This question is for those who have maxed out their interactions with Companion members.

Could you give an estimate of how much interaction there was? I only played the beta until level 15, and in that time had only had one conversation with my companion totaling maybe 35-45 seconds. Is the interaction as deep as in other bioware games, or is it more shallow?

I'd have to assume more shallow. Dragon Age 2 had six full-time companions (not counting your sibling and Sebas) with three companion quests each and about 6-12 dedicated social interactions across the game. I can't imagine them going to that depth across 8 different classes.

@Junkerman: It very much resembles Mass Effect 2. They will comment on nearby locations. They'll chime in for class quest dialogue. They'll periodically remind you that they want to talk (frequency is tough to say, I had about 7 'conversations' with my companion by level 22)--which is already more than the average Mass Effect 2 squad member. I know that they will also open up several companion-specific quests for you to go on, and I believe they have a massive loyalty mission that will transform their character in a particularly meaningful way, narratively.

Any other questions, feel free to throw them my way. I haven't seen anything past level 22, but I'm sort of following this game obsessively.

@Brodehouse said:

I'd have to assume more shallow. Dragon Age 2 had six full-time companions (not counting your sibling and Sebas) with three companion quests each and about 6-12 dedicated social interactions across the game. I can't imagine them going to that depth across 8 different classes.

You would assume so, right? I think you're overlooking the estimated $300 million budget. Haha.

This game continues to baffle me. The fact that I can have such a meaningful Bioware companion relationship within an MMO environment blows my mind. Those 'hey, I'm going to talk about this scenery' are more frequent (feeling) than Mass Effect 2, and I've already had more 'lets sit down and talk' moments with Aric by level 22 than any Mass Effect 2 companion.

You start doing the math, and you've got 16 player character voice actors, 40 companion characters (+ship droids, +1 end-game universal companion), and what is probably a several-hundred hour long journey to the end-game that is completely voiced...

@project343: Thats good to hear, my fear was that they would be silent for 99% of the game. And I would be stuck with repeated sound bites after I completed their 4 or 5 conversations. Do you know if there is anything specifically tied to story quests or your level? Or if I obsessively grind rep can I finish them earlier? Basically I just don't want to have another Mass Effect 2 Garrus situation. Damn those calibrations, they messed me up good haha.

@Junkerman: It seems that the 'lets talk' conversations are almost directly tied to their affection rating. I'll be honest, Aric and I were like besties. I was nailing +15rep per 90% of dialogue options. I'll say that it is independent of level, but based on the compelling discussions had, I'm going to say it is likely limited by your progress through your class questline. If you (somehow) grind him to uberjoyed, he likely won't start talking about how much he hated your decision on a major plot point that hasn't happened yet.

So, as far as I've been able to gather:

- He won't talk unless he likes you

- He won't talk unless you've reached the narrative point that may be involved in the conversation

Also worth noting that, unlike Mass Effect 2, you can backtrack to older areas with fresh companions. It was a devilishly sly trick that Bioware pulled off in Mass Effect 2. E.g. not being able to hear Legion's thoughts on Archangel... clever.

Now, chances are, you're probably going to strictly run with a particular companion, or at least until you find an even more appropriate gameplay-companion. I ran with Aric until I found my healer (Elara) around level 20. This progress is mostly linear. Your class quest will send you to each planet in the galaxy, and periodically open up to send you to one of two planets in a branching-fashion (but the level range of each planet works out to look like 16-20 and 20-24). For the most part, obtaining a new companion is the reward for completing a planet's class story. So, obtaining companions is directly related to class questline progress. That said, you may find yourself with a new companion at level 40. What the game doesn't stop you from doing is pseudo-rep grinding that companion and learning about them well after you're done with leveling. If you've neglected all but your favourite gameplay companion, it doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be shit out of luck by 50. And it gives you fairly compelling non-raid/PVP end-game to work at: companions and loyalty missions.

@project343: Thats sounds pretty cool then. Do each of the companions have equal time attributed to them? I sort of got the feeling from some other forums, that the companion you're first given sort of becomes you're go-to-guy with the most development and side-missions. ie, some companions have more indepth quests when compared to others.

@Junkerman: Well, it purely depends on what spec you plan on rolling. They planned the first companion to be the most naturally-suited to compliment your game style. Bounty Hunters get a healer, Inquisitors get a tank, etc.. But that doesn't always work out. I plan on leveling a Commando healer, so I'll likely rely on one of the DPS companions. But while playing beta, I played as a Commando DPS, and found Elara (my healer) to be far more synergistic with my playstyle than Aric, who was just raw damage. If I had more time, I'm sure I would have gotten to know Elara much better.

@project343: They actually have a lot of Legion dialogue that isn't used, because the decision of where to split up the discs and when to launch the Normandy kidnapping came later in development.

@Junkerman:

Okay. So I've got a more accurate update on some of this information, pulled from Darthhater's database...

Companion 'sit downs' (read: meaningful conversations had in private quarters) are listed as quests. The average companion seems to have around 15-20 of these quests, which is a significant upgrade from Mass Effect's 4-ish 'sit downs' per companion. You'll also find their personal quests included in this number. Some companions seem to have as many as 30 quests, while some of the late-game companions have less than 10 'sit-downs.' The database associates incredibly general level requirements for these conversations, so they seem to be partially gated by your level progress. It does not list affection ratings as requirements, but this information is mostly gathered from raw data-mining, so it's a tad patchy.

