My man Eder scores points with me solely because he wants to pet things.

Interestingly both of your favorite characters were written by Chris Avellone. His departure from Obsidian may partly explain their absence in the second game.

Eder has really stuck with me. There's something really endearing and relatable about a guy in a grim story about (effectively) dead children who doesn't see an animal he doesn't want to pet. Like, he's got that other thing involving a .. brother, I think? But it's his 'quest' to pet every animal in the realm that stuck with me. In my plathrough, I knew I wanted the Devil in my team, so I actually tried to recruit her at the first available opportunity. *Man*, that dungeon was hard. I was severely under-levelled, so it took a bit of save-scumming, but I was able to eventually get to her and recruit her, then immediately retreat out of the White Marches entirely until I was a more reasonable level. Getting Grieving Mother at the first opportunity was relatively painless - merely filling my journal with a bunch of quests I wouldn't start for many hours. Personally, I feel an RPG needs a mix of characters - some need to be more 'wild' and 'out there', while others need to be more 'grounded'. Too many are wild, and it's hard to relate, and there's no-one to contrast them against, and 'wild' becomes 'normal'. Too many 'grounded' and the party seems bland and flavourless. PoE, in my view, does a good mix.

I always loved how Zahua, Eder and Hiravias were constantly talking about their drugs experiences and tips xD

Durance's character page should list "Most powerful enemy slain: Eothas (St. Waidwen)"

Aloth and Eder were always in my party and I was so happy to have them in the sequel as well. Same with Durance, who I missed in PoE 2, he was hilarious.

Eder's story really comes good in POE2. I really like they brought some of the characters back in the sequel.

Great video. I love the combo of the Ranger woman and Eder, that brings out his love of animals. I also appreciate how they show a woman who is older, has a family, and is not treated as too old to be a good member of your team. A non-companion I absolutely loved was the spirit woman with the elderly Italian grandmother vibe who teaches you about your abilities when you go to "hang out" with her by the tree early on. Cracked up at many of her lines the first few playthroughs :D

This and your review make me want to play through the game again. I played a Cypher and 100% agree that two of them isn't a crowd as your top 3 companions stayed in my party as long as I had them available.

Love your vids. I'm about to replay this gem after not playing it for years. Good Info. Thanks

Love your RPG content keep it up brother

AWWWW YEEEEEEEAH! I was WAITING FOR THIS! NNNNNNGH!

I love Grieving Mother, she is such extraordinary character, I love her story, her background and the overall mysterious persona. And also she was my first experience with cipher class and I must admit that combat wise she was game changer, the cypher class fits her so well and I love how it's incorporated in her background story. Also I am absolutely ok with the small reactivity with other companions, it fits well into the story, they just see her still as a mundane peasant woman where there is no interest to start a conversation with her. I even remember that when I asked Eder about his opinion on her, he just said something like she's a nice peasant lady and that's it 😂 and I love the special bond she shares with Watcher. It's so awesome

These games are just masterpieces… one of the few crpgs I could never use mercs in… I just felt awful leaving my squad behind on an adventure. You’re right about grieving mother though it’s been a while since I played but she’s so well done…

Really appreciate this series! I've picked up PoE again after a long hiatus after struggling with a low power comp. I'm going to respec my party based on your class videos and see if that helps.

Éder feels like a fucking friend, I love his character arc of learning to have a more grounded faith in Eothas, and becoming the Candlebearer, while being a simple person

Now that I'm about to do another playthrough of PoE. I think some class ratings like you did for Pathfinder WOTR would be pretty neat.

I always have Hiravias in a party, his banter with a big variety of dirty jokes is something that just makes a journey more.. plain. Yes world is screwed by petty gods, Hollowborn Crisis and ambitious people, but I have that furry dude who spends his time wondering if Pallegina has cloaca or not.

Great vid. I reckon I'll start another playthrough.

im glad you got to play this game i loved it played it on POTD was sweating

The devil comes at the perfect time for a tanky damage dealer. Right after recruiting her you get a shield with bash and a spellbind when the bash crits. Deathblow, riposte, full attack skills, hit to crit, defensive skills and she can be very tanky while doing 80+ dmg just with the bash and then whatever the mainweapon can do.

