Wondering who the best companions in The Outer Worlds 2 are? This guide dives into the top companions, detailing their unique skills and how they can boost your gameplay experience, including insights on The Outer Worlds 2 best companions.
Key Takeaways
- The Outer Worlds 2 features six unique companions, each with distinct abilities and roles that significantly influence gameplay strategies.
- Marisol is ranked as the best overall companion for her crowd control and critical hit capabilities, while Tristan is recognized as the top tank with exceptional durability.
- Companion perks and mod kits enhance abilities, allowing players to customize their companions for improved performance in various combat scenarios.
The Outer Worlds 2 offers six companions, each with unique skills and personalities that can drastically impact your gameplay. Two companions can join the player at one time, making for a powerful party of three. Many companions also exist outside the main quests for the second game, making them completely missable! Make sure to review our Complete Companions Guide for The Outer Worlds 2 so you don’t miss any!
The Outer Worlds 2 Best Companions Explained
Tristan and Marisol stand out for their exceptional tanking and crowd control abilities, respectively. The right companions can prevent rifts from consuming Arcadia and enhance your combat strategies.
Each companion brings something valuable to the table, making your journey through all the outer worlds both challenging and exciting, as they are the best companions for your adventure on your personal quest. If you’re wondering how many companions you can have, you’ll find that each one adds a unique dynamic to your experience.
The Best Companions in The Outer Worlds 2 Ranked are:
1. Tristan: The Ultimate Tank
Tristan is the ideal tank for absorbing massive amounts of damage. His key features include:
- Exceptional durability that allows him to withstand heavy fire longer than most, making him the steel wall your team needs.
- A unique ability to knock enemies down, enhancing his crowd control.
- Effective management of multiple foes through his crowd control abilities.
However, his lack of reliable ranged attack options can limit his combat effectiveness, making him best suited for frontline engagements.
2. Marisol: The Crowd Controller
Marisol excels at ranged combat, immobilizing enemies, and turning all attacks into critical hits. Her primary ability, Torpifying Blast, locks opponents in place and significantly enhances damage dealt by party members. Pinpointing enemy weaknesses makes her a formidable damage dealer.
However, her low durability means she’s best kept at a distance, supporting the team from the backline.
3. VALERIE: The Healing Powerhouse
VAL’s tremendous healing capabilities make her the best healer in the game. She provides immediate and prolonged restoration during combat, vital for survival. Her healing mist and energy relay abilities keep the team at full health during the most intense battles.
Her unwavering support and effectiveness make her an indispensable companion.
4. Niles: Crafting on the go
Niles acts as a walking workshop. His field tinkering perk allows him to craft ammo on the fly, incredibly useful for ammo-consuming builds.
With a good mix of damage and defensive perks, Niles is a flexible teammate who can adapt to various combat scenarios, making him a versatile companion.
5. Inez: healing commando
Inez combines healing and melee combat with the following characteristics:
- Her healing abilities are strong early on but can be outpaced by companions like Valerie as the game progresses.
- Her healing mist and buffs often require staying within a specific circle or picking up health packs.
- This can be challenging during hectic combat scenarios.
Making the wrong choices on planet Eden can lead to missing out on her entirely.
6. Aza: Crazed Assassin
Aza excels in high damage output for close-range combat, with perks useful for explosive or stealth builds. However, her lower defensive stats compared to Tristan often result in quick defeats.
Additionally, her dialog options are limited, primarily revolving around her love for killing, which can be repetitive.
Ranking All Companions by Role
Ranking the companions involves evaluating their combat effectiveness and unique skills. The Companion Tier List categorizes them into different tiers based on overall effectiveness and combat roles.
This ranking provides players with insights into which companions offer the best utility and performance in The Outer Worlds 2.
Best Overall Companion: Marisol
Marisol’s logical and pragmatic approach makes her a favorite among players, plus Marisol has the most powerful companion ability in the game, offering bonus crowd control and and increased damage opportunties, making her the best overall companion. Her ability to immobilize enemies and convert attacks to critical hits and energy gain for gadgets greatly enhances the team’s performance during challenging encounters.
Most Versatile Companion: Niles
Niles is the most versatile companion in The Outer Worlds 2, letting him spec as either a Tank or a DPS build. As a tank, Niles can easily draw enemy fire from an distance while taunting nearby enemies with his companion ability. His Field Tinkering trait also allows him to craft items on the go, combined with varius taunting, evasion and damage based perks, allows him to fulfill multiple roles as needed.
This versatility makes Niles an invaluable companion in diverse combat scenarios.
