Companions

Companions are former prisoners that were rescued by the player and had the companion upgrade selected. This upgrade is not available on all prisoners.

Human companions can carry almost any kind of weapon, but they never come with a weapon already equipped. The player will have to find a gun for the companion, get close to them and then give it to them by holding down the interact button. The weapon can later be swapped out. The better the weapon the more useful the companion will be. Because low-level companions are inaccurate shooters they can profit from a high-damage, close-range weapon. There is no limit to how many companions a player can have.

Commanding
Players can command companions using the interact button or the direct command buttons.

When the player is not interacting with anything else and a companion is close enough the player can aim somewhere (or using gamepad let auto aim choose an appropriate position) and press the interact button to command all his companions. Holding down the interact button will make companions guard the targeted position, while a short press will make companions attack the closest enemy.

Alternatively the player can use the direct guard command or attack command buttons to immediately tell companions to do that action. This even works while interacting with something else.

Guarding
If a companion is guarding a position the companion will try to hold its position and attack nearby enemies. They will no longer follow the player. To abort guarding a position the player will have to issue an attack command.



Attack
If an attack command is issued the companions will go the designated area and look for and engage nearby enemies. The player does not need to participate in this attack. If there are no more enemies around the companions will try to get back to the player.



Healing
Companions can be healed by the player. This action usually costs the player its own health. By default this action costs half a heart and will regenerate one full heart for the companion.

Only injured companions can be healed.

To heal a companion the player needs to be in interaction range and press the interact button.

Leveling
Companions will level up during combat. The more damage they deal the more experience they will earn. With every level up they will gain an additional health point (heart), regenerate all their health points and improve their skill a little bit.

A level up is indicated by a blue flash and blue particles around the companion.

The higher a level of a companion the longer it will take for them to reach a higher level.

Giving them a better weapon will make them level up faster because they can deal more damage.

Companion Death
When a companion dies the player has some time to revive them. This action will usually costs one health point.

If the player fails to help the companion in time the companion will bleed to death and the companion might drop a bunch of items.

The companion will always drop the weapon they were holding. Additionally the companion will drop medicine based on the companion level and the amount of health spent on the companion by the player. This means that if a player heals the companion a lot the companion will drop more medicine on its death.

The player can speed up the bleeding process by melee attacking the downed companion. Afterwards the companion can not be brought back to life.