The Devil of Caroc is my favorite, both because she's not bad without equipment, something you can't say for anyone else in the party whom, if you don't give them the good stuff you WILL die in combat even on lower difficulties. She, thanks to her body, doesn't suffer quite the same way, and just needs some good weapons, usually guns as I like having a whole party of those, and she's mostly good to go. /SPOILERS/ That said it's her quest I like most about her, showing off how...the Dyrwood is kind of an awful place, with awful people. During the main game you will hear, very briefly, about a village that stood aside for the big army that marched through and destroyed every other village, gang pressing its men into service and killing everyone else thanks to a God being at the head of it. The Devil is from that village, and points out that no one in their village were warriors or fighters, as they'd sent those out to help the surrounding ones, and gotten them killed or recruited. Then, after the army was dealt with, the rest of the Dyrwood felt they had to be punished for not standing up, even if they had no chance and would have been wiped out. So a literal mob made the several hour/day march to her village, and burned it down. I think that's important to note, BTW. This was not some random, in the heat of the moment thing. This was a focused march, and thus, they had time to pull back and realize the truth of what they did. And they did not, and instead killed every man, woman, and child in the village, burning it to the ground, and the rest of the Dyrwood, rather than seeing this as the wretched thing it was, saw it as justice. The Devil, the sole survivor of that event, is now hunting down those who did it, a random mob, with families and friends who obviously defend them, and even before the Golem body, she tore through them. During the end of her quest, you find the one who killed her family, the one whom she's been hunting specifically, and are offered the chance to let him go, after seeing he was having doubts about what happened. I have never let him go. He deserves to die. Yes, he has his own family, his own friends. But most importantly, he doesn't care. He feels no shame, no remorse for what he did, only fear that it has caught back up with him. That is not redemption, and forgiveness given under false pretenses is just pretty lies. Let her have her revenge, and let him die for his actions. It's the only way she'll no peace, and it's the only way he'll face justice. Sorry, loved that story, and the implications behind it that demonstrate WHY the Watcher might decide to say screw it, and side with the bad guy in this one, given how much of these land is made of bad people.

It's kinda surprising to see someone who like Grieving Mother. In good way :) Have a pie! 🥧 Everyone usually find her too annoying, weird, creepy or just too out of here. And surprising number of people sacrifice her too Scaen :( I personally find her to be the most memorable companion of the both games. And relationship between her and protagonist are indeed something special, if you one can get into it. And I'm saying it as someone who generally hate romances in RPGs. I too missed her in Deadfire. There are no companions there leaving comparable impression.

Honestly, I find the Sagani the most acceptable character to sacrifice the the skaen pool.

I need to get back into Pillars of Eternity. Stopped half-way thru the first one, but I bet Pillars 2 is even better. I also need to check out all of the Pillars of Eternity videos on this channel....after I finish all the Wrath videos, of course 🙂

I almost did a mental backflip when you said the deities were a fantastic part of PoE and PoE2 in Hiravias' section. I had legitimately never considered that someone might like that part of the game. They all seemed incredibly unlikable and I wanted nothing to do with them, so much so that it made the big reveal feel unreal to me. But in hindsight I guess that means they worked effectively as characters on me - I certainly had a reaction to them. Different strokes I guess. I would mostly go with your list, except I never really used Grieving Mother because I always played a Cipher and it seemed like there were other party members with better synergy, so I can't fairly rank her. I'd drop her to Zahua's spot and slot Zahua somewhere in the top 3. As someone who used to be really into Zen and stoicism, his story really struck a chord with me. I also like monks in PoE, which helped.

Personally, I find Grieving Mother to be boring as dirt, in no small part because of how insulated from any interaction she is. But to each their own, and I won't deny that her writing is solid. Thanks, Avellone.

