My disappointment with Xoti was the fact that you could never discuss the nature of the gods with her. It would have been the perfect topic for her. I agree with Eder being number 1. He just rolls with the punches, can only respect that.

I find it a bit funny that the relationship between Maia and Xoti is far more detailed and wholesome than anything ether of them could have with the watcher

As always, Eder is like the best friend you always wanted to have. I love him because he is so humble and easy going . Plus, you can give him a pet

They did Pallegina dirty, in the 1st game she's awesome, her portrait is beautiful and she shows great consideration to the Dyrwood by proposing herself the idea to lessen the trade proposal, in Deadfire her portrait's meh and she's stuck up and mad if you didn't remind her not to contradict her superiors...

My favorite is Aloth, the neurotic wizard who is least equipped to deal with being possessed by an ancient barbarian 😂

Eder just feels real. That is my personal take for why he is so awesome. He just feels like a real person more than any companion of an RPG ever.

Its pretty much impossible for me to not take Eder whenever I play this game again, such a terrific companion

1. Eder (The boi, no need to elaborate, but his plot was good in PoE 1 and even better in PoE 2, he should be in Avowed in some capacity imo and I'd be surprised if he doesn't pop up)
2. Tekehu (He's got serious depth and isn't just an egotistical airhead once you get further into his arc, also his playstyle is really fun)
3. Aloth
4. Seraphen

4.5. Ydwin (Very interesting char, even without the reactivity of other companions she FEELS like a true companion)
5. Maya
6. Vatnir
7. Pallegina (really liked her in the first game, she's written differently in PoE 2 and is much more of a zealot regardless of your choice in PoE regarding the Vailian Republics)
8. Xoti (She's kind of just a nothing character, like there is potential there and the branching path is cool, but most of her personality comes across in a grating way)

Everyone really doesn't have the reactivity to justify ranking honestly (besides Fassina in DLC but I never really used her), if Obsidian just did away with most of these sidekicks and made Ydwin a full-fledged companion

Xoti being a farmer for her background fits for me personally as I see her more of harvesting souls for Gaun

THATS MY BOOOYYYYY EDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mirke used to not wear any underwear unlike every other playable character, but I guess they patched that at some point.

You, mort and werglia, my 3 favorite crpg guys!! You are one of the best my friend!!

My Aloth was pretty nice. He controller Iselmyr (I love the girl, but I was so immersed that I didn't want to use Aloth for comedy), he wanted to destroy the Leaden Key and he was acting on his own. Pretty cool guy, doing the right things. Being far more sarcastic than before, and not bad in comparison to Eder. Also had some of the "old pals" vibes with him.

But Eder is the one I'll miss the most once I'm done with this franchise. He truly makes you feel like he is traveling with you as a friend or an equal. Like you said, it's the old friends vibes. My new Garrus. I don't know how the story is going to end, but I hope things turn out well for him (not his personal quest. The story). I wish there was more Pillars after Deadfire, but, other than a spin-off (Avowed), nothing.

Fassina can be very effective albeit a different wizard. Mixing Caedebald's Blackbow followed by Substantial Phantom after (who copies the Blackbow) lets you spread Terrify everywhere since the Blackbow shots bounce.

Ydwin, Fassina and Konstanten were planned to be full companions but the funding ran short.

Great list! Fellow Maya-mancer here, surprised to see Tekehu so low because hes such a layered character and has alot of reactivity in being able to shape his outlook on whether being a dutiful god chosen or finding his own way, plus shark man is never going to be not cool

I think the point of grimoires is that it was written by another person - the flexibility comes from your own spells that you can learn while leveling up

Just picked it up on sale a few says ago. Your timing is perfect haha

For me, Maia and Pelegrina are both very interesting characters mechanically who are just utterly ruined by their story and characterization. Both of them are hardline proponents of their respective nations who more often then not seem more concerned with blindly advancing the interests of Rautai/Valia rather than actually stopping Eothas and saving the people of Eora. What makes things worse is, there are actually characters inside the various factions like Atsura and Director Castol who seem  more willing to put the common good first than the companions from either of their factions.

Didn't know if you knew but the members of critical role did most of the voices in this roster.
Matt Mercer did both eder and aloth
Laura Bailey did Xoti
Of course Ashley Johnson did Ydwin and Bereth
Travis Willingham did Te'khu
Sam Reigel did Rekka
Liam O'Brian did Sarafen
Marisha Ray voiced Maia Rua
And tallisan Jaffie did Eothas

Little fun fact. Oh and you can also use their voices from their campaign 1 characters as well

Eder's quest has given me inspiration to let go of love. It's not a satisfying arc, but it is a turn of events which I kept close to my heart when I recently walked away from something I wanted. Eder's willingness to do right by a woman he loved and a young man he's never met speaks to his kind nature. He is one of few kind souls in the series, and I wish he was my dad.