If you’re playing The Outer Worlds, then no doubt you’ve already fallen in love with the companions, a select group of crewmembers that The Stranger recruits over the course of the game, each with their own personalities and backstories that deeply affect how the game is played. But which one should you choose for your group, and how are they recruited? If you need a quick rundown before you hop in the game, or just want to find one you missed, this guide will have you covered.
There are six possible companions for The Stranger, and you’ll most likely run into them naturally over the course of the main quest. On the off-chance you missed one, however, you can find information on how to find them below. Keep in mind that who you keep in your immediate party will affect your own skill stats, so plan your companions on each quest accordingly. Doing so may help you avoid combat by supplementing your character build. For example, Persuade, Lie and Intimidate skills will get you far in dialogue, so for social situations, you may want to bring along Felix or Parvati. Vicar Max, though, can Intimidate and Hack, as can SAM, making them an ideal duo for breaking into research facilities. Felix and Nyoka make a great pair for Sneak based approaches. Whatever you do, be sure to quicksave before you enter a building or reach a key turning point in a quest, so you can mix and match as the situation suits you.
Parvati
Parvati, a Spacer’s Choice engineer, can be found during the game’s first big quest, in the town of Edgewater, after speaking with Reed Tobson, the town’s Outpost Administrator. She can be recruited as a companion after she accompanies you in the mission Stranger in a Strange Land. Her skills are Persuade, Lockpick and Engineering, and she provides the additional perks of Bonus Support Engineering (+10 Engineering), Mod Finder (+10% chance to extract mods in the field) and Synchronicity (+25% Tactical Time Dilation Meter). Her combat specialty, Overload, is an electrified hammer-based melee attack.
Vicar Max
My personal favorite of the companions (he’s got one heck of a special attack animation), Vicar Max can be found in the town of Edgewater. You’ll probably run into him following your encounter with Parvati. He can be recruited as a companion following completion of a mission he’ll give you, The Illustrated Manual. His skills are Hack, Intimidate and Science, and he provides the additional perks of Bonus Support Hack (+10 Hack), Sermon (+20% Dialog Combat Effect Duration) and Mad Max (+20% Science Weapon Damage). His combat specialty, called Trickshot, uses a close-range shotgun.
Felix
When you run into Felix aboard the Groundbreaker following your excursions to Edgewater, you’ll find him in the middle of a disagreement with a foreman, hinting at the young man’s reputation as something of a troublemaker. After speaking with Udom and Gladys, two major characters aboard the Groundbreaker, you will find Felix outside of The Unreliable near the ramp. Speak to him and you can recruit him. His skills are Persuade, Sneak and Lockpick, and he provides the additional perks of Bonus Support Persuade (+10 Persuade), Bootlickers! (+20% Damage to Cowering Enemies) and Rebellion (+20% Damage to Corporate Military). His combat specialty, Dropkick, delivers a kick to an enemy’s chest.
Ellie
Ellie, a medic and pirate with lofty ties to the rich city of Byzantium, is also found on the Groundbreaker. She can be found in the medical wing of the ship, hanging around the reception area. She can be recruited following the mission Worst Contact, where she will ask you to check on a friend of hers in sickbay. Her skills are Lie, Medical and Engineering, and she provides the additional perks of Bonus Support Medical (+10 Medical), First Responder (+20% heal amount from Inhaler) and CPR (25% health when fatally wounded/5m cooldown). Her combat specialty, Quick Draw, features a rapid-fire series of precision shots from her pistol.
Nyoka
You will run into the fun-loving, heavy-drinking mercenary Nyoka almost as soon as you land on the planet of Monarch, at a bar called The Yacht Club. She can be recruited as a companion if you agree to help her sober up with some caffeinoid pills in the quest Passion Pills. Her skills are Lie, Sneak and Medical, and she provides the additional perks of Bonus Support Lie (+10 Lie), Hunter (-20% Radius of footstep sounds) and Exterminator (+20% bonus damage to creatures). Her combat specialty, Barrage, lands a hail of bullets from an LMG that sets enemies ablaze.
SAM
If you haven’t searched The Unreliable thoroughly, you may have missed the presence of SAM, a Sanitation and Maintenance Automechanical. You will find him in a hallway alcove past the Captain’s Headquarters on the ship. He can be recruited once the Acid Sweeper is installed on his hardware, a quest that can be started once you ask ADA about the broken robot on the second floor. Note that while you can find him shortly after reaching Groundbreaker, the quest to fix him cannot be completed until you have access to Roseway. His skills are Intimidate, Science and Hacking, and he provides the additional perks of Bonus Support Intimidate (+10 Intimidate), Cleaner (-20% Negative Reputation Kill), Clean Sweep (Harmful Status Effect Duration: -25%) and Bad Samaritan (+20% damage to automechanicals). His combat specialty, Decontaminate, is an acid-based slam attack.
Holly Green is the assistant editor of Paste Games and a reporter and semiprofessional photographer. She is also the author of Fry Scores: An Unofficial Guide To Video Game Grub. You can find her work at Gamasutra, Polygon, Unwinnable, and other videogame news publications.