Heravias was a mainstay in my party and I mained a druid myself, I would rank him my third favorite character behind Eder and Maneha. I may be biased though since I love druids in general. In pillars they are great 3 things, crowd control, DoT damage and healing (I actually put druids as potentially better for healing then a cleric). And the fact that many of their spells are enemy specific and won't friendly fire teammates. Shapeshifter builds can be done but do not play towards a druids strength and will almost never be as good as the more dedicated melee classes. I could not stand durance, and while I will give his importance to the story and the fact that he has some of the most reactivity of any of the characters I find his personality so grating that I will role a merc if I need a cleric Love the content though. Would love to see you rank and explain the pillars classes, and maybe the pillars 2 class combinations similar to your WotR class videos Keep up all the great work

Damn eder is really bench pressing the entire story at this point

Chanter boio is my favorite but i dont use him very often. I love Bards.

"slit your throat with a stiletto kinda gal"lmmmaaaaooo bravo! thats perfect descriptor of devil!

I see we share out taste in companions, except maybe for number 7 and 8 trading places, as micro isn't really a thing that bothers me really. Especially as i usually play a front liner and with 3 of those in a party at all times and a good tactical setup, i only have to take care of the squishy party members (i played a fighter on my first, and a tank-y paladin on the 2nd full run - incidentally, this was the game that made me change my minds on paladins as a class, i just love their implementation here to death) . As a side note and perhaps another testament to the depth of some of these characters, it took me 2 full playthroughs to fully appreciate Durance. But when it clicked.....oh man.... he IS one of the best characters ever written in a CRPG to boot! And depending on which day of the week is, i have a hard time deciding which one is my favorite in this game, him or Grieving Mother.

Aloth was strongest in both games as wizard along with cypher was OP in Pillars of eternity 1 and still quite strong in deadfire. Eder was must have mainly as tank. Also his interactions with other Party members was always gold. Not to mentions his reaction if you kiddnap baby Vela and keep her.

Im surprised you made durance so high, personally sure he had ok dialog but I found him more annoying than anything I actually sacrificed him to that one interaction in that temple that gives you a stat bonus lol

Speaking of great RPGs, when are you going to review Ride to Hell Retribution?

HUGE Fan of Aloth =)

This guy sounds like the voice Macaulay Culkin used to order a hotel room in home alone 2 😂

I always bring Eder in POE and POE 2 the dude is the best tank in the series.

My number 1 and 2 spots alternate depending on the day :) 1- Durance ------- Awesome story/Amazing character 2- Grieving Mother ------- Awesome story/Amazing character 3- Pallegina -------- Very cool character, personal quest was a bit underwhelming in the end 4- Eder -------- Great Character, just a bit bland in my opinion 5- Aloth ------- Great character, personal quest was a bit underwhelming in the end 6- Devil of Caroc -------- One of my favorites, would be in my top 3 but sadly joins party way too late 7- Zahua ------- Interesting character, joins party too late 8- Kana ------- Interesting character, personal quest was lackluster 9- Sagani ------- Cool, but just not one of my favorites 10- Hiravias ------- I found his personality grating, but his personal quest was actually quite good 11- Maneha ------- She was just OK, personal quest was lackluster If I ever replay the game, it wouldn't be for the main story. It will be to experience Durance and Grieving Mother's amazing dialogue again. Some of the best written RPG companions in gaming. The Voices overall in the game were weird. Unfortunately, the only companions whose voices I liked were Eder and Pallegina. Once I turned the voices off, I found the characters I disliked, much more enjoyable. Especially Kana and Hiravias.

Durance is the whole reason how im able to beat the dragon on endless path.

So I've been watching the class rankings and now this along with my first playthrough of the game. I think you're the first person I've ever seen call Patrick Seitz (VA for Kana, if my ears don't deceive) nasally. I'll be honest, caught me off guard once I met him lol.

