others aswell.

Ah - I miss the good old days

(Xbox 360) I miss the good old days of Fallout where you could use items (stimpacks; psycho; whatever) on NPCs! I've given my companion (Charon) a range of drugs, and he never uses any of them! At best, he'll use a stimpack or 2 if he's near death.

(I also wish we could do the old "OD" approach on NPCs. Never made sense it worked on bots/turrets, but on human/ghoul/mutant NPCs? That was fun!)--66.253.113.60 00:48, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Infinite Companions thing

Can anyone confirm that downloading O:A may cause companion slots to be infinite? It still is the same to after I download it.BSMaker 01:52, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

WHY!? IT WAS SO YOUNG!

Why does Bethesda have to ruin the fun. I got the game a week before the patch, and learned about the multiple companio n glitches AFTER downloading the patch. Now I can only have two companions! I so wanted to have a SWAT team with SPC, Charon, and Jericho. Also, you should mention in the Companion Glitch section that killing Dogmeat does still work in the patched game.

Equipment Effect Stacking Exploit

More information here

I've tried this with Charon and Star Paladin Cross. Mostly with equipment that increase Luck, but also a few other items. I think it'll work with any piece of equipment, but haven't tested it. Would be cool if someone else could confirm that it works. Dcruze 15:13, 4 February 2009 (UTC)