After looking through quite a few companions as examples, it seems that your theory/concern about early companions getting more face-time aren't necessarily true. However, it seems like most classes receive their final companion around level 40. These 'late-game' companions typically have 5-10 quests per, so they seem to receive significantly less face-time. But this does not mean that compelling character development can't happen with those characters. A minor spoiler for the Revan novel, and a minor spoiler for the Jedi Knight story follows as an example:

I think the above is exists as a fairly compelling promise that all of these 40 companion characters will be equally memorable. After all, Legion did receive some of the least face-time in Mass Effect 2. And he was a fan-favourite. More-over, Jacob, Miranda, Kaiden, and Ashley are sort of the starter-crew, and are arguably the series' least compelling characters.

Here you'll find an example of Elara Dorne's associated quests in case you want to have a gander yourself. Again, this stuff is super splotchy and patchworky. Some quests may have been removed for final. Some may not be listed.

@project343: Thanks for taking the time to gather all of this info for me. I appreciate it. Only a few more days wait!

PM me when you get the game on here and I'll add you to my friends list. I plan on rolling agent for my imperial char, and jedi knight or smuggler for my ally char.

@Junkerman said:

@project343: Thanks for taking the time to gather all of this info for me. I appreciate it. Only a few more days wait!

PM me when you get the game on here and I'll add you to my friends list. I plan on rolling agent for my imperial char, and jedi knight or smuggler for my ally char.

Gonna join the GiantBomb guilds?

@CL60: Yeah I was planning on it. I've been a passive member of the GB community since day 1, and it'll be cool to play with you guys. Kessler's guild is the imperial one yes? I plan on leveling the Agent as my main character.

@Junkerman: Awesome. Well then, we'll certainly be seeing each other. I plan to roll an Operative (Medic), alongside the Kessler Run guild; also, don't tell 'em, but I'm also planning to roll a Commando (Combat Medic) with the GLHB crew too--shh! :)

@project343 said:

@Junkerman: Awesome. Well then, we'll certainly be seeing each other. I plan to roll an Operative (Medic), alongside the Kessler Run guild; also, don't tell 'em, but I'm also planning to roll a Commando (Combat Medic) with the GLHB crew too--shh! :)

Even though I'm the leader of Good Luck Have Bothans I'm making a healer on Kessler Run too.

Shhhh. Don't tell anybody.

Imperial Agent was also my off-faction alt plan.

I've never tanked in an MMO before, but I'm considering going Vanguard on GLHB so there's always a tank if we want to run some guild flashpoints.

@Brodehouse said:

Imperial Agent was also my off-faction alt plan. I've never tanked in an MMO before, but I'm considering going Vanguard on GLHB so there's always a tank if we want to run some guild flashpoints.

I think I'm going tank too. Tank in Good Luck Have Bothans, and Healer in Kessler Run.

I'm rolling a smuggler right off the bat (yeah, generic dps) Plan on hitting up a a healer as well though.

@Brodehouse said:

@CL60 Well now I don't know what to think. XD

lol. My mains are usually healer and tank in every MMO I play. Be a tank, it's fun! Can't hurt having more than one!

Gunslinger on Bothans and Powertech on Kessler Run, here. Considered going Healer maybe with a Scoundrel, but I decided not to. Maybe will create a Healer later.

More on topic, went with Smuggler and Bounty Hunter first partly because I really like the look of their companion selection. I'm a sucker for good companions in a Bioware game.

@General_D23 said:

Gunslinger on Bothans and Powertech on Kessler Run, here. Considered going Healer maybe with a Scoundrel, but I decided not to. Maybe will create a Healer later.

More on topic, went with Smuggler and Bounty Hunter first partly because I really like the look of their companion selection. I'm a sucker for good companions in a Bioware game.

I think you'd be pretty hard-pressed to find a class that doesn't have an incredibly bad-ass looking companion roster. Although, I'm incredibly jealous that Bounty Hunters (my mirror) are getting Blizz. But honestly, I get M1-4X... who's voiced by the dude who voices Professor Utonium in Powerpuff Girls! What more could I ask for?

Don't forget that this game will be patched in the future with substantial updates. I wouldn't be too surprised if additional content is added to each of the companions over time.

@project343 said:

I think you'd be pretty hard-pressed to find a class that doesn't have an incredibly bad-ass looking companion roster. Although, I'm incredibly jealous that Bounty Hunters (my mirror) are getting Blizz. But honestly, I get M1-4X... who's voiced by the dude who voices Professor Utonium in Powerpuff Girls! What more could I ask for?

I'll admit, the Trooper also has a set of awesome looking companions, and if my choices were solely based on companion selection, I might've actually gone with them.

As far as other classes go, I'll agree, the majority have at least 2-3 that not only look cool but have a terrific chance at being compelling, but specifically, I'm not really feeling the Consular's picks (aside from Qyzen). Everyone else though, yeah, pretty good roster.

@General_D23 said:

I'll admit, the Trooper also has a set of awesome looking companions, and if my choices were solely based on companion selection, I might've actually gone with them.

As far as other classes go, I'll agree, the majority have at least 2-3 that not only look cool but have a terrific chance at being compelling, but specifically, I'm not really feeling the Consular's picks (aside from Qyzen). Everyone else though, yeah, pretty good roster.

I literally haven't even stepped into the game world as a Consular. I'm now going to take 15 minutes to read up on their companions. I mean, it's tough to judge based on appearance, as some of the cast makes 'boring looking humans' look, well, boring by comparison.

Tharan sounds a lot like Anders (Awakening) with a delightful, almost Robert Downey Jr. twist. Love it!

Zenith sounds a tad plain. But I've yet to see a character with his motivations in the game.

Lt. Iresso has some sort of devilish dirty secret. Very compelling. I really want to see where that goes.

Nadia - a socially shunned, gifted, almost-too-kind young woman who knows little of the outside world who gets thrusted into a grande adventure? Sounds similar to Liara (who I adored).

I don't know, meng. I think I'm going to disagree with that. I think I'm going to have to roll a Consular just to see Tharan work his comedic magic.