Personally, I think your top 6 are THE top 6, but I think they are all interchangeable. All of them really flourish the lore of the setting and plot, sweeping you into the game. I agree that Pallegina's quest is a bit underwhelming, but she is also the only character who represents the struggle with the colonization of the current world which is an opportunity I feel they really, REALLY missed with Kana Rua. She represents the very real and very pertinent thin line that the concepts of duty, nobility, family, honour, and tradition all navigate on the side of good and evil which isn't something I've seen so well developed in any paladin class in any CRPG or RPG ever. Every single time I do her quest I'm holding my breath on what her decision will be, despite that it isn't a great quest either. I think you get more out of Pallegina from knowing the factions and communities she interacts with, and the confusion about her role (is she a diplomat, a spy, or a businesswoman?) kind of makes the "fetch" quest fit because it makes her role feel diminished which is directly related to how she feels about things in the game itself. As for Aloth, I find it a struggle to disagree with you because you're absolutely right about his demeanor - it doesn't really lead to you becoming endeared with him. But at the same time, his personal past is what brings that out, and I find it's so much more real as a result. And yet, it's also because of his personal past that makes his personal quest and your relationship with one particular faction (not going to spoil anything) that much more personal as well. I find it hard to find another character - even Durance - where seeing his quest through to the end is so rewarding. To me Aloth represents the seething anger and nihilism felt by many oppressed people in the game, yet his indecisions are what brings him to you. Honestly I think with him being the first companion you meet, if you think back to Baldur's Gate 1, a more confident Aloth would be the guy who tries to assassinate you outside the Friendly Arm Inn. Instead, because of his special friend, you get to save him from 3 drunks in one of the most memorable moments in the game. I really like Eder, but you can also open up that other side you reference by having Sagani with him too! I think he's great, and while I agree that his personal quest is a bit bland, I feel it's even better after playing PoE2. Eder to me represents the common man whose family, life, and faith have all been challenged by the history of war, and yet his relationship with Eothas as the god of rebirth is something you can cultivate. In a world where children are born without souls, it feels very endearing and wholesome to have Eder by your side the entirety of the game, doing good in the world, and getting him to buy into that and restore his faith. I think that's almost an antithesis to Durance. Durance is awesome, I agree, but you're right that his low dexterity really hampers his usefulness. I think his high resolve is supposed to get him more closer to the front lines if you put heavy armor on him, but I've always found it's more appropriate to give him an arquebus and let him line up his first shot and then start healing right away. But you're spot on with his quest - more than any other quest in the game this one requires you to be PATIENT because it takes you all the way to the end of the game. The idea of challenging a broken man running on the fumes of blind faith to a fire goddess is so absolutely rewarding if brought to its full redeemable end. Durance, to me, represents the need to feel like you are actually worth something as a person. That first meeting you have with him, he is so full of confidence and bravado, but as you get to know him, you realize how much of his decisions in the past have affected so many others, and forcing him to see that in-game is just so beautiful. I know that the theme of the whole game is centered around making decisions without fully knowing what the consequences will be, but Durance really is the one to connect the most recent wars with the current setting, and to find some kind of redemption, usefulness, value or hope (i.e. worth) on a personal level with him is really beyond words. Devil of Caroc is really effin' cool, and while you're absolutely right about having a challenge to make her a part of your team given the rogue's overall vulnerability (esp. given her "style"), she really does on a major level represent the "desperate times calls for desperate measures" aspect of the Hollowborn Crisis. I think it's hilarious that you refer to her condition as the direct result of an EVIL animancer... I mean, have you ever met one that wasn't?! Haha!! I can't say more without really spoiling things, but you know what I mean - there's a lot of unjustifiable research methods going on. As for Grieving Mother, you described everything so perfectly. I think the only thing I disagree with you on is her not being in PoE2. To me, she's the one companion in the game who, at the end of this PoE1 story, deserves peace. Imagine if Frodo never went to the shores of Valinor after seeing the horrors of Mordor, bearing the ring for so long, and nearly becoming a wraith bound to Sauron because of a chipped blade from cursed knife that sought to seek his heart and corrupt it? To me, Grieving Mother is the one companion in the game that you really HAVE to save, because her personal connection to the Hollowborn Crisis and how it reduced her to a mere shadow in the world almost reverses her role to that of the child, and YOU are the parent. Her lack of interaction with everyone is so on point because of this. Like even if you do not have her in your party, it's like she's the suffering child at home while you are out in the world fighting for her future. Honestly thanks so much for this video, it brought all this out of me, and when I finish reading The Hobbit I'm totally starting up this game (and it's sequel) again.