Best Support Companion: Valerie
Valerie is recognized as the most effective healer among companions. Her reliable healing abilities and moderate damage output make her an essential support companion. Her healing ability can be a literal lifesaver, ensuring the team remains at full strength during intense battles, plus she also buffs armor, can regenerate health, and apply status effects to enemies once fully upgraded with her companion mod kits.
While VAL does not have a companion quest line of her own, she also can never leave the player, making her an ideal companion choice for a psychopath playthrough.
Best Tank Companion: Tristan
Tristan is the top tank companion in The Outer Worlds 2, unmatched in his role. His tanking abilities, including gaining temporary health at the start of combat and reducing status effect duration, make him highly effective in protecting the team. Plus, his powerful melee attacks can deal decent damage while also knocking down and stunning enemies.
Tristan can be recruited extremely early in the game as well from Free Market Station, making him a solid longterm addition to any team. Tristan’s role as a frontline tank is crucial for absorbing damage and controlling enemy aggression, though he also has some suprising options for dealing damage with his hammer which doubles as a grenade launcher!
Best Stealth Companion: Aza
Aza offers the best Stealth support in the game, offering significantly increased damage dealt for stealth attacks to the player when she is in the party. With the right Perks, Aza can get increased weapon damage and avoid damage herself by attacking from enemy flanks, but she is still considered the weakest companion due to a general lack of good perks.
Leveling Up Companions
Companions in The Outer Worlds 2 level up as the player progresses, with a maximum level of 30. Key points about their development include:
- Each companion can choose a new perk every five levels, so planning their development carefully is essential.
- Completing companion quests can provide new gear upgrades and additional perks.
- Finding upgrade packs also grants new gear upgrades and additional perks.
These enhancements improve their abilities and effectiveness in combat.
Best Companion Perks
With over ten choices for each companion plus optional perks, knowing where to start can be challenging. Here are the best perks to pick up for each companion based on our playtesting.
These perks significantly enhance their effectiveness in various gameplay scenarios, providing unique abilities that complement their playstyle.
Tristan recommended perks
Tristan’s recommended perks enhance his tanking abilities. Groundshaker allows him to slam the ground, knocking down everyone around him. Steel Wall grants him temporary health, making him even more durable.
Aggressive Challenge taunt enemies, forcing them to step out of cover and take bonus damage. Juggernaut ensures enemies target Tristan more while reducing the duration of status effects against him, making him a formidable tank, plus with the Zyranium regeneration perk, Tristan can regenerate his health even faster when exposed to radiation.
Marisol recommended perks
Marisol’s perks enhance her crowd control and damage output. Chain Paralysis allows her companion ability to affect multiple enemies at once. Elemental Weapons Specialist enables her to collect and recycle shock rods, plasma cells, and biomass ammo. Her N Ray Scanner Analyzer helps the player find enemy weak points to enhance your own damage with bonus effects, while her focus on gadget energy can help charge your shield battery even faster.
Energy Relay electrifies the party’s weapons, causing them to deal shock damage and restore gadget energy. Combatant Analyzer allows Marisol to mark enemies, giving party members bonus effects depending on the hit location, making her an invaluable offensive support companion.
VALERIE recommended perks
Valerie’s perks maximize her healing and buffing capabilities. Prolonged Defenses grants players an additional +20 Armor Rating when healed by Valerie. Strength Supplement Module increases the player’s melee damage and movement speed.
Restoration Operation ensures that whenever Valerie heals the player, all other companions are healed too. Armor Operation boosts the armor rating of party members affected by Valerie’s healing abilities, essential for maintaining team longevity in encounters. Plus VAL has plenty of quality of life upgrades as well including increased chance to double items on breakdown or bonus mag-picks for lock picking, along with her Frost laser for bonus dot effects!
Niles recommended perks
Niles’ perks enhance his crafting and combat adaptability. Ghost Array Mod allows him to craft a helmet mod that grants the Camouflaged effect when his health drops below half. Dumb Aggression makes his taunt ability goad enemies, forcing them to step out of cover.
Force Emitter creates a sonic shockwave that knocks down all enemies near Niles. Self-Repairing Armor grants him an armor rating boost that replenishes when he is not taking damage, making Niles a versatile and resilient companion.
Inez recommended perks
Inez’s recommended perks improve her healing and combat effectiveness. Potent Biomass increases her Corrosion Damage by 20% and allows her to apply 10% more stacks of vulnerable. Extra-Strength Injector doubles the duration of drug effects from Inez’s companion ability.