👍🏾👍🏾🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💪🏾💪🏾

Aloth, Palagenia, and Eder really got better personal quests in Deadfire

The real winner is the player. Such a great cast of characters to pick from. You're spoiled for choice in Pillars 1.

New to your channel, enjoyed what I've seen thus far. Regarding the lack romance, Obsidian has always been kind of ambivalent towards it. When he was still with the company, Chris Avellone was mostly uninterested unless they ended in tragedy. Also, I remember a post where Josh Sawyer dismissed romance plots as too catering to player wish fulfillment and "masturbatory". Ouch.

You got Kana dead last?!?! Below Maneha?!?!? Damn, I've been hearing Travis voicing characters almost my whole life going back to when he dubbed Roy Mustang from FMA almost 20 years ago so his voice is a familiar one to me. Edit: Kana is voiced by Patrick Seitz. I think most of the characters are well written as is usual with Obsidian, Top 3 is the same except ordered Durance, Eder, GM. The only reason she's lower is she has no interactions with the other companions, in fact if I remember correctly none of them can even perceive her existence in the first place. I agree with you on the lack of romance being a shame but that's pretty on brand for Obsidian, Avellone in particular has a very cynical view of it. The lack of both Durance and GM from the sequel is they were both his characters and at the time he had left Obsidian and had nasty allegations against him so they likely wanted to distance themselves from him as much as possible. Since you seem to be a fan of his writing I'll recommend if you haven't to check out Planescape: Torment and Kotor 2 his fingerprints are all over those 2 games, the MoB expansion for NWN2 as well.

Kana is seriously hard to build. It's always a blunderbus with em

Durance, Aloth, Eder, Devil of Caroc, Pallegina, Sagani. Those are my faves. I don't like the VA for Grieving Mother or Kana, also I play a cipher so I'll just have to do grieving mother's quest in my rogue playhtough. Zahua.... conflicted, he's ok. I like the monks in the game, biggest damage overall I think, he just doesn't stand out in any way story wise. The Barbarian's alright. Sometimes I swap Aloth with the Barbarian just for lols, can't say I'm a big fan of Barbarians, high tier damage and moderate survivability, but it just feels... boring? Maybe I play it wrong. I picked Cipher which I essentially play as a Fighter anyway, just using mah spells to paralyze, dominate and other crowd control stuff + support to my team, quite happy with the Cipher. I just started Twin Elms now... I'm level 13 lol.

Your list is like mine but fliped lol. I hate Durance and truly dont care about Grieving Mother, I just cant stand characters who are cruel or deceptive. Though of course Pallegina and Eder are top, but my favorites have to be Zahua and Kana for the your exact opposite reasons lol

Honestly I always felt Greiving Mother was overly dependent on your character so a relationship with her would have creeped me out. It would have felt I was taking advantage of a middle age woman with some serious mental issues, but that's me. That -40% recovery with Devil of Caroc really killed me with her. It's thematic but rouges shouldn't be tanking anyways so all that does is lower her dps. Guess you can do the pistol cheese or something but that just cripples the 1 thing rouges are great at in my mind.

Eder, like Alistar, is my favorite party member, strictly on personality! Absolutely adore their writing and behavior. I love Paladins, but did not care for them in Pillars, which was a disappointment for me. Tanking, Damage, nor healing felt above mediocre

Eder is the bro of bros

Durance was my favorite because he’s an ass hole but I never really finished his side quest guess I missed it up too much because by the end of the game he just ran out of dialogue

Durance is Diogenes.

My team. Eden. Hiravias. Zahua. Aloth. Durance.

You missed xoti

Pillars is heavily based on D&D - so with Sagani you're missing the fact she is a dwarf. They can live to be 450 or so years old, so in retrospect, 57 barely marks her old enough to have had all the kids she supposedly does and be considered an adult. I played this game up to act 3 - got massively exhausted from trying to make the game do what I want and figure out the mechanics so I don't muck up; across several styles in builds. I personally DON'T like most of the characters in general. I'm also not fond of Chris Avellone (as a writer - I know nothing about him as a person, so I'm not even getting into that can of worms) Durance was basically pissed to be fucked over by his god; but still willing TO BE. Grieving Mother I'm fairly sure was just mind fuckery all around. Kana's class was a PITA to figure out, and I never did manage. So he was a no go for me in general. Bard Song is a CONSTANT active buff. You are done. How the fuck is that so hard???? It should NEVER have been ANYTHING ELSE. Their SONG is their Spell. Give the player a list of maybe 6 to choose at rising levels that incontrivertably HELP without downsides. It does not need to be massive, but it should be noticeable. Again, it did not have to be convoluted as hell. The Cipher was another one I'd say they went way too technical/detrimental Vs. powerful with. I break things; with my MIND. Again, not that hard to figure out. Make things hit, and hit hard. Make buffs without downsides that mean I can't figure out if it's worth taking or not... and you'd win me over to the dark side. Jesus. Who ever heard of a smart barbarian, who wasn't Conan. Or a brawny mage. Are all mages in the game just going for Silver Surfer? Eder was bog standard, other than a quest that ALMOST, almost... got philospohical. Only they never gave it a freaking ending! (They may as well write to be continued in the sequel) * The idea that he got the farm girl pregnant REALLY should have just BEEN HIS KID. Nevermind mucking about with that point. It was fine if they didn't stick together but the whole damned game predicates on dead babies. On how hard it is to make one, and hope. Why in Gods' name would you muck with that??? Were you trying to piss half your audience off? [Again Read: Grieving Mother is just looped into this - for biofeedback white noise, to bludgeon home an already made point] Aloth was... VERY not necessary. Bipolar would be hard enough to get right. Two spirited in a game where he could literally be possessed; fine. Did it need to be opposed genders? No! * You can be a gentle, kind and caring, effeminate looking male and STILL be straight. Or NOT think you're a girl inside. Damn it. There is a time and a place for that stuff, and it's NOT fantasy. Palegrina - Did not need to be Sterile. At all. Borked any idea that I even might want to romance her/made her ornery personality grating as hell for me. (For me, a family IS the fantasy - as I'm not likely to make my own at this point. You don't have to agree with my take, but I'm not making it without reason) * It IS a raw nerve that does NOT need to be touched. Ever. There is no good reason to go there. It's a painful thing for women; it's not any easier to face as a male attached. The druid I admit I never used. Interesting character, but I wasn't fond of the druid mechanics. I was also getting tired of passive agressive or snarky characters in general. Also, what is the point of saving the baby orlan - if she's just gonna grow up to be a pirate who you have NO control over in the next game, despite how you treat her over the course of 2 games??? The castle was more a hinderance as a resource drain than it was any sort of help to me. So was the ship in the second game. Frankly both were stretch goals; which means that people PAID for them to be in the game. So logic dictates they should ONLY benefit the player. Not be an active resource tax. Bloody hell.

I never could get over the ridiculous way attributes worked in POE. I've seen min-max builds where a fighter has seriously low strength and a wizard with very high strength. The idea behind it (we were told) was to make any attribute mix viable, but it became impenetrable to understanding and the "any attribute mix is fine" is frankly just stupid as a philosophy. You might as well have no attributes in your game at all. I also had issues with "using pain to fuel your spells" too (Orlans IIRC). What if you never took a hit in that combat - where is the pain then. I had high hopes for POE and bought it quickly when it came out, but once I'd got about 10 levels down below the castle you take over, I was so bored and so underwhelmed with it that I put it down and have never had any desire to pick it up again................ and I'm ALWAYS replaying games I like (BG1,2,3, Original Sin 1&2,, KOTOR 1&2, Grimrock 1&2, Blackguards, Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls games, for example). Deadfire might be better, but when you really dislike the first game, its hard to choose to purchase a follow-up. If someone other than Josh Sawyer had been the lead designer, I'm sure the (crowdfunded) project would have gone in a far less contentious direction, and I would very likely have enjoyed it a lot more.

POE has some of the best writing in a CRPG to date. To bad the systems are booty because the developers dont understand the genre of the game they are making. They watered everything down so that everyone wins. Keep your participation trophy nonsense out of my games. I regret paying full price for both of these games.