Drug Diffusion Modification ensures that Inez’s drug effects apply to the entire party, enhancing rate of fire, reload speed, and ranged weapon spread. Surgical Strike enhances her weapon efficiency by reducing spread and increasing her focus on weak points, making Inez a valuable support and combat companion.
Aza Recommended perks
Aza’s perks maximize her damage output and melee combat effectiveness. Assisted Takedowns grants the player a 50% Sneak Attack Damage bonus, ideal for stealth builds. Mine Layer increases explosive damage by 25% and ensures mines knock down targets.
Frost Charge modifies Aza’s companion ability to deal frost damage and leave a hazard that chills enemies. Relentless enables Aza to deal bonus damage and inflict stagger with every third melee attack, making her a deadly close-range combatant.
Companion Skills and Their Impact
Companion skills and quests enhance gameplay in The Outer Worlds 2. Each companion has a unique quest that deepens the player’s connection with them and provides unique abilities. For example, Niles can call enemies while maintaining defense and acts as a mobile workshop.
Understanding and leveraging these skills can significantly alter strategies and success in the game, providing depth to characters and combat encounters.
No Romance Options
The Outer Worlds 2 does not offer romance options for companions, setting it apart from many other games. While players can expect various interactions and deep connections with their companions, the focus remains on their abilities and roles in combat rather than romantic relationships.
This design choice allows for a more streamlined and focused gameplay experience.
Companion Tier List
Companions in The Outer Worlds 2 are ranked based on their overall effectiveness, versatility, and support capabilities. The tier list provides insight into which companions offer the best utility and performance in the game.
This categorization helps players make informed decisions about which companions to include in their party for different combat scenarios.
S-Tier: Marisol and Tristan
Marisol and Tristan occupy the S-Tier due to their exceptional combat roles. Marisol’s long-range capabilities and crowd control make her invaluable in targeting enemies’ weaknesses.
Tristan’s exceptional tanking abilities effectively protect players from enemy attacks, making him a crucial frontline defender.
A-Tier: Valerie and Niles
Valerie and Niles are placed in the A-Tier for their support and versatility. Valerie is the Healing Powerhouse, providing essential healing and buffs to the team. Her Emergency Protocols skill offers immediate healing and damage reduction, crucial during intense combat situations.
Niles excels in taunting and evasion, with perks that enhance his damage and survivability, making him adaptable in various combat scenarios.
B-Tier: Inez and Aza
Inez and Aza are categorized in the B-Tier due to their limitations compared to higher-tier companions. Inez’s evolving skills focus on adaptability and utility within the team, making her a solid choice for supporting various play styles, showcasing Inez’s companion ability. Aza excels in close-range combat with melee attack spam, delivering high damage output and effectively engaging enemies in melee situations.
However, their usefulness is less impactful in overall gameplay scenarios, limiting their effectiveness.
Companions Summary
The Outer Worlds 2, created by developer Obsidian Entertainment, and available on PC, Playstation, Xbox Series X|S and Game Pass, the best companions can significantly enhance your gameplay experience by providing unique abilities and support. Marisol and Tristan stand out as possibly the best allies for most planets based on their exceptional abilities and interesting back stories.
Understanding and leveraging their abilities, perks, and quests of each companion can naturally improve your success in the game. Decide on your companions wisely, and embark on an unforgettable adventure through the outer worlds!
Frequently Asked Questions
How many companions are available in The Outer Worlds 2?
There are six companions available in The Outer Worlds 2, each offering unique abilities and roles to enhance your gameplay experience.
Who is the best overall companion in The Outer Worlds 2?
Marisol is the best overall companion in The Outer Worlds 2, thanks to her strong crowd control and support abilities. Her versatility makes her an invaluable asset on any mission.
What is the maximum level for companions in The Outer Worlds 2?
Companions in The Outer Worlds 2 can reach a maximum level of 30, aligning with the player’s level cap. This ensures that your companions remain effective throughout your journey.
Are there any romance options available for companions in The Outer Worlds 2?
There are no romance options available for companions in The Outer Worlds 2. Companions in this game focus more on their individual stories and gameplay rather than romantic relationships.
What makes Tristan the best tank companion?
Tristan’s high durability and effective crowd control abilities establish him as an outstanding tank companion in The Outer Worlds 2. His exceptional skills ensure that he can absorb damage and protect the team efficiently.
More Companion Guides For The Outer Worlds 2
Looking for more information on Companions in The Outer Worlds 2? Check out our dedicated TOW2 Companion Guides below!
